Are You There, God?
====================

There once was an older, destitute man. He had lost his
family, his dignity, his work and all his worldly
possessions. The only thing he had left was his faith in God.

One day, he walked along the city sidewalks; homeless as he
was. Peering around the city buildings, the passing cars, and
sidewalk shoppers - he remembered a time when he had the love
of his wife, the comfort of home, and the camaraderie of his
many friends and successful business partners. Just for one
moment, he could feel the love and passion he once used to
enjoy. But then he looked up into the sky, and he could see
the graying clouds rolling overhead; and the wind began to fly
past his ragged shirt sleeves.

Realizing that he was who he was, he knew he had to find
shelter before the rains began to fall. Across the street, he
saw the old city park that he used to visit when he was just a
child. In the far end of the park, he spotted the old gazebo
he'd frequented with his high school sweetheart. Suddenly, the
rain began to fall. These weren't just ordinary raindrops -
they were hard, heavy, and over sized droplets of water that
pelted his head and neck like small stones. His walk turned
into a fast run as he struggled to get under the shelter of
the gazebo. Shaking off his shirt and wiping the wetness from
his cheeks and forehead, the man sat back on the two-seater
swing beneath the gazebo. Then he shook his head in disbelief.
"Is this what life is all about?" he asked, shaking his fist
and peering up toward the gray skies, "What more do you want
from me?"

Just then, the sky began to clear and above the skyscrapers
he could faintly see some bright hues of red, purple, pink,
and even blue. It was a rainbow; and the sun's rays began to
shine through the break in the clouds. Now sobbing, the man
looked back up into the sky, and he asked,

"Are You there, God?"

But there was no audible reply.

A few moments passed when a park ranger made his way up to the
old gazebo. "Top of the day to you, sir," he said to the man.
The man glanced at the ranger as the voice sounded vaguely
familiar. Sure enough, the man remembered the park ranger as a
friend he once knew many, many years in his past.

"I think I know you," the man replied to the ranger, "aren't
you Ed from the country store?"

The ranger was slightly taken aback as he too recognized the
man. But the ranger's name was not Ed; that was his father's
name. "My name is Paul," he said, stretching out his hand to
the man on the swing, "Ed was my father."

"Oh," replied the man, "I'm Mark Baker," he paused to shake
Paul's hand.

The similarities were uncanny, but Mark certainly remembered
Ed, and this ranger was the spitting image of him.

"How'd you know my dad?" asked Paul.

"Oh, it was so long ago...you wouldn't want to hear how we
met," replied Mark.

Taking a couple steps beneath the shelter, Paul said, "Humor
me."

Mark explained that he and Ed had met each other in the local
hospital. Mark had gone there to pick up his lab tests where
he and Ed had struck up a conversation while they sat in the
waiting room. By the time all was said and done, he discovered
that he was the perfect match for Ed - the perfect kidney
match. "Needless to say," said Mark, "one thing led to another
and we were kidney partners for life."

"What happened to you?" asked Paul.

"Wall Street called me, greed took me, and I played my last
bit of luck," he replied. Sighing aloud, Mark blinked to clear
the water from his eyes, "and then I lost it all."

"I remember you," said Paul, then he pulled out a photograph
from his wallet, and pointed to two men standing side-by-side
by the old country store, "that's you, and that's my dad."

Peering at the old black and white photograph, he could
faintly make out the faces of the worn picture, "Sure does
look like me, doesn't it?" asked Mark.

Paul began smiling and he replied, "It is you," then he took a
deep breath, "do you know how long I have been looking for you?"

Mark simply shook his head, "Well, you found me...I wish under
better circumstances."

Just then, Paul placed his hand upon Mark's shoulder, "I wish
my dad would've been able to see you again. He talked about
you all the time...and especially right before he died," Paul
sighed, "because of you, he was able to watch me graduate and
get my high school diploma, and later, he got to hold his
newborn grandson -- my son."

