The Day After.....

The day after family leaves is always the worst! Christy and Audrey came for a 2 1/2 week visit and the time flew by! I miss them sooooo much! Audrey is such a delight! I will miss her little antics like how she runs up to our living room knowing that I will run after her to catch her, playing in the pool, and dancing to the music. It was so cute how I'd ask her to go and call Grandpa for dinner. She would climb the stairs calling out in her cute little voice, "Grandpa time to eat!" He loved it! She's the only one who can get him down to the table in record time! haha!

We had a lot of fun just playing in the pool, going to the beach, going to the OC Fair and to the Getty museum. But just being together is so special! It is hard to be so far away and miss being a part of their lives on a regular basis!

Christy taped some songs on the piano playing and singing. I realize how much I miss her playing - she has such a gift! We wanted to tape Audrey talking and singing but didn't get to it!

So once again time is the culprit cutting short memorable times and pressing forward to other things. I guess we wouldn't like it if time stood still though we think we might! But the best thing is "our times are in His Hands!" In this we can be truly thankful and restful knowing that He keeps us and orders our days!

The Splendor of Youth

She's growing up! Just look at that picture, isn't she gorgeous? Life is so uncomplicated when we are young! No worries, no pressures, just learning and growing. Isn't it wonderful! Of course, that is the way it should be, however, it isn't that way for everybody.

We thank God for giving us parents who love us and treat us with love and respect. We thank God for providing us a home, food on the table, clothes to wear, and friends to enjoy things with. We thank God for good things like happiness, stability, peace in our homes, loving family and friends, and most especially for His loving care and watchful eye over us.

Youth is so carefree, so full of curiosity, discovering, moving into new realms, growth. Youth is for the most part a happy time, until we reach those puberty years! Then everything is up for grabs!

I think that youth is a picture of those first years as a Christian. Everything is so new and wonderful and we are discovering God's love and life - and its all lovely. We are sheltered from troubles and burdens but then God opens our eyes little by little and we begin to see the sorrow, suffering and pain around us. We begin to learn to bear one another's burdens, to sacrifice and give to those in need, to spend and be spent in the ministry of God's love. And then perhaps we feel the weight of things and feel as though life is a great burden hard to bear. But we must remember our youth - our love for the Lord, our delight at learning and growing in God's love. Here is the key to remaining carefree as a child, sweet in spirit, joyful, full of light and love in the midst of pain and suffering. The scripture says, "Abide in Me and I will abide in You." I think this is the key - our first love! Let's remember that as we face the our daily lives of pressures, troubles, sorrows, and joys. God wants us to remain in love with him, trusting Him fully, and happy in His care.

Change is on the Wind

Change is on the Wind here at the Porowski household. Kim is moving out in 2 weeks - going on to Grad school in Atlanta Georgia. She will be there for 3 1/2 years and then who knows what she will be doing. We are also thinking of spending a few years teaching English as a Foreign Language in Mongolia. Dick and I just passed our TEFL course which consisted of 3 grueling weekends - 60 hours in total of intensive learning. It was a good course and very helpful.

However, change always is unsettling, though can be exciting if one has the adventuresome spirit. Challenge is always a good motivator and a spur up the backside to get moving. The best thing is that God is in control. His leading is my safety. His loving care is my strength and support. His assurance is my confidence. Change may be like a storm in that everything is in motion, unsettled, and a bit frightening, but God is in change, often bringing it about. There is no safe place but in the center of God's will. Here is peace. Here is where I choose to stay and stay put.

Fellowship

The fellowship of union. Fellowship is a lovely word. So is union. Put them both together and it speaks of something very lovely indeed.

I was thinking about the parables. In Luke, Jesus expounded on many subjects, "in parables", and the people gathered and listened very intently to what He had to say. Think of it, Jesus came from the Father, to teach the people of Himself - the Godhead, the kingdom of God, the laws of love, liberty, and salvation. Jesus' heart was to show them the Father. The people for the most part didn't understand and that is the reason for the parables. Stories are descriptive and often illuminate pictures in our minds which enable us to see things clearer; to bring understanding. The thing is Jesus was there, bodily. They could see Him, they could hear His voice, they could watch how He acted, how He responded. They were amazed at His wisdom, His authority, His power, and they followed Him wherever He went because they'd never seen anyone like Him! That is true...there wasn't anyone on the earth like Jesus! He is the true representation of the Father, "the express image of His person," as it says in Hebrews.

