Adopting For Life Conference- Friday & Saturday, February 26-27th 2010 from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.
The Young Family Farm »
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I like themes. Don’t you? So…if today’s post were to have one—it’d be just that! Happy day! I have all kinds of great stuff to share…still haven’t even gotten around to showing you the fun/funny auction purchases from last weekend. One day–they will make it on here;). But better stuff just keeps getting put ahead of that post idea. Like…sloppy joes for example! Well…this one my friends–is WAY better. For 2 months we have sat and waited on our list with little…very little…movement. This was to be expected as Hannah’s Hope (the orphanage in Ethiopia) just moved to a NEW, larger, safer home. Of course they were waiting to bring in more babies after the big move (which took place just after Christmas). SO…today movement began again. And that is reason to say OH HAPPY DAY! I’m really rejoicing because my sweet friend, Angie, got her referral yesterday! She has sat on the top of the list since Thanksgiving…waiting and waiting…and waiting. And I just love how God works. She thought she was #1—then found out she was #2…and the family actually at #1 was…guess where? Just a few blocks down the road from them!!! THEN…today these two families plan to meet for the FIRST time. And so finally they meet…and guess what happens WHEN they meet? Yep–Angie gets here phone call! You can read about it here: http://www.ephesians-one-five.blogspot.com/ What I really love is that they chose to keep the baby’s name as the middle name and his first name will be Micah. So his initials end up being…THE SAME as his dad’s. That of course is SO GOD to work it out that way. He has a way of confirming His perfect, pleasing, good plan for us in the neatest, sweetest ways! I’m so thrilled…giddy…ecstatic for the Walters family…and I can’t wait to SQUEAL on the phone with Angie later today! SO EXCITED to celebrate this time with their family!!! And so thankful for all the sweet friends I have made with our agency. Our agency rocks by the way;). Love my listserv friends! I can’t wait, wait, wait for the day when we see our little one’s face…but even more—I can’t wait to see him face to face! To think that is how my SAVIOR feels about ME! My heavenly Father LONGS to see ME face to face! Do *I* also long to see Him face to face?! I mean, do I think about it all the time? Do I DREAM about it? Do I make decisions based upon it?! Oh–that we would live LONGING to see Him! How sweet this adoption journey is for me…drawing me closer to seeing His face. Okay–might I add to my previous Photography 101 post? I encouraged you to try shooting at low aperatures. Some of you are frustrated thinking WHY won’t my camera go down that low?! Well, my friends—every lens has set focal ranges. SO–your lens might NOT go that low. You can look on the side of your lens and there should be a ration. For example, for that particular lens in this shot it says 1:2.8 meaning that lens will go down to 2.8. SO, you might need to invest in a lens that goes lower in aperature range to get this shot. I would recommend the 50mm lens–a must have for every photographer, amateur and mommy. It’ll go down to 1.4 and up as high as you need. No, there’s no zoom—but let your feet BE the zoom. This is the BEST lens to learn and practice manual settings and natural light photography with. And until you learn how to work with available light—you can use the 50mm and just set your kiddo right smack dab in front of a window during this winter freeze your head off time;). I have Frankie-poo facing the window and just turned a wee bit to the side here. But you’ll need a lens that you can take lower to pull it off first:) January 6 – Bible Reading – Genesis Chapters 18:1 – 21:7 Once again–today’s reading is SOOOOO good! If you are joining me this year reading through…let us really get EVERYTHING we can out of the Word this year! Let us not read to just check it off our list–but this is God’s WORD! It is sharper than a double edged sword…may it sharpen US this year…grow us closer to Him…and today’s reading—is another WOW. So much MEAT. How can I possibly cover it all? But once again…some of my highlights (and I’d love to hear yours too!) Ch 18 – So we have Abraham sitting outside the tent waiting to entertain tired travelers. He sees 3 travelers–and can tell they are special. He was quick to entertain, wash their feet and feed