Dear Ones,
Happy weekend to you! I think it is peak time in Baxter and the trees are gorgeous with so many vibrant colors as we walk the Paul Bunyan trail. Today I am making egg dishes, pork chops smothered with apples, and S.F. cinnamon bread. Al is at Men’s group and later we have Bible Study here.   
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  When we come to know the Lord, we become His followers and that means our obedience. It takes trust on our part for we don’t know what He will ask of us or where He will take us. I just finished reading about the children of Israel and how they conquered Jericho, a very thick-walled city. God told them to march around it for 6 days with 7 priests blowing ram’s horns; on the 7th day they were to march around it 7 times, horns blowing, and then shout loudly and the walls would fall down. Now that doesn’t sound like a military strategy that we would put our confidence in, but it was God’s way and they obeyed, and it worked. The walls collapsed and they took the city, just as the Lord said.

  Some of the things the Lord asks of us may not make logical sense to us but He has a plan and we are to trust and follow in obedience. It may feel at times that we are going almost the opposite direction of the desired outcome but then we notice it takes a turn and surprisingly all of a sudden. we are there. Or sometimes it is not unlike my cousin’s labyrinth whose path circles around and around and we feel like we are in the same place and not getting anywhere. But in reality, we realize we have all the while been coming closer to the center. Along the way it is good to get rid of any weights we have, so we can travel light without being weighed down.

  Sometimes it seems like He is taking us through the desert and we may long to be back in the honeymoon time with Him. But He knows when we are ready to be stretched and matured in new ways. It seems most of life is like a letting go of the familiar, the comfortable and entering into the new the Lord has for us. We are on a journey and must be good followers and let Him lead us wherever He would take us, lest we stagnate. When He says, move, let us move on, and not resist. Like the song goes, “I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back!” Even if no one joins us let us will still follow and put everything behind us and the cross before us!

  Challenge for today: Seek to follow the Lord in the new ways He may lead you. 
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy