Isaiah 9-12

Day 180

Let's see how long it takes me to do this today. I started at whatever time the post says.  Even if I finish it at night...it always has the beginning time I created the post.  I"ll write the actual time below.....  You all could start a betting pool....

a) done super early; 

b) maybe done by noon; 

c) sometime middady or 

d) barely done before the day is over at night time.  Place your bets!!!! :)  

I've already been interuppted and had to rescue a cow from the dog's mouth!! He's now headless....the cow not the dog....but it was close! 

Chapter 9  A king will come!!   A prophet will come from the dark days and we are moved into a vision of the future.  It will be bright and glorious!  A king will come from David's line to rule in peace and justice forever.  Tribes will be crushed and Assyria will be the first to see the light, to taste the joy, to be set free by the coming prince of peace.  

Matthew 4:12-16 specifically links this prophecy with the coming of Jesus, who hometown was Nazareth, in Galilee, who began his public ministry at Cana in Galilee.  

Chapter 10  after a vision of the future glory, we are abruptly brought back to the present at the end of chapter 9 and into the beginning of 10.  The people of the breakaway northern kingdom of Israel stand condemned for their arrogance, rebellion, injustice, and oppression.  They have already had a taste of judgment, but learnt nothing from it.  Therefore, God will not spare them.  

Chapters 11-12   aaaaaaaaaaah!  The peaceable kingdom. The coming king will be from David's family....he will possess the Spirit of God himself: just, righteous, faithful like God.  Nations will rally to him; his kingdom will be free of enmity and evil.  The natural world will reflect this total transformation.  There will be a great gathering in of all God's scattered people and the song of God's salvation will be on everyone's lips.  This is a new earth, centered on God, and obedient to his will!!   I say....Jesus come quickly!! :)  

My new favorite scripture.....Joshua 1:9.  Go look it up! :)   

AND....saw a license plate yesterday that said, "2Cor5:7".....look that up too! :)   

tomorrow: 13-16

TIME:  9:03am!!! :)  taaaadaaaaaa!

Isaiah 5-8 part 2!

Okay....so Hannalee has had diarreha for 4 days now...that surely just can't be teeth!  ???  So I took her to the doctor and he wanted a stool sample.....have you ever SCRAPED POOP out of 4 diapers to get a big enough "sample" for the lab???!!  I have done a lot of things in my travels and days as a mom......today was a first...scraping POOP out of diapers, from the trash mind you, with a plastic spoon!!!! OH ME.  But her blood work was fine...nothing there.  We'll see what was in the scrapings!! 

Chapter 5--so as not to get behind!!  This is called "the song of the (unfruitful!) vineyard.  This is a unique poem that is a celebration of the festival of booths ...the prophet is IMITATING a vintage festival song.  The grapes that are being refered to here are "sour" grapes.  Judah is asked to pass judgment on herself.  The justice is the faithful application of God will to daily living.  Righteousness is the living dynamic relationship between the nation and God wherein the nation is spiritually and morally acceptable to God.  Righteousness and justice are naturally coupled and grow out of the covenant relationship, the existence of which is assumed.  

Chapter 6 -- the  call of Isaiah.  God's appearance is described in the setting of the Jerusalem temple.   Cleansed by God's forgiving act, Isaiah may now speak for God! 

Chapter 7  -- God will either save you or God is against you.  This is the balance of the fate of the nation and the outcome depends on the nations choices!! HUM.....!!!!   Immanuel = "im" means WITH and EL...God....God with us.  God is with us, with you, with our nation.....but only based on our choices....the outcome depends on us.....

Chapter 8  -- The sign of "maher-shalal-hash-baz"  =  the spoil seeds, the prey hastes!

tomorrow:   9-12

there.  I blogged today! :)  And yes....my aunt kathy is still reading.  And yes, AK, I think I will stay with you....don't feed me, don't shop for me, don't cook for me.....just let me in the door. :)   I'll be gone all Friday and Saturday we are done at 2:00pm and I'll go home.  Love you all!

