Mon.-Prevailing song-"I love, I love...I love Your presence."
Prevailing thought-I'd rather have asked God 'Why?' during the hard times in life, wrestled with Him, and come away with a blessed limp, than to never have asked 'Why?' in the first place. The simplicity of not having to ask 'Why?' on the other side of difficulty is purer than being resigned to fate and never having the courage to ask 'Why?' in the aftermath of sorrow. I'd rather be desperate for an answer and get a glimpse of Him in the struggle than not be desperate and not get to see Him. I would not trade my battle with God for a non-battle with God because the victory's been too sweet, and He, of course, has won, which means, of course, that I have too.
Catching up on wash and clutter. Resting. Weepy and a bit shaky. Too much sugar, too little sleep, and just the right amount of happiness. Phil and Philip working on silage as they wait for corrected trusses to arrive at job site. Michael taking it easy and working on Cutco and making his own movie of 'Donkey-Man.' Susan helping around house and resting, talking to Makenzie on phone. Freeman-who knows where he is? Alli? She's with Freeman. I am thankful that school starts in two weeks. I am thankful that I have two weeks before school starts. I am thankful for yesterday.
Tues.-Song-"I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad..." Vacation Day with Susan, Micah, and Janelle at Holliday Lake. Wonderful relaxing day. Taught Micah how to float and swim on his back. He watched me under water to see what my legs did when I swam on my back. He's so clever. I used to be a lifeguard and at one point during the day, I thought I would need to rescue what looked like a 4 and 5 year old from their wacko mother who thought they should be out in the deep end even though their heads kept going under. She argued with the lifeguard who blew a whistle to tell her that she needed to bring them in. "Why?!" she yelled. She said the lifeguard didn't know what she was talking about. A short time later, when I was minding my own business and enjoying the view of the lake while resting on my 'noodle', I heard the whistle blow again. "No floating devices in the deep end!" yelled the lifeguard. I looked behind me to see who she was talking to, and Janelle, from the beach, began yelling and laughing, "She's talking about you! You're the one with the floating device!" I removed myself from the deep water as non-chalantly as possible and reconsidered whether I was going to tell that lifeguard that she was doing a good job. It's one thing if she wants to blow a whistle at a crazy mom, but to blow a whistle at an innocent floating woman, that's another thing. We laughed alot today and ate a 24 inch cheese steak between the four of us. I am thankful for a day of rest. I am thankful that Monk was on 15 min. after we got home so my vacation day continued. I am thankful for Micah's inquisitive mind and the way he figures things out.
Wed.-"I love, I love, I love Your Presence...I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad."
Susan and I went to CCA today to begin getting ready for school. I found a place for my books in the library and put the musical instruments in the art closet. I am moving to the art room and the room I used last year will be a K4 room. It was good to see everyone and Susan is so excited that she will have Mrs. Shorter for many of her classes this year. I told Dr. Hubler that the mother of the groom is not generally held responsible for anything she says in the receiving line and he asked to be reminded about what I said and I told him that after I introduced him to the Streams, I said, "He's worse than he looks." What I meant to say was that he is more ornery than his innocent appearance makes him out to be. Anyway, he forgave me and took no offense.
Susan and I ate lunch at Chinese Bill's after 2:00 and came home and soon went out again to church. Dianna and I talked over salad at Ruby Tuesdays. The Streams and I compared notes on the honeymooners. We haven't heard too much and I guess that is a good thing. Lisa and I are not sure what to call each other. We're not really in-laws...and it's too early to start calling them Oma and Opa.
I am thankful for CCA and for Christian education at its finest.
I am thankful that He puts the lonely in families.
I am thankful for the opportunity to speak well of God tonight. Our waiter came with our water as Dianna was praying outloud, and he apologized, and I said quietly, "That's okay. God doesn't mind." And he gave me a deep look and said, "Thank you," and after that, he smiled whenever he came near us.
Thurs.-"I love, I love..." Still very tired. Michael and Susan are dragging too. Perhaps it's the heat. Did some wash and tidying up. Got out all my art books and started making lesson plans. I would be happy teaching music or art and now I get to do both. Susan and I tried our hand at watercolor salt pictures. On sturdy card stock we made a design with Elmer's glue. Then we put salt all over the glue and dumped off the extra. We took our tray of very wet watercolors and dipped our brush in the color and lightly touched the salt design. The color spread and we continued until all of the design was colored. We're letting it dry and then we'll cover it with saran wrap or put it in a baggie. The newlyweds stopped in to use the Internet and pick up some things. They seemed tired but happy. They're getting another much needed air conditioner tomorrow.
I am thankful that Phil woke up feeling better. Last night he told me he was doing some work on the outside of the silo and had his foot on the door and it swung inward, causing him to lose his balance. He hung on with his hands and his chest slammed against the silo. He was 40 feet up. His chest really hurt and it was scratched. He told me this at 11 last night. He had been resting on the sofa when I got home from church. I gave him two IBprofens, rubbed some horse liniment on his chest, and put a heat wrap on top of that. This morning he had no pain. He set trusses today and I am looking forward to seeing how he is.
I am thankful that Phil did not fall 40 feet yesterday.
I am thankful that Michael and Susan are hanging out together.
I am thankful for creative ideas all put together in a wonderful art book.
