Samuel's Mom

The book of Samuel begins with a woman's prayer asking God to allow her to become a mother and a promise to dedicate this child to God.  Her prayers are answered with a precious baby boy that she loves.   Her husband understands and tells her to do what she thinks is best and prays that the Lord will give her the strength to fulfill her promise. Hannah prays and thanks got for this blessing and dedicates this child to Him.  She checks on him and brings clothes to him as he grows up in the temple. God blesses her with more children and she continues to pray for this special child....Samuel ,The child that she asked God for.

"The boy Samuel continues to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with man". Samuel 2:26

This verse reminds be of another Son.  Luke 2:52 describes most of the childhood of Jesus in this one verse,"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man."  Not a bad life to be compared..

Samuel was to parents who were willing to pray for and dedicate him to God and God used him to fulfill His purpose and plan. Chapter 3 begins with this sad statement. For , in the days , when Samuel was a boy serving the Lord by ministering to Eli the priest, messages from the LORD were very rare and  there almost no visions.

The rest of this chapter tells us that God spoke (awesome words). God spoke to this child. By verse 19,this child has turn into a man of God. "As he grew, the Lord was with him and everything he said was wise and helpful." Chapter 21 gives of the results of a praying Mom willing to dedicate her child to God. "And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh and continue to appear, because He revealed himself to Samuel with messages (the word of the lord) and the word went out to all  his  people"

Apply the word

As moms today, we are not usually asked to leave our child at the temple to be raised  by a priest. But we are asked to take them to church and to dedicate  them to the Lord, and to pray for them daily. Hopefully, they too will grow, "in favor with God and man". Give them to the Lord  and stop trying to control everything in their lives and  they will  grow to depend on God.  Then,  God can  use them for His plan and purpose. Maybe even to bring His word back to the people.........................Pray for your kids  

My Bible Chart

If any one reads my blog, I may have them confused about my Bible chart.  I have read tried to read  Bible straight through, but that is hard  because  you can get bogged down in  Leviticus and give up completely. Reading it  through chronologically is interesting, but you need  the right bible or a chart and bounce around a lot. I have tried reading  a little old, a little new and a Psalms and a Proverbs everyday. It is kind of hard to keep up with.  I have even read it through alphabetically, from Acts to Zephaniah.  I wanted to try something different.

I was talking to my brother Glenn and he said that he reads three chapters from each section of the Bible..The Law, The history, poetry, major and minor prophets. Not sure what he is doing with the New Testament.  Any way, I took his ideal and tweaked it a little and made it my own. I have seven sections.
Genesis-Deuteronomy
Joshua-2 Chronicles
Ezra-Song of Solomon
Isaiah-Daniel
Hosea-Malachi
Matthew-Acts
Romans-Revelations

I left Psalms and Proverbs out of their section
I read Psalms when I feel like worshiping God and Proverbs when I need a little wisdom.
I try to read 3-5 chapters from each section and Mark it off with llll/llll/ sort of, the  slash is suppose to go through the four to make five.When I finish a book from a section, I check it off  and  go to the next book of that section.

If I get stuck somewhere, I stay as long as I want to.  I am not legalistic about how many chapters I read a day.  I have no idea when I will finish or if it will come out even.  I am just enjoying studying every day and seeing what God  has in store for me that I can apply to my life.

You do not have to wait until Monday to start, or the first of the Month or even January the first.

There is not just one way
there is no special time
to study the word
Just find your  way
and start today.

Back to Job for wisdom

The book of Job has always bothered me because the what -if's and why questions are impossible for us to answer or understand.  Chapter 28 helps.

Job is able to move from asking "why me" to,"where can wisdom be found".  His friends, (who think that they are so wise) find their wisdom in legalism and cold tradition.  There  is worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom.

  They are both described in James 3: 14-17. Worldly  wisdom comes from below and is bitter , jealous, arrogant, with selfish ambitions and lies against the truth.. It is earthly, sensual, unspiritual , of the devil and the cause of confusion and all sorts of evil.

Wisdom which is from above  is first pure, then  peaceable, gentle, loving,  reasonable, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruit. unwavering, without hypocrisy.

His friends showed none of the characteristics of wisdom, but instead were being used by the devil to use their "wisdom" to persecuted Job. What Job needed and was looking for were answers and all he got was abuse.  He was searching for wisdom and understanding and declared it more precious than jewels;priceless.

Man's treasures are made precious by their being rare and hard to find. They have to dig deep and work hard to find it. And when they find it, it brings joy to them for awhile.

