This past weekend, I went on a long stroll with Annie-girl.  She and I spend wonderful times in the Lord together, and as we walk, I talk with the Lord.  My heart is encouraged and refreshed as I look upward and around me.


Simple things bring me great joy.  The sun was settling itself comfortably down for the night, and its gentle rays bathed my neighbor's horse in golden light.


Trails of fire splashed through the air as my sweet friend gazed once at me, and then went back to the business of grazing.


As the sun's rays feathered her in radiance, my heart rested in the beauty of her contentment.


The wide expanse of the skies above me, were once again the theater for the evening show.


Gentle fog rising in the valley as the warmth departed from the skies.


As the earth around me was being wrapped in the shadows of nightfall, I looked up, up, upward to the skies.


Up, above, and beyond the shadows of the world around me.


Ever pressing onward, the shadows around me darkening... yet the brilliance in the skies caused me to ever look up, and press onward.



At times the shadows around me were brightened with splashes of the last light from the skies.


My gaze was lifted upward, and my heart was stilled in the midst of the shadows.



And then... it happened... this!  This was what I was waiting for, the grand finale in the theater of the skies.  And I knew, yes I knew.  The Master Painter and Creator... did it for me... and anyone who cared to lift their eyes and see.  His glory spilled from His hand into the skies, and joy, sweet joy rested in me.


No, we cannot know what tomorrow holds, or the next day or the next... why, we can't even know what the next moment holds for us!
 

But we can trust in the ONE who does know it all.


And while the evening shadows fall around us, and storms do come with their fury...


And at times we wonder ..


Lord, do you care? Are you there?  What will be of it all?


I tell you with calm assurance that our magnificent Lord who holds the world in the palm of His hand... has us gently in His great care.



The Lord has given me great peace and contentment in these days when division and fear seem to abound on every hand.  Our Lord is in control, no matter what direction the world around us seems to be taking.  So, my dear, dear friends... do not be discouraged, and do not fret.

Just look up... and you will know.

All is well.. In HIM!