Dear Lord,

Thanks for the wonderful March day you gave us yesterday!

When I drove to and from town in the middle of the day, I saw four beautiful snow geese enjoying the water and basking in the sun on a pond in our farm field. They were so beautiful I decided to take their picture.

No film.

No matter. I would take a bike ride to be near the birds as I took a mental photograph of them.

Biking north on our country wasn't a problem. It was as I turned to ride west, when I began to struggle. That gravel road is a newer grade and more highly traveled. There is a lot more loose gravel and it is a lot harder to pedal to keep the bike moving and upright.

I had to make a choice: Do I go back home and ride on a smoother path? Or do I keep pedaling, even if it is a more difficult ride?

I chose to keep pedaling west, because I knew the geese were ahead of me. I wanted to spend some time enjoying their presence in my world, sitting along the side of the road soaking up some of the wonderful day You had given to us.

I thought about You and how much our lives compare to my ride. Like a mom in labor working to deliver a new baby,

we know that sometimes difficult journies produce wonderful results, after a brief ride we would just as soon not take. Sometimes we have to struggle with finances, relationships, losses, and other "loose gravel" on the road of life. But we keep on pedaling, because we know these brief worldly inconveniences don't last. And we have the promise of beautiful snow geese and warm sunshiny days ahead........and those days are going to last forever!

Help me to never turn back so I can travel on easier roads. Help me always look toward You and the plans you have for me, even if the journey seems difficult ahead of me at times.

In the name of Your Son who came to show us that every life journey is possible and left behind His Spirit to take the ride with us,

Amen.

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 Arlene Lockwood e-mailed this message in a pass-around e-mail, which I wanted to share with you:

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.

Protect them as they protect us. Bless them

and their families for the selfless acts they

perform for us in our time of need. I ask this

in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Amen."