Thursday, September 29, 2011

Do you believe in Guardian Angels?

Many times I have thanked God for His protection of my husband.  I have often thought that he must have more than one guardian angel because of the many close calls he has had.

One morning this week before my husband Gary left to work at his tree trimming business,  he prayed for safety.


...I prayed that God would put His angels around him and his helper to protect them.




I didn't know how important that prayer might have been until a little later in the day when Gary walked in looking a bit pale and shaken.

He greeted me with the words, "You are very lucky to have a husband, and not be a widow right now!"





They had been working on a dead tree cutting off the limbs near the bottom.  They had just repositioned the bucket truck to begin working on the higher branches, when  CRASH! A large limb from above where they had been cutting came crashing down on the truck, just missing my husband by about 10 feet!





               So, the next day when they went out to work on the job again,
I not only prayed ---
I also made frequent trips out to the job site.

I watched as they tied a rope around the remaining top
of the tree and secured it to Gary's pick up some distance away.

                    

The sawdust flew as they notched the tree.
 They placed increasing tension on the rope as they began cutting
 on the other side. 







 With relief I watched as it fell to the ground right
 where they wanted it to fall, with no damage to the fence, 
to the horses that were in the adjacent field,
or to the two humans who were doing the work!


 


Watching them repeat the procedure for the next
portion of the tree,  I was so aware of
 God's protection on us frail human beings.





...And so thankful when the next big hunk
again landed where it was supposed to land!




 
       The Angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and He delivers them. 

"See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you..."

 "For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go."


 
What kind of angel experiences have you had?
Aren't you thankful for all the times God has used them to protect you?


Linking today with Laura's Brag on God Friday,


Click here to check out this week's name for God!



 

Monday, September 26, 2011

If you need a lift, try a "Blog Hop"

Friday, September 23, 2011

Unveiling

I have often thought of and been a bit envious of Moses' experience with God on Mount Sinai when he received the ten commandments.  To read this story for yourself click on this link from the Blue Letter Bible: Exodus 34:28-35.  As I thought about how awesome it would be to actually see God face to face, I wished, begged, prayed, and hoped that I could sometime see the glory of God without having to wait until I died to see it!  "Show me your glory," I would often pray.

I also found it very interesting that Moses' face was so radiant that the Israelites could not stand to look at him.  Because of this Moses would cover his face with a veil when he talked to them, but he would take it off when he talked with the LORD.

So, after years of pining and whining about not getting to see the glory of God like Moses had, I came across this passage in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 that really blew my mind.  In essence it seemed to be saying to me that although Moses' face shone and reflected God's glory so much that he had to wear a veil to hide the brightness, it wasn't nearly as big a deal as we have today when the glory of God shines through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

What do I mean by that last statement?  We receive something Moses never was able to know.  He lived under the law, the commandments that no one could live up to.  We who have believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior, however, experience not only forgiveness of our sins, but also the life giving presence of the Holy Spirit within us. 

And here's the deal! God wants to shine His glory through us for all the world to see.  He doesn't want us to try to hide it and veil our faces.  Just as a groom pulls back the wedding veil, we are the Bride of Christ;  He wants to pull back that veil and let everyone see the life and joy that we have received from Him! 

When I think about this, I'm not so jealous of Moses anymore!  ...And I do hope that His glory is shining through me!  Unlike Moses, I don't carry a tablet of stone with the commandments on it, ...but I do write God's name on rocks!  (To see some of my art work, please check out  my other blog by clicking this link - Rock4Today.)

Blessings on Spiritual Sundays for allowing me to link with them!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Disaster Relief - What we do when we're out there...

Another Disaster Relief trip ended! 

This time we were with the "Recovery Team" from Arkansas helping clean up some of the damage done by Hurricane Irene in the Greenville, North Carolina area.

I wanted to download some pictures and a video, but ran into a few challenges!  To see a little of the kind of work we did with the feeding unit in Minot, North Dakota, and the "chain saw" work we did this past week, follow this link and click on the Disaster Relief Video.