For some reason we’ve had some 70-plus-degree days here in February. Not exactly north Texas winter weather temps. I’m not complaining. I enjoy walking around the neighborhood without a heavy jacket or a hat. This unusually warm spell won’t last long, so I’m taking advantage of it. The lake is down the hill from my house. I haven’t walked down there yet because I’m not sure I could make it all the way back up that hill. But that’s life, right, small hills today lead to higher hills tomorrow. 

The doorbell rang. It was almost dark and I wasn’t expecting anyone. My 9-year-old great grandson smiled at me through the glass in the front door. How sweet of him to visit! Of course, he knows I always have his favorite cookies at my house. As I hugged and gave him a kiss on top of his head, I thought how precious he is to me! Then I thought if I feel this way, as a flawed human being, how much more does God, who IS Love, love each one of us individually as his most precious child!

A pastor said the young people in his church were using the term touch grass to express their faith in a real, caring God. Whenever someone grew anxious about a situation or expressed a doubt, a friend would say, “Touch grass!” Sometimes we all need to be reminded that a powerful, creative Being is in control. He not only created the grass that covers the solid earth we walk on, but he also created us and all the rest of the universe. Touch grass, he can handle it.

When I first wake up, my brain starts off the day pinballing various thoughts around. Some are good but many are memories of yesterday’s anxieties and failures. I push out my negative thoughts, get up, thank God for another day and fill my mind with the day’s business. Worrying about the physical, things I can see and touch, reminds me most everything I‘m concerned about is temporary. It’s not long for this world. It’s not real. What’s really real is what’s going to be here forever.

Soft, fluffy flakes drifted past my windows covering the grass below. The little red-headed boy across the street stood out in the road letting snowflakes melt on his tongue. Snow in north Texas, real snow, not the icy mix we usually get in the winter! Kids could make snowballs and build snow men. Scooping up the white flakes, they were able to mold the snow however they wished. May we be as flexible and moldable under God’s gracious hand.

Terms once complimentary can be turned into something derogatory. One of those terms is bleeding hearts. Once the words were used to describe a sincere desire to help those less fortunate. They were associated with the love and generosity of our Savior. Now they are used to insult those who wish to support the needy in our world as overly sympathetic simpletons. How have we come to this! We who are charged with words from our Savior himself to care for the stranger, fatherless and widows among us! Lord, help us!

As believers Scripture tells us we are the body of Christ, but sometimes I wonder about myself. When I look at myself it’s difficult to imagine such a thing. I’m far from perfect and Christ is absolutely perfect. Can there be any faulty cells in Christ’s Body? I know the answer; there are no faulty cells. That’s what this season is all about. He came as a human in the same way as us, a helpless baby, and lived and died in perfect submission to his Father. He knew we couldn’t live perfectly so he did it for us. He is perfect and in him we are perfect too. Thank you, Lord!

My grocery cart was stuck on the curb. As I struggled to release it, a car stopped and a young man jumped out, ran over and lifted the cart off the curb and onto the street. Without a word he returned to his car and waited there blocking traffic until I and my contrary cart were across the street. How often do you meet an angel in a Snoopy sweatshirt and a Santa hat at the Walmart parking lot!

My prayer life can be a mess sometimes. It’s not just interruptions, although they can be a problem. I find it hard to focus as a multitude of thoughts try to bully themselves into the front of my attention. So many items hanging around on my to-do list. Did I forget to call someone or reply to a text or email. When I realize what’s happening I pause, tell God I’m sorry and remember three words. When I’m talking to my Father, I need to be concentrating on being thankful, thoughtful and absolutely truthful with him.

Like most of you, I pray every day for my family, my friends and others who need God’s help. My prayers are for their various needs, but always they’re for their safety. I pray for lots of angels to go with them wherever they go, to hover all over and around them and keep them safe. Then one day, it came to me, why am I asking for so many angels. Wouldn’t one angel be quite enough?