STILL trying to figure out how to get this thing in a smilebox on my blog.  I have it downloaded, but don't know how to get it here.  :)  HUM............

Isaiah 5-8

Day 179  

Well.....JJ stayed ALL night and said, "I kinda want my momma" only one time when the storm was here.  But Shelly said that if he'd be a big boy his mom and dad wouldn't have to get out in the storm.  He pulled the sheet up over his head and went to sleep until 8:30 this morning!!!   They are finishing the "Cars" movie and eating waffles.  They'll bring him home in a bit.   We are trailer sitting today and tomorrow....everyone is gone to the kids rodeo finals in TX.  They've worked hard all summer to earn points and we'll see how they do this weekend.   So we are in charge of the trailers, horses that  didn't "make the cut" for the trip, chickens and that's all. Goats all got sold!!  

Gotta go....HL is ready for a nap already and I've got to get her down at Nana's.  more later!  

Isaiah 1-4

Day 177  Its a good thing that at least my family is reading along with me....otherwise...not sure I'd keep doing this !!  :)  So mother, daddy and Aunt Margaret...you'd better keep reading! :)  

JJ gets to spend the night with his 8 year old friend Raylee Tarrant tonight.  We've known Raylee forever!  They've begged to play all summer and then they got it in their heads about spending the night.  So, they are picking him up about 6:00 and taking them home with them.  They live out in the country...have a trampoline, 4 wheelers, a creek and cows.  Raylee said for him to be sure to come with clothes that he can get dirty!!  We can do that!!!  

I guess I read these chapters last night.....not sure.....JJ was in our bed while we were  reading....a t10:30!   I had friends stop by on the way from Canada to our Up with people reunion in Tucson.  They got here yesterday about 4:00 and left this morning before 8.  They were driving on. They slept in JJ's bed, so he was in ours.   Hence, not sure what I read last night.   :)  

a little background about the book and prophet Isaiah.  The books of all the prophets (4 major: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and 12 minor (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.  The books of the prophets belong to the time of the nation's decline. (Can we get a prophet today!???!)  They are in exile and eventually return to their homeland.  They span, all together, a period of 250-300 years.  Isaiah knew from the outset that his words would fall on deaf ears, but he was called by God.  It is likely that he gathered a group of disciples or fellow-prophets around him who treasured and preserved his words.  

chapter 1: The nation is all but doomed and has practically reached the point of no return.  God's people have rejected Him, breaking the sacred covenant that bound them to him.  God is sickened by their moral degradation.  Yet!!!  God still offers forgiveness and swift and terrible judgment will fall on all who continue to defy him: he will cleanse his people from their sin.

chapter 2-4:  the time is coming!  in these chapters, Isaiah looks forward to a coming time of people when Jerusalem will become the city of God for people of all nations.  Before that, God will execute fierce judgment on all sin and wrongdoing.  Human pride is marked for destruction. Isaiah (like Jesus) sees pride as the root of so much wrong.

tomorrow:  5-8

Song of Songs (Solomon)

Day 176

5 more days of phase one south beach.  :)   Come on carbs!!!   hahahah! 

We are still TRYING to clip of me singing at church on Sunday night.  What we first tried didn't work.  We are getting on DVD tomorrow from the church and we'll see if we can get it up then.  Should be able to!  Check back tomorrow.  

short entry again today--Hannalee is either sick or getting teeth.  I think its teeth.  She's had diarrhea for 24 hours, her bottom is raw-red but she's sleeping and eating and drinking.  She's supposed to get shots in 20 minutes, don't know if they'll give them to her or if I want to wait till she feel better anyway...but then I think....why get better and then gets shots and feel worse all over again! Hum.......we'll see what they say.  

