By Name

I've been working on my homework for Outbreak and just had  a great reminder as I was reading through John 10. I love this passage about the sheep and the shepherd and how the sheep follow the shepherd because he calls them by name.  vs 3b "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."  Part of this week was about the fear of being forgotten and I admit that I often times feel this way, especially when I am in the drudgery of day to day life with three small little ones. They drain everything out of me and sometimes I just have to wonder, "Lord, do you remember that I am here? Can you cut me a break with all the whining, crying and screaming?"  It gets old, it gets lonely, it feels like I am forgotten.  I wonder if that is how Moses or David felt for all of those years out in the field tending sheep?

So, today was a sweet, tender touch of, "Jen, I haven't forgotten you.  I know you by name."

That is astounding to me that the Lord of all of the Universe, knows my name. I mean, I am horrible, horrible, horrible with people's names.  I know all the tricks of the trade. You know the ones: call someone by a generic name. If you are from the South, honey, will do or Bless Your Soul.  You don't need a personal name to say, Oh Bless You.  For those of you who are married, you know this one well, "if I don't introduce you by name, be sure and step in and introduce yourself." The hope is the other person will give his/her name while saying, "nice to meet you."  Deny it all you want, but I know that we have ALL played that game.

The Lord though, doesn't need that. The Lord knows, and the Lord calls each of us by our own name.

I started thinking about that and remembered that I had once written in my Bible somewhere in Exodus 3, "The Lord is a personal God."  It stemmed from the repetition of the phrase, "I am the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."  The Lord didn't just say, "I am God," though He did say, "I am who I am."  He also referred to himself as the Lord of people. He's not an impersonal God, but a very personal one.

It made me think of these verses:
Exodus 3:4 "When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'"

I Samuel 3:10 "The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!'"

Luke 1:13, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah."

Acts 9:3 "He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to Him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'"

John 20:16 at the tomb, "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.'"

While we may not hear the audible calling of our names, rest assured, that the Lord does know our names, that He does call us by name and that one day there will be a rock with our name on it, known only by the Lord (Rev 2:17).  What a beautiful reminder.  It was almost as if a whisper, "Jen, you are not forgotten. I know you by name."

In Your Path

I never really knew how hard three kids was going to be. About the time that I think I have it under control, it all falls apart again.  I'm exhausted. Yet in my exhaustion, I look around and see so many people who have a heart and passion for foreign missions and I think to myself, "Why don't I have it?"  or "Why can't I do that?" I know comparison is not healthy, but I see the passion and it bothers me that I don't have some sort of compassion, much less passion for these sorts of things.  I would like to, but it's not there.  I often ask, "what's wrong with me?"

Then in one of the sweet, tender moments when I had a brief moment of silence in my house, these words were whispered to me, "In your path."  Minister to the people that are in your path.  Because I am hard of hearing most days, my Proverbs 31 email came through that morning and it was on the Good Samaritan. I believe the point was that we were supposed to show grace, but this jumped out at me.  

'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road.....So, too, A Levite, when he came to the place.....but a Samaritan, as he traveled, came to the same place..."  Luke 10:30-33


Three men, on a road with an opportunity to help, yet only one took the opportunity.  What jumped out at me, was they were on a road, the man was in their path. Right now, I don't have to look far and wide to find opportunities to minister. My problem is that I often times walk down the path and don't see or I choose to walk on the other side of the road.

As if I wasn't convicted enough, the other morning devotional was on finding five people to do good to this week, people that were in your path.

So, who is in your path?

I took about two steps before I ran into the first person on my path:

Then the pitter patter of little feet brought three more people into my path:

Right now, my path is in my home.

God's Attributes A to Z

Many moons ago, when I was single, I was part of a wonderful Bible study. Each week we met, we had a prayer time beforehand.   We had a specific way in which we prayed:  we praised God for who He was, we thanked Him for what He had done and we petitioned Him for our needs.

If you are anything like me, I settle into my ways. I would find myself week to week praising God for the same attributes.  You are holy, holy, holy. Sometimes that is a good thing, if that is how the Lord is revealing Himself to you week after week. Other times, it is complacency to find a new attribute of the Lord from Scripture.

Since we were meeting for roughly 26 weeks, a friend of mine and I took the challenge to pray through the alphabet with God's attributes.  I can't tell you how fun it was to learn something new and to start prayer with praise.  What a way to get focused. (Psalms is a great place to find attributes)

Can you come up with an attribute for each letter?

Here are a few of mine.....

