Thank you! Thank you! I have had no desire to blog without the ability to use pictures!! But, now, ta da! at my request (pleading and prodding) my hero has come to the rescue… yippee! Now, I just pray that I have time to actually blog again. :o)
Pardon this manly interlude. Honey, your flickr pictures now work again!
Joshua 10:18-21 “And Joshua said, “Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and set men by it to guard them, 19 but do not stay there yourselves. Pursue your enemies; attack their rear guard. Do not let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has given them into your hand.” 20 When Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a great blow until they were wiped out, and when the remnant that remained of them had entered into the fortified cities, 21 then all the people returned safe to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah. Not a man moved his tongue against any of the people of Israel.
Joshua was leading the Israelites in conquering the Promised Land. The LORD was with him giving the peoples and cities into his hand. As I think about the pockets of sin in my life this study of Joshua gives me hope for fighting my sin…the real enemy.
Hebrews 12:1-5 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?”
Lord Jesus, thank you for this encouragement today. In Joshua the kings are captured and are in the cave behind a stone with guards set up. Concerning my gluttony and laziness (the kings) I have overcome in this area and have accountability set up to keep this sin under control. However, I believe you are commanding me now to pursue my other sins that cling so closely. To look to Jesus and the suffering He endured so that I will not become weary or fainthearted in my struggle against sin. Thank you for making a way for me to be adopted and treated as a child of the Father.
When God Ran by Phillips Craig and Dean
Almighty God, the great I am
Immovable rock, omnipotent, powerful, awesome Lord
Victorious warrior, commanding King of Kings
Mighty conqueror, and the only time
the only time I ever saw Him run
CHORUS:
Was when He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest, said “My son’s come home again”
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said,
“Son do you know I still love you?”
He caught me by surprise when God ran
The day I left home I knew I’d broken His heart
And I wondered then if things could ever be the same
Then one night I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road ahead I could see
It was the only time – it was the only time I ever saw Him run
And then He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest, said “My son’s come home again”
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said,
“Son do you know I still love you?”
He caught me by surprise as He brought me to my knees
When God ran – I saw Him run to me
BRIDGE:
I was so ashamed, all alone and so far away
But now I know He’s been waiting for this day
I saw Him run to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest, said “My son’s come home again”
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice I felt His love for me again
He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest, said “My son’s come home again”
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said, “Son”, He called me Son
He said, “Son do you know I still love you?”
He ran to me and then I ran to Him
When God ran
Jeremy and I went to see this on Saturday for opening weekend and it was a “must see” movie. We are so grateful that the Lord led us to change our date plans in order to make this movie a priority. Wow!! That very morning I had been meditating on Jesus’ words from the cross to His mom and John. Amazing that that in the midst of bearing the weight of our sin Jesus was concerned about his mother and John. He was thinking of others in the midst of His suffering. Bella gives a vivid picture of what it means to live for others whatever the cost…I can’t recommend it highly enough. Check out what Josh Harris has to say and find some links for further reading on his blog. www.joshharris.com
I just got a call from Jeremy and Papa made it through surgery and is in Cardiac ICU now. The surgeon said it couldn’t have gone any better and the heart is not leaking at all anymore. He said the next 48 hours are critical because it’s like putting him on a treadmill for days. Please pray that the heart can sustain such work and that the nurses who are caring for him would be attentive and aware of any complications as they arise. Thank you for your continuing care and concern for us.
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever……” Psalm 137:3-6
Just last week Jer and I picked out dates for him and the older three kids to go to Texas to visit Nanny and Papa since they are so eager to see us but can’t travel themselves! Big Pa blesses us with his calls to check in and ask when we’ll be heading his way? He loves our kids and it’s a delight to see him with them when we’re in Plainview.
Well, on Mother’s Day we called and found out that a few months ago Papa had his heart looked at and one of his valves was leaking 15%. Recently he went back and it was leaking 65%. So, Tuesday he went in to have a procedure done to have it checked out. On Tuesday they decided that he would need open heart surgery to repair the leaking valve. The surgery is actually right now! Jeremy left Wednesday morning for Texas and was able to have some great quality time with his Papa last night. This is exactly what we were praying for so we are so grateful that the Lord provided such sweet fellowship!
His Papa told him, “Well, they say I don’t have much of a chance if they do the valve replacement and not a much better chance with this thing they’re doing, so this may be it.” To which Jeremy replied, “Well, statistically they’re probably right, but I don’t believe in statistics so how about I pray for you?” This delighted Papa and Jeremy got to pray for him for a long time and then they talked about the gospel for 30 minutes. What a joy and delight! I’m so thankful that we were able to send Jeremy to have this time with his Papa.
We’d appreciate your prayers for Papa and the family right now. Thanks to those of you who have called, prayed with me, gone shopping for me, etc. while Jeremy is away doing what’s most important right now.
We love you all!!
