Spreading the love of Jesus...the Cowboy Way!

Echoes From the Campfire

“Man can get so hung up and uptight over the fineries and niceties of life that they forget that it is most often the simple things that truly satisfy.”
--D.C. Adkisson (Redemption)

"The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."

--Psalm 19:7 (Amplified)
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I was sitting in my chair, after doing my morning devotions trying to decide on what profound thing I might come up with for my morning note. I noticed that the temperature had dropped significantly, then looked out the window to see the tops of the trees swaying in the breeze. Simple, but restful. My thoughts went back to some of those cold mornings when I was a kid. I'd go out and play in the snow and cold until my bones were near frozen, then come in and get in front of the furnace. We had one furnace, located in the dining room for the house.
Simple, was life to be made so complex and complicated? Or have we done it to ourselves? I think of the words from Daniel, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and from, and knowledge shall increase." (12:4, NKJV) Knowledge shall increase, but what about wisdom and common sense? Because of the foolishness of men and the constant running around there is little of that these days.
I think of the many campfires I have sat in front of watching the flames flicker. And, now, I am thinking of the "echoes" left by those fires and so many other memories. I have found that in the autumn years of my life I do more reflecting. I had found that a person can sit and look back with regret, or they may look back with fondness. Sure, there are regrets, but mostly my mind turns to fond memories--the echoes of the campfires. I read again from my notes the words of Mother Teresa, "We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence."
Activity, running to and fro, trying to make a dollar. We do more to make a living than we do to make a life! We hustle and bustle and break our backs and our shoulders droop with stress to get by when we should spend quality time with family and friends, and most importantly with our heavenly Father. Then the moment comes when the family decides to get together, a vacation, but finally there is the time to escape the hub-bub of the busy schedule. However, in the midst of it all, the planning, and the hopes, Bernard Brady points out, "In the process, however, they may still be so imbued with the sense of hurry and the thrill of travel that they actually lose what they came to find."
Stress! That awful, seemingly too frequent a word used nowadays. Why does life seem so stressful, at least to some? Where is the peace, contentment, and joy of the Lord? Perhaps life has become too complicated. Perhaps we are searching, seeking, and trying to please the flesh and self and waste too much time, money, and effort on things that are not really necessary and in fact, take away from the necessary things that God intended. A person can get so busy living their dream and trying to make it come true that it becomes more of a nightmare. More and more we should heed the words from the writer of Hebrews, "Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." (12:12-13, NKJV)
Yes, sitting there that morning I allowed the "echoes" to come to me. I sat and was joined by our "snow puma" who jumped in my lap and stretched out. A simple thing--a simple pleasure that I was allowed to enjoy. Ah, God is good and from Him emerges peace and joy and contentment and a sound mind and.....

D.C. Adkisson