them the best he had to offer. These were heavenly beings in human bodies. We are to be examples of the Lord’s love to others. Check out Hebrews 13:2. Remember this when someone needs help, knocks on your door, an opportunity to serve arises! Let us be quick to serve, gracious to entertain…for some may be angels and if they are not–the Lord tells us when we serve the least of these…we are serving Him! Either way you go—our hands are to be open in service to others. On a funny note–I just have to say I *LOVE* the dialogue between Sarah and God in verse 15. MAN, she is such a GIRL. Sounds just like me. “I did not”. And what does God say back to her…”Yes you did.” OUCH. Ch.18:16-33…these verses ROCK MY FACE OFF. Yes, it’s literally off this morning and I am reminded the POWER OF PRAYER! So Abraham listens to the angels and the LORD (yep–all caps so in Hebrew it’s Jehovah) talk about Sodom. It’s turned bad…and Abraham knows if it’s bad enough the LORD will distroy it. Then Abraham starts his plea. PLEASE Lord, for the sake of 50 don’t distroy it…if there are 50 righteous spare the WHOLE place. God agreed. Abraham knows there might not be 50…so then he pleas for 45…then 40…then 30…then 20—then he sticks his life on the line (I’m getting scared FOR Abraham here being so BOLD) and he asks for 10. AND…God AGREES! OK, if there are 10 righteous I won’t do it. WOW! What an example of the power of prayer!!! A prayer of a righteous man avails much! But we must also remember that the Lord hears and answers the righteous man…and if there is ANYTHING in our own hearts with sin…we must confess that—so He forgives us—so we are forgiven and righteous through His forgiveness. And what can wash away my sin?? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! I love that hymn:) I also love verse 19 here. What a call on us to grow our families in the Lord. As a mom, I want to pour scripture and Biblical teaching into their lives. In order to be able to do this though–MY HEART has to be changed first…MY HEART has to be yoked with the Lord’s heart…MY HEART has to be open and soft…MY HEART will be what influences my husband and children—because my actions, my words, the way I live will be an overflow of my heart. AND THAT WAS JUST CHAPTER 18!!! Ch. 19–OH MY…this is where it gets crazier than MTV beach party or whatever that crazy stuff is. OK…actually I think it gets crazier than anything that comes on our tv!!! CRAZY! The angels go to Lots house. The wicked men of Sodom surround the house and start demanding Lot send the men (yes…ANGELS!) out so they can have sex with them. SICK. I’m just saying…the Bible can be full of drama. I feel like this is Double R rated here…is there a thing? Lot refuses and OFFERS his two virgin daugthers to the men. HORRIBLE. THEN…the angels pull Lot BACK in the house and ALL the men are struck with blindness!!! The angels urged Lot to get his family OUT of the city–Lot stalls because his son-in-laws (the men pledge to marry his daughters) don’t believe that the Lord is going to do anything…yet the Lord continues to pour out his mercy. They are told by LORD to RUN–DON’T LOOK BACK…JUST RUN! And I think Lot has lost his freakin’ mind because instead of immediately running he starts trying to make a deal. “Please, I can’t run to the mountains! I’ll die from the disaster! Please let me run to a small town instead!” And the LORD says, “Okay, Lot…I’ll give ya this one too…I won’t distroy the small town…but go quick.” MERCY! GRACE! MERCY! GRACE! Can you BELIEVE how full of these our LORD IS! And sure enough, Sodom is distroyed—but Lot’s wife looks back and DISOBEYS…and verse 16 says it—as crazy as it sounds…she turns into a pillar of salt. Hard to believe. But that’s what it says. I’ve never understood it and find it as hard to believe as Jonah and the whale…but it happened. Oh LORD–help us to NOT look at the world and live according to the world–but instead to look to the heavens…TO YOU…and live for you. verse 30-38…as if it couldn’t get worse…here it does. I don’t even want to write about this one. You’ll just have to read it yourself. Sin is just sick. And women are just as capable of men to do horrible sick things. Lord, how we need you! Help us to cling to you and to live righteous lives…to live how YOU want us to! Chapter 20 I am reminded today of the Lord’s goodness! His mercy and grace are more than I can imagine. He is just so good. Think about his mercy and grace throughout today—and remember Abraham’s petition to the Lord. The Lord wants you to come before Him with your requests. The great, High Priest, Jesus wants to intercede for you when you don’t know how to pray…just tell Him your heart…He longs for you to!!! Oh Lord, hear our prayers today. Help us to live for you, live through you and be used for you. AMEN! Your heart is soooo big and I love your enthusiasm! Hope to connect again sometime soon! Happy New Year!!! I finally read this morning — rather than at night — so I can perhaps contribute to the discussion. 