A:  Abba, Able, Anchor, Ancient of Days, Architect, Atones my Sins, Author of Life
B:  Banner, Beginning and End, Blessed, Bright and Morning star, Burden Bearer
C:  Captain of the Hosts, Caring, Cornerstone, Consuming fire, Counselor, Covenant Keeper, Creator
D:  Defender, Deliverer, Dependable, Directs, Dwelling Place
E:  El-Elyon; El-Olam; El-Shaddai, Emmanuel, Enthroned, Eternal, Everlasting Father, Ever Present
F:  Faithful, Father, Flawless; Forgives; Fortress; Fulfills His Purposes
G:  Gardener; Gate; Gentle; Glorious; God of all Comfort; God of all Grace; Great; Guide
H:  Hope; Healer; Helper; Holy; Hiding Place
I:  Instructs
J: Judge; Jehovah; Jealous; Just
K: Kind; King of Kings; Knowing
L: Lamp; Leader; Life; Light; Love; Living
M: Magnificent; Majestic; Maker; Marvelous; Master; Mediator; Merciful; Mighty; Most High
N: Name above All Names; None Like You; Near to Us
O: Omega; Omniscient; Omnipotent; Omnipresent; Orderly; Overseer
P: Patient; Peace; Perfect; Personal; Physician; Portion; Potter; Powerful; Praiseworthy; Preserver; Priceless;
    Promise Keeper; Protector; Provider; Purifiier
Q: Quiets you with His Love
R: Radiant; Reconciles; Redeemer; Refiner; Reliable; Rescuer; Restorer; Resurrection; Righteous; Rock;
    Ruler
S: Satisfies us; Slow to Anger; Superior; Sun and Shield; Strong Tower;
T: Teacher; Tender; Tower of Refuge; Truth
U:  Unchanging; Understanding; Unfailing Love; Upholds Us
V:  Victorious; Vindicator; Vinedresser
W: Warrior; Watcher; Wise; Wonderful; Worthy
X:
Y: Yahweh
Z:  Zealous
S: Sanctifies; Savior; Seals us; Self-Sufficient; Servant; Shadow; Shelter; Shepherd; Shield; Slow to Anger;  
    Sovereign  Steadfast; Strong Tower; Sufficient; Sun and Shield; Superior; Sustainer

Scripture A to Z

I love when the Lord is timely.  The other day I was thinking about something that a friend of mine and I did a few years back.  During our prayer time, we prayed the attributes of God using the alphabet. It was fun; it was challenging; it forced me to learn new things about our Lord.  I was thinking that I needed to do a post on it and I got sidetracked.

Then the other day, I picked up my daily walk Bible and was on Psalm 119.  The application was this:
When the psalmist wrote 119, he began each eight-verse section with a successive letter from the Hebrew alphabet, which has 22 letters.  From memory, can you think of Bible verses that begin with each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet?


I took the challenge....I was surprised that I came up with verses for almost all of the letters, but was not surprised that for most of them I only knew the book that they were found in. I knew very few actual addresses.   I took the time to go back and look them up. It also surprised me that a lot of the verses I know are just partial verses - the second half of verses.   Tomorrow I'll look at the attributes A to Z.

It was a fun exercise and a challenge to read and memorize Scripture more.
Feel free to share your list!

A: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you.  Matt 7:7
B:  Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs shall be the Kingdom of heaven.  Matt 5:3
C:  Cast all your anxieties on him for he cares for you  I Peter 5:7
D:  Do not be afraid
E:  Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter his courts with praise  Psalm 100:4
F:  The Fruit of the Spirit is... Galatians 5:22
G: Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life Prov 4:23
H:  Have you not heard? The Lord is he everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  Is 40:28
I:  I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  John 14:6
J; Joy of the Lord is my strength.  Nehemiah 8:10
K:  Keep my commands
L:  Love one another as I have loved you.  John 15:12
M:  but Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  Luke 2:10
N: Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.  Hebrews 13:5b
O:  Children, Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.  Ephesians 6:1
P:  Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.  John 14:27
Q:  I am sure there is one on Queen Esther...
R:  Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: rejoice!  Philippians 4:4
S: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God  Matthew 6:33
T:  This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.
U:  Unto thee O Lord, do I lift up my soul  Psalm 25:1
V:  Verily I say to you.
W:  Worship  in Spirit and in Truth  John 4:24b
X:
Y: You are the light of the world...  Matthew 5:14
Z:

Use Your Words

As I watch the drought and wildfires that are consuming our great state, I have been thinking about all things Texas.  Bluebonnets, Blue Bell and the Birds.  In particular, the mockingbird.

Aside from the fact that it is our state bird, and that it mocks other birds, that was about all I knew.

Dr. Google says the following:

Ask any Texan, and you will no doubt learn that the mockingbird has the prettiest song of any bird native to North America. That's perhaps the chief reason the "mocker" was adopted as the state bird of Texas in 1927. Legend has it when Texas chose the mockingbird as its state bird, the resolution stated that the bird is "a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan..." Its species name comes from the Greek mimus to mimic, and ployglottos for "many-tongued.�  (http://www.shgresources.com/tx/symbols/bird/)

A mockingbird can have up to 25-30 songs in its repertoire at one time (http://www.lsjunction.com/bird.htm)

For some reason, the mockingbird has stuck with me and how often do I feel like this bird?

A beautiful song I may at times play, but how many times do I feel that it is because I am mimicking 25-30 women in my life.  I want to blog like Missy, do crafts like Katie, sew like Sharyn, create like Suzanne, teach like Leanne, and the list goes on.  You will hear me say, "I can copy, but not create." I feel like a mocker, hiding behind other's songs. Mimicking at it's best.

Do you ever feel that way - like all you are doing is mimicking those around you? It's left me with the question, "What am I good at?"   What is the song that God has created me to sing?  What is my song?  I don't want to merely imitate those around me that I respect.  I want to flourish in the way He has created me. I can learn from others as we are told to seek wise council, but the Lord did not create me to be just like them.  He created me uniquely.

First and foremost the Lord has shown me that I am ultimately to "imitate" him as I am conformed to the image of His son.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children ; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.  Ephesians 5:1-2

Ephesians 4:29-32 gives me a glimpse of what this looks like:

vs 29  Speak helpful, edifying words

vs 32  Be Kind

vs 32  Be Compassionate

vs 32  Forgive as Christ forgave you

I don't even want to stop and think about how well I am doing there.  Does my song merge together the melody of edification, kindness, forgiveness?  Oh, I dare say not as I blow it so many times a day with my children. Yet they are first and foremost the very people I am a reflection of Christ for.  I need work. I need help. I need Christ. Daily. Hourly. Minute by Minute.

