DRIFTWOOD!
As you drive along the Pacific Ocean coast line it is continually changing. Along the California coast you see sandy beaches with beach combers and surfers soaking in the warm water and the California sun. Further on up you find huge rocks here and there on which seagulls land for a rest from their flight. Up and down the Pacific coast, there are picturesque views.

The Oregon coast line is mostly for those who are beach combers, hunting for clams, shells and taking pictures. Among our first visits to the Oregon coast we found driftwood. Lots and lots of driftwood. You could almost say the beaches in the southern part of the Oregon coast is a graveyard for driftwood. I loved climbing over the huge pieces looking for just the right ones to put in my yard. On several trips, our trunk would be full of driftwood!

Oregon and Washington use to be known for their Logging Industry and the many Mills that refined the tree's into lumber. The process was putting the logs into water and then later they used sprinkler's to keep them wet. Water always moves down stream and hence the logs, branches and pieces would break lose and head further down stream until they would eventually end up on some beach ready for the driftwood harvest.

Today, you can buy driftwood on line. Driftwood that had been found all the way from Canada down and around Mexico and on and on and on. Fir; Cedar; Spruce; Hemlock, to name a few. Being sculptured by nature and time they have become a profitable commodity. The Logging Industry and many Mills have closed but driftwood is growing. You can even buy mountain driftwood which has a weathered look fitting it's terrain. Most pieces exhibit a muscular grain and some show intricate boring's of insects.

Many times we are like driftwood. We allow ourselves to drift along with waves of indifference and complacency. We allow ourselves to be carried along by circumstances we feel are beyond our control. We drift and when we find ourselves cast upon the shores of deviation we are surprised and wonder; "How did we get this far?" Many times we drift because we are dreamers. Reality is not our game! But reality is life!

"Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." Hebrews 2:1 In grade school I was a dreamer. The teacher would be speaking and I would be looking out the window and my mind would drift to anything and everything that had nothing to do with what the teacher was saying. I dreaded tests! "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." Ecclesiastes 5:7 I thank the Lord for the day I met Jesus. I thank the Lord for taking my life and giving me purpose and direction!

"Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by food which have no value." Hebrews 13:7-9 Become like Christ who speaks to us through His word. Imitate and emulate the lives of the Apostles. Make their faith your own!

"You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." 2Peter 3:17-18 Let's don't be drifters now or ever. Let's put on Christ and keep on course.

When drifting along with the current, it is easy to find yourself cast off course. When we belong to Christ, we are free to become the person God wants us to be. We are free to stand tall and say; "I belong to Christ and He belongs to me!" By Jane Ann Crenshaw 8/25/09