First of all, I want to update on Noah Estes. Many things (as of last evening) had worked out for the trip to the rheumatologist today. I've checked the blog and her "tweets" and nothing new yet, but praise the Lord for many of the "mountains" being removed! Please keep them in your prayers, and I prayerfully ask you to consider signing up for updates to their blog so you can continue to pray. (Button on sidebar).
[Editing to add that Kate just posted an update--here's the link to "Plan Q". God really worked out many things!]
Today I am thankful that God is in control! With all that I read (and I don't read a fraction of it all like some do!) and hear of what is going on in the world, it is quite obvious that we are much nearer to Christ's return than ever! I don't believe that we will avoid suffering for our faith, but if we sit around and fear and fret and worry (three things Scripture explicitly forbids us to do, by the way!) that will not prepare us in any way. In fact, I am not interested in "preparing to suffer", so to speak.
I am focused on "preparing to meet my Savior"! Whether through death or "in the air", THAT is the most momentous occasion of my life that I focus on. And I am going to sound like a broken record, but it all goes back to-----
Relationships.
Whether you are fearful/fretful/worried about marriage problems, your children, your homeschooling, your extended family, loved ones' salvation, local/national/world problems or church problems, the anitdote is not to immerse yourself in the latest about the conspiracies going on (they are out there, I acknowledge that) or be well versed in political intrigues (plenty of those, too) or even focusing on whether we're going through the Tribulation or not, or whether so-and-so has their doctrine lined up or whether you need a degree to make good money (my answer would be no)--a bunch of head knowledge is not going to help any one of those situations.
Immersing yourself in His Love Letter to you, immersing yourself in time with your Beloved Bridegroom Who died for you, communing with Him, loving His presence, spending time in His presence, thirsting mightily for His presence, longing for His presence.....I think you get the idea! THIS is what will bring peace and strength to your heart, a deep calm that nothing, and I mean nothing, can disturb.
Only by spending time with Him will we know His thoughts. And only by spending time with Him will be able to trust Him. With our problems. With our families. With our very lives.
I believe we are not to be looking for the "signs of the times". Or the antichrist. Or whatever else.
We are to be looking for Him. And Him alone.
That doesn't mean hide our heads in the sand and ignore everything going on around us. But to look for Him in and through all and above it all.
If you are spending more time reading newspapers, listening to talk radio, discussing all the political/spiritual intrigues going on than you are in God's Word just worshipping and loving Him and letting Him speak to you, then I would suggest you turn that around. There's nothing wrong with studying His Word and seeing how Scripture is "today's headlines", but above that you must spend time with Him. Imagine if all you talked about with your husband was what is going on in the world! No real "connecting" time. Wouldn't do much for your relationship, would it?!
Same with our relationship with the Lord.
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8
Do you love His appearing? Do you long for the consummation of the Marriage of the Lamb? Or are you too tied to this world? Are you more concerned with how you will survive than how you will glorify Him? (Josef Tson's message I mentioned a few weeks ago is a good one to watch if you haven't already! Click here for that post--if you just want the link to Tson's video, click here. You'll have to scroll about half way down the page to find his message.)
Do you really believe God is in control? Do you believe that He has everything in His hands, and that nothing, absolutely nothing, happens without His permission and oversight? That "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain."? (Psalm 76:10)
"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." (Psalm 112:7)
What is your heart fixed upon?
Only by spending time with my Savior can I have His peace. "Let not your heart be troubled....Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:1, 27
I believe that is a command! Who is in control of what our heart meditates upon?!
We are! What we meditate upon shows what we truly delight in.
OUCH!
May we find our delight in Him and His Word to us, and meditate on it . It will strengthen our hearts (Ps. 27:14, Joshua 1:7-9). It will bring true joy (Psalm 16:11). As we delight in His commandments, fear Him and Him alone, He will bless, help fix our hearts on Him and build our trust in Him. (Psalm 112:1,4-5,7)
I leave you with a few thoughts. The first by Ron Auch (of course!):
"The law (teaching) of Thy mouth is better unto me (more precious to me) than thousands of gold and silver." Psalm 119:72
"What would you prefer? Would you prefer an unlimited supply of silver and gold, or access to the presence and words of God? Most of us prove, by our actions, that we prefer silver and gold over God. Our jobs can make tremendous demands on us and yet we sacrifice to keep them....If only we felt like David, that the things of God are more precious than money.
