Sacred Places.

In church this summer they did a series on sacred places. It was really good, even though I didn't catch all the sermons, but one sunday I was able to sing in the big church and be apart of leading our congregation to the throne through worship. It was a great experience and I got to see my HUGE church in a new way.

Anyways, the pastor stood up during an announcement or something and

asked about sacred places. I looked up at the row of students sitting in the Balcony where a few of them combined with me this summer. We all kind of looked at each other and smiled, and then afterwards all talked about how our sacred place this su

mmer was definitely our combines.

Theres something almost magical about combining. Call me crazy cause I sure do! Who would of thought that sitting in a huge machine tractor thing going 1.4 mph back and forth forever could be magical. I dont think its combining itself, its the 11 hrs a day I get alone with myself and God. Its the landscape placed before me that I wish I could capture with my camera,

but even the highest form of technology could never come close to capturing the beautiful sunset that is different EVERY night, placed just right between the trees with a stack of hay bales in the distance. This is what makes the country image before me breathtaking. During the day, the clouds stack on each other with the blue sky behind them and its amazing!

I love the experience I had on the farm this summer. It made me take a step back and remember how detail oriented God is. His creativity is so much more real and bringing more insight and understanding than any piece of art I have ever looked at. So he created that sunset and images set before me every day...and he created me? whoa. not only did he create me, but he is still working and forming me. He is there whenever a tree lim falls off, or if it starts raining and the clouds cover the sun and stars, but somehow with that change of scenery, God makes that beautiful too!

He is so definite in what he does in my life that sometimes I look past what he has already been doing and creating in my life and only see the change and the pain that the fallen down tree brought. Or I see that tree fall and get so mad that he messed up what I thought was beautiful in my eyes. When really, in His eyes that tree was blocking something even better to come, or still be created.

The relationships I made through combining were also super great! I learned so much from Thomas, Ben, Rolf, Kristen, Duane, mike and so many others that I got to work with! I will never forget the summer I spent in my Combine and how it became such a sacred place. I miss those days but have been challenged to set aside time alone to be still before God, and remember that HE is God.