Then there is the part of the melody that I have been praying for.  Lord, what am I passionate about? 

As I have been reading through the Psalms, the same thing has been jumping out at me:

"Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, Till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come."  Plsam 71:18

"My tongue will tell of your righteous acts all day long." Psalm 71:24

"...I will tell of all of your deeds." Psalm 73:28

Ultimately I am to sing His song, to tell of His deeds, His power, His righteous acts. To glorify Him.

In our house, due to the insane amount of temper tantrums these days by all 3 kids, the summer mantra has become, "Use your words. You have words, so use them."  As I read through the Psalms, it was if I heard, "use your words.  You have them. Use them."

It starts with telling my children of the great and mighty things God has done: most importantly of sending His Son to give them a right relationship with Him. It is telling others of the great and praiseworthy things He has done. My life is His life. My story is ultimately His story. It is for His glory and yet I fail each day to tell it.

How is the Lord weaving together your song?

Slow to Learn

Moses may have been slow in speech, but I am slow to learn.  Mom asked me to reteach a lesson I taught in the fall of 2009 on "Fear Not, I am With You."  I guess I didn't get it the first time, or else I really need to hear it again. Mostly what I find when I teach is that I am not finding out great insights that someone else needs, but rather insights that I need for my own growth. I guess that doesn't say  much on my growth over the past few years.

I still fight fears....fear of something happening to one of my children, fear of finances, fear of fire, fear of moving, fear of change and the list goes on.   One of the things I have been reminded of is this: when we fear we are saying two things, "God I don't trust you" and "I don't accept your providence in my life."

Jerry Bridges says this, "For me I have come to the conclusion that my anxiety is triggered not so much by a distrust in God as by an unwillingness to submit to and cheerfully accept His agenda for me."

Oh I love my agenda and fear His. What kind of pain and heartache or joy and pleasure could it mean?  I guess that is just it, I fear the unknown.  The great commitment that He has made though is that He will be With us! He will be with me, whether good or bad, joyful or sorrowful.   Fear Not, I am with You.  I loved what I read this week:  God's answer to fear is not an argument or a formula. It's a person.  God himself is the final answer to every fear of the human heart.

The hymn that has been running through my head is How Firm a Foundation (and being the good Baptist that I am, I only know 4 of the 7 verses :) )!


How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

"Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

"When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never, forsake!"

Not Meant to Race Alone

A little bit of Jen trivia: I am more of an introvert than an extrovert.  Those who know me very, very well, know this to be true of me.  I still remember taking the Myers Briggs test in my Organizational Behavior class  when I was in grad school. One of the girls in my class said I would peg you for an extrovert. She got my whole assessment right except for that one trait. I'm actually borderline between the two, but on most days I tend more toward the introverted side. Contrary to what people believe, an introvert is not shy, an introvert is recharged by spending time alone!  Probably why I am re-energized so much on my runs; it is my time alone - that and all the endorphins from the runner's high. I saw a shirt the other day that said, "running is my happy hour."  I am so happy when I am running, even on days when it is hard to start.  Plus, as I have stated multiple times before, it is my time with the Lord when I get so much clarity.  I am so very blessed to have a husband who understands all of this about me and practically forces me out on my runs.  In fact, I can remember multiple times when he has said to me, "GO RUN NOW!"  He knows I need it.


However, while running is good alone, I was reminded starkly this fall of how good it is to run with others. The Lord brought into my life a good friend who introduced me to a group of women who run together.  They are incredible. They have strengthened me on my run, they have encouraged me, they have prayed for me, they have checked on me and they have raced with me.  While I need my runs alone to be quiet before the Lord, I was reminded that I also need others.  

Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

I need the encouragement (to pour courage into) from others, both physically and spiritually. It is vital that I am not running through life alone.  It is not good for me to be out of fellowship with other believers. I  am created for relationship, both with the Lord and with others. While I may be recharged by myself, there is so much wisdom and encouragement to be gained in and from the fellowship of believers.Not only that, in love, they also call me to accountability in my walk.  Ouch.  Let me ask you, have you gotten out of habit of meeting together with other believers? Have you let yourself off the hook with a list of valid excuses (perhaps your latest is 'I have a newborn.' oh wait - that one is mine!)?  it is so easy to stay home stay in bed, use your Sunday mornings to sleep, grocery shop, etc. but we are called to worship corporately and to fellowship with others.  We need to be spurred on (and I wish I had the energy to do more research on the original meaning of this word: I am sure it is awesome) and we need to be spurring others on toward the finish line.  

I guess I was in need of this lesson as I was also chosen to run as a part of the Living Water team.  I had no idea the difference it would make on race day. I have always run half marathons on my own.  No one could have told me the difference it would make to put the shirt on.  For one, my mindset was different. I knew I was there for them, as a part of the team. I desired to make my team proud. In addition, there was a KSBJ/Living Water station several places along the course. It seemed like every couple of miles they had groups of people ready to cheer you on. Whenever they would see a person in a jersey, they would literally go crazy, ringing bells, yelling your name, giving high fives, telling you you  could do it.  It made all the difference in how I ran.  You see, I wasn't having to constantly tell myself to hang on, that I could do it, but I had people who were on my side encouraging me to the finish line.  