🙂 I have to say that what floored me over and over again in today’s reading was the reminder of how sinful even the “righteous” are. I grew up learning about the fathers of our faith — Abraham, Issac, Jacob, etc — as sort of “supermen” with whom God was so pleased because they did everything right. Reading through it again and again as an adult, that image has definitely faded… but coming to the forefront is just HOW MUCH God can do with SO LITTLE. These men weren’t heroes; they were fallen, depraved, greedy, selfish, scared silly… just like ME. And if God can use them in the mighty ways He did, then surely I have hope. Praise our merciful and gracious God! Nikki I am so happy for the families that received their referrals yesterday. Such beautiful stories that only God could put together. I posted about our Bible in one year goal on my blog today. I hope others will join us 🙂 I sooo enjoyed reading the stories of the families at #1 and #2!!! Happy that your name is going up on the list….or is it “down” as in the countdown? 🙂 So excited about more referrals! Yay!!! Talk about answered prayers!! I just have to thank you for this post today. My heart just wasn’t really into the reading today, and then I come here and you are so upbeat, enthusiastic, and you learned so much! It made me rethink through the three chapters. I guess that’s why its important to do it as a group. When you are having a bad day, you can lean on those around you. So anyways, thanks! Thoughts I had: when I was reading ch. 18, in the commentary it was talking about how it was custom in those days to invite strangers in your home so that you could show how your beliefs and how you live your life so that they might believe too. I just thought that was cool and made me think…I’m often hesitant about inviting people into our home. And although you do have to protect yourself and your family, we need to think also from the perspective of showing people through actions what it means to be a Christian. The whole story of Lot was a little disturbing to me. Just full of preverse characters. I forgot how “real” the Bible is. Somehow though, it is kind of comforting to know that the world has been preverse since Genesis…sometimes I get so discouraged with how awful, sinful, ect. people are today. But it’s good to read stories like that, and see God’s forgiveness and how he blesses the rightous, and I guess just know that there is hope. Do you know what I mean? I had similar thoughts on ch. 20…REALLY? Claiming she’s your sister, AGAIN? Some people never learn…hahaha! =) Thanks again, and have a great day! Oh ANDREA!! With all the excitement I haven’t had a chance to really break down and let the tears of joy flow….but reading this and hearing our story from another person…oh it is just so much sweeter and the flood gates are open!!!! Thank you! Can’t wait to squeal over your call!!! Good grief! Whenever I think that our world has become as bad as it could, you just have to re-read these chapters! I love that Abraham was bold enough to plead with the Lord like that! Sometimes I feel as if my prayers are wimpy prayers. Like I am a begging child. Abraham approached the Lord and boldly asked Him. That shows the depth of closeness they had. Then Abraham decides to pull his favorite half-lie again. She’s my sister! same story..different king. Goodness Abraham, don’t you learn? How often do I repeat the same mistakes, just with different circumstances? It’s a boy! Isaac is born and named. Laughter…what a name. After Abraham is old and Sarah is worn out. (her words) Love it!! Is anything to hard for our Lord? (Gen. 18:14) I think of my friend Dawn with these words…Praying for you..Nothing is too hard for our God! I can so sympathize with Hagar not being able to watch her son die. After reading so many words from Ab’s mom and how she felt giving her son a chance at life. My heart breaks with those words. I feel her heartache and pain. So much enthusiasm! You basically said it all! One thing I noticed