Soul Restoration

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul." Ps. 23:2-3a

In 2004 Charlie and I were led to tear down our sixty-five year old cottage. It needed a ton of work as it was sinking precariously into the ground. The reason we waited so long was the old building sat so beautifully close to the lake. If we rebuilt, the DNR said we had to move the new structure so that it measured seventy-five feet back from the lake in every direction. We finally decided to bite the bullet and began clearing the land. Down went the old beloved structure and up went the new. Our lakehouse now sits on the point with water on three sides. We never dreamed that we would have such great views because the trees had been so thick that we couldn't see what a beautiful point was behind us. Sometimes you can't see the lake for the trees, as the old saying doesn't go.

Remembering our great family times at the lake over the years, we decided to give the new site a name: Restoration Point after Psalm 23 - "He restores my soul." Since then, we have seen much soul restoration occur in lives during time spent at Restoration Point.

This Christmas, the first anniversary of Nick's homegoing, we all spent ten days together at the lakehouse. There were twenty - four of us. We were all together for the first time since December 23rd, 2010 with its sad events. Many prayers went up for our family and the Lord answered. We had an amazing time. There was even a three month old baby with us that our oldest son and his wife are in the process of adopting. Little Elizabeth flew with them all the way from Alaska.

After everyone left, I started praying about my own direction for 2012. 2011 was a year of grieving for me, but now I am impressed that it is time to begin moving on. In the quiet of "Restoration Point," I received some good words for 2012. I would like to share them with you because I think they show us all clearly how to move on to whatever God has for us in this new year. They are taken from the "Our Daily Bread Devotional Journal" for 2012.

"The word connected captures our contemporary experience of life. Many people rarely go anywhere without a cell phone, iPod, laptop, or pager. We have become accessible twenty-four hours a day. Some psychologists see this craving to stay connected as an addiction. Yet a growing number of people are deliberately limiting their use of technology. Being a "tech-no" is their way of preserving times of quiet, while limiting the flow of information into their lives.

Many followers of Christ find that a daily time of Bible reading and prayer is essential in their walk of faith. This "quiet time" is a disconnection from external distractions in order to connect with God. The "green pastures" and "still waters" of Psalm 23 are more than an idyllic country (lake?) scene. They speak of our communion with God whereby He restores our souls and leads us in His paths.

All of us can take time to meet with God, but do we? In Robert Foster's booklet "7 Minutes With God" he suggests a way to begin: Start with a brief prayer for guidance, then read the Bible for a few minutes, and close with a short time of prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication for others. It's vital to take time today to connect with the Lord, who is our life." (David C. McCasland)

Once again, God has used "Restoration Point" to "point" me in the way He wants me to go in 2012. Wherever we are, we can make time to meet with God, knowing that we will experience soul restoration in His presence.

Happy 2012 to you all!

Is Narnia Melting?

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ." II Corinthians 1: 3-5

It has been nearly eight months since Nick died. My grandchild. Charlie's grandson. My children's son and nephew. My grandchildren's brother and cousin. His young life cut off and ended at the youthful age of sixteen. His driver's license three weeks old in the wallet handed to his parents.

I wrote about Nick's death in the previous blog thinking that I would journal my way through grief. But it didn't work that way. I couldn't write about this horrific family loss because all of a sudden I realized that my heart had frozen and locked up like a computer. There was nothing I could do to get it going again. I couldn't write about anything! Not even simple thank you notes. Whenever I started to write, I would stare out the window. I was numb and mute like the cold icey outdoors. When asked when I was going to blog again, I could only shake my head in silence. Sometimes I would say, "When the Lord gives, I guess." And I wondered, would He ever choose to give again?"

I talked to my friend who is a counselor. She said, "Betsy, you are trying to process your grief. Don't do that. When you are in so much pain, you can't process. Just lean into Jesus and let Him comfort you in His way and in His time."

That was very good counsel. I heard the Lord speaking to me through her words. It's the advice that I'd pass on to anyone who is suffering from deep loss. Lean into Jesus and let Him comfort you in His way and in His time. So that's what I did and that's what I am still doing. I have been amazed at the special comfort that He gives and sends into our deepest pain. I've given it a name - God's Customized Comfort. It's tailor made for us but we have to learn to lean into Him and receive it. Isn't that what the Christian's joyful journey is all about - "learning to lean , learning to lean, learning to lean on Jesus," as the beautiful old hymn tells us?

But lately, just lately, I feel a thawing, a melting deep within the innermost parts of my soul. It's like being in the northwoods and hearing a trickle of water surging up in the deep snow of a long winter. When you hear it, you pause and ask, "Is winter melting? Can it be? Will the newness of spring really come?"

Creative thoughts are beginning to gently rise like little bubbles in a kettle of water that sits on a gas flame and is almost ready to boil. There are things I want to write down and share about God's Customized Comfort. His goodness and tenderness in His care for me doing this time has been so healing. He has used His Word and He has brought people in ways that I could never have imagined before Nick went to be with Him. I would like to comfort others with the comfort that He has given me: "who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble , with the "customized" comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." II Cor. 1:4

Am I through the valley? No, I'm not. There is still a long walk ahead. I know that. In the "old days" women wore black for a year when they were mourning a lost loved one. That seems like a long time to wear black clothes but grief takes a long time. I've learned that. Maybe, after a year, my heart will reach into its closet, throw the black mourning veils in the hamper and clothe itself in colors again. Meanwhile I continue day by day to follow my friend's wise counsel and to lean into the pain finding that God's comfort is real and underneath are His Everlasting arms.

Aslon has been there and He is healing. I am listening, perhaps, maybe..... I hear the trickling stream and Narnia is starting to melt.

Peace, Good Will Toward Men!

My dear friend, Janey, who lives in Birmingham, sent this wonderful writing in her Christmas letter this year. I loved the thought and so, dear blog friends and family, I'm passing it on to you.

