I am the vine, you are the branches.......

My boys have been putting together a leaf collection. It has been fun and challenging a like. I remember doing this when I was in school. I remember identifying sassafras tree or oak or maple trees. They are looking up trees like osage orange trees, bouganvillas, and palm trees. This is really going along with what God is teaching me recently. In John 15, Jesus talks to his disciples and saying ,"I am the vine, you are the branches..... abide in me and I will abide in you." Recently Greg and I have been finding life to be difficult. Emotions have been low, ministry has been hard, good, busy and hard. Sometimes things happen to us that make no sense at all. You know the kind of stuff that makes you want to ask, why me? Through these times, I have learned that whether I feel like it or not, I need my time with the Lord. Whether I know He is near or hear His voice, I need to seek Him and trust He is there. When I abide, dwell, keep getting up when I'm too down to care, when I read and read and read the same scripture, when I find myself praying the same things time and time again, I find He is there. It does make a difference. Not because of what I do, but because of who He is. He is there, I am just obeying and choosing to trust. Without abiding I lose out on His promises. I am choosing to get up early, choosing to pray again and choosing to see things how He will show me. god never fails. He never fails. Thank you.