though, is that Lot’s daughters had been affected by where he chose to live. He chose what “looked” best, & look where it got him! His daughters were probably used to that life style because of where they grew up. They carried out the sinful ways of Sodom & Gomorrah by what they did to their father. They’re not all to blame though. Lot should have seen what his girls were learning. And I am amazed by Abraham doing the same thing again…lying about Sarah being his sister! But, how many times do I repeat the same sin over & over? I’ve just started following your blog today, and I must say I am astounded by your love for GOD’s Word, and I cannot wait to continue reading on :)) Hey Andrea! Just saw your facebook link to the simply love shirts…I am returning a Christmas gift to buy one for my hubby…his first adoption shirt! SO excited!!! For the body 1 lb ground beef half of an onion, chopped 3/4 of small green pepper, seeded and chopped 1 – 8 oz can tomatoe sauce (the secret is in the sauce you choose;) a bunch of ketchup;) (seriously, I squirt it in until it looks right…but I’m guessing it’s about 1/2 cup if you need a measurement…add more later if it looks like it needs it;) 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon Worchertershire sauce 1 teaspoon mustard 1/8 teapspoon garlic powder 4 sesame seed hamburger buns, toasted (MUST do! I should have tonight…and that would have put these over the top!) *Cook first 3 ingredients until beef is browned; drain. Stir in the rest of the ingredients; simmer 10 minutes, stirring often. Serve on toasted buns. YUM! For your soul Wow–just when you think you can’t add any more drama to the mix…we dig deeper. The Bible is really exciting when you get into it! OK..I have A LOT of thoughts on today’s reading…but I’m going to try to remain brief and only share the biggest WOW’s. Ch.15–I love how GOD starts this. So many times in scripture we see writers saying TO God…YOU are MY this–YOU are MY that…but here God, Himself, comes down in a vision to Abram and says “Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your very great reward.” WOW. God HIMSELF. That blew me away as I thought about God’s grace in this. God is Abram’s reward. He is his protector. What do WE have to fear when we are God’s? And Abram’s response? Seems a little surprising. He asks but what God can give him since he is childless. Seems pretty bold. But Abram knew God’s promise already and wants this promise furfilled. So he asks. And the Lord confirms. Ch. 16–God made His promise…told Abram the deal–but Sarai and Abram got anxious…impatient…thought they would help God out a little bit on His promise. Although according to custom a man could sleep with his servant and include her children in his household–something just doesn’t seem right about it, does it?! And we see the fruit of this as this plan to use Hagar to bear Abrams descendants instead brings jealousy and sorrow. I felt like Sarai was cruel to kick Hagar (pregnant Hagar!) to the curb. That made me so sad to think about! YET…the Lord saw Hagar’s misery…and HE CAME AND SPOKE TO HER. ONLY the LORD could call her back. I mean, can you imagine?! If I were Hagar and someone said, go back and SERVE Sarai I would have laughed my head off…YEAH RIGHT! But the LORD comes down and even says a blessing to her that he will increase her descendents and she returns obediently. (With the added bummer to Ismael’s spoken future…just not what I would want to hear prophesied of my unborn son). Ch. 17–Are you believing the drama? And today we end with Chapter 17–one of my all time favorites. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. It reminds me of us giving our adopted son a new name. Just like Abram, he will have NEW hope, a NEW family, a NEW future…seems to call for a NEW name. I love this story of God coming down and telling Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son. OF COURSE he and his 90 year old self fell facedown and laughed! And he was instructed to name him Isaac. (love that name by the way…storing that one in my heart;). Finally, I love that the Lord established a covenant with Abraham and instructed him to circumcise himself (ouch!) and every male in his household. And when did he follow the Lord’s instructions? (vs.23) THE SAME DAY! Sincere obedience makes no delay. One phrase those who know me well hear me say over and over is “delayed obedience is disobedience”. As a mommy, I shorten that down to “obey right away” to the children. Oh, that when