I will delight myself in Your commandments

I know "coffee and the Word" has become a vastly overused, typical "Christian girl" phrase. But, when it comes down to it, is there really anything sweeter?
It's a delightfully slow summer morning here at home. The locusts, crickets, and birds hum their morning tunes outside my window, creating a summer symphony. As I sit in my room with a warm red mug of, yes, coffee in my hand and the living Word of God in my lap, I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving.
Who am I to hold the words of the living, powerful Creator and Sustainer and Ruler of all things?
Yet He has chosen to give these words to men--to us--to me.
Why? I don't know, except that He has chosen to do so. All we can do is read and live. In light of this living Word, how shall we then live?

Psalm 119 is full of thanks to God for the gift of His words and commandments. The Psalmist writes in Psalm verses 10-11:

"With my whole heart I have sought You;

Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!

Your word I have hidden in my heart,

That I might not sin against You."

In verses 47-48:

"And I will delight myself in Your commandments,

Which I love.

My hands also will lift up to Your commandments,

Which I love,

And I will meditate on Your statutes."

And again in verses 103-105:

"How sweet are Your words to my taste,

Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Through Your precepts I get understanding;

Therefore I hate every false way.

Your word is a lamp to my feet 

And a light to my path."

You can either choose to neglect or delight yourself in the Word of God today. Which will it be? 

The Psalmist cries out,"My soul faints for Your salvation, but I hope in Your word. My eyes fail from searching Your word." He was so much in the word that his eyes literally began to grow weak from searching it! Do yours?

About the Scriptures J. C. Ryle says,

"I want people to fill their minds with passages of Scripture while they are well and strong, that they may have sure help in the day of need. I want them to be diligent in studying their Bibles, and becoming familiar with their contents, in order that the grand old Book may stand by them and talk with them when all earthly friends fail. From the bottom of my heart, I pity that person who never reads their Bible. I wonder how they expect to draw their consolation in their time of need."

'You are My people'

I woke up to a dark, cloudy sky that made me want to stay in bed forever, which is how I feel basically every morning a feeling I never, ever experience, I assure you. Mornings like these remind us how lucky we were to have a day like yesterday. . .

The sun was shining, the birds were whistling, and I was driving home with the sun roof open and the Punch Brothers singing. I couldn't resist a run in this blissful spring, slightly sweltering warm weather. Still huffing, puffing, and gasping for breath breathing hard, I crawled walked onto the back porch to see Jer shooting his bow, Jonathan slowly, rhythmically swaying in the hammock, and Macy close behind, her tail wagging violently.
I had to pause and thank the Lord - for the chance for my boys to just be boys (something so many boys completely miss out on these days); for the good old south in April; for days like today; for God's overwhelming love in every little thing, even when I am ungrateful and presumptive. His blessings are all around me and continue, whether I have thanked Him or not.
Can you imagine such selfless love in a human? Just think of it: a man or a woman who continues to pour out love even when that love is not the slightest bit reciprocated? That is surely a rare thing, if not an entirely impossible thing. Picture the greatest, kindest, most selfless human being ever to walk the earth. Observe as he not only cares for the dirtiest, scummiest, most self-absorbed human being that ever lived, but he takes him into his home, adopts him, and loves him as his own son - even when that son goes about his business and forgets this man's unspeakable kindness. Now multiply that x 100 and you'll get some faint idea of God's love for us.

In Hosea 2:23, the Lord says to a rebellious, stiff-necked Israel:

"And I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy;
Then I will say to those who were not My people,
‘You are My people!’
And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”

It was too perfect not to soak in every last bit of sunlight. I pulled out my paints and the boys rotated to the trampoline. 

Today, in spite of the clouds, there is so much to be thankful for. Have you thanked Him for His many kindnesses? Look around you and be thankful. The true child of God ought to be the happiest being in all the world.

Today I realized . . .

. . . How much I really believe I will miss my job at the old hearing center, especially the sweet people I meet and grow to know and love.

