It gets dark pretty early nowadays.  Living in the South, in these beautiful hills and the countryside of Tennessee makes me enjoy the warm weather more than I ever did.  I really have gotten spoiled - well except for this winter in which we've had more snow than in the last 40 years. 

Anyway... ever since December 21st.. the winter solstice.. the days have been getting longer. Except I don't notice it. Well.. ok.. technically the days are still twenty four hours long.. each day has MORE DAYLIGHT.

But when I looked at the weather channel today.. and our local forecast was on I noticed that the sun is going to rise one minute earlier tomorrow than it did today.. and it is going to set one minute later tomorrow than it did today.   That's two WHOLE more minutes of daylight tomorrow than today.

We don't notice small changes.  But we should.  Summer will arrive two minutes at a time. Change happens a little every day.

Don't despise small changes... In yourself or in those around you.

That's the way God runs the world.  One day at a time. 

When I was growing up, we didn't have caller ID like we do today.  The phone rang, and you answered it... sight unseen... never knowing who was at the other end.  

Because of this anonymity... people felt freer to make annoying calls.  You couldn't indentify them...so they'd call. Sometimes they could even be obscene.   It would take a lenghty and involved process for the telephone company to discover who was calling and annoying you.  Now we have caller ID, privacy protection, call block, call trace.. all at our fingertips.

My mother, for every second of every day of her life, always had eternal things in mind.  So, when/if someone called her home by mistake, she would say, "It's not by chance you called here.  I want to let you know that Jesus had you call here so that you would know that He loves you.  He knows everything about you.  He can change your life in just one moment.  He wants to forgive you, restore you, heal you. Will you let Him?"  

On countless occasions the phone call would end in a friendship beginning.  My dad was a pastor, and many many people visited our church and got right with God through Jesus because they happened to call our house by mistake.   Even on those times someone was vulgar or obscene, I'd hear my mother say things like,"Now, son, you don't want to talk like that.  You are hurting inside.  You need Jesus to come in to your life."  Most of the time, most of those callers would hang up - seemingly more terrified of my mother than my mother was of them.

I mention all this because for some reason you are at this blog today. 

I'd like to paraphrase what my mother said:  "It's not by chance you came here.  I want to let you know that Jesus had you visit here so that you would know that He loves you.  He knows everything about you.  He can change your life in just one moment.  He wants to forgive you, restore you, heal you.  Will you let Him?"

The other day, I watched an episode of the TV show, "House".  I think it was a re-run.  Dr. House is trying to find what is ailing a famous author.  She is intent on dying and is killing off one of her famous book characters in her last and final act of anger.  House is a fan of the book series, and is distraught that his hero is going to die.   She smiles at him and more or less says, "That's tough.  I'm the author.  I created that hero, and I get to decide what happens."  And that was the brutal truth in Dr. House's face.

As a writer,  I get to choose the way the story ends.  Well, truth is,  I get to choose the way the story starts, the middle of the story, and the way it ends.   I am the author.  It is my creation.  You may not like the way the story is written, you may not like what happens, but you are not the author. As a songwriter, I also get to write the lyrics for the song, and I get to choose the melody for the lyrics. 

At times I get wonderful letters and emails from people who have been encouraged by something I have written - an article or a song.  At other times,  some people criticize what or how I've written.   No matter what people say, it doesn't change the story.  The story is written.  The song is done.  You are NOT the author, you are the audience. (My experience shows me that the most vocal critics of someone else's creativity are people who have never written ONE SINGLE THING. Interesting, isn't it?)

It would be ridiculous to see people protesting the publisher's office, or boycotting their products because they don't like the way the story is being written, or they don't like the way the story ends.  And who would take the time to protest the way a songwriter wrote a song?   No one argues with the author.

Unless, of course, the Author is God.. and you don't like the way He is writing the story of your life, or this planet HE CREATED.   Then of course, we feel free to add our comments about His creation. We think we can tell God - the Author of Life- how to write the story.

Truth is, He wants to give every one a happy ending. He wants to change the ending that we wrote for ourselves as a rebellious race, and give us LIFE FOREVER.   He decides the pathway, the events, the circumstances, the characters that everyone's story takes.He is writing your story and mine. He is writing your song and mine.  He is the AUTHOR. 

The author in the TV show didn't want anyone telling her how to write her book, but was angry at God because she didn't like the chapter He was writing for her at the moment.  

We are not writing our own story.  We may deceive ourselves in to thinking that God is not in control of every single thing.. but He is writing the story.  We simply believe His Words.

It's a waste of time to argue with The Author. 

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