About Me

Van Walton

Fun Facts about Van Walton

My favorite smell: The way the earth smells after it rains.

My favorite sound: The first notes of a grand symphony.

My favorite way to relax: Sitting anywhere outside - on my front porch, on my deck, or by the lake, early in the morning with my first cup of coffee.

My favorite birthday dessert: a Peach cobbler baked by my husband. He’s my fave chef!

I will not eat: Avocado. They turn my stomach into a volcano that never erupts.

Technology I couldn't live without and why: My laptop - it takes me anywhere I want to go.

One thing that makes me smile: My sons' faces!

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My Resources



My book, From the Pound to the Palace, is available for $10
from Proverbs 31 Ministries.


Pound to Palace


My book, Little Halos, is available for $5.99 from Proverbs
31 Ministries.


Little Halos


Proverbs 31 Ministries












Links




Sponsor a Child in Jesus Name with Compassion

Monday, July 2, 2007

About the Title of This Blog:

My story and your story, everyone’s story is woven into HIS story. God created man and woman in the garden!
In the beginning God created)… Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

…the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden…

…the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept God made a woman…
(taken from portions of Genesis 1 & 2, New Living Translation of the Holy Bible)
We were created in the garden!

If I was created for life in the garden, why am I lost in the jungle?

Temptation! Read all about it:
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

The woman was convinced… So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness… When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” (portions of Genesis 3( NLT)

Temptation and deception lead to a choice. Adam and Eve, and I, and everyone who has ever lived, we have all made a choice.
The choice to turn from God, to ignore his commands and his calling, leads to separation.
“So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden…” Genesis 3:23 (NLT)
That is why I am lost in the jungle! When my choices conflict with God’s will, I no longer walk with Him. I find myself lost in the jungle!

God has provided a way out of the jungle. He lovingly calls to His children, “Where are you?”

Where are you?

Are you walking with God or are you wandering through life on your very own? Whose voices do you hear? The world’s, your own, God’s?

Listening to God leads back to the garden! So what will it be?

Living in the garden or lost in the jungle?

Listen to Him:
“I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.” Leviticus 26:12 (NLT)

The Lord is my shepherd… He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. Psalm 23:2 (NLT)

“You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:12-13 (ESV)God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)

I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 (NLT)

Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. Revelation 22:1-4 (MSG)
Full circle! Back to the garden. Where are you? Living in the garden or lost in the jungle?

2 comments:

Laura said...

Van, Your blogsite is so beautiful! I finally have found some time to sit down and feast on it at my leisure! It was like taking a mini retreat! I love how you say that walking with God will lead us back to the garden. Sigh. That sounds great and it's what my heart longs for. I admire you even more after reading about your volunteer work. You must just be a natural teacher. You are the real thing, lady!
Laura B.

Anonymous said...

Revelation ch. 22, rather than 21.