. . . How happy little things like new knobs for my drawer can make me.

. . . And how much one new lamp can brighten up my bedside -- and in turn, my entire bedroom. I picked up this new lamp when I went to Hobby Lobby intending to come home with only lace. But when I saw this lonely little blue lamp with a shade covered in French poetry, it called my name and I simply couldn't resist.

And on another note: I was flipping through an old journal tonight (and yes, it was embarrassing) and found this entry from June of 2009:

O God, how many times have I said unto Thee, 'Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to Thee!' and not meant it? How many times have I sung it or said it unto You to take my life and let it be for Thee, but said in my own heart, 'Don't take my life, for I want to live it for myself'? Have I ever said this and truly meant it?
"Having already said,'Take my life, for I cannot give it to Thee,' let us now say, with deepened conviction, that without Christ we really can do nothing -- 'Keep my life, for I cannot keep it for Thee." (Frances Havergal, Kept For the Master's Use)
 What a freeing thing it is to learn that it does not depend on me! It is Christ, Christ -- all of Him! 

"We know nothing of religion here: we think only of Christ."

As C. S. Lewis is one the best and brightest authors, I'm going to share a few quotes from his book, The Great Divorce.

"There have been men before now who got interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself . . . as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist. There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a second thought to Christ. You see it in smaller matters. Did you never know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organizer of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all the snares." (Ch. 9)

~ 

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened." (Ch. 9)

~ 

"We know nothing of religion here: we think only of Christ." (Chapter 5)

~ 

"No natural feelings are high or low, holy or unholy, in themselves. They are all holy when God's hand is on the rein. They all go bad when they set up on their own and make themselves into false gods." (Ch. 11)

~ 

"'Oh, of course. I'm wrong. Everything I say or do is wrong, according to you.  

'But of course!' said the Spirit, shining with love and mirth so that my eyes were dazzled. 'That's what we all find when we reach this country. We've all been wrong! That's the great joke. There's no need to go on pretending one was right! After that we begin living.'" (Ch. 11)

~ 

"There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him." (Ch. 11) 

They shall sing in the ways of the Lord

I know to many of you this blog has long been dead. But I'd like to think he's only been sleeping, gone on an extended vacation; hibernating; but still very much alive.
And in the hope of awakening this old Blog o'Mine, I'd like to share a page out of Spurgeon's Morning + Evening from February 1st that I've found to be such a help to me and, I hope, to you as well.

"They shall sing in the ways of the Lord."

Psalm 138:5

The time when Christians begin to sing in the ways of the Lord is when they first lose their burden at the foot of the Cross. Not even the songs of the angels seem so sweet as the first song of rapture which gushes from the inmost soul of the forgiven child of God. You know how John Bunyan describes it. He says when poor Pilgrim lost his burden at the Cross, he gave three great leaps, and went on his way singing—

“Blest Cross! blest Sepulchre! blest rather be The Man that there was put to shame for me!”

Believer, do you recollect the day when your fetters fell off? Do you remember the place when Jesus met you, and said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions, and as a thick cloud thy sins; they shall not be mentioned against thee any more forever.” Oh! what a sweet season is that when Jesus takes away the pain of sin. When the Lord first pardoned my sin, I was so joyous that I could scarce refrain from dancing. I thought on my road home from the house where I had been set at liberty, that I must tell the stones in the street the story of my deliverance. So full was my soul of joy, that I wanted to tell every snow-flake that was falling from heaven of the wondrous love of Jesus, who had blotted out the sins of one of the chief of rebels. But it is not only at the commencement of the Christian life that believers have reason for song; as long as they live they discover cause to sing in the ways of the Lord, and their experience of his constant lovingkindness leads them to say, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” See to it, brother, that thou magnifiest the Lord this day.

“Long as we tread this desert land,

New mercies shall new songs demand.”

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord

It wasn't easy to choose to stay at home and take on a full-time job when it seemed like just about everyone else was moving away and starting their freshman year of college.

