The Garden of My God

O, cease to heed the glamour
That blinds your foolish eyes,
Look upward to the glitter
Of stars in God's clear skies.
Their ways are pure and harmless
And will not lead astray,
Bid aid your erring footsteps
To keep the narrow way.
And when the sun shines brightly
Tend flowers that God has given
And keep the pathway open
That leads you on to heaven.

~Final Stanza, Robert Frost - God's Garden,  1890

We stood in our bedroom, Kellie and I, overlooking the city below, illuminated in the shadow of volcano Pacaya. Our words were spoken with silence as we reflected on the recent days that brought us to this place that stills our breath with both beauty and pain.

My question that was once often asked... "is there really a God?" has been answered for me through steps of willful obedience through moments of dissatisfaction in life. 

I was a grocer. Kellie was a teacher. We had problems, unhappiness, bad decisions, bills, and the grass grew more than I wanted to push the lawn mower. And yet... God came to us and gave us crazy ideas.

I look back and everything good in our life was given to us by impossible God moments. Caleb was born although we were infertile. Aleksandra came to us via Russia, beating the odds of a fatal disease. Sterling came to us via China, beating the odds of a premature birth and abandonment on the street.

With a trumpet and a shout we marched around our home and saw God deliver us a way to beat an upside down mortgage. We stepped out on faith with 10 suitcases and planted our feet in the soil of Guatemala.

Whoever you are... I need to tell you-- whatever you may think, this is evidence for me that the God of the Bible indeed exists. I find myself here... inexplicably.

My only qualification is that God has called me here. Oddly, that is simultaneously terrifying and comforting. I am not qualified to be here... and yet God has chosen me to be here and He has made the path straight in front of me.

I am in this odd place of accepting my limitations while I yield to the wisdom and plan of an almighty God who more than compensates for my shortcomings.

I do not know where you are in your life... but I do know that you are at a pivotable point. We all are. Whatever decision you face today... yield to the wisdom of God. I think of Moses when he questioned God and found a serpent in his hand where there had been a walking stick.

God gets our attention when necessary.

What glitters in our eyes?