Blessed beyond measure!

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father, who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"  Matthew 7: 11

I do not think I could have felt possibly more blessed than I felt yesterday!  The Father showered me with good gifts!  I will start with the insignificant and move to the most significant.

First of all, we did not just get one or two packages in the mail, one of which was for Easter, but three, one of which was for my birthday, still 3 weeks away.  We were so blessed with all the goodies, even the noisy toys from grandma.  We got candy, pajamas for the kids, a maternity top for me, a couple of outfits for baby, batteries, and bacon!  I am waiting until my birthday to get the rest of the birthday box.  My mom has really outdone herself lately.

Second, Rich went to pick up our new air conditioner unit.  We were trying to tough it out by waiting as long as we could to get one, but the time came that we just could not sleep at night.  It actually got to Rich sooner, but as soon as he had ordered it, I began being unable to sleep well either.  And for me, that problem will only increase over the next two to three months.  He knew that and did not want me to suffer from lack of sleep or his grumpiness from his lack of sleep.  My husband takes such good care of me!

Third, the Father was protecting my son from his own folly, when my six-year-old thought he would see how sharp my husband's razor was and shave his own head in the shower.  He shaved just a little patch of hair off and then a chunk off his thumb.  I was so thankful that the chunk was not out of his head, and that the thumb could be covered with a simple regular band-aid.  Anything that can be covered with a band-aid cannot be that bad.  Thank You Lord for Your protection over my son. 

Fourth, I got an email from my mother.  It is such a blessing to hear how happy they are these days.  They are the happiest they have ever been as they approach their 50th wedding anniversary in August!  In a day and age where 50th anniversaries are rare, and happier ones even more, it is a blessing to see.  It is also a blessing to have a father who is man after God's own heart, which is equally rare in this day and age.

Fifth, I had a short but good visit with a friend.  When I arrived, she was washing baby stuff by hand and then washing the baby.  Then she was ready to help me with my language class homework while she nursed her baby.  After we were done with the homework, I had her listen to a couple of the beatitudes that I am memorizing for my pronunciation.  She acknowledged them as truth and good, despite the fact that Jesus said them.  This is a small step, but significant as I get closer to sharing more and more truth with her. 

I was blessed beyond measure yesterday!  I am living the Great Adventure on my way to Paradise! (Yes, I have been listening to that one Stephen Curtis Chapman's greatest hits tape that we have.)  I cannot wait to see what the Father has in store for the future!

Denaboo!

So I went this morning to a baby naming ceremony, which is called a denaboo.  It is held on the eighth day.  In the morning, the child's head is shaved and officially named and prayed over.  Then depending on how elaborate, the family will serve a sort of oatmeal with sweet yogurt on top for breakfast, a lunch of rice and meat from a sheep that has been sacrificed, and then a snack or something in the afternoon. 

The one I went to today was different from any I had ever attended before.  I took a gift just like I would to any other denaboo, as you would take to visit after the birth of a child.  But then several men, including the husband and possibly their religious teacher, came in the room where I was visiting my friend and her baby and prayed over the gift I gave and for me.  It really was not that much of a gift yet appropriate to this culture.  Typically, I have just gotten a, "Thank you," and that been the end of it.  So I was quite taken a back to have such a big deal made over this small gift.  The family was doing what seemed a rather simple celebration, and while it is not their first child, it is their first boy.

On a more humorous note, my friend had given birth last Tuesday evening.  Apparently right after I left from my weekly visit, she went inside and gave birth at her house.  I had no idea that she was laboring while I was there.  It was just occurring to me that she was pregnant!  She said she would have named the baby after me had it been a girl.  I guess I missed out this time!

Many around us are already planning on us having a baby naming ceremony and talk about it.  I don't think they realize how long I have left!  We are trying to plan how we will do it differently, so that there will be no confusion over why or how we are doing it.  Pray for wisdom as we prepare for this event.

Priorities!

This week I have been convicted about my priorities!  But at the same time I just do not know where to start sometimes.  Some days I am really good about staying on task regarding language and ministry.  Other days I am really good about focusing on the kids' school and meeting their needs.  Unfortunately, all these things are easy to pay attention to when they are screaming so loudly, figuratively speaking, for my attention.  But the two people who are to have most of my time and energy are often the ones that get the least or at least not my best. 

I have a habit of waking up early to have my time with the Lord and a cup of coffee before anyone else wakes up.  This is great when I actually wake up on time and have had a good night's rest so that I am focused when I do get up.  Unfortunately, it has been difficult for me to either go to sleep on time or to stay asleep all night for one reason or another and so my time with the Lord suffers.  So then shortly after I finally get started with my quiet time, some cute little girl who is awake too early comes in and distracts me.  I try really hard to stay focused and send her back to bed if it is too early, but nonetheless I am distracted.  As a result, I sometimes feel like I am going through the drive-thru at McDonald's or worse yet, Krispy Kreme, where I get nothing of real substance to get me through the day.  I'm not saying everyday is this way, and have in fact had some really insightful times lately as well, but they are fewer and farther between than I would like.  Lord, help me to be more faithful in my times with You and to be at my best for You!

