The Chain

By Pat

A few nights ago, the chain on which one of my bird feeders hangs was broken by a raccoon who had climbed up the pole in order to raid the sunflower seeds in the feeder. One of the links in the chain completely opened from the weight of the animal, so I rigged it back up by using a link from an old chain I found in the garage, a smaller one. As I hung the feeder back up, I was reminded that we, the body of Christ, are each links in a chain...an invisible chain, and that without one of us, just one, the chain cannot be complete. Each of us serves a purpose in the chain, and each of us is a special link. Some larger, some smaller, but each just as important as the next.

We can sometimes not see how our work in God's kingdom is making a difference in the world, and it can be discouraging wondering if we are doing enough in our service. But each kind deed, every uttered prayer, each heartfelt hug, is a link in a chain that encircles the world. Perhaps the person you have been praying for or witnessing to, will come to Jesus and become an evangelist who reaches countless souls! And to think that you were the link God used is truly humbling. And awesome!

So never allow yourself to feel insignificant, if you are being the best link in God's chain that you can be. It's not the size, but the strength that counts, and I am happy to be one little link in God's "Chain Gang!"

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.

A Cheap Imitation

By MAD21

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to capture things in a photo sometimes? The way something appears to us in real life, the beauty or enormity of a situation and no photo you take can do it justice?

I was thinking about this when I was trying to get some pictures of the area around my house after the blizzards dumped such a huge amount of snow on us last month. I kept taking picture after picture, but when I'd look at the picture I took, it just didn't match what I was seeing with my eyes. I mean they were ok, but there was so much lost in the pictures. The camera was just unable to capture the whole essence of what I was seeing.

I wrote a little about this topic for my post on Remembering, and I was reminded of it again when I was looking at Beki's picture for her blog carnival, Fingerprint Friday. She had tried to capture the beauty she saw in a frosted window, but wasn't able to get the picture to show the full beauty of the frost with it's shine and depth.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

I've been thinking about how a photograph can fail so badly at portraying the beauty and complexity of real life. It is such a good analogy to the things we experience over the years. God has given us so many gifts. They aren't exclusive to believers, most of those gifts can be enjoyed by unbelievers. But there is always something missing when you take God out of the equation.

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