No Eye has Seen

 However, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"-- the things God has prepared for those who love him"--

1 Corinthians 2:9

Faith is tasting the Saltiness of our Tears

Sometimes

faith is building an ark

when there is no rain,

dipping seven times in a muddy river

when you have open wounds,

 or marching in circles

and shouting praises

when your enemy is ready to do battle.

And sometimes

faith is

tasting the sweetness of God

in the saltiness of our tears.

Stacy L Sanchez

www.heartprintsofgodcom

Do Not Be Afraid

 

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Psalm 91:5-6

Ancient Mariner

"Farewell, farewell!  but this I tell

To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!

He prayeth well, who loveth well

Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best

All things both great and small;

For the dear God who loveth us,

He made and loveth all.

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,

Whose beard with age is hoar,

Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest

Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,

And is of sense forlorn'

A sadder and a wiser man,

He rose the morrow morn."

Excerpts from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)

The Winds and Waves Obey Him

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' 

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet!  Be Still!'  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?' 

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Mark 4:37-41 NIV

Congaree National Park

 

Congaree National Park protects the largest remaining tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America.  The boardwalk is a 2.4 mile loop roundtrip.  The Weston Lake is an oxbow lake. It was once a bend in the Congaree River.  Over 2,000 years ago the river gradually changed its course and meandered south, leaving behind Weston Lake.  The standing dead trees are called snags and are full of insect, spiders and fungi.  The summer heat would make this park unbearable with flies and mosquitoes.   There are no ocean breezes or cool mountain air so hiking the park is best in the spring or winter.

God is with Us

 

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.  God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.  Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalms 46:1-7 NIV

Peace in the Storm

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise, and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock."

Matthew 7:24-25 

Keep Close to Nature's Heart

"Keep close to nature's heart...and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.  Wash your spirit clean."

John Muir

Jesus Commands my Destiny

"No guilt in life, no fear in death--
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or  calls me home--
Here in the pow'r or Christ I'll Stand."

Lyrics Stuart Townsend

In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found

"In Christ Alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand."

Lyrics by Stuart Townsend

Princess Place Preserve - Letting Go

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.

Psalm 127:2

Whatever is True, Whatever is Noble...

 

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, what ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Philippians 4:8 NIV

Beauty is God's Handwriting

 

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's Handwriting."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Knowing the End of the Story

 

In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 NIV

Broyhill Walking Park - Let Your Light Shine

 You are the light of the world...Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to Your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16 ESV

Huron Manistee Forest - He Gives Strength to the Weary

 Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Isaiah 40:28-29 NIV

The Friend of Silence

 "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence...We need silence to be able to touch souls."

Mother Teresa

Broyhill Walking Park - Finding Rest for Your Soul

 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find res for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29 NIV

Lake Huron - Finding Your Good Way

 

Thus says the LORD:  "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

Jeremiah 6:16 ESB

Keep your face toward the Sunshine

 

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows bill fall behind you.

Walt Whitman

Eat and Sleep with the Earth

 

"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons; It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth."

Walt Whitman

In the Beginning...

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.  So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

And God called the firmament Heaven.  So the evening and morning were the second day.

Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:1-10

Could We with Ink the Ocean Fill...

Could we with ink the ocean fill;

And were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill'

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky.

Unknown

This is verse 3 of Frederick Lehman's hymn {The Love of God" (1917),  This verse is apparently an adapted translation of a Jewish poem by Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai (1050).  It seems that the hymn-writer found it scribbled on the walls of a patient's room in an insane asylum after the death of its occupant.  Whatever its origins, it is a wonderful and unusually striking piece of devotional writing.

Emerald Green Waters

Alaska rivers are like mirrors reflecting all the beauty of the sky above and the majestic mountain peaks.  Emerald rivers flow for miles.  Is this not paradise?

"You, Lord, in the beginning 

laid the foundation of the earth.

And the heavens are the 

work of Your hands;

They will perish, but You remain;

And they will all grow old 

like a garment;

Like a cloak You will fold them up;

And they will be changed.

But You are the same

And Your years will not fail."

Hebrews 1:10-12

Rain in the Springtime

 

Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime, it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms.  He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.

Zechariah 10:1