Janey wrote: "In Psalm 23:5 David says God's flock is fed in the presence of our enemies. God asks us to pray for our enemies - those who for some reason do not agree with our loyalties to faith and family or country. For this reason, I am including a writing of Mother Teresa that has been a reminder to me this year of what the angels sang at Jesus' birth, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14. May we all use the love given us to practice this in the coming year to those who do not know the luxury of God's approval because of the personal acceptance of His Son as Savior."

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end it is between you and God. It never was between you and them anyway.

Thanks, Janey, for sharing how God wants us to behave "toward men" (toward everyone) as we travel life's joyful journey.

Asphalt Prayers

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Isaiah 43-45)

“Thus says the Lord, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker; Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.” Is. 45:ll

Charlie and I were distraught. He had reached the end of his rope with one of his employees. The man refused to come under his authority and repeatedly made it clear that he felt that he should have had Charlie’s job. His wife obviously felt the same way because she mocked and ridiculed me to her friends.

I remember the night that my husband and I took God at His Word. We went outside to pray under His great sky. The full moon was shining down on our asphalt driveway making it glisten in the bright light. We prayed together and fervently entreated the Lord. This was our prayer:

“Oh, Lord, You know how desperate we are about this couple. We have loved them, we have been patient, and we have prayed and tried to do Your will concerning them. But, things are getting so difficult that if You don’t intervene and do something drastic; we aren’t going to be able to do your will in this mill. Either change our hearts, or change their hearts, or remove them!”

Two days later, they accepted a transfer to another job. Later he left the company. Our fervent prayer on the asphalt had been answered. After this couple left, there was a different atmosphere in the mill. Charlie was able to move forward in many areas without this man obstinately blocking him.

Since then, we have uttered many “asphalt prayers” in various situations. We learned through that evening’s ardent prayer that sometimes God is saying to us, "Tell me what you want Me to do.” He continues; “I have made the earth, And created man on it. It was I- My hands that stretched out the heavens, And all their host I have commanded.” Is. 45:12. How incredible is it that this Lord of the entire universe instructs us to call to Him and use His unfathomable power in our lives? He tells us this over and over again in so many verses such as “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails (accomplishes) much ”James 5:16.

I don’t mind it when my children tell me what they want. I like to hear their needs, their goals, and their desires. I like to be a part of answering them. I would be so dismayed if they never uttered them to me and always said, “Whatever you want, Mom!”

And yet, if you’re like me, how often our prayers to God are so insipid. We say, “Well, Lord, Your will be done” over and over again. I wonder if God gets bored with that. “Asphalt prayers” take thought and effort and time. We actually have to think through what we want to talk to God about. They involve passion and urgency and earnest expectation. They’re more than sending up a spiritual text.

Martin Luther prayed a zowie of an “asphalt prayer “ when, kneeling by the bed of his dying colleague, Phillip Melanchon, he forbade death to take its victim.

Abraham, himself, boldly interceded with God in all humility about Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Read about Abraham’s intervention for the righteous in Genesis 18:16-32. It’s a fascinating interaction between the man of God and his Creator.

Are we effectively using the power that God offers us so freely as His children? Matthew Henry says: "We may not strive with our Maker by passionate complaints, but we may wrestle with him by faithful and fervent prayer." Jacob did just that when he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." (Gen. 32:26)

Our "asphalt prayers" remind us that when we are incapable of helping ourselves, we can depend on the power of our great and wonderful heavenly Father to do amazing things.

All My Life?

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Prov. 20-22)

"Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it." Prov. 22:6

"I wonder what we'll do with him for the next eighteen years?"

Charlie uttered these words as he looked down at our firstborn son wrapped tightly in his little blue blanket. We had just come home from the hospital and my husband and my mother and I were all gazing devotedly at our tiny new baby sleeping quietly in the bed.

Mom looked at Charlie incredulously and said, "Well, it will be a lot longer than eighteen years. It will be all of your life!"

Neither he nor I had been raised around babies. We didn't have a clue. We both stared at her blankly and wondered what we should do next. We didn't have to ponder long. Twenty four hours later, our morning delight had changed to late evening weariness. Ethan's brand new little outfits were in the wash, I was sore all over, and his diaper needed changing - again. There were three of us attending this little son and we were exhausted. One seven pound baby had turned our lives upside down. " All of our lives" seemed like a very long time.

Six weeks later, we novices were experts on this little fellow......

We knew his eating schedule and we recognized his different cries - "I am hungry, I'm uncomfortable, I need attention!" We could rock him just the way he liked to help him fall asleep. Our newly learned parenting prowess was exciting and satisfying. It's amazing to me that God gives young parents this ability to go from being clueless about babies to becoming uniquely knowledgeable about their own little child's physical needs very quickly.

Meeting our little one's physical needs was tiring but not that difficult. The true challenge was investing in his emotional and spiritual needs "training him up in the way that he should go." The word "train' doesn't mean a choo-choo. We learned that in the Bible the word, "train," has three ideas: dedication, instruction, and motivation.

First of all, we are to dedicate our child to God, recognizing that he is a gift that God has entrusted to us. Our dedication is an action that reflects our understanding that he belongs exclusively to God and we are to raise him as good stewards of this gift.

Secondly, we parents are to instruct our children in the ways of the Lord. We are to teach them how to please God. They are to study and learn and memorize His Word. It is our responsibility to place them under the influence of Godly people who will lovingly instruct them in His ways.

Thirdly, in Jewish writings, this word "train" means motivate. The meaning of this word in Arabic is likened to the action of a midwife who stimulates the palate of a newborn infant with dates or crushed grapes so that it will start sucking. Parents are to stimulate a taste within their child so that he is motivated in his heart to follow God, not by compelling him externally but by creating an inner desire for the Lord.

