Every saint is a jewel of God. I am convicted by God to look at people (and also my children) in this light. Often we cannot see the jewel as it hides behind the rough exterior. All we see is unsightly hard rock, but God wants us to look beyond what we see on the surface.  

We sometimes hear the phrase, "He's a rough diamond." This means that the person is pretty rough on the outside but inside they have a heart of gold. We need to be reminded that there is a diamond, or perhaps a sapphire, an emerald, an opal, a ruby or an amethyst in each person. The jewel in every person is different. Each jewel will reveal different colors and lights of God's character. But we cannot see the beauty shining from the jewel until it has been cut and polished. And what a painful process this is. Much cutting has to be done o reveal the many-faceted hues and beauty of the gem. The cutting goes on and on. And when it is finished, the polishing starts. It hurts

I know God has to do so much more cutting and polishing with me. May we let Him do His work and cut away all the roughness and hardness. May we also have patience with all God's saints, even those who are still rough and uncut. 

May God give us patience with our children. God has given us the task of being a lapidary (a cutter and polisher of gems). It is the lapidary's art to reveal the gem. Sometimes we may feel it is a hopeless job. But we must never give up hope. There is a jewel in every child of God. There is a precious jewel in every one of our children that waits to be revealed. We must see it by faith. We must pray it into being. May God give us vision, patience and understanding as we fulfill this great task. It does not happen over night. It is painstaking and time-consuming. 

There will come a day when God will make all His jewels into a crown. I am thinking of the hymn we used to sing as children... 

When He cometh, when He cometh

To make up His jewels,

All His jewels, precious jewels,

His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning,

His brightness adorning,

They shall shine in their beauty,

God promises that there will be a day when Israel will sparkle like the jewels of a crown in their land. Although this literally talks about Israel, I believe that God wants His redeemed people to also shine in this world like glittering jewels in a crown. It's time for all the roughness, hardness, mediocrity, worldliness, selfishness and indifference to be cut away and for God's glory to be revealed in the land.  

Isaiah 62:3, "Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." 

Zechariah 9:16, "They shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land." The New Living Translation says, "They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown. How wonderful and beautiful they will be!" 

Philippians 2:15, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world."

For more devotions from Nancy, go to www.aboverubies.com

OK, God is in control...  I think I am saying that to remind myself. So far, I have had 7 blood tests, an EKG, an Echocardiogram, several urine tests, 24 hour urines, Renal ultrasound, renal duplex doppler, they suspected LUPUS. It is not Lupus. They suspected renal stenosis, It is not that either. My Aldosterone is hign, my potassium is low, protein and blood in the urine. Now I will have a CAT scan/MRI. I also have to see a urologist because of the blood in my urine.. God is in control. They are looking for Adrenal problems... Pray for me. Thank you for all your support. I have already seen a Nephrologist. The problem is my kidney is not bad enough to be taken care of by a Nephrologist.

Love,

Kelli 

We completed the basics today again. (reading, writing, arithimetic) I went to the doctor, major sinus infection and high blood pressure!! The blood pressure thing has been going on since last year. Antibiotics for the sinus thing and yipeeee bloodwork!! The doctor is checking my renal artery, I have been having a problem for a while. The insurance company provided a rental for Anthony, the kicker is...  he can not drive it. He is not old enough!! I drive the rental and he will take my Surburban. Steve, Peter, Stephie and I went to prayer meeting tonight we did not get home until late. We studied in Phillipians, I twas a great study. "Being light in a perverse geneeration"

Good Night

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. I Peter 5:7

Good Morning!!!

