Here's a sneak preview at my favorite sentence from Kent's
sermon for tomorrow (which is based on I Thess. 4:9-12).

"Make it your ambition not to be too ambitious."

If I have time, energy, and enguogh thought provoking ideas,
I'll write more on this later. If not, you'll just have to
think it through for yourself.

In the wee hours of Friday morning, somewhere around
2 a.m., I was out putting wood in the fire. It was
cold and it was snowing, and it was mostly silent, but
one brave little peeper was peepering. The calendar
(my Missouri Conservation calendar) says that mid-March
is the time that peeper calling is at its peak. That
means there must be some building up to the peak time,
and the peepers have just not had much build up time
this year. But, I guess, that little fella is going
by what is real and not by his miniscule feelings. It
is time to peep and he is going to peep no matter what
circumstances are surrounding him.

Often, and often again, we need to respond to God in the
same way the little peeper is responding to the onset of
spring. We may not feel so blessed...yet God is faithful
to His own.

Jonathan Edward's daughter, Ester, lost her husband Aaron
Burr and in just a short time her infant son, Aaron Jr.
was deathly ill. She wrote to her father to tell him that
even in the midst of her grief God was sustaining her, and
his response showed her the way to deeper trust.

"Indeed, he is a faithful God; he will remember his covenant
forever; and never will fail them that trust in him. But
don't be surprised, or think some strange thing has happened
to you, if after this light, clouds of darkness should return.
Perpetual sunshine is not usual in this world, even to God's
true saints. But I hope, if God should hide his face in some
respect, even this will be a faithfulness to you, to purify
you, and fit you for further and better light." (Letter
written November 20, 1757)

My friend keeps peeping because he knows it is time to
peep. Even so we trust because we know it is time to trust.

O Lord,
May I...
never make piety a dress but a habit,
not only a habit but a nature,
not only a nature but a life.

Further Lesson From Hummingbirds

Last night we were out playing ball in the yard.
The guys and Hattie are trying to get Mom up to
snuff before the start of softball season. It is
a daunting responsibility and nighwell impossible.

But, I divert myself, so back to the subject at
hand. As we were playing the buzz from the humming-
birds was enormous. There are so many and they are
so busy.

Sometimes there will be a single bird at a feeder. Soon
a second bird will appear. First bird leaves his food
spout and begins to spar with second bird. There are
three empty spots so why does he feel compelled to
fight with second bird when there is plenty to go around?
He drives off second bird and then settles in to alternately
sipping and checking for rivals.

If he would only concentrate on his own little corner of the
world what trouble he could avoid. He could build up his
store of fat more quickly. He could rest from time to time
instead of living his life in a complete frenzy. I wonder,
how many times I am more concerned about what my neighbor is
getting or doing or experiencing than I am about what I
should be doing. As long as I am watching, dissecting and
criticizing the lives of others I can avoid doing so to my
own life.

It reminds me of a story about a speck and a plank that
Jesus related to his disciples one day when they were up
on a mountain.

There is a time and a place for confrontation, disagreement,
discussion and judgment, and there is a time and a place to
mind one's own business and tend to one's own duties.

I was watching our hummingbirds yesterday as they
swooped from feeder to feeder and fought between
themselves and I realized that they only live to
eat. They show some interesting behavior, though,
in living out this dictum.

When at any moment in time a hummingbird is only hours
away from starvation, why do they leave one perfectly
good feeder to flit away across the yard to another?
Their little wings have to beat 70 or so times per
second and use up tremendous amounts of the energy
they are seeking just to fly so far. They are naturally
discontent.

I have been ruminating on the idea of contentment lately.
It is hard to "Be still and know that I am God" when
we are discontent. Somewhere in the finding of that
wonderful state of mind and of lifestyle we have to be
slow and still and quiet and contemplative.

That is hard. Where in the midst of ball schedules,
company, keeping the home, and church schedules is there
space for that peace?

We can try to simplify our family life more than it is, but
even that takes tremendous amounts of energy and time.

Yet, there can be contentment even in the midst of the
busyness of daily living. The two are not mutually exclusive.
It is not the busyness, but it is the sense of hurriedness,
of never being satisfied, and of always seeking for something
better that is to be avoided.

It is not a deserted island that is filled with quiet that
I need. (Though in my sometimes dreams, a deserted island
with a huge amount of books and crossword puzzles seems almost
like my idea of heaven, of course there would be a coffee pot
there somewhere as well.) What is needed is to know that the
work at hand is good and that there is no need to flit and
flutter about in a nervous fashion. Do what needs to be done,
move on to the next job and then when there is a chance to
sit and rest, well, sit and rest. Be content with that.

And meanwhile, don't forget to fill the feeders or those poor
little hummingbirds will be flitting and flying and fighting
for nothing.

Sometimes life is like a cup of golden sunshine. I
thank God for times like this. The other day someone
said that we only seem to cling to God when times are
difficult. I don't see why that must be so. In fact,
I don't find that to be so.

