Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Knitting and Obeying
I don't like this about myself. I start something with a gusto...only to find unfinished knitting or crochet projects in a closet...a half-finished writing course gathering dust on a shelf, a drawer full of interesting stamps waiting to be put into albums, a small notebook with the songs assigned for the next piano lesson that I quit 5 years ago...and a blog waiting to be written in.
Good intentions. We all have them. Have you ever read the story of Saul in I Samuel 15:1-34? Saul had been given specific instructions to carry out a very difficult task. In the end, he only partially finished it...but, the excuses were quite revealing as to his true character. The prophet, Samuel, says something quite profound in verse 22. "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
The list of excuses were as follows: 1) I may not have done everything right, but I did go "on the mission". 2) Everyone else is doing it. 3) I did what I did FOR God. 4) I was afraid of other people.
The bottom line of what I'm learning is this...whether I'm knitting a scrarf, putting stamps in an album, or even writing a blog...shouldn't I be about the task of "finishing something?"
How will I be able to accomplish big things in life if I can't finish the small things? And so, I'm back to blogging. Digging out the other unfinished projects will have to wait for another day! :-)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Great Wall of China
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The bird feeder
Thursday, February 17, 2011
I Choose!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
This is for Peri!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Clown Baby
We raced blindly down the gravel road on our bikes. All we knew was that Clown Baby was right behind us and if he caught up to us, we would be in big trouble.
Clown Baby was a young bull calf that my dad was raising for the summer. Even though we loved reaching through the bars of his pen to feed him carrots and feel his black, sandpaper tongue-- we knew better than to actually get inside!
Clown Baby’s little nubby horns were pushing up through the hair on his head. He loved to push against our hands and we could see the glitter in his eyes when he did it. Dad warned us again and again that Clown Baby would hurt us if we ventured too close.
To this day, I have no idea how he got out, but he was not only mean, he was smart! One minute, we were circling the yard on our bikes, the next minute—here he came. A black and white streak headed right towards us.
We took off down the driveway as fast as we could peddle. Up the hill was a big left-over pile of dirt from building the road. We raced towards it—jumped off our bikes and scrambled to the top as quickly as we could. In terror we watched Clown Baby lunging towards us!
Dad roared up the driveway in his old Willy’s Jeep. He jumped out, yelling, “Clown Baby!” The sound of his voice must have distracted that calf, because he swung around and put his head down—charging right for my dad!
A quickly swung rope brought Clown Baby to a halt and dad tossed that calf right over the side of the pickup and jumped right in after him—tying him up snug!
We were all crying and blubbering as we staggered down that dirt pile into dad’s open arms! I didn’t know it then, but that night after we went to bed, I heard him tell my mom, “Man, was I scared! When I saw the hole in the fence where that little sucker crawled through—I knew he’d head right for the kids!”
I rolled over and went to sleep. Boy, did I love my dad!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Camping in Circumstances
I have something I want to "talk about". It may or may not be of interest to those of you who may stumble across this blog. But, it's meant a great deal to me lately!
Numbers 9: 17-23 in the Bible reads as follows: "When the Cloud lifted above the Tent, the People of Israel marched out; and when the Cloud descended the people camped. the People of Israel marched at God's command and they camped at his command. As long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, they camped. Even when the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for many days, they honored God's command and wouldn't march. They stayed in camp, obedient to God's command, as long as the Cloud was over The Dwelling, but the moment God issued orders they marched. If the Cloud stayed only from sunset to daybreak and then lifted at daybreak, they marched. Night or day, it made no difference--when the Cloud lifted, they marched. It made no difference whether the Cloud hovered over The Dwelling for two days or a month or a year, as long as the Cloud was there, they were there. And when The Cloud went up, they got up and marched. They camped at God's command and they marched at God's command. They lived obediently by God's orders as delivered by Moses."
OK...that was a bit long-winded, so here's my what has been going through my mind on this one. First of all, this part of the Bible was written in Hebrew. When things are repeated--it's because they were important. We use punctuation to emphasize importance nowadays...but back when this was written, to repeat something again and yet again, showed great importance.
Then....I began to think about the circumstances that Travis and I are in. Taking care of my mother-in-law, etc. It appears that "The Cloud" has camped right here! (The Cloud represented God's Presence to the Children of Israel.) It appears that we need to learn to camp in these circumstances and not be whining or discontented with what God has brought into our lives! Just learn to be obedient in what He's asked us to do.
Has it been easy to always answer kindly? Or to show patience when I've been awakened again for the 3rd or 4th time during the night? I must admit that I've failed in these areas...however, I'm learning to settle my heart--to reach beyond myself where I put my hand in God's Hands and ask for His help! He's got way more love and patience then I ever dreamed of and has promised to pour out His help if we need it. We just have to ask!
I'm asking all the time! Until next time!