Right not it's really hard to be thankful about this state I find myself in. For it is October. But, as usual, Texas does its own thing and that right proudly. For it has been well over 80 - even 90 - degrees almost every day. When I leave for work around 7:15, it is already near 70. My sweaters and beautiful autumn clothing laugh at me every morning. And some idiot on the radio advertising "just as the leaves are falling so are our prices" didn't look outside his window to see that there are NO leaves falling...they are all still green. And we won't even bring up apples - the ones they sell down here look like wax and taste about as good. So I write this with tears in my eyes and a painful ache in my heart. For words cannot express how much I want to see color, watch autumn rains tumble from a grey sky, feel the tinge of frost in the morning air, and anticipate the coming of winter...
But, my God is bigger than this state. You've heard the jokes about Texas. Everything here is bigger. Bigger sky, bigger plains, bigger grasshoppers. I'll give them the grasshoppers, but Texans have bigger imaginations or are outright bigger liars if they think everything in this state is bigger. For Colorado has bigger mountains. Half the states in the US have bigger trees. New Hampshire has a bigger state Congress. And New York has bigger sky scrapers. And bigger than all this is my God who created it all.
Perhaps you have also heard Texans joke that God has especially blessed them and their wondrous state. Some who claim this are sincerely joking, but I truly think others believe it. For some reason unknown to mankind, God has a special place in His heart for Texans and their state. It's like they read the Bible and replace the word "Texas" every time they see "Israel". (And then they skip over the parts where God rains hell and brimstone down on Israel for their disobedience...sort of like Israel did.) I hate to break it to them, but God is bigger than their pride. If they imagine that.
God is so big and so wondrous, mankind cannot begin to comprehend Him. Or even imagine Him. All we can maintain is a taste of Him. A sample of His grace, His mercy, His wrath, His might, His love, His patience, His holiness. There is so much about my God I have not come to grasp in my 30 years of existence...and I never shall. But I know this: by His grace I come through every day in Texas. He dries my tears, gives me reasons to laugh, soothes the aches in my heart. He gives me a place to live, safety on the road, work to do, friends to be with. And, yes, He scolds me when I get out of hand - again.
For I am more like the real Israelites - not the blessed ones Texans think themselves to be. I am the one wandering through the desert griping, forgetting that if I would just look up I would see God in all His glory leading me every step of the way. There is a Promised Land on the other end of this journey. I keep praying and hoping it will be New England for the remainder of my life on earth...but even the beautiful Northeast is a wilderness.
A wilderness that leads to a glorious home in Heaven with my God - who is bigger than Texas.
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