Restoration

Last week, as I was driving to work from a particularly painful--both physically and emotionally--physical therapy session, I was fighting back tears, wondering how I was going to make it through the rest of the day.  I pulled into the parking lot of the school where I worked, and across from me beckoned the entrance to our nature trail.  We are blessed with a 43-acre campus, complete with an outdoor environmental learning complex.  My favorite part of that outdoor complex is the nature trail--a windy, woodsy path that journeys through the conservation area of our campus.  I love to take my students out there.  But today, I felt the urging to take a quiet walk out there by myself, and thankfully I followed that urge.  As I walked the trail, listening to the sounds, feeling the breeze, and noticing the variety of trees and foliage, I began to feel God's restoration.  Yes, I prayed, but mostly, I was simply in God's presence in His nature.  Over the course of the 10-15 minutes that I stayed, His peace and power filled me, and I knew I would be able to face the rest of my day.  Moreover, I had a personal story to share with my students of the restorative power of nature and God’s intimate watch-care over us.

The psalmist talks about God restoring his soul too.  Psalm 23:3 says, "He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake." I don't know what was bothering David's soul at the particular time--maybe a crazy king chasing him, maybe an unruly bunch of soldiers, maybe a untrusting wife, or maybe just some foolish sheep--but he needed to experience God's restored peace.  Just as God comes through for David, He'll always come through for us.

I created this page with a background of Distress Oxides in Mowed Lawn, Peeled Painted, Crushed Olive, and Stormy Sky.  I stamped the border and dragonflies with stamps from the Nature's Silhouettes stamp set.  I then stamped the title with the Love Ya Like a Sister alphabet set and words from the Refresh My Soul set.  I added some texture with Texture Tiles 3 and some splatter paint.  I finished the page off with a tab that says "documented" because I wanted to remember this very specific instance of God's presence.  

This month is Sweet'n Sassy Stamps birthday month, so we have celebrations all month.  Keep watching for videos, lives, prizes, and blogposts to celebrate the event.  

God bless!

--Julie

Nature Silhouette

Love Ya Like a Sister

Refresh My Soul 

Texture Tiles 3