 Honestly, every morning is a struggle. But the struggle is sweet when it is from, with, and for Jesus.

I have learned so very much about things I never thought I didn't know. Funny how we don't know so much that we don't even know we don't know. If that makes any sense at all.

Anyway, I've learned everything from how to [magically] fold cardboard into a perfectly-shaped shipping box, how to balance finances, how to convince telemarketers that we're not interested, and even just how to use the drive-thru at the bank. I'm experiencing things I've never done before. And I'm thankful for that. But more than anything else, I'm thankful for the precious lives I am able to come across, speak to, and encourage. I'm thankful for the stories and laughs, the wisdom and the advice they have given me.

I'll share one story a sweet lady told of her great-grandson.

~

When she was taking him to his Kindergarten class one day, he spoke up, pleading, 

"Mamy, would you pwease tell Ms. Julie (his teacher) that I'm sick and can't come today?" 

"But, dahlin' (it didn't matter who she was addressing, to Mamy, everyone is dahlin'), you're not sick."

"Yes, I am. I, I... I had a heart attack!"

Mamy stifled a laugh and decided to play along with him. She called Ms. Julie and told her what he had said. His teacher then said, 

"Well, in that case, we'll have to send for an ambulance right away."

When Mamy relayed the message to the backseat, he said, "Tell her it's too late! You and Mamma done buried me already."

~

Throughout this year, Habakkuk 3:17-18 has been such a comfort:

Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labor of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls - 

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Deuteronomy 6

In verses 6-9, God instructs us how we ought to respond to the Word He, in His kindness, has given to us:

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Believer, this is how you ought to live - with His Word hidden in your heart and always before your mind. Teach it, speak of it, think on it - constantly. I want to know this Book more than any other, and His words more than anyone else's.

And how could I not? Verses 20-23 say:

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers."

As a believer, you are separated unto God. As a result, you look very strange to the world. As you should. God has set you apart and made you different. When they wonder at you and ask why? Why are you so odd? You should want nothing better than to tell of God's mercy and His great work in your heart! This should be your answer: That you were a slave. You were dead in your sins and subject to the chains of this world. But now you have been transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love! Now you are under the happy bondage of our good, kind Lord and Master. There is no happier position, no better place. 

Thankful

I'm currently listening to the Little Women soundtrack, which makes me feel all happy and nostalgic inside. I'm sitting at the computer. (Obviously.) I've been typing up a couple of papers, and trying to catch up from last week's absences. Last week, I flew to Oklahoma, saw old friends, met new friends, learned a lot, and had an all-around wonderful time. (Which I hope to post about soon...ish, but it will require more thought and effort, since I'd like to include pictures and whatnot.)
Life. It moves at an incredible rate. I still can't believe February is just around the corner.

Fast forward. One day later.

I've been thinking about my own ingratitude. I had to stop and make a list.
Thankful:
-I wrote a paper on God's love this week. (This is why I love my classical, Christian education.)
-I took my one Latin student to GiGi's for class today. It was very educational. Trust me.
-I have a car. (Granted, she's not in mint condition at the moment. But I'm working on that.)
-I'm taught from the Word and blessed with the fellowship of godly believers at Christ Church.
-I've had the privilege of attending the filming of the Behold Your God talks given by my pastor for about a week and a half.
-I have the best family in the whole wide world. (No, really.)
-I serve a faithful, kind, almighty, loving, holy God. I am His, and He is mine!

Sometimes I forget these things. Sometimes I focus on all the little things that don't go according to my plan. But He knows far better than I do. He is faithful. Give me a grateful heart that takes nothing for granted, O Lord.
 

A Bend in the Road

A blank page. I don't know where to begin. It's been so long since I've written - I mean, really written. I'm almost scared.

There are so many things I want to write. But I don't even know how to start.

These past few months have been filled with so much uncertainty. If I had a dime for every time I've been asked what I want to do with my life, I'd be rich. . .in dimes. But rich, nonetheless. The answer is: I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea.  Some people figure this out in their freshman year, some in their sophomore year, some practically since birth. Well, not this girl.

