Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Few More Verses

After posting my last entry, I went back to reread it.  It may not look like it, but I do occasionally proofread.  There on the side of my own blog, under "Our Daily Bread" was the other verse I heavily considered making my memory verse this time around.  It was like the the Lord said, "Don't forget this promise."

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
-1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

Mmmmm.  Restoration and strength sound mighty good.

Then our Compassion child ministered to me from her sweet little nine year old self living half way around the world.  She shared with us her memory verse that she is working on and wanted to know which ones we were working on.  Here's the one she's claiming:

"You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”
2 Chronicles 20:17

Pretty sure the battles I am facing pale in comparison to what she lives through each day.

A little encouragement and a whole lot of perspective.

***HA!  I just looked again to see what the verse was for today in my "Our Daily Bread" section.  LOVE how the Lord continually seeks me and shows me His love!***

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
John 16:33 (NASB)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Truth

 9 "Remember the things I have done in the past.
      For I alone am God!
      I am God, and there is none like me.
 10 Only I can tell you the future
      before it even happens.
   Everything I plan will come to pass,
      for I do whatever I wish."
-Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT

There are many reasons why I chose these verses as my memory verses for the next few weeks.  We all have issues, struggles,  and/or times of hardship.  While I may choose to keep many things private, for all kinds of reasons, I am not immune to these valleys in life.  Times when I just want to know when it all will come to an end.  Times when I feel all alone.  Times when I doubt.  But in these times these verses pull me back to truth.

The truth is I can and should think about all the things God has done for me in the past.  And if I have forgotten, He is faithful to remind me.  When I think upon His faithfulness, goodness, love, sovereignty, mercy, and grace I can be reminded that He has always held me close, never let me go, and always has my good in mind.  So in times of doubt, the first thing these verses remind me is to do is "Remember".

Next, is a reminder of who I am putting my trust in.  The one and only God.  There is none like him!  He is all powerful, all knowing, mighty, loving, and sovereign, among many other things.

Lastly, in times of uncertainty, I usually find myself desperate to know what is going to happen.  The last verses remind me that I need not look any further than God.  He is the ONLY one who knows what will happen before I do.  Despite my feelings of things spiraling out of control, He is totally in control.  All of the time.  Nothing happens that is a surprise to Him, and nothing happens without Him allowing it to happen.  I may not understand why things happen or how they will turn out, but I do have these promises:
11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""-Jeremiah 29:11

And:
 28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

And:
31 "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" -Romans 8:31-32

Among many others.

My other memory verses have also been so crucial to my heart this year.  I am so thankful that God's word is being etched in my heart.  Because, honestly? it's scary how easy I can believe in a lie.  However, week by week, it is getting easier and easier to combat them.

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." -Ephesians 6:13-17

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Eclectic is a Good Word for It

As we were checking out from the library:
d: Mom, just don't be surprised if I start speaking German, Yiddish, and Mandarin Chinese.
me: WHAT?
d: Well, don't be too surprised.  (She then flashed me books on speaking German, Yiddish, and Mandarin Chinese.)
me: Well.  I guess I have no reason to be surprised, do I?
d: Nope.

My Girl has been know to love language since she emerged from the womb.  Seriously, this child has loved being read to since she was way too young to even understand what a book was, has been throwing together complex sentences since her second year,  has been reading since age four, and currently uses words that even I sometimes have to think about.  Now I am not trying to brag on her or be boastful, but it is who she is.  It's always been this way.

She is a veracious reader, and will read anything she can get her hands on.  If there isn't anything new, well then, she'll read it again.  And again.  She has read Charlotte's Web four times.

I am so thankful for our local library.  I quickly learned that I (we) needed that library.  I do buy her books, and sometimes she receives them as gifts, but they are quickly read and set aside.  It feels so much better to me to be able to take books home for free, let her burn through them at the speed of light, and then turn them in at the end of three week without them cluttering up the house.  So about every three weeks we hit up the library, and leave with no less than  35 books between the two kids.

I found myself cracking up, not only at The Girl's choice in language interest this week, but the diversity of what was in her bag.

Here's a sample of what she got:
-All three of the language books that were previously mentioned
-Some Tiara Club books
-The rest of the Clementine series (she got the first one last trip and loved it so much she can't wait to finish the rest of them this next few weeks)
- Some classics, The BFG, The Chocolate Touch,  and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing,
-One book each on taking care of: Guinea Pigs, Dachshunds, Pomeranians, and Ferrets (no we are not getting any new pets).
-Number the Stars
-A Dog's Life
-Some books from the Animal Ark series

So we have a little princess/fairy action, some funny/non-serious fiction, some classics, historical fiction, stories about animals, non-fiction "how-to" guides, and some language books.

The only thing in common between all of them: They are books.  She can read them.  She is hoping to get lost in them or learn from them or both.

And as I type right, now, she is reading over my shoulder.

And to be honest, I won't be too surprised if she starts using German, Yiddish, or Mandarin Chinese.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Humble? Maybe Not.

Both kids are besides themselves with Valentine's Day today.  I cannot get over how amped up they are over this holiday that really shouldn't mean too much to them until maybe they are older.  At least that's what my adult brain thinks, but their minds work much differently than mine.  They are focused on C-A-N-D-Y.  And lots of it.

The funny thing is, is that they do recognize the other portion of this holiday.  I honestly can say I don't think I really understood Valentine's Day until I was around middle-school-ish age.  Sweetly enough, The Little Man made me his Valentine.  He has been storing up drawings, letters, and special works of his for a couple of weeks now in anticipation of giving them to me.  Today.  On Valentine's.  How cute is that?  He also told me several times today, "Happy Valentine's Day to you, Momma!"  followed by lots of hugs. 

