When you wonder if you make a difference in the world, your home, your job, and you wonder if anyone really cares, remember there is a purpose to your life. God LOVES you! When you think you’ve messed up and it’s not going to get better, remember, God is still there!
I stumbled across this passage the other day when I was listening to Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time.
The foolishness of God is wiser than men;
and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty,
not many noble, are called,
but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of this world
to confound the things which are mighty.
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring nought things that are.
(1 Corinthians 1:25-28)
Consider Jephthah, he was a great warrior the Bible tells us. He was born of a prostitute. His father had other sons with his wife and they despised Jephthah. His half brothers sent him away from his home so that he would not inherit. Jephthah went to Tob where he met up with others who had been rejected and they followed him. Then enemies came against his homeland and the elders of his land came to him and asked him to command their troops and help them fight these enemies. He asked them why they wanted him now when they hadn’t wanted him before and they said “Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight (our enemies), and you will be our head over all who live (here)." Jephthah replied, "Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the LORD gives them to me—will I really be your head?" they agreed and Jephthah WAS successful and ruled those who had scorned and driven him away from his home (Judges 11:1-11).
Consider Daniel, a simple shepherd who when sent by his father to check on his older brothers, discovered a giant and slew him with stones by God’s grace.
Consider Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery. God granted him favor with the king and he was put in a position to provide food for his entire family.
There are SO many stories in the Bible of the underdog becoming the best. Not because they suddenly became more than they had been, but because God met them where they were and said “him I will choose” and “her I will use in this situation.”
God knows the number of hairs on your head. Can you fathom that? On the average blond headed individual there are 140,000 hairs. Those with black hair have an average of 110,000 hairs. Red heads have an average of 90,000 hairs, but God knows EXACTLY how many hairs you have. I can’t possibly know you that well.
God cares for every sparrow that falls. In Biblical times 2 sparrows were sold for 1 copper and 5 sparrows were sold for 2 coppers. Consider the 5th sparrow. It had NO VALUE, and yet God cared for it as much as its brethren. He loves us much more than sparrows. No matter how unworthy WE think we are, God calls us WORTHY. He calls us his children. He loves us and cares for us. He works all things together for GOOD, even when we cannot see it.
Consider Mary, she was engaged, but not married, pregnant, but not by her husband and even her fiancée considered abandoning her. God worked that out, amazingly, miraculously well. He made it a pivotal moment in history.
Jesus dealt most with the base of society. Prostitutes, tax collectors, criminals and yet we call him Savior. Funny that. He wasn’t concerned with how it looked. He was worried about YOU and ME as individuals.
There are moments when the things around us overwhelm us, when the circumstances we find ourselves in seem more than we can bear, when we are NOT at our best.
God doesn’t care how many times we “screw up”. He may well anticipate them with the knowledge that now there is one less time it will happen. Ah, if only WE knew how many times that would be. Wouldn’t that make life easier?
While I have known these things all my life. They recently struck me as something I needed to hear RIGHT NOW, and I thought you might benefit from it too.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Autumn might be approaching
Fall is fast approaching and so is school. It was an odd summer, cooler than usual. In fact it was the coldest July on record. BRRR! Still, fall is coming and one of my favorite seasons is approaching: apple picking and baking season! Hooray! I love fresh picked apples and I love to bake. It is hard to do in the summer, it's just too hot, but fall and winter are perfect. I love bread and cookies and muffins and such. I can hardly wait!
I love the fall leaves and the pumpkins too. It's so bright and fun.
What do you love about Fall?
I love the fall leaves and the pumpkins too. It's so bright and fun.
What do you love about Fall?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
there might be boxes
Did you ever play in boxes as a child? The creativity running wild and the risk of cutting yourself? You'd get out the markers and construction paper and glue and make something out of nothing. It was like magic!
My girls and their cousin and I made a playhouse and a doll house out of boxes today. What a fun way to spend a cool July day. Too cold for the pool and to nice to stay inside. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
We recently installed a new bathtub and the box makes a great hide away. We cut a door and windows and the girls colored it. It fits perfectly on their climber in the backyard.
