Out of His Deep Blue

                                                                                                                                   

It looked like a huge Stingray, which made me side step out the way. As I did, it billowed out and seemed to pop, like a huge balloon, before disappearing into His deep blue again.                                              

I stopped walking in the waves crest, and waited on the sand for a better look. It disappeared as the waves sucked it back in, and it then came back, this time closer and bigger.

What I was seeing was no fish; it was blue and gold, and lots of it. I stepped back into the waves, knee deep, and reached for it as the waves pushed it in closer to me. I grabbed onto it with a somewhat fearless confidence.

I reached and pulled it out of the deep blue sea. It was a piece of cloth. I hauled and pulled and it seemed never ending. It was beautifully intact, no fraying, no holes, nothing but a perfect piece of very long beautiful gold and blue fabric.

This was no ordinary piece of fabric, I took it as a gift from God, for whatever reason I did not know, but I thanked Him for allowing me the ease to retrieve and receive it, and for His gift from His deep blue ocean.

It was heavy laden with water and sand, so I had to drag it before I could gather it into my arms. I took it into the estuary and rinsed off all the sand and tried to fold it, but failed. So I rolled it into my arms and carried it back to the chalet.

I draped it over the lines, as one was not enough. I had to peg it on each line and as I hung it the wind tried to grab hold of it causing it to billow into beautiful waves of gold and blue. As I watched it, I thought about what I could do with it; I could get some pj’s made, or we could make lovely tops or skirts. There was so much that could be done with it. I watched it billow in the wind with joy, and when it dried, I took it off with ease as it was now very lightweight. I folded it and put it away ready to take back home.

This was the weekend before Christmas and we were spending it with my sister and her husband at a holiday resort. The following weekend would be another that we would be spending together at a friend of my sister for Christmas lunch. So, whilst we were there we discussed which part of the meal we would prepare and take along.

On the same day we arrived back home, I washed my beautiful gift from God. Again I looked at it on the line and spent many thoughts on what I could do with it.

During the week, the plans for Christmas changed. Suddenly we were having Christmas lunch at our house. There would be six of us so I had to think about table settings, whether inside or outside. We could do it at the dining table for six, and I could use my lovely woven white tablecloth. However, around the table was quite squashy and if it was a hot day we would struggle with the heat. I thought about outside by the pool, and if I put the two tables together, lengthways, it would be perfect. However, I did not have a tablecloth to fit across those two tables…or did I?

I went to my linen cupboard and searched for a tablecloth and I found nothing to fit. I held up the fabric from the deep blue and that is when the reason for the gift of that beautiful gold and blue fabric struck me. It was a tablecloth for Christmas day, the perfect width and length, enough to cut and use on two different table settings. God knew our Christmas plans before I did, and He knew the weather would be perfect to sit outside, and He knew that I would love to have the same cloth on the two joined tables, and the serving table too. He knew why I needed that cloth long before I found it. I imagine He must have laughed with all the thoughts that were forming in my mind about how I could use it. Once again I was drawn into praise and thanks giving for my Heavenly Dad who knew so much better than me.

He saw me walking on that beach, far from where we were fishing, and I believe He’d ordained very long ago to send my gift in a way that I would know it was from Him. I believe He also knew that I would use it as a conversational piece to magnify the reason for celebrating Christmas. He clearly knew I would share that Jesus was a gift for us sinners, and the gold and blue fabric, a gift for our celebration luncheon about His birth and life.

Thank You Lord Jesus for the beautiful blue and gold fabric, a special and beautiful gift, sent especially for me on the waves of Your deep blue ocean, to use specifically to lift, praise and glorify Your precious name. Thank You, my Awesome Father God, especially for Your Son Jesus, and my new tablecloth, in His name I pray, amen.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God

©Cheryl D. Robins 2011

MOVED ON!

When we lose a loved one so dear

We ask why and don’t understand

Our hurt revealed with many a tear

An open display of pain we disband

At this time we can reach to our Father

And surrender all the sorrow we have

He understands pain like none other

And will comfort us with all His love

So don’t sit and mourn all on your own

And hold onto what you can’t comprehend

Call on Jesus who will not leave you alone

And trust in Him for your pain to end

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

Laughing...what a joy!

Every morning when I return home after school drop off or shopping, one of my 3 cats, Kovu, waits in the driveway for me. As I open the electric gate and reverse into my carport, he runs around the side of the house, jumps into the window and sits in the sitting room waiting, as if he was there all the time.

Today was the same, however, there was a twist that had me laughing hysterically.
As I reversed in, the dog from next door who was running on the road, ran into my yard. I stopped the car, jumped out wanting to chase him out the gate again. But he was nowhere to be found.

I then realised that he had jumped over the wall back into his own yard, but not before I scanned the area looking for him.