In Matthew 6:27, Christ asks us, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" Worrying about tomorrow will not make tomorrow any better.

For me, I like to figure out what I'm doing and have a plan - in the little things, in the big things. Katie and I joke that she's the spontaneous one who lives by the seat of her pants and I'm the one who with an agenda and a plan. (AKA, the boring one.) My life does not go perfectly according to plan. Trust me. I'm learning to surrender my life, my plan, wholly to the Lord, who has a far better plan, though I may not always understand it.

I do not know what lies around the next Bend in the Road.
I do know that I would like to go to college, to further my learning, and to learn to be (relatively) on my own. Although, I'm not the kind of person who jumps at the chance to leave home. This home and family and all that goes with it are so dear to me. I can't leave them without decided hesitation.
I do not want to have anything to do with silly sorority fickleness, frat fiats, cold cinder block dorm-life, college parties, or God-less teaching.
That's exactly what has led me to New College Franklin, a tiny, brand new, classical Christian college in beautiful downtown Franklin, Tennessee. (That, and the fact that my brother goes to school there.) There I would read and discuss the classics, learn music theory, study Greek and Hebrew (something I never thought I would want to do), think through moral philosophy, and delve into the Scriptures. There are no dorms, but students live with church families who rent out spare bedrooms. This is not only a college begun solely for the glory of God (in deed, not in word only), but it's a community. I guarantee you it's unique to just about every college or university out there; hardly anyone has heard of it and there are about 20 students in the whole school right now. Total. You might be wrinkling your nose at the number of people and wondering why on earth I would want to go to such a place for college.

But this is something I've had to think and pray about. Going to New College is not something people will understand and they probably won't ever have heard of it. My friends won't "get it." I've had to ask myself, why are you going to college? Am I going so people will "get" me? Am I going so that others will approve of me? Am I going so I can make lots of new friends? If this is why I want to college, I might as well stay at home.
If I'm going to college for the right reason, I go for the glory of God, to grow in Him, to love Him more, and to grow in my understanding of His Word (and what better way to do that than read the Bible in its original languages?) Don't get me wrong, one can still learn to love God more at a non-Christian college. God is present with those who love Him everywhere, at Christian colleges and state universities alike. But I think I can best accomplish these things at a place like New College, without so many hindrances, where the glory of God is all-important.

If all my New College plans never come to fruition or they just don't work out, it doesn't matter. God is still God. He reigns whether I know what I'm doing with my life or not. God has been teaching me to surrender, to make His will mine, to leave my life utterly in His hands. Who better to hold it than the God of all the world?

Mrs. Allan once told Anne in Anne of Avonlea, "Well, I should like to see you go to college, Anne; but if you never do, don't be discontented about it. We make our own lives wherever we are, after all. . . college can only help us do it more easily. They [the bends in the road] are broad and narrow according to what we put into them, not what we get out. Life is rich and full. . .here. . .everywhere. . .if only we can learn to open our whole hearts to its richness and fullness."

I almost want to include the whole first chapter of Frances Ridley Havergal's book Kept for Jesus, but I'll just quote this part:

"For we both may and must
Commit our very faith to Him,
Entrust to Him our trust.

What a long time it takes us to come down to the conviction, and still more to the realization, of
the fact that without Him we can do nothing, but that He must work all our works in us! This is
the work of God that ye believe in Him whom He has sent. And no less must it be the work of
God that we go on believing, and that we go on trusting. Then, dear friends, who are longing to
trust Him with unbroken and unwavering trust, cease the effort and drop the burden, and now
entrust your trust to Him! He is just as well able to keep that as any other part of the complex
lives which we want Him to take and keep for Himself. And oh, do not pass on content with the
thought, “Yes, that is a good idea; perhaps I should find that a great help!” But, now, then, do it.
It is no help to the sailor to see a flash of light across a dark sea, if he does not instantly steer
accordingly."

