Another Chapter in Abraham

God has been leading me through a very thorough and painful teaching on the life of Abraham. What do we really know about Abraham?

Well, we know he left his family and set out with no real destination because God asked him to. We know he believed God when God told him he would have a son at a very old age. We know that when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his one and only promised son, he went about doing so, believing God would keep His past promise. We also know that thanks to Abraham obeying God, he was the father of the Jewish nation.

God tested Abraham, and He tested him often. The purpose of God's testing is to strengthen our character and deepen our commitment to God and his timing. When we give to God what he asks, He returns to us more than we could imagine. The spiritual benefits far outweigh the sacrifice. But we have to believe that even though we cannot see those benefits before us in the midst of what we are going through, His word stands true.

Abraham believed and obeyed God in each test, knowing that He would always provide. That is faith, and faith is the response to God's underserved grace. None of us will ever deserve the grace God gave us when Jesus died upon that cross. Nothing we ever do, no law we obey, will ever save us. Mother Theresa herself was not saved because of the amazing life she led. She lived her life as she did because of His love, not for His love. We are saved by the simple faith in Christ and trusting all our sins were forgiven with him.

And ironic as it is, (I love His sense of humor) the verse I happened upon when finishing this up was this: Hebrews 10:31-It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. My Bible explains it this way- "God's power is awesome, and his punishment terrible. These words give us a glimpse into the holiness of God. He is sovereign, his power is unlimited, he will do as He promises. This judgment is for those who have rejected God's mercy. For them, falling into God's hands will be a dreadful experience. They will discover they were wrong, but it will be too late. For those who accept Christ's love and his salvation, however, the coming judgment is no cause for worry. Being saved through His grace, they have nothing to fear."

Quite honestly, I'm hoping God has decided these past two weeks on Abraham have sunk in with me enough at this point. To say it has been rough is an understatement. I've always been more about learning what is in the Bible than actually taking the time to study any one story. But if He needs it to go further, I pray I have the faith like Abraham to keep going.

Another Thinking Thursday

First day of school pic! Man it doesn't seem that long ago since I took the last day of school pic..



If you'll note, Alex's leg is what happens when Mom spends the weekend at a conference and leaves Dad in charge...Alex was kind enough to think Mom needed a picture right after it happened and sent me one via text. Dad tried to assure me it looked better in person...it didn't...



I think memory loss is setting in. The night before first day, I realized I would need the camera, to which after looking I realized I had put it up out of the way the week before, and it took an hour for us to find where it was I put it... I'd be better off just leaving things lay...



I think I'm ready for fall. Mowing takes up way too much of my life....Have you seen my yard?? It took two days this week. (I have to have a recovery day before I do it all..it's a "rough rider" mower). We could have two NFL games going simultaneously around here...It was better when it was all a swamp...goats anyone??



I think tonight I need to get to the license branch to transfer everything over to the new "minivan green"car. (Did you know that is apparently an official color?) I managed to throw away the registration to the Jeep..didn't think I needed it, duh! Luckily it fell out of the trash when Brian picked it up..sigh..



I think the dryer just shut off...sigh..I still haven't put away last weeks laundry...



I think the next time I feel the need to get up early to read my Bible, I'll definitely listen...no more sleeping in for me!! (I had a "pay attention" moment this morning after I decided to reset the alarm and go back to sleep)...



I think it would be cool to be a conservation officer. One came to talk to our scout den Monday, their job rocks!!

I think my kids are good cooks. One of their jobs now (since they are such picky eaters) is to take turns deciding a meal and they both cook together (with supervision) one night a week. Well Brian says they are good cooks, I conveniently was at an Emmaus formation this week...I conveniently will be at work next Tuesday evening...Who set the kids cooking day anyways??

I think I am thankful for friends today. Ones who don't judge and don't agree with you when you tell them you think you are losing your sanity...

