The Small Branch

This week we are having VBS at our home (we don't have a church building). People keep asking me how I am handling the stress and I have to admit, I'm not the slightest bit stressed about it. Oh, I was, earlier in the summer, about a few things. But now, nope, not a bit. God gave me a great picture as to why that is, and I want to share it. In the first half of the last century and previous to that time, when a boy "liked" a girl, he would meet her at her house in the morning and carry her books to school for her. That is what Jesus does for us every day. He meets us at the doorway of our awakening and willingly takes all our "books" and carries them for us. We know He is going the right way, so we just gaze lovingly at Him and listen and walk along with Him. He is carrying our "books", so it is no big deal for us. He is leading the way, so we don't have to pay attention to anything but Him. We just have to choose to give Him our ...

I love princess movies. What girl doesn't? Disney had sorely disappointed me with The Princess and the Frog - it was evil! They have now redeemed themselves, for the time being, with Tangled. What a great movie! As I was watching it today, for the third time, it hit me why I love princess movies. There are so many great parallels. All those places in our hearts that these speak to - speaking Jesus to us in powerful ways, that is, if we listen with a heart that is His. If you haven't seen it, you might be a little confused, but bear with me. We were at the scene where they put up the lanterns. They were singing about never seeing the light until they had seen each other. I recalled all those verses about Jesus being the Light of the world. The only Light that truly shines brightly enough for us to see. Without the Light of Christ I can't see anything. The last part of the movie really gets me. He is dying, and she is willing to sacrifice her freedom forever to save him. Only...