I do not know what the next year holds, I can't see around the next Bend in the Road, but I'm trusting He who does and who will reveal it in His good and perfect time.

Mud pies

In "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis says:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

 Charles Spurgeon ought to stir us up even further when he says:

O true believer, called by grace and washed in the precious blood of Jesus, thou hast tasted better drink than the river of this world's pleasure can give thee; thou hast had fellowship with Christ; thou hast obtained the joy of seeing Jesus, and leaning thine head upon His bosom. Do the trifles, the songs, the honors, the merriment of this earth content thee after that? If thou art wandering after the waters of Egypt, oh, return quickly to the one living fountain; the waters of Sihor may be sweet to the Egyptians, but they will prove only bitterness to thee. What hast thou to do with them? Jesus asks this question - what wilt thou answer him?

Today I am thankful for the clouds. I am thankful for the rain. Sometimes you need hard times to appreciate the good ones.

It's the contrast, you see, that makes the burning amber and the bright shades of reds and oranges pop. Against the grey skies is the beauty of fall. 

It's this same contrast between the light of the Son and the darkness of sin. The life in Christ and the death all around us. His holiness, our wickedness. His strength, our weakness. His greatness, our littleness.

Today I am thankful for my Heavenly Father who sent His only Son so that I might be freed from sin and death and the chains of this world. I have been bought with a price, ransomed, set free! In love, in gratitude, I give it back to Him.

My life is not my own. It is His. I am His. And He is mine.

What's my life if it's not praising you

With every breath I take, with every heart beat,  

Sunrise and the moon lights in the dark street.  

Every glance, every dance, every note of a song.  

It's all a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known.  

Every day that I lie, every moment I covet 

I'm deserving to die, I'm just earning your judgment. 

I, without the cross there's only condemnation.  

If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration.  

So in times that are good, in times that are bad, 

For any times that I've had it all I will be glad.  

And I will boast in the cross. I boast in my pains.  

I will boast in the sunshine, boast in his reign.  

What's my life if it's not praising you.  

Another dollar in my bank account of vain pursuit. 

I do not count my life as any value or precious at all.  

Let me finish my race, let me answer my call.

If this life has anything to gain at all I count it lost if I can't hear you, feel you, 'cause I need you. Can't walk this earth alone. I recognize I'm not my own, so before I fall I need to hear you, feel you, as I live to make my boast in you alone. 

Tomorrow's never promised, but it is we swear.  

Think we holding our own, just a fist full of air.  

God has never been obligated to give us life.  

If we fought for our rights, we'd be in hell tonight.  

Mere sinners own nothing but a fierce hand.  

We never loved him, we pushed away his pierced hands.  

I rejected his love, grace, kindness, and mercy. 

Dying of thirst, yet, willing to die thirsty.  

Eternally worthy, how could I live for less?  

Patiently you turn my heart away from selfishness. 

I volunteer for your sanctifying surgery.  

I know the spirit's purging me of everything that's hurting me.  

Remove the veil from my darkened eyes.  

So now every morning I open your word and see the Son rise.  

I hope in nothin, boast in nothin, only in your suffering.

I live to show your glory, dying to tell your story. 

Glory was solely meant for you, doing what no one else could do.  

With All I have to give, 

I'll use my life, 

I'll use my lips. 

I'll only glory in your Word. 

What gift to me I don't deserve. 
I'll live in such a way that it reflects to you my praise.

-"Boasting," Lecrae

The Holocaust and Abortion

Please take some time to watch this.

Made for Thyself

Made for Thyself, O God!

Made for Thy love, Thy service, Thy delight;

Made to show forth Thy wisdom, grace, and might;

Made for Thy praise, whom veiled archangels laud:

Oh, strange and glorious thought, that we may be

A joy to Thee!

Yet the heart turns away

From this grand destiny of bliss, and deems

'Twas made for its poor self, for passing dreams,

Chasing illusions melting day by day,

Till for ourselves we read on this world's best,

'This is not rest!'