"Living in obedience to His law is what sharpens our spiritual hearing. Not until we love that which proceeds from His mouth more than we love this world, will we develop David's kind of obedience to Him. That obedience brings us into a communion with Him. That obedience generates His presence."
~The Heart of the King
I believe I've quoted this by A.T. Pierson before, but it's good enough to repeat!
"The peace of God is that eternal calm which, like the cushion of the sea, lies far too deep down to be reached by any external trouble or disturbance; and he who enters into the presence of God, becomes partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm."
May you find that peace by resting in Him.
He is in control!
May you have God's blessings of peace upon your life as you seek His face!
I've missed a few Thursdays! But I'm still thankful!
This week, I am especially thankful for the Living Word of God. I am always amazed at how the Word has just what I need at a particular moment, whether I'm dealing with planning homeschooling, character training, world issues.....
Over and over and over again, God's Living, Breathing Word speaks to my heart in such a way that you would think that that verse or passage had been penned just for me, for that moment!
Sometimes it might be something I've read over many times before, but it speaks to me in a different way this time. The Lord is personally involved in my life and speaks to my heart over and over through His Love Letter to me. He gently challenges me, convicts me, affirms me, and guides me, because He cares about every intimate detail of my life!
Whether you are facing illness, uncertainties about a job, homeschool planning, struggles with a child, marriage issues, or maybe you're concerned for a friend's struggles--God's Word holds precious words of promise, comfort, and direction for you. You may have to dig as for hidden treasure--but if you knew that in this Book were hidden the exact words you need to hear at this time, wouldn't you dig diligently to find them?
"The law (teaching) of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." Psalm 119:72
"I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches." Psalm 119:14
"My son, if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee;
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."
Proverbs 2:1-5
Search His Love Letter to you for His precious words of comfort, hope and love!
I am so very grateful to the Lord for His protection!
This week has begun the official "4-H and Fair Craziness" for us! This week is general project judging (well, it was Monday and Tuesday), setting up Llama tent and pens (tonight), Fashion Revue (tomorrow night) and Llama washing and checking in goats (Friday night), Fireworks (Friday night!), rabbit and chicken check in Saturday! Then Sunday begins the animal shows--we have one Sunday then two each on Monday and Tuesday! After Tuesday we really enjoy the fair!
As you can imagine, there is LOTS of running back and forth, to and fro, with various children! Monday we didn't all need to be at project judging until 3:00, so I took the only one that had to be at the 1:00 judging. The plan was for Jessica to bring the rest in the big van and be there by 2:30 or so. At 2:10 she calls me--the van won't start! The children have to have their projects checked in on time or they automatically get knocked down a placing! So I hurry off to come home and pick up the one(s) that have to be there before 3:00--we live 20 minutes away! I also put in an SOS call to goatgirl's mom to help transport the ones that woudn't all fit in my mini-van!
We made it with a whole 5 minutes to spare! The others came later. Then, about 4:30, those projects were done being judged, so Jessica decided to take those who were done home, then come back.
On her way home, on one of those infamous country roads, she had been praying that the Lord would protect them, as it is easy to be drifting over the middle of the road since the lines fade and don't get repainted very often! Not too long after that, she is coming upon a hill and there are two vehicles coming towards her--one in her lane!!! She slammed on the brakes and somehow got off the road a little (Susannah said they were headed for a pole, but Jessica was watching this other car!), the car that was in his right line went into someone's yard and the other one must have gotten over and passed between them!
She said she didn't know HOW they all got past each other!!! Obviously she was pretty shaken up!
On her way back, she noticed the tracks the other car made in the yard--that car had missed these big rocks the people had in their yard, straddled and flattened both a reflector pole and one of those phone boxes everyone has on their property! Later we saw it was taped together with duct-tape!
It hit me the day after--I could have lost 6 of my children had they not been able to miss each other, or if Jessica had come upon them closer to that hill!
And had she been in the big van, she might not have been able to maneuver it so easily--plus they are notorious for rolling!
So that little "irritation" of the van not starting was God's Divine Blessing of Protection!
Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus, for your Divine protection!!!
Psalm 91 was even more rich this morning in my quiet time!
It's been a crazy busy week--and it's going to get worse before it gets better!
But I didn't want to miss this again this week.
What am I grateful for this week?
My precious husband!
