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Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” John 4:14 MSG   

The background of our blog design gave us reason to pause. A hummingbird. Last summer a hummingbird found it’s way into the studio and frantically looked for his way out.  Louisa tried to catch the little guy but after several unsuccessful attempts decided it best to wait and see if this little fella would settle down a bit.  It was concerning to think of him trapped and possibly unable to be free again. Finally, exhaustion hit and Louisa was able to hold him gently in her hand.  After all of that commotion he must need replenishment. So she brought this tiny little guest to the hummingbird feeder outside the door. Led directly to what he needed he drank and drank. In no time he was replenished and took flight!

His Word satisfies and brings life, even if we need to go backward before moving forward. For me I can be just as scattered in my thoughts and actions as a hummingbird but my pause to look to His Word brings new flight. Drink  more daily!

May your heart be uplifted today.

 Hummingbird Necklace

Every fall, when the painted turtle senses winter coming, she dives to the bottom of her pond, burying herself in the muck and mud. She pulls into her shell and goes still: her heart rate slows, almost stopping. Her body temperature drops, staying just above freezing. She stops breathing, and she waits. For six months, she stays buried, and her body releases calcium from her bones into her bloodstream, so that she slowly begins even to lose her shape.

But when the pond thaws, she will float up and breathe again. Her bones will reform, and she will feel the warmth of the sun o her shell.

I think of the painted turtle when I read the psalmist’s description of waiting for God. The psalmist’s is in the “slimy pit” of “mud and mire,” but God hears him (Psalm 40:2). God lifts him out, and gives him a firm place to stand. God is “my help and my deliverer,” he sings.(v17)

Perhaps it feels like you’ve been waiting forever for something to change- for a new direction in your career, for a relationship to be restored, for willpower to break a bad habit, or for deliverance from a difficult situation. The painted turtle and the psalmist are here to remind us to trust God: He hears and He will deliver.

Special Thanks to Amy Peterson and Our Daily Bread Ministries for permission to share this devotional.

For a time I was a teacher, then middle management in the corporate world and now an entrepreneur.  My
absolute best role is Mom, which is work I love and adore. Where I started out
in my career and what I thought was intended is certainly not where I ended
up.  But each opportunity has taught me
so much about people.  And what I have
known all along is that I care for people. 
My Mom has repeatedly reminded me “that not everyone is like you”,
especially when I didn’t understand the dynamics that were surrounding my
situation at the time.  I have always
been able to observe what I call, “the emotional contortions’ of others” and
I’ll walk away wanting to do or say something that would help. “Really?” Is a
common phrase that you could hear me say which usually means I am inundated with the analysis of things. But I need not analyze.

 And though I would
pray for wisdom time and time again, it turns out I can do nothing without God.
It is Him and Him alone who is the Help. While any one of us can have a
combination of intellect, emotional reaction and will power to bring to our
daily lives, including our work, my sole goal is to live righteously before
Him, with the knowledge of who we are in HIM, we understand the light we carry impacts everything
around us.

So whether I am praying for my most recent load of laundry
to make it through my top loader which is defective, or struggling through a
day with physical pain or praying alongside a world ravaged heart that needs
healing I get it loud and clear. Cancel out the noise of the world and pause
for Audience of One.

In his presence my Heart is Uplifted!