Perhaps the biggest influence was our Coach who was at mile 10.  I remember him saying, "only 3 more miles. You can do this."  While it may seem like just mere words, I knew that he had run ULTRA marathons. He has been where I am. He had done it. He knew that I could finish out the race and that in the grand scheme of things, three miles was not that much.  The spiritual application flooded my mind. Not only do I need the physical encouragement of meeting together with other believers, I can also find so much encouragement in the men and women in Scripture who have walked the road before me. Many of them have been on the same path as me and have, through faith, finished well.    Abraham was called to a new location, the disciples to new jobs, Elijah survived the desert, Paul the prison, fishermen became followers, and the list goes on.  They have been there, they have walked there, they have finished. Mostly there is Christ who endured it all and now sits at the right hand of the Father, victorious! How beautiful that the Lord has written it all down for us to read, to be sanctified, and to be encouraged. Meet with other believers, but don't forget to also meet with the Lord.


Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In Step

Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

I love running. Shocker I know, but as I lined up at the start line on Sunday, I thought it would be my last official organized run. Wrong. As I started the race I realized this was my race, the race I was meant to run. I had been chosen for the race. I entered through KSBJ by writing how the Lord spoke to me through my runs. Through that I was chosen to run for KSBJ and raise funds for Living Water. From the get go, the first run, the Lord has given me so much insight - some things about my own self, my life, about Scripture, about Living Water. So many thoughts, so many posts that may (or may not) follow.

The one I want to share today is about the run on Sunday, the step by step run that I made. As I lined up at the start line, I didn't think about how fast I was going to run, what time I was going to make it in, I simply thought about finding my pace and staying with it. Whatever I found my self running at come mile 1 was the pace I would keep through the race. It didn't matter to me if it was 8 minutes or 10 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised at the 1 mile mark, and I was able to keep it through the entirety of the race. I took it mile by mile. I didn't look to where the finish line was, only to the next mile marker. It was all the way around a great run - tiring at times, painful at times, enjoyable at times, all the way around great.

As I was running, all I could see were hundreds of runners ahead of me. Some people were passing me, some were falling behind me, but I stayed the pace. You see, the race was mine. I was determined to keep my pace, not the pace of the people ahead of me, not the people that were slowing down, just my pace. Some of those people started ahead of me, most of them were just flat out faster than me, but all of us were headed for the finish line. I was meant to run the race marked out for me, not the race marked out for them. I wasn't meant to run at their pace, but my own. The one I had trained at.

Along the way, there was a mile that I sped up just a bit and a mile where I slowed just a bit. There was a time to stop and be refreshed at the water stations, a time to take encouragement from my coach and a time to encourage those around me: both to those who had grown weary "You're almost there. Don't quit now." and to those who were the front runners that were already past the turn around point - clapping, cheering, being happy for them.

isn't that how it is with the Christian life? Each of us has been given our own race to run (and yes, we are meant to run with others - another post for another time, possibly tomorrow. I have many thoughts on how awesome it is to run as part of a team). Each of us has been given our own gifts, our own place, our own passion (good post on passion here). I need to stop comparing myself to others, their passion, their pace and to run my own race, the race that the Lord has given me being guided daily by Him. You see I am to stay in step with Him - speeding up when He leads, slowing down when He leads, taking time to be refreshed and encouraged, taking the time to be an encourager, but all by His leading at the pace He takes me. I need to be tuned in to Him, knowing Him, spending time with Him, reading, listening and responding.

As I was thinking about this as I ran, a few things kept coming to my mind. The first was Scripture.

Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

I taught on this Scripture years ago and remembered that walk here is a military term. It is literally to walk in a line, proceed in a row, to follow in someone's footsteps. It is to march in file or battle order (precepts austin).

UBS Handbook writes that stoicheo as...

used here can be literally translated “to walk in a straight line” and probably means in this context “to behave properly according to accepted standards.”

The other things running through my mind were songs, one old and one new. The first Step by Step by Rich Mullins is one I have sung for years. I love it. Here is part of it:

Oh God you are my God and I will ever praise you

Oh God you are my God and I will ever praise you

I will seek You in the morning

And I will learn to walk in Your ways

And step by step you'll lead me

And I will follow you all of my days

The other is I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin:

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

Oh how I want to run the race marked out before me in step with the Spirit.

Perspective

Just a little perspective from my half marathon this morning, when we got to around mile 5.5, there was a Living Water banner.

"Some people walk this far with 40 lbs to get clean water. We [run] to lighten their load."

Wow. I first thought, that would be like me pushing Hope in the jogging stroller, but that's not the same. I would be pushing, not carrying. Then I thought, that would be like me carrying Grayson for as far as I have just run. Granted, I can barely carrying him from the car to his room. What a wimp am I. It made me run just a little bit harder thinking that with every step I took, I was helping provide clean water for someone in the world.

On a side note, one of my running friends told me that running in the rain gave a whole new meaning to running for water. I generally hate running in the rain, but today I thought about how fortunate I was to have clean, pure water to drink and I welcomed the reminder to why I was running.

More thoughts on my run to come....

Finish Strong

A few weeks ago when I was running Sugarland Half Marathon, I was asked how I could sprint the last .10 of a mile when the last 2 miles had been so painful for me. The answer really is simple, "Finish Strong." All through my training, J has been encouraging me that no matter how good or how bad my run was to sprint in the last tenth of a mile or so to my finishing point. If you don't practice, it will be harder to finish strong. Besides, who wants to WALK across the finish line (unless you are injured) after persevering for 13 miles? Not me. However, because I had trained, I could finish and finish well.

This whole thought was brought back to me today as I was thinking, "really it's only 2 more days of my caffeine fast, couldn't I just have one today? I've mostly made it." I'm not trying to be legalistic, but I took up drinking water in honor of running for Living Water. With every glass, I am reminded how fortunate I am that I have free water at my disposal and not only that I know the true Living Water, Jesus Christ. I had to remind myself to FINISH STRONG.

