I spend a lot of time bemoaning the fact that Spring has come. I spend a lot of time complaining about Daylight Savings Time and the extension of daylight in the evening. But, if the truth must be known....I've kind of liked the last few days.

I think Tuesday and Wednesday it got into the 80's, and I think the same is supposed to happen today. I decided that I was going to get away from my desk and actually enjoy the nice weather. So, I grabbed my laptop, and cup of grits for lunch, and came outside.

Man, does it feel nice. I'm under the water tower here at work, down by the water. I love the sound of the water. As a child, there was a subdivision that had been started but never got finished (it actually did after I went away to college). I would go down to that area, and, off in the woods, there was a creek. I would sit at the creek in a spot where the water went over rocks and read, or just sit and enjoy the peace.

Just to my left is a bike. It reminds me that I'd like to get mine in good working order and bring it with me (or keep it here), so that during my lunch breaks I can get it out and take it around Durham. I need to start doing more exercise, and I really enjoy bike riding.

While I was outside, I read my Scripture for today:

¹⁸ “If you want to live securely in the land, follow my decrees and obey my regulations. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield large crops, and you will eat your fill and live securely in it. ²⁰ But you might ask, ‘What will we eat during the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops that year?’ ²¹ Be assured that I will send my blessing for you in the sixth year, so the land will produce a crop large enough for three years. ²² When you plant your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the large crop of the sixth year. In fact, you will still be eating from that large crop when the new crop is harvested in the ninth year. Leviticus 25:18-22, NLT

Still working through Leviticus (well, actually finished it today), but this is where God is telling His people about the Sabbath. Not only were they supposed to recognize the 7th day of the week, but they were to give the land rest every 7 years. In the Scripture above, He tells the Israelites that, if they follow His decrees and instructions, during the 7th year, when the ground is resting, God will provide for them. We see this when God provided the manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. They would go out and get food for the first 6 days, but on the 7th, they would rest. So, to provide for them, God told them to get double portions on the 6th day, keep half for the 7th, and they would have food to eat. It was about trusting God to provide for their needs.

What's different, however, is during the time of the manna, God would only allow the Israelites enough food for the 7th day; when the 1st came around, they were to go back to collecting their food again. In this case, though, God tells them that the crops that are yielded in the 6th year are not only enough to take them through the 7th, but all the way through the 9th! What a loving God we serve. This Scripture shows us that God loves us so much, that not only does he want to MEET our needs, but He wants to EXCEED them! He wants us to rest in Him and be secure in Him. Verse 18 even says, "If you want to live SECURELY...." I want God to be my security!

So, continuing.....

A couple of notes from yesterday:

1. Google Talk "Gadget" over to the right hand side (/me points ----->), you'll see a new "gadget". That's an interface for "Google Talk", Google's instant messaging service. If you have a Google Account (which you should have if you use Blogger^TM to keep a blog), then you can use your Google Account username and password to log in, and you can chat to me! (I believe it will automatically add me as a Buddy....). It's really quite cool, and I'm trying to encourage others to use it. Go to Google Talk to find out more!
2. Group Launches Post-Abortion E-Cards I'll be honest....I really don't know what to say about this. I HATE abortion! And this just sickens and saddens me to read this. But, I love people. We're all sinners and we all make poor choices. I don't really understand the logic behind this. I just....don't.

Well, it looks like my lunchtime is just about over. I'm going to snap another low-quality picture with my phone and head in and post. I will probably write more later.