I was 20 when we married, and while mature in some ways, I was definitely immature in many others. My husband is 4 1/2 years older than me, but he was and is also much wiser than me! I sweetly and jokingly refer to him as my "resident wise man"! (And sometimes, "My resident wise guy"! )
God certainly gave me the right man! He has been so patient with me, loving me when it was probably easier to get mad at me, serving me when he was tired from working all day. He has always been a good daddy, helping with the children, changing his share of diapers, playing with them, training them. He is a wonderful provider and manages our finances quite well (which is a HUGE burden off of me!)
He gives me freedom to pursue my interests, within reason. He supports me in many areas, one of the biggest in the past two years being my exercising and losing inches. He helps me keep my focus when the measuring tape doesn't show much or goes the wrong way! He reminds me that in the overall journey, I am moving in the right direction!
And he loved me even when I was 7 sizes bigger and NEVER said a disparaging word to me (and he is Mr. High Metabolism Skinny Beanpole!)
He has held me as I cried as we lost 14 of our precious blessings (and cried with me, too). One of the tenderest memories I have of Noah Ross, our stillborn son born September 8, 1990, is him carrying the tiny casket to the gravesite. He said that helped him to let go. Not that he doesn't miss having an 18 year old son now.
He held me up when I wanted to collapse at Noah's funeral. He held me as we waited out to see how our daughter who fell from the barn loft would do.
He held me when I cried at the slow loss of my dad. And holds me now when I miss him.
The hardest, darkest hour of my life was when the love of my life was lying in an ER room, unconscious, me not knowing what would happen. And being 8 1/2 months pregnant.
This time, he couldn't be there to hold me up, to comfort me.
I learned to lean on my Heavenly Father during that time. But it was hard. So very hard.
Yes, I have gotten aggravated at him at times. And yes, even since the accident!
But in 26 years of marriage, we have never had a fight. Not because we don't face issues, but because he and I believe we've invested too much to hurt the spirit of our marriage having a fight about things we should be able to either defer to the other or work out in other ways.
That is more of a tribute to him than me as my personality would probably have NOT done well with someone else!!!
He is a sweet, gentle man, and I am so very grateful God has given him back to me.
I missed yesterday, but I can still be thankful on Friday!
I am grateful for my grandma. She is 92 now, but still sharp mentally. I firmly believe her prayers more than anyone's are the reason I'm a Christian today. She and Grandpa got saved later in life, when my dad and his brothers were almost grown. My dad and mom didn't get saved until later, so I didn't grow up in a Christian home, although it was a loving home.
I would go to church with Grandma and Grandpa occasionally, and even though I didn't understand a lot then and fell asleep during the sermon I still am glad she was willing to take me! She would "advance" as a Sunday school teacher so she could be teaching the class her grandchildren were in (my cousins and I were all close in age). Wasn't that convenient?!
She and I have had some wonderful talks since I became a Christian, and especially when I started growing more.
My grandfather passed away in 1981. My grandma came to live with us and about the same time I started dating my husband, a gentleman she had known through church started courting her! (Even asked my dad's permission, too!) Long story short--Dad gave his daughter away one day, and his mother the next!
She has faithfully prayed for her family and others all through the years, and I am so grateful for her example. She told me just a few months ago how she and my step-grandpa were challenged by my step-great-grandpa's habit of reciting Psalm 91 every day. He had it memorized! (He was 93 when I met him and lived to be 100!) So Grandpa and Grandma set out to memorize Psalm 91 in their 70s!
Grandma was recently in the hospital, then in a nursing home for congestive heart failure. She is doing better and is planning to live with my cousin, who is planning on taking care of them both (Grandpa has Alzheimer's now, which is so sad.) I'm grateful that she is doing better and that my cousin is able to have them there. I plan to go see her soon--the last time I saw her at the nursing home we had such a nice visit! I told her then that I appreciated the Godly heritage I have because of her!
She prayed for me and my family, and I prayed for her before I left. Although she is 92, she doesn't think she has "arrived"! I would say she is a whole lot closer than I am, though!
So today, and every day, I am grateful to my lovely grandmother whose love for Jesus has rubbed off on me!
This week I am very thankful for God's protection on our lives!
Of course, we all know that there are countless times we aren't even aware of that He sends His angel to encamp around us! But then there are those times when we get a glimpse of His tender loving care....and sometimes we don't find out until the next few days just how close we came!!!
