God's Nature

"The love of God is not created--it is His nature...'Feed my sheep.'  Jesus has some extraordinarily peculiar sheep: some that are unkempt and dirty; some that are awkward and pushy, and some that have gone astray! But it is impossible to exhaust God's love, and it is impossible to exhaust my love if it flows from the Spirit of God within me...."  Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest"

As His children, we are loved so that we can share love!

The reality of God's Presence

When I was young, and even as an adult, I used to think that God was floating "up there" while I was doing the best I could walking on earth.  As my relationship with Him has developed into a walking conversation, I have realized that He is not even across town; He is right here, next to each one of us. I very much enjoyed what Oswald Chambers wrote in "My Utmost for His Highest" on July 20: "Having the reality of God's presence is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place, but is only dependent on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually.  Our problems arise when we refuse to place our trust in the reality of His presence....The experience the psalmist speaks of--'we will not fear even though..." (Psalm 46:2) will be ours once we are grounded on the truth of the reality of God's presence, not just a simple awareness of it, but an understanding of the reality of it."

small acts of love

I love the Mother Teresa quote below.  As I read it this week, I once again realized that it is not the "big" things we do with our lives.  It is the little things of love we do--with our families, our friends, our organizations, and strangers--that make the difference.

Intimations of Heaven

For a variety of reasons, I have been prompted to think of the eternity that awaits us with God. Isaiah dramatically tells us how tightly God holds us; Hebrews talks about the impermanence of this world; and a friend's poem reminds us of beauty beyond anything we can imagine.

There is so much to do here, so much to see here, so many people to connect with. Yet we are bound by time and aging. We are called to a Life Eternal, still each of us must accept that call.

Time in Ecuador

Our medical mission trip to Vilcabamba and Catamayo, Ecuador lasted two weeks. Despite fully absorbing the sights, sounds, smells, moods, light of each day, I still could not believe how fast the time slipped down the hour glass. Two weeks felt like two days.

I returned home to La Grande early Sunday afternoon. As I hugged Meg, petted our golden retriever, looked around the familiar surroundings of our house, I felt that I had been gone for two months.

Two weeks are two weeks. However, from my perspective in Ecuador the time flew by, yet from my vantage point in La Grande, the time was greatly lengthened. To come to the end of experience is to make a new beginning. My "time past" is now my present and my future. New experiences await here at my earthly home, yet more and more, I wonder what my eternal home will be like. Blessings, Eric