Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Roller Coaster

Hey Readers,


I have to say that it has been way to long since I have posted something on this site.  It has been just over a month since my last post, and it has truly been an eventful one. It almost as if we have been stuck on this never ending roller coaster of life and it has been interesting to say the least.  However, I believe that the roller coaster is finally nearing a softer spot on the track, if you know what I mean.


I am hopeful that I will be getting back in the swing of things with the posting of this Blog.  I really don't know what to share with this blog but how about I just start with saying GOD IS GOOD AL THE TIME and ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD.  Boy does that bring back memories, memories are good, memories that are bad, and memories that are simply neutral.  Those memories remind me just how much God has played a part in my life and help me realize that I haven't just been on a roller coaster the past few months but every day of my life.


I am beginning to believe that this is simply what life is, a long roller coaster adventure that takes us on several different types of terrain.  There is the mountainous terrain that we encounter when we face many struggles or events at once, there is the desert terrain that we encounter when we feel there is nothing more we can take, there is the   wooded terrain that we encounter when we have no Idea where we are going, there is the under water terrain that we encounter when we feel like everything is closing in on us, there is the beautiful hilly terrain where we feel that there will be some struggles we will have to face but have the confidence to face them, and finally there is the flat green terrain in which everything seems peachy and it's almost as though we won't have to worry about anything at all, I'll bet we all long for that type of terrain :-).


I wonder if most of us even know which terrain we are on right now.  I have to say I feel that Traci and I are just leaving the under water terrain and entering into the wooded terrain with the hilly terrain on the horizon in a way that we see glimpses that disappear soon after we see them.  I believe that many of you all are at this point as well and It is not a completely bad thing. It is at this point on our roller coasters that we have to rely completely on someone else to direct the path our roller coaster is taking. It's almost as though we see the the change of terrain coming but we just can't get there, isn't it? 


We all deal with this in our lives at some point, but you know it is at that point in which we have to put our trust into someone who can see a bigger picture that we can.  It is the point in which we place our hope in God, as I am learning more about each and every day.  I won't keep you any longer so to end for now I will simply say, Life truly is a roller coaster and regardless of what terrain we are all on right now,  "There is a Hand above, simply waiting to guide us through it."



Thanks again for visiting "The Gathering Room"
Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you
(2 Thes. 2:15b NCV),

M.E.

Reflections; What Love is this?

Hey Readers,

 I have been really seeking the Lord the past month though and HE is really showing both my wife and I just how amazing he truly is.  God is showing me just how important the gift of Love truly is and I thought I knew that already :-). I guess there is so much more than I will ever e able to grasp, but that's ok, it just gives me something more to strive for :-).

"This is what real love is; It is not our love for God; it is God's love for us in sending HIS Son to be the way to take away our sins" 1 Jn 4:10

I have gone through most of my life earnestly working to improve my love for God, which is important, but love is so much more. When we begin to realize that it is not our love for God that opens the floodgates of heaven (so to speak) so that we may enter, but God's love towards us that opened them.  When that realization popped into my head, I became overwhelmed in the presence of God.   What I learned from that realization was this, we cannot earn our way into the arms of the savior, he has to open them up for us to come in.  The funny part is that they have always been opened. I have to say I believe that today we have this strange believe that we have to earn our way into HIS arms, when in reality it is only because of HIS love that we can love others.

Loving God as HE loves us is the key to loving others. We have lost sight of this.