Life at Oak Grove

I have been challenged to participate to a Christian Group Writing Project.    How it works?  Simple.    A list of topics are offered on Faithful Blogger and you can choose  to write on a topic on your blog.   Then you need to go back and post the link of your post in the comments section so that everyone can read it.  Each blogger has a couple of days to choose the topic and then a week to write the post.  

The first assignment is Psalm 23.   We could choose ANY verse from the Psalm and write about it.   I chose verse 2.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters”

Green Pastures

It is important to remember that life is not always greener on the other side of the fence.   Sometimes, everything seems to be going well and then suddenly road blocks seem to be emerging on your path.  *sigh*

We experienced this last year.   We had a though year.   Hard on the financial, spiritual and personal side of life.   The business was struggling.  Our church plant which we were pastoring had to shut it’s doors.  I personally experienced rejection with a close family member.   But through all this, God was faithful always reminding us (together or either one of us) that He is walking with us at any times.  

So we slowed down a bit and put our focus on Him.   After all, in the midst of all that was happening He was still there.   Waiting for us.    Providing.  Taking care of us.

Personally, it was also a time to reconnect with my Savior.   A time to sit down and reflect on all that He has done and what He was doing.   I didn’t have the whole picture in front of me.   Just bits and pieces but one word came over and over again – TRUST.

So God forced us to lie down, to stop wrestling with the issues that came from every sides and to connect with Him.   And we went through the hard times.  

Oh!  We had ups and downs.   Fortunately not at the same time for my husband and I.   But I did felt despair at times and I turned to Him who reminded me that He was there no matter what.

This past spring, I took a picture of my daughter walking in a field.   I love to think that I was walking with God in a meadow and sitting with Him to rest.    I wasn’t alone I know it but I can say that there was days I wondered and questioned.   But in the end, I realized that He was bigger than any problem that could come my way and that He was ever present in my life.

Quiet Waters

This past Monday – we went fishing on White Lake, ON.    Mind you it wasn’t quiet with 6 people on the boat but I had the opportunity to take pictures of the lake and enjoy God’s creation – from loons and eagles to fishes and dragonflies.

The water were not so calm that day.   There were waves.  But when I took this picture, the sun was rising and the water were smooth.  

Quiet waters.   Water of life.   God himself being able to calm the storms of life – the struggles and the hurricanes going on when we don’t know where to put our feet anymore.

Turning to the Bible has been a lifesaver for me.   Deciding to read through the Bible since January a blessing for my life.    My Transformation Study Bible has an interesting note for verse two.

“The word translated “leads” means “to lead gently”.

Apparently when you are a shepherd, you cannot drive sheep.    The sheep will follow the shepherd’s voice and follow him.  No need to yell, to hurry them, just play calmness in the voice.   This is exactly how God calms me while I go further and further in the Bible.   And He is so ever gentle with me.  I also took the habit recently to list my praises and thanks of the previous day in my journal.   A simple thing to do everyday but so rewarding at the end when you stop writing and already you have filled a whole page in your notebook. 

This got me thinking.   When you go through hard times, when God shows up and helps you to slow down, there is a reason.   It will help you grow close to Him, trust Him with every aspects of your life and realize that He is in control.

In case you are wondering  our though times went on until early Spring.   We are doing better.   The business is rolling but it would be nice to have a few more opportunities of contracts.   On the family side, I realized that I needed to become an intercessor for a close person in my heart.   So daily I pray to God that He will work a miracle and that He will show His presence to that person.   As for the church, well we are still waiting for an answer.   But we also know that ultimately God is working even when we don’t see it.