PATHWAYS AND RENEWAL

‘Renewal’ explained

I believe when we were created.....

We were created in the image of God.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”.Gen 1:27  King James 2000 Bible (©2003)

For a specific purpose…

”But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”Peter 2:9

Often we do not see anything about ourselves that reflects His image. If our thoughts are even going in that direction we are aware of a need, a want….a desire to be as He created us to be.

A desire for renewal.

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him”  Col 3:10  New Living Translation 

And that I believe is the goal of our hearts. Not a difficult trial to bear, but an enjoyable satisfying way of life.

I love words and when I see synonyms and related words, as listed in the dictionary, I am amused and helped to pinpoint different needs. Different areas where I am not reflecting Him and to tackle each from a different perspectives…

Along a different pathway if you will.

'Pathways' explained

To me, each accomplishment, each destination is reached by traveling some sort of pathway. I just see life like that.

A pathway speaks to me of a slower pace, experiences along the way. Senses engaged. A person driving on a highway should not be distracted. A person on a pathway welcomes distractions, participates in them, learns from and is refreshed by them. 

When on a pathway, one anticipates renewal. I don’t like to walk the same trail each time I go for a walk, run or jog. Personally, I do not run or jog…never learned. Sometimes 'sameness' is even my excuse for not going for a walk, ( I know that is lame), but I don’t see the point in looking at the same trees, squirrels and ducks over and over. 

Some days I want the streets of a quaint little town where I can window shop and people watch. There are times I want my thoughts to be drowned out by the roaring of the surf, or I may feel like being expanded by the wind across a high place. 

Of course, there are difficulties faced on pathways that one would hope to avoid by taking a highway. Sometimes the path is overgrown, there may be debris, or flooding. 

Pathways are often associated with physical exertion and times of rest along the way. So it is with the journey we take to find renewal in our lives. There are many pathways.

Often during our busy lives, we have no time to just relax and be refreshed and that is why I have called this ministry "Pathways to Renewal" because I believe that spending time with family, taking pictures of special moments, Bible study, short inspirational stories, are some of the ways we can work renewal, refreshing, refilling into our lives. Come walk some of these pathways with me and be renewed.