"Train up a child in the way he should go." Who are we to train up? A child. The word means "dependent" and as long as a child is dependent on his parents, he is to be the recipient of dedication, instruction, and motivation. There are many stages in a child's life and we are to do this throughout each stage.

If we do this, "when he is old, he will not depart from it" the proverb assures us. Old has the connotation of "when he is not dependent." As parents, we are to do the best that we can to dedicate, instruct and motivate our children while they are dependents. Then we are to rest in the last words of this beautiful exhortation trusting that God will bring it to pass in His way and in His time.

This son is a pastor in Alaska now. He and his family were here for the reunion. As he led our Sunday morning family service, it brought us great joy to sit under his wise teaching of God's Word. I looked at Charlie who was listening intently. and remembered, "What do you do with him for the next eighteen years?" We had learned, parenting lasts a lot longer - not eighteen years but for a lifetime. Christian parenting always involves dedicating, instructing and motivating and most of all trusting that "when they are old, they will not depart from it."

The Shining "Son"

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Proverbs 4-7)

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter until the perfect day." Prov. 4:18

The nurse must have had a bad night's sleep. She flipped through my chart and said rather irritably: "Didn't you know you weren't supposed to get pregnant right after your last miscarriage? You should have waited!"

I wasn't a Christian then, but I knew in my heart that this new little life growing inside of me was a gift of God...no matter what the grumpy nurse thought. Taking a deep breath, I smiled at her and said, "It will be all right."

And "it" was. God took care of my baby as we moved from Wisconsin to South Carolina and then to a new home twenty days before he entered the world. He was born on a scorching hot July day, but it was air conditioned and peaceful in the room where I labored - with a good nurse attending me. Later, as I held him in my arms, Charlie and I beamed at this amazing new creation and named him Theodore, a name that means "gift of God."

The years have flown. He is a man now about to send his firstborn off to college. I was watching him at our recent family reunion. He was organizing, encouraging, helping, and keeping us all laughing. As I watched two year old Joseph reach up his hands and call "Uncle Ted, Uncle Ted, pick me up!" I realized again that I had had no idea back in that first doctor's visit, how "all right" this new life would be. The joy and love and comfort our second son has brought to our lives and to the lives of so many is without limit.

Six years years after Ted was born, Charlie and I became Christians. We were drawn by God into a relationship with the true Son of Righteousness, Jesus Christ. As baby Christians, we had no idea of all the things the Son of God would become to us. But as the years have passed, Jesus has been all that His Word promised and so much more. Jesus has proved to be a very fine Savior.

My heart is filled with praise and thanksgiving as I write this morning. Praise for a wonderful Savior and thankfulness for another great son. Happy Birthday, Ted. May this verse bring you hope and direction for your new year of life, "The path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter until the perfect day. May the true Son of God keep shining through you until we reach that perfect day.

In my very prejudiced opinion, forty plus years ago I spoke rightly when I said thusly, "It will be all right!"

Tombstones and Flatscreens

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (II Kings 22-24)

Josiah was eight years old when he bcame king and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.

And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." II Kings 22:1,2

Nine year old Rachel and her two year old brother have been staying with us for the last three weeks while their parents and two older siblings are in Africa on a ministry trip for the Navigators. Grandpa and Grandma's lives have picked up a bit of speed. Things have been slow on the blog but fast around our house.

Rachel and I have spent some time at the cemetery watering flowers and sprucing up family graves. One day we took our Bibles and sat by my mom and dad's gravestone and read I Cor. 15 - the resurrection chapter. We shared about the new bodies that we'd get in heaven and all the people that we would see who were already there. I said that we would have a lot of catching up to do.

"Oh, No, Grandma," Rachel reflected, "They will already know all about our lives. I think that when we get to heaven there will be flat screen TVs and we'll be able to look at them and see what the people on earth are doing."

"I don't know about that," I laughed a little. "You know the Bible says there will be no tears in heaven, so it might make us sad to see all the things that everyone is doing. But, I sure would like to see the awesome flat screens that God made!"

"We wouldn't be sad at all!" she replied positively. "God would have the remotes set so that every time somebody sinned, we would switch channels."

I thought, "We might be switching channels a lot!" but I didn't say that because I was thinking about her nine year old mind and how sweet it is.

We walked around the cemetery reading the tombstones and discussing the brevity of some of the lives. Rachel remarked that she wished she knew more about the people who rested in each grave.

"Yes," I said to my young kindred spirit, "Every tombstone has a story."

Rachel was quiet as we drove home. Then she turned to me and said. "When I grow up, I am going to write about people in a book and illustrate it. Guess what the title is going to be?"

"What?" I said with great interest.

"Why," she responded, "Every Tombstone Has A Story" of course!"

Josiah became king of Judah at the young age of eight. His heart was turned toward the Lord and he "did not turn aside to the right hand or the left." What a neat guy! I wonder if he was watching us from heaven on a flat screen as Rachel and I strolled past the flower filled stones. Someday we'll meet him and ask him, won't we?

An African "Boodle!"

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (II Kings 18-20)

“In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord; ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’

Then he (Hezekiah) turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying,

“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” II Kings 20: 1-3

The voice at the other end of the line was unintelligible. The man that I had reached knew what he was saying but I didn’t have a clue. He was speaking Zambian and I was communicating in English. He shouted something that sounded like “Boodle! Boodle!” When I asked for my daughter again, he raised his voice louder and shouted – “Boodle!!!!”

Have you ever tried to call someone in Africa? On their cell phone? It is a challenge that is almost unexplainable.

