In The Beginning, God created . . .

". . . And God said, "Let there be lights. Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day. " Genesis 1:14-19

Last night David called me on his way home from town to tell me look out at the moon as it was just coming up. I stepped out on the back deck to see an absolutely gorgeous, orange, full moon shining through the trees. I stepped out again later and it was coming over the the tree tops - full, bright and incredibly beautiful. At midnight, I woke up and noticed how bright the bedroom was, so I decided to step out the front door. As I stood there in the crisp cold air, it was so peaceful and quiet, and I marveled at the beauty of God's beatiful handiwork!

And He did it just because He loves us! Thank you God!

I Wanna Thank You . . .

. . . thank you for bein' a friend. . . I wanna thank you . . . Thank you for bein' a friend!!!

We all have friends. We all - more than likely - have many friends. We go to dinner, play cards, take walks, go to the movies, go on vacations . . . I think you get the point . . . we spend time with our friends.

I know that some of your friends, are those whom you can call - in the middle of the night if necessary - to pray with you when something terrible has happened. Or perhaps they pray for you when you are so burdened that you simply cannot pray. Those are the friends who know your plans - they know what you're doing throughout the week (and feed your cat when you're gone), they know what your kids are doing (and would spank them for you if it was necessary), they know what you're having for dinner tonight (which is good 'cause often times even I don't know that!), they know your deepest, darkest secrets (and you know they won't judge you). They know what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, what makes you do the 'happy dance', what you like for dessert (anything wth cherries)!

Good friends will come to your house, sit at your kitchen table, and share their hopes and dreams with you. They might even ask for your opinion now and then! And once they've asked, they'll take the time to listen. They seek, listen to, and (sometimes) even take your advice when given humbly, and with compassion and genuine concern. They don't stomp their foot, and go away mad. They may have to ponder your words for a time, or they they may never see your point of view at all. But the sweet thing about that true friendship is that you know they still love you no matter what! True friendship begins with the journey of "Give-and-Take" on "Two-Way Street".

Abraham had a relationship with God that was just like the one I've described above. But it didn't happen without Abraham putting some effort into it - without taking the time to know God. Of course, God knows everything there is to know about us - the aches, pains, joys, and sorrows - the number of hairs on our head - the number of days in our life. Even so, He created us to be in a relationship with Him and He wants us to know Him.

Abraham knew God so intimately, that 'God convened His heavenly council at Abraham's tent and shared His plans for Sodom and Gomorrah with him.' WOW - God actually came and had coffee with Abraham. And then, God actually listened to Abraham and . . . well, you know the story about how Abraham proceeded to argue with God about sparing Sodom and Gomorrah if 'so many' righteous people could be found. Abraham had the audacity to ask God not once, not twice, but SIX times to spare the cities from complete destruction.

Abraham knew that he risked God's anger by continuing to ask, but he also knew that they were good enough friends that he could beg forgiveness for his brazen behavior, and approach God with humility, and genuine concern and compassion for the people. Abraham and God knew one another. They talked together. Abraham listened to and obeyed God, and consequently God shared his plans with Abraham (and I like to believe it was over a cup of coffee or possibly a glass of iced tea!) And then God spared the lives of a few righteous people from the destruction of Sodom.

I don't mean to imply that we can change God's plans. But we might find it easier to hear Him and obey his will for our lives, if we knew Him better. I think I'll fix another pot of coffee this morning, and spend some time getting to know my Friend better!!!

A Very Special Blessing . . . and Bittersweet News. . .

The Special Blessing: On Wednesday night, I was sitting in the Fellowship Hall at church telling some friends about Nathan who is now stationed in Minot, North Dakota. The way I understand it, he had a conversation with a female officer on Tuesday morning that went something like this:

Her - 'Aren't you the Airman with the wife and new baby?'
Him - 'Yes, Ma'am.'
Her - 'Have you seen that baby yet?'
Him - 'No Ma'am'.
Her - 'Here are some papers. Fill them out, and get out of here.'

(It took a woman to make that happen!! Sorry guys!)

He told us later that it took him about 15 minutes to complete that paperwork, pack up his car, and hit the road. He drove 18 hours, and arrived in the wee hours of the morning to see his favorite girls - Ruthie and Ella. I heard that reunion was very special.

As I told this story though, Simon Wood ran over to me, and wanted me to pick him up - which I did. He threw his arms around my neck, laid his head on my shoulder, and hugged me as if we were the best of friends. It made me think of our Little Ella doing the same thing someday, and I nearly cried.

The Bittersweet News: When I was talking with Nathan on the phone an hour or so before all of this, in addition to telling me how sweet it was to finally see his Baby Girl, he also said that they were all leaving on Saturday to return to Minot. And while we knew Ruthie and Ella would join him there soon, it's all happening so fast. Rather than fly up to meet him after they've found housing, she's going to drive back with him on Saturday. (I honestly don't think they can stand being apart any longer!)

And so here they are this morning. Asleep in the spare bedroom. They came for dinner last night, and were too tired to drive back to Alton so they spent the night. Ruth said, 'That's OK, isn't it?' OF COURSE it's OK!!!

But it just delayed the inevitable departure. And I'm very sad this morning because in just a couple of hours (or less) we'll tell them all goodbye for awhile. And now I can't type for the tears. . .

Complaining. . .

Do you have pet peeves? Well, I do. One of my pet peeves is a messy bed. I make the bed every morning before I leave the house, and I generally insist that Caleb make his bed too. When the bed is not made right or rumpled up, I will ALWAYS straighten it out, sometimes even going so far as to re-make it before I get in it to go to sleep. There have been times, when my DSH (Dear Sweet Husband) has gone to bed before me (and might even possibly be asleep before I come to bed) and I will make the bed over him just to get everything straightened out before I can get in! He's really good at putting up with me during those times!

Do you have little things in life that irritate the . . . well, irritate you a LOT? I do! People who tailgate me when I'm driving the speed limit - or faster - get on my nerves! People who insist on inflicting their opinions on me make me crazy (possibly because it conflicts with my own opinion!)

Do you find yourself venting to your friends about something that's really bugging you? I do! In fact, just this evening at church, I vented to a good friend about . . . well, about something that I probably shouldn't post on my blog for the whole world to see! Suffice it to say, that I was fairly animated in my description of this particular problem.

And then we went to our Wednesday night Bible study group - Cultivating Contentment. The focus of this evenings lesson was - yup! You you guessed it - COMPLAINING. It really hit me hard tonight. I've spent my entire day complaining - mostly to myself because I was stuck in my little office (which really isn't little at all) trying to get some things figured out. I even talked to myself today - frequently! And then I went to church, and continued to complain about things to my good friend, which could be considered 'inflicting my opinion on others. . . ' (see irritations mentioned above.) UGH!

And as we finished our lesson tonight, I suggested that we take time this week to be more grateful and content because things could be so much worse! If we take time to consider someone else's circumstances, we might find it easier and more gratifying if we attempt to lift another person up to the Lord, instead of complaining and whining because things don't seem to be going our way!

I'm thanking God tonight for a good outcome - a not guilty verdict - for a friends son whose been on trial this week. I'm thankful that God heard the prayers of many people on behalf of the England family. I'm very thankful that many people took the time to lift them up to our Heavenly Father, asking him to watch over them and to give them peace and comfort during these past tough weeks and months. I'm thankful for a great big wonderful God who loves us!

And I'm complaining less as I head off to my nice neat bed! Good night!!