"Beauty from Ashes"

As I have said before I love Fall. I love Fall but hate the inevitable that after Fall is Winter. I do ok the first 6 weeks, then every year around late January/early February I start getting the itch for warmth and sunshine after being cooped up in the house for months. Yesterday with the rain, cold and drearyness it was so blah. I had a doctors apppointment early in the a.m. and it was such a hassle running across the parking lot in a downpour, I actually almost used a picnic blanket in the back of the van as my raincape. What a sight that would have been to see a grown woman with a stripped cape running across the parking lot at 9 a.m.There is such a sense of freedom when the weather is nice I think because its just so much more conveinent to come and go without the hassle of bundling up and fighting the snow, ice and cold.

One of the things alot of people look forward to with the warmth is taking vacations with friends and family. Most of us have taken short weekend trips by car here or there but alot of times we fly to our destinations anymore if its going to be a longer trip. I have to say i'm not much of a traveler and have only flown twice in my life, all the other trips were very long insane charter bus rides. The few times I have flown however were somewhat nerve racking although I have heard it gets better each trip. I'm not sure if its the take off, landing or flight itself that most people fear but one thing that made me nervous as well as others I have heard is the ear popping in the middle of the flight. Its crazy the number of things people will load up on before they fly to try and prevent it. Something pretty interesting however is that flying isnt the only cause of excessive ear popping it can also happen when switching floors on an elevator from a very low point to a very high point like in a skyscrapper as well as driving in the mountains. We know that in each of these situations its based on a change in altitude but the extremes are very different. When flying we all have a goal destination and in order to get from point A to B we have to journey through a certain route to get there.

Life is often like this journey in the sense that sometimes it can be beautiful and calm but other times our ears begin to pop along the way causing distractions and interfering with our trip. there are many remedies we can try to drown out the ear popping like gum, pinching our nose and blowing, ear plugs and more but ultimately there is only one way to cause the distraction to stop and thats for us to reach a stabilized altitude. Like the different remedies used for flying we use different tactics in life as remedies to drown out the distractions that Satan puts in our way each day along our journey. Some things we use are relationships, sports, money, careers, addictions, materialistic things and the list can go on and on but really only those things help ease the distractions they never rid our lives fully of them. Satan loves for us to put these temporary fixes in our lives to distract us from the beautiful journey God is trying to show us .

The only way we can level ourselves out along the journey is through Jesus. Jesus is that constant, that height, that we reach that can calm the popping and the noise and completely make it stop not just eleviate the symptoms and noise. The tough part is that we want the quick fix, we want to reach for the fast remedy to try and ease the noise in our lives but it wont last. If we can hang on long enough to allow the plane to level out just as we are calling on Jesus name we will find comfort and peace that will not fade. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in these short fixes then Satan has no reason to work on us because we are doing it for him and it only seperates us from Gods plans for our lives.

Romans 8:31-35 "So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in scripture." There is a song by Natalie Grant that says in it "Every fear has no place at the sound of your great name, the enemy he has to flee at the sound of your great name, Jesus worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us, son of God and man you are high and lifted up and all the world proclaims your great name." I love this because for me its a reminder that whenever I am in the midst of a battle or Satan is trying to throw distractions and turmoil in my way I can call on the name of Jesus to deliver me in that very moment, praise the Lord!!!!! James 4:7-8 (Message) "So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time."

Regardless of what journey you are on right now whether it be one you have been on for awhile and the destination is still pretty far or you just have a few floors to travel up on this ride in your life it can be tough. Satan is going to try and throw in distractions to take away from the journey and the things God is trying to show you along the way.I just encourage you to call on His name whenever you feel distracted like you can't quiet the noise around you and He will deliver you and fill your heart with a peace to keep traveling a little more free.