“Blessed quietness,
holy quietness,
What assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea
He speaks peace to me,
How the billows cease to roll!”
Manie Ferguson (hymn lyrics)

I’ve been in deep thought, and reading, so much here in our Jekyll home that it is all I can do to blog. But this morning I am determined to sit and type. Rich is upstairs on a call for work, Grace is reading in the kitchen, David and Caleb are still asleep, and the younger two are out visiting a sweet little friend they met at the pool. She’s here with her grandparents and they have a cat so….naturally they are fast friends.

What have I been in deep thought about? Mainly my spirituality, because all of life goes back to The Source of life, every problem or challenge is traced back to The Solution to the problems…..God in three persons, Blessed Trinity. The Triune God is a warm and heavy blanket over me when I am cold and lonely, and a cool refreshing breeze when I am fevered and emotional. My soul is saved by Him, my body and mind are calmed by Him and His Word. My Maker, my Redeemer, my Friend. Never my task-master, never cruel, never harsh, always kind, always ready with slow and gentle lessons to teach me the righteous way to live. I can trust Him completely.

During a harder day (emotionally) I went through my spiritual journal and wrote “I trust God completely” in every empty spot.

Each day I sit back (so to speak) and watch Him work.

That unexpected cheerful hello from a friend? That’s Him.
That burst of cheerful energy when you were oh so weary and sad just an hour ago? That’s Him.
The grace-filled love from a family member? That’s Him.
The fact that your sandels didn’t get swept into the sea when you left them behind while you were out walking? That’s Him.

I love to credit God for every single solitary blessing big or small because of this verse:

“So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” James 1:17

And what of the not so wonderful moments? The dull ones? The aching ones? The terrible ones? Oh but they are a momentary thing! The weight of the world is constantly on our shoulders, we search with oftentimes great effort for the blessings, we feel deeply the pain of sin and death and “not-right-ness” because we live here in a cursed world as pilgrims, and wait in absolute assurance for The Day, that glorious new day, that bright morning when we open our eyes and see Him face to face.

There’s an element of the gospel within every timeless movie or book, not spelled out plainly, but spiritual truths hidden carefully like a precious jewel for us to search out. Gone With the Wind, to me, was a beautiful novel because although Scarlett did everything selfishly, she did it all for home, Tara. To her, home was the only thing worth working for, even at the cost of her own personal integrity and relationships.

Ah, home.

“I will lay my burdens down when I get home.”

“I just want to go home”

“I am home-sick for heaven.”

I explained these thoughts to my husband during a recent bike ride and couldn’t help but cry. He was concerned as to where the emotions were coming from…… “You have a home here, we have a wonderful home.” And I said, “Oh yes, yes, yes, we do, but I’m always (to varying degrees) homesick for heaven and the reason why I care so much about my home here with you and the children is because this home is a foretaste, a tiny imperfect appetizer, for what is to come.” and I hunger for it. What glory and security awaits in our true Home!

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We went out to eat at our favorite BBQ place on St. Simons.

We sat at the bar on tall stools and it was fun because we could watch all the nonstop action as food was coming out of the kitchen. The crew was like a well-oiled machine, from the greeter to the dish-washers. They have to be, in order to keep up with the many many customers.

The shelf up on the wall is filled with BBQ books of all kinds.

To my left. They don’t pass out napkins, they just have big rolls of paper towel everywhere and you need them!

Behind us was the entrance and views of outdoor seating. Smells of smoky BBQ filled the air.

To my right, past Rich, was a wall of merchandice for sale along with fun decor.

pig with wings

red and white patchwork pig was something I wanted to sneak in my purse (but didn’t bc of the Holy Spirit)

or, as Grace says, “my morals bit me”.

“On my Mind”

Once my food came I stopped looking around.

I had ribs (oh my word so so good) and two sides of collard greens. I LOVE. I could eat collard greens at every meal.

Rich had greens, turkey, and stew

Just the best.

Southern Soul Barbeque
2020 Demere Rd
Saint Simons Island, GA 31522

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Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day. Romans 8:18, 19