Magical Reality

Life is busy this time of year.  The pecan trees are ripe in harvest, my mind and hands are busy with Christmas gifts, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, the leaves keep turning colors and enveloping the ground (and I just love Fall walks as the leaves crunch underneath my feet!), I'm reveling in continual happiness, friendship is blooming and blossoming, and I am satiated in God's goodness.  Life couldn't possibly be any better from my point of view.

Liberty loving our huge pile of leaves

This past month and a half has almost been eye-opening for me.  I am amazed at God's goodness each morning that I behold a new day.  Although family relationships remain top priority, friendship is a beautiful thing, even outside the home.  Especially that friendship which has lasted years and years, ever since childhood.  It is a bittersweet and nostalgia feeling to see life-long friends that were playmates as children suddenly become men and women.  Where does time go?  Life suddenly seems to become confusing, exciting, unbelievable, and incredible at the same time.  A friendship that remains devoted, loyal, and constant is a friendship that will press on to even greater heights.  And that is a blessing from God.

I don't think I need say I am sated.  It is bliss. It is magical. It is grace. It is happiness. It is wondrous.

"Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: 

so doth the sweetness of a man's friend 

by hearty counsel." -Proverbs 27:9

"Iron sharpeneth iron; 

so a man sharpeneth 

the countenance of his friend."

-Proverbs 27:17

Just A Reminder: He Made Us

O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me.  

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.  

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether.  

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 

and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

~Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24

I love this reminder of God's sovereignty.  Here the Psalmist is telling us that God knows everything about us: when we sit down, when we rise up, our thoughts, and every word our tongue speaks—compassing every single tiny detail about us.  Then in verse 14 of the same chapter David continues:

"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: 

marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

I love that.  I love how God fashioned us and created us—each with different personalities, looks, and characteristics—and loves us each as something terrifically exceptional and incomparable because He made us.  There is such power in those three words: He made us.  If He made us, and He is God Almighty, then nothing can be wrong, absolutely nothing.  And even more than that, He knows everything about us, even from our very number of hairs (Matt.10:30; Luke 12:7). That alone is astounding.amazing.powerful.awing.inspiring.extraordinary.bliss.

Doesn't that alone tell you how supremely excellent our God is?

I don't know about you, but I need to be reminded every day of just that, and I think that goes for all of us.  Too often we are burdened down by the cares of this world and forget of how wonderfully crafted we are and how much mercy God bestows on us each and every day.  We forget all of the extensive blessings that God has given us (i.e. breath, health, food, raiment) as we dwell on the negatives of life.  Even if we are not blessed with great material wealth, while we retain breath in our body we have been given a gift.  And an even greater gift we have been given is the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Even when we compare how much we don't have (material wealth) to how much we do have (eternal wealth), I'd say we have much more than we deserve. 

Like I said, I don't know about you, but I need to be reminded every day of just that.

Must I Continue?

Selfishness, self-love, self-righteousness, jealousy, strife, conflict, rivalry, competition, resentment, anger, hurtful teasing, harassment, intolerance of fault in others, quarreling, backbiting, impatience, self-pride, degradation of others, sarcasm, disunity, obstinacy, narcissism, autonomy, selfish ambition, bitterness, grudges, hatred, discontentment, cruel remarks, rebellion, temper outbursts, rudeness...

Must I continue?

There are many reason why I have decided to write this book, the first and foremost being for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom.  Secondly, I write this book for my seven siblings (nope, seven isn't lucky for me because I still have to deal with the same problems that everyone else has to deal with).  They are a rather lively and unique group of kids, with many different talents and personalities and characteristics and gifts.  Grace (16), Kirstie (14), Katie (12), Maggie (11), Reb (9), Clara (7), and Liberty (2) are all very intelligent and clever, but you know me: highly prejudiced when it comes to my family.  I will defend them to the death...even if we aren't exactly getting along very well at the moment.  I want to give them an inheritance from their oldest sister, a legacy of love that can be passed down to offer guidance, edification, and sanctification amidst a crooked and perverse generation (Phil.2:5).  I want them to know what it means to struggle, yet overcome those struggles and move on toward success.  This is my prayer.

I also write this book for my children in the future.  Being a kid once myself [humor inserted], I know what it's like to go through sibling rivalry, and I don't want my children wasting years of their lives as bitter enemies with their [many] brothers and sisters.  I want this book to be a part of the heritage that I pass on to my children in future years as a part of their mother's love to them.  I'm trying to keep a multigenerational viewpoint in mind as I write as a vision of hope for my children.

This book is furthermore for other struggling siblings.  I know that my siblings and I are not the only ones who struggle, for rivalry is a common problem.  Why?  Well, you'll just have to wait and read my book.

Must I continue?

My heart beats with intense delight.  I do not know how long or when, but I do know, and I can't tell you how joyous that makes me feel.  It will be a dream come true when I am finally able to hold a freshly-printed copy of my book in my hands.  Then I will read it all the way through and count how many mistakes I made.  Oh dear...

