Serenity & Surrender
It is somewhat disconcerting that to drive to Laity Lodge you must literally drive your car into a river...and down the river.
Our time there, as is the case with many visitors, was breathtaking and renewing.
Surrounded by the stunning beauty, concealed in the rugged confines of the hills of central Texas, is a legacy of faithful service...to God.
The story of this place is too storied to be told here, but it is a living vibrant testament to the will of believers and to the promises they've made to the God they love.
And it is here, in a vast 2000-acre canyon cut by a river, that Amy and I found some peace.
Peace in each other and in His awe-inspiring truth...a truth to which we were reminded we must completely surrender.
It seems God provides many opportunities in this life to be baptized.
posted by Michael
©The Main Point by Michael Main
7 Comments
7 Comments:
Beautiful post! Thanks for sharing.
It sounds and looks wonderful! I'm glad you were able to find some peace.
Amy looks so good--and so young--in that picture! See you soon!
Hi Michael,
I tried emailing you on the "contact me" but it didn't work, thus my blog entry...
Last night, I was doing a ?google? search for the cactus rose and happened upon your website and blog. I read your journal entries from 5/17/03 and 4/30/04 on Defiance and Defaith.
My congregation had assembled a prayer meeting last night, in light of some recent difficulties we have been experiencing. As we sat quietly in prayer, I had a picture of a cactus with a single flower on it and heard the word, cactus rose, along with some other scriptures. I have never seen or heard of these flowers or cacti so I went to the internet?
Some of what you said in your entry on 4/30/04 resonated with what I was hearing from the Lord. I was wondering if you could share more with me about the ?cactus rose? or perhaps tell me where I can find more info about this plant. (Or, if any of your bloggers could respond, I would be most appreciative.)
Also, could you explain to me what you meant by ?Defaith? in the title of your entry?
I?m also encouraged by your witness to others in the broadcast industry. My half-brother, Dave does a morning radio show (classic rock) in Syracuse, NY, called Gomez and Dave (not Christian). And my husband has his own manufacturer rep company and reps products in the AV industry, such as Audix microphones (used by Casting Crowns). Being a Christian as well, he hopes to make a difference in the marketplace.
May the Lord continue to bless your work and ministry,
Robin
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Robin,
I've tried to give you some answers in email and thanks for taking me back to stuff I wrote some years ago :)
-MM
First of all, I have to tell anyone who may come back and read these comments that Lisa, who commented above, “Amy looks so good--and so young--in that picture! See you soon!” is my sister. Anyone will tell you that I look older than she. I was “feeling” particularly good and young that day -- hiking through the trails and the Frio River deep in a canyon of the Texas Hill Country. Lisa, you guys would love it here. You, Michael (#2 of the Michaels in our family), Sarai Wayne, and Erika (Emily) should make it a point to come and be young with us some year at Laity Lodge -- maybe dad's 80th? We can't wait to see you, too!
And to Robin -- perhaps Michael can e-mail this to you. It amazes Michael that people will leave comments or send e-mails a year or two after he posts something. I explain that they've probably “googled” something and they find you. What I find amazing is that the post about which you commented mentions both the swallows and the cactus rose. And when I looked at his earlier reference in May, he wrote about the swallows in one post and about the cactus rose in another post.
The swallows are back again this year. And it's cactus-growing time. I took down their nest toward the end of our 15-minute winter because last year, they had three sets of babies and somewhere in the middle of their reproducing, they “added on” or remodeled. You could actually see where the second story began. It had been a couple of years since we tore it down, and it began to smell a bit funky (imagine raising five sets of quads or quints in the same house with no indoor plumbing). Plus, the three sets of babies they had last year died because of lack of water.
I have always marvelled at the how quickly they build their nests each year. A few days after they arrived, I noticed the cactus in front of our house had begun to sprout (it's the non-prickly kind, but it still produces a rose or two). It also grows very quickly. I decided that this year, I would document both of them on our camera including the date and time stamp. It's been exactly a month since I started this... the cactus sprouts are getting huge, the nest is built, and there are obviously eggs in the nest since momma won't leave her post. We should have babies any day now.
Maybe I can convince Michael to post the pictures.
Robin, I'm not sure what you were looking for or why God spoke those words to you. And I don't know why googling “cactus rose” would lead you to Michael's blog after all this time. But it helps me, during another time of trials for us, to see someone touched by what my dear husband has written about us. He hasn't left out a single detail while telling our story as we live our story. And sometimes I ask God, “Why? I just don't get it!”
Today, I get it.
Thanks, and blessings,
Amy
PS: I'm sure he explained this in his e-mail, but “DeFaith” was most likely a play on words... one of his favorite things to do. Defiance - defaith (the faith). Da Spurs. By the way, does your half-brother, Dave, know of any well-paying job openings at his station for a news guy?
Amy,
Thanks for your reply. I addressed both of you in my reply to Michael's email. The Lord uses our writings and testimonies in more far-reaching ways than we could ever imagine.
Peace,
Robin (1 Peter 5:6-11)
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