REFLECTION

This is my favorite picture taken on our 2006 trip to Alaska. We were traveling on my type of road. Bill calls them "How do you find these roads?" and I call them "There is no one coming in either direction!" So quiet and peaceful! (You did get the there was no one else on the road, didn't you?) Beautiful! The water was so still the reflection was perfect.

Exactly what is a reflection? The noun means:

~~ the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected

~~ an image; representation; counterpart

~~ the return of light, heat, sound, etc., after striking a surface

This got me to thinking. What would my reflection look like?

This is pretty easy to answer. There would be a face with gray hair, eyes looking out through glasses and --- but the Bible says:

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19

What if my heart was reflected onto the water instead of my face? Would the image be different?

Would I only see myself? My thoughts? My actions? My feelings? That reflection would be self-centered wouldn't it?

Would I see the influence of others? Their thoughts? Their actions? Their feelings? That would not be a true reflection of who I am. It would be a reflection of how others want me to be.

OR would I see the reflection of the Lord's glory as 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us:

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Wow! I sure hope it would be the reflection of the Lord's glory. That is so much better than a gray haired, self-centered, trying to please others woman that might be looking back at me.

Unveiled face -- Lord, tear away anything that covers my face which will stop Your Glory from shining through.

Transformed into His likeness -- Transform me Lord. Change my attitude, my desires, my goals into Your attitude, Your desires, Your goals.

Ever-increasing glory -- Lord, let my Spirit, the Holy Spirit you placed inside of me, ever increase until my reflection is only of YOU.

I have an amazing idea! Look into the lake with me.

Unveil your face.

Be transformed.

Allow your heart to reflect the Lord's glory.

Give your Spirit the space it needs to grow with ever-increasing glory.

Look again. What do you see now?

OLD FRIEND

I graduated in 1964 and finally went to a reunion. MY 50 YEAR REUNION!! Does that make me old? Of course it does! Unless, that is, you just went to your 75th reunion, then I am just a young thing. I was amazed at how old everyone had gotten. Everyone except me. All that gray hair. Or no hair. Wrinkles sprinkled on cheeks and brows. Some have converted feed really well. (You have to have fed livestock to get that.)

Oh! My hair is gray. I call it character, but my face of character has been created by well-deserved wrinkles. And I have converted feed better than some. Is that how they all saw me?

One of the rewards of going was discovering a classmate/friend lived only 40 miles away. At the reunion, we promised to get together. Get together we did. We started talking at 5:00 PM, at a local restaurant, continued talking at our home where we allowed Bill to enter the conversation on a limited basis and finally said goodbye at 8:30 PM. Hard to condense 50 years into three and half hours. The conversation will be continued.

NOTE: Any former classmates reading this can be assured we only discussed good memories. Gossip waits till the next time!

A VERY LONG TIME

Has it been a long time since you visited with God? Have you had a heart to heart conversation with him? To you it might seem like a really long time, but God is eternal

In the beginning God -- Geneses 1:1

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Chronicles 29:10

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

AND during this eternity, God is patiently waiting for you.

Maybe you have tried to hide from God.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:1-5

        Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? Psalm 139:7

You cannot hide!

Maybe you have stayed away from God because you thought He would no longer recognize you with gray hair or pink hair or no hair. Or because of your sins.

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Luke 12:7

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:19-23

Why did I miss going to all the other reunions? I could make excuses, but that is what they would be -- excuses.

Why do you miss going to God? You could make excuses, but that is what they will be -- excuses.

PINTEREST

"Did you see what she posted on Facebook?"   "What about that tweet?"   "She reads what?"   "Did you know that the NSA is reading your emails and checking your phone calls?"

Everyone knows what we are doing these days. We are very open with our pictures, our comments, our lives. BUT do we stop and think what all this says about us? The Bible tells us that we influence others.

1 TIMOTHY 4 (instructions to Timothy): ¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. ¹⁵ Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. ¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

PHILIPPIANS 3: ¹⁷ Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.

If someone checked my Pinterest boards, what would they find out about me?

THEY WOULD FIND OUT I LIKE COLOR.

THEY WOULD FIGURE OUT I AM THINKING ABOUT A 50TH ANNIVERSARY.

THEY WOULD LEARN MY FAVORITE FLOWER IS THE WHITE ROSE AND THAT I STILL HAVE ALL MY MARBLES.

THEY WOULD DISCOVER I HAVE A STRANGE SENSE OF HUMOR.

When I see this, I want to add the caption: "Do you think the big guy knows we did it?"

NUMBERS WOULD SHOW THIS HAS BEEN REPINED 165 TIMES AND LIKED 22 TIMES.

And God said, “I am here.  Do you want to talk now?”

QUICKLY IT WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD THAT I AM ON A JOURNEY.

This long path, in the fog, reminds me of my life journey. I have to trust God that He knows where my path leads. (Because left to myself, I would be absolutely lost in the woods.)

THERE WOULD BE NO QUESTION AS TO WHAT I HOLD ONTO.

The nativity is so sweet to look at. It held the Baby Jesus. The image of the New Jerusalem is a vision we hold in front of us.  But the Cross. Oh how we do not want to look at the Cross.  Not only should we look at the Cross, we should take ahold of it and hold on securely.

------------------------------------------------------ I picked these pins because they make me look like a really good person. Am I that careful with my Facebook posts? My words? My actions? My deeds? My life? PHILIPPIANS 4: ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. The Bible tells us that we influence others. How do you influence others? And me? Like I said, I picked these pins to make me seem like a great influence. Truth is, more often than I want to admit, I would be an absolutely horrible, miserable, lousy influence on those around me. THE ONLY HOPE I HAVE IS TO KEEP THE LOVE OF GOD BEFORE ME AND KEEP DOING MY BEST TO FOLLOW.

DID YA MISS ME?

Did ya miss me? Did you even think, "Mary didn't post a blog this week?" There were three weeks in August when no blog was posted. Did ya miss them? Honestly - the answer is you didn't miss my blog.

That is okay. Our lives are so busy that we notice when more things are added to our day or week, but we don't seem to notice when something is left out. Ponder that for a minute.

When a friend calls, you talk to them and enjoy the conversation. BUT - If a friend stops calling, how long does it take you to notice? A day? A week? A month? When do you finally miss them?

Do you notice when a Facebook friend has not posted? When family pictures stop showing up? When there are no likes to your posts by them? Or do you have so many Facebook friends that you just keep scrolling down the screen. When do you finally miss them?

When someone misses church, do you think they must be on vacation? Do you wonder if they are sick when they do not show up the next week? Do you even think about them the third week? How long before you realize that pew has an empty spot? When do you finally miss them?

Our day gets busy and we push Bible study to tomorrow. Many things grab our attention and we forget to pray. We lay our head down and go to sleep. Does God miss us?

I have been guilty of each of these. When it dawns on me that I haven't heard from a friend, I realize I hadn't made time for them either. When that Facebook friend falls away, I realize I had rarely responded to their posts. When I see the empty spot in the pew, I realize the empty pew seems normal. When God seems distant, I realize I had pushed Him out of my days.

Our lives are so busy that we notice when more things are added to our day or week, but we don't seem to notice when something is left out. Were any of these people missing me? Are they missing you?  I do not know.

Was God missing me? Does God miss you?  This I do know. YES!!!

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty;

he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love,

he will joy over thee with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Be assured, a God that saves you, rejoices over you, loves you and has such joy that he will sing over you will miss you. God will not stop calling you. God will not unfriend you. God will not think the empty pew is normal. When you go back to studying the Bible, when you go back to praying, and when you go back to telling God goodnight, God will say, "My child, I have missed you."