God's treasure is wisdom and understanding that begins with the humble reverent fear of our good and Holy God and turning from evil to God in all situations. It brings joy and life

Where can this treasure be found........Dig deep and search for it diligently in the word and through prayer
Study
Pray
Obey
Apply the Word

A little proverbs

Today between shopping and riding, I read a little proverbs.  Three verses caught my eye today.

Proverbs 19:22
"What is desired in a man?  Kindness, steadfast love and loyalty"
Living bible simply states,"Kindness makes a man attractive"

Lord , Thank you for my Mark.  The first quality that I noticed in him was his kindness.  I tell young people to find someone who treats them with kindness and gentleness.  Watch how they treat their Mama and other senior ladies.  Because, one day , you will be that senior lady.  Well, that is where we are today.  And Mark is still the one who melts my heart with his kind gentle spirit.

Proverbs 20:7
"The man who walks righteously in his integrity- His children are blessed ( happy) after him."
Living Bible simple states," It is a wonderful heritage to have an honest Father"

Lord, Thank you that  the Father of my children is a man of integrity. A man that they can look up to and emulate in life and in business.  When Mark was Agency Manager at Farm Bureau, there was never any question about his ethics.  He believes in doing the right things.  He was so honest that he never had to worry about any thing that he did at work and could sleep like a baby at night.  I am very proud to be married all of these years to a man that I can trust with my life and my future.  The kids know that they can always come  to him and they will receive an honest answer, even if it is not what they want to hear. Our kids are truly blessed.

The last verse made me smile
Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength, but the beauty and  attractiveness of old men are their gray hair and experience.

I love this verse.  Although, Mark is still strong and has very strong character, I love the  part about the gray hair
  Recently, Mark let his hair grow long.  It was soft, white and curly.  But I had a feeling when summer came, that would change.  The good thing about retirement is, all you have to please in grooming is your self.  So, now it. is a very short buzz and I love it  that way  too. Unfortunately, our  Daddies did not lived long enough to even  have gray hair.  So, I know that I am blessed  to  still  have him here  to go, work, play and enjoy our  life and family together.
Thank You Lord.

Helen Keller lesson

I am reading a 1974 book about women for women.

Helen Keller is quoted saying  that it would be a blessing for everyone to be stricken blind and deaf for a few days. The darkness would help sighted people appreciate sight and the silence would help those who hear to recognize the joy of sound.

She asked a friend coming back from a long walk in the woods what she noticed.  The answer was nothing in particular.  Helen said that she could not believe that she found nothing notable. Helen, who  could not see or hear, found hundreds of things in the woods to enjoy with her other senses.

Open your eyes and really see.  Open your ears and really listen. Open your heart to all of the wonders in this beautiful world that God created.  Fully engage every day to  have the abundant life that Jesus died on the cross to offer to those who will receive.

My walking secret

Mark and I love to walk; on the beach, in the woods, the mountains, state parks. hiking trails, river beds, dirt roads, fields, pastures,  and all kind of interesting places. But on occasion, we have to walk around the hotels, in town, on sidewalks.

I realize something. I can not step on a crack on a side walk.  I will increase or decrease or even do a two-step to not step on a crack.  If the sections are  even, I take a large step over the crack, taking three steps and then just over the crack and can get four steps in without hitting the dreaded crack. I also find myself counting as I step....1,2,3,..1,2,3,4....1,2,3, repeat.  A side walk with large section requires more steps and side-steps to make it work.  I have done this for years and never thought much about it.  I wonder if I am the only one. I know that I began this odd side walk walk when I was a small child and heard that terrible poem.  "Step on a crack...Break your mothers back."...................I Love my mom

Words....The Twilight Zone

I love to read and study. I love the written word  and of course I love the Word (the Bible).  Traveling is my favorite time to study.  Mark puts on music and drives and I get to spends hours reading and studying.

Maybe an episode of the old twilight zone will explain my love of reading. In case  you are not old enough to remember Twilight Zone. It was  a 1960's black and white T.V. show , with thirty minute episodes and narrated by Rod Sterling.   It was scary for it's day and made you think.

In this episodes, there was a nerdy old gentleman with thick glasses who loved to read. He was a bank teller and would hide in the vault to find  uninterrupted reading time.  While he is in the vault reading, the big one hits and the atomic bomb destroys everything.  When he comes out of the vault, he realizes that he is all alone. As he wanders  around the wreckage, he finds the library and is surround by what he loves best...books,  as for as you can see.  A loud noise startles him and he stumbles and his glasses fall off his face and he hears them crash to the ground.  It closes with him clutching  his beloved books with no way to read them.

It has been years since I saw that episode and  it may something about me that I still think about it and it seems like a nightmare to me.

Welcome to my world