The Nature of God

 

  Through the many harmonies of nature we are constantly 

being refreshed, renewed and reborn.

  It is an avenue, a conduit, God uses for our continual

 healing, personal growth and forward motion in life.

 As I stood at my kitchen sink early this morning,

looking out at a familiar scene that has given me

 great comfort for over thirty years now, 

my heart quickened and I was lost in a reverie of pure joy.

For there in the distance, across the yards to the back of me,

standing with great majesty in the hazy sky, 

are a pair of old trees I've known and loved for years.

I've watched each season change their crowning glory

 all these decades, and today they have signaled to me, 

even through the gloom that cloaked them like a shroud,

 that Spring is about to touch my weary and thirsty soul again.

I was so happy to see that these lovely old trees are clothed

 all over once again with a sprinkling of tiny buds of red.

Immediately the Psalms rose up in me...

"O clap your hands, all peoples; 

Shout to God with the voice of joy." Psalm 47:1

"Let the field exult, and all that is in it,

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy..." Psalm 96:12

And so the cycle begins again. Freshness, newness and rebirth.

I am clapping my hands and singing, along with the trees,

in a joyful voice to God with great thankfulness.

I am reminded, even in the cool grey dampness of a March day,

 that God has His hand on everything and just as the new dawn

                                    of yet another Springtime is gently starting to unfurl, 

He will always lead us out of the wintertime of our souls. 

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3 

If you have woundedness, loneliness, brokenness or despair of any kind, 

take the time to listen to nature and you will hear the voice of God.

He speaks to us in the rustle of the pines, the chatter of the squirrels,

the ebb and flow of the seasons, the hush of a new fallen snow,

 and the soft stillness of a moonlit night.

 He calls to us, He teaches us, He loves us beyond measure.

His ways are not our ways. We spend our days caught up in worry.

He offers salvation, hope, restoration and peace.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you. 

Let not your hearts be troubled,

 neither let them be afraid."

John 14:27

God created so many things in the natural world to

benefit our hearts, spirits and souls, if we would just take time

to slow down and observe and absorb His presence all around us.

In perfect stillness I watch a hawk gliding through the sky.

What utter grace and beauty and peace.

Then it hits me afresh...

God's Word says I am even more valuable

than this glorious creature. I am humbled anew.

But there's more to that portion of scripture. 

He is also using the birds of the air to teach us not to worry.

{Matthew 6:26}

He wants us to look to nature and see Him; fully know Him.

Through the trees he tells us, though the branches are barren for a season,

He breathes new life into them as they continue to reach up to Him.

He shows us that, as the clouds turn from ominous grey to billowy white,

they roll away and reveal a bright blue sky that is fresh and new and clean.

These elements of earth and nature are our examples. 

They were designed for a purpose by a Father who loves us.

"But ask the animals and they will teach you, 

or the birds in the sky,

and they will tell you; or speak to the earth,

 and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.

 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?

 In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."

Job 12:7-10

We all have unique ways that God speaks to us through nature.

I would like to encourage you to seek quiet new ways

 to meet Him in this vast, glorious world He has given us.

You just might be amazed at what it will do for you.

Sometimes it brings poetry out of me so fast I have to 

capture it with pen and paper before it fly's away forever.

I'll leave you with a recent example and a hope

 that you will begin to touch the heart of God 

in new and deep ways in the days ahead.

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**

Moonglow

There will be peace

In the valley of my soul
As it reaches toward that place
Of beauty and wonder once more.

My heedless heart wanders;

Restless to the core,
As it seeks verdant hills,
Holding memories from distant shores.

I stand open, trembling and free.

Your breath whispers in soft breezes
Of pine needles blowing
Over, under and all around me.

My eyes cling to barren trees,

Reaching, clawing in their nakedness
Through winter's forsaken sky,
Pleading in their supplication.

We search this world together,

Longing for our healing touch.
Till evening cloaks us both in softness
And blackness hovers all around.