The two older girls made a dollhouse out of diaper boxes. They even made closets, a fireplace, and a bed.
I, of course, managed the box cutter. I was amazed at their ingenuity! Can you think of a better way to entertain children than to give them some boxes and let their imaginations run?
My girls and their cousin and I made a playhouse and a doll house out of boxes today. What a fun way to spend a cool July day. Too cold for the pool and to nice to stay inside. Ah, summer in Wisconsin.
We recently installed a new bathtub and the box makes a great hide away. We cut a door and windows and the girls colored it. It fits perfectly on their climber in the backyard.
The two older girls made a dollhouse out of diaper boxes. They even made closets, a fireplace, and a bed.
I, of course, managed the box cutter. I was amazed at their ingenuity! Can you think of a better way to entertain children than to give them some boxes and let their imaginations run?
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
there ought to be signs of spring
The groundhog saw his shadow
Your yard is full of snow
The news man says spring's almost here
But nothing wants to grow
The days are getting longer
You want to just be out
A cold snap comes and locks you in
You want to scream and shout
Desperate, you take a walk
And look for hints of green
You take down the storm windows
And replace them with a screen
The kids come in
With skinned up knees
The people with allergies
Start to sneeze
The bears wake up
From a winter doze
And Gardeners
Get out their hoes
That's when,
At last,
You start to know
It might be spring!
Your yard is full of snow
The news man says spring's almost here
But nothing wants to grow
The days are getting longer
You want to just be out
A cold snap comes and locks you in
You want to scream and shout
Desperate, you take a walk
And look for hints of green
You take down the storm windows
And replace them with a screen
The kids come in
With skinned up knees
The people with allergies
Start to sneeze
The bears wake up
From a winter doze
And Gardeners
Get out their hoes
That's when,
At last,
You start to know
It might be spring!
Monday, February 9, 2009
everyone is just waiting...
It is amazing what one will do to pass time in a waiting place. You know, those places where you have to wait for something or someone. Like in Oh the Place You'll Go by Dr. Seuss.
"Waiting for "the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting."
A place or a time like that. I spent quite a bit of time in the waiting room and in the exam room of our family doctor today. My daughter had a well baby visit in the morning and my husband had an appointment in the afternoon, but the main thing I did was entertain the baby. We played "Row Your Boat" and "Round and Round the Garden." We pretended to feed her stuffed cat Teddy Grahams. We looked at fish in the fish tanks and we looked at pictures in a Reader's Digest. Anything to keep her happy and occupied. We did not make it through the whole time. She melted down and threw a tantrum at the later appointment, but like I said, it is interesting to see what people do to pass the time.
Some people "people watch". Others read books. Some do word or number puzzles and others play with their phones or hand held games. Some people just stare off into the distance and look morose. But the people who I find most entertaining are those who try to entertain their children. That is creativity at its finest.
This weekend I had the opportunity to try to entertain 3 girls. Two were 5 years old, and one was 8. We played Huckle Buckle Beanstalk. A game I learned as a child. It's kind of like hide and seek, but for a smaller environment. You hide a small object in plain sight and the group goes looking for it. It cannot be behind something or inside something unless you can see it without moving or touching anything. We hid a McDonald's toy. The girls went into the kitchen while I hid it in the living room or dining room and then they came out to look for it. When they spotted it, they were supposed to go sit on the couch and say "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk" and the others had to try and find it. After everyone found it (with warmer and colder or other clues as needed) we took turns hiding it. Of course sometimes they would pick the object up when they found it and there was a lot of giggling, but it was a fun game all in all. They had a blast, and time passsed quite quickly.
What do you do when you wait?
"Waiting for "the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting."
