The Lord of the Rings: My Favorite Parts

Recently my husband and I watched, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." If you have read my profile, you would know that these are my favorite movies and books. Most of my female friends are not interested in the movies, but I get caught up in the plot. So in honor of my love for the story, I am going to quote my favorite lines from the three movies. You are welcome to share your favorite lines with me.

The Fellowship of the Ring - In the mines of Moria, Frodo is telling Gandalf that he thinks that someone is following them. They have a conversation about Gollum. Frodo then says, "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish that none of this had happened." Gandalf replied, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world besides evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, which case you were also meant to have it."

The Two Towers - At the end of the Battle of Helm's Deep - the battle is going badly, Aarogorn and King Theoden decide to ride out and meet their enemy. Kind of like going down in a blaze of glory. Right before they ride out, Theoden says, "Fell deeds awake." I know that it is a short quote, but it gives me chills to hear. They ride out and at that same time Gandalf the White comes with more men, and instead of dying - they are victorious!

The Return of the King - During the Battle at Minas Tirith, the Riders of Rohan are fighting. The Lord of the Ringwraiths sweeps down on his Nazgul and knocks King Theoden and his horse down - immobilizing the king. The Ringwraith tells the Nazgul to feed on the king's flesh - out jumps Eowyn, the king's neice disguised as a soldier, and cuts of the Nazgul's head. The Ringwraith steps down and says, "You fool, no man can kill me, die now." Merry the Hobbit comes to Eowyn's aid and plunges a sword into the Wraith's leg, momentarily destracting him. At that time the soldier takes off his helmet - showing that she is a woman, and says, "I am no man." She plunges her sword into the Wraith's head and he disappears.

I love that in this story, the people that are small, seem unimportant, or their cause seems hopeless are the ones who conquer. They muster their courage and are victorious. Isn't that the story of God. He uses weak people to show His Strength. I hope that will let God use you, by stepping out and doing something that you are uncomfortable with, for His Glory. If you need to be inspired, watch The Lord of the Rings.

I am doing something uncomfortable tomorrow - I am flying back to the Midwest all by myself with my three munchkins. Please keep me in your prayers. The kids might do great, but they might not. We fly out at 5:30 pm and are suppose to get to Omaha at 12:25 am - with a lay over in Las Vegas. Kirk is staying here to take the youth to the Oregon CIY. We won't see each other for 17 days - thats the most we have been apart since being married. But I am excited to see family and friends. I might not blog for awhile, but I will post some pictures of my trip when we get back.

What do you do at 3:00 a.m. and a baby that is wide awake?

Here I am typing with one hand holding my 17th month old. He won't go back to sleep. He woke up around 11:30. I am frustrated, but I don't want him crying and bothering the rest of the family. I have to get up and clean a house in the morning. I am regretting staying up to watch LOTR: Return of the King with my husband tonight. I have some thoughts on that - I will try to post later.

I just got an forward from a cousin - it is memorial video of Ruth Graham. After I watched it, I became very inspired. Of course, everyone is going to say nice things after you die, but it seems like she was an exceptional mother and wife. If you would like me to forward it to you, just let me know.

Hope you got a good night's rest, treasure it.

Fourth of July and A Birthday Party

We celebrated the 4th of July on the 1st and the 2nd. This turned out to be a good thing because Daughter and Son #2 were sick on the 4th. Daughter and I went out and watched our neighborhood illegal fireworks late that night waiting for daddy to come home from working the fireworks booth. When we walked out of our door, the air was thick with smoke from all the fireworks . I can't enjoy the fireworks much - I just think about all the money going up in smoke.

We celebrated the kids' birthdays a little late - a month later. We were busy with VBS and fireworks booth, so it got put off and then postponed. Finally we had it last night and I think that it was a success. I have been getting ready for the party since Monday. Wednesday, I spent the whole day making the kids' cakes and making the food - beans and potato salad. (We also had hamburgers, hotdogs, carrots with ranch, and chips). I didn't want to make things too complicated and afterwards, while we were surveying the distruction, we decided that we should get together with our friends more often. Thank you Mom for praying.

Pictures

Well, I just wanted to post some pictures.

Son #2 getting his hair cut - really for the first time. I have trimmed it up, but never a "all over cut." His hair is so fine that it was hard for Kirk to cut it and he bawled the whole time.

