Agreeing with God- Part II

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Isaiah 58:9-11

When I read this, I asked myself, "When is the last time I really "spent" myself in behalf of the hungry? (ESV says "pour yourself out"). Does making dinner for my family every night count? (Some nights, it seems so :-)). But then, how have I ever really helped the "oppressed". And malicious talk? ... yes, earlier today I did some of that. And yesterday, and the day before.

Sitting in darkness, feeling tired, hungry and thirsty as I often am these days (and I mean more than physically)... do I seek a solution in the act of pouring myself out to others? Or do I go and run a hot bath or grab a bag of Twizzlers or take a nap? I have all sorts of solutions for making myself feel better... but most are not really in line with God's solutions. I think one reason for this may be that I don't agree with God that his solutions will lead me to the places I want to go. They seem so contradictory and counter-productive. ("Spend myself" when I am already completely spent? How is that?)

Recently someone very wise said to me that it is time for me to really claim the promises God has made. And I can't figure out why that is such a hard thing at times. Until I realize that my own thinking isn't always lined up with God's, as it ought to be.

God, increase my faith.

Moon Landings- Hoax or Reality?

Just kidding- I don't really think the moon landings were a hoax. When you live in Huntsville, you're not allowed to think those blasphemous thoughts. Ha. Today we saw the IMAX movie, "Magnificent Desolation". It was good. :-) I have lots of thoughts floating around about the movie and NASA and space exploration in general... but there are too many people in my house right now to allow me to form any of them into complete sentences. :-)

Highlights from our Thanksgiving Dinner

We missed you, dad!

Peeling & mashing potatoes:

Pies and turkey:

Hard at work:

Kids' Table:

Adults' table:

Washing dishes:


First puzzle in progress:

First puzzle finished Friday morning:

Thanksgiving Wishes

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pictures tomorrow.....

Vindication

When I was in 2nd grade, I got a makeup set as a gift that I really, really loved. One day after a friend played at my house, the makeup set disappeared. The next day at school... the friend had an identical makeup set with her!!! When I told the teacher it was mine, the friend claimed her aunt had visited and given her the set as a gift. She was adamant and the teacher had no grounds to believe me over her even though I knew it was mine, because there was a little nick out of the applicator in the compact, the same as had been in mine. Oh, how angry I was. Later, my mom called the girls' mom, but she lied and said she had no idea what we were talking about. I never got it back and never got any satisfaction about it until .... today. 31 years later God has blessed me with peace about this situation. My dad has gotten re-acquainted with this girl, now a grown woman and a christian, and when he first mentioned her to me a couple years ago, I asked him, "Did you ask her where my makeup kit is?!". I was joking, but isn't it interesting that even after all these years, the mention of her name immediately brought to mind the injustice she had done me? Of course, he never asked her about it, but then today he told me that she recently admitted to him that she had once stolen something from our house!!!!!!!!!!!! She didn't say what, but I know it was my makeup kit that she is talking about. Have patience and the truth will always come out! And the truth is so nice! Yay!!!!!!

Agreeing with God- Part 1

"Agree with God and be at peace" Job 22:21 (ESV)

A couple years ago my Jehovah's Witness friend (I call her a friend because she has visited several times and I kind-of like her) came to my door and told me that when Jesus comes back to set up His earthly kingdom, then we will have peace. "Won't that be great?" she asked. I know that she spoke of peace on a global scale (which certainly would be great!), but I said to her, "Don't you think God promises us peace now?" This is something I believe with all of my reason... (as I believe Jesus will never come back and set up an earthly kingdom)... that peace is available to us in Christ NOW. It is not something we have to wait for Jesus to bring in the future- He has already made it possible and it is available to everyone now despite, and in the midst of, all the suffering and trauma of the world.


And I believe that. But, I sort-of felt like a hypocrite at the time, asking myself, "Brenda, have you really experienced that peace that you are so sure is available? And if not, why not?" My response to myself was "Just shut up, Brenda". Ha ha. :-) But, I do continue to really desire that peace that passes understanding.

I LOVE this verse in Job that I re-visited today and have decided to make it my new life motto... something to write on my doorpost and bind on my forehead. I plan to spend some time seriously thinking about the areas where I have a hard time agreeing with God and imagine the possibilities if I were only to surrender.

More on this subject later.....

~Alchemy~

If you like to play games on the computer- I have discovered one that is alot of fun and I am kind-of addicted to. It's called Alchemy and you can find it on AOL games. Just go to AOL.com and then look for games (on the left side) and click on it. Search for Alchemy. Play the tutorial, it's really helpful. Then have fun. And don't say I didn't warn you - it's addicting. :-)