He called them, "friends" but longed for something much more....Sons. Sons with the Father and... Oneness. This is the closest of fellowship that one could have - "oneness." Remember in the garden when Adam talked with God? God spoke things to Adam and taught him things of Himself and the world that He made...of wisdom, of Life, of His creatures, etc. there was a fellowship there that was beautiful, unspoiled. I speak of this fellowship before Adam sinned. And after Adam sinned that fellowship was severed for all men, that is until Jesus came.

He came to show us the Father and to bring us to the Father. He could only do that by becoming sin for us, dying in our place, and rising again. "Death shall no longer have dominion over them". Now, in Christ, we are free from the man of death and sin and have been made a new man in Christ Jesus. He has brought us to the Father, truly.

Fellowship with man has always been in God's heart from the beginning. Oneness. This is the thing I am getting at. When we walk with the Father He speaks to us and teaches us, not now in parables, but in truth and wisdom, of Himself, of the Godhead, of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The preciousness of this oneness is truly remarkable. The generosity of the Lord to share with us His life, His person, to impart to us wisdom, understanding, and life. This is fellowship - this is union. This is lovely indeed!

A Rare Fragrance

A few days ago I was sitting outside our back patio enjoying the warm sunshine while inhaling the pure sweet fragrance of our orange tree in full blossom. The sweetness was almost heady! Suddenly this hummingbird began to dart in and out among the blossoms dipping its beak into the succulent sweetness and then did the oddest thing. He flew out of the tree and began moving back and forth at an incredible speed, his little wings beating so fast creating a sound much like that of an electric drill. This went on for 5 minutes! It was almost like he was delightfully drunk with the sweet nectar and was buzzing around for joy. This fragrance, so pungent, so delightfully sweet, awakens all the senses and causes ones eye to look about and take notice!

So, naturally, my mind turns to the scriptures and to the words, "the fragrance of Christ." Fragrance - a good word picture comes to mind here. You've seen the cartoon character standing alone when unexpectedly some luscious savory fragrance wafts by and his nose is suddenly lifted in the air following the scent; next his feet are lifted up also and he begins to float on towards that delightful smell. Stand up and take notice! That's what fragrance does. Or have you ever been sitting somewhere, perhaps an airport minding your own business, when someone passes by, and in that persons wake some delicious sweet perfume overtakes your senses. Immediately your face lifts and your eyes are scanning the perimeter looking for the reason of that scent. Fragrance ..... it makes you stand up and take notice.

Surely, the disciples show us a good example of this. Peter and Andrew, two fishermen, brothers who have learned the family trade, who are responsible sort of men making a decent living for their families, are doing what they do best; mending their nets. Along comes Jesus, and says to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately, Peter and Andrew leave their nets and follow Him. What kind of fragrance would cause these men to walk away from their family business, just like that? It must be incredibly strong, compelling, and so deliciously wonderful that it obviously made them stand up and take notice! When one comes into the presence of Greatness, one stands up and takes notice! I like to think that the fragrance of Christ is holiness, purity, righteousness - a rare fragrance indeed!

The scriptures also say that "we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other we are the aroma of life leading to life." (2 Corinthians 2:11-12) We are to be the fragrance of Christ to others - so compelling, so drawing that others want to know Him too. I had an experience with this. When I was 18 I was desperately looking for God and went from church to church never finding what I was looking for. After a time I settled into a small college/high school Bible study group where I found love and good friends but was no closer to God than before. Nevertheless, I stayed and after 2 years a young man came into our gathering. When he prayed there was no mistake about it - He knew God! My ears went up, my eye riveted on him, and I followed him around too shy to ask but so desperate to know what He knew. The fragrance of Christ - He was the fragrance of Christ to me. And through him, in time, I also came to know the Lord for myself.

The fragrance of Christ - holiness, purity, righteousness......life changing to those who will stand up and take notice!