Lots of thoughts rolling around this head!

Lots of things on my mind, show I'll just share them as they come to me:

I am really enjoying that now, on Facebook, it will show you what your status updates were a year and two years ago.  If not, I would have totally forgotten what was happening a year ago and would have missed out on a great praise of our amazing God, the one who heals!  It was a year ago this week that, while Ethan and I were visiting the Alpaca farm, Sophie had a seizure and Kevin had to rush her to the ER.  So many blessings in that horrible week.  First, that I was not there when it happened because I would have freaked out and made everything worse!  Second, that it turned out to be a one time event and that by the end of the week, she was totally fine!  Lord, you are amazing!  You alone are the healer of all, most importantly our souls. 

As I have been reading through the Bible this year in chronological order, it has been both enlightening and frustrating.  I hate to admit it, but there's quite a bit of the Bible that I've just never paid much attention to.   It's full of names that are hard to read, things that seem to have little impact on anything in life, and is just plain boring!  So glad that in the last week or so God has used those very verses and chapters to open my eyes a bit!  Right now I am in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles.  It seems so monotonous and arduous that at times, I have to admit, I dread reading it that day.  I just couldn't grasp what in the world God was trying to show us in these seemingly unimportant verses.  But God really opened my eyes to two things this week.  One was that over and over we see with king after king (with a few exceptions) that they followed in the footsteps of their parents.  They committed the same sins as their parents time after time after time after time.  And in doing that, they brought entire nations down with them as they led them to sin, as well.  I was really convicted about what it is I am teaching my children to do.  Am I teaching them to spend time in the word, to desire and hunger and thirst after God, to lean on Him in times of trouble, fear and doubt, and to place their lives, wholeheartedly, in His hands?  Or, am I teaching them to rely in their own strength, call on others when they need help, and to focus more on self than anything else?  Am I teaching them to follow in my sins or to follow Christ?  It was a scary thought to me that what they are probably learning most from me is bad habits and lack of faith!  Oh, Lord, lead me in Your way that I may lead them to follow Your way even more enthusiastically and wholeheartedly than I!  The other thing that stuck out was that, even those who followed Christ, every time they didn't "remove the high places and the people continued to offer their sacrifices there."  Even though they were devoted to God, they  "didn't follow Him wholeheartedly."  Though they wanted to follow God and do what was right, they refused to get rid of the place where the people offered their sacrifices to other gods.  It seemed like such a small thing, I am sure, to not encourage others to go along with them, to not get rid of all objects of idol worship,but, in the end, it destroyed them.  And, most of the time, it destroyed the whole nation.  Wow!  Not only do I need to follow Christ and make Him master and Lord of my life, I have to make the effort and do the work to remove all remnants of sin from my life.  If not, it will destroy me and most likely those around me, as well.  Ouch!  I cannot do that without relying fully on Christ AT ALL TIMES!!!!

This week has also been one with lots of fun, great family moments, and great friend moments!  I am so blessed and so thankful for all that God has given us and done for us, though I am sure I still probably only realize a small fraction of it!  So many gifts....
--cooler weather and the reminder of who controls it all
--healthy children
--time spent around a fire pit with sweet friends
--God is moving!!!
--sweet, smiling faces on sweet children
--Family Quest
--teaching my little girl each day, starting with time in His word
--playing on the floor with Ethan while Sissy is working on worksheets
--watching brother and sister play together
--children's laughter
--reminders that He alone is in control
--phones that work
--bicycles
--the park
--sweet, Godly friends
--Father's Heart Ministry
--the reminder of God's grace in the gap-toothed smile of his little creation
--family, near and far