Beautiful Evergreens

"He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.” Psalm 23:2

A couple of years ago I was with my mother at her doctor’s appointment. I was sitting beside her as he was going over her chart. Thankfully, Mother is a very healthy 82-year-old woman who has taken care of herself over the course of time. She was having an issue with balance at that time, and he was encouraging her to take a balance class. But the statement that was sobering was when he said to her, ‘What you do in your 80’s will determine how you live in your 90’s.’ I can’t tell you the impact that one statement has had on my full life, physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. This truth is why I try to walk each day…to keep my heart healthy and continue to exercise my muscles. This truth is why I try to eat the right things…to ensure that what I digest will nourish me in healthy ways and give me energy. This truth is why I begin the day with ‘green pastures and still waters’ time with the Lord…to renew and restore my mind, soul and spirit. I am far from perfect in my attempts, but I know the importance of the pursuit of these truths. The most important one for me is the last one practice…my time of rest with God.

In the same vein as the doctor’s statement to my mother, what I do each morning determines how I experience the rest the day. When I don’t spend that concentrated time in His pastures I seem to be impatient that day with others. When I don’t pause and allow Him to lead my mind into His will for that day I experience an unsettled heart. The real danger is when days turn into weeks and social media becomes my pasture. I seem to lose gratitude for the things I have, and feelings of inadequacy enter of heart. It is so important each day to experience God in our mornings. What we do in our mornings will determine what we experience in our afternoons and evenings. We will be like beautiful evergreens in our pastures that not only offers nourishment to our souls but to the souls of others in our lives. ‘Your Shepherd wants to lead you to green pastures not just to bless and minister to you but, so He can bless others and minister to others through you.’ Psalm 23 – The Shepherd with Me, Jennifer Rothschild, p. 61.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is Him. He will be like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit." Jeremiah 17:8