Earth Day is the perfect time for Christians to take note, that as Bible-Believers we should be 1st to be responsible stewards of the planet. That requires that we know what is biodegradable & what isn't, what is recyclable & what isn't, & what is energy efficient & what isn't. Also, whenever possible we should use what is the best option in those respects, even if that means a little extra work for us. We can also look into finding the cleanest, safest, least draining to non-renewable resources when it comes to energy use.
Now, before I start an argument, please understand, I base this opinion not on anything I learned from Al Gore or the liberal media. I base this lifestyle choice on what I learned from my Grandpa, who was a well-learned Bible teacher & respected preacher. Grandpa taught me that one of the 1st lessons he felt that we should teach children was that we are to be good stewards of the earth, just as God commanded Adam & Eve. Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, & God said unto them, be fruitful, & multiply, & replenish the earth, & subdue it: & have dominion over the fish of the sea, & over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." KJV
Sometimes being good stewards is going to mean a little bit of extra work & research. But, let's be honest here, like my Grandma says, we have it easy as homemakers nowadays. We have a machine or contraption for every job we do. When was the last time we had to trudge out to a creek or well to fill a bucket w/ water & then lug it back up to the house to wash our family's laundry w/ a washboard? The time we save on that chore alone could be enough time to do a little recycling or try & petition our communities for the use of wind energy.
So while the public is celebrating Earth Day everywhere, I encourage my fellow brothers & sisters in Christ to use this day to celebrate the beautiful earth God created for us. As well as, reaffirm our determination to take good care of it until the day Jesus returns & makes a new Heaven & new Earth.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Bedtime Stories
Tonight when we were reading Cj's bedtime story and doing his Quiet Time(www.wol.org). We had some real interesting conversation. We were reading a nursery rhyme book he got from the Easter Bunny. He really loved hearing about all those kids living in a shoe. He said that he wanted to build a shoe and live in one, too. I asked why he wanted to live in a shoe and he said, "Because it would be dark and I could play with a flashlight."
The ryhmes had a lot of old words that I had to explain. I explained that they were using an older language than we use today and these poems had been written a long, long time ago. I said they were from before Grandma was born and she listened to these same poems when she little. He asked, "Was that really long time ago, before there were even other people?" I laughed and said, "No, Grandma wasn't Eve!" and he said, "Did you know the other people that were living before Grandma lived, Mommy?" (Yea, I'm that old) Trying to keep from crying I said, "No, I didn't live before Grandma so I didn't know the people that were living before she lived." His answer to that was, "Well, if you didn't see them for yourself, I don't really think you know for sure that Grandma wasn't the first one!"
We did his Quiet Time and he learned about how Mary Magdalene told the disciples that Jesus was alive. Then he prayed that God would help him to tell other people that Jesus was alive, too. After praying he said, "Mommy, I can be like my Aunt Mary because she tells people that Jesus is alive, too."
The ryhmes had a lot of old words that I had to explain. I explained that they were using an older language than we use today and these poems had been written a long, long time ago. I said they were from before Grandma was born and she listened to these same poems when she little. He asked, "Was that really long time ago, before there were even other people?" I laughed and said, "No, Grandma wasn't Eve!" and he said, "Did you know the other people that were living before Grandma lived, Mommy?" (Yea, I'm that old) Trying to keep from crying I said, "No, I didn't live before Grandma so I didn't know the people that were living before she lived." His answer to that was, "Well, if you didn't see them for yourself, I don't really think you know for sure that Grandma wasn't the first one!"
We did his Quiet Time and he learned about how Mary Magdalene told the disciples that Jesus was alive. Then he prayed that God would help him to tell other people that Jesus was alive, too. After praying he said, "Mommy, I can be like my Aunt Mary because she tells people that Jesus is alive, too."
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Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Weather Man, The Easter Egg Hunt, & A Disney Vacation,
Just like his Daddy, Cj is already showing an interest in the weather. Yesterday he took our weather radio out and listened to it for awhile. He kept coming and reporting the weather, I'm not really sure what meteorological language he was using though...