This is a love song really.   It celebrates the joy and intimacy of the romantic love between a man and a woman.  This tender yet passionate picture of physical loves affirms the sanctity  of marriage and has often been seen as mirroring God's unconditional love for his people.  The readings go back and forth between "Beloved" and "Lover"......the bride and groom. This is love in its most intimate form....can easily draw a parallel between Christ and his bride, the church.  

tomorrow:   Isaiah 1-4

Eccelsiastes

Day 175

Okay.....so the shopping trip was a blast! We wore ourselves out by 1;00 and hadn't even eaten lunch or been to the mall yet!!!!  :)  So we met some friends for lunch and reminisced about the old days.  :)   Then we finally hit the mall until 6:00 that night and we still "had" to go to Target...which we were all excited about!  This one even had a Starbucks in it!! Wahoooo.....rest and got off our feet a bit and grabbed a yummy, sugar free drink for me.  We thought we'd be home by 7:00pm...we weren't....we were still at Target.  Oh then I needed a bite...then one more run through back to Mardel's to see if they had something I forgot to look for the first time,  then to the Dollar Tree because heaven forbid we leave the city and NOT go there.  I mean, we had spent an hour at Lowe's; almost 2 hours at Hobby Lobby and not nearly enough time at Mardel's the first time.  We laughed ourselves silly!  Absolutely silly!!!  And finally pulled into our driveways just after 9:30 that night.  We were beat and our husbands were glad we were finally home!!  We never dreamed we'd be that late getting home.  Next time though, we're getting a hotel room!!!!! hahahahahahaha!

Dusty and I have done South  Beach for 8 days now (6 days more to go on Phase 1) and I've lost 5 pounds and Dusty's lost 4 in just a week! We are doing really good but will be ready to add a few things back into our diet in phase 2.  

So we've finished reading all of Eccelsiastes.  We'll start Song of Solomon tonight .  I'm just going to summarize the whole book here.   The Teacher of Ecclesiastes finds that, after examining every area of life, that there is just bitterness, futility, and meaninglessness.  However, he learns to change his focus and puts his energies toward pursing a relationship with God and life then takes on a whole new meaning.  Ecclesiastes explores the spiritual significance of life, revealing the folly of searching for knowledge, wisdom and pleasure without  acknowledging God's timing  and involvement in everything. We discover the loneliness of workaholics, status and power before God; we are transformed as we embrace the practicalities of godly wisdom; and the Teacher's admonition that death comes to all shakes us out of our lethargy and stirs us to seek God early in life.  

The book of Ecclesiastes resounds with the message that life is not a puzzle to be solved.  It reminds us to view life as God's good gift to us, rather than to bog down the analysis of life. God wants you to enjoy your life and to find meaning and purpose in it.  BUT!!! The only way He can accomplish His purpose is when we allow Him to fill the emptiness of our searching hearts with Himself.

The short of it.....life is meaningless without God.  

tomorrow:  all of Song of Solomon

Proverbs 27-29

Day 174

Wahooooo! It's a beautiful day again!! Yesterday was like being in Colorado...cool, breezy and cloudy! It was perfect for me!!!  We are getting ready to have JJ's friends over this afternoon for a "water" day....no real swimming pool, but a kiddie pool for the boys and one that Hannalee got for her birthday.  A couple of water sticks (I refuse to call them guns....because they ARE sticks anyway) and we'll turn on the sprinklers!   

I"m really counting the days down until Saturday.  Kristi and I are going shopping in OKC!!! without children or husbands. I don't think in the year we've known each other that we've EVER done anything with just us!! We are both excited!!!  

So more proverbs....not much to them...are you finding some that you like and are marking in your Bible. 

 If you are seeking the Lord...you know the truth.  

Wicked is translated as "evil" and it can't stand against God.

Evil doesn't wear a mask!  

We aren't to cause another to stumble. 

That's about all....even my commentaries don't have anything to say about chapter 29.  :)  Pretty straight forward I guess!

Off to put Hannalee down for a nap and build train tracks with JJ!  

