woe is me...

i love the city in the fall. the cool air kissing your nose and the bright colors of the changing leaves dancing on the sidewalks with its lover, the wind.

i take walks all the time to get away and forget about the papers i have to write or the many chapters I have to read. its my escape from reality. the venue from which i can rejuvenate through processing.

as i stroll down the sidewalks of chicago, i notice the yellow leaves littering the ground creating such beauty, but then people walking briskly, taking no notice of the beauty in front of their faces. most seem too set on where to go next, or what they have to do when they get there. they are too busy to enjoy the little things in front of their faces.

i guess that's why i go on those walks. to enjoy. to take it. to remember the little blessings in life that God uses to remind us of His love for us. it is so easy to get caught up in conditions and circumstances. we easily forget what God has saved us out of, because we are too busy complaining about Him not fulfilling our desires or about a circumstance not happening the way we expect.

i am reminded of the changing seasons. how as winter, as dreadful as it may be, approaches us swiftly and without warning, we often forget the joyful times of spring, summer, and fall. the changing colors of leaves bring a smile for a moment before we remember that the change entails the coming of winter. oh how quickly our mind moves to the circumstances and the things to come instead of on enjoying the little things of the moment.

in saying all of this, i just want to encourage. look not on your current circumstances with complaint, through painful or discouraging they may be, but set your focus on the hope laid before you and remember the good times of the past. remember God's blessings in your life before and how He remained faithful, and then look to the future, knowing that God is going to remain faithful through it all. we have a hope as an anchor for our souls through Christ. hold fast to that hope and never let go. though the storms rage wildly and the waves of trials pound vigorously, there is an anchor that secures us, giving us a hope to make it through.

here are verses someone shared with a group of us... verses that encouraged me today:

"so that by two unchangeable thing sin which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil..." [Hebrews 6:18-19]

let us draw near with our requests and our anxieties and our confessions in confidence to the throne of grace. oh how wonderful that we have a great High Priest, who has gone before us. Oh that in confidence, "we may receive the mercy and find the grace to help in time of need" [Hebrews 4:16]