Don’t Let Your Guard Down
My brother owns a contracting business that largely centers around land restoration. Because I work with him, I’ve been in some pretty interesting places and done some pretty interesting things. I’ve worn waders and walked across a wetland, rode a 4 wheeler while ‘spraying the edges’ at a controlled burn, and unfortunately got a Ranger stuck in a very wet marsh, more than once! I’ve planted hundreds of trees, walked through weeds that were way over my head, and sprayed herbicide from a punt boat my brother was ferrying. However, my favorite activity is caring for the trees in our tree farm. But one time this summer, I wasn’t in the tree farm for over two weeks. Upon returning, it was overrun with 3-4′ weeds! It didn’t take me long to realize you can’t let your guard down when you’re caring for trees.
We Have to Guard our Thoughts!
This is also true in our thinking. We have to guard our thoughts. The world comes at us hard: it is constantly giving us something to worry about. However, we don’t have to listen! Romans 12:2 (ESV) states, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” When everything seems hopeless , we must fill our minds with something hopeful. Isaiah 26:3 (ESV) states: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Did you catch that? PERFECT PEACE. We can believe God when He says, “I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you.” (Isaiah 46:4, NLT)
Things to do today: (Click on links above for easy access.)
- Read another blog called ‘Hold Fast to Peace.’
- Listen to the song, ‘You Say’ by Lauren Daigle.
There’s something about the Christmas season that is simply magical. It’s literally overflowing with joy. Two of the things I really like are the sights and sounds. My taste in the music of Christmas is a bit eclectic: I love ‘O Holy Night’ but I can easily join in when I hear ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.’ (Perhaps not my proudest moment…) Similarly, don’t even get me started on the lights. Popping with colors or stunning in white-I find them mesmerizing. I’m pretty fond of Christmas sugar cookies too, occasionally eating them Christmas morning for breakfast. (Don’t judge me; that’s on my schedule again this year.) Christmas feels like a 
Why is it that whenever I run into Wal Mart with only one item needed I walk out with a cart full of things? Seriously, I go from a $10.00 item to spending over $100.00. It’s crazy, or ‘cray cray’ as my niece would say. The problem is I pick up things as I walk along, many times without much thought. I grab this and a little of that, and stock up here and refill something there…where does it stop? Let’s not even talk about the grocery section, because one item will always become 20. (I am not going to mention the things I grab when I walk into the store hungry…it’s not pretty…actually, I should probably just go undercover when this happens.) Needless to say, it would be better if I left all the ‘quick grab’ items and only picked up the good stuff.
My youngest brother, Bob, is a charter boat captain on Lake Erie. Most days you’ll find him on the lake with groups of eager fishermen ready for a day of fun. They’re fishing for walleye and yellow perch. However, the white perch, invasive to Lake Erie, gets caught too. This was the case when Bob took my family fishing. I was amazed at the dozens of times a white perch was on someone’s line. My brother, who’s an expert in his field, knew exactly what to do. He’d unhook the offensive fish and immediately drop it back in the water; the large walleye was dropped into the ice cooler. Bob knew to hold onto the good and let go of the bad.