Singing ChurchWomen Concert Schedule

CONCERT SCHEDULE:

20th Anniversary Banquet for all present and former Singing ChurchWomen:  Friday, Sept. 18th (contact bbillingsley@bgco.org for details)

WEST:  Tuesday, Oct. 13th - FBC, Frederick

EAST:  Tuesday, Oct. 20th - OBU

Tuesday, November 10th - Combined concert with Singing Churchmen and Oklahoma Baptist Symphony at BGCO Annual Meeting (FBC, Moore)

WEST:  Thursday, Nov. 12th - FBC, Enid

EAST:  Tuesday, Nov. 17th - Broadway, Sand Springs

WEST:  Tuesday, Jan. 19th - FBC, Duncan

EAST:  Thursday, Jan. 21st - FBC, Tahlequah

Thursday, Feb. 25th - Small Choir Concerts:  1.  Shawnee, Rock Creek    2.  Weatherford, Emmanuel   3.  Regency Park, Moore   (other locations to be confirmed)

Tuesday, Mar. 23rd - Small Choir Concerts:  1.  NW, Lawton     2.  Yukon Church, Yukon      3.  Brookhaven, Norman      4.   Grove, FBC      (other locations to be confirmed)

EAST:  Thursday, April 15th - Del City, Sunnylane

WEST:  Tuesday, April 20th - FBC, Elk City--YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, May 11th - 20th Anniversary Concert with Oklahoma Baptist Symphony - location to be confirmed

Proverbs 22-23

Day 173

On day 3 of the south beach diet....i'm down!!!  It's only day 3....we are doing just the phase one for now....no sugar, no carbs.  Its really do-able and we feel good and Dusty's blood sugar has been GREAT since Sunday!!!   Been to the gym.....did 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the elliptical.  ARGH!!   And then am going to water aerobics tonight....by the end of the day I should have burned about 600-700 calories!!! Wahooooo! Size smaller here I come! :)  By Christmas I hope anyway!!!  :)  

Only two chapters today......not much to comment on....But in the section of  22:17 - 24:34, there are "thirty wise sayings." the sayings in this section are more connected than the previous one. They begin with "things to avoid"...the come some of the hazards of social climing; father and son advice; a portrait of a drunkard; teaching on wisdom and folly; and right living. 

Are you noticing the themes in the Proverbs?   

Wisdom and folly--the wise and the fool

the righteous and the wicked

words and the tongue

the family

parents and children

wives and husbands

laziness and hardwork

there are other minor themes of poverty, wealth, plans and decisions; proud and humble; friends and neighbors; and fear of the Lord.  

tomorrow: 24-26

Proverbs 19-21

Day 172

Last night as JJ was in bed, I told him to say his prayers and tell Jesus thank you for today.   Then he asked, does Jesus have a bed?! Too cute........

Chapter 19  What spirit and zeal.....but there is no substitute for careful analysis and understanding of reality. And verse 26......don't treat your mother poorly....Israel is a "shame and honor " culture.....honor your parents....I do!! :)  

Chapter 20  ....... even a child is known by his actions.......as teachers we know that to be true! :)  I just hope it is a good thing when "we" started preschool next month! OH MY!!! 

chapter 21   I love this one from this chapter......verse 3, "to do what is right and just is more acceptable to the lord than sacrifice."

And verse 30........there is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.

and one more that I marked while we were reading......verse 21, he who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.  

tomorrow:  only 22-23 

Proverbs 16-18

Day 171

Our sermon today was great!! It always is!!   I always want to share with you but never take the time.  We always have a sermon guide and I want to share it with you.  The title was, "Surviving the Storms Facing the Family" from Matthew 7:24-27.

Every family can survive  the storms of life if they build on the rock, Jesus Christ.

Some Storms Face the Family:

1. the storm of materialism

2. the storm of biblical illiteracy

3. the storm of busy-ness

4. the storm of abuse

Now then, how to survive the storms facing the family:

1. provide a spiritual foundation

2. use clear communication

3. love with Christ-like love

4. provide security

5. provide a place for growing people

6 see the family as God's gift

Just had to share...simple but a good reminder and lesson!

Now then........

chapter 16  here are 3 that I circled in my Bible last night:  

v. 3  "commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed."     

v. 7, "when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes peace even with his enemies."  

v. 9 in his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps!"   

