Joy on the Journey

A good friend and I were talking the other day about how we seem to have this terrible habit of always looking ahead to the next thing we'll be doing.  Some of my thoughts currently are "As soon as I can finish editing this wedding video," "As soon as I finish post-production on The Revised Register," "As soon as summer gets here," "As soon as, as soon as..."  I think you get the picture.  I can never wait for the next thing to happen, for the next bend in the road.  And I am finding that, all too often, I fail to enjoy the journey.  It's the cares of tomorrow and the regrets from the past that often burden us down.  If we would focus our attention on the task at hand and learn to enjoy the scenery as it passes by, life would be so much happier!

Paul had learned this lesson.  In Philippians 4:11 he says “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”  Contentment begins with a state of gratitude.  If we would make a conscious decision to thank God for everything, we would soon see that even those things that we don't like and would rather forget about have a very specific purpose.  And even if we cannot see that at this time through our mortal eyes, we can learn to look through the eyes of faith and know that someday, all things will be made plain.  I heard an interesting thought at church a couple of weeks ago:

"It's easy to lift up our concern,
 It's easy to lift up our praise,
 But can we lift up our concern as a praise?"

Think about that for a moment!  Let those words sink in...  Can we truly thank God for everything?  It not only is a command to rejoice and give thanks in everything, but it is also a privilege.  So let's stop fretting about the past and worrying for the future.  Let's stop biding our time while we wait for something truly glorious to happen.  Because if we don't, we'll soon see that the glorious mirage we saw in the distance will all too soon become the very dull present, and another glorious mirage will be on the horizon.  I am going to start enjoying the gift of the present, how about you?

Four Days Late

Blog post

I have really enjoyed this rental vehicle we have during our stay here in Maryland. One thing I have really enjoyed is the satellite radio it has. I found a wonderful Southern Gospel music station the other day ~ XM34. Anyway, yesterday this song came on called "Four Days Late" by Karen Peck. That has become my latest favorite song. It tells the story of Lazarus dying and Martha sending Jesus the message and Jesus waiting four days before getting there. But the final words of the chorus were the ones that really grabbed me. "But His way is God's way, not yours or mine. And isn't it great, when He's four days late, He's still on time." Wow! How many times have we gotten discouraged because we don't have an immediate answer to our prayers? But think of it! God works on His time, not ours! His ways are perfect, and even when He's four days late according to our timetable, He is always right on time. Praise God!

Vacation

As many of you know, our family is currently on vacation in Maryland.  I thought you all would like to know that I'm posting pictures I take with my iPod onto an album on Picasa as often as possible.  I'm embedding a slideshow of those photos below, so make sure and check back every once in awhile to view them!  Or you can click on this link to view them on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/joelcsutherland/MarylandVacation?feat=directlink

A sheep's testimony

The Lord is my Shepherd; I don't think that I will ever be in want...  You see, He makes me lie down in the greenest of pastures and leads me beside the clearest still water.  All of this restores my soul.  He even gets me into the paths of righteousness, all because I claim His name!  I'm really enjoying life right now.  But I just happened to look ahead.  It looks really scary!  There's a valley up there that has the very shadow of death hanging over it!  Can I trust the Shepherd to lead me safely through?  I suddenly realize that I have no other option.  I realize that He has shown His love to me and He will never let me down.  I throw myself at His feet and promise to follow Him even through the valley of death.  So even as I walk through that valley, I am not afraid!  The Shepherd Himself is with me, and His rod and staff comfort me.

Now that my love and confidence in the Shepherd have grown and He has proved that I will follow Him wherever He leads me, He is able to prepare a banquet for me, right where all my enemies can see it.  He anoints my head with oil and fills my cup of joy to overflowing.  Goodness and mercy follow me for the rest of my life and I dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Friday Night

Here's a video I did on Friday night.  If you want to watch it in HD, you'll have to watch on Vimeo rather than here...


I just had a bug to shoot some video this evening, so I pulled out my Canon PowerShot SD980 IS and did some filming.  Then I went to the keyboard and recorded the music for it.  Hope you enjoy. :)



Instrument samples used in this recording are from the Garritan Personal Orchestra.

Truth and Error

We've been getting firewood for the last few days on Ft. Greeley.  It's burned over wood, so it is very hard and dry and burns very well.  Anyway, Mom pointed to two trees to cut down, and I cut down the first one and then turned to the second.  But Mom made motions to forget that one.  Wondering why, I looked up and realized that it was scarcely 6 inches taller than me!  Looking down towards the bottom where I would have been cutting, it looked like any other tree, but as I looked up, I realized that it was very short.  I immediately thought of a practical application.  The Bible warns us to be ware of false teachers.  But how can you tell who speaks truth?  A lot of things people say sound logical, but as we compare it with the Word of God and look up to Jesus, truth shines forth and falsehood stands out in all its bitter ugliness.

Later on, we were on the other side of the tree and I noticed something else.  The tree which looked so solid on the other side was actually hollow.  This reminds me that we should be careful that we don't just appear like good Christians while on the inside we are empty and worthless.  Let us each pray that God will fill us with His love and grace.  He is the Author and Finisher of our faith and will perfect us each until we are fitted to enter heaven.

Thoughts on trust...

"Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee,

      Trust Him when thy faith is small,

            Trust Him when to simply trust Him. . . 

                   Seems the hardest thing of all."

                               ~ Author Unknown