the Lord asks us to do something, when he puts something on our hearts to do…oh that we would HEAR and “obey right away”. Easier said than done. But I pray 2010 can be a year for listening, hearing…and obeying–quickly. What is the Lord asking you to do today, this week, this year for His glory? Forgive someone you haven’t? Love someone who is hard to love? Make a meal for someone…even when you are doing good to just make a meal for your own family? Sponsor a child who needs your help? Open your home to a foster child or orphan? What is it God is asking you to do? The only way to know–is to open your heart—open your hands—ask Him…and then…pray that you can obey right away like Abraham. May you each have a beautiful and blessed day. Let’s remember to pray for our children as they go back to school (my oldest heads back to half day preK this morning). And help us Lord to be filled with your Holy Spirit—come down and fill us—and pour Yourself out into our children’s lives in a way our own flesh never could. AMEN. XOXO! ANDREA Andrea, I agree on the obeying today! The neat thing that I read is that Issac was born a year later…after circumcision…kinda neat. My head was in a fog this morning…but here are my thoughts: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Do I feel as if God is my very great reward? Do I live my life like He is? “You are the God who see me” I am so thankful that God sees me…all of me..my hurts, my dreams, my passions, my desires, my areas that need refining, and the things that I have finally relinquished control of. He rejoices with me and He hears my cry. I love that about my God. Abram and Sarai had trouble trusting God with His promises…not unlike me at times…so they decided to take matters in their own hands. Never a good idea. Sometimes I think that poor Hagar really got the short end of the stick with all this. I would love to know more about how she felt. Abram became Abraham and Sarai became Sarah. I love this part of the story…total name change to go with everything that God was establishing in your life…do you ever want to change your name? “I am God Almighty: walk before me and be blameless” My desire for 2010. THANK YOU for posting that sloppy joe’s recipe. I know that sounds super silly but my husband grew up eating them and well…i did not. He always suggests them but the culinary student in me can’t say yes. That recipe sounds really good so maybe it will go into next week’s menu. He will be so excited! And we were out of town for the first few days of the new year but I have been reading. I’m a day behind right now but I hope to be up to speed by today or tomorrow! I am loving it though and getting so much out of it! Thank you thank you thank you! Keep the tips coming. I will soon be upgrading my camera and I hope to get better and better at taking pictures. I’m a slow learner. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful photography secrets. It will come in handy as I am still trying to figure out the manuel mode on my camera. It no longer has an auto button which I am thankful for. What kind of camera do you have? I have a DS 300. I was amazed at how Abram heard what God told him, that he would have many nations born of him, & he believed. Then I guess he & his wife thought God was taking too long. They tried to fix it on their on or make it happen when they wanted. It seems it was Sarai’s idea & Abram went along with it, so they were both at fault. How many times do I not have patience to wait for God’s timing? Thank you for the kind words on my blog. I am so glad you found me so that I could find you. I have only read the first post and I am excited to read more! Your photography is amazing!! I feel the same about a flash…hate them! I have turned into a health nut over the last few months… if I wasn’t one already for the past 10 years. A really delicious snack I’ll recommend to you is this: Vanilla Yogurt, pour plain or almond granola on top generously, then sprinkle dried blueberries and small thinly sliced Gala Apples (Can’t find Gala? Go for Golden Delicious). Mmmmmmmm…. Soooo good. Shot with my Nokia. Hahahaha.. I love you, Andrea!!!! -KT I have turned into a health nut over the last few months… if I wasn’t one already for the past 10 years. A really delicious snack I’ll recommend to you is this: Vanilla Yogurt, pour plain or almond granola on top generously, then sprinkle dried blueberries and small thinly sliced Gala Apples (Can’t find Gala? Go for Golden Delicious). Mmmmmmmm…. Soooo