a good cause...

i've heard about toms shoes and thought the concept was very cool, and then i did some research.  not only are they not a non-profit organization, but the shoes they give away are not like the ones we can buy here in the states, the shoes are very expensive for my budget, and they are not an outwardly christian organization.  but today i discovered that payless is working together with world vision to give a pair of shoes to a child for each pair of "hope" airwalks you buy for $19.99!  nice...

the good shoe project....check it out!

love this place {time to pack and go}...

we are heading to one of our favorite places on this earth....palmetto bible camp!  this photo (of my brother, looking over the lake at camp) was taken a few years ago in the fall (which is why there are no leaves on the trees!).  we spend a week at camp each summer, when it tends to be very green and very warm!

although this photo is not one of the most beautiful of camp, it's not so much the beauty of the campus that i love and look forward to each summer.  don't get me wrong, camp is truly a wonderfully glorious piece of property, nestled in the mountain foothills and situated near a huge lake.  i especially love camp in autumn, for here (unlike the coast where i live) the tree leaves actually paint the sky with shades of auburn, crimson, and gold and the air is crisp and cool.

what i love about going to camp, the anticipation that builds over weeks, days, and then hours as we wind our way down the roads that lead us there, are the people.  i love my brothers and sisters and the relationship we share in Christ and i experience true joy when i get to see each one and greet them again.  they are beautiful people, radiating God's love.

Our mouths were filled with laughter,
   our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
   “The LORD has done great things for them.”
  The LORD has done great things for us,
   and we are filled with joy.
psalm 126:2-3

see and know {it is good}...

as i lay on the beach today, enjoying what will be the first of many warm and sunny summer days ahead, a dear friend of mine was traveling through oregon with her sweet boys and hubby, on their way to WA.  she posted this photo...

it's SNOWING in oregon! 

and i was reminded about just how very awesome is our God...


I will put in the desert
the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
the fir and the cypress together,
so that people may see and know,
may consider and understand,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
isaiah 41:19-21

my Lord God is near...

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."  What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way our Lord God is near us whenever we pray to him?  And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?  Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.  Deuteronomy 4:5-9

and then...

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.  Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.  1Peter 2:9-12

**********
i read the deuteronomy passage twice this morning, in two totally different place/contexts {God obviously had something He wanted me to hear and see and learn this morning}.  so here are my thoughts...

* God is the same today as he was yesterday.  His word in Deuteronomy is his word in 1Peter is his word alive and working in me right now, today.
* I must live as a part of his nation, his people every day, because my decisions affect not only me but show others who he is.  I am responsible for others knowing that my God is an awesome God.
* I must guard my heart and soul and dwell in his word every moment of every day.  I can not forget.

I've been weary.  God is my strength, and He alone sustains me.  His word truly is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path....