Thoughts from This Week

Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,

and in the night His song shall be with me,

and my prayer unto the God of my life.

Psalm 42:8

The above scripture has been an encouragement to me the past few days. I keep going back and reading it throughout the day...

And those cute Valentine's cups? I've had those for years now. They were cheap little things from the grocery store. Each year, I put them out on V-Day morning for the girls with a treat inside - sometimes a small homemade goodie, and other times just candy. I love Valentine's Day. Always have. There's just something special about kids (and grown ups!) exchanging kind sentiments with one another. And the hearts and flowers and chocolate. Oh, yes, it's all good: a fun, lighthearted holiday at our house.

We've even decorated a bit, which for me is a big deal. I'm not a big seasonal or holiday decorator. We've got our gel window clings and some garlands, and some Valentine's art one of the girls did a few years ago.

Last year, I made whoopie pies for the girls to take to school for Valentine's Day. So. Fun. They were scrumptious - and so cute. We'll see if I'm on my game by then...I'd love to make those sweet treats again!

And now, cue the angel choir, because do you see that in the photo above?? As unglamorous as it is, that's the retention pond at the end of our street. You know, where the rain water runoff goes! RAINwater! Guys, we had the most delicious all-night thunderstorms one night this week, and another full day of intermittent rain. And you know what spells relief for seasonal allergy sufferers, right? R.A.I.N. What a blessed, blessed relief. Such a wonderful break! Thanks be to God!

Besides knocking the pollen out of the air for a bit, this rain is a very welcome event in light of the severe drought here. We're so thankful.

Here is another cheerful pick-me-up: roses blooming in January. What a treat! This one is on the rosebush we were given at AH's adoption celebration. I'm so happy it's thriving like it is...

There have been many precious moments this week, when God helped me be alert to His kindness and care for me. I wish I could put them all down here. I wish I could remember them all! But my brain-processing speed at the moment is telling me it's past my bedtime, that this day is done.

I will recount this, though. One of my girls is struggling with issues of faith. I think I've mentioned it here a bit, but she has lots of questions. How do we know that what we believe is right? How do we know the beliefs of other religions aren't the Truth? What if all of it's not true (the Bible, gospel, etc)? She wants to believe. She struggles with fear - What if it's all true? What if it's not? What does that mean for me?

BB and I have been praying, looking for opportunities to speak the gospel to her in her heart language as they say at Wycliffe Bible Translators. This one has a very unique way of thinking, of processing the world around her. It's not sufficient to speak to her in the same manner as we do with our others. Anyway, I'm so excited, because I see God at work. Night before last, I was blessed to have a really meaningful talk and prayer with her, in which I helped her see that she can tell her heart to God, even things like, God, I don't know what to believe. Help me to know. Give me faith in Jesus. (Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God). She told God of her fear. Communicating this way at all with the Lord - in such a personal and honest way - is a first for her. I'm very encouraged. 


Then, today, during correction for disobedience, God allowed another special conversation, in which I was able to speak different elements of the gospel and repentance to her and she asked insightful questions and seemed to get it like I've not seen before.


God is at work. Glory to Him!

Have a beautiful weekend, friends. Thank you so much for visiting here