good. Shot with my Nokia. Hahahaha.. I love you, Andrea!!!! -KT (http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs017.snc3/12460_194161371681_698751681_3506678_738097_n.jpg) Thank you for the sloppy joe recipe. I love me some sloppy joes:) I will have to try out your recipe. On the Bible reading, Paul and I are really enjoying our reading and discussions at night. I also feel a step ahead because I have your insights before I read it. I have never thought about the renaming of A & S being a renewing of hope…like adoption. I love that thought. Oh man! Those sloppy joes look amazing! Thank you so much for sharing…that will be a must-try in my home. And btw – you seem to cook JUST like I do! It may not be a professional’s style, but hey! It gets the job done and tastes good! =) Loved your insight on chapter 17! Tears graze my cheeks…once again! (And if you know me, that happens to be quite abit!) Thank you for your photography 101 helpful hints. I have always loved the light in your pictures. I love Adam Sandler too, and Napoleon and Will Ferrell are also favorites. I think I’ve seen Elf a hundred times and it never gets old! I’m definitely giving the sloppy joe recipe a try…looks yummy! Onto the reading…so full of good stuff to reflect on. Everytime I read the story of Hagar I feel so sad for her. I totally agree..how did she go back and serve Sarai? And it so speaks to my heart in the sense that I often try to *help* God along with His plans…Ha! I struggle with waiting and patience and ask why not my timing Lord? I think I’m deserving because I’m asking for “good” things. But time and time again he shows me how perfect His plan is…I am so grateful. I have read this verse before, “Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your very great reward.” but you got me all sorts of excited about it! Great writing! BTW, I love sloppy joe and anything sweet! I am copying this recipe and will cook it up this weekend. Thanks for sharing!!! -Alisa Hope For the body 1 lb ground beef half of an onion, chopped 3/4 of small green pepper, seeded and chopped 1 – 8 oz can tomatoe sauce (save your $ – off brand is just as good!) a bunch of ketchup;) (seriously, I squirt it in until it looks right…but I’m guessing it’s about 1/2 cup if you need a measurement…add more later if it looks like it needs it;) 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon Worchertershire sauce 1 teaspoon mustard 1/8 teapspoon garlic powder 4 sesame seed hamburger buns, toasted (MUST do! I should have tonight…and that would have put these over the top!) *Cook first 3 ingredients until beef is browned; drain. Stir in the rest of the ingredients; simmer 10 minutes, stirring often. Serve on toasted buns. YUM! For the mind Here are two images I snagged quickly at a playdate with my dear friend Laurie while my kids were munching on snacks with their friends at the table–the boy might look like his daddy…but he’s got his momma’s eyes… For your soul Wow–just when you think you can’t add any more drama to the mix…we dig deeper. The Bible is really exciting when you get into it! OK..I have A LOT of thoughts on today’s reading…but I’m going to try to remain brief and only share the biggest WOW’s. Ch.15–I love how GOD starts this. So many times in scripture we see writers saying TO God…YOU are MY this–YOU are MY that…but here God, Himself, comes down in a vision to Abram and says “Do not be afraid…I am your shield, your very great reward.” WOW. God HIMSELF. That blew me away tonight. God is Abram’s reward. He is his protector. What do WE have to fear when we are God’s? And Abram’s response? Seems a little surprising. He asks but what God can give him since he is childless. Seems pretty bold. But Abram knew God’s promise already and wants this promise furfilled. So he asks. And the Lord confirms. Ch. 16–God made His promise…told Abram the deal–but Sarai and Abram got anxious…impatient…thought they would help God out a little bit on His promise. Although according to custom a man could sleep with his servant and include her children in her household–something just doesn’t seem right about it. And we see the fruit of this as this plan to use Hagar to bear Abrams descendants instead brings jealousy and sorrow. I felt like Sarai was cruel to kick Hagar (pregnant Hagar!) to the curb. That made me so sad to think about! YET…the Lord saw Hagar’s misery…and HE CAME AND SPOKE TO HER. ONLY the LORD could call her back. I mean, can you imagine?! If I were Hagar and someone said, go back and SERVE Sarai I would have laughed my head off…YEAH RIGHT! But the LORD comes down and even says a blessing to her that he will increase her descendents and she returns obediently. (With the added bummer to Ismael’s spoken future…just not what I would want to hear prophesied of my unborn son). Ch. 17–Are you believing the drama? And today we end with Chapter 17–one of my all time favorites. