Blueberries

John 9:
35Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

This weekend my family and I went to Tyler, Texas to pick blueberries. This has been a tradition for quite some time. Growing up, I attended Sky Ranch in Van, and we would stop after summer camp to pick blueberries. I can never remember actually picking them, but I sure did eat a lot of them. Last summer my parents picked without me when they came to see me at Pine Cove. My mom decided we needed to go again this summer, even though there was no camp involved (sadly). So on Saturday we headed out for a day trip...

My mom and I went out to the field first. There were storms rolling in so it was a breezy, dark afternoon with a wonderful grey sky and sound of thunder rolling in. It was awesome. Mom had told me that the best blueberries can just be raked off the branch with little effort. So the goal was to find a large clump of ripe berries and just start raking. I kept finding them and then not being able to get to them. They would be way up high, or just out of reach. So...I started getting under the trees. Once I got under there, there was soooo much to see. I could definitely get to more, but still I couldn't get them all. I kept commenting to Mom, "There are just soooo many. I want to get them all, but I just can't...I need someone to hold my bucket while I rake...I need someone to give me a boost..." There were so many blueberries to get, just not enough hands to get them.

Immediately the verse came to mind..."The harvest is plenty yet the workers are few." Oh how true this is! If there had been 10 of us we could have gotten SO many blueberries. My mom and I picked 31 lbs., but there were sooo many lbs out there. It would take one man literally years to pick all those berries. I think all of America could eat off that one field if all the berries were picked. It just blew my mind. I was determined though. I wanted to get all those berries. Finally my mom said to me, "You know, we are going to have to leave some on the trees and go in, Ash." My heart sank..."Narrow is the road, and few find it." All those berries would go to waste. I just didn't get it. So many berries had all ready fallen to the ground. They were never going to be harvested. But there were yet so many more to be harvested...they were ripe and ready.

Isn't this true in life? There are so many that are there, waiting to know the Lord. Waiting to be harvested, yet there are so few that want to make the effort to help them and bring them in. I mean picking blueberries is a JOB...it is hard work. I got extremely dirty climbing under trees...I sweat picking blueberries. I had to go through prickley branches. I had to reach out. I had to stand on my tippy-toes. Don't you think that working for the Lord is hard too. I mean take harvesting blueberries and multiply it times a number I cannot grasp and that is what harvesting people is like. You have to get dirty. You have to go out into the field. You have to reach, and stand tall, and even wait for them to all ripen. It is a sweat breaking, timely process. But they are there. I am guessing that most of you have walked down the "rows" of your life and are convinced that there are no more blueberries to be harvested. Have any of you gotten under the tree?...Have you crawled through the prickley branches? I guarantee if you did that you would see that there are tons of berries to be harvested. We need to get busy...we are working for the Lord...His harvest is plenty...just look around...

Lord, send your workers out into your field.

Trust, Rest and Find Peace

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. Psalm 62:1

My only rest comes from being in God's presence. The minute that I am out of His presence, that rest is gone. Today has been one of those days. I just want to run from work and seek the face of the Lord. I want to go to a place where I can get on my face and pour my heart out to Him. I find that when I am not in this rest and His presence, trusting Him becomes harder and harder. I am on edge, and my mind and my heart argue. Peace, rest and trust...this is all found in the Lord's presence. My soul is not at rest today because my heart has been dependent on other things and has trusted in other matters and people. HE is the only presence that I can experience that true peace, rest, and trust.

Lord may this be true in my heart. May I seek that rest in You, and only You. May I know that You are my only Deliverer and Prince of Peace. You are rest. Thank you that even when I am off, you are there. Even when I fail to trust You and rest in You, You seek me and pursue me. May I cast my burdens off and put You on. I love you, Lord.

Rich Mullins - Hold me Jesus

"Well sometimes my life just don't make sense at all
When the mountains look so big
And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus 'cause
I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It's so hot inside my soul I
swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus 'cause
I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need

And I've beat my head against so many walls
Now I'm falling down
I'm falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin

I'm singing hold me Jesus 'cause
I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace "

worship

I'm not really sure where this post will go, but here it goes. Today I was sitting at my computer for a moment (I don't get to do this often.), and I read a short email from a friend and rested from the amazingly stimulatated day. Wow. It was a breath of air, and something from the bottom of my soul and spirit knew I needed to be with the Lord. So I walked out of the office saying that I would be back in 5 minutes. I went straight out to the hospital gardens and sat with tears streaming down my face. I wanted to just be with the Lord. I wanted to tell Him how much I loved Him and saw Him work in SO many things around me...really, EVERYTHING. I was just overtaken with this desire to just worship Him. It was incredible. This is something that hasn't happened often in my faith journey - I think I tend to remember the overwhelming, cherished times with the Lord. But the last few weeks, I have been amazed by Him. I feel like everytime that I stop and meet with someone in the hospital to help them find their way or I strike up conversation with a random child that I meet, that I SEE the Lord's face. I see purpose in that moment. It has been a long time since that the Lord has stimulated me this much. I am finding that instead of turning back to praise Him, I just stand there sometimes. So today I took that time to worship Him. I took that time to TELL Him all that I see Him in and how awesome He is! It was wonderful. I wanted to just cry out to Him in my office, but decided to move my time to the garden. After talking with the lady that disciples me, she encouraged me to continue to do this. She says that I must take this time to worship Him in order to rest...even if it is in the middle of my job. It was 5 minutes, and I don't think anyone knew I was missing.

The hospital can be very overstimulating on a regular day, but when you are seeking the Lord and searching to see His face and glory, it is even more stimulating and REAL! He is REAL! Worship is to revere. I must credit the Lord for the work He is doing. I must honor HIM for the amazing things I see daily. He has a hand on it. I must honor Him for the cheer and passionate love He has given to me for the people I meet daily.

I love my job and I love doing it on a daily basis. But it was never intended to be my job...the Lord put me there to revere Him, to honor Him, to glorify Him...It is a place of worship for me. I have found that a sanctuary can be anywhere where you take the time to MEET with the Lord. I met with Him today.

He is so good, He is so good to me.