A place or a time like that. I spent quite a bit of time in the waiting room and in the exam room of our family doctor today. My daughter had a well baby visit in the morning and my husband had an appointment in the afternoon, but the main thing I did was entertain the baby. We played "Row Your Boat" and "Round and Round the Garden." We pretended to feed her stuffed cat Teddy Grahams. We looked at fish in the fish tanks and we looked at pictures in a Reader's Digest. Anything to keep her happy and occupied. We did not make it through the whole time. She melted down and threw a tantrum at the later appointment, but like I said, it is interesting to see what people do to pass the time.
Some people "people watch". Others read books. Some do word or number puzzles and others play with their phones or hand held games. Some people just stare off into the distance and look morose. But the people who I find most entertaining are those who try to entertain their children. That is creativity at its finest.
This weekend I had the opportunity to try to entertain 3 girls. Two were 5 years old, and one was 8. We played Huckle Buckle Beanstalk. A game I learned as a child. It's kind of like hide and seek, but for a smaller environment. You hide a small object in plain sight and the group goes looking for it. It cannot be behind something or inside something unless you can see it without moving or touching anything. We hid a McDonald's toy. The girls went into the kitchen while I hid it in the living room or dining room and then they came out to look for it. When they spotted it, they were supposed to go sit on the couch and say "Huckle Buckle Beanstalk" and the others had to try and find it. After everyone found it (with warmer and colder or other clues as needed) we took turns hiding it. Of course sometimes they would pick the object up when they found it and there was a lot of giggling, but it was a fun game all in all. They had a blast, and time passsed quite quickly.
What do you do when you wait?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
there ought to be cake
What would the world be like without cake? Fairly boring I am sure. And where there is cake, there ought to be mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes so why not cake makers? And to celebrate these cullinary disasters there is cakewrecks.blogspot.com. Go there now. Check it out and be prepared to be amused, shocked, and amazed. Some of the cakes aren't even wrecks. Actually they are pretty amazing.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate cakes. My step-father used to make wedding cakes and I appreciate the amount of work that goes into them. But really, sometimes people need a good dose of common sense. When a person wants a cake with "Olympic Rings" on it, they don't want a cake that reads "(Olympic Rings)". Seriously people. If you can't read the cake order and comprehend it you are NOT right for the job.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate cakes. My step-father used to make wedding cakes and I appreciate the amount of work that goes into them. But really, sometimes people need a good dose of common sense. When a person wants a cake with "Olympic Rings" on it, they don't want a cake that reads "(Olympic Rings)". Seriously people. If you can't read the cake order and comprehend it you are NOT right for the job.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
There is the World Itself
It's not often that I read a new book by a new author and fall completely in love with it. I saw Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave at a bookstore and thought it looked interesting, so I requested it from my library. I read it and loved it. I read it again before I returned it, and checked it out twice more before the second book came out. My husband, exasperated by the fact I kept re-reading it said "Why don't you just BUY it?" How could I refuse? So now I am the proud owner of both Silent in the Grave and Silent in the Sanctuary. I am also eagerly awaiting the third book in March.
It was Deanna Raybourn's blog which inspired me to start one of my own, and it is the quote at the end of Silent in the Grave which is the inspiration for the title of my own blog.
The quote "For where thou art, there is the world itself, Wth every several pleasure in the world, And where thou art not, desolation. I can no more: live thou to joy thy life; Myself no joy in nought but that thou livest." is from the second part of King Henry the Sixth Act 3 Scene 2 and is Suffolk speaking to Queen Margaret. I was romantically touched by this quote and thought it a nice way to start my blog.
It was Deanna Raybourn's blog which inspired me to start one of my own, and it is the quote at the end of Silent in the Grave which is the inspiration for the title of my own blog.
The quote "For where thou art, there is the world itself, Wth every several pleasure in the world, And where thou art not, desolation. I can no more: live thou to joy thy life; Myself no joy in nought but that thou livest." is from the second part of King Henry the Sixth Act 3 Scene 2 and is Suffolk speaking to Queen Margaret. I was romantically touched by this quote and thought it a nice way to start my blog.
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