Thanks for the Memories Ronald

For those of you who have read past blogs, you know Ashten has issues with "flash toilets", meaning the motion-sensor toilets that flush for you. She is terrified. To the point that now that they have installed them at school, she refuses to use the toilet till she gets home. I found this out the hard way Friday afternoon....
Anyways, I wracked my brain this weekend to figure out a way to help her with her issue. And lying on the couch late Saturday night (too much Olive Garden rasperry peach tea past 5 means I'm not gonna be sleeping) I came up with a plan.
So on the way to church this morning, I turned to her in the backseat and told her we were going to stop at McDonald's first because we were going to practice what she could do at school to be able to handle those darn "flashing toilets". To which my incredibly clever daughter spoke up and said "you mean put toilet paper over it so it won't see me?" Wow. How's that for a 5-year-old mind? That was my plan exactly.
So in we go to Micky D's. She refused to enter the stall without me, but with both of us in there it kept going off. So I told her to be brave and sent her in commando-style. Bless her little pounding heart, I think she has seen too many ninja cartoons or something. She put her back against the wall, arms out to her sides, and slithered ever so quietly like she was just waiting for that white ceramic beast to blow, gingerly grabbed the paper between two little fingers, and attempted to gently place it over the sensor. She had a little trouble getting it to stay, but in the end it was success.
Now I don't know how this is gonna go when Ashten actually tries to sit down on the toilet at school because we didn't get that far (her fear goes deep) but it was a step in the right direction. And I don't know what her teacher or the other kids are going to think whenever they keep going in to find toilet paper hanging off the back of the toilet, but man if it works, it works.

At this point, I'm wondering what you have to look for in the yellow pages to find "flashing toilet" therapy experts...

The Story of a Father

How big, how strong is your faith? Do you have the faith of Abraham?

God told Abraham, who was by that time an old man, that his equally old, and barren, wife would be the mother of many nations. And so she eventually gave birth to a son, Isaac.

One day it came about that God asked Abraham, who was to be the father of many nations, to offer up his one and only son as a sacrifice. In those days, sacrificing meant blood and burnt flesh. So Abraham was not just to let him go, but to literally place him on an alter of wood and slay and burn his son.

And so that is exactly what Abraham set about to do.

Only, at the last minute, God stopped him and told Abraham not to lay a hand on the boy. And in Genesis, verse 22:12 God said "Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." And then, as Abraham looked up, he saw a ram, caught by its horns in a bush, and he went over and sacrificed it instead of his son to God.

And we wonder, was the man insane? He would just go out and kill his son because he thought he heard God tell him to? And what kind of God would ask a man to kill his son?

But you see, Abraham already knew God was to make him the father of many nations. If you look back a bit in the text, you will see that Abraham told his servants that he and Isaac were going to worship and then they would come back. You will also see that when Isaac asked his father where the lamb was for sacrifice, Abraham replied "God himself will provide the lamb for the offering, my son." Sound familiar?

Is that not some strong faith? Wow.

God will test your faith at some point, most likely it is going to happen repeatedly. He is going to ask you to let go of things, to trust in Him, to put no one and nothing before Him. And, oh, it won't be easy. It will most likely be painful, sometimes more than you think you can possibly bear. But He is a loving God, and He knows the plans He has for you. Plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

So do you have the faith of Abraham?

And Jesus said "take heart daughter, your faith has healed you."


I will add as a side note here that as I was speaking with a Ya Ya later, our conversation led me to a note in my study Bible (somehow, coincidentally:)). The note was for earlier in the story of Abraham but our conversation had actually began in Psalm 96. Anyways, it defined the fear of God as reverential trust in God that includes commitment to his revealed word (will).

Starting a New Chapter

Well, yesterday was birthday number 33. I began it by putting my baby girl on the bus for the first time, followed by a bout of unpretty sobbing as I walked alone back up the driveway.

So it was my first day in 10 years officially being on my own.

I'm taking some time at this point to just get still (which is very hard for me, there are sooo many things to get done, and actually I had made plans to help the neighbors put up corn for the day but it was cancelled) and listen to God's leading as to where to go from here. Which of course is leading to guilt cause yes, I feel like I should be doing something "productive".