Then my day begins!  The following is an ideal schedule, though very few days are ever ideal!
7-8:15am Get the laundry going and breakfast ready,family prayer time, eat, and finish getting ready for class.
8:30-10:30  language class

11:00-1:00  Homeschool

1:00-2:00  Lunch and hanging out for a few minutes while all the yummy food settles
2:00-3:00 Rest time because it is too hot to do anything else, when we do not have meetings that is
3:00-5:00  Ideally study time tho often interrupted by "Mommy!  Can we...?" unless we did not finish homeschool earlier and have to finish at this time
5:00-5:30  Get redy to go visiting which means often a few minutes dedicated to Mariama to make visiting time smoother
5:30-7:00  Visiting or sitting outside to watch the kids play while I try to get in some more studying
7:00-8:00 (ok 8:30)  dinner and getting kids to bed
8:30-9:30  (ok 10)  Getting myself ready for bed and possibly watching a show on DVD with the hubby before collapsing asleep

As you can see, there is someone who gets my leftovers, and he deserves so much better.  Rich gets what is left of me at the end of the day, which I cannot say is very much, once the two blessings that are walking around are done with me in addition to the one I am currently incubating.  He is such a great husband and deserves my best!  Plus that is actually how the Lord designed it.  God--#1, Spouse-#2, and then kids and then whatever else.  Unfortunately, it is easy to get that order mixed up.  Lord, show me how I can show my husband that he has this significant place in my heart!  Lord, show me how to give my husband my best, and not just my leftovers!   Lord, thank you for this fabulous man that you have given me!

The Enemy's Tactics!

This week I was studying the temptation of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 4.  Several things struck me as interesting that maybe I had never thought of or that I had forgotten about. 

First, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  When we are tempted, we often will say that God is nowhere around, but obviously God was there because the Spirit led Him, in addition to the fact that He is God in the flesh.  We act like we are hopeless and without ability to resist, and yet Jesus did resist because He was not alone, and neither are we.  My children recently drove me crazy with their response when I questioned them about why they had done something they were not supposed to do.  At different times for different offenses, each of them basically said, "Satan tempted me."  I was more infuriated rather than less, because that is so often the weak excuse we give, "The devil made me do it."  I agreed that he had tempted them but said that was not an excuse, because they were the ones who made the choice to listen and obey!

Then the tempter came to Jesus and said, "IF You are the Son of God,..."  The tempter knew very well exactly who Jesus was and what He was capable of doing, and yet he taunted Jesus by saying "if".  I will get to Jesus' response later.  But the tempter comes back a second time with "IF You are the Son of God..." and then proceeds to twist scripture.  Jesus responded to him again in the same fashion.  A third time the tempter comes at Jesus saying, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 

The tempter has not changed his tactics and yet we still fall for them.  He questioned Jesus' identity, and he questions ours as well.  "If you are really a Christian...."  "If you are really a child of God..."  "If you are really saved by grace..."  You fill in with whichever line he has used most on you.  Then he proceeds to twist the words of the Father, which he has done since approaching Eve in the Garden.  Then last but not least He makes promises that He cannot keep, and yet for some reason we think he can and will.  He promised Jesus the world, which was not really his to give.  He promises peace, an easy life, and pleasure, but all he brings is pain and grief and anything but peace. 

We must be wise to his tactics and learn from Jesus how to respond to him.  In each and every step of the temptation, Jesus quoted scripture to contradict what the tempter had said.  But that requires us learning and memorizing scripture, so that we are ready in the moment that we are tempted.  I have always wanted to learn more scripture but cannot say that I have always done the best job at carrying it out.  I was challenged anew this week to do that very thing and I would challenge you to join me, so that we might be ready for battle!  Take up your "Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."  Ephesians 6:17

"I knew you would not want me to go to there because I would be tempted."

Last Monday, we had a bit of a scare.  William had asked to go down to a friend's house when he first went outside.  He played down there for a while and then he began to go back and forth from playing elsewhere to playing out in front of our house.  When it came time to come inside to clean up, however, William was not to be found.  Rich had looked at the house that William had asked to go to and then called for him up and down the street while looking into the courtyards as he walked.  He checked next door which is a typical hang out for William as well.  Not finding him around here, Rich went over to another house a couple of blocks away.  Still not finding him, I texted our teammates to pray quickly that we would find him.  Rich went back to the beginning looked inside one of the houses where he had just looked at the courtyard.  Low and behold, William was found sitting inside the house watching cartoons on the television with the father of the family, despite no kids being around.  Needless to say we were thrilled to have him found and did have a talk about him needing to let us know where he was going if he changed from where he had already told us.  We also bought him a watch with an alarm, so that he would know what time to come home.

That night however as we talked about where he had been and the fact that he needed to let us know when he changed houses.  He said, "I knew you would not want me to go there because I would be tempted."  He had gone to that house before and just sat watching television.  When we send them outside to play, it is because they have had enough to watch and need to go play actively.  I pointed out that I would rather know where he was going and began to address that he obviously knew he should not go there if he did not want to tell me for that reason.

How often do we do that though?  We do not really want to talk to God about where we are going because we may get an answer that we do not want.  It may or may not necessarily be a temptation but not be exactly where the Lord wants us to be spending our time.  Maybe it is even a good place but it is not the best.  Maybe it is a place that is comfortable and the Lord wants to push us out of our comfort zone.  Maybe it is a place where we will be tempted and we do not want to run from the temptation.  Maybe we can say we can handle the temptation, but why do we test ourselves and then get mad at ourselves when we find ourselves giving into the temptation.  We would be wise to stay away from the place where we know we would be tempted.  How about you?  Are you talking to the Father about where you are going?