How much like our spiritual journey is this? How much more do we need to finish out that which we have started - not just half heartedly, not just because we have to, not begrudgingly, but to cross the finish line sprinting.

I love these Scriptures.

Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

I Corinthians 9:24-25 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

When I cross the finish line, I desire to hear, "Well done good and faithful servant."

What is it that you need to finish strong at? Is it a Bible study that you have started? Is it a place of service? simply parenting your children; I know mine make me want to give up on a daily basis? praying for the salvation of a loved one? Whatever it is, let me encourage you, FINISH STRONG!

Thoughts on Hebrews 12:1-2

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, i had to write how the Lord spoke to me on my runs in order to run for Living Water. I find a lot of clarity on my runs, but as I wrote briefly for my essay, I clearly remember the Houston half marathon two years ago. Hope was five months old at the time, the same as Michaela, and I remember sitting at the worship inside of the George R Brown. It was one of those times when I just felt the Lord's presence. I remember praying for Him to be with me during the race. As I ran the race, so many Scriptures came to life for me.

However, Hebrews 12:1 was the one that was most readily illustrated for me. As I ran down Allen Parkway, both sides of the street were lined with spectators cheering the contestants on. At the Houston marathon, your name is printed on your bib. So, there were people I had never met before yelling for me, cheering for me, saying, "Good Job, Jen." "Keep it up." "You are almost there." It was incredible. It made me think, this must be how the men/women in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11) must be cheering us on. We have done it, now you can to. Focus on Christ who endured and conquered. Focus on Him. It's been such a great place to go back to over the years as I am enduring the hardships that come with life.

I love how Ray Steadman talks about this passage:

The verb form of this word "witness" (martureo) is used five times in Hebrews 11 (Heb 11:2, 4 [twice], He 11:5, 39) and always refers to the giving of a (confirming) testimony rather than the mere watching of an event. So I take the witnesses of Hebrews 12:1 to be the saints who have run the race before us, and have gathered, as it were, along the marathon route to say, through the testimony of their lives, "By faith I finished, you can too!... This is the way all the witnesses of Hebrews 11 are helping us. They have gathered along the sidelines of our race and they hold out their wounds and their joys and give us the best high-fives we ever got: "Go for it! You can do it. By faith you can finish. You can lay the weights down and the sins. By faith, by the assurance of better things hoped for, you can do it. I did it. And I know it can be done. Run. RUN!"...There are dozens and hundreds and thousands of those who have gone before and who have finished the race by faith and surround us like a great cloud of witnesses who say: "It can be done! By faith it can be done."

You see our lives are a marathon and by faith it can be done.

At the Sugarland half this past weekend, the next part of the verse was illustrated to me. "Let us throw off everything that hinders us." Let us lay it aside or strip it off. The Sugarland race began cold and raining. Brr. I had on a disposable rain jacket that kept me warm and dry. By about mile 3, I was hot and it was bothering me so I tied it around my waste where I felt like it was further hindering my run. I knew that in the miles to come I would have to keep retying it, adjusting it, etc. For me, it was easier to just get rid of it. So, I literally stripped it off (don't worry I had on another top under it) and threw it away. I couldn't run with it on. Interestingly enough, after the race, I was talking to a friend of mine who commented on the fact that she was upset that she had worn a jacket and hat. She said that she felt like it weighed her down. I believe that is exactly what this passage is calling us to do in our spiritual lives. To take off and throw away all that hinders our spiritual progress. Cast it off, get rid of it so that you can run with perseverance.

What is hindering your spiritual progress? What do you need to cast off?

I Am With You

Are your house, your hormones and your husband driving you mad? Does the sensationalism of the news, the health care debate and the “epidemic” of the swine flu send you running for cover? Do you feel overworked, understaffed and severely underpaid? Is the month too long and the money too short? Are the demands too great and the time too small? Have you ever wondered how did I get myself here and how do I get out? Whether it be the joy of a new job or the loss of a dream, we have all had moments in our life when we feel stressed out, maxed out or pushed to the limit.

We can say anxiety is normal, that it’s natural and we can continue to live in bondage to it. We as Christians though are called to freedom and we can no longer live in this bondage. The Lord wants us to trust Him and when we are anxious and when we worry, we don’t trust. Essentially what we are saying is that a situation is too big to be handled by God. When we are anxious we are controlled by our circumstances rather than allowing our Master to control them.

What are we to do? Lets take a moment and do a brief glimpse of Biblical men and women who have had basket case moments in their lives – unexpected events where they felt overwhelmed, out of control, and absolutely helpless. This is in no means a comprehensive list, yet an overview of what the Lord says from beginning to end. What the Lord says to them, he also says to you and says to me.

Take a look with me:
Isaac landed in a basket of Injustice. The Philistines were filling up his water wells and kicking him out of his land.

Gen 26:24 “That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you…”

During a time of famine, Jacob faced a basket of emptiness; and was told in his old age to leave the land he was in.

Gen 46:3-4, “I am God, the god of your father,” he said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes”

During their wilderness experience, the Israelites faced impossible circumstances – the Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them. I would like to take a moment to remind you that at this point the Lord was physically with them: leading them by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night.

Exodus 14:13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Joshua took command and entered a basket of leadership.

Deut 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” In a charge from David, Solomon was placed in the basket of authority

David also said to Solomon his son when entering a position of authority,

I Chronicles 28:20 "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

Jeremiah – youth was his basket when God called him:

Jeremiah 1:4-8, The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

Vocational change was one of many baskets the disciples found themselves in.

Luke 5:8-10 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men."

