We are blessed and highly favored to live next to TALL CORN, not in tall cotton! How does your garden grow? Are you thriving or just surviving? He Who created rain is still reigning! Herein are a few time elapsed photos from week to week of the cornfield that is adjacent to our casa. Those three tall palm trees in the distance remind us that even the trees raise their palms up to heaven. The birds sing and a flock of parrots squawk as they rest and nest in the goodness of God! Those trees grow directly behind our casa, right where God planted us. Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit… What’s NEW?

“You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Embrace the truth that our God is Spirit and He moves among us. People are constantly coming and going all the time and I wonder if they pause to marvel as the birds do at the jaw dropping goodness of God’s Spirit ever at work? May the changing of the seasons cause you to praise God for how He continues to work in us and for us, providing all that we need. With all the frequent bus stops in San Nicolas, I often ponder if anyone notices any personal growth from one week to the next? What is NEW in your neighborhood? We have corn popping up and a new restaurant.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:5-18 NIV Look for the changes in your heart and in your mind and praise God for the gift of faith.

Noticing change returns to us the JOY of our SALVATION. Just like a farmer delights in the growth of his field, so does our Father delight in our growth. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8 Praise God that His grace frees all of His children from their bondage to fakery, or self-deception. God’s amazing grace offers us what we did not earn and forgives us for the wrongs we actually commit. Grace radically alters our identity and our hope in the promises of God. Our identity is NOT in what we have achieved or in what the people around us think we have done on our own. NOPE, as a result of God’s grace, our identity is ROOTED in the work of what the Holy Spirit has accomplished in those who surrender to God. Take time to notice all the changes that surround you, and that are made possible by God’s grace in you. Inch by inch, um poco, um poco, change occurs. Thank God for it.

Aaron’s staff budded and so did the dead tree limb that leans next to our casa. New growth from a dead stump! God causes things to grow, watch how His creation changes, daily. How has God’s grace given you a fresh perspective? “Fish were designed to swim, the sun to shine, and you to worship God. Grace welcomes us back to what we were designed for — to worship.” What is God’s grace working to accomplish through you? Can it make you a better citizen living in the community in which you live? Will His grace cause you to be less selfish and more thankful? Does His grace enable you to be more transparent and less anxious? Do you allow His grace to navigate you through troubled waters? Do you ask for His grace when you feel weak? A great daily devotional book “New Morning Mercies” by Paul Tripp — Words to cause us to look for the best each day!