They Can't Take It Away From You

The Holocaust. We're talking about it together today. I want my children to know the wise words I've heard lately and listened to again on this video, "What you keep in your head cannot be taken away by anyone." The Bible tells us to hide God's Word in our hearts so that we don't sin against Him. Keeping Scripture in our minds and hearts also protects us spiritually and emotionally from what "man" can do to us physically. Alice, who is the oldest holocaust survivor in the world (107 this month!), knew how to maintain her sanity through this horrible time in her history. She shares it here. Watch and be inspired to be full of gratitude today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EMlDf_cH8Y&feature=share

Day Twenty-Four (of 31 Days)

He walked the dusty sod with twelve men, gathering crowds, healing the sick, embracing the people. He came from a small town but His message of His Father's great love spread around the world and became written down. Although this Word met opposition, to the point of mass burning and confiscation, lovers of the Word hid it in their homes and in their hearts to preserve it. It will never die. It will be completely fulfilled.

Our pastor has been digging deeply into Scripture with our congregation and we've trodden where the the seven churches have walked. To know that time and all it's qualities and trials is beautiful and eye-opening. However, I've loved imagining Jesus being born into our time. What would that have been like? He is the same yesterday, today and forever! He came at a specific place in history but He is eternal. God's plan is astounding.

Dig into New Testament history and watch it come alive for you. Feel what the early churches felt, hold their dreams of deliverance and hope with them as they sacrificed their freedom and even their lives to carry out their Lord's will in a difficult time. This week, draw close by studying the history and geography surrounding Jesus' mission while He was here on earth. It will come alive for you and get you excited for His return.

Day Twenty-One (of 31 Days)

Last night I purged my heart to a dear friend and mentor and she encouraged me to soak myself in worship and listening to God's voice. I was to wrap myself in a blanket and lie down (after the kids were in bed) and be still. She told me to play some praise and worship and to just listen. She knew I needed this.

Well, I couldn't wait until the munchkins were asleep so I could draw close in the way she suggested. I played http://www.allworship.com/ on my computer and laid on the couch, covered in a warm blanket. I was determined to have this time with the Lord to wash away the day and all it's yuckiness. In the first few minutes I was crying; the words of the worship music were powerful and effective because they were full of Scripture. A little while later, I fell into a peaceful sleep and awoke to worshiping some more. My on-going list I had been rehearsing all day, began to fade and slowly I became more restful and relaxed. The Lord was reminding me of His importance and His rightful place in my priorities.

Won't you take some time out to drench yourself in worship and in listening to His voice? Perhaps even tonight, if you are able. You won't regret it.

Day Seven (of 31 Days)

Scripture. The life blood of our faith. HIS Word. Who HE is. What He requires from us. How He feels about us. Where our future lies. If this is all true, if we need it like we need breath, it must permeate our very being. Memorize it, savour it, feast on it. The persecuted church all over this groaning earth, gives it's life for this Book to be in its possession, while in North America, we allow our 3 copies per home to gather dust. This is encouragement today to choose a passage to hide in your heart. His Word promises a deep saturation will help us to not sin against Him.

(Thanks, Bethany.)

31 Days To Drawing Closer to God

I am so blessed to be a part of the blog world. I am amazed by the women I have "met" online; their courage, humility and inspiring ideas have encouraged me time and again. The Lord is undeniably using so many willing women to do His work by drawing others to Him through their writing. One such woman writes here. As I share my journey, I pray that I too, would raise an awareness in women that a personal relationship with the Creator is not only fulfilling, but essential for our survival. How anyone can venture through this life with it's mountains and valleys without God, is beyond me.

On the lighter side of the blog world, eight women offer practical and lovely tips for making this life just a little easier and our homes a little more beautiful. They began October 1st and have promised to give us a month of ideas. They can be followed here. With all of the fantastic articles I've been reading so far as these women prepared to get their blogs ready for October, I have decided to draw closer to God throughout this month and would love for you to join me. I write, not because I have anything profound to offer, but so that we may grow on this journey together. And in keeping with my ever-undisciplined nature, I am one day late in beginning. Now you know one of my prayers for change--to stop procrastinating :) So without further adieu, I offer October 1st and 2nd in this post.