Paul while in Corinth wasn’t exactly the most popular of people. Acts 18;6 says that they became abusive. Physical danger or one might say ministry marked his basket. The Lord’s response:

Acts 18:9 “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attach you and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

My favorite though is Joseph- talk about being put in a state of helplessness. He had a basket full of relational woes, with what seemed to be betrayal. After all his fiancé was pregnant and not by him.

Matthew 1:20-23 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

You see, that is the beauty – God loved us so much that he sent His son, His only son into the world. His name was Immanuel – God with us. He loved us enough to tabernacle with us.

The differences in the situations are striking; to some it was a lacking - Lack of resources, lack of confidence, lack of skill and to others the moments came in the newness: A new land, a new position, a new life, but do you hear what the constant saying of the Lord is? Did you miss it? He is saying, “Fear not,” “Do not be afraid,” “I am with you.” Our God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and what He said to our forefathers in faith, he is saying to us in our basket case moments of life, "Fear not, Do not be afraid, I. AM. WITH. YOU.”

He Still Moves Stones

I love when the Lord speaks to me, directly to me, and at a time when I so desparately needed it. I have needed encouragement. My friend, Missy and I emailed about it a few days ago after she did a post on Tension. I could feel what she was saying. The word around here lately has been caught. There are so many things that J and I feel tension on - not necessarily between us, although it has gotten us from time to time, but tension on life decisions. Feeling that the Lord is leading us in one direction, yet at a stand still to how that is going to come to pass. Waiting is such a hard place...one that I seem to find myself in all too often. Perhaps that's why the two different things I read today were so encouraging to me.

The first was on Phil 3 - to finish the race before us with endurance. Being a runner, I can relate to the running analogies. The word race is from the Greek agon, from which we get the word agony. The Christian's race is not a job, but rather a demanding and grueling, sometimes agonizing race. It takes a massiver effort to finish strong. So the first thing I read was to finish strong....keep running, don't give up. I remind myself of that each morning as I force myself to sprint the last bit of my morning run. How could I forget that the same is true in my Christian race?

The Second thing that I read today comes from Max Lucado's He Still Moves Stones. Sometimes, I need a light read and he often times just has a way with words. While I know that the Lord's answers can be no, I do know that He is full of surprises especially when we think there is no way. My mom reminded me of that - and 5 years ago, I experienced just that - a broken relationship with no view for another to be found when within a few weeks Jamison came into the picture and we were married 8 short months later (Nov 13th). So....enjoy this selection from Max's book based on Matt 28:

Why did the angel move the stone? For whom did he roll away the rock?

For Jesus? that's what I always thought. I just assumed that the angel moved the stone so Jesus could come out. But think about it. Did the stone have to be removed in order for Jesus to exit? Did God have to have help? Was the death conqueror so weak that he coiuldn't push away a rock?

I don't think so. The text gives the impression that Jesus was already out when the stone was moved! No where do the Gospels say that the angel moved the stone for Jesus. For whom, then, was the stone moved?

Listen to what the angel says: "Come and see the place where his body was" (Matt 28:6)

The stone was moved- not for Jesus - but for the women; not so Jesus could come out, but so the women could see in!

....

"Go quickly and tell his followers, 'Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there;" (Matt 28:7)

Mary and Mary don't have to be told twice. They turn and start running to Jerusalem. The darkness is gone. The sun is up. The Son is out. But the Son isn't finished. One surprise still awaits them.

"Suddenly Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings.' Th women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. The Jesus said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.'" (Matt 28:9-10)

The God of surprises strikes again. It's as if he said, "I can't wait any longer. They came this far to see me; I'm going to drop in on them."

God does that for the faithful. Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarai gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned. And just when the road is too dark for Mary and Mary, the angel glows, and the Savior shows, and the two women will never be the same.

The lesson? Three words. Don't give up.
Is the trail dark? Don't sit
Is the road long? Don't stop.
IS the night black? Don't quit.

Even when it's difficult. Even when it seems impossible. Even when we don't understand why.

God is watching. Fod all you know, right at this moment he may be telling the angel to move the stone.
The check may be in the mail.
The apology may be in the making.
The job contract may be on the desk.

Don't quit. For if you do, you may miss the answer to your prayers.
God still sends angels. And God still moves stones.

What I Didn't Know 5 Years Ago....

As things would go, I drew the marriage straw in our teaching rotation this fall. With the other 2 teachers with 10 and 25 years of marriage under their belt, I felt (and still do feel) inadequate to give the lesson this Thurs. The Lord is faithful though and while I may not have all the practical experience, I have His word, His guidebook to do my teaching from. We celebrate our 5th anniversary in 12 days and I wish I had known some of this...and in some ways, I'm glad I didn't know it.

As I was beginning my preparation, I sent an email out to a group of people - older, younger, married a long time, married a few months to see how they would answer the question:
What do you wish you had known going into marriage. I thought everyone might enjoy the answers I got back. I have categorized them and given some thoughts from various people - cut and pasted straight from the emails. My lesson will be on what do we do with what we didn't know - how do we go about making a lasting marriage when the moonlight and romance turns into dirty socks and paying bills!

The Happily Ever After Takes A lot of Work
I don't know if I would have paid any attention, but I wish someone would have mentioned how marriage is hard work and not for the faint of heart. I wish someone could have made me realize that a successful marriage is more about obedience to God's commands, personal sacrifice, & unselfishness than about ooey gooey heart pounding love & excitement. I wish I had known that there would be times when I hated my spouse, when I wanted to bail, and I couldn't stand to be under the same roof with him. .

