I'm Just A Sheep

I knew I couldn't go too long without getting back to blogging. And today seemed to be the perfect day. I have been fighting allergies like crazy for the past week. (Yes mom, I am partially to blame.) I don't take time to rest like I need to. I have always been the type to fight through feeling sick and often even being sick. Doctor's offices kind of freak me out.

This morning I woke up with Zoe jumping on the side of my bed wanting to go outside. When I opened my mouth to speak to her, nothing came out. On a beautiful Sunday after a fun weekend of recovering from a long work week, I think God is trying to tell me to be quiet. To shut myself down for a day and focus on Him. I love it when He makes it that easy. 

So, this morning I found myself with that blog itch that I get every now and then and felt compelled to start a new blog. For those of you that followed my old one, it has been archived for now. Don't worry I didn't fully delete it. It is just tucked away for the time being. I do that with journals, too. I write for a few months and then one day I will randomly stop and start writing in a new one. Then, months or even years later I pick up an old journal to use again and find it completely humbling how God has grown me in that time. Often times I have found myself writing with wisdom that I didn't even see at the time. Funny how we often know the answer to our questions but our minds take more time to accept them than our hearts.

Pastures of grace is a phrase I used a few weeks ago while talking to a friend. We read all throughout scripture of God being our Shepherd and we are his sheep.  
Jesus says in John 10...

"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find PASTURE. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." 

(v. 9-10)

And then he goes on to say...

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep." 
(v. 14-15)

There's also Psalm 23 which says...

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures."

As I walk through one of the hardest times in my life I find God leading me from pasture to pasture of his redeeming grace. He is not only teaching me about his strength and love but He is showing me everyday His sovereignty over every detail of my life. That is what a Christian life should be... going from one pasture to the next always guided and protected by a Shepherd who know what's best for us. Might I add... a pasture is not always green. Even when we stray, he gently pulls us back in. He KNOWS us, even more that we know ourselves. And I have found that the more I know my Shepherd the more I want to be led by his staff. 

So, cheers to a new blog. I hope my ramblings and thoughts inspire you. 

Enjoy!

Sarah