Growing Up... Abigail

Abigail speaks very well. Sometimes I forget how little she is because she sounds like a ten year old when she talks. Tonight, we were walking home from church and she pointed at the sunset and said, "Jesus made that for us Mommy." Some time ago, someone in Sunday school taught her that God lives up in the sky (which by the way, I don't quite agree with) so I told her that God lives in her heart. So, tonight when she stopped to stare at the sky, I asked her what she thought of all the warm colors. She said, "that sure is a big house." It took me by surprise when she said it because I wasn't sure if I understood it correctly. I kind of chuckled and she grabbed my thumb and said, "c'mon Mommy, I open the door." Mike had given her the keys to the house and she had them in her hand. When we got into the house, Abigail got her bath and we brushed her hair. She also loves to sit on our bathroom counter and brush her teeth. When we got done, we prayed. Not because it was bedtime, but because we had a good day today. And we had a good conversation about the sunset. I wanted to thank God for making it. So did she. When we were done praying, she said, " Thank you Jesus, Amen."

The Artist

For the last week and a half, we have been on our very first family vacation. We decided to go to Tennessee to visit Uncle Frank and Aunt Peggy. They have never had the opportunity to meet Miss Abigail. As a matter of fact, last time we spent time with them, she was still in my belly.

We just had the most wonderful time with them and we are so thankful to God for their generosity and love. I have never met such giving people and we love them so much. On Thursday, we took a drive out to an orchard that belonged to a man that Uncle Frank knew so that we could pick some sour cherries off the trees and make pie. I know that personally, I was awestruck by the LORD's hand that day. HE is truly the artist, a master painter and creator. He is GOD and I am not, and I realized that more than ever as we drove up the drive and saw the orchard, the house, trees, and grapevines that HE had given to this man's care. Everything was so natural and beautiful.

I was excited for Abigail as she had her first experience of eating an apple right off the tree that she hand picked for herself. She ate some cherries too. She sat in the shade under the cherry trees as we picked and ate, and all for free. We could not have prayed and asked for a nicer day, or to spend it any other way with anyone else. It was perfect. I am just in awe of my Jesus.

Food For Thought

Mike and I are excited about planting a garden this spring. We have been talking about growing our own food for a long time, and now that it is starting to get a little warmer outside, we can do it. I am not really educated about growing food, but I know I like food so I am hoping that it will prove to be more fun than difficult. What I am most excited about is showing Abigail how to help us. Currently, we make all of her food at home instead of buying baby food in a jar or box. It is less expensive and better for her since most of the food that we eat is organic or natural. We try not to eat a lot of foods that are loaded with preservatives or artificial ingredients. I know that she is eating healthy. I am hoping that she will continue this as an adult if we teach her that it is better, but for now I am just happy that she is not a picky eater. She had rolled oats for breakfast, and she had brown rice, beets, and apples for lunch. For dinner, she had half of an avocado and some milk. She seems to love eating this way and as long as she doesn't think she has an option, I will continue to feed it to her. I want her to learn how to pick her favorite foods from our garden. I want to teach her where food comes from and how to take care of nature and God's creation. I want to teach her how to cook too, and I am excited for the day she wants to make a big mess making cookies in our house. I don't see a lot of children outdoors anymore and I don't want Abigail to be like that. When I was a kid, I played outside and I got dirty. I went swimming in the lake and dug up worms for fishing, played TAG and caught fireflies. Now, most kids sit in front of the TV playing video games. They like McDonald's and Burger King. If it's processed and convenient, or if it comes in a package that they can just rip open and eat, then it saves time. That's something that we all need...more time. In conclusion, I plan to spend "more time" teaching my beloved child (children) about the wonderful things that God created, like playing in the grass and counting the stars. I will read to them about how time began...

in a garden.

The Song Remembers When.