When Katie and Norman left for Zambia a week ago, they left us house numbers and cell phone numbers. Of course there are cell phones in Africa. Anyone knows that. (Actually I didn’t. When I thought of Africa, I thought of David Livingston talking about the smoke of a thousand fires.) The cell phones work – sometimes. The challenge is getting the bazillion numbers that you have to dial to go thousands of miles and reach the right person. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

The next day I tried again. To my surprise I heard my daughter’s voice on the other end of the line. “Mom,” she said sounding incredulous. “It is a miracle that you got me! We’re in a Jeep traveling on a dirt road in the bush!”

“Yesterday,” I said, “I got an African man who kept saying “Boodle” louder and louder!”

“Yes,” she answered from the jungle, “they speak very emphatically here. In the US we would think they are having an argument, but they’re not.”

Then the line clicked off. But I had spoken to my daughter in Zambia on her cell phone in Africa! A miracle of communication in today’s world.

King Hezekiah was dying. The prophet, Isaiah, had come to tell him that he should set his house in order because he was about to die. But the king wasn’t ready to die and so he turned his face toward the wall and prayed. He said, “’Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” (II Kings 20:1-3)

That’s all he did. He turned his face toward the wall and prayed and cried. He didn’t dial any numbers or wait for a ring or get the wrong person shouting “Boodle.” He turned over in his bed and cried out to the Lord and immediately got an answer.

“Then it happened before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,

“Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people. ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you.” II Kings 20:4-5)

Katie said it was a miracle that I reached her in the bush. It was. But the greatest miracle of all is prayer. I can wake up in the night and turn my face to the wall and pray for my daughter and family in Africa and know that God is saying to me, “I have heard your prayer!”

Wow! No boodles about that.

A Miracle In the North Woods

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (I Kings 5-7)

“And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.” I Kings 6:7

Saturday night, Charlie and I witnessed a miracle in the north woods of Wisconsin. We attended the dedication of Praise Chapel Community Church in Crandon. Exactly seven years ago in April, the people of this sweet congregation started building a church. The tiny building that they had called home for many years was bursting at the seams and so, after much prayer, they were led by God to rise up and build. This wasn’t the ordinary church building program. It was decided that the new Praise Chapel would be built by faith– they would do it themselves as the money came in. The money did come, the people did build, and the Lord granted them health and safety as they worked. Saturday night we joined with half the community of Crandon and celebrated the dedication of this wonderful debt free “miracle built by God.”

As I sat in the church, I thought about the “coincidence” that in our reading through the Bible, we are right at the dedication of the temple. I don’t believe in coincidences in our lives, I deem them miracles of God’s amazing timing as He orchestrates our lives moment by moment. Eph.2:10 tells us “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before the foundation of the world that we should walk in them.”

In today’s reading, we are told that Solomon’s temple was built without the noise of craftsmen. The huge stones were finished at the quarry. In keeping with the holiness of the structure being crafted, there was no sounding of hammers or chisels or any iron tool in the construction of the lovely building.

This is a good reminder to us not to mistake noise for spiritual progress. We tend to measure the importance of things by the excitement they generate. Yet, we are conformed into the image of Jesus not by noisy human efforts but silently by the power of the Holy Spirit as day by day He perfects His power within every believer.

This happens in our quiet times as we read the Word and meditate on the things that He tells us. Maybe that’s why Christians are told to have “quiet times,” not “noisy” times. We are urged to settle down and listen to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit as He guides and leads us on the paths of righteousness. He, alone, shows us the course our journey is to take and directs us to the things that need to be done on a daily basis. “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Is. 30:15

And then one day, His workmanship is finished and there is a dedication – it may be the temple in Israel or Praise Chapel in the north woods of Wisconsin.

We are told to “sit quietly before the Lord – to wait patiently before Him” as He amazingly does His work on this earth through the likes of believers like us.

Those Moldy Bread People Again

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (II Sam. 21-22)

“Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year, and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.” II Sam. 21:1

My daughter-in-love Denise has a great system for remembering things. When she thinks of things she needs to do, she immediately writes a sticky note and adheres it to her kitchen counter. Then when she goes out the door, she just checks her sticky notes to see if she has everything.

Our family joke is – if it gets on one of Denise’s sticky notes, it will happen!

We all have little ways that we use to help us retain information. Today’s reading reminds us again that we have an omniscient God who remembers everything. He never forgets. He invented sticky notes for us, but He doesn’t need them.

King David had a problem. There had been a famine in Israel for three years. So, he inquired of God and asked Him why this was happening. God said it was because of the Gibeonites and what King Saul had done to them.

Remember the Gibeonites? They were those “moldy bread people.” When Joshua was taking the land of Israel, they dressed up in old clothes and brought moldy bread to Joshua. They claimed to be from another country and deceived Israel into making a covenant of protection with them. Later, Joshua discovered that they actually lived nearby but now he couldn’t destroy their city because he had made this covenant.

Four hundred years have gone by. However, during those years, Saul had broken the covenant with the Gibeonites and killed some of them. Wouldn’t you think God would have forgotten about it all by then? I mean the USA isn’t even four hundred years old…that’s a long time. But not to our God.

He is the God who remembers! He told David that he needed to honor the covenant by asking the Gibeonites how to atone for this infraction. David inquired and they replied that they would be satisfied if David gave them seven descendants of Saul and they would take their lives. David complied and delivered seven of Saul’s sons into their hands to be hanged.

What a sad story. Can anything good come out of the deception of the Gibeonites and the disobedience of Saul that resulted in the deaths of seven of his sons? I see one great thing. God takes covenants and oaths very seriously. If He honored the deceitful Gibeonites because of their covenant, how much more will he honor His covenant with us? How much more will he stand by His promises that are lavishly scattered through out the Bible, His Word? If he didn’t forget the Gibeonite covenant for four hundred years, how much more will He not forget our descendants and us? When we entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ, we entered into a covenant with God himself. Hebrews 6:17-18 tells us: “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.”

