Good gifts...

It's been a good week.

Had good health...

Productive days in school...

Another good basketball practice and game for Beth...

A good night of bowling with some cousins...

Good discussion/fellowship in Bible study...

We're seeing prayers answered...

And the Lord faithfully working in hearts and lives.

I still haven't gotten into the habit of hauling my camera along with me on our family outings, so there were some blog opportunities that were missed.  But sometimes it's nice to fully live the moments rather than seeing them through the lens of the camera anyway...

We have many reasons to be thankful.

That said, we are still walking through a difficult time in our extended family.

It is what it is, and God is still good, and we know that--regardless of the outcome--we have a long road ahead.  So, it's one of those things where you just do the next thing and draw near to the Lord and make the most of the many good gifts that God gives each day.

The funny thing is that when I started typing this blog entry, I had no intention of telling you any of this! 

It's crazy how I can sit in front of the keyboard and it's as if the words just write themselves sometimes.

The theme that has risen up in our home the last couple of days has been:

E D I F Y

We studied the second half of Romans 14 in Bible study last night...

Verse 19 says:

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."

Edification means to "build up"...

It is so encouraging as a child of God to have the opportunity to come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ and do what we can to lift them up.

Philippians 1:27 was brought out in our discussion.  In the ESV, these words jumped out at me:

"standing firm"

"one spirit"

"one mind"

"striving"

"side-by-side"

These words paint such a beautiful picture of what our lives should look like as Christ-followers.

And so ends a blog entry that was supposed to be about my couch!  Ha!

Maybe there was someone out there who was supposed to read these words . . .

Friday night Bible Study and Fellowship

We've been getting back into our regular routine around home.  School is back in session, and while we're still struggling to establish a civilized bedtime after Christmas break, we've managed to accomplish quite a bit during our waking hours this week.  Vacation time can be refreshing, but there comes a point where you just kinda need to do some laundry and some housework again to maintain your sanity.  :-) So, it's been a fairly busy week for our family.  Beth started basketball practice on Thursday evening and has another practice tomorrow morning.  Her first game is a week from tomorrow, and you just might get to see some pictures on the blog, so check back in a week. Our home was full of precious people tonight.  Our Friday night Bible study has been on break due to holidays and poor health, and we were finally able to meet again!  We are so thankful for the people that the Lord brings into our lives though this little gathering.   One of the things that I've learned through opening our home and our hearts to other people is that when I'm discouraged, the best remedy is to encourage someone else.  If I'm feeling weak in faith, the best thing I can do is encourage someone else's faith. This was one of those weeks where I was feeling very inadequate...very insufficient...very unworthy of putting my life on display in any way.  I've been feeling discouraged and what I really want to do is put on a comfy sweatshirt and tuck myself away in the corner of a coffee shop alone somewhere.  But this busy week hasn't allowed me much time to focus on my discouragement, and honestly, that's a really good thing...because the best way to get your focus off of yourself and your problems is to start thinking about the needs of other people and serve them.  The crazy thing about that is that I always seem to find that in serving other people, my joy is multiplied, and really...all of these precious people are serving me by coming into my home. I wish I had taken a few pictures from tonight's Bible study, because for those of you following the blog from a distance, I'd love to introduce you to some of our friends.  But...shame on me...I didn't think to get the camera out tonight.  I do have some pictures from past Bible studies though, and a few are worth posting:  

 

We usually spend the first hour or more singing praise and worship songs.  The singing time is SO encouraging....

We usually have three guitars...sometimes four.  Last summer we were treated to a violin at a couple of the studies.  :-) 



After the Bible study, we have a time of fellowship.  I love this picture...the guys were hanging out in the kitchen and I must have said something like, "Act natural while I take a picture..."  :-)  Sam is the big guy in the middle...I love his expression...  Ha!

Sometimes folks will hang around late.  Occasionally, the guitars will come back out for more singing.  Spontaneous games have been known to happen from time to time.  Tonight, folks just broke off into groups and there was a lot of fellowship and the opportunity to catch up with those who have been away at college and such.

Once in awhile, someone will even teach the rest of the group a skill and this was one of those memorable occasions.  Matthew was teaching us how to cross one eye--because this is something that comes in handy for those occasions when only such an expression will do. 

Here is my attempt:

Hmm...  That is disturbing, don't you think?

Well, anyway, that's just a little bit of what goes on in our home on the Friday evenings that we have Bible study.  :-)  We've been going through the book of Romans for a very...long...time.  Tonight, we covered Romans 13:8-14.  Mike brought out some very good thoughts on verse 14: "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."  I was especially challenged by this verse because it can be so easy to make those little "compromises" in life.  They seem so small--so insignificant.  Maybe you're not even doing anything different, but you're allowing yourself to think differently...letting little deceptions creep into your thinking...  Seeds of bitterness or doubt may be taking root.  They seem like small things at the time, but if we could look ahead a few years down that path, we just might be shocked at how far we'd stray from the truth.  Well, anyway, I was convicted once again of the danger of making provisions for our flesh, and the importance of looking to Jesus and seeking to follow His example faithfully.