This is the official blog of Chris Thomas, pastor of Belleview Community Church and author of "Wishing for the Day".
Chris Thomas
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Blessings from Belleview: A Blessing Amid the Okras
My okras this year have been a huge success. They sprouted to almost 6 feet and have produced a bundle of okras for me this year. Over the last several weeks, I have watched a vine sprawl where a garden once struggled to grow. The leaves looked familiar. I have seen them somewhere. I decided to let it grow to see what it becomes. I watched it slowly crawl upwards, gingerly wrapping itself in a spiral around the sturdy stalks of the okra bush. Today as I ventured into the garden, I noticed splashes of blue among a green backdrop with a touch of white. I walked to the garden, I gently fingered the soft delicate blue petals of the morning glory plant that has grown and blossomed since the rains of Isaac 2 weeks ago. As I admired the handiwork of nature's beauty before me beneath the late summer afternoon sunlight, I could only ponder the lesson I was being taught by what I was seeing. Summer may be on its way out, but it does not mean the work of beauty has to be ended. For many, this past summer has been a struggle with the heat and the drought, but what remains behind us does not necessarily affect what is to come ahead of us. Especially if we don't allow it to. Soon, the lush green leaves of summer will give way to the vivid brushstrokes of reds, yellows, and orange amid the rocky bluffs between the Illinois and Mississippi River. Each color tinted and highlighted by the soon coming rays of the autumn sun. Yes, the growing season soon be over for many, but God's beauty is far from finished. I admired the beauty that was before me one last time, harvested my last watermelon and casually glanced to the crystal clear blue sky above me. I softly prayed a simple prayer and said, "I can't wait to see what is ahead". I walked away from the last of my garden more blessed than when I went in.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, (Philippians 3:13)
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