Let me just tell ya.......

what God is doing. He amazes me so many times. Our drive to church usually takes at least 25 minutes, but this morning it seemed like 5 minutes. The scenery is just beautiful, breathtaking in some areas. All the rich, vibrant colors seemed to dance against the sky this morning. I was so captivated by their beauty, by the One who created it all!! I had to pull over on the way home to take some shots, but the photos just don't do the scenery justice. God is just an amazing artist! What a beautiful picture He paints!!

One tree in particular really caught my eye, and I'm hoping to get a photo of it going back to church. It was such an amzing color of yellow, but the tree was rather small and skinny. God used that tree to speak to me. That tree is beautiful even now as it's so small, but wait until next year and the next, and it will be even more beautiful and bigger. There's so much potential awaiting inside that tree. We are like that tree. If we allow God to grow us day by day, month by month, year by year, then in time think of how beautiful we will become - not because of ourselves, but what God is doing through us. There is so much potential that lies within us.

The sermon we heard this morning was so encouraging. It was from Deuteronomy 34 and Joshua 1. Moses had died, and the comment was made that there will never be another leader like Moses. There was a time of looking back and celebrating what Moses had done. Moses dying didn't take God by surprise. Nothing does. Before Moses died, however, God used Moses to lay hands on Joshua. God prepared a leader at the proper time, because He knew what the future held. We don't. The preacher used that this morning to relate to us, to encourage us as a congregation. Our pastor leaving didn't take God by surprise. He's got His hand on some one and will bring him to us at just the right time.

So, why the photo of the cup? I'm glad you asked. That cup represents (to me) what God is doing in our church. There's potential for a church without a pastor to fall apart, but that's not what's going on at our church. We are binding together as a body of believers on a mission. You say, "What about the cup??!!" Well, this morning while I was leading music, I got this awful tickle in my throat. (Not a good thing when you're in front of the church, with a microphone right there as well.) I tried to cough, but when I got to the next high note, it happened again.........and I still had to lead the choir. Well, as the choir stood up and the music started, there was our organist, bringing a cup of cool, refreshing water for me - just what I needed at the time. What it said to me was, "We are taking care of each other during this time, when we don't know what the future holds." That little white cup was a blessing!!!