A week ago, early in the morning, I heard thunderstorms coming closer. It was about 2 a.m. and I got up to unplug the computer. In the process, I stepped in a mess our dear little shih-tzu, Pooh, left, and cleaned it up.
I noticed the wind had picked up, so I went to the door. I saw it raining--horizontally!!!! At times, the houses across the street were blurry as if I were looking through a wall of water! The trees were whipping around...I considered getting dh up and maybe the dc.....
I did hear the sound of a train, but we live 1/4 mile from the tracks! However, in hindsight (or hindhearing!), I didn't hear the whistle. Things slowed down a bit, so I headed for bed, and before I got the kitchen light shut off, the electric went out! For almost 4 hours!
I slept fitfully after that, with the storms coming and going and everything so quiet (and dark!).
The next day, we headed for a town 20 miles away when we saw a huge chicken house just 2 miles from us had about 1/3 of it gone! It was all over the field across the road!!! Just 1/2 mile farther, some friends' barn was...well, it wasn't! Just half the loft and part of a wall was left! (This is the third time their barn has been hit!). A little farther, and we saw 3 huge pine trees snapped in half. Yet a little farther and a tree was uprooted in someone's front yard!
They aren't calling it a tornado.....but we firmly believe it was! goatgirl was awakened and heard the "train" sound, too--but she lives 5 miles from us, so they hear the whistle from time to time, but not the rumble! We both heard it at the same time! It basically went right down the middle of the 5 mile stretch between us!
So we are VERY thankful to the Lord for His protection! We didn't even know weather that severe was a possibility!
And to show you that God cares about the tiniest details and all of His creatures...our friends whose barn disappeard had a dog who had just had 8 puppies the week before in that barn. She was fine as well as all the pups!
Not only that....but there were kittens in the loft--the half that was still there! And they were fine, too!
Praise Him for His bountiful protection--we hardly even had any limbs down!
What are you thankful for today? (Hopefully nothing as dramatic as a major storm going through 2 1/2 miles from your house! )
my silly, sweet daughters, who stayed up until 3 a.m. to finish a new jumper for me for Mother's Day!
And for the one who didn't stay up late, but cut it out and then got up early Sunday morning to finish it by hemming it!
And for the wonderful cards I got, the coupon for molasses cookies, and the lovely vase of lilacs in my master bath window!
And for the one who is a mama's helper to another family these past two weeks--I really miss her! (Miss you, Jessica!)
And for the cute little boys that fight over every tractor, truck, firetruck...both just have to have the same thing!!!
But I adore them just the same!
I am so grateful that God has blessed me and allowed me to be a mother! There was a time when I didn't think we would have any children. God was closing all doors--natural, adopted, foster.
I am grateful for the 14 He took Home with Him--they are not "lost" but I will spend Eternity with them! Because of Him!
I didn't get to post yesterday, because....well....of the reason I'm thankful!
I was thinking about a few different things to post about yesterday morning. I got a call at noon that my friend who is due in a few weeks needed to get things going for her labor due to having high blood pressure. Of course I had been praying for her, that all would go well. They lost their last baby, and I can so feel for them as we lost a baby boy at 38 weeks 18+ years ago. So I knew how very special this baby was to them (not that they all are, but I'm sure you understand what I mean!). I wanted all to go well for her!
So I headed up to the birth center, and bless her heart, nothing much was happening! Later in the evening, she had to take the "wonderful" castor oil cure! (bleh!) She was such a trooper! That started things to get a little more serious, but at 10:30 ish p.m. she was still not in a regular pattern.
Well, at 12:15 a.m., baby was here! God blessed her with a fairly quick delivery, and really, much easier than one might expect for natural induction! (I'm sure my friend might say differently! )
I didn't ask permission to post her picture, but take my word for it--she's beautiful!
So, for today, I am VERY grateful to God for helping my friend through her labor and delivery and for protecting her sweet little baby girl! Mama, Daddy and big sister were doing well, too, when I left early this morning!
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your precious care and help, and for blessing my dear friends with their beautiful baby girl!
What are you thankful for today? Please post a comment and let me know!
Five years ago yesterday, our sixth daughter, Bekah, fell from our barn loft. 10 feet onto the concrete floor below. At first we weren't sure how far she had fallen, since no one had actually seen the fall. Anna found her, and when she later showed us where Bekah landed, we realized what a miracle it was that our little girl was still with us!
