Paint me a picture!

I love when someone paints a mental picture for me - well at least if it's a GOOD mental picture. Yesterday in her email, Laurie gave me a beautiful image to think about. Laurie leaves for work a lot earlier than Stephen does so Stephen drops Kasey off at daycare. But when Kasey hears that his mommy is up and about and getting ready for work, he likes to get up and spend a little bit of time with her. Laurie painted me a picture yesterday of a little boy in his feet pajamas drinking milk from a sippie cup as his mom got ready for work. Sometimes he jibber jabbers as he follows her, but other times he crawls into bed with Daddy and falls asleep for a little while longer. As I sat at my computer reading Laurie's email, I wanted so much to be there to see that picture in person. But, until we get there after Christmas, the mental picture will keep me smiling, just thankful for the fact that my daughter has a happy home and a little boy who follows her around in feet pajamas in the early hours of the morning, slugging down his milk. (Milk, juice, water...Kasey is a slugger - the term sippie cup is an oxymoron for him - no sips for him :).

Of course, we sometimes paint our own mental pictures. For the families of military personnel, it's very easy to let our imagination get the best of us and conger up a mental image that just sort of captures our worry about it all. It's a normal thing to do, (I can tell you that from experience) but it's not a good thing. All we need is to see a bad news report out of the sand. We provide the rest of the picture.

Besides Kasey's picture above, there is another picture that I like to think about. The Lord's capable and loving hands. He holds us all - comforts us when we worry, loves us even when we have a hard time trusting Him and His will. Whenever I worry about things that I can't do anything about, I try to remember that it's all too big for me - and that the Lord is waiting for me to put it in His hands. And not take it back.

Today, this weekend, each moment of every day, picture his outstretched hands. It's a comforting image, isn't it?

God bless our troops wherever they may be serving. Our picture of you is courage, and strength, and all that is good.

Perhaps God's Word in Phillippians 4 gives us the best advice...

"Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things."

God bless your day and thanks for stopping by,

Sue