You’re invited to join me and find a quiet place to welcome the Lord in. Few things nourish us more than time set apart to follow the thoughts of our hearts. Grab your coffee and join me for Sunday Afternoon Pause: Chapter 5! Fall Road Trips
“Weariness isn’t a sign that we are not enough, but that He is enough!
He is our Supply, and that which we lack can be found in His inexhaustible resources."
By Sarah Guthrie
Devotion
Our reading today takes us to Genesis 37:29-36: 39:1-6
In our selected scripture we see the recurring phrase, “The Lord was with Joseph.” Joseph’s entire story rests on these five words, as does ours.” In Genesis we see that Joseph was abandoned, misrepresented, slandered, unjustly imprisoned, forgotten and yet we see God was weaving His story of faithfulness and purpose in every detail.
When you think of Joseph and all he endured remember, “God doesn’t test us so He can find out what’s in our hearts-He already knows that. And He doesn’t test us to see whether we’re going to pass or fail as if He were a calculus professor. He tests us to grow us, strengthen us, and refine us.” Those chains and bars didn’t keep Joseph in prison God did.
(Excerpts from Finding God Faithful by Kelly Minter.)
Pause Memory Verse: “The Lord was with Joseph.” Genesis 39:2a
Pause Quote: “Joseph’s entire story rests on these five words, as does ours.”
Pause Question: Realizing God is weaving His faithfulness and purposes in every detail of your life, what will you rest in today that you have been struggling with?
"God, our Companion, longs to journey with us
and keep us in His protective care.
He desires to nourish, equip and prepare us for the journey."
David Jeremiah
Every fall for years now my husband - Mr. Keeper - and I have flown to Cincinnati Ohio where our road trip begins. Our destination? Hamersville Ohio, an hour south east of Cincinnati. Mr. Keeper spent a lot of time growing up there and as we returned to those charming backroads I could see his thoughts had taken him there too. Driving along quiet country roads bursting with autumn leaves he holds on to the way his family’s farms looked years ago and wonders if the new owners are caring for them as they should. Every year we stop first by his Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. Commenting on how well kept it still is we proceed to his cousin’s farm where the silos continue to tower high above the corn and soybeans just as they always had. Lastly we would pull up to his aunt and uncles farm where at a young age he had learned to drive a tractor, plow a field, fish and learn what a family truly was.
One year we delighted to discover the charming Murphin Ridge Inn in Oliver Township about a ½ hour away from Hamersville. A quaint bed & breakfast in the middle of Amish Country, situated on acres of rolling woodland and farmland with views of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
Picture this: Last year we drove to the Inn late along a single ribbon of something not much bigger than a wide path when we came upon a horse drawn Amish buggy with a big light on the back piercing our black night. As we slowed and backed way off we rolled down our windows and just listened. Clip-clop, clip-clop… it was the beautiful sound of the horses pulling the carriage. It's a sound I've revisited in my memory many times since.
"I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you."
Psalm 32:7-8