May I recommend...

I just finished reading, The Surrender of Ethan Moses, by Terry Goetz, and I am recommending this book to almost everyone I see! It is about the life of a man who works daily to find God's will and surrender to that will. (I really don't do justice to the story...I'm sure you can read a tag line about it on Amazon.com or this link will take you to a review of the book by a friend of the author: (Review)

After reading this book, (which I finished in only two sittings - I didn't want to put it down), I look at my "wanderings" in a new way. Things that happen now don't seem so happenstance; they are another step on this wonderful journey our Father has prepared for us.

This morning as I thought about the story, it brought to mind being on a wonderful hike with God. This is a path in which our Father has already traveled and He delights in watching us discover what He has already known since the beginning of time. The thought of this truly is stirring inside me and I wish I could communicate it more clearly.

I know I've taken hikes with my children along familiar paths and it is such a joy to watch them discover rocks and plants and the sunset (we rarely make it out for sunrise) or just all that surrounds them. It may be a path I've traveled many times before, but when I take them with me it is filled with a new joy at watching them see what lies before them. Once I "hid" treasures for them to find and I still laugh at their surprise as they discovered what was prepared for them!

I have traveled these paths many times before...they are like second nature to me. I know the places that are easy, and I also know the places along the path that can be more difficult - rocks that slip underneath your feet or places you just have to watch your step. I doubt my children noticed that along those places I had my hand right behind their back, ready to catch them if they fell.

If I, being human and filled with flaws, can take my children along a familiar path safely...how much more can our Heavenly Father lead us along the path He has CREATED for us?

Wow...what an amazing thought, and all before I've had my second cup of coffee!

May your journey today be filled with wonder - and as soon as you can, I definitely recommend reading, The Surrender of Ethan Moses....it's one of those books you'll find yourself thinking about a LOT as you travel along.
Matthew 7:11

New International Version (NIV)

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Ephesians 2:10

The Message (MSG)

 ^7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.