Gudnayber

Category: Journey

  • A Murder of Crows in my Yard

    A Murder of Crows in my Yard

    I have recently had crows in my yard. Oddly enough I have unwittingly made burnt offerings to them twice; a burned grilled cheese sandwich left on the stove and later a piece of garlic bread I was heating on broil and forgot.

    I do not put much stock in superstitions but I have had enough odd things happen lately that I thought I would document.

    This summer I killed 3 snakes; one out of mercy (dying in the road), one moving wood from a tree I cut down and lastly one I did not see while cutting weeds.

    Our God is not one who deals in superstition but at the same time has given us a faith rich in symbolism and hidden meaning. We have a patient and mysterious God who waits for us to choose him and is hidden all around us.

    So back to the crows, bread is given in communion, it is Christ as a sacrificial lamb that has been sacrificed once for all our sin. The murder of Crows is symbolic of the end of death, for by that sacrifice we all can be redeemed from death to life.

    The 3 snakes, all are for what must die with the sacrifice of the lamb. Sin, in the Bible, is the reason or cause for death and we must bury it with Christ if we want to rise with Jesus.

    The first snake, killed out of mercy is to remind us of the suffering sin causes others. Sin often impacts someone else and so is in opposition to the covenant, Love God and love your neighbor.

    The next was killed by a piece of tree, a branch, because Jesus is the tree of life and he came to defeat sin. Christ came to save sinners so the tree will defeat sin with grace.

    Lastly the one killed while weed eating. Jesus tells a parable of the farmer who in the night his enemy sowed weeds into his harvest. Gods people are his harvest but weeds are among us. The removing the weeds will happen on the last day, then is when we conquer the serpent, who uses sin to accuse Gods people.

    This may seem like a superstitious rant but it is meant to show how God sometimes whispers in our lives. God is all around us, revealing who he is to us all the time, and we often miss it. Do not miss the chance to see God and how he is working around you.

    “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle,”

    Albert Einstein

  • On the Road to Damascus

    On the Road to Damascus

    Sometime we have moments that wake us up. Sometimes we are going through life asleep, just maintaining, not seeing the people around us, caught up in our own problems.

    I recently had a moment like this. February 25, 2025 I decided to turn from from sin and serve God fully. I went that day to my church for holy water and blessed my entire house.

    James‬ ‭4‬:‭7 “So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

    Later that day I went to pick up my daughter from school. I was listening to a pod cast talking about the Apostle Paul and the start of his mission. That is when a car came into my lane. To avoid hitting the car I swerved to go in front of the car. I was struck and my car was flipped over.

    Time seemed to slow down, as the car rolled crushing the side view mirror, then on to its roof the curtain air bags were deployed. At this time I was buckled upside down and could not see out of the vehicle. I unbuckled myself and fell to the roof. I felt trapped, not able to see out I started too kick out the airbag and window when someone opened the door. I could see again, this women who opened the door helped me to my feet and got me to the curb to sit.

    Assessing the situation, I had some scratched on my hands but otherwise I was ok. I had someone come up and ask if I was ok and how did I get out of the car. I said, “yes, this lovely lady opened the door and helped me out of the car.” He asked where the other driver was and the woman who had helped me said she was the other driver. She had five kids in her car, thankfully no one was hurt.

    I understand accidents happen, maybe you think there is more coincidence then providence here but I do believe God protected me. That I only had some scratches and bruises. On this day where I chose to turn from my sin and listening to an account of Paul, I was in an accident but relatively un hurt. As in James 4:7, the Devil seemed to hit me as he fled from me.

    God is Good, but there is more ahead. I had been feeling a call for some time. I have let distraction get in my way and my own sin causing me to stumble. I was blinded by my own day to day monotony.

    My country, the people around me are so divided. We have lost the love for our neighbors. We don’t even know or see the people living right next to us. I believe God is calling me to help us see each other. To help people find their way back to loving one another.

    This is my mission, welcome to Gudnayber.

    Mark‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬ “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”