Music is in my soul. I am almost always, playing a song over in my mind. For as long as I can remember, I have been a very musical person. My appreciation for music is unsurpassed by my love for it, and I believe my passion for it comes from somewhere so deep, it is almost unexplainable. To me, a song can be reminisent of an experience, a moment, a state of mind. Songs can take us to another place in time, bring back memories if you will. I believe that music can be so powerful, that it can emotionally shake you to your core and physically affect the way you function at any given moment. One example of this happening to me was on the day that I married my Michael. Our song, we danced to it and it was the only dance there was that day. "I once was lost, but now I'm found...so far away, but I'm home now, I once was lost, but now I'm found...I once was dead, but now I live, now my life to you I give." I could barely stand during that song. Luckily, I didn't have to. Mike was there to hold me.
And then there's The Cathedral Quartet. Sandi would take the low part, and I would take the high part and we would sing and laugh at ourselves in the car. "Step into the water (to the water), wade out a little bit deeper (a little bit deeper), Wet your feet in the water of His love..." That's not the only one either, there were so many. As musically diverse as I am, she liked some music that even I had never heard of. I loved giving her a hard time about it. I still question some of her musical tastes to this day. (come on Sandi, feed my sheep?)
There are songs that take me back to childhood. The day my sister left home and never came back, it was...."wake me up, before you go go, cause I'm not planning on going solo..." On our annual trip to Florida, we would pile up in that cramped up RV. My mom loves old southern gospel music and she loves country classics like George Jones, Conway Twitty, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Kenny Rogers. I still remember being rudely awakened by, "the race is on and here comes pride in the backstretch, heartache is going through the inside, my tears are holding back and trying not to fall..." I still love those songs today and I know them all by heart.
All creation is a song, don't you think? All creation worships. The birds that sing, the winds that whisper, the waters that rush; they are all a part of an intricate sound. One created to glorify. As a matter of fact, everything that exists sings. Music can make you fall in love, it can build a bridge, melt a hardened heart, and communicate an expression that maybe words alone could never do. It can make the wrong thing right by chasing away sorrows, just like prayer. Then again, prayer can be a song all in itself too. People forget, but the song always remembers when...
"The moon is high and the sunset fades. The lullabies have all been sung. We’re tucking in another day, and stars appear now one by one. The stillness moves and the silence yields, yet not a single beat is lost. You can hear the chorus in the fields, taking up where we left off. And Your praise goes on, rising to Your throne, where You guard us while we dream. Past the stars they fly, Your praises fill the sky, until You wake us with the dawn, and Your praise goes on. Now bring your warmth, Oh morning sun. Chase the stars and the moon away. Wake us with your brightest song, and add our voice to your refrain. Now rise up everything that lives, flap your wings and leap for joy. Oh, forest lift your arms and sway, clap your hands you ocean waves! And Your praise goes on, rising to Your throne, where You bless our toil and play. Through the clouds they rise, Your praises fill the skies, until the setting of the sun, and Your praise goes on. And when my final breath You lend, I’ll thank You for the life You gave. But that won’t mean the praises end, Cause I won’t be silenced by the grave. And Your praise goes on, I’ll be running to Your throne, every nation, tribe and tongue. To Your arms I’ll fly, I’ll gaze into Your eyes. Then I’ll know, as I am known... And Your praise goes on."