He won’t forget us. We have His strong consolation that He doesn’t need sticky notes. He remembered his covenant with the descendants of the heathen moldy bread people. How much more will He be faithful to us - His own covenant children?

The next time you find mold on your bread, remember the Gibeonites. God didn’t forget them, He won’t forget you! Maybe we all need a sticky note on our counter that says "God remembers!"

The Counsel of the Strawberries

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 3-4)

“Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” Deut. 4:9

The package was waiting for me on my front porch. Paul and Melanie had sent me a very cool birthday present. I opened a box of humongous strawberries that were completely dipped in chocolate – some white and some dark. Not only were they dipped, but each strawberry was beautifully decorated in various colors of pink, white, and red. Every one was artistically done.

Included with the ice packed strawberries were instructions: “Eat within 48 hours!” The (warning) went on to say that since they were fruit they wouldn’t keep - they needed to be eaten. So, I complied. Attractive as they were, I ate them. They tasted even better than they looked. “What a great warning,” I thought, “Eat within 48 hours!”

The next day, while making my bed, I noticed a label protruding from my pillowcase. It threatened, “Do not remove under penalty of law!” I had dutifully hearkened to its warning and left it attached to my pillow for the past year. “That’s the end of you,” I thought as I vehemently ripped it off. “I like the counsel of the strawberries much better.”

There are many warnings in the book of Deuteronomy. The central message of Deuteronomy is obedience. Some form of the words “obey” and “do” occur on an average of five times in each chapter. The whole book is basically a warning both to Israel and to us today. Obedience brings blessings from God and disobedience brings punishment from God. The three messages that Moses pens in Deuteronomy make that pretty clear.

Today’s Scripture gives me four admonitions that I take very seriously. Actually they sum up my life goals and why I write. Here’s how they speak to me.

“Only take heed to yourself,” I am to pay attention to what God tells me to do. A couple of days without reading the Word of God and I start to spoil like the strawberries.

“Lest you forget the things your eyes have seen,” God has done so much in my life. He has painted pictures on my soul even lovelier than the decorated fruit. I don’t want to ever forget the things that He has accomplished since He led me out of my Egypt.

“All the days of your life.” Walking with the Lord is a lifelong commitment. I want to be among those who finish well and never drift away from Jesus.

“And teach them to your children and grandchildren.” That’s why I’m writing. We who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” are urged to share our knowledge, insights, and experiences with those who come after us. They may be our physical family or they may be our spiritual family. We all need to remember and reiterate what God has done in our lives, just like the second generation of Israelites needed to hear again what had happened in the forty years since they were miraculously delivered from Egypt.

As we travel though life, we are faced with multitudes of warnings. They may come with strawberries or they may be attached to pillows. There are long lists that we all can name. Some are good and some make no sense. But I’ve lived long enough to know that the aftertaste of obedience to God’s warnings is even better than the sweetness the taste of my birthday berries left in my mouth.

Pay attention to God's Word, don’t forget what He's done, finish well, and teach your children and grandchildren. Isn’t Deut. 4:9 an awesome warning? It's even better than the counsel of the strawberries!

Maybe, though, that advice belongs on all of our Bible covers: "Eat within 48 hours!"

Remember, Remember, Remember!

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Deut. 1-2)

“These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.” Deut. 1:1

“Grandma, remember you are loved by all!”

February 25^th was my 67^th birthday. I thought it would be a rather nondescript occasion. 67 is heading toward the middle of 65 and 70. Who would pay much attention to this one? Surely not me - but everyone else seemed to. In fact, I was a bit overwhelmed by the love that was showered on me this birthday. I’d like to tell you about every wonderful thing that happened, but my grandson, Christopher did something that fits in well with today’s Bible reading.

He made me a bright yellow card and on it he had written the words, “Grandma, remember you are loved by all.” Then he had added the words remember, remember, remember!

That is what Moses is doing today as we start the book of Deuteronomy - remembering. He is speaking to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. He is giving them a charge and telling them to think back about what has happened to them since the time they left Egypt forty years before.

Deuteronomy has even been called “The Book of Remembrance.” It covers about one month as the children of Israel camp on the plains of Moab east of the Jordan River. They are so ready to enter the land of Canaan. As Moses deliverers his instructions, I can picture the Israelites looking at him with the water flowing behind him and the Land of Milk and Honey visible just beyond. I know what Moses looked like because of the movie, “The Ten Commandments.” He is now 120 years old - nearly twice my nondescript age - as he starts his series of farewell messages that make up Deuteronomy.

The Book of Rememberings has other names. The Hebrew title means “The Words.” Moses gives them in oral and written form so that they will endure to all generations. Deuteronomy is also called “five-fifths of the Law” since it completes the Pentateuch – the five books of Moses.

Moses delivers three sermons to the Israelites in Deuteronomy. They have a simple theme. Remember what happened when you obeyed God? Remember how bad things became when you didn’t obey Him? Christopher's words: remember, remember, remember!

It is important for us to bear in mind that this is a generation whose parents have all died in the wilderness wanderings because of their lack of faith. Only Joshua and Caleb remain. The Israelites Moses is speaking to have seen the graphic results of disobedience. They need to be instructed and encouraged to obey the Law given 40 years before at Mt. Sinai.

Birthdays remind us that we are crossing rivers into new years filled with giants. Uncertainty and fear are stationed around every turn on our journeys through life. Will we meet these giants with fear or with faith? It's always there- looming in front of us on our Christian walk- the faith or fear question! Isn't it so much easier to hunker down in front of the TV and cater to our couch potato sides? Who wants to get up and take a risk anyway? It is especially difficult because, well, risks are risky. They can even result in failure. Getting involved with life is difficult – having a neighborhood Bible Study, reaching out to hurting friends, cooking a meal for a homeless shelter, coming to the aid of babies being aborted - the precarious list of things God calls us to do goes on and on. Leaving our recliners to go into the unknown is so unknownish. It doesn’t seem safe at all.

