Knowing God

Some of the ladies at church have started reading Knowing God by Jerry Bridges together. We are learning that to truly "know" God is much more than just head knowledge. The author is pointing out the right questions to help us see a little bit of what it means to have an intimate relationship with our Creator.
We are meeting at 6:00 am before the sun comes up. Though it's hard to drag out of the house that early, once I'm outside, I realize how wonderful it is to get out into the darkness and quietness, before the rest of the world is awake and have a few minutes to have meaningful conversation about the greatness of our "Most High" God. The past few meetings have set the right tone for the day for me.

Basketball!

Yahoo! Basketball season has officially opened. Between everyone's schedule we games four nights this week. Mary and Lydia will be getting used to doing school and eating out of the back of the car for the next few months. And I'll refine my skills at feeding our family on a crazy schedule without breaking the bank or eating junk food. I'm open for suggestions on taking decent food in the car that doesn't take all morning to prepare or cost a fortune. (I usually buy "normal" ingredients. I don't have any quinoa laying around here, but I do plan to look it up.)

Thinking to be Thoughtful

We've heard it said that you have to think to be thoughtful. Wednesday was Veteran's Day. My only thought for most of the day was, "Oh, no mail, no bank open." Minor irritation, but no big deal. Near the end of the day it really occurred to me, "OOOOHHH, it's Veterans Day! I should be praying for the veterans I know. We should have written letters to some." Even after that, I get to church and when prayers requests were called for, I forgot again! (My forgetfulness is even worse because I knew that one of our elders was away preaching for another church's Veteran's Day!) All that to say that my thinking wasn't even enough. Thursday morning Hannah mentioned Veteran's Day again and told me why it's on November 11th. That's when I started realizing my lack of thought. We can "think" about things we should pray for and do, but until we do them, we haven't really been thoughtful.

First Ever Smores

How can a man get this old and never have tried smores until now?

Matthew 9:28

Matthew 9:28 When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” I wonder, "Do I have that kind of faith?" I can see (physically) perfectly fine, but do I have the faith to see Christ heal, provide, change hearts?

The tree in our front yard has turned such a brilliant gold I have started wondering if God doesn't have a spotlight shining from heaven on it. What a glorious time of the year!

At our annual Reformation Celebration we were reminded of the sacrifices many reformers made for the Gospel. Many were burned at the stake or drowned for their beliefs. I was contemplating the question, "Is it easier to live for Christ in the day to day affairs of life than to make a bold stand and be martyred for Him (or some other really hard thing)?" My sweet, young friend, Natalie, has faced such trials and stated decisively that it is harder to live for Christ in the small things of life. I have said that we won't know if a person will be faithful in the big things of life until that person is faithful with the little things. The popular message we hear a lot about in our theological circles is for young people to Do Hard Things. I agree! I think the hard thing we all need to do is be faithful to follow Christ in the little day to day affairs of Christ. Those things might be a small as making the bed every day, obeying the speed limit (55 MPH means 55 MPH) or they could be bigger things like hanging out with friends that love the Lord and saying no to drugs. We may never be called to die for what we believe, but we don't know how faithful we would be unless we do the work of living for Christ now.

Pumpkin Farm in the Rain is Still Fun

My Weird Girls

Rachel has had only two celebrity crushes that I know of in her whole life. One is Josh Groban, no secret here. His picture is on her computer background, she loves his music and has tried to figure out ways to meet him, other than paying $500 for tickets to a concert.
Her other celebrity crush is Chuck Norris. I know, that is really weird! Well, today she told me a funny trick about him. Actually you have to try it yourself. Go to google home page and type in his name. Then you have to press the tab "I'm feeling lucky". It is really funny and probably the reason she likes him so much.