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. It reminds me of us giving our adopted son a new name. Just like Abram, he will have NEW hope, a NEW family, a NEW future…seems to call for a NEW name. I love this story of God coming down and telling Abraham that Sarah would bear him a son. OF COURSE he and his 90 year old self fell facedown and laughed! And he was instructed to name him Isaac. (love that name by the way…storing that one in my heart;). Finally, I love that the Lord established a covenant with Abraham and instructed him to circumcise himself (ouch!) and every male in his household. And when did he follow the Lord’s instructions? (vs.23) THE SAME DAY! Sincere obedience makes no delay. One phrase those who know me well hear me say over and over is “delayed obedience is disobedience”. As a mommy, I shorten that down to “obey right away” to the children. Oh, that when the Lord asks us to do something, when he puts something on our hearts to do…oh that we would HEAR and “obey right away”. Easier said than done. But I pray 2010 can be a year for listening, hearing…and obeying–quickly. May you each have a beautiful and blessed day. Let’s remember to pray for our children as they go back to school (my oldest heads back to half day preK this morning). And help us Lord to be filled with your Holy Spirit—come down and fill us—and pour Yourself out into our children’s lives in a way our own flesh never could. AMEN. XOXO! ANDREA Today’s Reading: Genesis 11:1-26, 1 Chronicles 1:24-27, Genesis 11:27-14:24 It’s not too late to jump in our read through the Bible in 2010 if you are just now catching today’s post. The pdf printable file for reading through is linked on the January 1st post. Thoughts from today’s reading: On an interesting note for those of you concerned about the small population (sisters, brothers, cousins, etc) having to marry one another check out verse 11:29–Nahor married Milcah. Milcah’s father is Haran…and um–Haran is Nahor’s brother. OK…so if you are slow–that means Nahor married his niece. OK…just a little interesting point there. Gen.12This chapter is when Genesis takes a turn. You go from broad creation to general run down of who’s who–and then in chapter 12 God narrows in on Abram. And chapter 12 is like the best and worst of Abram all in one. He obediently drops EVERYTHING and follows the Lord. The Lord says He will bless Abram and his discendents will populate the earth…and everything is going great–UNTIL…he decides to lie to Pharaoh because he is scared Pharaoh will kill him to take his wife. Abram is always noted for his faith–but here it is his distrust in the creator that leads him to sin (lie) and expose both his wife and the Egyptians to sin. I don’t know about you–but makes you wonder what Sarai was thinking during all of this! Gen. 13 and 14 Much can be said of these two chapters but the highlight to me is Lot’s choice, Abram letting him chose and then coming to rescue him from his bad choice. I thought Matthew Henry’s commentary of these verses said it best: OH…that I will cling all the more tightly to the Savior! Help me Lord to look to you and not to the world. Help me to make decisions based on what is best for my soul and the souls of my husband and children rather than appearances. When I mother my children throughout the day–help me to remember that I am impacted souls. I need you Lord! Andrea, It makes me laugh when we have the same thoughts on stuff..such as Sarai’s thinking during all that! And I love the t-shirts! Also, I sent you an email on the zambia t-shirts…did you get it? Genesis 11-14:24 and 1 Chronicles 1:24-27 Wow, lots of different things going on today. I love to place myself in the Word and pretend that I am there and imagine all that’s going on. It’s a way that I keep God’s Word alive…It is so easy to just read it to get it done—a legalistic kind of thing. But God’s Word is here to change your life and to change your heart…Let it do both. Gen 11. Tower of Babel vs.4 “Make a name for ourselves” What towers am I building in my life to make a name for myself? What am I doing