"It's proudly cloudy!", "It's mountianly windy", It's miles per 25 hours!", & "It's 70 AND 6 degrees across Indiana!"
Yesterday during our homeschool group there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Cj was so excited about it for weeks. That morning I went to get him out of bed to get ready, I simply said, "Do you want to go to an Easter Egg hunt?" He was awake instantly and just bounced right out of bed. (Too bad that doesn't work on teenagers, I would have an Easter egg hunt everyday!)
After he found all his eggs at the Easter egg hunt he excitedly opened up them checking out what was inside. One had a quarter, he said "Look Mommy! The Easter Bunny must have known that I wanted a coin for my whole life!" So I asked, "Did the Easter Bunny come to our homeschool group and hide those eggs?" (Mainly, because I thought it was cute that he thought that.) But he answered, "No, it was Mommies".
Later that night as he looked over his candy again, he told me thoughtfully, "It sure seems like a lot of seasons have candy."
Today Cj decided to start planning a vacation to Disneyland, which would somehow involve the television show America's Funniest Home Videos, AFV. (I'm not really sure how he thinks the two will be connected, but it had something to do with a commercial that was on during AFV.) First he said he wanted to go so bad. Then he thought about it a moment and said, "Wait a minute, we can't go away so long, our kitty cats and dogs will get sad and lonely! Can we bring them to Disneyland?" I explained that when you go on vacation you ask someone to take care of your pets. Right away he said, "I know, we have to ask Aunt Bobbie, she would be pull-fect to take care of them and then they won't get sad." So he actually did call her, of course she does live like 35 minutes away, however she promised if he did go on what he was calling "An EFV Disney Vacation" she would drive the 35 minutes twice daily to care for our pets. Then he explained to me what the trip would be like, apparently we would be "staying in really nice apartments", "swimming in boats to get there.", "You get to see Mickey and Donald." He says there's "a hotel over here and another part over there, you swim over and see Mickey and Donald, and then get some toys."
"It's proudly cloudy!", "It's mountianly windy", It's miles per 25 hours!", & "It's 70 AND 6 degrees across Indiana!"
Yesterday during our homeschool group there was an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Cj was so excited about it for weeks. That morning I went to get him out of bed to get ready, I simply said, "Do you want to go to an Easter Egg hunt?" He was awake instantly and just bounced right out of bed. (Too bad that doesn't work on teenagers, I would have an Easter egg hunt everyday!)
After he found all his eggs at the Easter egg hunt he excitedly opened up them checking out what was inside. One had a quarter, he said "Look Mommy! The Easter Bunny must have known that I wanted a coin for my whole life!" So I asked, "Did the Easter Bunny come to our homeschool group and hide those eggs?" (Mainly, because I thought it was cute that he thought that.) But he answered, "No, it was Mommies".
Later that night as he looked over his candy again, he told me thoughtfully, "It sure seems like a lot of seasons have candy."
Today Cj decided to start planning a vacation to Disneyland, which would somehow involve the television show America's Funniest Home Videos, AFV. (I'm not really sure how he thinks the two will be connected, but it had something to do with a commercial that was on during AFV.) First he said he wanted to go so bad. Then he thought about it a moment and said, "Wait a minute, we can't go away so long, our kitty cats and dogs will get sad and lonely! Can we bring them to Disneyland?" I explained that when you go on vacation you ask someone to take care of your pets. Right away he said, "I know, we have to ask Aunt Bobbie, she would be pull-fect to take care of them and then they won't get sad." So he actually did call her, of course she does live like 35 minutes away, however she promised if he did go on what he was calling "An EFV Disney Vacation" she would drive the 35 minutes twice daily to care for our pets. Then he explained to me what the trip would be like, apparently we would be "staying in really nice apartments", "swimming in boats to get there.", "You get to see Mickey and Donald." He says there's "a hotel over here and another part over there, you swim over and see Mickey and Donald, and then get some toys."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
How Talented Am I?
God gives us all natural talents and gifts. People are always looking for their niche, how they can use their talents, smarts, gifts to excel in life or for the glory of God. It becomes very easy to grow confident in our own abilities.