-Frances Ridley Havergal

How can I not trust Him?

"Daily I turn my gaze in distrust. Daily I remember the Jesus who already washed clean this mess and I fall to my knees, sorrowful and repentant. How can I not trust? And He reminds me that I must die with Him – not just that once but every single day – choosing to throw off the distrust and walk with Him in the newness of life. Daily. Hourly. Sometimes seemingly every five minutes."

(Katie in Uganda. Read the whole Journey here.)

And He shall strengthen your heart

I sit on my bed. All is quiet around me. I am so overwhelmed at the kindness of our great God. I am faithless, yet He is faithful.

So many, many things - I can't even begin to tell you. (Some I actually can't tell you. Not now, at least.)
He has done so many unimaginable things! How could I have ever doubted His strength and His ability to do such? I pray He would give me of such little faith more faith to trust in the Ever Faithful One.

Psalm 31:19-24:

"Oh, how great is Your goodness,

Which You have laid up for those who fear You,

Which You have prepared for those who trust in You

In the presence of the sons of men!

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence

From the plots of man;

You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion

From the strife of tongues.

Blessed be the LORD,

For He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city!

For I said in my haste,

“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;

Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications

When I cried out to You.

Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!

For the LORD preserves the faithful,

And fully repays the proud person.

Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart,

All you who hope in the LORD."

The Practice of the Presence of God

Of Necessary Practices For Attaining The Spiritual Life

1. That practice which is alike the most holy, the most general, and the most needful in the spiritual life is the practice of the Presence of GOD. It is the schooling of the Soul to find its joy in His Divine Companionship. Holding with Him at all times and at every moment humble and loving converse, without set rule or stated method, in all time of our temptation and tribulation, in all time of our dryness of Soul and disrelish of GOD. Yes and even when we fall into unfaithfulness and actual sin.

2. We should apply ourselves unceasingly to this one end, to so rule all our actions that they be little acts of communion with GOD; but they must not be studied, they must come naturally, from the purity and simplicity of the heart.

3. We must do all things thoughtfully and soberly, without impetuosity or precipitancy, which denotes a mind undisciplined. We must go about our labors quietly, calmly, and lovingly, entreating Him to prosper the works of our hands. By thus keeping heart and mind fixed on GOD, we shall bruise the head of the evil one, and beat down his weapons to the ground.

-Brother Lawrence

This weekend I get to see my Daddy for the first time in more than a month. I can't tell you how much I've, how much all of us, have missed him. It's been hard. But even with our Head of Household, Alpha-Man, and Chairman of Crampton, Inc. miles away from home, we have so very much to be thankful for. God has been so kind. For He has provided grace. Morning by morning, His mercies are indeed new.

Blessed.

It's that time of year again. Tax season, I mean. That means Mom's working at home preparing other people's taxes, dealing with the darling and dearly beloved to all to whom it is known, the IRS, and that also means we get the pleasure of having strange people come in and out of the house morning, noon, and night. Sounds delightful, no?

Well, one day Mom had a client with four little girls. These girls were just dying to look around and go upstairs. That's when Mom said they were welcome to explore. They were upstairs in no time. I gave them a tour and heard many simultaneous wow's. They were astonished by the striped walls, my pet fish, our 3 dogs, beds, mirrors, everything. And I was struck. Struck with my own ingratitude.

These four little girls live with their mother in a tiny apartment. Their father recently went to jail. They don't have many of the privileges we do.

I am so blessed. So very, very undeservedly blessed. I don't deserve a house with room enough for all of  us (plus more if they don't mind sleeping on the floor),  I don't deserve all these nice things, a warm bed, food enough for quite a while, a wonderful family, a Christ-centered church, and wonderful friends who are a daily encouragement for me. I don't have a right to own all these things. God has been so kind, and I certainly don't deserve His many kindnesses.

Psalm 103:8 &10 say, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love...He does not treat us as our sins deserve..."

Isaiah 45

²² “ Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.