Miracles....

Sunset in the southwestern desert is a special time of the day.  For those fortunate to live here we are blessed almost daily with one of God's miracles - an incredible display of color as the sun sets behind the western mountains.  Almost every day I see a sunset photo taken by one of my friends posted to Face Book for everyone to enjoy.  The southwest is known for its incredible sunsets and sunrises.  I captured this photo after a windy day when there were not only clouds in the sky but also a great deal of dust particles.  The outline of the beautiful San Xavier Mission is one of the Spanish Missions built in the 1700s.  When I think of the incredible amount of work it took to build these Spanish missions at a time when the tools we know today had not even been thought of, I marvel at the beautiful and detailed workmanship.  These Spanish missionaries who came through the southwestern Unites States so many years ago were men of God and truly had God's help to endure the hardships it took to travel the long distances and then find a way to build such large and beautiful missions where they could share their faith and teach Christianity to the people they encountered.

I didn't understand this when I was young, but sharing our love of God and our faith is an important part of what God wants us to do as Christians.  In his book "The Purpose Driven Life", Rick Warren writes "Living for God's glory is the greatest achievement we can accomplish with our lives."  Each day that I am able to  keep this thought in the forefront of my mind I find my days are happier, the people around me are happier and I find it easier to turn my life over to God and trust in Him to lead me.  It has taken years and years for me to get to this level of understanding in my faith.  I owe a great deal of thanks to people I have met along the way and friends I still have in my life who help me get back on track when I slip.  People come into our lives for reasons and I firmly believe that either they are there to help us learn or they are there to learn something from us.  In 2 Corinthians 4:15, the Bible states "As God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, ... God will receive more and more glory."  So I now know why these ancient Christian Spaniards were so driven to travel the vast distances and build the missions to share God's word and give glory to God. 

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." 

~Proverbs 19:21