How To Eat A Pecan

     Have you ever wondered how a little squirrel can crack open a tough pecan or hickory nut shell? During my college years I inherited a “pet” squirrel and spent many hours observing his mischievous actions. The squirrel could run around my body so fast that I could not catch him. He loved to crawl up the sleeve of my sweater and go to sleep there. He loved to taste everything with his sharp teeth. I have observed him go up to an aluminum frame of the window and take a “bite” out of the frame! Until I had the pet squirrel I assumed that squirrels just put a nut in their mouth and cracked it; not so! Observing my pet I learned that they hold a nut and scratch on it with their teeth for 20 – 30 seconds, until they scratch a small hole in the nut. Then they chip away at the hole until it’s big enough for them to get to the meat.

     Some of our challenges in life are like the squirrel trying to eat the pecan. These challenges are not overcome in a single day or with a single prayer. It takes some consistent work and patience to overcome these types of challenges. The Bible says that some things come only by fasting and praying. I had a big challenge one time and prayed about it. God spoke to me and told me that he was going to take care of the problem. I assumed that it would be over in a couple of weeks; not so. God answered my prayer in a great way, although it was over a year before he answered. God’s time is usually quite different from what we think it should be, but he always knows what’s best for us; so when the big challenges come, just keep on praying and watch God move the mountains for you!

Sunrise

     Do you ever have a difficult time waking up in the morning? Do your dread facing the new day? Do you wake up needing a little extra inspiration to get you through the day? Inspiration is available from many sources if you will just put forth a little extra effort.

                             Even a gorilla needs inspiration sometimes

     Some get their inspiration through their eyes, watching talented people perform. Have you ever watched a famous artist paint a picture? They start with a clean canvas. Their first brush strokes don’t appear to make any sense but gradually shapes and colors are added and a masterpiece starts to emerge from the canvas. Details are added by the artist until the images appears ready to jump off the canvas!

     Others get their inspiration through their ears, listening to musical sounds. Have you ever listened to a symphony led by a world renowned conductor? There is silence in the auditorium. As if by magic the slight movement of the conductor’s baton initiates a tiny sound. Other soft sounding instruments join in the harmony. The drums start to beat. The loud sounding instruments join in; and finally they all give out their sounds in an almost deafening crescendo!

     Can you imagine the inspiration from experiencing both of these events at the same time? The inspiration is a close as your doorstep and occurs almost every day! To experience this inspiration just go out your door a half hour before sunrise, find a comfortable seat, and watch a never before seen masterpiece emerge in the sky and listen to a new unique symphony of nature! I have experienced this marvelous inspiration many times and wished that I could put into words what I experienced. Well, today’s sunrise was hidden by storm clouds, but while praying I felt the inspiration to write down and share with you what I have experience so may times.
     Everything is dark with only a possible slight shadow at the horizon, separating earth and sky. Not a sound emerges while all nature is still asleep. Then Gods takes out his paint brush and starts another masterpiece. A slight glint of light slowly appears just above the horizon. Everything below the horizon is still pitch dark. The glint of light starts to expand and grow. As the light starts to creep over the horizon, dark shadows start to take on shapes of trees and hills. The silence is broken by a single chirp from a small hungry bird. Streaks of light start to appear over the horizon and scream across the sky, momentarily displaying beauty that will never be seen or experienced again. As if on queue from the Great conductor, other birds of various tones and melodies join in the symphony of nature. The vague shapes start to take on color and details as the Great artist continues to paint his brushstrokes across the earth. It all builds up to a crescendo as the sun explodes above the horizon and all of natures musicians sound out their loudest notes! Another inspiring sunrise to carry me through the day!

    I don’t feel that I had the wisdom or words to adequately describe the majestic sunrise, but I challenge you to experience it for yourself. The next time you feel like you need a little extra inspiration for the day, just step outside early and watch a new masterpiece unfold!

Alone in the Woods

    After a big steak lunch today, I decided that I had to get outside and get some exercise and fresh air. It was a very cold, dreary, and heavily overcast day. It looked like it could start raining any minute. It was so overcast that at 4pm it looked like it was already starting to get dark. Not surprisingly, I did not see any other people on the trails. The wind was calm and there was an almost eerie silence in

the woods. The birds were very quite. I only heard a couple of chirps, once or twice. The only wildlife I saw was a brief glimpse of a rabbit as it ran off in the underbrush. I can almost always find some kind of bird, animal, or bug to watch; but it was as if all life had ceased. I sat down on a fallen tree for fifteen minutes and still saw nothing! After an hour I finally gave up on spotting any wildlife and came back to the house.

