Wonderful Devotion from My Professor

As we study the last chapter on children, let's think about how they have developed. Certainly children are a gift from God. They embody our dreams and desires. As a parent, the main focus is allowing our child to mature and develop in every possible way. Luke 1:80 tells us that "the child grew and became strong in spirit." Of course, he is speaking of John the Baptist. However, isn't it equally important to teach our children the spiritual truths of Scripture? As you parent and grandparent the young ones in your life, pray that the Lord show you how to influence their spiritual growth. How can you teach through example and words the truths of God?

How often do we do this? We ask for deliverance from something, we are thankful for the deliverance, but then as we walk through the hard parts of actually being delivered, the flesh begins to cry out in opposition. We start drifting backwards in our spirits to that place that was familiar, instead of walking obediently towards where God wants to take us.

I don't want to look backwards or give into the comforts my flesh craves. I want to push forward, straining for the prize God has for me. I want to seek Him with all my heart – no matter where that takes me. I want to live in that sometimes uncomfortable place of walking in total obedience. When the rain comes pouring down, I want to choose to dance in the puddles instead of longing for the shelter of past sunny days.

Dear Lord, I want to focus on Your plan and not my comfort level when things get hard. I want to live a life that seeks You instead of a life spent looking backwards. Help me to thank You in all circumstances and to trust completely in You. I know that I have strayed, that I have tried to handle everything going on in my life myself rather than relying on you. Please send help to lead me back to you...

My iGoogle today ... two different feed ... same scripture. What do you think God is trying to tell me tonight??

Forgiveness Quote of the Day: If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him." (Luke 17:3)

Words of Christ: So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him. (Luke 17:3-4) (NIV)

What is amazing ...

That God went one verse more the second time just in case I didn't get it the first.

I had a meltdown tonight, and recognized that I am very angry.

There is a specific person that I need to go through forgiveness with.

I'm not sure I'm strong enough to do it alone.

Forgiveness is such a simple thing, I know the ins and outs. It's very different though to find yourself on the opposite end of right. Just like with this losing weight thing. I know the right answers, I know what I should do, yet I find myself doing what I know is wrong.

An Anonymous Poem

This was shared with me today at work, I think it is very profound.

What do you think?

Dream what you want to dream;
Go where you want to go;
Be what you want to be,
Because you have only one life
And one chance to do all the things
You want to do.
May you have enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human and
Enough hope to make you happy.
The happiest of people don't necessarily
Have the best of everything;
They just make the most of
Everything that comes along their way.
The brightest future will always
Be based on a forgotten past;
You can't go forward in life until
You let go of your past failures and heartaches.
When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling
Live your life so at the end
You're the one who is smiling and everyone
Around you is crying.
- Anonymous

I completed the reading on Session 1 last week in my class on Old Testament Survey. It was very profound for me because I turned away from my faith in my senior year when I found out in humanities class that there were other books of the bible than what I had been told of all my life. You see, I was raised in the Methodist faith, and at Youth for Christ camps, with seven years of perfect attendance pins and all you know. For me, being a Christian was all about scripture, I knew the books of the bible forwards and backwards, went to competitions for scripture memorization. When I found out there were other books out there that I'd never been told about, I felt betrayed, and bereft at the thought that I'd been misled. At the time, I had also fallen away from the church that I had attended, and really did not even ask anyone. My parents had never gone to church, I was one of those "orphan" youth group kids, but nonetheless thought I knew God and knew his word. Of course, they did not tell us about these books, nor did they present it in the way the information you gave us did. I believe this is a part of my walk that God felt needed to be revealed to me, and to me as I began to read, I first felt fear, afraid that what I was going to read would lead me to doubt. As I completed the reading however, it only solidified my own faith, and my now much more mature belief that I know who God is, and I do not doubt him or what I have come to know of my relationship with him. For now, my relationship with God is no longer based on memorization of scripture or contests, its about my personal relationship of my father Abba, and who I am in him, his precious Daughter. I am so thankful that I am at DBU learning these things. Affirmation that I am where God wants me to be once again.

Why the long way around??

In my class, I'm reading the pentateuch, and in Exodus, it says this:
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though it was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.
Now how unfair is that?

