Dear Ones,
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. The weather is getting colder, and we are bundling up on our daily walks now. This morning I plan to do food prep and go to my exercise class. Later we have a dinner party and dressing up in costumes. Fun times! 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
  Surprise! One day I looked out our bedroom window from my desk and all the golden leaves on the tree in my immediate sight were gone. The day before the tree was full of bright, yellow-colored leaves but it also blocked much of my view of the other beautiful surrounding trees. Now with the leaves gone, I could see plainly the red and yellow and burnt orange colors of the other trees and also the people who walked by on their nature walks.

   My thoughts went to the clutter we may have in our lives and how it just seems to keep growing and branching out and one day we realize we can’t see clearly. Our vision is blocked, and we are missing the good things the Lord puts before us because we are blinded by worldly things. Our clutter can be possessions that seem to grow in importance, or pursuits that get to be more important than Him, or overextending ourselves with no time left for Him. Something doesn’t feel right for we are missing most importantly our close relationship with Him. When we come to the realization and let go of whatever is blocking our vision, we begin to see again what was there all along, only we missed out.

  It is good for all of us to ask ourselves what hinders our walk with the Lord. What seems to creep up as more important? I love to read many of Al’s books, and I find that when I have been drifting from that closeness with the Lord, that if I go to the Word or read about the Saints or books by authors who have a passion for the Lord, my sight returns. Everything seems right and in order again and I experience joy Why didn’t I realize it sooner?

  Let us not have our vision blocked by lesser things but may the Lord be first and foremost in our lives. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”  (Matt. 5:8)
Challenge for today: Lay down everything that distracts you from seeing the Lord.  
Blessings on your week and prayers and love, Judy