Solid Ground?

I went this week with my family to our family ranch in west Texas.

We go often this time of year, mostly because it is deer season.  My husband and sons LOVE to hunt and be outdoors.  It is a fun time - they hunt, we ride four wheelers, the kids run and play outside.  When it gets dark, and we are all back inside, we play games. 
It is great to get away for a few days from the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives.  We have limited phone access and no internet, so we really do "get away."

This trip brought a couple of challenges as we left to go out there and as we came back. 

The morning we were to leave, I woke up with a severe case of vertigo. I had felt it some the night before - the rooms seemed to be spinning as I was laying in bed.  It did not subside when I got up, so I made a trip to the Urgent Care clinic.  We were headed to an area where it is a bit of a drive back to "civilization" and I didn't want to get out there and have more problems.  Luckily, it was diagnosed as a virus and was given some medication in case it got worse.  It cleared up by the next day.

The night before we were to leave to come home, it began raining (yay - we have been in such a drought, it is badly needed).  What we didn't count on was the mess it would make of the ranch road.  We have about a 2 mile drive from the ranch house to the paved road.   The kind of "dirt" is a clay like substance. When it got wet, it was like driving on ice.  One of our vehicles, pulling a trailer, got stuck several times and it took them 45 minutes to make the 2 mile trip.  As we left a little later, it seems like we slid all the way down the road - sometimes the car was travelling down the road sideways. 

Both of these events reminded me of how uncertain things in life can be.  We often feel like the world is spinning out of control.  Or we seem to slip and slid our way through situations.  Events can leave us feeling like there is no place to get firm footing.

But I do have a place to stand on solid ground.  I do have hope that my world is not out of control. 

I am so thankful that Christ came to this earth at Christmas to give me that stability.  That even as a baby in a manger, He righted my world.
I pray that you also have this hope and stability.  That you know my Saviour that can give you firm footing and help you get back on your feet.

And as you head into 2012, I challenge you to help others find their way in this unstable world.

Happy New Year!

"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"by Edward Mote, 1797-1874

1. My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
2. When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
3. His oath, His covenant, and blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
4. When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Clothed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.