Intelligent Design

For Christmas, Mike bought me a dvd called Planet Earth. It is a film from the discovery channel that took seven years to make. The film makers traveled to parts of the world and different continents that have never before been filmed. There are five dvd's in the whole set, each entitled after it's region, for instance, "water, mountain, jungle, etc." These videos are absolutely incredible. The way that life was created is astonishing to me. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." Because of modern technology, we are now able to view areas of the universe going back millions of light years. The incredible vastness of the universe and its formation is staggering. To accept all of this as happening by chance, would take a mountain more of faith than to believe it all happened by intelligent design by a Divine Creator. Still, the atheist says there is no God.
If I say there is no God, I make myself the final voice of authority and there by take on the role of God in my own life. I become a god unto myself. Furthermore, the more we learn about life and the more educated we become, the more I realize how little I know about this world, let alone, about the vast expanse of our universe. I believe that nature laughs at our so-called scientific knowledge … it is obvious that we don't understand one millionth of one percent about anything compared to the big picture. Don't misunderstand, I do believe that God gave us the ability to obtain knowledge, understanding, and truth. But I believe it is so that we can discover His glory, not form our own conclusions about how the world was made.
Undoubtedly, there are many factors as to why we believe what we do. For many, much is shaped by their upbringing and what they were taught in their formative years. One's belief system is also affected by how personally honest or dishonest we are with our inner truth. For instance, if I have unresolved negative emotions, the defenses I have developed to protect myself from being in touch with those painful emotions, gives me warped lenses through which I view life's events. In turn, I end up with a distorted world view. Every unshed tear and buried emotion is a prism through which all of life's hurts are distorted.
In the end we believe what we choose to believe—often what is the most convenient for us. If I choose to believe in God, I know in my own heart that I am morally responsible. On the other hand, if I choose not to believe in God, I delude myself into thinking I am not morally responsible for anyone but myself and I can live as I please. What if one were to believe that Christianity was true, but refused to accept it because it would interfere with his or her lifestyle? In time, they could overcome that objection and became a Christian, which, given the evidence, is the only rational thing to do in my opinion. I would dare to suggest that maybe, their honesty led them in their choice to make a commitment of their life to God and become a Christian. How can someone look into the eyes of a newborn baby, and not believe in God? How can they see a sunset, a flower bloom, a cloud form, a raindrop, or a butterfly, and not know that these were beautifully made out of love from a magnificant Creator? So, I ask you this... is atheism an intellectual or a moral problem?

In The Vine

Think of some things that Jesus did not put in His hand to make His point that night in the garden. He didn't have any money, nor did he have a map for a military (or angelic) invasion of Jerusalem. He didn't have a letter to His wife back home explaining what the last three years were supposed to be about. No, Jesus was thinking about grapes. As He held the grapevine in His hand, he said: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit." John 15:1-2,5,8.
Jesus loved to convey the truth with simple earthly examples. In His last message before His death on the cross, He wanted us to comprehend that we have been left on this earth for one compelling reason...to bear fruit. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Notice, they are not fruits of the spirit (plural) because you must have all of them to possess any of them. How important is fruit then? So important, that our baskets should be overflowing.

Creation vs. Evolution

Romans 1:25 declares, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen."
A key factor that we all must recognize is that the vast majority of scientists who believe in evolution are also atheists or agnostics. Some believe that God exists, but is not involved in the world...everything proceeds along a natural course. There are some who genuinely and honestly look at the data and arrive at the conclusion that evolution betters fits with the data. Again, though, these represent an insignificant portion of scientists who advocate evolution. The vast majority of evolutionary scientists hold that life evolved entirely without ANY intervention of a higher Being. Evolution is by definition a naturalistic science. For atheism to be true, there must be an alternate explanation for how the universe and life came into existence. At least, one would think so. I believe Charles Darwin was the first to develop the model for how evolution could have occurred, which is called natural selection. Darwin once identified himself as a Christian, but later renounced the Christian faith and the existence of God as a result of some tragedies that took place in his life. Evolution was "invented" by an atheist. Darwin's goal was not to disprove God's existence, but that is one of the end results of the theory of evolution. Evolution is an enabler of atheism. Evolutionary scientists today likely would not admit that their goal is to give an alternate explanation of the origins of life, and thereby to give a foundation for atheism. However, according to the Bible, that is exactly why the theory of evolution exists.The Bible tells us, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). The Bible also proclaims that people are without excuse for not believing in God, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). According to the Bible, anyone who denies the existence of God is a fool. Why, then, are so many people, including some Christians, willing to accept that evolutionary scientists are unbiased interpreters of scientific data? According to the Bible, they are all fools! Foolishness does not imply a lack of intelligence. Most evolutionary scientists are brilliant intellectually. Foolishness indicates an inability to properly apply knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 tells us, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."Evolutionary scientists mock Creation and/or Intelligent Design as unscientific and not worthy of scientific examination. In order for something to be considered a "science," they argue, it must be able to be observed and tested, it must be "naturalistic."
Creation is by definition "supernatural." God, and the supernatural, cannot be observed or tested (so the argument goes), therefore Creation and/or Intelligent Design cannot be considered a science. As a result, all data is filtered through the preconceived, presupposed, and preaccepted theory of evolution, without alternate explanations being considered. However, the origin of the universe and the origin of life cannot be tested or observed. Both Creation and evolution are faith-based systems when they speak of origins. Neither can be tested because we cannot go back billions (or thousands) of years to observe the origin of the universe and life in the universe. Evolutionary scientists reject Creation on grounds that would logically force them to also reject evolution as a "scientific" explanation of origins. Evolution, at least in regards to origins, does not fit the definition of “science” any more than Creation does. Evolution is supposedly the only explanation of origins that can be tested; therefore, it is the only theory of origins that can be considered "scientific." If Creation is true, then there is a Creator to Whom we are accountable. Evolution gives atheists a basis for explaining how life exists apart from a Creator God. According to the Bible, the choice is clear. We can believe the Word of our omnipotent and omniscient God, or we can believe the illogically biased, "scientific" explanations of fools. I prefer the aforementioned myself.

