To Be...Heading around the Bend
Around each bend was something wonderful to behold.
October 8
Y'all know after all these years that I am a mountain girl. It's what is familiar and what is beautiful to me. I had the blessing of baby sitting for our four month old grandson, while his mother participated in a women's retreat at the Crossroads Conference Center in Louisville, VA. She hauled that beautiful harp of her's WAY up into those mountains. No cell service, no wi-fi, no TVs, just this sound of the Little Piney River rushing down the mountain and the leaves rustling in the trees.
The last 30 minutes of the drive to the camp was a trip! The last 5 miles holds a very curvy road and you have no idea what is around the next bend. (Fortunately, I went early while it was still light. Later that evening a school bus bringing middle schoolers to the camp got stuck, as did the cars behind it, and it was an hour before help could arrive to get the bus back onto the road.)
As I drove I kept thinking, we never know what is around the next bend of life, but we do know that Jesus is with us for the whole journey. Had I been able to use my cell phone and read Jesus Calling that Saturday I would have read this:
"Be willing to follow wherever I lead. Follow Me wholeheartedly, with glad anticipation quickening your pace. Though you don't know what lies ahead, I know, and that is enough! Some of My richest blessings are just around the bend, out of sight, but nonetheless very real. To receive these gifts, you must walk by faith-not by sight...Sometimes I lead you up a high mountain with only My hand to support you. The higher you climb, the more spectacular the view becomes; also, the more keenly you sense your separation from the world with all its problems. This frees you to experience exuberantly the joyous reality of My Presence...I will eventually lead you down the mountain, back into community with others. Let My Light continue to shine within you as you walk among people again."
How perfect is that? God knew exactly where I'd be on that date and He knew I'd normally be reading that devotional. It was in incredible follow up to the time of solitude (okay a few baby's cries) with Him.
"We live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
"Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary." Psalm 96:6
The mountains of Virginia are getting ready to burst forth in color. Bend after bend in these country roads will behold gorgeous sites. Come visit Shiloh, a place of rest.
We will disconnect the wi-fi and cell service is terrible. It's a great place to just be still with Jesus.