But you see, its really easy for me to assume that I know better than God what I need. I would bet the Israelites weren’t told the reason they were going the long way to Canaan. I wonder what they thought? Wouldn’t shorter have been better? I mean, all those older people, and the children, they wouldn't be near as tired. They'd get what they wanted quicker in the Promised Land, I mean.. God did say that he would take them there right??

He must have had something to show them. But they did not even know it. I bet they wondered why... I wonder if others saw them going this long way around, and when they heard of where they were going (and they knew that it was the long way around) they thought, "what a crazy way for them to go around?" ... and when they said this to the israelites that were travelling, I bet the israelites has PLENTY of doubt, and they probably felt it "just wasn't fair!". Of course, they weren't slaves anymore .. but in their travelling, they probably didn't think about that time in their life. Because we, just like them, want to avoid all suffering and danger. Why put them through all this stress?

The end of chapter 14 says this: And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feard the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

So in the end, at least they saw God's glory and his power when cornered by Pharoah, but I'm sure they weren't thinking of this! Just like us, we fall into fear, fear that we won't get what we've planned, fear that we won't get what we want. And we disbelieve that God is sovereign. We even begin to doubt ourselves.

I think the hardest, most difficult thing is to look at what I'm going through today, and trust God enough to know that it, although it is a trail, it is also a blessing. There are times God brings us through a difficult thing to (a) protect us from something even more dangerous, (b) to increase our faith in him, (c) and/or to show us his glory. We do not have access to hindsight as we do with the story of Israel. However, we do have access to his promise that he will be with us and that he is shaping us into his people, refining us. We do not have to be all righteous and call the evil being done to us something good. No, it is not. And yet, God is good. He uses these things for his glory and our enrichment.

Now here’s my challenge. I have to have faith that this current trial is a blessing in that it provides an opportunity to hang more tightly to God. Rather than trusting myself, I must trust him. Instead of saying I will do this and this, then maybe he'll do that and that, I must surrender, he calls me to say, "Lord, if it is your will... "

If I were a Saint, I’d be the Patron Saint of Boundaries. This is a concept I knew nothing about until the age of 40, coming from a dysfunctional co-dependent family living on a houseboat floating down the river of denial. Boundaries are all about when to say yes, when to say no, and when to know the difference. Even living on the houseboat most of my life, one of the main mantras that I told my children over and over was “you can’t change the world, you can only change the way you respond to the world.” As profound as that statement is, I still had no concept of how to put this into place until I was introduced to a Boundaries class with curriculum taught by Cloud-Townsend. Walking with God is a lot like my new walk with Boundaries, its now second hand for me to surrender those things that are out of my control, and most importantly, the a-ha! concept of “hey, maybe this instance isn’t even about me”… unfortunately, I’ve lost my former drama queen title. Now I’m the King's Daughter… a much preferable reign.

A Brand I am Loyal To

I love Tide. I have used many laundry detergents over the years, but Tide is the best to me. Clothes are cleaner, most importantly, they smell wooonnddeerrrfulll when they come out of the dryer. Tide's the bomb to me! This is a line in the sand, I simply use nothing else.

One of my hobbies..

One of my long time hobbies has been scrapbooking. In fact (and my school buds will attest to this), I scrapped before scrappin' was kewl. I started a scrapbook when I was twelve, inspired by my own grandmother who scrapped. I even have her scrapbook which I cherish. In highschool, a girlfriend and I made a scrapbook where we took pictures for an entire school year and then presented it to the other four girls our senior year. I still have it, and have continued to put memorabilia in it including our children's pictures, wedding announcements and such. Now that there's so much on the market for 'scrapbooking'.. i'm in scrapbook heaven!

five new product ideas

Okay, Teach ... here's my five product ideas ..
Fan Filter – I’d explain this, but it is one that my husband has created, so I can’t give specifics.
Sandwich Kit to Go – two slices of bread+fixins - and I want it at the FRONT of the store, prepared daily.
Long Shorts made out of Terry Cloth (like heavy towels) to wear when you go to the beach, when you get out of the shower, etc.
Laptop Table that comes out from the glove box on the passenger side of a Dodge Ram.
A crib that simulates a moving vehicle.