Maybe I won't.  It may be too much of a painful project.  Then you can read it all the way through and tell me how many mistakes I made.

As I continue on my journey, my quest-like answering-all-of-the-problems (well, not really; I don't have all of the answers), I have to remember that it is not all my siblings' fault that we don't get along as best friends.  Ultimately, I am to blame.  We each individually are to blame.  If we are the oldest then we have an even greater responsibility, but no matter our sibling station—whether we are the oldest, the youngest, or one in between—we are to be accountable for our actions.  We can't simply throw all the blame on our siblings' shoulders and get away with it, because that proves our selfishness, self-love, and immaturity.  Do we really love ourselves so much that we can't admit when we are wrong?

I don't want to dishearten you, I want to encourage you!  I have seen examples of siblings who rose above the standard "just get along and don't kill each other" mentality, and become the best of best friends.  As a matter of fact, they become best friends forever.  Those stories stimulate me.  I want my relationship with my siblings to become just like that, and then in turn, encourage others so that they want the same outcome.

You can be an incredible help to me, with your prayers, your encouragement, and even your input.  Everyone has questions that they want answered, and while I am not the best qualified, I know the best place to look (John 5:39)—a place that we all can access, thanks to the blood and sweat of martyrs and Church fathers.

Any daughter at home has great potential to advance the kingdom of Christ.  I want to use the rest of my unmarried years to the fullest extent possible, doing everything I can to further my father's vision, be a help to my mother, and become the best friend of my siblings.  Surprisingly, I think that I have lost my vehement desire to get married as soon as possible.  Like I have any control over that anyway.  I won't kid you, I still want to get married...someday, believe me.  But right now I have an obligation to fulfill, and it cannot be fulfilled unless I focus on it completely, without the interruption of sighs, longings, and dreams that distract and hinder me.  Dreams I will keep dreaming, but for now I am excited about being a daughter and a siblings.  With the glasses that I wear, the grass looks greener here than it does on the other side.

I don't think I need continue.

With summer almost gone and school almost beginning, my days will be very busy.  Plus finishing pocket college, I'll be doing more work for Daddy, HTML, lots of reading, and working with my younger-schooled siblings.  I won't officially graduate so to speak until this school year ends so that we can do things right for the formal proclamation, but I'm thankful for one more chance to study hard and learn all that I can.  One more year, then I will no longer be a schoolgirl.  I wonder how that will feel...

Taste, Time, and Tea

Summer is close to ending.  Although I'll be glad to wave goodbye to the intense heat and welcome the glorious colors of autumn, I'll be sad that another year is over halfway gone...again.  I sometimes wonder if time is not our enemy.  Certain duties require a specific amount of time, and if not fulfilled, we need more time.  You know how our parents are always talking about how fast their youth came and went, how we'll know what it's like when we're their age, and how fast the years have gone by?  Just think, tomorrow we could be saying the same thing.  Life is a vapor, yet it can be glorious and beautiful.  Think of the birth of a baby.  Brought squealing and screaming into the world, the little bundle eventually grows faster and faster.  The years speed by until finally everything has vanished.  Old age creeps up and the end draws closer.  Life can be dismal if we look through a pessimistic lens.  However, if we see time as an opportunity to live life to the fullest extent, we experience much more fullness of joy.  Because God made us for who we are, since He was gracious enough to grant us life and breath, we ought to thank Him with every part of our being!  Life- though gloomy at times- is a miracle, no matter what evolutionists say.  We do have something to live for, and we were created in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28), so thankfully we don't have apes for ancestors.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you how avid a reader I am.  Give me a good book and I'm happier than a bee in honey.  Just recently Mama took Grace and me to our local library.  Honestly, though we've been here in Barnesville for over a year now, this was our first visit.  Though small, our library is everything I had hoped plus much more.  They may not have a big movie selection, but who cares after the sight of all those books!  Even the smell is intoxicating!  I felt like a giddy child as I perused the shelves.  I wanted to dance through the entire building, sing at the top of my lungs, and hug every book lovingly in my arms.  I was that starved for good literature.  I guess books have that kind of an impact upon me.  Unfortunately, a library has rules, and loud disturbances are prohibited.  I had to contain my exuberance.

Before I reached the end of two shelves I had already found James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, and Agatha Christi.  Imagine my joy then! (I don't have to search out Jane Austin anymore now that I've finally read all of her novels.)  I couldn't take home very book that I wanted because each was fat and thick. (Juicy, just like I like them!)  Fourteen was my limit.  My next visit will be looking for Elizabeth Gaskill and Robert Louis Stevenson, plus getting more Dickens and Dumas. (Remember, I couldn't take every book I wanted.)  Since I’ll have most of the books to look over next time, I could find many other great classics!  A library is truly a reader's haven.

What do you enjoy reading?