My commentary says that one who fears the Lord and live wisely is often at peace.  People who love and please God can even live in peace with those who consider them an enemy.Often one of the by-products of choosing to live rightly is receiving the peace and rest that everyone longs to experience.  

Chapter 17   v. 22-- a cheerful heart is good medicine,.......is it a choice to be happy?! I think so!!  When circumstances threaten to crush people, they need joy more than ever.  Life's trials and disappointments can indeed feel crushing at times, but we need not roll over in despair.  Happiness is at our fingertips....we can cultivate our faith in the profoundly good news of the One who encourages us!  

chapter 18  God has a high view (and expectations) of women--godly wives in particular.  Our sermon today also said that the sole purpose of the family does not exist within itself.  The purpose of the family is to glorify God!!  That's it...in our marriages, in our families....that's why we were created!  Ever wonder?!  That's it...to glorify God.  Period.!  :)  

Proverbs 19-21 is tomorrow......

Proverbs 13-15

Day 170

More rain....a nice little 10 minute DOWPOUR yesterday......wasn't much but it was rain! :)

AND......I auditioned for "The Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma" last week and got an email saying that I get to sing with them!!!!  They are a Baptist group of women that do monthly concerts all over Oklahoma.  The group is so big that they divide the concerts to West and East.  I'm in the West group and then  they do one big concert together at the end of the season.  We'll have a retreat in September to learn all of the music, in one weekend, for the whole season.   Should be really fun.  There are 2 other women from my church that sing with them.  There are over 400 all together in the whole group.   Can't wait!!  This is their 20th year to be around.  They've gone on mission trips in the past....wonder if I can convince them to go to Guatemala....or at least somewhere Spanish speaking!!  :)  

Chapter 13   ....oooooooooh.....verse 3!  He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin!  Scripture makes countless references to the power people's words have to either bring blessing or pain to others as well as to themselves.  What comes out of people's mouths can heal and give life, or hurt and do harm.  The has the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21).

......the appetite of the lazy craves and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied...... (Jamie...are you reading this with me?!  hahaha).

......hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life........

Chapter 14  .......a wise woman builds her house.......but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down........

.....envy destroys.....

....truthful witness saves lives........

.....fear the Lord.......

.....patient man has great understanding.....

........a heart at peace gives life to the body.....

.....righteousness exalts a nation.......

Chapter 15    Sheol and Abaddon.....the same place and same state......destruction of the dead.

....a wise child makes a father glad.....

...the eyes of the Lord are everywhere....faith in God's presence shouldn't be doubted...although we do!  Solomon reminds us of a faith-enhancing truth: God is fully aware, every moment, of what is going on in the world He created...as well as in the heart of every person! 

God is on the throne!!!!!! AMEN!!!  

tomorrow:  16-18

Proverbs 10-12

Day 169

Thank you, Jesus!!! We had RAIN!!!!!!!! And it MIGHT not get over 100 degrees today!! Mercy!!!  I swear...that was a long two weeks of 110 degrees!! That was awful!!!  The electricity went out at 10:00 last night......and maybe everything came blaring back on around 2:30.   

Gotta be quick today........swim lessons for JJ at 11:15 and Hannalee is taking 1 year old pics at 2:00.   wahoooo!     Okay...so I haven't read all of this, because we had no lights last night as we crawled into bed!! but here's some stuff from a commentary.

Chapter 10  Here is the beginning of Solomon's proverbs.  I like the promise about the righteous never going hungry.   But how can that be true?  We know that righteous people DO starve??  So what's going on here???  HUm......maybe a general promise about the truth of how God lives and moves and works in us.  A GENERAL promise....not an absolute guarantee??  Could be......how else would you explain this to a starving child whose parent has lost their job and they are out of food?!

Chapter 11 a kindhearted woman.......will gain more respect than any number of wealthy women.  Love God, receive the highest praise!  A woman who makes her goal to be like Jesus, kind, loving and compassionate without talking about others, will have a far greater influence for good in the world than anyone who ruthlessly pursues worldly goals.  

