To quote the great Larry the Cucumber from VeggieTales…”I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob.”
My good friend Randy Winton has written a book about raising four boys…yes, FOUR BOYS! I was touched as he shares with us lessons learned, God’s faithfulness, and his hopes and dreams for his boys. For any of you dads or future dads out there I strongly recommend this book!
We took the kids to Peaks of Otter this past Saturday. I didn’t think Bailey was going to make it but he hung in there and did great. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we enjoyed the mountain scenery as well as a good deer licking! (You have to see it to believe).
(Notice how happy Bailey looks)
On the way down we encountered this deer who apparently had a craving for licking sweaty arms. So neat to be that close to one!
(That’s my hand it’s licking)
(Kenny & Molly)
(With Molly)
Then we saw another one on the side of the road. So pretty!
Molly started Kindergarten and Bailey 3rd grade.
Here’s Molly with Mrs. Abbott…
And Bailey with Mrs. Davis…
Both teachers seem absolutely great and we are thankful for them. Here are the kids on their first day of school…
Summer 2008 has been fun for our family. We moved to Lynchburg at the end of June and it’s been nice to be closer to friends and family!
The kids got to go to day camp for a few days in July…
We also joined the local YMCA and the kids have a blast in the pool…
Good times!
After 2 long years in Raleigh, NC, we have relocated to Lynchburg, VA. Yay! Kenny started a new job July 1 and things are going well. The kids are on summer break and start school August 25. Hard to believe both my children are in elementary school now! And I’m still working from home for Stuph.
This is a picture of Living Word Baptist Church in Lynchburg. We have visited for the past two weeks and we’ve really enjoyed being there. We live less than 4 miles from the church and everyone has been real nice. Most importantly the preaching has been solid and I believe their mission is one we can align ourselves with. We are praying that God would show us where He wants us to get plugged in and serve Him. (Hopefully it’s here) 🙂
From Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest…
A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Jesus so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asks us to consider that “if God so clothes the grass of the field . . .” how “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22), while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly Father.
“Look at the birds of the air . . .” (Matthew 6:26). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His Spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.
“Consider the lilies of the field . . .” (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Consecration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?
2 But now bring charges against Israel-your mother-for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband. Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will leave her to die of thirst, as in a dry and barren wilderness.
4 And I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.
5 Their mother is a shameless prostitute and became pregnant in a shameful way. She said, “I’ll run after other lovers, and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.”
This is a pretty harsh passage in my opinion. Charges are brought against the Unfaithful Wife and Mother, Israel, for her unfaithfulness. What is still so touching to me in light of these charges against Israel, is God’s faithfulness and love. His desire is to restore His love relationship with His people rather than casting them away. God is using severe consequences in order to turn His people back to Himself.
In verse 5 the focus shifts to Israel’s guilt of rejecting Yahweh, her rightful Husband, for her lovers. Israel was guilty of worshiping the gods of the pagan nations around them – they would continually turn to these false idols for help instead of turning to the One True God.
What can we learn from these passages? I believe we have false gods in our lives today that cause us to be unfaithful to God. What or who do we give our allegiance to and depend on for meaning as persons – in addition to God? We can believe in God and at the same time worship the false god of power, prosperity, possessions, and position.
We want God to bless us while we maintain control of our own lives and do what we want to do. In reality, we are the false gods of our own lives. Oh that we would surrender our lives to God and give Him back His rightful place in our hearts – FIRST PLACE!
Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore – too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, “You are not my people,” it will be said, “You are the children of the living God.” Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be – the day of Jezreel – when God will again plant His people in His land. In that day you will call your brothers Ammi – ‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah – ‘The ones I love.’
Here is where the grace of God comes in, for God will one day change these names (vs. 1-4). “Not My People” will become “My people,” “unloved” will become “My loved one.” These new names reflect the nation’s new relationship to God, for all of them will be “the sons of the living God.” Judah and Israel will unite as one nation and will submit to God’s ruler, and the centuries’ old division will be healed.
Instead of Jezreel being a place of slaughter and judgment, it will be a place of sowing (Jezreel means “God sows”) where God will joyfully sow His people in their own land and cuase them to prosper. As God promised to Abraham, Israel will become like the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17).
There will always be consequence for our sin, but even more so there will always be God’s constant love and forgiveness. We can have a new beginning because He has chosen to be our God.
Credits: Be Amazed (Wiersbe), Grace Institute: The Prophets: Hosea, Life Application Bible, New Living Translation Bible, An Outline of Hosea (Ogilvie)
I know it’s been a while. First comes the holidays, then…everyday life.
Christmas was wonderful. We stayed home this year and were able to have the kids excited about actually getting out of bed for once. We read Luke 2 to the children and prayed together as a family. Then it was time for presents! It was so fun watching the children open their gifts.
New Year’s was pretty low key. We slept in and the next morning I attempted to fix ‘dduk kkuk’ – a traditional Korean soup that is eaten on New Year’s day. I use the word ‘attempted’ very loosely. I’m not good at cooking Korean food, but at least I tried. The rest of the day was spent shopping thanks to gift cards from my big bro Dan and his wife Helen…thanks guys!
Getting back to Hosea…I am determined to complete my verse by verse study of Hosea no matter how long it takes. Getting it started was a lot easier than keeping it up but I know there’s more I need to learn from this love story. So off we go…
After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhammah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi–‘not my people’–for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.”
Lo-ammi was Gomer’s third child, a son, and his name means “not my people.” Not only would God remove His mercy from His people, but He would also renounce the covenant He had made with them. It was like a man divorcing his wife and turning his back on her, or like a father rejecting his own son (see Exodus 4:22 adn Hosea 11:1).
Here God was in essence dissolving the covenant (Jeremiah 7:23). The name of the third child conveys the finality of God’s judgment. God’s warnings recorded in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 were beginning to come true: Israel was abandoning God, and in turn, He was leaving them alone and without His blessings.
I believe God’s warning in Jeremiah still rings true for us today. God wants us to obey him with a joyful heart and in turn we enjoy an amazing relationship with Him. It’s a no-lose situation for us: walk in all the ways He commands, and He will take us places beyond our imagination.
Credits: Be Amazed (Wiersbe), Grace Institute: The Prophets: Hosea, Life Application Bible, New Living Translation Bible
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