Dear Ones,
 
Hope you are enjoying the day. It’s a beautiful sunny day and I look forward to our walk. This morning I studied, did food prep and took fresh bars downstairs for coffee time. Al had an appointment this morning and another this afternoon. I am off to the Mall!
 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
 
We cannot carry the world on our shoulders, and were never meant to do that. Only God can! We have strength to do only what He asks of us, and for that we can be assured He will give us what is needed at the time. I read an article by Alan Shlemon as he tells about how 2020 is taking a toll on our souls, and how we feel responsible to respond to what is taking place in our country and also many parts of the world. We see so many tragic events happening in faraway places, since we have a ringside seat because of technology, but we weren’t created to handle all of it. Prior to the internet we weren’t aware of so much evil and mostly carried around those events closer to our communities; but today we see one tragedy after another on the news and it is played over and over again as we feel the pain, almost like we are there. We can’t handle all the world’s hurts without feeling overwhelmed, but God can and He is the only one capable of such a weight. There is so much negative news and as Alan says, God didn’t wire us to carry every event as if it were ours. In fact, he says we need to care for ourselves by taking times to unplug from the internet and social media; go for walks in nature, notice the birds and flowers, and breath in the beauty of creation. It helps us escape for a time and regroup before we return to the harsh realities of our world. Then we can pray and ask the Lord what burdens of others, that He wants us to help shoulder, as well as, sharing our own burdens with friends who can help carry ours. David said in Psalm 55:22 (The Message), “Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—He’ll’’ carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin.”  We can cast all our burdens on Him for He cares for us. And as we do that, He will help us bear the burdens of others, as He directs, and not try to take on the weight of the whole world.
 
Challenge for today: Go for a nature walk and release the weight of all the problems before you to the Lord.
 
Blessings on your day and prayers and love,
Judy