View from the Mountains

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Gatlinburg. We weren't able to actually drive up into the mountains because of the ice and snow. However, we were able to get a few pictures at the top of the Sky Lift and on the bypass from Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge. Enjoy!


This was the view from our balcony. The sounds of the river were like a lullaby.






Above are just a few different views of the mountains.





Finally, just a few odds and ends of some of the beautiful sights we experienced.

Have a blessed day!
Cindy

Be Still...

It seems that at least every other post from me is about snow. Can you tell that I LOVE snow. There is something so peaceful about a snowy day. I love to watch out the front door and just enjoy the serenity of the snowflakes floating down to the white blanket. My family loves to tease me (but for me it is NO joke!) because I do not allow anyone to walk in the front yard when it snows. I don't want the beauty of the perfectly made bed of snow messed up. They can play in the side yards or up on the hill in the back of the house, but stay out of my front yard! For some reason, Major, our big baby of a dog, can't seem to grasp this concept just yet.

The snow seems to bring with it a mood of self-reflection for me. Maybe, it is because I have extended amounts of quiet time in the mornings when we have a snow-day. The kids sleep late. I can enjoy a cup of coffee and take a much longer time for my Bible study and prayer time than on a 'normal' morning. Whatever the reason, I am so thankful that God gives me this time and speaks to me through His Word and the quiet moments of the morning.

This morning, I started a study of Esther. (Our women's Bible Study groups at church are using Charles Swindoll's guide.) My particular group has decided to also do a daily study so that we can touch base daily and be in the Word daily. Then, to go along with this, I'm using the New Inductive Study Series to help me look at Esther more in depth.

This morning's study for me was an overview or survey of the book and reflecting on how life can sometimes be disappointing in that it doesn't always turn out the way WE planned. Still, through every circumstance and disappointment we should seek the Lord. It could be that He will bring us out of the situation completely. Or maybe there is a reason He has us in the difficult situation that is part of a bigger plan for our lives. What I often struggle with is the seeking Him. How? When? Where?

Well, back to the snow...no, it doesn't have to snow to seek Him. However, the snow is a reminder of how to seek the Lord.



Psalm 46:10 (NIV) says, "Be still, and know that I am God." To know God and to be able to hear Him we have to listen. To listen, we have to be quiet or STILL. If you walk outside when it is snowing, especially in the morning before others are out and about, it is so peaceful. It is an awesome reminder to just BE STILL! The New American Standard Version says, "Cease striving...." Other translations and paraphrases use words such as "Pay attention, relax, calm down, or desist" to tell us to BE STILL AND LISTEN. We get so busy that we either just get ourselves worked into a tizzy about our circumstances or we just seek the advice of everyone around us when we face problems or we seek the advice from the latest 'self-help' book, but we so often forget to seek the Lord, to search in THE BOOK and be still and listen for His advice and guidance.

My prayer for myself and for anyone reading this today is that we would all BE STILL, CALM DOWN, CEASE STRIVING and realize that GOD IS GOD. He is in control of every circumstance and situation we find ourselves in today. Listen for what He has to say to us.

Lots of love,
Cindy

White as Snow

"Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow..." Isaiah 1:18

I love the snow! I love snow days! Two snow days in a row...well, that's a bonus!
I know some people, even teachers, don't like the snow. But I like everything about it...almost everything. (I don't like driving in it. That actually works for me though because it means I get to stay home.)

When you think about snow, it really is an amazing thing! Each tiny little snowflake is unique. Plus, those little flakes can stack and pile together to create this...



Only an all powerful, awesome God could orchestrate such a thing!

How appropriate that the prophet Isaiah would use snow to compare how white/clean we can be when Jesus washes our sins away.




The snow day also gave me the motivation to do something I had been putting off for some time...clean out my closet! It took Brooke and me most of the afternoon to finish this overwhelming task. 3 giant garbage bags later and 3 boxes later...



I felt great! Only things that fit and that I actually wear are in there now. There is nothing that doesn't belong. Then this morning, I was still in bed enjoying the quiet of the house, this verse came to my mind: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10






I was struck with how my thoughts of the snow and cleaning out my closet can all relate to how God cleans us out and renews a right way of thinking and living within us. Another translation of this verse uses the word pure for clean and the word steadfast for right. That is what I want...a heart that is pure, free from anything contaminating and a spirit that is steadfast, fixed in direction and firm in purpose.





Enjoy the snow!

Cindy