Two sweet mallard couples are making their home at the spring near the barn. The trees are sprouting forth their buds, with leaves getting bigger and bigger. The flowers are shooting up from the ground and gorgeous blooms are taking shape, with some already come and gone.
Fall is my absolutely favorite time of year, but Spring is a close second! The vibrant colors and the cooler temperatures make for some wonderful days and cooler evenings. We are ever grateful for the beauty that surrounds us, and only a God as amazing as our great God could possibly paint the picturesque landscape we behold!
Out walking, whether on the road, through fields, or hiking a new trail, we are exhilarated with the sights, smells and sounds which surround us. How anyone could imagine or try to experience this life without the joy of Christ is beyond anything I see. How one could go through the ups and downs of life we have on this land called earth, would be impossible without the loving grace of Jesus Christ our Savior.
So, yeah, I'm still reading through Ann's book, One Thousand Gifts Devotional, and this paragraph from "Full-Bodied Grace, Devotion 48," jumps out and I read it over, and over, and over again...
"Jesus is about to let flesh be broken with nail, heart be broken with rejection, chains be broken with bleeding love. And in His last hours before His earthly end, He doesn't run out to buy something or catch a flight to go see something, but He wraps a towel around His waist and kneels low to take the feet of His forsakers gently in hand and wash away the grime between their toes."
I am afraid I would want to go see the mountains one last time, go sit under a large waterfall for a final moment, or view a place I have never been before. But not Jesus, no, He is the embodiment of service, He gives in His final moments, gives of Himself as He always has, He is eucharisteo, He gives thanks.
And, I have seen this, seen this eucharisteo, "the eucharisteo that touches body and soul: hands and knees and feet awash in grace." Our family has seen this type of service. "Without the breaking and giving, without the washing of feet, eucharisteo isn't complete. The Communion service is only complete in service. Communion, by necessity, always leads us into community."
We have been gifted and blessed by this Communion service from the receiving end, as we have been going through this journey with my dad and cancer. There has been food, more than any of us could or even should desire, gifts of mowed yards or weedeating, gift cards, an entire barn-raising! And, the love and giving up of continued intercessory prayers is unending. Blessed, yes, we are blessed. Thankful, grateful, full of this eucharisteo, this, "to give thanks," this "thanks-giving."
Thank You!
Always Experiencing Him,
Jody
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