Tuesday, September 7, 2010

BY DESIGN


Last week we took a couple of trips down to the city pier. It wasn't our first choice. We'd rather be on the beach with the sand under our feet. Sometimes you just have to believe that your second choice, or your third choice, is still good. You have to believe that God is in them all.

The pier is an easy place for us to maneuver. It's a place we can go without much preparation or planning. It's a spur of the moment place. We don't have many places like that.




The pier stretches out over the clear emerald waters of the gulf. It's the perfect place to watch the sun set, and to feel the warm summer breeze on your face. The noise of the fishermen telling their stories to one another, of children screaming in delight over the appearances of dolphins, or the squawking of a hungry and spoiled seagull, can't drown out the music the waves make when they meet their final destination.


The memories of our child walking down the pier with a fishing rod in one hand and a tackle box in the other, or of him standing at the pier's rail looking over the side, or any of the hundreds of before memories, can't keep the beauty of God's creation from taking our breath away. It is a place to be awed. Nothing can hide His beauty. Nothing can hide what the Master Designer has created for us.




Standing above the water with our eyes focused on something that seems to have no end, our smallness is swallowed up in His greatness. The Hand that created all we see also has His Hand upon our little family. The One who spoke it all into being . . . the waters, the sun, the breeze, and the souls that line the pier, is the same One whose mind is set upon us.




The rhythm of the waves, the setting of the sun, the moment the light fades into darkness have all been orchestrated by The Creator. There is comfort in knowing that the rhythm of our lives, our coming and our going, our rising and our falling, the light and the darkness, have also been arranged by Him.

Standing on the pier, our senses awakened by His beauty, we are aware that we are not our own. Our lives belong to the Rhythm Maker. They belong to the Creator. They belong to the Master Designer.





MY GRATITUDE LIST


261. the Master Designer
262. the colors of the sunset
263. the bigness of the sky
264. warm summer breezes
265. emerald waters

266. dolphins
267. screams of delight
268. the music of the waves
269. spur of the moment places
270. being awed
271. divine appointments

272. grace from strangers
273. fishermen of all ages
274. a soaring seagull
275. this . . .

5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for writing tonight. Somehow I was really wanting to hear you proclaim God's goodness again, today. It was a blessing to me to find a new entry, and I love having these pictures to hold in my head as I pray for you all. I was doing so on the sidewalks of Alexandria, VA tonight as I was going (carless) after groceries. I prayed for all four of you in turn, by name.

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  2. The picture of Seth and Ethan says it all. God is Good.

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  3. So very thankful for Ethan's laughter. That's what I remember so much about him "before".

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  4. Absolutely beautiful. In every way.

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  5. This wonderful sermon made me think of you and Ethan today:

    http://www.shadysidepres.org/sites/default/files/2010_09_12.pdf

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