"Wow," Mark replied, "I didn't realize that one kidney could
do all that."

"You don't understand, Mark," said Paul, "when he died, he
left you the old country store and the house. It's been
waiting for your return but you never came...until now."

And suddenly, Mark had received his answer...and his solution
to his homelessness. It had been there the whole time but it
took him losing everything before he would rediscover the
rainbow of hope once again.

Even in your darkest hour, when you ask - God shows up in the
most unlikely places.


~by MountainWings subscriber CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd Lexington, SC
(c)2008 CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd All Rights Reserved~

Good or Bad and Free Will

I haven't done a blog in ages so here I am to make up for it.

This weekend has really challenged me. On Saturday night just as I was falling off to sleep I suddenly thought " Do we really have free will?" I was thinking ( I know it's a dangerous past time!), God knows the plans he has for all of us but we are suppose to have free will and freedom of choice? So how does God know what we are going to do and what about when we suddenly change our mind? God must know we will choose that path, it may be the wrong path but its the path we go down anyway because we chose to. If God knew we were going to make that choice how does he steer us back to the path he wants us to follow?
I hope I am making sense in this ramble!! For example, If God knows that I am going to point B but I decide (because I have freedom of choice and free will) that I want to go via point Z,Y and X, Why does God let me? and how does God still get me to point B if I refuse to listen?
I came to the conclusion God knows all the shortcuts and says " OK so you want to go that way?, well if I guide you to this path, then this path, it might be a bit steep and a bit rocky but I'll stay with you and you can listen to me, if you want, you won't fall off the side I am with you, and hey presto your back on the right path" (I know cheesy analogy but its how I think)

On Sunday I was even more challenged and blessed at the same time. In the morning church service we talked about Faith. Such a wonderful thing Faith is, hard but wonderful. To believe in something or someone just because we believe. I was once asked " If faith isn't an emotion, what is it?"

Then when I got home I was watching Shipwrecked (a whole load of young people on a deserted island trying to get a long, otherwise known as "Big Brother the outside broadcast"!!) They had a Evangelical Christian join the islanders and suddenly all of them stopped swearing and apologised for their behaviour, started to ask questions about if he is OK with sharing the sleeping area with the girls and treating him differently, Is being a Christian that strange nowadays?

In the evening we talked about Good and Bad. Are we born good but do bad things or are we born bad but do good things? Every one had really good answers and really got the old cogs moving round. We were given the examples of Tony Blair and Robin Hood, I think they both had good intentions just made silly mistakes. We even had someone talk about Buddhism and they take on the good/bad, its was very intriguing and I could see her point. I don't think I could be a Buddhist, too many long vague words!!

I was brought up in a good family with good values and yet I still do things that are taboo and hurt people and even more so God, and yet God still loves me......He even loved Hitler! Some one said that God is like a father (nothing new there) but He is, He looks at us and shakes his head at what we do but He still loves us!!!

Christmas Love

"He came to pay a debt He didn't owe
because we owed a debt we couldn't pay"

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

A small stone

I will probably be putting some more of these things in my blog,
Mountain Wings is a website that send you an email every day with
funnies, anecdotes,people thoughts and sometimes really thought
provoking and inspirational words
like this one.

A Small Stone
=============

A small stone looked up to God and asked God,
“What am I here for?”

God replied, in one simple sentence,
“To be a stepping stone for others who need your help.”


~A Mountain Wings Original by subscriber Larra Lynn Harr,
Age 14, Euless, TX~

My first blog....now what to say?

Hello People

As you can see this is my blog.....I will try to write some bits on here. I don't know what yet but I'll try! perhaps some poems or just my genral rambles and grumbles.

For those who don't know me I am 25, I live on Mersea Island in Essex and I am a practising Christian. I have been a Christian for most of my life, which has some advantages and some disadvantages. I have some amazing friends who I'd be lost without so thanks you lot. You know who you are ( Well I hope you do)

Andy Roo (Melon shooter)