“For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.”
James 1:11
A couple weeks ago I was reading this verse in James. It took me to thinking about a place we hiked with a large group of fellow home schoolers for the very first time 8 years ago. Also, two years ago much of this place was impacted by a very terrible forest fire. In fact, only pieces of this area have recently opened up for the public to travel again.
The Lord put it on my heart to take my sons back here for our kick-off to our Fall 2019 home school adventures. I knew I wanted to discuss this verse with them as we passed the dry grassy fields of the season and apply it to our lives. As of last night, I had not quite decided when that would be.
I went to bed last night after prayer, tears and exhaustion, and my two sweet sons praying for me to have wisdom and guidance needed to continue this journey. How special to have of all the people – my very own students (aka most amazing sons) praying for our school year and for me as their teacher-mom-lover of Jesus and lover of my whole family. The prayers were precious as they tapped into my heart and clearly understood my need. “not by might, nor by power, but by MY SPIRIT says the Lord” Zech 4:6 That is a scripture God put on my heart last night, getting my attention. It was by His Spirit they prayed. I could tell how the Spirit was at work as my oldest prayed in a way that revealed how much God has done over the years to give him this heartfelt intuitiveness. I had confessed how weak I knew I was in my flesh and was asking in faith, believing He would once again provide the wisdom needed. The prayers encouraged me greatly and revealed a moment of “look how far God has taken us, He will be faithful to His plans that Jeremiah 29:11 promises.”
God would complete the task of getting my attention when I awoke in the morning, sitting at the dining room table, with bible back out, praying again, and the Mother’s Day Card my Pediatric Stroke Survivor gave me. “From the moment our lives begin, God knows what each of us will need to help us become all He has planned for us to be. God knew you would be just what I needed, MOM, providing love, wisdom, guidance, and grace. Thank you for all the way you’ve been a wonderful mom to me. “her children rise up and bless her”. Prov. 31:28 I plead with God daily for help in raising these sons. I know how weak and fragile I am. How vulnerable I am to doubts, worries, fears, and the pressures of knowing how deep all of our needs truly are. God is so powerful and consuming in His steadfast love and that was evident again last night, through the prayers of these young men for me.
How will I proceed this Fall 2019? Just then, I looked over to the new ear buds my husband gave me, still in the package and I saw these words:
” KEEP IT SIMPLE” – . Ha! God has gotten my attention. KEEP IT SIMPLE – TRUST IN HIM. God has used these three words to testify of His power in this journey time and time again. He delights in taking what seems “simple”, “small”, offerings and blesses and MULTIPLIES them to His praise and Glory. I’ve seen Him do it again and again.
With that said, I arose confidently from the table at 9 am and told my sons to eat and get ready, we were going to this special place for our Fall 2019 Schooling on the Rock – KICK OFF.
And away we went. A little over 5 mile round trip journey from Eagle Creek to Cascade Locks and back.
We paused when we first arrived to look at the all that had been destroyed by fire. How our choices matter. How important it is to think before we act. How our choices can impact for good or harm. Our choices not only affect us, but those around us. We saw this fire and how one spark caused so much damage. We also saw how grateful we are for a God who delights in restoring. How life was rapidly growing, replacing, and beauty of the Lord still reigned. How grateful we have a Savior Whose amazing grace has saved us from the fire of hell, and is restoring us in our new life in Him.
Immediately moving on it was just pure excitement that my youngest spotted petrified wood imbedded in this cliff wall, and how perfect he got to get out his digging tools and snag some pieces to take home.
Then just around a couple bends we came upon more and more grassy fields, withered away from the heat of the summer sun….
This was the picture I had when I read that verse in James 1:11. Our lives are like the grass and flowers affected by the heat and east wind here of the summer. We are only here for a short season- before we vanish from the earth and into eternity with Jesus, if we are Believers. God wants us to consider what we pursue as our days here matter for more than vanity, but for eternal purpose. This verse refers to riches. How many aspects of life do we pursue with a desperation that we want to fill us and make us feel RICH, well off – tell us we are doing well? It could be relationships-how many?? Does the number tell us we are doing “well”? Material things, activities, sports, even how many places we serve. God wants us to understand that our hearts deepest desires and pursuits should be for the things that will not fade away and are eternal. Our relationship with God first and foremost, through all seasons of life is what we should be pursuing. TRUSTING IN HIM. PURSUING HIM. How important it is for us to be satisfied in Christ alone. He will give us exactly what we need. How important it is to know we are loved in our lowly place in confessing we are poor and needy. God is near to these specific people-poor and needy! We praise HIM! We are rich in Christ. He is our best friend through all times, all seasons, and will always be with us, doing exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can imagine for His glory.
Soon we came upon a flowing stream ….
deep down, down in there. And well, it was just pure joy to watch them climb and try to catch lizards.
Onward… it was important he left a mark along the trail. The mark of Christ Jesus His Lord…
” I LOVE JESUS” – and…. JESUS LOVES YOU TOO! Have you received Him as Lord? If not, what are you waiting for?
Eventually we came to the “tunnel”. Yes there was a light at the end of it. My right brain emotions was kicking in to high gear and I had told my oldest I needed to prepare myself to walk through it. His left brain was functioning on high gear and God used it at that moment to say these powerful words: “It’s….just…a…tunnel”. Ha! This just cracks me up. Yeah, he was absolutely right! Just a tunnel. “come on sons, let’s walk through” Piece of cake!
Soon we arrived at our destination…
Funny thing is 8 years ago we stood here for the first time with about 20 kids. Now it’s 2. Seasons come and go. Change happens. Some friends are only present for a season and move away. That happened with a few. There are many reasons why we are on this journey today with only the 3 of us. The why’s do not really matter. What really matters is that Jesus is our best friend, these two brothers are a gift, and our lives are rich and full in Christ-forever. We TRUST HIM.
What really matters is what a gift it was today, to just be the three of us! How blessed I am to have the strength and energy and provision to live this life. I was thankful it was just us today. God blessed this journey in an extra special spectacular way. I believe God truly did put this on my heart to go here and to do this as our kick-off to Fall 2019. The conversations that came up were so rich and surprising! Such heartfelt talks from both boys on so many special levels. Absolutely incredible! Some was hard stuff. Some brought tears. All was wonderful as we agreed through it all, this journey of life must be entrusted to the Lord Almighty’s capable hands. Today was a gift. These sons are a gift. Jesus Christ is our indescribable gift we get to walk with each and every day!
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20
What are we pursuing in Fall 2019? Relationships. With God and one another. Pursuing excellence in Christ Jesus our Lord for the specific plans He has for us – to His praise and glory. Teaching according to the way they are designed by God’s purposes and plans for their lives. MORE TRUST IN CHRIST ALONE! Pursuing quality. Not quantity. We are filled and satisfied in Him. Pursuing servant hearts, as Christ loved the church.
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs…
BUT YOU, OH MAN OF GOD, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Tim. 6:10-12