When circumstances are filled with just the dailyness
of living and the days are slipping past filled with
work and play and study and devotion there is time to
meet with God and comtemplate and well, just love Him.

And so, may I meet Spring and Summer head on. May
each sunshine or storm filled day be another chance to
wash clothes, do paperwork, cook a yummy meal, play
games, read books, and in the midst of all these things,
may each day be a chance to hear the God who Is, Was
and Ever Shall Be speak to me from His Word.

What more can a girl ask from her God-given gift of life?

The last two morning devotions have left me with
a lot to chew on. Just in case you are needing
a cud or two I offer the following...

From Christianity & Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen:
(Machen is speaking of the plethora of dieties that
were being honored in the Hellenistic society that
Paul was confronting)

"Without its exclusiveness, the Christian message
would have seemed perfectly inoffensive to the
men of that day. So modern liberalism, placing
Jesus alongside other benefactors of mankind, is
perfectly inoffensive in the modern world. All
men speak well of it. It is entirely inoffensive.
But it is also entirely futile. The offense of
the cross is done away, but so is the glory
and the power."

From The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan
Prayers & Devotions...

"Grant that I may be salted with suffering,
with every exactment tempered to my soul,
every rod excellently fitted to my back,
to chastise, humble, break me."

And finally from Proverbs chapter 11, various verses...

"A talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter...

A gracious woman retains honor,...

As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,
So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion."

I get a little irritated when I hear people say,
"I am not sure I want to bring children into this
world the way things are today." Sometimes it may
be older folks and they say, "Things are just so
much worse today than they used to be, I don't
know how young people can make it now."

We think that if we could have lived in some other
time and place things would have been simpler and purer,
and it would have been easier to raise our children.

I always rather thought I should have been a pioneer
Me, who can't stand a cold house, HA! I've loved
the thought of hoop skirts and lots of crinoline, yet
I am somewhat claustrophobic and would probably have
been locked up when they tried to tighten the stays.
Joel always wanted to live in the time of Knight
Errantry. He wanted to fight the dragon and win fair
lady. Hattie thinks the Indians and their way of life
was a better and higher way.

But God is sovereign. He has put me and each of my own
children into this particular time and this particular
country and even his particular community for a very
particular reason. (Okay that was a little repetitious.)
But, the point is made. God is never caught off guard.
He is not surprised by what happens around us. If indeed
history is really what we claim it to be, His Story, then
He has put us exactly where He wants us and it is all for
some very glorious purpose.

Now there is great confidence in that truth.

Finrod in The Lord of the Kingdom says it more eloquently.

"‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’
said Frodo.

‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live
to see such times. But that is not for them to decide.
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that
is given us.’

Throughout my life I periodically have indulged in
wishful-thinking: I have dreamed of having been born a
century earlier, or perhaps several hundreds of years
before, when the world (in my imagination) was much
simpler and more to my liking than these days in which
I find myself. Many of us long, I suspect, for days
that never really were as we want to believe they were.

But God did not fall asleep on his watch, only to waken
and discover that he was late in tossing me into life.
I am where I belong. I do not get to choose the state
of the church of my time, or the cultural battles that
rage, or the theological slide that I perceive.

My - our - only decision is what Gandalf lays out:
“what to do with the time that is given us.” Paul said
as much, too, exhorting us to be always “making the most
of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-17).
This means I must choose wisely and I must be diligent:
I cannot live either in the past or the future; I can
only live today and do what I may as long as it is called
today.

These days may seem black and dark, but all days are so
to those engaged in spiritual warfare. There is glorious
light to behold one day, but not yet - not while the Enemy
still opposes our King and his purposes. My job is to do
as I’m told and not wish it were otherwise."

Lamentations 3:22,23
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faihfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him."

This morning I was reading in I Timothy 6 and verse
6 caught my thoughts.

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

Webster defines the word content in the following
way: happy enough with what one has or is; not
desiring something more or different; satisfied.

A content person is a very comfortable person to
be around. They don't have to prove themselves. They
aren't trying to appear more than what they are. My
MIL said something that, at the time, struck me as
funny, but I have since come to appreciate it. She said,
"I like myself." She is content with her being,
she is satisfied with her personality and gifts.
Would that we were all so.

If we were more content we would find that the Ten
Commandments would become a little easier to follow.
We wouldn't be running after other "gods" for what
they could give us. We wouldn't covet or steal. We
would have no problem keeping the Sabbath.

I desire contentment. I don't just want it in a physical
sense though. I want to be content with my abilities and
with my intelligence and with my appearance. I'm not
speaking about stagnancy. May God cause us all to grow in
His knowledge and grace and into all He wants us to be. I
am speaking of essentials, the deeps of who I am.

Actually, it is trust that brings contentment. We can trust
God for the person He has made us, for the life into which
He has placed us, and for the things He brings our way. If
indeed He is orchestrating all things, what can we lack?

