Daily dose of nature

Hello!

If you've been wondering where I've been, the answer is: outside! I know, it's January, and I live in Indiana, so it is sometimes a real challenge, but I've been making an intentional effort to get outside more this winter.

I've been posting some of the pictures from my adventures on Instagram, using the hashtag #dailydoseofnature 

I've also been writing, but, obviously, not all for here on the blog, or you would have seen more posts -LOL! I'm working on a book, and keeping my other writing commitments.

AND...

We have been purging the house. It might not look like it yet, but we have a goal in mind to reach before spring arrives, so the girls and I have been working on one small area at a time around our other commitments.

There had definitely been a shift in the dynamics around here since Arlene started college last fall, and all four of us have felt it. It might be the hardest on my husband, because everyone has different schedules now. With four working adults in the home, it is taking us all a while to get used to the changes in meals, chores, and availability.

So how do we navigate changes in our lives? Because I am here to tell you that the seasons you went through while your children were growing up are vastly different from the other side once they've all graduated high school. Do you have plan yet? If not, may I suggest one?

Trust God.

Two words that should sum up our lives here on earth, and yet, how often we stray from this simple plan. It is simple to say, and harder to do. Trusting God requires us to let go of our perceived control on our lives and allow Him to direct our paths. 

Last week at Ladies' Bible study I commented about how God only lights our next few steps, and it is a good thing. We cannot know how He will move, prune, and refine us too far into the future or we would walk away from it. We would see that the testing will be hard and reject it, because we cannot understand the huge amounts of grace and beauty He is going to bestow upon our lives in the process. We are temporal focused, He always has an eternal focus. These hard days and nights truly are light and momentary troubles - but they sure don't feel that way when we are in the midst of them!

If our focus can be returned again and again to trusting God then we can truly rest. Not rest from living life, but rest from striving. Rest from competing, rest from worry, rest and not fear. 

Would you like to find rest for your war-weary soul? Trust God.

Would you like to find rest from financial anxieties, or marital strife? Trust God.

Would you like to be kind and loving towards others instead of bitter and cynical? Trust God.

Maturity doesn't happen at a particular age, it happens when we trust God. Each time you choose to trust God instead of striving, competing, complaining, or fighting, you will mature.

God is in the business of fresh starts. He is in the business of Love, forgiveness, and grace. He brings beauty from ashes and life from death.

When I take my daily nature walks I am looking for ways that He shows me beauty, grace, and life. I spend a lot of the time praying for friends. I want to encourage you to do the same: pray for your friends, look for beauty, grace, and life.

Even if life has knocked you down, God wants you to get back up - trust Him!

In the words of TobyMac:

You may be knocked down, but not out forever.