The smoke filled my nostrils and stung my lips, but as I rounded the corner while walking my dog, this was my view.  Now wait a minute….scroll back up and drink in the whole picture….the light stinging the bottom of the green leaves, only to illuminate into brilliance the reds of the maple.

No.  I mean it!  Scroll back up!  You won’t get this if you don’t!

OK.  Let’s continue now…

So I had to stop walking to take it all in.  “He’s got the whole world in His hands…”  Breathless anticipation of what God was speaking to my heart held my feet to the pavement…

Papaw wasn’t much of a singer, but that song he belted out to us as children.  And not just on special occasions…..on every occasion that I remember being together!  He sang the lyrics, but he lived the song.  His life demonstrated his trust in the Creator.  And his love for the Same.  So my wonder began to grow….I think I was likely about 8.

Climbing up into his lap as a young girl, he would tell me stories from the Bible as if they were being lived out before me that moment.  I would snuggle up to his chin as I sat on his lap, legs pulled up almost to my own face with the anticipation of the story that was soon to unfold before me.  He made what was ancient seem new….the stories….the way he told them…the way he believed them.  The way he knew their twists and turns.  He made the Bible seem real…important….even intriguing!  Maybe it was the sparkle in his eye as he talked about the One he loved so much.  Yes, I noticed.  And I wondered…

As I walked into the Tin Roof on Tuesday, one of our newest vendors, Pam (forgive me but I don’t know her last name!) was there, having just put the finishing touches on her booth.  Pam does amazing things with calligraphy…something I have never been able to do!  And her “wall art”- as I have grown to call it- drew me in to her space.

And there it was….”He’s got the whole world in His hands” spelled out on….get this….PINK paper!  Okay, I admit it.  I’m a sucker for pink!  To be the “burlap” sister, how in the world did I grow to love pink so much?!?  Isn’t that the most feminine color imaginable?!?

I digress…stay with me.

As I began to write this blog tonight, the evening news was blaring somewhere in the background.  That in itself is unusual for me.  I don’t normally get home in time to hear the news, nor am I apt to stay up late enough to see it before I hit the sack.  But I have a reason that I want to hear it now more than ever.

Let’s just be real for a minute….I figure that whatever I see out my window in the morning is news enough for me.  I am blessed that most days that is an amazing mountain view and a somewhat skewed view of the rest of the world.  But not this morning…the smoke was thick.

 

Meet my son and my only grandchild. (I know….she’s gorgeous!)  When our children aren’t where we can reach out and touch them, we have to know this…

“He’s got the whole world in His hands….”

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light….I Peter 2:9

I thank God that my sons know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

So there’s my point (just when you thought I didn’t have one!).  Our vendors at The Tin Roof don’t just fill their spaces because they need a dumping place.  They fill their spaces with meaningful things that speak to them.  The delight comes when what they have labored to showcase speaks to someone else…

Wander in to The Tin Roof this week, won’t you?  I guarantee you will find something there that speaks to your heart as Pam’s calligraphy spoke to mine…if you will only take the time to seek….you will find.  And I pray in the midst of the hunt you find Jesus….the One Who has the whole world in His hands….

~Blessings –

Connie