Today is a good day to be happy enough with what I have
and who I am.

This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

I am still working my way through the book
In the Steps of Moses. Some writers have a magic
way with words, and Louis Golding is one of those.
The pictures he creates are so beautiful that I
often go back and reread sections just so I can
retaste his delicious wording. He writes about
a place in the desert, Petra, and describes it
with the following words:

"There are moments when, gazing round a little
helplessly, you declare Petra a city of
claustrophobiacs. Intoxicated by those wild
draughts of color, the encircling summits pressing
home upon their skulls, they hacked and hacked
away at the mountains with the desperate re-
peatedness of madmen, making one facade and
another facade--facades only; they were not
interested in interiors, which they left meager
and monotonous; they moved on to the next mountain
and the next facade.

But, that mood over, you realize the Nabataean
impulse was, in fact, something grimmer and more
controlled; controlled, for you do not produce
such ordered beauty in sporadic frenzy; grim
enough, for all those carved mountains, or most
of them, were houses of the dead.

Dad by day the sun illumines them with gold and
fire, adn in its season the moon visits them with
pale terror. The tombmakers have gone long ago,
but the tombs seem likely to endure till the next
buckling of this planet's crust."

This reminds me of something Jesus said to those
who thought they were spiritual.

Matthew 23:27
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed
appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full
of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even
so you outwardly appear righteous to men, but
inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

I do not want to be all fur and feathers. My prayer
is that God would develop within me a true and
living following after Him. All I have to do is
think over what I read daily in His Word and I
know what it is He desires.
A gentle and quiet spirit.
A tongue that speaks sparingly.
A faithful and obedient wife.
A woman who looks to the ways of her home.
A compassionate friend to those in want.
A student of the Word.
I do not want to concern myself with facades. I want
to put my focus to the interior of my being. May it
not be meager and monotonous, but may it be a rich
garden for the King.

Psalm 119:89

"Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven."

I will rest me in the immovableness of God,
His word, and His ways.

This year I want to dare to be a sinner.
(Resolution #3)

I snookered this from JOLLYBLOGGER who stole it
himself from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book Life
Together. The last chapter begins thus:

"Confess your faults one to another" (Jas. 5:16).
He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone.
It may be that Christians, notwithstanding
corporate worship, common prayer, and all their
fellowship in service, may still be left to their
loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship
does not occur, because, though they have fellowship
with one another as believers and devout people,
they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as
sinners. This pious fellowship permits no one to
be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from
himself and the fellowship. We dare not be sinners.
Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real
sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous.
So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies
and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard
for the pious to understand, that it confronts us
with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great,
desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you
are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are;
He does not what anything from you, a sacrifice, a
work; He wants you alone. "My son, give me thine
heart" (Prov. 23:26). God has come to you to save
the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation
through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The
mask you wear before men will do you no good before
Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be
gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to
yourself and your brothers, as if you were without
sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that;
He loves the sinner but He hates sin.

Cap-tip to Jollyblogger

Lessons From a Leaf

Here in Mayberry we have had a very wet and yet
quite lovely Autumn season. More than once I have
stood watching a scene that would not seem real if
I were to see it painted onto a canvas. A few days
ago, as I was tramping through the backwoods, I was
enthralled by all the leaves that were being shaken
from the trees and swirling down to rest on the ground.
The wind was blowing in gusts. There were quiet lulls
and then with a big swoosh of air thousands of leaves
were released at a time to make their short trip to
land.

As I stood in front of one large oak tree and watched
at least a hundred leaves launch from one blast of wind,
I began to wonder how the leaves might feel if they
could think. It was fascinating to see the different ways
they each approached their time of freedom in the air.
Some would come barreling straight down, as though
there were no time to waste in getting to their destination.
Some reminded me of my neice Kinsey Jo, they twirled
and danced their way to their landing. Others would float
first one way and then change directions completely and
finally land in a place totally unexpected.

Think of the people you know. Some are barrelers. They
race to their goal. They accomplish much. Others flit their
way through life. They quiver with delight. Some we put
in a box and we expect them to be the same way forever,
but then we must catch our breath in surprise as they grow
into a totally different person than they were at first.

I was also fascinated with the knowledge of an omniscient
God. He knows every sparrow; He knows every hair on
our heads; He knows every leaf. Each one is in His mind.
Their release came at the appointed time. They each glady
joined in the great dance of life. They fulfilled their purpose
without complaint. Whether or not their journey to earth
was seen by anyone they made it with grace and dignity.
There is a lesson in this. Maybe several. I can learn trust;
if God has the leaves in His hands, I know He has me there
too. I can learn humility and pride. Who am I that God has
chosen me to be a part of His plan for the ages, and yet how
incredible that He has. And I can learn worship. All
praise to the God who is, and Who works, and Who cares.

Psalm 135:5-7

For I know that the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
He causes the vapors to ascend from the
ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He bings the wind out of His treasuries.