Yesterday was busy!!! We all awoke, completed our morning chores and had our morning devotions. We use Keys for Kids for our morning devotion. Then we all read 2 chapters of the Bible out loud. We are presently reading in Revelation. We completed James, I Peter, II Peter, I John, II John, III John, and Jude. We will read Revelation 6 & 7 today. Yesterday I joined our family in a scripture memory challange. We will be memorizing verses of scripture through the New Testament. This is a great way to have my entire family accountable to memorize scripture. You can join as well..  Check it out here  www.scripturememorychallenge.org  Last night was the first week back to Battlion and Pioneer Girls. My kids love it. We go to church at 6:30pm for a fellowship dinner and then the clubs start at 7:15pm. We are there until 8:30pm and do not get home until 9pm. It is a long day for the twins, they are used to going to bed at 7pm. Steve went with us last night, something he usually does not do because he has to be up at 4:30am to go to work. It was great having him with us. Today (Thursday) was a crazy day!!  Peter was in a giggly mood today!!!  So school took a long time. Stephie and Rebekah went to the Peditrician... Stephie has fluid in her ear from a viral infection and Rebekah was "burning" when she peed!!!  Thank God no infections... Just no more bubble baths...for Beka and decongestants for Stephie to get rid of the fluid. We use homeopathic stuff though..  She will steam breathe eucalyptus, tea tree and red thyme. That will help her clear up the fluid and dry it. It is now dinner time.. Peter, Stephie, Rebekah and Rachel ate dinner. I will wait for Steve, he is working overtime. It is 6pm and the kids are making chocolate chip cookies. They will have dessert and go to bed. Today was a long, chaotic, crazy day!! Todays devotion was about "The Smell Of Sin" The key verse was Galatians  6:7 "Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."  You can listen to our daily devotions at http://cbh.gospelcom.net/kfk/home.php   I spoke to my mother -in -law today, she has been sick for about 10 days. Pray for her, that she is healed as well as becomes a Believer. She has a special place in my heart.

Well today is my 40th!!! Yipee!!! I get to start going over the hill!! We all woke up and we did our am devotion. I am still sick This head cold will just not leave. We did not have school today. I rested and the kids played outside on the trampoline in the 58* weather we are having. We had turkey sandwiches for lunch. Anthony was here for most of the day organizing his room and preparing to leave for boot camp. We had several great conversations during the day. Watching you rchildren grow in the Lord and make decisions is such a blessing. Anthony and his girlfriend Courtney bought me a beautiful boquet of flowers along with a card stating how "old" I am getting. Steve and the rest of the gang bought me pj bottoms and a bathrobe, a pair of gold earrings and a new tea kettle..  I love them..  They are all great gifts. I made everyones favorite dinner tonight. (burrito bake) they all devoured them. While I was making them, the jar of salsa fell out of my hand, hit the floor and splattered not only all over the kitchen, but all over Courtney. I felt so bad.  It was funny though! Steve picked me up after work and we went to Pennsylvania to complete another one of his service calls. When we came home Peter, Stephie, Rebekah & Rachel had made me a birthday cake. (Organic) It was great!! It is 9:30pm Steve is sleeping. He leaves at 5am for work. I am watching Twilight ZOne with Peter. We are going to sleep now. Good Night. Lord Willing I will feel better tomorrow and be able to get up early and complete my study of Revelation 1-3 with Kay Arthur.

I slept until 8am today, still battling the head cold. Stephanie (age 9) made scrambled eggs for Herself as well as Peter, Rebekah and Rachel. Steve left at 8:15 with Anthony to go to Pennsylvania to complete a service call for Neon and they went out for breakfast together. Steve got back around 10:30am and dropped Anthony off so he could go run around the track. Steve took Peter for a haircut and out to lunch. It was the boys day out!!! I cleaned the house even though I felt as though I was dying. Stephanie is a great help, doing her chores. I did laundry and have been resting on the couch all day. At 3pm I started beef stew for dinner at 5pm we all ate!!

WOW!! We all sat down for dinner together. Something I love to do!! Courtney (Anthony's girlfriend) was also here. Rachel (age 5) gave thanks for the food and we ate.

Steve and the twins are playing on the bed inside, wrestling and Stephie is here with me. Anthony and Courtney are playing a prank on Nana and Peter is playing his video game. It is now 6:30pm and the twins are getting ready for bed, then we will read the Bible, pray and put them to bed.

Stephanie wanted to have curls in her hair. We put curlers in her hair for church tomorrow.

Good Night and God Bless