Friday, October 1st--Yesterday, I struggled with a load of burdens and a pile of laundry. I even told my husband I felt like a failure to him, my children and my God. What better way to start this month of drawing close to Him than with a broken and contrite spirit? Do you ever feel this way? Let's pray today for the Lord to reveal His truth in this area to us... that He loves us with an everlasting love. And, let's ask Him to help us really believe it! Make a prayer list of the areas you know the Lord needs to do a work in you. Give them to Him and expect a real change this month. Read Jeremiah chapter 29 today.

Saturday, October 2--Today, my mom and niece participated in the Ride for Refuge. The two of them have such a passion to free little girls trapped in the sex-slave trade in Cambodia and elsewhere. I found myself pushing the thoughts of what this is really all about from my mind. I wanted to just get through my day, sponsor their efforts and say a little prayer for good biking weather. How did I get to this place of such complacency? I know the Lord does not want me overwhelmed by the horrors in this world while I am teaching my children daily. However, I must allow myself to stop and think and feel. I owe it to God, my children and those who are suffering to hurt deeply enough to be moved to do something! What is homeschooling for if we can't weep for the lost and tortured of this world in front of our children and engage them in prayer and other practical solutions?

On this second day, why not consider asking God to reveal where you can be used in some one's life today? It may be abroad or close to home but there's a need He wants you to fill. Then, do something about it!

Read Psalm 139.

What More Do I Need?

The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

The View From Here

They needed to get a closer look and so they each struggled, one by one, with the lookout magnifier. Things are clearer when you change your view. You think you've seen Niagara Falls until you look through different eyes.

I've experienced some insecurity lately. The view from here is that God is expecting big things from me. The view from here is that I'm just not measuring up. The view from here is that I'll never be the woman He's called me to be. I try, but some days it seems that I'm one step forward and two steps back.

Somehow, the Word of God slips profound, healing messages into my soul, like drops of sunshine on a rainy mood. I had read the scripture many times, so many that I can quote it. But the text stood out boldly to me when I needed it to minister, "How precious are Your thoughts unto me, O, God." (Psalm 139:17a) They are? Even though You knew I'd be this faltering, selfish woman? Even though You knew I couldn't love You back the same? Even though You knew this wife and mother would choose her own desires time and time again? Your Word says it's true! I accept this truth. And when it's hard to feel that truth, will You squeeze some more of it into the empty, doubting holes in my heart so the view from here can be like Yours?

After-Dinner Lessons

Deuteronomy 6:4-8 "4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

230. Thankful for freedom to teach our children from Scripture

231. short-lived sickness

232. Five year-old Emily's list of gratitude this morning:

-food

-family

-clothes

-a house

-a computer

-a backyard

-a piano

-a bed

-people

-a kitchen

-feeling a bit better

-a cat

-shoes

-a van

-a couch

-a church

-home school

-playing

233. for a very thankful daughter!

(this list just flowed out of her mouth and she's still listing for me!)

Imagery From Psalm 23

We recite the Psalm together and then I repeat it; their eyes are closed.

They imagine David, the pastures, the lambs, God's arms in the valley.
We talk of the waywardness of sheep, how we're like them, how God, the Good Shepherd, gently guides.

They brush their papers quietly and I observe how He speaks to each of them differently as they work out their thoughts of the Word onto blank "canvases".

One is dissatisfied with her strokes and we try to fix them over and over, finally relating back to the sheep--we just can't find our way without Him.

Remind me, Lord, when I get frustrated at my inadequacies. I am nothing without You. I must sit at the feet of the Shepherd before I can wander the pastures of life, looking for food (the spiritual kind), nudging my little ones.

The Mirror of God's Word

I was reading this morning about how God's Word is a mirror of His character, as well as, a mirror of our character. I tend to look at things through my own eyes but the mirror of Scripture helps me to see things so much clearer. Catherine Martin, in her book, Knowing and Loving the Bible says, "Feelings are like the caboose of a train that must be hitched to the engine of God's Word." (p.73) Isn't it good to know that there's a Greater Power who knows the beginning from the end? Someone who sees so much more than we see, so that we can relax in knowing that we don't have to figure it all out?

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)