Be still my beating heart! 🫢

I’d drawn near to the edge of this pond to snap off a pic of a limb floating about in the water. I was thinking to use it to punctuate another writing (no, not this one) and I’d literally JUST finished praying and asking GOD for His protection….when…WOW! I startled this gator! Or rather it, indeed, did a very fine job of startling me! Its great splash nearly got me all wet! 😱

It’s difficult to say which of the two of us moved faster! I went one way and it went the other! We both no doubt felt we’d dodged a bullet! How very hospitable of it to return so quickly to the scene so I could capture this video! 🤪

You know, LORD! I’d not have had much of a chance had You not gone ahead of me to chase this gator off in advance! I’m so very grateful to be left standing in the wake of it! A song of praise springs from my lips and fills my heart…

…But, then…as I walk away…for some reason I become more focused on who’s to blame! Berating myself for having exhibited such careless behavior! Everyone knows better than that down here in South Carolina! It doesn’t pay to be distracted around water! And that pic of a floating limb certainly wasn’t worth losing a limb over! Sadly, I allowed these kinds of thoughts to have free rein. They pretty much took over and so I felt utterly to blame, especially when we see gators at the pond nearly every day! Sheesh! Darn! Shucks! (…I reckon by now you, as the reader, already know the drill!)

I return home, feeling a bit out of sorts, a little bit embarrassed, a little more tarnished. I’ve commenced doing my chores but keep feeling a Nudge. I’m drawn back to once again view the video tape. This time I note the embankment’s drop a bit more accurately… and I can see that it curves in with such a tight tuck that, actually….I’d have NEVER seen that gator from the angle of my approach! Sigh.

Why was I so quick to absorb some sort of blame into myself?

Thank You, LORD, for having my front, my back, my top, bottom and every side! Truly, Your angel encamps around those who revere and fear You most! I can clearly see I’ve been presented quite a boon! It’s in little lessons much like this one, that I am reaffirmed and better learn about Your view! I can be so quick to assume false guilt and/or wrongly judge! The enemy’s attempt was to steal Your glory and rob me of Joy! What better Quality of Conversation might I have enjoyed, had I not been beating myself up about something long gone! GOD, You’re so merciful, tender and kind! I will sing all the day long about Your Good! I’ll offer up praise for the fact You always have my back! You are truly amazing and wanting and willing to realign my less sterling habits, even those directed towards myself! It’s always an outside-the-box-kind-of-thing when it comes to You! And that’s one of my most favorite things about You, too!

“Even if our thoughts tell us that we have done something wrong, we still will not be afraid of GOD. We can trust GOD more than we trust our thoughts. He already knows everything about us.” 1 John 3:20 EASY

I encourage you, dear friend; seek HIS heart! If you won’t mind too much going back to the top where all this got started you might be able to see the shape of the white glare on the surface of the pond. Did I orchestrate any of this? No. I couldn’t if I tried! There’s One greater than me Who connects all the dots, inspires the scenes, shapes the lessons, and opens the doors!

Godspeed in your own Journey! Be blessed, dear friend!