Truth

I love you, Lord;

you are my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress,

and my savior;

my God is my rock, in whom

I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me;

and my place of safety.

   Psalm 18:1-2

It has to be said

It was a section I was dreading.  Yes, I am talking of yesterday's reading in Genesis, a set of the "begats".  And sure enough, it put me to sleep.  I started in the morning, but couldn't keep my eyes open through it.  After hanging with Mike and the boys, I finally finished yesterday's bible reading just before going to sleep.
Anyone else have a section that they have to struggle through?

Biting my Tongue

James 3: 1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."

Whoa-press the pause button. The pause button on life for just one moment. How convicting is this verse? Yes, Pastor Davey defined teachers as those who teach the word and biblical truths, but as he ran through the list: Sunday school teachers, pastors, etc...I couldn't help but be convicted with how influential our roles are as teachers. Yes, public school teachers. The performance review my principal provides this year will not hold a candle to His performance review. Now I know that I don't explicitly teach the word as I do in Sunday School to my fourth graders. But I certainly model it. I share it through my actions, tone, facial expressions, speech, and thoughts while on the ol' job clock.

I kept thinking about Katie Nam. Bless her heart, while she is a space cadet most of the time, I need to remember her heart. I had a conference with her Mom last week who informed me that Katie was having a hard time handling her groupmates. She doesn't have temper tantrums as another of my children have, but I could see how teasing and playfulness that goes back and forth between her groupmates could be frustrating for Katie. Apparently she bottles it up inside and bursts into tears when she gets home. Mom asked her if she tells me at all, but she says "Miss Kenyon says she doesn't care..."

EE!! The thing is, I have said that before. She is right! I have said those exact words in an effort to brush off what I consider trivial matters for what I deem more important (keeping the schedule, teaching the lesson, managing the whole group)...what have I done?! I have placed my agenda above her heart and feelings. I have ignored my duty as a Christian to shine the light in these little lives. I minimalized the importance of her feelings for matters of the world. I have forgotten that my definition of what is trivial and significant as an adult is not the same as a child's definition.

Pray that I can humble myself and govern my tongue. Pray that I can make decisions in my classroom not because of a focus on a pacing guide or a pending EOG, but rather, because of my focus on Heaven above.

Amen that Jesus eats with the sinners like me (Mt 9:9-13)...What joy I find in that Jesus says himself: "For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Side note on teaching the Aphids--- Moses hearing God speak from the burning bush is not an easy concept to explain to four year olds. Especially when I had just left a sermon on teaching the Word. I had to get it right, didn't want to teach it incorrectly!

They couldn't fathom how God was not in the bush. Bless their little hearts, they kept saying "I see Him in the picture...Look! There He is!" Me: "No, you can't see Him. He is there but shows Himself to Moses with His voice. " 4year old: "Yes, he is right there!" Me: "See God is in Heaven, but He is in the bush but only with His voice." 4 year old dead serious and astonished: "Wow, and that (heaven) is real high up there." Me: "Yes, it is amazing how far He could travel."

Have a fabulous week ladies!
KK

God-incident

So I love it when this happens!
Yesterday's reading included Matthew 7:15-29. Today I get the mail and what is in there? A sermon covering Matthew 7:15-29.
A close friend of the family actually sent a CD of this message to me along with a Bible study book that she just completed that had made her think of Keith and I often.
The sermon was from one of the many churches around my home town that had been praying for us during and after Lincoln's life. He used Keith and I as an illustration and actually read the last of my emails about Lincoln, which was quite convicting yet oddly encouraging.

Convicting because, yes, we do strive to build our house on the rock of Jesus but we are in no way "there." Also, it made me look again at where I am now. Am I still living on the rock? Have I perhaps let back in some worldly worries and concerns that in the middle of the toughest part I had given completely and totally to God?
This past month I have had some tough times, and some really selfish thoughts and actions where I have lived as though I am in charge. I have been planning things out, counting days, budgeting, looking ahead to worldly things- not to heavenly things.
Our service at Colonial convicted me of this as well (all 3 times I heard it- yay orchestra!) just to be still and listen to what the Lord is trying to tell me.
I have been convicted to continue to live totally on the rock of Jesus, and as Emily said- quit trying to "help" God out with his plan.

