Aiming for the stars

My mother's parents immigrated from Estonia over 100 years ago. Their first home was made out of sod - blocks of cut earth. That house was replaced by the pictured 100-year-old stone house in which my mother was born. My daughter, Gretchen, peers out of the second story window contemplating her roots and gazing toward her future. Will she be able to capitalize on the rich heritage her great grandparents established of starting from nothing, dreaming big and shooting for the stars? Gretchen is following suite.

TOO LOW THEY BUILD WHO BUILD BENEATH THE STARS.

Fitting in with our temporary theme of goals and slogans for the new year, "Streams in the Desert" devotional book, January 2, challenges us:
"Wake up believers, from your lowly condition. Throw away laziness, sluggishness, coldness, or whatever is interfering with your pure love for Christ. Make Him the Source, the Center, and the One who encompasses every delight of your soul. Refuse to be satisfied any longer with your meager accomplishments. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, and a fuller life. Upward to heaven. Nearer to God.

Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains... we do not know what is lost by our self-indulgence, what glory awaits if we only have the courage to climb, or what blessings we will find if we will only ascent the mountains of God.

Too low they build who build beneath the stars.
May 2008 be a year of living in the stars for you and for me.