This past weekend my family and I went on vacation to Ouray , Colorado. I praise God that we were able to go, because there were some things that I worried would prevent us from going!

Saturday we went to see this water fall that was so amazing! You had to go for a little ways in between these two huge rock walls before you came to the water fall. We made sure beforehand that the hike was not a long or hard one, because I could only do so much with my broken foot. It's increditable how God can so easily creat such enormouse, awe inspiring places!

Here are pictures of the water fall.

The giant rock walls

After going to see the water fall, we went shopping in the cute little stores, but I don't have any pictures of them.

At the end of the long, lovely, mountainy day, we went back to our hotel and got in the hot tub they have there.

Ok. Sunday we drove to Telluride and rode the free gondola, which went over a foothill and down throught a little bit of the town. It was sooooo much fun!!! If any of you ever go to Telluride you really should ride the FREE gondola!

So we left Telluride and started for home. On the way home we stopped to make lunch at this one park that had a small play ground with only a swing set and a merry-go-round. My sister and I had never before been on one such merry-go-round so we went to go play on it. The wind was blowing, but not so much as to worry us. As we were spinning, we heard this cracking sound that I at first mistook for loud thunder. But as the merry-go-round turned I saw a huge branch of the closest tree break! I instantly shouted to my sister to run as I jumped off and started running for the car. Now you must understand, the branch did not look like it was going to come down on top of us, but after only the glimpse I had of it I couldn't tell; also I had no idea if any more branches were to going to come down and my only thought was to get to safety! When I reached the car I was shaking slightly and was a little hysterical, for I was laughing  but yet I felt like crying. Thinking of it even now makes me feel like shaking. Fortunately, nothing else came down and no one was hurt! Praise God that my sister and I are still alive, for if the branch had been twenty, no, fifteen feet closer I might not be writing this post now. Thank you LORD that you kept us safe!!!!!

Especially in this picture, you can see how close the tree branches (right) were to where we were on the merry-go-round. (left) You can also see where the branches had broken off from the tree in the background .

"Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5b

"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save nor his ear too dull to hear."

Isaiah 59:1

"When I am afraid. I wil trust in You. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.

Psalm 56:3-4a

"He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

Psalm 91:4-5

The view from our hotel room.

A few days ago I was in a writing mood and here's what I came up with. I hope that you like them!

Feelings of Flame

 She gazed at the flickering flame of the only candle that lit the room. To any one else this little flame would have brought a feeling of warmth and comfort; but to she that looked on it now, the feeling was that of a cold abhorrence. Nothing could be more natural than for her to loathe the cause of her husband’s death. A bride so soon widowed by fire. She remembered his last words to her; and how she gazed into his brilliant blue eyes as he said them. But now she gazed at a cold light in a dark world.

Nazi Soldiers

A prison of a different kind:

A lie, these human souls to bind.

Where is the laughing face of him once known?

That happy face, now turned to stone

Disguised along with countless others

Fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers.

Once loving beings,

Now lacking of feelings.

Killing, taking,

Weapon making.

Oh, pray for these broken men, you left

That the devil would not succeed in his theft.

There is hope for these stones

These uniformed stones

And alone it lies in our God and Lord

A few days ago in my quiet time I was having trouble forgiving someone who had wronged me. The offence was rather a small one, only four dollars were lost, but it got my back up just the same.  I couldn’t believe how hard it was to forgive such a small thing that happened years ago! Thankfully God gave me the grace to forgive that person.

When seeing how hard it was for me to forgive that one, four-dollar sin, I really appreciate the fact that God forgave the sins of the world!

Isaiah 12

 In that day you will say:

    “I will praise you, O LORD .Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD is my strength and mysong; he has become my salvation.”

In that day you will say:

    “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

The first part of this chapter is like when God paid for our sins. And in the second part, I give thanks to the LORD because He helped me forgive that person. The glorious things He has done are all the times He has helped someone forgive. I know that God has done a lot of glorious things, but right now I'm just focusing on forgivness.

   All of you out there probably know that I’m not very good at posting consistently. I know that all too well, so I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out what to post about! Thinking, thinking, thinking; until I realized that I was trying to run a Christ-centered blog without Christ in the center. So I said, “God, I want you in the center of this blog and of my life! I pray that you would use me to touch the world with the light of love, and bring you glory!” This incident brought to mind the verse that says,

   “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

   John 15:5

Oh, how true!

   Happy August! Thank God we lived through July! 

   “We are hard pressed, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

   2 Corinthians 4:8-9

   “You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”

   “Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.

   Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.”

 ~Isaiah 52:1-2

   To me these two verse mean: “Stop wandering away from GOD, clothe yourself with the strength of his word, put on the splendor of Christ. You need not worry about being defiled by sin again.

   Shake off the dust of your past sins; dwell in GOD’s glory and know that you are healed. Let go of the sins that tie you down, O captive daughter.”

“As the body without the spirit is dead so faith without deeds is dead.”

            ~James 2:26

            This is a very familiar passage to most Christians, and is one that must be observed. I believe that the church has fallen asleep and looks just like the world. This verse is just calling out to us, begging us to proclaim the word of the LORD to the people! A survey was conducted recently and these were the results: abortion rates among Christians and non-Christians were the same, divorce rates among Christians and non-Christians were the same, teenage pregnancies among Christians and non-Christians were the same. It is such a tragedy that most Christians are no longer distinguishable from non-Christians. We are told in the Bible:

            “Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

            ~Philippians 1:27

            If our divorce rates, our abortion rates, and our teen-pregnancy rates are the same as the world’s, and if we aren’t living any differently from the lost, we are not conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ!

            “You, my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

                                    ~Galatians 5:13

            We have indulged the sinful nature for too long; we have succeeded in blending in with an immoral, ungodly, murderous culture for too long; and now, because of our participation in sin, the world is disintegrating beneath our feet. The only hope we have, the only hope we’ve ever had, is GOD. He is our comfort and our joy, our deliverer. And even though we live in a crooked and depraved generation, He tells us in His word:

            “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear.”

            ~Isaiah 59:1

He is our Father, and our hope, and He will not abandon us even though we may have neglected Him.

            “Go, and sin no more.”

                        ~John 8:11b

            “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

                        ~Matthew 28:20

       The purpose of He’ll Never Leave You is Christ centered. I must warn you I am no poet, no novelist, no brilliant speaker; but I’ll bring to the table what I can.  I pray that GOD will use me to the best of my ability and that what I say will bless you.

          “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you,” declares the LORD.

                                                                   Hebrews 13: 5b