The ladies at GirlTalk are interviewing Sharon James this week about her book on Elizabeth Prentiss. Here’s one of the questions and answers:
QUESTION: Is there a part of Elizabeth’s life that particularly stood out to you or perhaps a journal entry of hers that you especially enjoyed?
ANSWER: I love this quotation: ‘God never places us in any position in which we can not grow. We may fancy that He does. We may fear we are so impeded by fretting, petty cares that we are gaining nothing; but when we are not sending any branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. Perhaps in the time of our humiliation, when everything seems a failure, we are making the best kind of progress.’
33 days ago the Lord led me to this website ! When I first arrived I was thinking that it was bogus and it wasn’t going to work! You see, for all of my life I’ve struggled with looking to food for pleasure. It’s been a long standing joke that we Horn girls just love to eat…we eat when we’re tired, we eat when we’re bored, we just like to eat! Well, I’ve tried every diet you’ve heard of…the cabbage soup diet, Weigh Down, First Place, Atkins, South Beach, no desserts, no bread, no whatever…you get the picture. I was always dealing the symptoms but never getting to the root of the problem.
Well, after arriving at the site the next thing I knew I’d joined The Lord’s Table course and gotten myself a mentor (it’s free!) It’s a 60 day course with incredible Bible study and questions. The next thing I noticed was that the ministry is partnered with Desiring God (John Piper’s ministry), which immediately let me know that it truly is a good thing! I immediately started the program with my first lesson. As I was meditating on the truths shared in this first lesson my face was so hot and I could just sense the Spirit at work in my heart. Since then I can’t say that I haven’t fallen, but the Lord is changing my heart. He’s teaching me that looking to food for satisfaction is idolatry. For as long as I can remember I’ve been trying to fill my soul with food that is never meant to feed my soul. There is so much in the Bible that clearly teaches that I am to be feeding on Jesus, the Bread of life, the Living water! If you struggle at all with this area of your life or any habitual sin that you can’t seem to get overcome you should check out this ministry! They have courses for other habitual sins too. Did I mention it’s FREE?!?!
This past weekend we had a special birthday celebration for Justin. He invited Joel, Jonathan E., Jonathan H., Daelen, and Nate. Daddy planned the party with me as his assistant. It was a Superhero Training School. Professor Mayhem’s School for Superheros. We started off with some Mr. Freeze tag, and practice with their webslinging skills (silly string fight). Then we moved into a strength test where they each had a turn at defeating a Spiderman pinata. Next we moved indoors where each of them got to test their strength by busting through a brick wall! I’ve got a great picture of Justin bursting through with great force!
Next everyone tested their heat vision by trying to melt a candle with their eyes. No one seemed to have this super power, so Professor Mayhem demonstrated what this power might look like should they develop it at some point in the future ( he melted a candle with my heat gun). The next activity involved revealing some toxic material (especially if you are from the planet Krypton). We had a round of Kryptonite Toss (hot potato) so they could get some practice at handling dangerous materials. Following this Professor Mayhem demonstratded that he doesn’t have the superpower of X-ray vision as Justin opened his presents.
Then, it was time for the superheroes to suit up. Everyone got dressed in their special suits and we had a special dinner celebration (cupcakes, spiderman cheese nips, ice cream and juice). Jeremy ended by talking to them about why we love superheroes. They always do what’s right, they are strong and they save people. Then, he explained that Jesus is our true hero. He never sinned, He’s strong enough to do anything and he’s the ONLY ONE who can truly SAVE! What a great birthday party. If you want to catch some video footage you can scoot on over to Jer’s blog.
It’s hard to believe that Lela is already 7 years old. She’s such a joy and she’s all girl. She loves cooking with me in the kitchen, baking, helping with dinner, cutting up the tomatoes and cucumbers for the salad, setting the table, going to the grocery store and anything else that I’m doing. She is really wanting to learn how to sew and keeps asking me if I’ve found anyone who can teach us how to sew. I got her a little sewing machine for Christmas but we haven’t had a chance to use it yet. She’s going to buy this little book with her birthday money:
Just had a share a cute thing that C.J.’s doing now. When we try to get him to count he’ll repeat after us “one, two, three” but when we get to four he refuses to say it..he says “three” instead. So, when he prays at night we have him repeat after us, “Jesus” (”Jesus”) “thank” (”thank”) “you” (”you”) “for” (”three”) with a smirk “dying” (”dying”) “on” (”on”) “the” (”the”) “cross” (”cross”) “for” (”three”) “my” (”my”) “sin” (”sin”). “Amen” (”Amen”). It’s so funny….and he absolutely knows he’s doing it!!
Jeremy has finally started up his own blog again…I can’t wait to find out more about what’s going on inside that head of his by reading his blog! It is a joy to be livin’ life together these past ALMOST 10 yrs! If you get a chance, join me over at Digital Cud