Finally you find me in the darkness,

Weaving stars throughout my hair.
Stars of hope eternal
And love that knows no end.

You cover me in moonglow.

How very like you to blanket me
With the brightness of your glory
In the Winter of my soul.

Danette Bartelmay

February 2019

A Tranquil Heart

As I have continued to step from one decade of my life to the next I have discovered something about myself. I think it was always in my original blueprint but it took the hand of Time to continuously polish and perfect it day after day, year after year over the many moments of my life. It can be summed up best in one simple, yet profound word...

Contentment.

In retrospect, I have basically always believed wholeheartedly in the theory that one should bloom where planted and, quite honestly, that seems to come rather naturally for me. Even my mother has always said this about me, which has always made me feel really good inside. When I reach for the stars, they are the stars in my own backyard. I am a nester, a homebody, a nurturer and, well, quite simply, content in the life God has blessed me with.

My husband is still my best friend after being together for 37 years. Our two grown daughters are a constant source of pure love and joy to me, along with their husbands. My grandchildren fill my heart to overflowing. They all make life a continual feast for me.

Amongst my many blessings, I also have beautiful friendships. The flowers were a gift from a sweet friend a couple of weeks ago when she came for an afternoon of knitting, laughter and tea on the front porch. I have reached a point in my life of taking pure pleasure in the sweet, simple things of life, like that afternoon with a friend, beautiful new twists of yarn, a new project to crochet or knit, an unexpected gift of flowers, a phone call from an old friend who I haven't heard from in awhile, a cozy kitty napping in my kitchen, the many wonders of nature and the sheer bliss of a good pot of tea.

A new shawl in the works

Leia ~ Hilary, Brandon & Archer's kitty

Mercedes

Tallulah, who eats from my hand

A friend who showed up on the porch

As Time carries on its march and I continue to stroll through this world,

 I am constantly aware that my heart becomes increasingly more full

of

peace and thankfulness

for the simple treasures that are my life.

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

"A tranquil heart is life to the body ..."

Proverbs 14:30 a

Peace like a River

Throughout my life, since I was very young, I have been an avid reader.

I have always preferred books to television and have spent most of my life

reading well into the night.

The summer I turned ten my grandmother started my collection of

Little House on the Prairie books by giving me the first one

in paperback for my birthday that June.

By that Christmas I asked my parents for my first Bible.

I still have that precious gift.

A small black Bible with a zipper that closes it up

all the way around with a cross dangling from it.

Of course through the years I've had many other Bibles.

And I have read countless books of every kind.

There is something about words on paper that draw me in.

Words of long ago...

Emerson, Thoreau, Dickinson, Austen, Shakespeare,

Corrie ten Boom, Oswald Chambers,

well the list could go on and on.

And too many of today's authors to even count.

But my true peace and solace is found in God's Word.

I never tire of reading it. It is fresh and new every time.

Just like God's mercies are new every morning.

Although we face new challenges with each season of our lives,

and sometimes with every new day,

we truly can find peace in God.

This world is not always kind but there are still kind people in it if we focus in.

I'm not saying that life is typically easy, no not that.

But precious.

Oh yes, it is always very precious.

There are still so many moments of beauty all around us.

Though I have a sense of holding my breath

as I wait with my sister for her diagnosis,

I stop in wonder and my breath is taken away as I see this beautiful bumblebee

going about the business of the life God created him for,

without a care in the world.

And just like that, I am caught up in the stillness of the moment.

I see him working and as I step closer I can hear him buzzing.

I remember that we are all only here for a short while really

and I am reminded once again

that we are here to love one another first and foremost,

no matter what is going on in the world.

We are meant to be building one another up in all things at all times.

And we should never, ever lose hope.

I know from personal experience that God is still in the business of miracles.

Nearly five years ago he healed my husband from pancreatic cancer.

God can do anything at any time.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything in prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence

and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Philippians 4:4-8