A Psalm of Praise

Your beauty is beyond compare

It is magnified throughout the Earth.

That which covers the Earth gives you praise

How majestic is your Glory

Your overwhelming love surrounds me

My breath is taken away by your splendor

How awesome it is to experience your grace.

Your artful strokes are displayed for all to see.

As I look out among the fields

I see only beauty, as though a master painter has been hard at work

The colors mix together with such emotion

It is as though it works together to bring you praise

As I stand here with the gentle stillness of the moment

I am taken aback by thought of you.

Your fierce love encompasses all of me

Leaving me vulnerable yet content

All around me the snow falls gently to the ground

The soft silence as each flake hits the ground

Goes unnoticed by all except you

You gently guide each flake as it descends

Your wondrous presence is unavoidable

It is shown through every aspect of creation

From the smallest flake of snow to the highest mountain

I’m caught up in your glory, Hosanna to the highest

So often the Psalmist was speechless

I understand now his thoughts

His inability to shout anything but praise

A glimpse of you is enough to lose oneself in the moment

Being a Good Steward

As I was driving to my neighborhood gas station the other day, I started thinking about how little time to myself I've really had over the last couple weeks. We've been pretty busy at the ranch and when we have off a lot of us end up hanging out for the rest of the day. While I love hanging out with people and getting to know them, I've noticed that I really do need some time of my own to just relax and rest in God, just as Jesus used to go off in solitude, I find the same desire in myself. Here is the problem though. Its not that I haven't had time to myself, I have. Its not even the fact that I haven't had the quantity of time to myself that I would need, I have. The problem is with the fact that I have been a poor steward of that time.

When I have time to myself I tend to waste it on things like video games or sitting on facebook or something like that. I rarely spend it truly resting. That is not to say that those are bad or even not forms of resting, but when I rest I need to be better at understanding what I need to gain rest. Sometimes you need to have those days of simply sitting on the couch and doing absolutely nothing. Other days you need to spend your time alone going on a hike or a bike ride. Either way you have to be intentional about doing what it is that your body really needs. We often do things because it is the thing that is easiest to do, but a lot of the time it ends up just making us more tired and feeling as though we haven't rested. After thinking about this and spending time by myself in a way that allows me to actually rest. Rest is a beautiful thing when done properly. It makes you more energetic and more amiable. I know that during the time when I wasn't really spending time by myself to help me rest I was a little irritable and felt drained most of the time. Now I'm feeling much better and feel ready to do whatever it is that I need to do. We must always be aware of how we are feeling as it affects everyone around us, that is why rest is so vital to our lives.