In my life, things are so fast-paced that one day fades into the next; the week-ends come and go and I find breathers when I can. Part of this hectic pace is the fact I work at a treatment center where we have a great deal of paperwork. We tell what the clients have done, what they are going to do, and what we think about what they've done. We have all kinds of forms that go into files, in order, over and over and over again.
I call it, "quite a tap dance." I don't know why I picked up that name it just seemed to fit. Our agency has had dozens of people come and leave, unable or unwilling to keep up the frantic pace. Not too long ago we voted to join a Union, now several months, I find I am not as pressured to work later, longer and harder. I'm strongly encouraged to take on more work but the threats of losing my job are not an issue. Sixty-two and I'm in my first Union, to me that's very wierd. I can see that over time, Unions gain strength within an organization and business. They can unite to mobilize and change practices and principles. To force change, if you will. In some real ways they provide a valuable service, they are "back up" to insure people are treated a certain way.
Today on my noon walk, I was joined by another counselor. We walked yesterday through the hills and woods near our agency. The late summer heat, rich, ripe blackberries added to the ambiance of forested hills with a picturesque winding trail. It was a beautiful walk. Today, my walking partner decided to switch it up and we walked our route backwards. How surprising to find that the grade was steeper going backwards, for a longer period of time. Part way up a long strech of steep road, breathing heavily my companion asked me, "Do you need to stop and rest?" Me, stubbornly perhaps, forced my voice to sound normal and answered, "No, I'm good, " continuing to climb, pain searing my leg muscles. 
On the walk we discussed end times. He, a Bible student knew so many facts and details I knew nothing about. It was intriguing to me to learn how current events were playing into the last days. For certain I could not follow every detail but it was chilling to realize that perhaps five years from now life as we know it would be radically changed for everyone.
Through the woods finally, I asked him to walk further and I would show him an apple tree with wonderful apples. Some seventeen blocks later, in a parking lot we reached up and picked beautiful, ripe green apples blushed with red. "They're really good I told him, take more than one." He listened and together munching the sweet white meat we walked back to the treatment center.
In the Bible, the disciples did not realize it was Jesus with them until they walked and talked together. There is something very special about finding people to share your thoughts about your faith with. Discovering common goals, core truths it much like going back to your home town and finding some of the old places still intact.
God intended us to be in fellowship with Him and with each other. Talking about the things of God has a richness to it that nothing else can match. It is as if a third presence was on our walk, God Himself. The Bible says, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them. I believe it, God-infused moments are special, much like those sweet, ripe apples plucked at their peak.
Someone who loves music can appreciate the tonal complexity of a composition when they hear it. It resonates with their soul. Someone without Christ as their Savior cannot hear the melody at all when God is being talked about. It is as if they are watching life on a black and white televsion. They are missing so much of what is really there.
Jesus said, "I have come to bring them life and more abundantly." Dare today to believe and move forward in your life finding a deeper joy and sense of wonder in little things. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if we are in Christ and He in us, how much wonder to we have yet to behold? Today, open your heart and ask God to give you insight into His plan for your life. Begin by asking Him to forgive yours sins, and to come into your heart and life.
John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, abundant everlasting life. Have a wonderful blessed day.
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