What is the Immutability of God?

The immutability of God (that He does not change) is clearly taught throughout Scripture in countless passages. For example, in Malachi 3:6 God affirms, "I, the Lord, do not change." (See also Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Isaiah 46:9-11; Ezekiel 24:14.)
James 1:17 tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.” The shadow of turning refers to the sun which eclipses, and turns, and casts its shadow. It rises and sets, appears and disappears every day; and it comes out of one tropic, and enters into another at certain seasons of the year. But with God, who is light, there is no darkness at all, there is no change, nor anything like it. He is unchangeable in His nature, perfections, purposes, promises, and gifts. He being Holy, cannot turn to that which is evil; nor can He, who is the fountain of light, be the cause of darkness, and since every good and perfect gift comes from Him, evil cannot proceed from Him, nor does He tempt anyone to evil. The Bible is very clear that God does not change, neither His mind, His will, nor His nature.
Seen from a logical viewpoint, there are several reasons why it is impossible for God to change. First, if anything changes it must do so in some chronological order. There must be a point in time before the change and a point in time after the change. Therefore, for change to take place it must happen within the constraints of time; however, God is eternal and exists outside of the constraints of time (Psalm 33:11; Psalm 41:13; Psalm 90:2-4; John 17:5; 2 Timothy 1:9).
Second, if anything changes it must change for the better or the worse, because a change that makes no difference is not a change. For change to take place, either something that is needed is added, which is a change for the better, or something that is needed is lost, which is a change for the worse. But since God is perfect, He does not need anything. Therefore, He cannot change for the better. If God were to lose something, He would not be perfect; therefore, He cannot change for the worse.
Third, when someone changes his/her mind, it is often because new information has come to light that was not previously known, or the circumstances have changed that require a different kind of attitude or action. Because God is omniscient, He cannot learn something new that He did not already know. So, when the Bible speaks of God changing His mind, it must be understood that the circumstance or situation has changed, not God. So when Exodus 32:14 and 1 Samuel 15:11-29 talk about God changing His mind, it is simply describing a change of dispensation, and outward dealings, toward man.
Numbers 23:19 is very clear, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” No, God does not change His mind. These verses affirm the doctrine of God’s immutability: He is unchanging and unchangeable.

Thought Provoking...

While studying the Book of Daniel, I started thinking about "doing great things."
Word Biblical Commentary offers wisdom worthy of our meditation: "there is nothing inherently wrong about 'doing great things', but the expression is only used in an unequivocally good sense of God; of human beings it tends to suggest arrogance, or at least achievement at someone else's expense-mostly achievement that presages calamity."
My thought: the point of our being here is for God to use us for His greatness.
My suggestion: Pray for God to do great things. Our lives are meant to bear much fruit, but asking God to bear much fruit in us to His glory differs from asking God to make us do great things.
Think about this: when you pass an orchard that is bearing fruit, you shouldn't say,"behold, what great things these trees have done!" They are doing what they are created to do. Your life as well as mine will be lived greater and be more influential if we simply ask God to empower us to do that which we were created for.