Moses' reminder is so significant! We need to remember, remember, remember what has happened in the past when we obeyed God. As we think back upon what God has already done, our hearts are strengthened for the future. Let’s determine to respond to His call in obedience even when it doesn’t seem safe, When we respond in obedience, He takes care of the giants in His own marvelous way – just like He has always done in the past.

Hudson Taylor said, “God’s command is His enabling.” What a great birthday reminder for a new year of life!

Remember, remember, remember!

Set Aside

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Num. 26-27)

“Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying; ‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.’

And the Lord said to Moses; ‘Take Joshua, the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.’ “ Num. 27:15-18)

I am now on a first name basis with the athletes of Olympic Games: Vancouver.

Apolo – Congratulations on being America’s most medal-decorated Winter Olympian.

Kim – You are the queen of figure skating!

Joannie – What mental strength you showed. Winning the bronze medal four days after the sudden death of your mom. Wow!

I’ve loved them all but do you know what has struck me most about the Games? The families! Nodar’s grieving parents and Axsel’s reflective father. Apolo speaking about his relationship with his dad, “We are a small family, just the two of us." Lindsey Vonn, stepping atop the podium to receive her downhill skiing gold medal, smiling down at her mother and siblings, including the brother who had her initials shaved into his hair, the “L” on one side, “V” on the other.

The families – the love, the support, and the encouragement that they gave each competitor - will be the image that sticks with me after the Games are over.

Today’s Scripture is all about family – the family of God. Once again we see why Moses is such a great leader.

The Lord instructs Moses to go up to Mt. Nebo and take a look at the Promised Land. But then He says that after he has seen it, he will die. “For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” (Num. 27:14)

What had happened that kept Moses from entering the land of his forty-year destination?

The people needed water – always the greatest need of the Israelites in their wanderings. God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would come out. Instead, Moses chided the people as rebels and struck the rock twice with his rod. Water came gushing out but God wasn’t happy with Moses.

The great man of God had sinned. In his anger, he had joined with the rebels. Instead of trusting God by speaking and making his request; he hit the rock, not once but twice.

I find myself agreeing with the commentators who say that the rock symbolized Jesus Christ. Jesus was struck for our sins on the cross where He bore the wrath of God for all of our spiritual rebellion – past, present, and future. When he said, “It is finished, “ the debt was paid forever. He rose from His grave to sit in heaven at the right hand of the throne of God. He is our Lord and High Priest and will never ever be struck again. We, who know Him as our Savior, only have to ask to receive the Living Water that we crave from day to day.

Moses and the Pentateuch represent the law and the Ten Commandments. No one can be saved through the law because all have sinned. No human can ever keep the law perfectly and enter heaven. Only one recorded sin kept Moses from entering the Promised Land. Moses represented the Law that cannot allow for one exception. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

Once again we see Moses model great leadership. There is no griping or displeasure only acceptance for God’s discipline in his own life. His reply to God shows his love and concern for the Israelites. He pleads with God and says, “Give them a good leader then. One who will be there for them, “who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” (Num.27: 17)

God answers the great prayer of Moses. He names Joshua as the new leader and instructs Moses to have Eleazar the priest anoint him. Moses does just as he is commanded and continues to keep on keeping on serving the Lord.

What an amazing “family man!” Moses is set aside as Israel’s leader, but his heartbeat is for the future of the Israelites. “Don’t let them be like sheep without a shepherd, “ he pleads. The athletes have the backing of their families win or lose. Because of his great love for the family of God, the Israelites have the support of Moses in the midst of his own heartbreak.

What do we do when we lose our competitions and suffer great disappointments? How do we react when we are seemingly “set aside” on our sometimes “not so joyful journeys” through life? Do we quit or do we keep on serving the Lord wherever He has placed us, remembering, like Moses, it's all about God and His great plan for His family?

Whining and Dining

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 (Numbers 19-20)

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” Numbers 20:7-8

Are you as hooked on the Olympics as I am? Watching the athletes’ dedication to being the best in their field is an inspiration. I love the stories that are featured each night about the lives of the competitors.

During a feature on Norwegian alpine skier, Axsel Lund Svindal, his father described Axsel’s horrific skiing accident at Beaver Creek in 2007. Skiing down the mountain he fell and landed on his neck. Axsel sustained a concussion, terrible facial lesions from his own knees, and many abdominal injuries. After undergoing extensive surgery, he spent two weeks in the Vail Hospital. The young skier said that as he lay there, he had a wonderful view of the Colorado Mountains. Looking at the slopes day after day, he was inspired to ski again. Many months of grueling physical therapy later, he was back. Now he’s won a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal at Vancouver.

Speaking of his son, the father shook his head and said, “He just has a lot of mental strength. Some have it and some don’t.”

Some have it and some don’t. Some would look out of a hospital bed and, viewing the mountains through incredible pain, whimper, “That’s it, I’m through with skiing.” Axsel saw them calling him to a spectacular comeback.

Numbers 20 is such a dramatic chapter. We see who has it and who doesn’t. After 38 years of wandering, the Israelites are right back where they started in the Wilderness of Zin. As the chapter opens, Miriam, the sister of Moses, dies and is buried at Kadesh Barnea

Imagine Moses’ thoughts as he grieves for his sister, remembering - the stories of how she had watched their mother hide him in the bulrushes when Pharaoh’s daughter found him as a baby, how she had danced and sang after the crossing of the Red Sea, how she had become leprous at the hand of God when her jealousy of Moses overcame her, and how she had been healed by the Lord Himself when her brother prayed for her. When we bury our loved ones our grieving is so poignant and reflective. Was Moses any different? I don’t think so.

As the chapter moves on, Moses is abruptly called back to deal with his whiny flock. The Israelites are out of water and whom do they blame but Moses and his brother Aaron. This seventh great murmuring against Moses and God is so similar to all the others. They wail, “And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.”

