JOURNAL(Do Not Keep Out) “SAVE...AS IS” By Jeannie McPherson  As another year rolls along while looking in the mirror, I notice areas on my face that are heading downward and I seem to have more skin than I used to.  I’m amazed that all the muscles of my face have held things up thus far in the midst of this gravitational pull.  A friend talked with me about the subject of aging a number of years ago, sharing how she tries to slow this process by sleeping on her back so she doesn’t stretch out her skin.  Trying not to worry too much, I thought of my habit of lying on my side, while picturing the skin of my face pooling to the one side of my pillow...   As I head on down this trail myself, I can’t help but feel the twinge of remorse for aging and weary bodies--changing and slowing their pace like summer leaves taking on autumn shades and eventually curling up into winter’s end.  I remember well the vitality and energy of childhood, running tirelessly through the woods, just slowing down long enough to get a drink or have lunch, then running off again. What must it be like for God in watching His design and well-being for mankind marked up and “deleted” by sin, muddying up and wiping out the paradise He intended as this horrible virus takes hold of all that's precious here on earth?   Early on in my computer experience while writing a letter or some time-or thought-provoking endeavor, I would sometimes forget to hit SAVE.  It was gone; my thoughts, my work, my time.  With a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, my mind scrambled to remember and recapture the gist of what I had written.  Each of us gets acquainted--but never accustomed to the fact of sin’s degeneration in our lives and in the lives of those we love.  We soon realize that something is not right. Something needs to be renewed, recaptured and restored as, with God, we painstakingly look over the drafts of what was, what is, and what is to come.   When I meet up with this degeneration in my own heart, mind, experiences, I sometimes battle with feelings of defeat and despair that play out. I am driven to take hold of the reality of Jesus’ Power for me in not being defeated, or---deleted..."I called on Your Name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit.  You heard my plea: “Do not close Your ears to the cry for relief.”  You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not fear.”  O Lord, you took up my case, You redeemed my life”.  Lamentations 3: 55-58 NIV. Taking my needs to God, along with bad attitudes, strained relationships, and all else that may trip me up; I am transformed in my heart and life with His Peace and Provisions.  God’s Word and Promises to me become life and become mine as I reach out and pick them up, changing, restoring, renewing, transforming, and saving...as is.   ©2010 Jeannie McPherson