The Creation

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2 Corinthians 5:17

This afternoon, instead of doing school, Alexis, Caleb, Seth and I (Kimber) went out to help daddy who was burning some brush and branches. Daddy and I (I operated a tractor and daddy cut the trees down) cut most of our pine trees down in our front yard area - especially near the road, last year. One of daddy's many, wonderful visions is to have the whole front of our 11 acres of property cleared, with some oak trees about 10-15 feet apart, while daffodils and other perennials would cover the cleared, forest floor in-between. Isn't that such a beautiful picture??!!! Anyways, we started clearing out the front of our house last year and then it kinda' stopped and we started it again this year. It's a lot of hard work but the beautiful Fall weather and the end result makes it worth it (especially when you're seeing what it would look like years down the road). While we were macheting volunteer trees scattered here and there I was thinking back to the early days of America. I have a hard enough time clearing less than 1/8 of an acre of property in 4 hours (with 4 other people) and yet men and women, in the pioneer days, sacrificed sweat and blood and cleared hundreds upon hundreds of acres just for their crops and homes. And many times, after all that excruciating work, there would be a fire or infestation of plant-eating insects and their crops that would provide them much-needed food and money for 1 year would be gone in a matter of minutes and once again they'd have to go out in the fields and plant and hoe - and hopefully harvest...but you never know. Here I am feeling tired for really doing no work at all. What I consider "hard work" would be a breeze for them back in those pioneering days. Mankind was created to work but our flesh says no because work is hard and sometimes there's no reward at all (most of the time there is at the end). As we walked through our many trails today (once we decided to stop working) and I saw the sun peering through the lofty trees, scarcely reaching the forest my heart burst with thanksgiving to Jesus. It was so beautiful...breathtaking!!! His creation is so majestic! It took daddy lots of time and sacrifice to clear those trails but once you get to the reward of walking those leaf-scattered trails and look at the many different shapes and designs of the things around you, you just have to know there's a God (Romans 1:20) and that he made these things for His glory and for our enjoyment! That's why I love my Creator and the country. When you're surrounded by leafy trees and blooming flowers in the country it shows you the touch of the Master's Hand. How can man say it was an explosion that caused these things? (Genesis 1:1)

Willingly Jesus',
Kimber