Perched in the swing this morning watching the charm of purple finches fight over their favorite feeder. I have lots of feeders around my yard but it never fails, these raspberries colored beauties with their humble soft brown mates argue over the six perches on this feeder all day. I think the cardinals are glad when the finches leave. The cardinals are quiet except when they bring a complaining fledgling they have to feed. The cardinals feed their young for about 56 days so there are usually a few of them crying and demanding seeds.

I’m watching some of the young cardinals today and their adult plumage is beginning, growing feathers the colors of a grill of charcoal briquettes, their blackness flaming hot orange and red then cooling to a grey dust. Some of their chests are crayon red, others reddish brown, dark grayish black, pale yellow. A flock of cardinals is called a radiance. I love that and some of the males are radiantly red. My cardinals are faithful to my yard each morning and I usually have about twelve pair visiting at dusk. I always feel the presence of Chief as I watch the cardinals. I know he sends them as love letters to me from heaven.

You know, life happens while we are making plans. I’m not sure any of us are living the life we planned but if we’re pursuing our passions with a Godly path we are embracing life. God has planned our lives and knows the paths we’ll walk as we travel through life. E.M. Foster says, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” We have to let go of the life we planned to accept God’s plan.

I believe in fate, that God has a predetermined path for all of us. Maybe that’s my Southern Baptist upbringing. Some of us have enough faith to just strike out in the right direction while others stumble and fall till they give their hearts to God and he nudges them in the right direction. I also think lots of times what we are searching for and what we long for is already with us and we just can’t see it for all the clutter of our world. If we slow down and be sincere in our prayers and in our Bible studies the Lord is going to bless us with what we need.

God doesn’t control our decisions. We are free to make our own decisions. Our decisions shape our destiny and if we let God offer advice and guide our decisions, he will point us in the correct direction. The voice of the Holy Spirit shapes and guides our decisions, but your decisions decide your destiny.

Lots of times we’re living a glorious life but can’t enjoy it for always searching for something more. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” Life is full of heartache and sorrow and it rains on our parades but life is oh so glorious when the stars are aligned. Life has so many possibilities and if we seek God he will open closed doors to new opportunities.

“You are the Master of your Fate, the Captain of your Soul.” — Henry Ford

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