The Girl, however, focused her attention to boys her own age.  We shouldn't be too surprised by this.  She has always been one to notice the boys.  This time she seemed pretty focused on their attention towards her. 

d: Mom, I can totally tell that this boy has a crush on me.
me: Really?!? How can you tell?
d: Well, somebody told me he does and I can just tell.
me: Oh, they did.  How can you tell?
d: Well, every time I am by him, his eyes get all big, and I can tell he is just noticing me.
me: (Not doing a very good job of containing my laughter, but she totally though I was laughing with her not at her so it was cool...plus, I totally was *ahem*) WHAT?!
d: (Laughing along with me) I know, right?  It's true, though!  I even went to ask him if he had a crush on me.
me: YOU DID!
d: Yes!  And when I walked over there his eyes got all big again.  Those are his "I love you" eyes.
me: His what?
d: You know the eyes that are all big and just say, "I love you."
me: Wow.  I had no idea.  Did he tell you he had a crush on you?
d: No.  He denied it.  But I could tell that's what his eyes were saying.

I am trying to remember if The Hubs has ever flashed me some "I love you" eyes.

Monday, February 7, 2011

This Speaks Straight to My Heart



I will give thanks if all I walk away with are lessons in how to thirst, hunger, and trust in You, Lord.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Love This!


This so reminds me of The Little Man. When I watched it, I remembered our time in Disney when he got chosen during the Jedi training to give Darth Vader the "Force Push". For the rest of the day, he went around trying his "Force Push" on anyone and anything that could stand it.

Oh, if only I could have thrown him the same bone...

I asked him if watching this made him want to get into his Darth Vader costume and start doing some Light Saber fighting. He said, in a very matter-of-fact-I'm-too-old-for-that-kind-of-nonsense voice "No, mom. That stuff is not real. It's only a costume."

Then he added, "Plus, my helmet is dirty."

I miss the days when costumes transformed who they were. When they dressed up and had a look on their faces like, "Ahhh, finally. My real clothes."

I'm going to wash off the helmet and see if it spurs anyone on.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Turns Out -11 Degrees Can Be Quite Wonderful

Due to frigid temps, schools all across the state have been canceled.  And not just today, tomorrow too. 

Happiness.


Due to the frigid temps, not a single person in our home got out of their Jammies today.

More happiness.

Due to frigid temps we all ate, watched TV, ate, took in a few movies, ate, played Lego's, ate, read, ate, stayed under blankets, and ate. 

Oh! The happiness!  It is uncontainable!

And just so we're clear, I wasn't the only one who was happy.  Oh, no!  Both children were beside themselves.  I thought the roof  was going to blow clean off the house when the phone calls/emails came pouring in last night canceling school and all events for the next few days.  The hooting and hollering and all around merriment about caused the house to explode. 

It was a happy time.

It made me think, maybe I'm not the only one who needs a break?  Maybe we all feel a little bit busy?

Whatever it is, the rest is very much appreciated by all. 

Which brings me to my next topic.  Have you heard about this idea about picking one word to describe what your focus will be for the year?  I heard about it last year, and found it totally fascinating.  Also, because I am a person of such few words, *ahem* a little bit challenging.  But in a good way.  So I tried it.  Last year, I chose the word "Others", and I can say, while I still could use a TON of work in this area, I feel like God really changed my view on thinking of others rather than myself.  I became much more aware of others needs, and in general became much more "Others-Focused". 

This year, I am going to do it again.  I really feel like God is trying to teach me about being still this year.  I don't know if you have noticed, but lately I have been a little bit obsessed with finding/getting some rest.  Also, I have found that sitting, being patient, and just waiting in general are not my strong suits.  No, in fact The Hubs teases me because he thinks I am always just trying to find a way to make myself busy.   So this year, my word will be "Still".   Interestingly enough, God has really been pointing me to a lot of verses, as of late, that have to do with being still or with waiting on Him, and the benefits stillness reaps. 

Speaking of verses, (oh, I am the queen of segues tonight!) it is time for me to pick my third memory verse of the year.  If you want to know the other verses that are now sown into my heart, see them here and here.  This month, with some difficult circumstances facing our family, I would like to focus on the truth that God is always with us, and not only is He with us, He is mighty to save us.  Here is Isaiah 43:1-3a NLT:

1 "But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
      O Israel, the one who formed you says,
   “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
      I have called you by name; you are mine.
 2 When you go through deep waters,
      I will be with you.
   When you go through rivers of difficulty,
      you will not drown.
   When you walk through the fire of oppression,
      you will not be burned up;
      the flames will not consume you.
 3 For I am the Lord, your God,
      the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." --Is 43:1-3a NLT

Seems too good to be true, doesn't it?  I don't know, when I read this today, I felt a wave of relief wash over my whole body.  It was like I could breath again.  I just can't get enough of the way God reaches into the depths of my heart with His word.  Amazing.

I am a little intimidated by how long it is, but I couldn't figure out a way to trim it down.  It was all way too good.  I figured the Lord allowed me to  memorized Philippians 4:6-8, so let's keep it going.  I did have a hard time deciding if I was going to use the NLT or the Message for this.  Check out  how beautiful the Message says these same verses:

"But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
   the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
   I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
   When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
   it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
   The Holy of Israel, your Savior."
Isaiah 43:1-3a The Message

So good.

With as much as the other two verses have helped my heart, I cannot wait to see how God uses these verses.

Now, it's time to get to some warm brownies.