I love Fall

Just wanted to give props to the one who made this beautiful earth, who created everything that brings a smile, everything that brings joy. I love Fall, I love the temperature and I love the changing leaves and of course the start of true Football weather. Thanks be to God for the simple blessing of a sunny, crisp day with red,orange,yellow and green blanketing the earth. In these uncertain times it is comforting to know that fall will always come, that God created the things of this earth not only with precise functions but to give us joy.

So no matter that the sunshine might be ending this weekend for a little bit of rain. I will treasure the last few days of perfect fall weather. I treasure my two kids in these pictures and their smiles, their personalities that only God could create. I am in awe of you Lord and you amazing concern for every aspect of my life. Thank you that your plan is so much greater than I could ever imagine.

Finding the Positive

Finding the positive side of life can sometimes be difficult, especially in our current times. I came to this topic today because of two different things. One is my current study of Moses through BSF(bsfinternational.org) and my attendance at our church's children's ministry training. Today it was mentioned that when teaching our pre-school children some of the Bible stories that lean more towards a negative thought(ie:lying,cheating, etc) to focus on the positive, like encourage telling the truth rather than focus on the lying. That same principle can apply today I believe. I am not suggesting that we are not realistic about the negativity that exists, but if we see things from God's perspective we might be surprised about the positive view he has.

In studying Moses and looking at some of the other greats of the Old Testament we see failures, negativity and lack of faith. God does mention these failures but do you know what his focus is on, what they did well. In Genesis 15 we see God's covenant with Abraham to bring him and his wife an heir. In Genesis 15:6 God says"Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness". Then just one chapter later we see Abraham become inpatient, lose faith and agree with his wife Sarai to try and have a child through her maidservant Hagar. In Chapter 21 we something really cool, God was faithful to his promise, despite Abraham and Sarah getting in the way(Gen 21:2). Despite his lapse of judgement and faith, God was true to him promise, what a positive thought to focus on. Then in Romans Ch. 4, Galatians 3:9 and James 2:23 we see Abraham praised as a "man of faith" and "friend of God", what an honor. God could have chosen to focus only on the mistrials of Abraham but instead chose him to be the father of all nations and bless future generations because of his faith.

If we look at Moses we see how he was a murderer, weak and not well spoken. We can see his failures and struggles throughout Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, but we see his ultimate legacy in Deuteronomy Ch. 34:10"No prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" and vs 12" For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel". I find this very encouraging, for those of us who struggle with the guilt of our sin and imperfection, we too can find the positive that God sees in us.

So in this time of uncertainty I am comforted that God takes care of his people, God accomplishes all things despite my attempts to help myself and despite my imperfections. Help me Lord to be a positive light for my children and those around me. Please don't let my small perspective and negative thoughts limit your power. Help me to be realistic about the problems of this world but be drawn ever closer to the only one who can overcome them.

Answered Prayers

Praying comes easily for me. I enjoy having coversations with God throughout the day, some are a quick thankyou and others are a request on my behalf or a loved one. My biggest challenge is trying to instill this value in my children. Mike and I give the kids opportunities to pray throughout the day so they understand the importance of prayer. The hard part is letting them see answered prayer. Sometimes the answer to our prayers is not what we were asking for and sometimes it takes God's own timing to recieve the much anticipated answer.

Luckily last week my kids had the wonderful opportunity to pray and see the answer within the hour. My good friend called to ask me if I saw her wearing both earrings when we saw each other that morning. She just noticed that one was missing and these were not only very sentimental but also valuable. As we tried to piece together where the earring might have fallen out she went to look for the earring and was quite upset as we hung up. I sat down with the kids and asked them to pray that our friend would find her special earring. Then we left and ran an errand . About an hour later my friend called and said she found her earring, Praise God. I told the kids the good news and mentioned how good it is that God heard our prayer and answered it so quickly and with such a great outcome. Now my friend and I realize that after all is said and done this was not the most urgent prayer request. However it was important all the same because it taught my kids to seek God's help, to be specific with the request and then trust that he will answer us in his time. Thankfully God answered so quickly as kids seem to have a short attention span. Thankyou God for this teachable moment. Thankyou that my kids are willing to pray to you, thankyou for building the trust they have in you so that when tougher questions are asked of you and the answer doesn't come as quickly as they would like that they will remember this moment of answered prayer.