She missed a short wall, rabbit cages, rabbit paraphenilia (buckets, scales, feed, etc.). She still ended up with a severe head injury, which got her lifeflighted to a hospital an hour away. I was just 12 weeks along with our now 4 year old son. It was a frightening time, yet God's peace and care were there.
The hospital was in the city our church meets in, so many of our church family were there to support us and help in any way they could.
Bekah didn't speak much at all for two days. I wondered, since she had just turned 5, if there would be any long term damage that might show up as she got older.
Today, I am thankful and very happy to say that she is fine! No repercussions at all from her accident! Praise God!
We also had no insurance at the time. The Lord provided through the generosity of many, many of His people! We were able to pay all the bills off within 2 months time!!!
So today, I am very thankful for Bekah, for her complete recovery, and for His provision!
What are you thankful for today? If you post something on your blog, please sign in on Mr. Linky, so I and others can rejoice in God's goodness with you!
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Just right click in the box below, hit "select all", then again right click and hit "copy" to later paste it in your blog!
I know there might already be someone with a theme like this, but I decided to start one for myself!
It is soooooo easy to get our eyes off what's right and onto what's wrong in our daily lives, our families, our city, country, the world.......and there's plenty wrong! Remember this quote by Abraham Lincoln? "If you look for the bad in people, you will surely find it." Proverbs 11:27 has the opposite: "He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him." Umm....I think I would rather diligently seek the good and procure favor rather than mischief and then get what I was looking for!!!!
So, want to join me? Here's my button:
If you don't know how to save it, just right click, choose "save picture as" and then choose where you want to save it (usually I save mine in My Pictures). Then please either link back here by adding the web url to the button or somewhere in your post. And don't forget to sign Mr. Linky so I and others can be encouraged by your thankful posts! You can leave a comment, too, if you like!
So, what am I thankful for this Thursday?
My wonderful church family. We have been so blessed to fellowship with like-minded believers for 7 years now. We drive 1 hour 15 minutes one way, but it is worth every bit of it. These brothers and sisters in Christ really pray for you. And they are so generous! When you see the financial statements once a year, a good portion of the money goes to needs in the body. We meet at a nursing home, and they started meeting there for a free place to have church. Over the years, they've realized that that is the ministry God has for our church, as we can bring some of the residents down for our service. Some of them are not altogether "with it" mentally, but we know their spirits are still being ministered to. They ask for prayer requests of the residents that attend and pray for them.
In spite of having land to build on, they feel that our ministry as a church is right where we are.
We get down on our knees and pray for our nation every Sunday. And usually, that means we're praying for ourselves--to examine our own lives and be the salt as God intended.
When my husband had his serious accident 4 1/2 years ago, he ended up in one of the hospitals in the city where church meets. The night of his accident, fully half our church was represented by one or both spouses, and many stayed way late into the night until they got word he was stable. Our pastor stayed with me until Dallas was in a room at ICU, which was after midnight.
They sat in the ICU lounge with me. They brought me food and made sure I was not on my feet too much (I was 8 1/2 months pregnant and had had contractions the night of the accident). They sent meals to my girls, drove them all the way to our home as well as drove there to pick up clothes and things for me. One lady did my laundry. Another brought me breakfast and fellowship many mornings. Different ones signed up to bring us nice dinners when Dallas was doing a bit better.
That is just one glimpse!
We live farther away, yet they will find ways to let you know they care.
I am so grateful to the Lord for bringing us to this fellowship. And I'm grateful to my wonderful husband, who usually hates to drive so much, for being willing to go there! It was his choice, ultimately, and he hasn't regretted it a bit!
The sermons are from the heart, and our pastor truly seeks God's will and not just a nice fluffy "feel-good" sermon. I am totally amazed how he will often preach on the very thing God is showing me that week! Just last Sunday, I kept telling my husband, "He's been reading my book!" (I had been reading Ron Auch's book When He Appears, which I highly recommend!) How wonderful to have a pastor who really seeks God's heart, listens to Him and isn't afraid to preach what he's heard!
Much to be grateful for! And if you're reading this, my Keefer Creek family, I love you all!
A glimpse into daily life that isn't so mundane in a relaxed homeschooling family of 11 (plus the dog, the goats, the rabbits, the chickens, the cats...)
I've lost 7 sizes
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