Fri.-"I love, I love..." Slept in. Susan sold her 'Mexican's' today-Carlos and Pedro. It's interesting how being mad helps one not be so sad in saying good-bye. She had to retrieve them from the far end of the field and they caused her some pain in the process. We also worked on cleaning the house, cleaning corn, and watching Monk. Tonight, I went to our New Life Ladies Progressive Supper. We started from the church parking lot, went to Adina's where we had banana splits and the giving of prizes-(Some women dressed according to the theme-'First Things Last'), then drove to Roberta's where Lindsay shared an awesome devo about chocolate and priorities and we also ate pizza, then walked to Lisa's for Karaoke, coffee, tea, and a veggie tray. We had over 30 women turn out and it was a blast. The cops drove by when we were at Lisa's. We get kind of loud.
I am thankful that Erik D. arrived home the same time I did and he helped me carry in groceries
I am thankful for women in church leadership who aren't too religious to dance to the oldies
I am thankful for Erik and Chace who are hanging out with Philip and Michael for a day or two.
I am thankful that Phil stayed up with me until midnight to watch 'Monk.'
Sat.-"Come on, Baby, do the locomotion..." Hmm...I suppose I could spiritualize that one but why should I? Cleaned up the floors and woodwork in Freeman's old room. Working on setting up some sleeping arrangements for guests coming this weekend. Cleaning house, enjoying Erik, Mike, and Philip's antics, eating new crop of sweet corn...Finished "Mr. God, this is Anna" again for the umpteenth time since high school. Wonderful book that makes me cry.
Oh! Happy 28th wedding anniversary to Phil and I. We had a wedding to go to today but he had to work on silage and also he made dinner reservations at a 'mystery' restaurant. The mystery restaurant was The Babcock House. There was a beautiful bouquet of flowers at our table that Phil had gotten through Sheila. It has dark pink daisies, pink carnations, purple lupines, and small white daisies. We ordered the ribeye steak and also ate spinach crab bisque, hot rolls with butter, salad with the house dressing, squash, and green beans. We drove over to the house Phil's been building so I could see their progress. It's quite a house. We drove by Baine's Book Store to see if there were any live bands playing but there was nothing going on. Came back home and watched a George Clooney movie-"The Perfect Storm." I am thankful for my faithful husband and for the way he loves me. I am thankful that Alli and Freeman stopped by today. I am thankful that the house is somewhat cleaned. I am thankful that my husband does not fish for a living. (Movie)
Sun.-Awaking Song-"And the train of His robe....filled the temple..." Blogged in my mother's blog this morning before church.
Pastor preached a thought-provoking and life changing sermon today. Just as David sought out any one left of Jonathan's family to whom he could show kindness because he had such a covenant with Jonathan, so God seeks us out because He has a covenant with us. David found Mephibosheth in the back side of a desert known as Lo Debar and he sent a palace messenger to bring him back to the palace to eat at the king's table. Mephibosheth was crippled because someone fell as they were carrying him away to safety but when he sat up at the kings table, he looked the same as everyone else because his crippled feet were hidden under the table. (Sometimes, we are crippled because someone who we trusted to take care of us, fell with us in 'their arms.' ) God sent His messenger, the Holy Spirit, to bring us from the desert place to eat at His table. He covers what is crippled in us by His blood and gives us a position at His table. Sometimes, we are more concerned about experiencing the display of God's power or we want His provision, but He has a position for us next to Him or near Him at His table. God is more interested in showing us off than He is in showing His power or provision. Who wants to stay in the wilderness and see His power and provision? We want to possess the Promised Land and take our rightful position. It is then that we will realize our full potential.~~~~~~
I think if we grasped these truths, we would have very little insecurity in the church, and then we could get on to the important things like justice, mercy, faith, making disciples, and loving each other. Too often we are desiring God to show us His power and to give us provision and here He wants to provide us a table to sit at in the presence of our enemies. These enemies could be real enemies or they could be the temptation to be jealous, or to gossip and be critical, or to be discouraged. If we would focus on the food on the table and Who is at the head of the table, we would not be troubled by these enemies and we would have sweet fellowship with the others sitting at the table. The position God gives us is a right relationship with Him. We are accepted in The Beloved. We are His child and we sit with Him, positionally, in heavenly places. When we are sure of our position, then power and provision won't be that important to us. Who we are related to becomes what is all important and He shows us His power and provision inside the covenant of right position and right relationship with Him. People will never be satisfied with God's provision and the display of His power outside of right relationship and position in Him. They will always want another loaf of bread; another miracle. But when people see that we know that we are loved and that we are sitting at our Father's table, they will desire to know our Father. They will want to be loved like we are. And if we understand what we've been saved from, we will want others to be saved too. When we know how much we are loved, we will want others to be loved. When we love God with all of our hearts, we will want Him to be loved by others also. I'll be thinking about this one for awhile. We partake in the goodness of God because of His covenant with us, not because we are deserving. We are so crippled that we cannot even come on our own. The Holy Spirit must draw us to the palace table and seat us where we can see Him best or seat us close by where we can lay our heads on His chest. Depends what we need at the time, I suppose.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only Susan was home with Phil and I today and we watched 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.' I had pulled a muscle in my neck/back this morning and kept heat on it during the movie. We work so hard during the week, especially Phil, that when Sunday comes, we sit down and thoroughly rest. I am so thankful for a Sabbath rest. I am thankful for the sweetness of Corey, Rebecca's grandbaby, and that he let me hold him and the way he snuggled. I am thankful too, that Adi wanted to sit with us this morning. I am going to hold her on my lap for as long as I can.
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