Okay...what's up the ring in the pig's snout????!  Nose rings were  beautiful ornamentation.  DON"T TELL MY KIDS THAT IN 15 YEARS WHEN THEY WANT ONE!!  "But mom, they did it in the Bible!"  Right I'll say...they also said, "eye for eye in the Bible!"   :)   But the nose ring were shiny and gold....but on a pig....it was an unclean thing.  The point is this:  you might be beautiful on the outside, but not always to God.  You must use your BEHAVIOR in line with godly wisdom...otherwise, you're just as ugly as a pig with a pretty ring in your nose!! :)  

Chapter 12  a wife of noble character.  this is the same word used to describe Ruth!  Go and read about her character and qualities!!A wife who pursues wisdom and godly character can be the most important influence in her husband's life......one who doesn't is his downfall!  

tomorrow:  13-15!

Proverbs 7-9

Day 169

VBS is over today....at 12:00!!! We've had a great time!!!   It's been a fun theme, australia outback, the "Boomerang Express".....it all comes back to Jesus....1 John 4:9.   

Get it..........boomerang.......come back to Jesus?!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few random questions that I have written in the margin of my Bible in different spots.....

What is the effectiveness of my Christian witness?

Am I living up to my potential?

Am I carrying the cross?

Just a few things to ponder for awhile....I might need to put them on post-its on the fridge.  :)

Chapter 7  The temptress!!!!  The teacher is describing a young man falling for a married woman's shameless seduction!  To judge by the number of warnings in Proverbs, this was common enough.   Even Solomon, for all his wisdom, was as weak as anyone at this point.  And in the end, his foreign wives led him to worship other gods.  This chapter shouldn't be taken as a negative stereotype about women's sexuality.....for really, a women is portrayed also as Wisdom and a capable wife!!   And.....just to play the devil's advocate .....the fictional man here should have controlled his desires and fantasies and resisted any temptation to begin with!   But really, this proverb is about the marriage and the relationship of commitment.  What everyone, male and female, learns here is self-control!! :)

Chapter 8 This is a great poem of Wisdom that has 7 subsections with 5 verses each. The themes are about Wisdom's priceless virtues; her righteous words; her role in civil order; her gifts for all who love her; her genesis before creation; and her role in the cosmic order.  

Chapter 9 this chapter summarizes and concludes the first 9 chapters...there are pillars of wisdom......fear of the Lord and knowledge of the Holy One are 2.  What else would you add to a list that would be your pillars of wisdom:  love?  hope?  faith? truth?  honest?  discipline?

tomorrow chapter 10-12

Proverbs 4-6

Day 168

YAWN!!!!! I guess this is why I got tired of blogging for awhile...up before the sun to get this done so I can be up before the kids!!!!!!    :)

Chapter 4  This is an urgent appeal to acquire wisdom!  After the example of the teacher (vv. 1-7) life is describe in terms of two choices.......wisdom's way/path OR the way of the wicked.   Wisdom is the path to go for!!  It leads to life!!

Chapter 5  Avoid loose women!!!  :)  It can lead to death!!!  Followed by this warning is encouragement to rejoice in one's own spouse!  And I do!! Mine is wonderful!!!  Find pleasure in your own spouse (this is talking about a wife specifically) and love her and be happy! 

Wisdom is personified as a woman.  It is not just something we learn, it is an offer to us by God through the figure of Wisdom.....who is the embodiment of right and truth and good living and part of the essential order of the created universe.  

Chapter 6  More warnings!!  Do not offer your property as collateral for your neighbhor's debt.  And avoid laziness.....as even the ants can tell you that.  THEY even work and are not lazy.  Don't be idle, keep God's commands....they will save you!!!!

tomorrow:  7-9

Proverbs 1-3

Day 167

Wise words for living!!!  That is what Proverbs is about--little snipets of wisdom and observations about life....a marvelous source of insight for daily living.  This was compiled by King Solomon and others......see if you can write any of them down on a postit note and memorize at least ONE NEW (not the one you already know!) Proverb while we read it! :)   Just try....

