Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Summer time!


















As

summer goes around this old house we find ourselves as parents enjoy the accomplishments of our children.





All four successfully completed the first year of; college, Jr high, fourth grade and kindergarten.





All four are looking forward to the upcoming wedding of their aunt in Chicago.





The college girl traveled to and from New York successfully. She attended a conference, saw the sights, and tasted some treats.





Our Jr. Higher played on a tournament soccer team and played several rounds of soccer. Thankfully finishing just in time before the summer heat wave took over.





The last two are in over the heads in a good way with the local swim team. They have competed in two swim meets already and both have already exceeded last years records for themselves.





As far as the old man and myself we sit up at night and share some good laughs, some deep sighs of relief and many many praises for all the blessings the Lord has granted us for the day He gave us.





May we all cherish our times this summer and make the most of what God has given us.





Happy Summer!





Friday, June 20, 2008

And all the bricks came tumbling down.

This afternoon I was doing some reading in one of the many books I am working on and
I came across a section on humility.
I have heard the word on a regular basis for several years now, but for some reason today I feel my eyes were wide open to see it from a new perspective.
How do I practice humility in my house?
With my husband, my children, my friends and others I come across?
Do I even practice humility?
So I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some research on my heart.
And I started to wonder what my house, my home would look like if humility was really practiced.
After much reading and searching it seems to me that the key to all relationships is humility.
In 1 Peter 5:5-6 we see that god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
And in Job scripture honors him as a perfect and upright man but Job sees himself so differently in Job 42:6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.
In Isaiah we learn he was a great prophet of the Lord and yet when in the Lords presence his response was as such Isaiah6:5 “woe to me!” I cried “ I am ruined For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King.
Daniel was admired for his courage and convictions and his dedication to God but here too his response was on his face. Daniel 10:8-9
I could go on and on with so many examples of godly men and women in the bible whose response you would not think or expect to be that of such profound humility, but there they are clear and concise.
So why is it then today that I was so moved by what seems to be such an obvious concept yet so few times it is practiced.
I don’t know.
All I know is that I need to learn more about what it means to love humility as a great character trait and not as something I need to add to a check list of duties.
I will end with one of my favorite verses.
Micah 6:8 He has showed you , O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you ? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly, with your God.