The Roads

Today I was on a walk with my camera. I was walking along the paved path and I came to this point. If you look carefully in the picture, you can see that there is a little, dirt path to the right. I took it.

I think of all the "roads" that I have taken in my life. There is the road to follow and love Jesus, the road through different schools, the road to Ames, and now the road of healing my heart. I have been on this road of healing with Jesus most recently. Oh, the road is bumpy and difficult at times, but there are the beautiful meadows too. This road is not one that is often traveled, but it brings me freedom, joy, and life through Jesus Christ.

The Road Not Taken

- Robert Frost -

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

God speaks

My current favorite quotation is the following by C.S. Lewis:

God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks to us in our conscience,
but shouts in our pains:
it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

In my pleasure, He whispers to me "I am here, don't forget that I am the One who gives you these pleasures." In my conscience, He speaks "I am the One who made you. You are My child." In my pain, He shouts "I love you! I am right here to listen, comfort, and embrace you."

Most recently I have been hearing His shouts. Jesus is always near to me, no matter how far I might be from those people who mean the most to me. Jesus brings us to a place of healing and He walks beside us all the way.

Jesus is...
my best friend
my listener
my comforter
my teacher
my Savior
He is the Lord of my life.

The River

As the river flows...

So too do my thoughts.
Quickly changing direction.
Speeding up.
Slowing down.
There is no telling what is around the next bend.

I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts and listening to the river. I pray that they will always bring glory and honor to the One who created me, my thoughts, and the river.