LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

I had a lovely day of a little more relaxation. I went on a pretty long car trip with some of the family today so I was able to just sit, read, pray, and knit. How nice. When I got home, I felt so much better that I thought it was finally time to get out in the garden and weed a bit. I did very little so as not to be unwise in challenging my back. I feel considerably stronger today and it seemed nice to do some real work. Got a little dusting done as well. Clint got the lawn mowed and he managed to completely obliterate one large stalk of hollyhocks--not good. I can't imagine how that happened since these flowers were so tall and stately and OBVIOUS. Oh, well.

One of you made a comment about flowers of odd colors popping up in the garden--I can identify with that! I had that happen during the "pastel stage" in the English Garden. A gallardia (sp?) suddenly flowered and they are so bright orange and yellow that it looked out of place. I will either try to move it so that it is next to more compatible colors for next year, or the other solution I read about involves the creative use of color. A book I looked at suggested that white flowers "take down" the color of others around them. For instance, the gallardia's bright effect could be minimized if surrounded by white flowers. Yellow flowers will do the opposite and magnify and intensify the other colors around them. Which brings me to another point......

I was wondering what to write about today and when we took an evening ride around Colon's pretty lakes, I suddenly knew. In case you don't know, Colon has always been known for it's large celebration of the Fourth of July. Besides a huge parade and midway, the people around the lakes set off red flares in their yards at about 9:45pm on July 3rd. The lakes light up with a beautiful string of red torches. It's really lovely to see. It reminded me of how we can be "lights" for the Lord. The flares immediately reminded me of Matthew 5;16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." When we first drove around the lake only one flare was lit. On the return trip nearly every house had flares in the yard, creating a beautiful bright light. Isn't that like the flowers we were just discussing? Some flowers intensify the effect of others. We as Christians need to be lights that encourage others to enter the kingdom of light. When there is just one light, it is very obvious, but a great effect is created by many lights illuminating the darkness. I don't want to be like the white flowers, taking down the effect of others. I want to be a light in darkness, one who encourages others to be lights.

I hope you will enjoy a lovely Independence Day with family and friends tomorrow. It's one of our favorite holidays around here. Our front yard is a prime spot for viewing fireworks without fighting the traffic in town. Remember what it means to be an American, thank God for your freedom, pray for this nation, and meditate on the freedom that Christ gives! Blessings, LORI