Yesterday was a beautiful, cloudy, warm day (74 degrees). By 4PM though the sky was getting darker and clouds were coming in. The winds started kicking up in intensity, so we knew the storm was coming. We had been warned for several days that bad weather was on its way, after having had unusually nice weather for this season. By 6PM we were on Tornado watch. We were finishing up putting out some Christmas lights in our patio, and decided to take a break. Shortly after that, we heard thunder and saw lightning which became intense. When we felt the first rain drops we decided it was time to come inside. (It made me think of the people in Noah's time, and how frightened and surprised they must have felt when they saw the clouds and the first raindrops, after all they had never seen rain before, let alone a Flood).
The rain was unbelievable, hard to describe, the roaring and sound of the thunder sounded like a train was on top of our roof. Thankfully that only lasted about an hour or so. However, the wind got stronger and the temperature dropped from 74 to 58. By 11PM, the weather man informed us that we were out of danger and the tornado watch was lifted for our area. The storm had moved East and North of us. When we woke up this morning we found out that a tornado had touched down in Mayfield, Kentucky, 8 hrs away, and at least 50 people were dead. Having lived through 3 BIG earthquakes in California, one being the 1994 Northridge earthquake, 4 miles from our home. We woke up around 4AM, thinking that was the BIG one they had been predicting....it sure felt that way in our second story bedroom. We thought for sure we were going to die. I can relate what those people are going through. We pray for the families who have lost loved ones, and the residents of that town.
Psalm 90:12....."Lord, teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should". Compared to eternity, our days are indeed very few...our life can be over in a split second...let's pray that we are ready to meet our Creator, when that time comes.
As I mentioned earlier, the day started as a beautiful, warm day..Last year this time, we had snow for a few days and the temperature was 20. As I was having my morning coffee in our sunroom, I observed several birds feeding. A male and female cardinal, a red headed woodpecker and a few chickadees on the floor, picking up the seeds that had fallen from the feeders. They all ate together peacefully. No one was fighting over the food. Actually it appeared as the smaller birds were allowing the bigger birds go first, they waited for their turn. All of a sudden the male cardinal (I love their bright red feathers!), decided to go into one of my pots where I had planted marigold seeds (we will see if they will survive outdoors), and started munching away.
I thought about the parable Jesus taught his disciples about the farmer planting seeds (grain)...
A farmer was sowing grain in his fields. As he scattered the seeds 1) some fell beside a path, and the birds came and ate it. 2) Some fell on rocky soil where there was little depth of earth, and the plants sprouted up quickly, but the sun was very hot and it killed them, because their roots were shallow. 3) Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns chocked out the tender sprouts. But, 4) some fell on good soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty and even one hundred times as much as he had planted...Matthew 13:4-8
His disciples complained that he always spoke in parables they could not understand, so Jesus then explained to them what the story meant. Matthew 13:19-23
1) The path represents the heart of a person who hears the Good News about the Kingdom of God and doesn't understand it...Then Satan comes and snatches the seeds from his heart. 2) the rocky soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy, but he doesn't have much depth in his life, and the seeds don't root very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades, and he drops out. 3) The ground covered with thorns and thistles represents a man who hears the message, but the cares of this life and his longing for money choke out God's Word, and he does less and less for God. 4) the good ground represents the heart of a man who listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty, sixty, or even a hundred others into the Kingdom.
I know this parable can certainly be applied to many things in our lives...certainly applies to my marigold, I have been planting the seeds for many years and when they are nurtured and planted in good soil they sure multiply. I pray that we can also apply that principle to the most important things and that is pertaining to God's Kingdom.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas!