Once again Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before God and plead for these obstinate people. The Lord instructs them to take the rod, their visual symbol of His power, and speak to the rock and water will come out – enough water for all of the Israelites and all of their animals.

Moses takes the rod, but he is tired and exasperated and he doesn’t obey God. He strikes the rock twice and water comes out. We can understand his deep vexation with the Israelites. All leaders come to this point at times. Surely it is okay for Moses to get a little overwrought.

But God speaks to Moses and says, “Because you did not believe Me to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

After forty years of leading this cantankerous group of people, Moses is not allowed to go into the Promised Land because of one irreverent outburst? At this point most of us would go into our tents, throw ourselves on our pallets, and become the greatest whiners of all.

But not Moses. He goes on to confront the unhelpful king of Edom who refuses to let the Israelites cross his country in spite of Moses’ ardent offers to comply with his wishes as they march. Then, still in Numbers chapter 20, Moses escorts his brother and his nephew to the top of Mt. Hor as God has instructed. There, according to God's instructions, he strips his own brother of his priestly garments and puts them on Eleazar his son. He watches his brother die on the mountaintop and then comes back down with Aaron’s son, the new priest.

Now that is a person with mental strength! What a role model for all people who serve in the ups and downs of leadership. Moses never got into the Promised Land. He spent the rest of his earthly life still in charge of leading the whiners. Later, his body was buried in the heathen land of Moab.

But it was only his body. His spirit went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. We see him in the New Testament meeting with Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration. One day we will sit across the table from him in heaven at the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Maybe we can ask him, "How did you do it all so well? Compaining was never on your plate. No wonder God called you the humblest man that ever lived."

Axsel’s father said, “Some have it and some don’t.” Moses sure had it.

What about us? What's on our plates? Are we spending our days whining like the children of Israel? Or are we faithfully performing the work that God has called us to do - knowing that one day we will be dining with the God of the universe - and Moses?

A Lot to Leviticus!

“For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Lev. 11:45

Reading Through the Bible in 2010 Lev. 10-13

Where were you when you learned about the blood?

There are events in life that shape us – things that happen and we are changed - never to go back to life as we lived it before. Usually they surprise us, we don’t have a clue that they are about to happen.

I remember the first time that I met Charlie. It was the summer after eighth grade and two guys and two girls met at the park to play tennis. One of the guys was Charlie and one of the girls was me. As I returned a ball that the young man in the red plaid bermuda shorts slammed at me, I never dreamed that he would become the love of my life. Years passed. We started “going out” as juniors in high school. We married after I finished nursing. Things had changed forever because of a tennis match.

My life had turned a corner. Charlie had entered. We've been married for forty-five years. But when I first met him, I had no idea how much influence his interests, family, friends, ideas, and values would have on me in the years to come…. all because my friend and I decided to go play tennis.

When our first child was born, we brought little Ethan home in a blue receiving blanket. We laid our angelically sleeping baby down on the bed. Charlie and I and my mom all stood over him gazing down adoringly. Charlie broke the beatific silence,

“I wonder what we do with him for the next eighteen years?” he questioned.

My mother looked at him, as incredulous as most mother in laws are at young son-in-laws, and said, “Oh, you’ll learn. Children can take up a lot of time.”

We did learn. His life, and the lives of the three children that followed, have indeed “taken up a lot of our time.” They have filled our thoughts and consumed our days and brought us measures of joy that we never could have dreamed about before we set that little baby on the bed.

Events happen and they change our lives. Can’t we all picture exactly where we were when we watched the images of 9 – 11? Charlie and I were living at the farm in Fall Creek when my brother called. He said, “Turn on your TV right now!” The images of the planes, the fire, the ash, the people jumping to the ground, the firemen running in…, we had no concept of the impact these images would have on our lives. As we watched the collapse of the Twin Towers, we didn't know that this would affect America forever.

Where were you when you first heard about the blood?

I was at a Christian Women’s Club luncheon in Augusta, Georgia. I was thirty- one years old and I thought I was a Christian. After all, I believed in God!

We ate our lunch and afterwards an “inspirational speaker” spoke to us. She said, “If you were the only person in the world, Jesus Christ would have come. The sinless spotless Son of God, the Creator of the universe, would have bled and died on that cross just for you and your sins.”

“Huh”? I thought. “Just for me?”

As I listened to her speak, conviction rolled over me like the waves of the sea. I suddenly knew that I was a sinner and that I needed my sins to be forgiven.

The speaker continued: "Only the blood of Jesus can wash away our sins and make us holy. There is nothing that we can do about our sin by trying to be good. Sin will never disappear through our own human efforts."

I didn't see it coming, but all of a sudden, I had run smack dab into the blood of Jesus - at a luncheon!

As she spoke, I knew that I had never personally asked Jesus to come into my life and take away my sins. I had never spoken one word to Him about my sins! God revealed so much to me as I listened to that speaker - all of a sudden, there it was – confronted by the blood!

Where were you when you heard about the blood of Jesus Christ?

When I got home, it was very quiet. I sat down at my desk and asked Jesus to come into my heart. I asked Him to cleanse me with the blood that He had shed for my sins. I asked Him to be my Lord forever.

Will I ever forget that precious day? Never! I can remember the light coming in the window and the blue flowered curtains that suddenly had a brighter hue. I felt the sin of thirty years slide off of my back – “as far as the east is from the west,” the Bible says. I stood up, amazed, and said, "The blood of Jesus – it has made me clean. I'm free!”

I knew that so positively that I even wrote a poem about being free. Granted, it was a short poem because it came to an abrupt end when my friend, Sally, returned with my four young children. Each one needed something from “Mom.” After a few minutes, I thought, “Did this really happen?” My life had quickly returned to pouring juice, finding shoes, changing diapers, and answering questions.

