Refreshed and Renewed

Will on the green – so excited!

Three days later, we traveled far, far, far away to the mountains of West Virginia. The views were spectacular! Below is a view from a tram you can take from the top of the mountain to the bottom.

I detest heights. My daughter, who was with me when this was taken, was the one telling me that everything would be alright!

The rushing water – seen below – was at the bottom of the mountain. It was beautiful to watch the rapids, ever moving, never stopping. The water was clear and was in constant motion. It brought John 7:38 to mind (today’s scripture.) More on this in a bit!

Leading into the rapids were these beautiful white stones. I know you can’t tell much from the picture, but they were picturesque in person.

I saved a pebble from the stones leading into the rapids. They were ever so smooth. They made me think of the 5 smooth stones from the stream that David put in his shepherd’s bag from 1 Samuel 17. With a simple stone and the power of the Lord God Almighty, Goliath was taken out with one small stone. Oh, friend, how the POWER of God’s Word will take out our Goliath’s if we will just use His Word – memorize it; speak it; pray it; spend time in it…

And though it’s 100 degree’s outside, the Furman house has nearly mentally transitioned into fall as my children started school last week. I feel almost lost without them, but I’m quickly getting used to their absence. Last week I attended to the many loose ends that were dropped over the summer break.

I’m so glad to be back with you. I’ve missed you. And even though this is through electronic mail, many of you write to me. Your stories pierce my heart or make me laugh or make me tear up. I can almost picture you as I write this. Most of you I’ve never met or have maybe only met once. Some of you are college friends or family. Yet I love hearing from you, and I’m thankful that you take time out of your day to read what God is sharing with me.

In West Virginia, we stayed in small, dark cabins. Each night (after eating smores) we dropped the thermostat to 60 degrees, so my family slept late each day. My body clock is trained to go off early in the morning – no matter where we are – so I was up early (coffee in tow!). During these hours alone with my God, I sat by the streams of Living Water (Jesus describes Himself as the Living Water in John 7). The Living Water spoke to me about many things, some of which are far too personal to share here. Other things I CAN HARDLY WAIT to share! It’s rare that I get hours to spend reading my Bible, but I got HOURS while in the mountains. I also now have a new fire in my belly. Hang with me – it involves the times we’re living in…

Anybody freaking out about the stock market plunge?

The High Unemployment?

And how all this affects us as women and moms and wives?

This is where we are going.

So glad to be back!

Love you,