just to be higher so that other can see? A tower of self-righteousness? A tower of good works? A tower of seemingly to know it all? May God destroy all the towers that I build publicly and in my heart that only I see. vs. 5 “But the Lord came down” Okay..imagine that! The Lord coming down. What did that look like? Could they even see him? It says “Let us go down” which speaks to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Did they all stand upon a mountain and watch and talk? I just love that reference. One thing that I like is that They did come down. Didn’t have to. Could see just fine from Heaven but God chose to come down and be among. Remind you of anything ? The cross. Didn’t have to. Chose to. I am so thankful that He did. Gen 12..vs. 13. Okay Abram, only half lied, right? Sarai was his half-sister! It’s interesting to me that Abram made a decision there without ever consulting the Lord. He imagined what could happen (and it very well could have) and came up with a scheme. I’d like some more details to all of this…How in the world did Sarai feel about all this? She was taken to his palace…I’m assuming having perform certain duties…I would have been ticked off a bit. I know there is a different culture and such, but that would have been a hard thing to submit to! God being God, intervened. It doesn’t say though how Pharaoh came to know Sarai was his wife…hmmm. Gen 14…Abram and Lot… Vs 8 –some of the men falling into tar pits…doesn’t that paint quite a picture? vs. 22 Abram accepted nothing from the king of Sodom so that he couldn’t say that he made him rich…It would have made him richer…but here he chose the high rode and accepted nothing. Everyone have a great Monday! Great pics Parker. Looks like you might have another photographer in the family 🙂 I was thinking the same thing as far as the “airport t-shirt”…but just hadn’t ordered it yet! Thanks for the prompting…I just got one for my hubby and me! I am starting to feel like our case is moving and excited with anticipation! We need the judge in India to pass us through 4 court hearings b/f we can travel!!! AND…we don’t hear anything until they are all done! Praying for a March Miracle! Excited that the kids are in the new HH and for the referral list to start crack’in:-) haven’t read today’s reading yet but looking forward to it:) I can’t believe that I haven’t noticed before how when God speaks, he keeps using the words “lets” and “us” referring to the trinity! I’m also noticing that since the flood, when God gave them shorter life spans…men are having children (or their wives, whatever) at a younger age and dying younger. Still much older than us, but quite a difference! Oh, and what size did you get in your ordinary hero tshirt? I thought I heard from Kristi that they ran small, but I can’t remember…. I noticed the shortened life span too. Before the flood they lived 800-900 years old. Then after it was around the 400’s then it went down again to the 200’s! I also noticed how Abram did have faith to immediately drop everything & go where God told him, but when it got tough, he lost his faith. Do I do that when the going gets tough? I hope to fully rely on God & remember that He is in ultimate control. However, even though Abram messed up, God still used him. Abram lied about Sarai being his sister, but then several verses later God blessed him tremendously! God uses us reguardless of ourselves. He can still accomplish His will & it’s not contingent on our faith. I loved this t-shirt too. It is the first Orphan Advocate shirt that I have bought! I get lots of comments too from other people! I can’t wait to wear it to the airport when you bring your 4th baby home! |
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This was shot at my happy place at 2.8 aperature, 250 shutter speed—and the light was low…so I bumped up my ISO to 800. It works. Because my little bits were sitting side-by-side and the lightsource is the same, this next image has the same settings.
And you know how I feel about watermarking. A must for your images. You might not think you are going places with your photography skills–but you don’t want your images going places without your permission…so protect yourself. Was that a song title in the 80’s? Sounds like one. Here is a free watermarking tool: 
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Where is this? Drew and I want to go. (I might just be missing some very obvious information but I didn’t see where it said this was taking place.)