But it had happened. I had been forever impacted by a luncheon that I had approached with absolutely no clue. The blood of Jesus had freed and changed me like no other event in my life.

Did I have any idea of how my journey with Him would look? I didn’t even think about it as I talked to my friend and tended my children’s needs. But that day I had started on a joy filled journey with the King of the universe. It still gives me goose bumps to write about it.

The book of Leviticus gives the people of Israel intricate instructions about living in the presence of a holy God. All the sacrifices of all the animals that we’ve been reading about pointed to the sinless Jesus – the true lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world. When the Israelites put their hands on the animal that was being killed for their sins, they felt its life being sapped for them. As they watched its innocent blood being sprinkled on the altar, it was a graphic picture of the atoning blood that needed to be shed for the forgiveness of their sins. All the sacrifices, the Altar, and the Officiating Priest illustrated the Sinless Savior, Jesus Christ, who would die for their sins. The bloody sacrifices carried out by Aaron and his sons were a picture of how Jesus Christ was both the Lamb of God, Who takes away our sins and our High Priest. Whew! There’s a lot to Levitcus.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,

How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Heb. 9:11-14

I was in Augusta, Georgia – a long way from Wisconsin. That's where I learned about the blood. That’s where my joyful journey with Jesus truly began?

Where were you when you learned about the blood?

Sold or Sent?

Reading Through the Bible In 2010 (Gen. 37-39)

"Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt." Gen. 37:28

JOSEPH

"I knew I had been sold,
For circumstances
Dark as a desert pit
And dismal as the slaver's caravan
Surrounded me,
And seemed to crush me down;
I had been sold.

I also had been sent.
The circumstance
Shone with the light Divine
And through the wrath of men
God put me in His own appointed place
He set on high,
And none could bow me down.
I had been sent"

M, Mannington


Do you feel like you have been sold? Maybe it's a job loss, a rebellious child, a marriage issue, slander that won't go away, friends that make fun of you in school. When you are "sold" circumstances do seem dark as a desert pit and dismal as a slaver's caravan. When we are betrayed we feel so crushed and life seems so dismal.

Yet as you go through your circumstances, look and see the light Divine that never leaves your side, The wrath of men cannot keep you from the appointed place that He has set on high for you. None can bow you down, because. like Joseph, you have been sent.

Higher Education

Reading Through the Bible (Gen.22-24)

"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham," Gen.22:1

"Complete and unwavering faith in God is only accomplished through many trials and over many years. It was "after these things" that God gave Abraham his biggest test. After Abraham had left his homeland and all that was dear to him, after he experienced the results of going to Egypt for food, after Lot had taken the good well-watered land, after twenty-five years of waiting for the promised son, after Ishmael had been sent away, after God had said, "through Isaac your descendants shall be reckoned, after Isaac had nearly grown, "after these things," God tested Abraham's faith." (AB Simpson)

"Lauren," I said, "I heard you are studying for your big tests that are coming up. How are you doing that?"

"Grandma," she answered, "They give you some things that you can use to study for ACT's and SAT's. But, I think it's mostly testing you on what you've learned over the years."

"Testing you on what you've learned over the years." True words. Wise words!

When I started high school physics, I already knew that I didn't know anything about physics. I didn't really want to know anything about physics! But, to get into nursing, I needed the course. It was only after I had studied my book and listened to the lectures and done the experiments, that I could take the final exam. The results of the test showed me that now I knew a little about physics. "After these things" I took the exam. There wouldn't have been much point in testing me when I started taking the course. I already knew what I didn't know about physics.

The life of a believer is a series of tests. The Bible says we go from glory to glory as we're transformed into the image of Christ. God does His work in us as we study His Word, listen to His promptings, and go through His labs. Then He gives us the test. When we've finished does He look at the results of our obedience and say, "Wow! You got an A on that one? I'm shocked!"

I don't think so. He knows our hearts. He knows everything. But we don't. We think we know a lot about life but we don't. Not until we go through His courses taught in His way. Then we get to take our tests. The results show us what we have learned on our latest pilgrimage experience. They don't show God, they show us.

Deut.8:2; "And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

Lauren did really well on her two big tests. "After these things..." She's been a good student and she has studied hard in school for many years. I wasn't surprised at how well she did, but I wondered if she was? Her good results will give her encouragement for the next steps in her "joyful journey" through life. She will have stronger faith in her ability to learn new things in college.

What if she hadn't done well? What if she'd been sick, or had a bad hair day, or had a flat tire on the way, or couldn't find the place where SAT's and ACT's were being administered? I asked her about that.

She replied, "You get other chances. You can reschedule and take them again. If you feel like you didn't do well, you can retake the tests. But, I'm so glad to be done!"

"You can reschedule!" I laughed because God has rescheduled me on tests quite a few times. I feel like there are some tests that I have taken over and over again. I'm still not sure how well I've learned some of the things He's been trying to teach me.

Lauren's done, temporarily. She can rest from SAT's and she deserves to. She can rest from ACT's but she still has reams of homework every night. She has to finish high school. College will mean more tests. Lots more. In lots of ways. That's the thing about higher education.

I wish I could encourage my granddaughter and say, "Don't worry, when you finish college - no more tests!" The truth is, there is no graduation from tests for the believer, not in this life. God is taking all of us through His "Higher Education"courses. But, one day we will be finished with all of our testing. We'll have gone through the sanctification process. When we reach Heaven and enter our glorification, we will get more than a graduation cap, we'll receive a crown of life!

Tests will keep coming, we can be sure of that. The good news is that they come "after these things." After we have gone through the course. After we're ready to see what we have learned and what has been added to our hearts. What joy we will experience when God shows us our "permanent record" in heaven and says, "Well done. You have been a faithful and good servant. Your tests are over!"