My lover said to me,
“Rise up, my darling!
Come away with me, my fair one!
Look, the winter is past,
and the rains are over and gone.
The flowers are springing up,
the season of singing birds[c] has come,
and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
The fig trees are forming young fruit,
and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.
Rise up, my darling!
Come away with me, my fair one!”
-Song of Solomon 2:10-13 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: beauty, Bible, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, life, love, mountains, nature, personal, photography, salvation, Valentine's Day
It seems that much of what Christians believe they are called to these days is a cluster of activities that include regular church attendance, Bible study, prayer, giving, concern for justice, and attending the annual men or women’s retreat. Now—what is all that activity for? What are those things supposed to do to us, or in us? If it’s not restoring the whole man, it may not be in line with what God is doing. Because that’s clearly what he’s up to. Back to Jesus’ argument with the Pharisees. He says,
“These peoples’ heart has become callused. They hardly hear with their ears. They have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
Do you hear the offer? Do you see what he is so upset about? They have completely missed the point of what God is up to, what he is after in a person’s life: to heal him as a human being. This is so essential to your view of the Gospel and your own approach to Christianity. Really—it will shape your convictions about everything else.
-John Eldredge, The Utter Relief of Holiness, 14-15
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: Bible, Christianity, faith, God, holiness, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, National Park, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation, Yellowstone
So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
-1 Peter 1:13-16 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, life, love, mountains, nature, personal, photography, salvation, utah
| 1⁄2 | c | nut butter of choice |
| 3 | T | honey |
| 1 | t | unsweetened cocoa powder |
| 1⁄4 | c | diced dried fruit blend |
| 1⁄4 | c | mini semi sweet chocolate chips |
| 3 | T | shredded natural coconut, divided |
| 2 | T | toasted sesame seeds |
I used cashew butter for mine – any nut butter will work, either smooth or chunky. If you use ‘natural’ style butters your balls will be softer (which is fine!) over peanut butter that doesn’t separate.
You can use other sweeteners as well, use what you like. Agave Nectar or maple syrup can be used for a vegan recipe.
On the dried fruit I used a blend from Trader Joe’s of golden raisins, cranberries, cherries and blueberries. Any dried berry or fruit will work but keep the size small and uniform.
When making the balls a 1 Tbsp sized ‘disher’ works great – they are often found in restaurant supply stores, used for making uniform cookies and other things. Well worth owning one!
While these carry well, in hot weather they will soften quickly – consider them a 3 season treat!
In a small mixing bowl combine the nut butter, honey and cocoa, then stir in the dried fruit, chocolate chips and 1 Tbsp of the coconut, mix till well blended.
Cover tightly and let chill for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Take two small bowls and put in one the remaining 2 Tbsp coconut and in the other bowl the toasted sesame seeds.
Scoop out 1 Tablespoon sized balls, drop in either ball and coat lightly. Roll into a ball quickly then coat with more toppings.
Store tightly sealed in the refrigerator till trail time.
Few have ever felt so pursued. Sometimes we wonder if we’ve even been noticed. Father was too busy to come to our games, or perhaps he jumped ship altogether. Mother was lost in a never-ending pile of laundry or, more recently, in her own career. We come into the world longing to be special to someone and from the start we are disappointed. It is a rare soul indeed who has been sought after for who she is—not because of what she can do, or what others can gain from her, but simply for herself. Can you recall a time when a significant someone in your life sat you down with the sole purpose of wanting to know your heart more deeply, fully expecting to enjoy what he found there? More people have climbed Mt. Everest than have experienced real pursuit, and so what are we left to conclude? There is nothing in our hearts worth knowing. Whoever and whatever this mystery called I must be, it cannot be much.
“In fact,” we continue, “if I am not pursued, it must be because there is something wrong with me, something dark and twisted inside.” We long to be known, and we fear it like nothing else. Most people live with a subtle dread that one day they will be discovered for who they really are and the world will be appalled.
-John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance, 83-84
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: Bible, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Bible, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, life, love, mountains, nature, personal, photography, salvation
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezek. 36:26-27)
This we now know: the heart is central. It matters—deeply. When we see with the eyes of the heart, which is to say, when we see mythically, we begin to awaken, and what we discover is that things are not what they seem. We are at war. We must fight for the life God intends for us, which is to say, we must fight for our heart, for it is the wellspring of that life within us.
Standing in the way of the path to life—the way of the heart—is a monstrous barrier. It has stopped far too many pilgrims dead in their tracks for far too long. There is a widespread belief among Christians today that the heart is desperately wicked—even after a person comes to Christ.
It is a crippling belief.
And it is untrue.
-John Eldredge, The Sacred Romance, 53-54
Picture Credit: Steve Callister
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: Bible, books, Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, nature, personal, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”
-1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT
Picture Credit: Steve Callister
Posted in Daily Scriptures | Tags: Christianity, faith, God, Jesus Christ, life, love, mountains, personal, photography, salvation, Uinta, utah, waterfalls
“I have a friend who feels sometimes that the world is hostile to human life–he says it chills us and kills us. But how could we be were it not for this planet that provided our very shape? Two conditions–gravity and a livable temperature range between freezing and boiling–have given us fluids and flesh. The trees we climb and the ground we walk on have given us five fingers and toes. The “place” (from the root plat, broad, spreading, flat) gave us far-seeing eyes, the streams and breezes gave us versatile tongues and whorly ears. The land gave us a stride, and the lake a dive. The amazement gave us our kind of mind. We should be thankful for that, and take nature’s stricter lessons with some grace.”
-Gary Snyder
Picture Credit: NPS
Posted in Nature Writer Quotes | Tags: beauty, books, colorado, conservation, earth, enviroment, health, hiking, life, literature, local, mountains, National Park, nature, personal, photography, spirituality, survival, travel
And they lived happily ever after. Stop for just a moment, and let it be true. They lived happily ever after.
These may be the most beautiful and haunting words in the entire library of mankind. Why does the end of a great story leave us with a lump in our throats and an ache in our hearts? If we haven’t become entirely cynical, some of the best endings can even bring us to tears.
Because God has set eternity in our hearts. Every story we tell is our attempt to put into words and images what God has written there, on our hearts. Think of the stories that you love. Remember how they end.
This is written on the human heart, this longing for happily ever after.
You see, every story has an ending. Every story. Including yours. Have you ever faced this? Even if you do manage to find a little taste of Eden in this life, even if you are one of the fortunate souls who find some love and happiness in the world, you cannot hang on to it. You know this. Your health cannot hold out forever. Age will conquer you. One by one your friends and loved ones will slip from your hand. Your work will remain unfinished. Your time on this stage will come to an end. Like every other person gone before you, you will breathe your last breath.
And then what? Is that the end of the Story?
If that is the end, this Story is a tragedy. Macbeth was right. Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Sooner or later, life will break your heart. Or rather, death will break your heart. Perhaps you have to lose someone you love to be shaken from denial. The final enemy is death. It will come. Is there no way out? Do we have a future?
-John Eldredge, Epic, 73, 78-79
Picture Credit: Keith Ramos
Posted in Ransomed Heart | Tags: faith, God, Jesus Christ, John Eldredge, life, literature, love, mountains, nature, photography, Ransomed Heart, salvation, story
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