Happy Thursday!

Several weeks ago I received a jury summons for tomorrow, November 20. The last time I did jury duty it was in downtown Fort Worth. So I arranged for a substitute on the day I received the summons. Ms. Geni Chrystie is scheduled to teach my class. Well, I checked the online service upon arrival at home this afternoon and discovered I have not been called for tomorrow, but I am to check in on Monday, November 23 after 3:00 to see my status. I am also on call for Jury duty until December 4. So I am on call for jury service for the next two weeks. This is really interesting.

Psalm 121: 1,2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”

A few days ago a fellow teacher in my building shared this story with me about one of her students. It seems she had given an open book assignment for the class. One of the students was working and asked where he could find the answer. She told him the general area of the chapter and he went back to work. A few minutes later she noticed the student looking up at the ceiling. In a typical teacher admonition my colleague said, “You won’t find the answer written on the ceiling.” The student responded, “I am not looking at the ceiling. I am talking to God!”

When we talk to God, where do we look? Do we look to the floor? Or do we look to the higher place? When I pray I rarely look down. I usually look straight ahead with my eyes closed. But the psalmist says, “I lift my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help.” When the psalmist wrote this passage he was thinking about the fortress of the mountains. This is a psalm of trust and confidence in God assuring each of us of His constant protection. It assures all of the faithful that God is present and provides unconditional protection.

When we are down in the valley the only place to look is up. Let us look to the mountains. Let us look up and allow God to lift us out of our valley of fear, sin, sorrow or whatever else separates us from God. The next time you are stuck, look up, talk to God and let Him lift you out of the valley and into the protection of the fortress of the mountain. The mountain of God’s love is the stronghold of our lives.

Take joy in the journey and wear comfortable hiking boots! Love you all, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe and I believe God.