A Bracing Dose of Reality

Smoke in the sunset, Monday

   No more avoiding or saying it can't be true. It is 'that bad', or 'unbelievably so'...drought, heat, wind, fire...we are facing it today. Rising temperatures and strong hot winds stirred the fires yesterday and today; new ones surfaced where none were before. Texas is in trouble. Today we face the reality:

*homes are destroyed
*lives are changed
*the environment has been drastically altered

*feed will be hitting record prices soon
*hay will be almost impossible to find
*water is being rationed
*choices will have to be made

*crops are failing
*there is no fall garden
*the fruit trees, berry bushes, and bulbs are gone
*grocery prices are rising

   It isn't a pretty picture. Today my heart is heavy as I consider the reality: things are getting worse. What will we do in the midst of it all?

*pray for those in more dire need than we are
*give where we are able/share in what we have
*praise for the grace we have: jobs/food/cars/each other

*we will draw together
*we will seek to do what we can
*we will learn; we will grow; God will guide us

   While our local situation is harsh, I know there are those whose lives are in much deeper despair. Cancer patients, refugees, homeless, imprisoned...those at war and those unloved..there are worse things that drought and fire.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.    2 Chronicles 7:17

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
    Isaiah 41:13

Tuesday's sunset- smoke rising