Not unlike having children, the romantic ideal of what it will be like dies a pretty quick death. Who among us hasn't been barfed on by a baby, or helped a spouse thru a bad bout of illness like the stomach flu? Or tried to move to a different house with a husband & children? That brings out the worst. The vows we took before God and our loved ones really are a snapshot of what's to come: sickness & health, riches & times of need, good times & bad. It's all worth it, though. Stay the course, fight the good fight, and enjoy hearing the Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant", when our time on Earth is finished!!!

When you get married, you are not just marrying one person, but an entire family.

Your Relationships with Family and Friends Changes

Males and Females Really are Different
I think one of the best pieces of advice I got was that the thing that will annoy you the most about your spouse is the thing that makes them the most MALE. So often I am not mad at my husband, I am mad at the entire male species. Makes me cut him some slack.

Choose Battles Wisely
I wish someone had told me to choose my battles. And to never, ever call him and gripe at him when he is at work.

Advice I might give would be: don't sweat the small stuff. For me the small stuff has been: household organization, how fast chores get done, our agenda for the weekend, little things about child rearing, etc. I think after the marriage Bible study last year, I started saying "Whatever you'd like" about these small issues and questions. It has made a world of difference. Don't get me wrong...I still have strong opinions about MANY issues, but on things that really don't matter, I am learning to yield some control.

Manage your expectations - Marriage does not make you happy
Before the wedding, I really thought that my life would be "perfect" once I found the right man and got married. After being single for so long, I envisioned a perfect and complete life after I said "I do." Of course, I don't need to tell you that's not the way it works. In fact, problems can become amplified because now you're living with someone and sharing your daily struggles with them. So I wish someone would have told me that marriage doesn't really solve your problems or make your life feel "perfect." On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have believed them.

Educate Yourself About Intimacy
It's more than just having sex...and takes some work too:) God's design for intimacy is very different from what we learn from our culture.

Plan for Your Future Now
Building a family starts when you get married, not when your first child is born. Use the time between marriage and babies to build a solid foundation.Spend money when you get married as if you are already a stay at home mom. It will make the transition much easier. Begin saving for retirement after the honeymoon.


The Person I married was not the same guy I dated.
That the person I was dating wasn't the same guy I married!

Oddly enough, the most helpful story I heard before I was married were from a Christian co-worker, then happily married and expecting her third child. Sometime right after her honeymoon (weeks of marrying the fellow), she thought to herself “I’ve made a terrible mistake!” It was good to remember esp in the beginning when I realized that that my sweet
husband wasn’t a knight in shining armor, but a flawed human like me!

The person I married was not the same guy I dated….yet in some ways he was.
I wish that my pastor had talked to us more about being equally yoked. I assumed he would go to church with me b/c that is what you did when you were married, even though he never went with me when we were dating.
Marriage magnifies those things that drove me nuts before we got married; how foolish was I to think they would either change or go away.

I’m not the same person I thought I was – I am SELFISH!

I also wish I would have known marriage, like no other earthly relationship, would expose my own sin nature, nastiness, and abject need for God in my life. How incredible is it that God hand picked a man that sees me at my worst (physically, emotionally, spiritually) who still loves and puts up with me? Not an easy task. So humbling

No one ever told me to learn the word grace now.
You need to know that there’s no room for selfishness and there needs to be a lot kindness. Both come from your heart and are sometimes only available through the grace of God


God Uses Marriage to Change You
Nothing has made me grow up like marriage. Love changes over time. It evolves. It gets a lot richer, deeper, more meaningful. On this side of heaven, navigating life can feel like a battle, but marriage is God's way of putting someone next to us in the trenches. What a blessing.
God wants us to be content more than he wants to be happy.

You see, the Lord is more concerned with our sanctification rather than our satisfaction. We walk in expecting someone else to fill the needs that the Lord alone is meant to fill. We look for the happily ever after that is moonlight and romance rather than everyday routine of dirty toilets and dirty socks. Somewhere in all of this, God is looking to continue to conform us to the image of His son. As Gary Thomas puts it, what if Marriage is about our holiness rather than our happiness?

To Be Continued...

Children Learn What They Live

Children Learn What They Live
If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

-Deborah Law Nolte

The Most Important Time of My Day...

I love when the Lord speaks loudly to me; sometimes I enjoy what He has to say, other times, very convicted. What an opportunity though to listen and obey! It seems like everywhere I turn these days, His word is reminding me of the importance spending time with Him daily. Oh the excuses I have - my children don't sleep, the laundry is piling up, the bills are waiting, crafts are incompleted, etc. Nothing though is more important than daily time with Him. I am praying for Him to open my eyes to the time I have available and to give me a deep desire to spend that time with Him - as a deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after you.

Enjoy today's devotional.

The Most Important Time of My Day
22 Oct 2009Lysa TerKeurst

"'… Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Is it really that important to have a quiet time with the Lord everyday? I mean the Lord knows how busy my life is, so if I just toss up a few prayers and listen to a Christian song on the radio while rushing into my day, that should suffice. Right?It's easy to let the busyness of life crowd out time for prayer, Bible reading, and sitting with the Lord. There are a million things on all of our to-do lists, time is tight, and quiet moments seem few and far between. But I've learned that if I make the choice to be with the Lord first thing in the morning, my outlook on life that day and my ability to handle things seems to go so much smoother.Also, I've had to change my mindset on having a quiet time. Spending time with the Lord in the morning doesn't end when I say "amen" and put my Bible back on the shelf. I've just invited the King of kings to participate in my day. So, I get up from spending time with the Lord in the morning and start eagerly looking for His hand of activity in my life.I think about the Bible verses I read that morning and look for ways to apply them to my life that very day. I watch the circumstances that come my way hour by hour and ask the Lord to constantly give me wisdom to process life in the way that would be most honoring to Him. My mindset is healthier, my attitude more positive, and my ability to extend grace to those who rub me the wrong way is increased just by setting aside some time to be with the Lord.If you are struggling with having quiet time with the Lord each day, try these helpful ideas:

1. Be honest with God and admit your struggle. Ask God to give you the desire to set aside time to be with Him.

2. Start with just a small amount of time. Even if it is just 5 minutes at first, give this 5 minutes solely to the Lord without any other distractions. Over the next weeks and months, your desire for more time with Him will increase.