This was also encouraging. I don't know who was there that morning, or who was touched by our testimony of faith. But chances are that someone was, and that means that God has already used Lincoln's life. I got to see one tiny part of what could be possible.
The other encouraging part is the incredible timing of our Lord. Of course I would get this in the mail the day after we read that section of scripture. :)
Just thought I would share!
See you tomorrow, if we can make it to Carly's in the ice and snow!

Curing Cynicism in Prayer

Hey my fave ladies :-)

So as I was catching up on my Desiring God Blog (one of the ministries of Bethlehem - Piper's church) I read this excerpt from Paul Miller on cynicism in prayer....an eye-opener for me...

Cynicism is my biggest struggle in prayer. It is a quiet, cold rationalism that dulls the soul and just kills your walk with God. It is hard to even identify or name our cynicism because it just feels like being realistic. It says things like, “What good does it [prayer] do?” or “It [the answer to prayer] would have happened anyway.”

I think we are particularly susceptible to cynicism in the Reformed world because we are an intellectual world. We are rightly concerned about our ideas being correct, but we don’t always pay attention to our heart being correct.

I think without a doubt that the principal cure for cynicism is to become a little child and learn to cry out for help—to realize that I am a lost coin, a lost sheep, and a lost son.

One other cure for cynicism is purity of life. Any time there is a miss between how we present ourselves as Christians and what we are really like when no one is watching, that opens up a door for cynicism. So a lifestyle of repentance and confession goes a long way to cure cynicism.

See you all on Tuesday!

Day 7-Backfire

As I was reading Genesis this morning, I thought back to our discussion on Tuesday night about submitting to God's will.  It's hard and it's even harder to be patient to wait and see God's will for us.  For Abraham, who was even told what God's will was for him, he and Sarah tried to make God's will happen in their own way since they just couldn't wait.  (Ch 16).  Instead it backfired, Hagar bore the father of strife with Israel and treated Sarah with contempt.  Sarah's response was harsh treatment of Hagar and still more disbelief 13 years later (Ch 18) when the Lord told them that within the year Isaac would be born.

I want to say how amazingly insane it seems that they were told God's plan and couldn't wait, but I can't.  We want so badly to help God along that we make such huge blunders that backfire on us instead.  God doesn't need our help.  As he says in Gen. 18: 14a "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  I just hope the lessons sticks with me next time I try to "help" God out in my life!

Day 4 - Genesis & the flood

Something I thought was interesting today was verse 8:21 where God says "I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood." It makes wonder...suppose God had not promised us this, and given the current status of the world we live in, how close would He be, today, to flooding the Earth again? Also, I wonder just how wicked must they have been in the beginning to deserve this?
...just some things to think over :)
Another reference is Genesis 6:5-8, where God explains his reasoning for the flood.

I've missed you guys!! Can't wait to see you tonight!

Celebrating Tuesday

Just finished reading this week's chapter on prayer.  I can't wait to be back together and discuss a healthy prayer life with Jesus.  One thing really stuck with me that somewhat went back to a discussion we had a few weeks ago.  It refers to one of the ways our God is different from the dead gods the world worships.  God wants to serve us and give us hope, there is nothing but his glorification that he wants from us while the other gods seek service that can never be complete or fulfilling to a person.

Looking forward to 2011 with the Baker's Dozen and an awesome discussion tonight.

Day 1 - Genesis

When reading from Genesis today, I realized that in 1:27 the Bible says that "God created human beings," but it isn't until 2:7 that "God formed the man from the dust of the ground." Am I missing something here? It does also say in 2:7 that "He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person." So, I'm thinking that He created man, but without life, and then He gave him life? Interesting. Weigh in!