How Deep Are Your Roots?

I love this picture of the tree by the stream.  It reminds me that if I am going to keep growing in my faith, I have to grow my roots deep in His Word.  And, sometimes, it isn't easy!

During this season, I am praying about several opportunities that let me serve Him right here at home.  They are mission based, but don't require immunizations or passports.  So, I pray and I wait.  I pray and wait some more.  And, some more!  I learn to listen....to Him through His Word, devotionals, songs, prayers, and folks that I know are walking along that path with God. I see. I hear. I get it!  But, then I question myself! This is a hard thing that He is asking me to do in some ways.  It requires complete trust and obedience.  You know, some days I believe I can do it, and a few hours later, I am questioning again!  Mercy! Do any of you all ever feel that way?

  But then, I go to His Word and hear Him speak to that place in my heart--the place only He can fill:

³⁵ For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶ I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,^[a] you were doing it to me!’  Matthew 25: 35-40

I have heard this Scripture all of my life.  It's not a new one that God gently led me to.  But, I saw it with fresh eyes and a tender heart yesterday.  That's how He speaks to me....when I am not  really looking...He surprises me with a Word. I just love surprises!

 Praying about growing my roots deeper, my friends.

Sweet blessings,
Susan

Mountains of Laundry--Spring Break Style

Morning, y'all! We just got back in town after a 4 day whirlwind tour of the southeast! Seriously!I have 4 days worth of dirty laundry times 4 people times stinky running clothes on my agenda today! Oh, and of course, we are out of food!

We pulled out Saturday morning for Tennessee to visit my in-laws. Since I-40 west is STILL closed due to rock slides back in the early fall, we meandered through a cute little town in NC--Hot Springs!

Hubby and Child #1 and myself (I'm taking the pictures so I am not in a single shot here!) found this cute little red bridge that was built back in the turn of the century(Actually, we simply turned down a random street to eat a picnic lunch and found it! It was too cold to eat outside, so we inhaled PBJ's in the van. Child #2 was not in a good mood, so he stayed in the van and pouted! Gotta love that age!)

Driving on a bit, we saw a river and got out to stretch. Child #2 is a tree climber, so he was in a better frame of mind at this point. I am just thankful that he didn't fall into the icy river below! Mercy!

We finally made it to Tenn. and had a wonderful meal waiting on us. Palm Sunday was windy and cold in Knoxville, but we felt the warmth of the church through the pastor's message. My friend asked me what nugget I got from it, and I replied that the pastor said on Christmas, many think of Santa. On Easter, the Easter bunny comes to mind. But on Palm Sunday, Jesus riding into the city is on our hearts.

It WAS a little hard to concentrate during service....just a few distractions for this ADD mama. Hmm....let's start with the children marching in at the beginning waving their palm branches. All was good until the little boy who was sitting in front of us began to hit the boys in front of him in the back of their heads with the branches! A few other adventurous little people followed suit, and you could hear the giggles. When "said" little boy returned to his seat, he refused to be still and stop kicking the pew in front of him, so Grandma took him out! Then, during confirmation, a bee escaped into the church because the beautiful stained glass window were opened. Mr. Bee was buzzing around the 6 confirmands, and they were just waving and swatting him away! When it was finally time for the offering, the ushers had walked forward and were at the alter waiting the plates. Mr. Bee came back into play and landed on the face of an usher who started waving wildly to shoo it away. The usher to his right started laughing and couldn't stop! Then, the choir--who were directly in front of the ushers watching this from up close started laughing! Bless the pastor's heart! She went right into thanking God for this gift of laughter! What else could she have done?? Needless to say, it was not a typical service!

On Monday, we loaded up the van again, and were only on the interstate less than an hour before we hit the back roads for Boone, NC. If you remember from an earlier post, we were going to take Child #1 for his first college visit to Appalachian State. Y'all, I saw more mountains in the past few days to last me a lifetime!
Remember the Mitford series from the '90's by Jan Karon? The main character was Father Tim. Well, this is the Episcopal church that it was based on! It was a beautiful church in Blowing Rock, NC! Sorry that the picture is washed out--it was sunny and in the middle of the day! And I stretched it out to make it bigger!

Here is the football stadium at App. State--of course we had to check it out! The campus was very nice, and the tour that we took on Tuesday was great! The really cool thing about App State is that the books you use each semester are included in your semester fee! Amazing! They are only one of three schools in the nation that offer that! We spent several hours touring and meeting folks and asking lots of questions. AND...while we were doing most of this outside, the 38 degree temps and the wind gusts of 20 mph or more,were doing a number on my hair!!!! Y'all, it was awful! I didn't warm up until hours later! And, no, there are no pictures of Mama's wild hair!
Finally, I just had to share this unique picture with y'all. Do you see the farmer riding a regular tractor? Nope! I couldn't believe it when I saw this. Maybe some of you are used to seeing this in your parts, but being a small town girl, this was a first! I made Hubby turn around on a mountainous road--which is not easy to do!- so I could go back and take this picture of the darlin' farmer! The boys were just rollin' their eyes! Bless their hearts!

Sweet Blessings!