3. Use a version of the Bible that lends itself to study. I use the NIV Life Application Study Bible and I love it. It helps me understand the context each book was written in and gives me commentaries to understand specific verses.

4. Ask God for understanding as you read the Bible. When I first started reading the Bible I had a hard time. So, I started praying that God would open my spiritual eyes to see the truths in a life changing way for me.

5. Write some of the verses that seem most applicable to your life on 3x5 cards and use them in your prayers. For example, Matthew 6:19-20 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." So, I could use this verse in my prayer time by praying, "God, help me to know how to store up treasures in Heaven. Help me to relinquish my tight hold on my earthly possessions so I can use them to build Your kingdom now. Show me how to best use that which You have blessed me with. Give me Your mindset for the money I have."

6. Get involved in a Bible Study with friends. This will help hold you accountable to getting your study time done and will open up great discussions to deepen everyone's understanding of applying God's truths to everyday life.I've found a daily quiet time with the Lord is very important and very doable as well.


Dear Lord, I want a more vibrant relationship with You and I know having a daily quiet time is an important part of that. Help me make this my most important priority each day, no matter how busy life is. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

No Time for God

Jamison sent me this post and I thought it was really good. It is from www.truewoman.com and posted by a girl named Holly:

Help! Mommydom leaves me no time for God
Your Purpose posted on 10.14.09 by Holly Elliff

The following post is actually a letter Holly Elliff wrote to a frustrated mom who can’t seem to find time to spend with God. Can you relate?

Dear Mom,

Let me give you a little peek into my life. I have eight children and two in heaven I never got to meet. My kids are currently 32, 30, 27, 23, 21, 18, 15 and 13. I also take care of my mom who has Alzheimers and have four grandchildren age 2 and under! Although I'm not exactly in your shoes right at this moment, I do know what it feels like and I so understand what "tired" means.

When my first four or five kids were all young, I had to focus so much on survival (for me and everyone else), that there were very few holes in my day to focus on time with the Lord. I wish I could tell you that I handled that like a spiritual giant and breezed through without struggle, but then I would just have to confess it the next time Nancy teaches on honesty!

I wish we could sit down together someplace peaceful and visit for a while. Since that's probably not going to happen, I would love to share a few insights that come as a result of years of living where you live and from the perspective of being a little further down the road.

God declares in His Word that your kids are a blessing and a gift. They are not an interruption, a mistake, or a hindrance to God's will in your life; they are God's will for your life.

Since these kids, at the ages they are at this moment, are God's will for your life, does He intend to speak to you in the next decade or so when you don't have free time? Of course He does. So how is that going to happen when you have so little time you can control?

Here are some practical tips on creating space to hear from the Lord:

1. First, think through the last 48 hrs. Any time-stealers come to mind? Facebook, Twitter, TV, email, Internet, phone calls, or texts? Make sure the enemy isn't robbing you of God-moments by offering a "harmless" substitute.

2. Time with the Lord takes intentional planning when you have a full, noisy, busy house. Some days, gather your kids around and read a passage to them. If you can make it interesting to listen to, you might get through several verses. Write a few verses out and leave them in the kitchen, laundry room, or car so you can contemplate as you cook, fold, or wait for your kids.

3. Place Bibles in several spots around your house so anytime you do get to sit down you can snatch a verse or two to ponder.

4. Use the first few minutes of nap time to get rest for your spirit. You probably won't be reading chapters or books at one sitting, but the Lord can use even snippets to instruct and encourage your heart. If you have kids who no longer nap, make a quiet zone where they can read or color while the little ones sleep and you get refreshed. Occasionally, this will actually work!!

5. Escape for a few minutes if you can after your husband gets home or right after dinner. I have had quiet times on picnic tables at the park, in my car at Sonic, on my driveway sitting in my car, and in my laundry room or closet.

6. Practice God's presence "in the midst" of your crazy days. He doesn't leave because your life is hectic. He can minister grace to your heart as you comfort that child or chop veggies for dinner or sort dirty socks. Christ knew what it was like to wash dirty feet. He is not absent when we are surrounded by lots of them! Remember that the Lord had many moments when He sought to draw apart to seek the Father. Sometimes that happened, sometimes He was moved with compassion and returned to the multitudes. His heart was to do the will of His Father every moment of every day, but He didn't live apart, He lived in the midst.

7. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom and discernment as you discover what will work for your family. Since it is God's will for you to know Him, ask Him to enable you to creatively pursue that in this season of your life. God's Word is eternal. The lives of those who come to know Him are eternal. Houses, stuff, and even time will all pass away. We won't regret time invested in His Word and in raising our kids to love Christ.

Proverbs 2:1–10 says:

My (daughter), if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,
Make your ear attentive to wisdom,
Incline your heart to understanding;
For if you cry for discernment,
Lift your voice for understanding;
If you seek her as silver
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.