Whilst scanning, something in the tree caught my eye. It was very bushy with a wide tail and it was clinging with all fours wrapped around the tree trunk. My first thoughts were, it's a fuzzy squirrel. Then the fuzzy animal turned its head to look down, eyes huge and white. That is when I realised what or rather, who it was.

It was my Kovu who had obviously run out of the way of the dog and straight up the tree...in the dogs yard.

He looked so funny and I could not stop laughing as I thought what his thoughts must have been when he saw that dog charging towards him. He would not have known that the dog was running away from me, probably in fear too.

When I eventually unlocked the security gates and front door, low and behold, guess who was lying there as if nothing had happened, my funny fuzzy Kovu.

For the laugh I had and the joy I felt whilst laughing, I give thanks to my Lord, the Creator of me and my emotions.

Laughing is good medicine and something I recommend that everyone endure on a daily basis.

Psalm 100: 1-3
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Let's pray,
Dear Lord, our Awesome Father God, I firstly want to thank You for this new day, for the amazing never ending beauty all around that You created by Your hand alone. Thank You for health and for loving relationships and for the blessings of everything we need to live by. Thank You for who You are to us, for Your love of us and for preparing our way as we surrender our lives to You.
Please forgive us Father, for the ungodly ways that we stray away from Your will, and help us to keep on the narrow path, to follow behind Your wonderful guiding footprints.
Lord, I ask of this day that You bless every step we take, every breath we make and every thought we partake. Let them all be in Your control and of Your and will not our own. Keep us all under the ever caring and non wavering shadow of Your loving hand, and allow us to forever live in You and with You.
In Jesus precious name I pray, amen.

My Dad!

Can’t help but love my Dad!

I go to His house generally on the weekend, and every time I do, I cherish that time and more than often, I want to stay and not go back to my own home. I meet up with other family members who also visit His house on a regular basis. It’s amazing, every time I visit, there is a new adopted child, and there are now so many additional brothers and sisters, of all different races, that I don’t even know all their names. And, what I truly love about my Dad is that He is not racist at all and there are no favourites, He shows us all the same love. I always feel like we must surely all have the same biological blood flowing through our veins, which is obviously why it is very easy for me to love my growing family.

More that often, there is the same family member who ‘takes the stage’ so to speak, and he shares stories with all of us about our Dad’s life and all those people that crossed in His path. I love those stories, and through them I learn how He has been so successful, and because of that I inevitably try and follow in His wise footsteps.

I did not always love my Dad, which hurts because He always loved me regardless of how I felt or behaved, and I didn’t know this. I only realised late in life how awesome He was, and when I started spending time with Him, it made me sad that I did not accept Him sooner. He was there watching me being born, and He was with me from that day on till now, and He never ever pushed me aside or forgot I was there. I wish I could have loved Him from that precious moment and I wish I could have known how much He loved me. Gosh, how my life would have been so much better if I had not rebelled against my Dad…sigh!  But when I told Him my story and asked for forgiveness, I felt an inner peace and as if He opened His arms wide and invited me to sit with Him to hold and love me like none other before. And then I got emotional with tears of sheer joy as I felt like chains had been broken, that there was conviction but no more soul destroying condemnation, and a sense that I was truly loved from even before I was born”. From that moment on I have never looked back, and the more I love Him the more I feel loved, it is so cool.

I have to admit I do get excited when I hear the story about how our Dad is busy building houses for each of us, on His property, just so all of us can live close to Him forever. I know I sound like a gold digger but I did not ask, He offered, and all He wants in return is for me to keep on loving and visiting Him to listen and learn from His stories, it’s that easy. He is such a cool Dad, and I know if you feel orphaned and alone, He will definitely adopt you too, because the more children He has, that will love and accept Him, the happier He is, and I can guarantee, through my own experience, you will never ever look back.

My wonderful Dad has a Son called Jesus, and to think, He sacrificed His only Son to be crucified just so that I could have Him as my Dad forever. But this act of love was not only for me, but for anyone who wants Him as their Dad too. All you have to do is surrender your life to Him, accept Him as your eternal Father, repent of your sins, allow transformation from old self to new born, receive salvation in Him, live according to His Word, and hey hoe; you will be adopted just like I was. I would recommend you do this without delay, all because life with Him is so amazingly awesome, and life without Him truly sucks!

Oh by the way, my Dad resurrected His Son Jesus, after the crucifixion, to sit with Him on His throne, and then when He is ready He will send for us too…so cool hey? 

Hope you too will decide to claim your piece of awesomeness from our Awesome Father. You have nothing to lose and eternal life with Him to gain!

John 14: 18 – 19 (NKJV) 18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19  A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also”.

©Cheryl D. Robins 2011