How Do You Choose?

Welcome to Five-Minute Friday, where writers madly scramble to respond in five minutes to a one-word prompt. No editing, no revisiting, just the page, the thoughts, the words, and the timer. The word today: Free. 

Our Creator was. And is. And is to come.
Eons passed in His Void before He spoke.
From His breath, emptiness became.
Darkness, light, heavens, earth, oceans, and sky.
All that we know, all that we are, fashioned and molded
Lovingly, purposefully, with great gentleness and quiet command.

Thou shalt not eat of the tree...

But we did. And we do. And we will continue.
Children of Mighty Jehovah
Created with free will

And there are wars.
And there is poverty,
And slavery,
And abuse.
Neglect,
Manipulation,
Great sadness,
And terror.

But there is also kindness.
There is sacrifice,
And humility,
And community,
Joy,
Hope,
Seeds of faith,
and grace.

Created with free will.

How do you choose?

I wanted to respond to the shooting in Chattanooga, a terrorist act against our military. My husband is military. I am military. I remember the shooting on Fort Hood. The shut-down of schools - the scrambling to pick up my daughter - the frantic phone calls and text messages to know that my husband was safe. For our family, peace in the moment. For others, a forever reminder that our world is not. Not  

And now this. Again. It is one thing to know, intellectually, from a distance, that we are hated. It is another to feel it, see it, in acts of terror in our own home. 

The problem is free will. The answer is free will. In all things. I choose to not be frightened by circumstances, both beyond my control and beyond my comprehension because I believe in Jesus Christ, my Savior, and my hope for a new world. A better world. A world I will be a part of. I choose hope. I choose love. I choose joy.

Trees

Be glad, O people of Zion,

rejoice in the Lord your God,

for He has given you

the autumn rains in righteousness.

He sends you abundant showers,

both autumn and spring rains, as before.

The threshing floors will be filled with grain;

the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

Joel 2: 23-24

I wasn't always a bible reader. Raised with church, pastors in the family - you'd think I'd be a regular thumper and quoter. But I'm not. Sometimes wish I was, though. The pictures are more of my continuing obsession with Fall. I just haven't lived in a place with four seasons for a long time - guess I hadn't realized how much I miss them - the seasons. I hope ALL of them, because Winter is coming...

There was a time when I denied the existence of God - or trivialized Him - into one of many...probably invented by the needier of mankind. Now I thank Him every day for his mercy and grace! I guess it's easy to not see the obvious when you are continually surrounded by it.

It takes me about 30 minutes to drive to my school everyday. About a third of the drive is on winding two-lane roads through a rural-suburban landscape. About a third of the drive is on a four-to-six-lane road - through the heart of the county government complex, past a Walmart, and the turn-off to the county landfill. About a third of the drive is on a six-lane freeway flanked by forty- to sixty-foot trees. The whole drive is through trees - oak, elm, poplar, pine, maple, crepe myrtle, dogwood. Beautiful. Bountiful. Sometimes I think I probably shouldn't be driving; I find myself staring more at the trees than the road...

Here's the thing. When I took this job, I was asked if the drive would be an 'issue'. Would I resent having to spend thirty minutes in travel? I was confused at the questions - how could I resent such a visual feast? Then I realized - it wasn't a visual feast for those who've lived here all their lives. I'm not sure they see the trees anymore. The drive that I look forward to every day is just one more trip down a concrete highway to them...

Years ago - growing up in a church-going household - I took still waters and green pastures for granted. So much for granted that I stopped believing in the Kingdom of God. I simply denied it's existence. My path was from point A to point B - on a concrete highway. I didn't see the trees. The destination was key - not the journey.

What an empty place that was! As difficult as the circumstances were that brought me back to God, I am thankful for them! He is growing me - strengthening me. ...Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me... We are meant to go through those hard times - that Valley. He leads us there and then guides us through. Like the seasons. Like trees.

Oh God - Creator of the universe - thank you for trees!