But what could be more productive than being still and listening to His leading?

I'm immersed in not one but two books by ladies from the Women of Faith conference (the themes of both seem to be all about the fatherly love God has for us and wants us to accept without feeling we have to earn it), and a new devotional Brian got by Max Lucado, not to mention the Emmaus Walk Bible study sessions and my vow to get through at least the Old Testament by January (I'm currently in Leviticus, and started about a month ago). Whew...that pretty much sums up my last two mornings.

And everywhere I turn I'm getting hit upside the head by one verse-Romans 8:38-39 (okay that's actually two). Which it just so happens that is also a part of the song for our upcoming walk, which hadn't actually occurred to me (I'm a bit slow) until I opened my Bible a while ago and the bookmark fell out that has the words to the song on it. I think it was a "hey stupid, pay attention" moment. It goes something like this...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have to admit, I'm not always very good at knowing I'm hearing from God. Sometimes I can really convince myself it's just all in my head. But then when I thought about that, the verse I had used in a blog not long ago came to mind from John 10-"his sheep follow him because they know His voice, but they will never follow a stranger because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

That's comforting isn't it?

First Day Down

Today was the day. I woke up at 6 in tears. I got the kids up at 7 in tears. I dropped them off and left Ashten's room...in tears. She was beginning to get a little misty at that point herself. Poor kid. She felt bad for me.

A big thing with her is when she wakes in the morning, she likes to be carried to the rocking chair and be rocked until she is ready to face the world. This morning she informed me she was too big for that now. But she humored me for a few moments and I hung on tight.

After the big final moment, we went to Jasper for the day (Brian, bless his heart, decided to get me away for the day.) On the way we had this terrible moment of "oh my, did Ashten have on shoes?" (She is a renowned non-soled lover.) How awful would that have been? I used to have nightmares about going to school barefoot. Backpack, check, new shirt, check, crayons, check...shoes, hmmm...did she? Which ones? The horrible pink ones designated for play only? Nervous laugh moment...

Anyways, after much texting support throughout the day-thank you Andrea, Christy, Shirl, Kathy!-and a few teacher emails via Andrea, I managed to get back some composure.

We had a ball walking the riverwalk and meeting a really friendly retired dairy driver who walked with us, and running into some of the friendliest squirrels I've ever had chance to meet. I refused to look at any mom with a toddler. And every other sentence was oh, wouldn't Ashten love to see that! One couple we ran into was desperately hunting deer??? We invited them (the couple) to our house...they (the deer) pretty much live in our garden.

We test drove cars and went to Rural King and Wal-mart and Game Stop and Dennys. Bought first day of school gifts (yearly tradition). By then it was 3 and time to get home to see my babies.

I was a nervous wreck waiting for that big yellow bus. Brian had to tell me to stop pacing, heck even the cats were getting annoyed. Every few minutes I had to run to the window. But finally, there it was. My baby looked ever so tiny coming from that bus. And my boy looked ever so grown up. (We both had to look and see if her feet were bare...of course she wore the pink ones.)

They both said they had a great day, and Ashten's favorite part was the bus ride (we've been looking forward to that for years).

Today, not so bad. Monday, well, no one likes Mondays anyways...

Monday

It became much more real today...I went and signed the kids up for school...which means only a few short days left before my little girl has to start learning to make her way without Mommy..sigh..
It's hard because I know her dad and I won't be the only major influences in her life anymore. And I know it won't be long before she doesn't require nightly rocking sessions before bed, or having Mom entertain her with tea parties and stuffed kitty cat babysitting..sigh..
I pray daily that God will bring good friends into her life, that as she grows we have done a good enough job in raising her she will make good choices, and love and listen to God. But it is very hard to let go even though I know God will take care of her even when I'm not around..

On a lighter note, it was a good day for Alex and me. We took a 4-wheeler ride to Grassy Creek and played in the water, and of course these days he always wants to do the driving, then after signing up at school we hit Bo-Macs for ice cream. I found myself thinking that in 51/2 short years he will be driving himself everywhere! "sigh" again....