      Back in the warmth of the house I started thinking about my eventless walk in the woods. Our spiritual walk sometimes parallels my lonely walk in the woods today. There are times in our spiritual life when we don’t see or hear any evidence of God’s work in our lives. We pray and don’t get an answer. We wonder if God is still aware that we are alive. The holiday season can be a particularly lonely time. We can feel as if we are all alone, as I did in the woods today. Actually I knew that there were numerous quantities of birds and wildlife in the woods, even though I did not hear or see any of them. That is the way it is with God. We go through times when we do not see or feel God working in our lives, but we need to remind ourselves that God is always with us regardless of what we feel or experience. If you experience times of loneliness during this holiday season, just remember, God is with you and will never leave you!

Hiding From our Problems

   There is a friendly lizard that hangs out in my backyard in a large cedar tree. He blends in perfectly with the bark on the cedar tree. On almost any afternoon I can go by the tree and spot him somewhere on or around the tree, looking for his next meal. You may ask “what is a friendly lizard”? Well, most of the lizards that I see run off as soon as I get near them, but for some reason this particular lizard does not seem to be afraid of me. I have photographed him several times, from a distance of only a couple of feet! He seems to enjoy getting his picture taken!

      As the weather turned colder this fall, I started seeing him in the early mornings, hiding under the bark of the cedar tree. Although his head was hidden under the bark, the rest of his body was fully exposed. I’m sure that he felt secure, not realizing that most of his body was totally exposed to any predators that might fly by. I was hoping that he wasn’t going to try to hibernate, with his head covered by the cedar bark. Fortunately, just before our first hard freeze, he disappeared, hopefully in a much more secure place.
At times we humans get overwhelmed and take the ostrich approach and try to “hide our heads in the sand”, or “under the bark” as in the lizards case. Sometimes we are hiding from the things we know we need to do and other times we are hiding from God. Hiding from, ignoring, or procrastinating about issues in our lives never makes things better. The quicker we address the issues in our lives, the better off we are. Trying to ignore or hide from God is a totally futile effort. In Jeremiah 23:24 the Lord asks: “can any man hide himself in the secret places that I shall not see him?” and then tells is that the Lord fills the heaven and earth.
      Sometimes our hidings or procrastinations can bring disastrous results. Jonah did not want to follow God’s directions and ended up in the belly of the whale! In the end, Jonah finally obeyed God’s directions. We will all be much better off if we do not hide from our problems. Its time to face reality and pull our heads out of the sand and out from under the cedar tree bark! In Psalms 27:5 David tells us that: “For in the time of trouble he (God) shall hide me in his pavilion”. The only hiding we need to do is allowing God to hide us and take care of us!

A Short Life on Planet Earth

    A couple of days ago I stepped out my front door and saw some mushrooms that had just started to sprout up on my front lawn. My first reaction was to get rid of them lest they spoil my immaculately manicured lawn. Instead, intrigued by the suddenness of their appearance, I grabbed my camera and shot a few pictures of them.

   The next morning I went back to check on them and was surprised to see that the mushrooms had already opened up their umbrellas and were fully matured.

   By that afternoon the mushrooms were already shrinking up and starting to die.
  

    The next day they were totally shriveled up and had crumpled to the ground.






    Many types of mushrooms have a very short life span. They can literally grow up overnight, reach full maturity by mid-day, and then shrivel up and die by late afternoon on a hot day!

    People have varied feelings on how long our lives last. Young people tend to think that life passes by very slowly, and can hardly wait until they grow up and are able to do the things that adults do. As we get older life seems to pass by in a blur with each year passing by quicker that the last.

    In the Bible James talks about our brief period of life on Earth. James 4:14 asks “For what is your life?” and then James says life “is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away”. I guess if we compare our life on Earth to the eternity we plan on spending in Heaven, it would be very insignificant indeed. In light of our short life on Earth, James further admonishes us, in verse 15: “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

    I think James is trying to get across the message that life is too short to make big mistakes. Recovering from a bad career choice or picking the wrong wife or husband, can take years. We should seek the Lord’s will in everything we do. We don’t always get an answer from God when we pray; but at least we give him a chance to speak to us, in case we are about to make a wrong decision. The Lord’s Prayer also admonishes us to pray “thy will be done”. Pray, seek God’s will, and follow God’s plan and enjoy life on planet Earth!