Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A few things

I finally finished the book, God Never Wastes a Hurt. I loved it, thought it was fantastic. It took me so long to get through it that I will have to go back and remember the main highlights, but one thing I read today that really hit me was a chapter called, How to Turn a Little into a Lot, in wich Jim Reeve talked about the widow in 2 Kings 4. This is the widow who went to Elisha for help when she had nothing. He told her to go and gather jars from her neighbors. When she did, he took the little oil she had and poured it into all of the jars. It just kept increasing until all the jars were full. I have heard this Bible story since I was very young, but had never stopped to think about it other than to realize how powerful God is and how He provides for us in the most unsuspecting of ways. I appreciated all of the principles that Mr. Reeve pointed out from the story. I could type for a long time about all the things he said, but I would instead recommend that you read it. The main thing I got is that she went to Elisha for help, probably expecting/hoping that Elisha would just fix her problem. Elisha didn't just fix it himself. Instead he had her go and do part of the work that would enable him to help her fix things. So often we sit back waiting for God to fix our problems. We pray, which is important, but we have to figure out our next step. What should I do to help in this situation? I think most of us probably go ahead and "do" because that is human nature, but for me I "do" because I feel like I have to in order to make something happen. I take control away from God. I am a person who likes to fix things, to the detriment of letting God at times. I go ahead and "do" by myself, all the time wishing God would just step in and fix it, rather than doing while praying that God would take what I am doing and make it even better than I could ever hope. I wonder what the widow hoped Elisha would do for her. Did she hope for something amazing or did she just hope not to starve? I know when I am in need, I hope that God will cover the need, but I don't necessarily hope for much more than that. It was convicting. I need to talk to God about my needs/wants, then listen for what He wants me to do, move forward with the next step and watch how he takes what I do and makes it so much more abundant than anything I could ever dream of.


On a lighter note, here is a picture of James at his birthday party. It was very simple with just three friends over. They opened some presents (this was a favorite!!!) then watched a movie on the big screen outside and the watched some more on the big screen inside. It was fun and loud!!! Now he is really sick, so pray for him if you think about it. He has bronchitis and sounds terrible. I took him to the doctor yesterday. It is viral in nature, so there is no medication, but he was put on two inhalers to try to help his lungs. The doctor was concerned about pneumonia and did chest x-rays, but it was just bronchitis. Also, Brent is feeling poorly now, and he could use some prayers. Eric is out of town this weekend, so he really needs to be well enough to make it through Sunday.


Here is our sweet daughter with her Daddy! Yes, she has him wrapped around her finger most of the time!


Jason had a field trip today to La Purisma, a spanish mission on the coast. We left his school at 6:30 this morning and traveled 2 1/2 hours (It actually took longer on the big charter bus) to this mission. It was a fun day. This is a picture of Jason with one of his friends in the soldier's quarters. It was a cool field trip! They are studying California history and the establishing of the Catholic Missions. This was especially fun for us because last year when I was homeschooling, we studied this also, so it was neat to be able to be with him. it was also fun to watch him interact with his classmates. He is a normal boy and I had to settle him down some, but he is also a very sweet gentleman. At one point, he gave up a "game" because there was not enough for everyone in his class. He passed it off to another student and waiting. Yet he jumped into the circle and participated as much as he could without the tool - silly little things make a mother proud!!!

I feel like I should say something about David, since there is something about the other kids. He is just David - sweet and onery!!! I have been working with him on reading, and he is doing quite well! That's exciting!!! It's so delightful and so difficult (all at the same time) to watch your kids grow and change. I love it when they are doing new things, but I wonder so much where the time went - where are my babies.

6 comments:

Christy said...

I'm so glad you're having a good time with the kids. Sounds like everyone is adjusting. I will have to read that book you're talking about. Sounds good.

Love you!
(Praying for the boys. We're not feeling so great around here either.)

Courtney said...

hey there. sorry they are sick. i just got your message on my phone. it must have been off all day because i had like 90 missed calls, okay not really, but several :)
have a good weekend. i hope they all feel better really soon!

oh yeah, what the heck is that barbie?

Becky said...

Just his friend being goofy!!!!

Dalene said...

Kirsten doesn't accept that's a Barbie doll. She says it looks like a snake's head on a snake. Wow. We see what we want to see. Tell the boys to get better!

Marci said...

Praying for health for your family! Sounds like it was a really cool field trip.

khowze said...

Sorry the germs are going around your family too. Hope everyone gets well soon...I will say a prayer. You have a very sweet and cute family! (I'm not sure your teenager would appreciate that comment)