I just got done studying the book of Numbers for the Bible History class I am teaching at my Homeschool group. It has left me very struck with the lack of importance God places in our talents, money, service, etc, as far as furthering His kingdom. In fact all of these areas whether we are the singers, the preachers, the teachers, the guitar player, the pianist, the people working the the behind the scene details are gifts, and nothing more. The ability to do these things is a chance God has given us to be blessed by serving and glorifying Him. We aren't making the Worship or the Kingdom better, He is. At any moment, when our hearts and heads become filled with pride, God can turn from using us and use someone else, and that person can be used better & greater than we were before them!
Look at the leader God choose for His people, Israel. He could have chosen the great speaker, Aaron. Or a great singer, like Miriam. He could have chosen a physically strong person who would have made the people feel safe to walk behind them. Who did God choose as His leader? He didn't choose the strongest, the speaker, the singer, He chose Moses, the meekest. Numbers 12:3 "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."
After completing my study over the book of Numbers, I have been left in contemplation. The people of Israel had seen God's great power! They had been delivered from Egypt by His great miracles, they had been fed by His very hand, they had walked through the wilderness without their clothes-shoes-or feet growing tired, they had seen God heal them from diseases, they had been given the law after awesome show of His power, at yet they had no faith in God's ability, they decided their actions by their own power. When it came time to go into Canaan they doubted their ability to defeat the strong Canaanites, rather than saying, We have no strength, we will have faith in God's ability to defeat the Canaanites. And the people failed.
Today, I think we are no different. We rely on our talents to grow the church, to make the teaching better, to preach a better sermon, to make the Worship service more exciting, and we also fail. If it hadn't been for Moses' meek petition in Numbers 14:13-19, God would have destroyed Israel and built a new nation(Numbers 14:12). In the end God didn't need Israel, he didn't choose Israel because of anything they had done, He just chose them, and blessed them! I hope that we will come to God with meek petition now, and we will turn away from the sin of pride in our church, putting our faith in God, thankful for a chance to obediently serve Him.
I just got done studying the book of Numbers for the Bible History class I am teaching at my Homeschool group. It has left me very struck with the lack of importance God places in our talents, money, service, etc, as far as furthering His kingdom. In fact all of these areas whether we are the singers, the preachers, the teachers, the guitar player, the pianist, the people working the the behind the scene details are gifts, and nothing more. The ability to do these things is a chance God has given us to be blessed by serving and glorifying Him. We aren't making the Worship or the Kingdom better, He is. At any moment, when our hearts and heads become filled with pride, God can turn from using us and use someone else, and that person can be used better & greater than we were before them!
Look at the leader God choose for His people, Israel. He could have chosen the great speaker, Aaron. Or a great singer, like Miriam. He could have chosen a physically strong person who would have made the people feel safe to walk behind them. Who did God choose as His leader? He didn't choose the strongest, the speaker, the singer, He chose Moses, the meekest. Numbers 12:3 "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."
After completing my study over the book of Numbers, I have been left in contemplation. The people of Israel had seen God's great power! They had been delivered from Egypt by His great miracles, they had been fed by His very hand, they had walked through the wilderness without their clothes-shoes-or feet growing tired, they had seen God heal them from diseases, they had been given the law after awesome show of His power, at yet they had no faith in God's ability, they decided their actions by their own power. When it came time to go into Canaan they doubted their ability to defeat the strong Canaanites, rather than saying, We have no strength, we will have faith in God's ability to defeat the Canaanites. And the people failed.
Today, I think we are no different. We rely on our talents to grow the church, to make the teaching better, to preach a better sermon, to make the Worship service more exciting, and we also fail. If it hadn't been for Moses' meek petition in Numbers 14:13-19, God would have destroyed Israel and built a new nation(Numbers 14:12). In the end God didn't need Israel, he didn't choose Israel because of anything they had done, He just chose them, and blessed them! I hope that we will come to God with meek petition now, and we will turn away from the sin of pride in our church, putting our faith in God, thankful for a chance to obediently serve Him.
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