Chapters 1 and 2 remind us that we can only make sense of life when we make the Lord our foundation for wisdom.    As you can see, verses 1-7 state the purpose and theme of the book and then continues with warnings about enticement and warnings about rejecting wisdom!!  In Jewish society, instructing the children in the Torah and the ways of God were traditionally the responsibility of the father and King Solomon urged his listeners to equally take to heart the teachings of the mother.  In fact, this book of the Bible pays tribute to mothers more than any book of the Bible.  Verse 7-19  the teacher addresses his pupils as a wise father would his son. 

The young man has a vital choice to make:  between the right course and the wrong one; between wisdom and follhy; between going God's way through life and going his own.  

FEAR THE LORD!!! An important recurring phrase in Proverbs.  It describes a wholesome awe and respect (reverence) for God which expresses itself in obedience, reliance on God and deliberate avoidance of evil!!   Chapter 2..."If you listen"........wisdom is to be found through

 knowing God.

Chapter 3  "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  One of my favorite scriptures and one I actually do have memorized....so now I have to find a new one! HUm.....  :)  This proverb is telling us to take wise teaching to heart; stay humble and  trust God.  Wisdom gives you peace, happiness, and security....all things money can't buy.

tomorrow:   4-6

Start Proverbs

REMEMBER!! We are starting Proverbs tonight!! I"ll actually post again! :)  

Just read Proverbs 1-3 tonight and I'll post about it tomorrow!  MAYBE before VBS at 9:00! :) We'll see how early I manage to get up! :)  

Psalm 119

Day 166

Her first birthday was a hit! She loved the cake and knew exactly what to do...eat it and lick every finger!!!!  

JJ was ready to get his own piece....from the "big" cake...for the big kids!!! NOT the baby cake that Hannalee was licking!!!  :)  HE got a big boy bike for being such a great big brother this past year!! It has training wheels and all....it was 108 degrees outside....so he got to even ride it in the house!!!  :)   It was a day of blessings showered down by God!  Thank you, Lord!!! Thank you.

Psalm 119  -- I was going to make a few comments about that...kinda ease myself back into my blog! :)  This is the longest psalm AND even the longest chapter in the entire Bible.  It is a repetitive meditation on the beauty and value of God's Word.  God is addressed or referred to in nearly all of its 176 verse.  AND...this is the cool part...it is one of those constructed as an acrostic.  It devotes 8 verse to each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet....it is intended to serve as an instruction manual for living a godly life.  

I've started a notebook of little index cards to try and memorize scriptures.  If you want to know an easy acrostic and technique for memory verses, go to Beth Moore's blog (use the link to the right)  find her cute video about the scripture memory.  There are about 3 short videos that she put together in her living room to teach the "RENEW" technique for memorizing scriptures.  So, I've started with a couple and one of them is from Psalm 119: 34  "Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart!"  

Okay....keep reading...try and finish the Psalms by Sunday night for on Monday we'll begin Proverbs.  :)  Keep cool.....its 8:45pm and its STILL 102 degrees!!!!!!!! OH MY!!!!!  

Looky here.....

Day 165

Well, looky here!!  I bet you've all given up on me!!! I about have!!!!!  

We are getting ready for Hannalee's first birthday party tonight!!!! MY BABY!!! Oh me.....and her big brother will go to preschool in just over a month.  OH NO!!!   What's a mother to do???! 

Well, I'm going to try and get caught up with the blog...we are still very far behind in our own reading.  We read on vacation....but only 2 nights and not enough chapters to keep up.  So.....my "schedule" that I have says that as of today, we should be finished reading thru to the end of Psalms 132!!!!  We are not there.  We are trying to catch up!  but tomorrow I will blog a couple of chapters about what we will read tonight.   So if you are wondering what chapters we are on, we'll try and catch up this week....let's say for sure, we'll ALL be caught up and on THIS Sunday let's be finished with the Psalms.  So get to reading!!!! We will start the Proverbs on Monday night the 13th.  Then we can all read, catch up and I'll start posting again when we start the Proverbs.   MIGHT get time to do another summary of Psalms.  So....go....read!  I know I am!!!