There isn't anything like Southern hospitality.  Unless one actually visits the Southland, they'll never know what they are missing.  During the cool months it's nice to take a walk underneath the coloring leaves.  Even amidst our hot weather it's grand to have an air-conditioned house (talk about thankfulness).  A rainy day is best for snuggling up on the bed with a good book.  Something about the rain makes me feel warm and secure.  Must be something about being enclosed in the hose while God's mighty and majestic wonder reigns all around us.  I actually sleep best during a pattering rain.

I believe creation is truly more vibrant in the beautiful South. Perhaps I'm prejudiced. (No offense to the other parts of the world.)  The sun seems brighter, the moon smiles sweeter, the stars twinkle and shine more splendidly, the flowers smell more fragrant, and the trees seem greener and taller.  Again, no offense.  Y'all could probably say the same thing.  Did I mention our well-known, Southern-made tea?

Isn't life wonderful?

Poor As Church Mice

Living in this economically, socially, ecclesiastical, and civilly failing nation, life is hard.  Food and gas prices rocketing more than this generation has seen, Barak Obama's presidential election, moral anarchy, the bouncing stock market, our enormous debt and the money being printed without any security, thousands of jobless Americans, and many other countless problems occurring in the U.S.  Why don't we give up?  After all, the way things keep reoccurring, we're going to end up being a third-world nation with a Muslim dictator who forces our every move.  Why don't we find someplace to hide - somewhere where we can burrow our heads in the sand and never be forced to move?  Sound like an idea?  Okay, let's go! Where to...Scotland or...

Wait a minute.  We certainly cannot hide from God's omnipresence.  Jonah already learned that lesson for us.  If we can't hide or run away, surely there is something else we can do.

I love America, my beautiful homeland country.  But (small as it may be) I am so tired of hearing about our problems.  Sometimes I can pretend nothing is really happening...and I live my normal crazy life.  However, every once in a while "what-ifs" jumble about in my head.  If you want to feel deeply melancholy, start delving into America's numerous problems.

I don't want to focus on pain or sorrow or tribulation.  Life is plenty full of that.  Imagining what America used to be is even worse.  After everything our Founding Fathers did for us, this is what we've done to repay them.  Some gratitude.

Terrible things could occur that I don't even want to think about; things that make me shudder with dread.   We're faced with the issue anyway.  But for once, let's look at the bright side of things.  Optimistically, I prefer joy and happiness over gloom and despair.  As Ecclesiastes says, there is a time and season for everything.

Although life can be gloomy, troublesome, and downright hard, let's attempt to smile at our gloom, laugh at despair, and love during the hard times.  What is worth more than love, and a sparkling smile on a rainy day?  We can be the comfort of those who have given up all hope.  Through our lives Christ can be shown.  That takes real courage.

I've never known what "being rich" is like.  We all can be poor economically.   But what do true riches entail?  Many times life seems to defeat us with problems, but we can still be rich in the factual sense.  Remember when Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19: 23-24)  Perhaps that is why the poor and needy are always (most of the time anyway) reliant upon God because they have not riches to worship.  There is a reason for everything.

Being rich in God's grace, mercy, and love is worth more than all the jewels the world can produce.  As Jesus said in Matthew 4:4,  "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."  Here is proof that we need spiritual food.  Getting enough to eat everyday cannot sustain us.  We need the nectar of God's love.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."  ~Matthew 5:6

We as Christians in the Church are the Bride, the Beloved of Christ.  Therefore we should trust Him in every aspect of life for He holds tomorrow in His hand.  He gives and He takes away, yet blessed be His holy name!  While we are to do our part as salt and light in this world, God directs the hearts of men.  He is our sustainer, so, "cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."  ~Psalm 55:22

Although we might be "poor and needy; yet the LORD thinketh upon me; make no tarrying, O my God."  ~Psalm 40:17

David said in Psalm 37:25,  "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

God sees America's problems.  He sees our personal problems.  And He cares!  Although America has turned her back upon the God of her fathers, He still cares for His own people.  Astonished though we may be, He still loves us with a deep and profound love.  That alone should put a song in our hearts.

"O LORD, Thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thoughts afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether."  ~Psalm 139:1-4  If God is acquainted with all our ways, don't you think He could possibly have a plan?  I know He does, which is why I determine to trust Him.  This world isn't getting any better yet, nor are we getting any richer, but God holds tomorrow - though we may not know what it brings.

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience."  ~Romans 5:3

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"  ~Romans 8:35

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)  If we therefore know, live it joyfully in every way!  Laugh a little, dance a while, and determine to live faithfully according to God’s Word.  Scripture is clear: if we love God we will obey Him.  Then we will reap rewards and blessings. (such as peace from this troubled world?)  But if we disobey and continue to disobey (as America has done) God will rain curses down upon us that could flatten any nation.  Even this unsinkable America.

When we are weak, then Christ can work through our weakness to display His strength. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Therefore we can live life fully and steadfastly, abounding in His work, for our labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58) Don't we serve an amazing God?