Someone gave Daughter a different bed - they painted flowers and trees on it. So last night, I leave for a coffee date with 2 friends and I get back to find that Kirk made a bunk bed out of the 2 other beds that we already had. He found a spare board in the garage and voila - a bunk bed. We will eventually paint them. The kids love sleeping in the same room together, so we will keep it that way until they are bigger.

Then there is the picture of Son #2 with the ducks. Boy, the kids love those ducks and they chase them all over the back yard. The ducks love having this little pool to keep cool but today they were actually swimming in the big pool.

Someone took a picture of me - which doesn't happen very often. It doesn't matter that I didn't put any makeup on or my hair isn't done, the baby is the cutie anyway.

So back to my coffee date with some of my girlfriends. Avalanche Ranch VBS was exhausting. It took me a few days to recover. Plus, I have had church kids coming over to hang out the last few days, so it is hard for me to let my hair down and relax completely. So Tuesday, I was pulling out my hair - feeling like I was going to go crazy. Kirk noticed it and Wednesday, he took the afternoon off. I went grocery shopping by myself. Then I went out for coffee with these friends. It was a last minute get-to-gether, but it was so wonderful. Kirk did good.

Lifting Weights

If you know my husband and I very well, you would know that we don't work very well together. If we had to compete as husband and wife on one of those game shows - we would probably lose and end up being mad at each other. (Before I go on, I must say that these are all my opinions, not those of my husbands - again we disagree with each other.)

After, almost 9 years of marriage, I am still trying to figure some things out about us. Why we are the way we are and so on. We have a lot of chemistry, sometimes it is great and then other times it is not. The longer that we are together, however, we have mellowed - some. Maybe because I am a female and communicating is very important to me, so I think I start to feel the affects of us not relating as a couple before Kirk does.

My personal opinion is that we need to find a project that we can both do together. This is a difficult task, because the things that Kirk enjoys - I don't necessarily enjoy and vice versa. Well, at the moment we have found it. Kirk and I both need to get into shape. Since I have had 3 babies, my body is not the same as it use to be. Especially after this last baby, I have struggled to get back into my old clothes. I hate having to buy clothes in the next size up, so I am trying to lose the weight. Now Kirk has sympathy weight that he has put on during my pregnancies. So he purchased a weight system and we are lifting weights together in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed. We have stopped watching so much T.V. and we are enjoying being in each other's company. I wasn't so excited about the money spent on this deal, but I am excited that it is working well for us and we have been at it for a couple months.

Of course, just lifting weights isn't going to help you lose your weight. Kirk has started running. He has been running 2 miles a few times every week. I can see that it is making a difference around his waist. Now, I haven't been able to get it together in the running department. I have plenty of excuses that I am sure no one wants to hear about, so I will keep them to myself. Hopefully, I will get it together soon - I would hate it if Kirk lost his weight and I didn't!

Our Life has Become Just "Ducky"

It is a sad day in our household. We had successfully moved our poultry out to the church. The manger scene from our JTB was the perfect place for them and Kirk screened them in. I didn't think anything could get in - but last night something got in and got everything but 4 ducks. I was getting pretty attached to the white turkey, so that made me sad. Another sad part of the story is that we hadn't even got to show them to the kids for VBS. Kirk was going to have the kids see them tonight for VBS, but he could only show them the 4 ducks. We brought them back to our house tonight. Kirk was planning on raising all of the chickens, ducks, and turkeys and then butchering them when they got older, but butchering these ducks just doesn't seem right. Hopefully we will be able to find another solution. I wonder what lesson we are suppose to learn from this whole experience?

I guess today isn't completely sad. Today is my daughter's 5th birthday. 5 years ago, at this time of day, I was in a small hospital in IA and my baby- my first one- was in University Hospital in Omaha, NE. I am so thankful that everything turned out all right. Her favorite present was a Princess electric car that daddy got for her. He has been itching to get her one for several years. This past Saturday was Son #2's 3rd birthday. It was so cute, when we told him that it was his birthday, he said, "For me?" He loved all the Thomas the train stuff he got. He would rather play with that than go swimming.

Vacation Bible School is going well, but it is tiring. I am doing the lesson - and although I love teaching - it is alot of work. The set changes everyday and I have to memorize my lines. I am anxious about tomorrow's lesson because my helper for tomorrow can't be there and he was a big part of the lesson. I can't find anyone else to take his spot - I guess everyone else is too shy to learn lines. What to do?

I don't know why we had to lose all of our chickens and I don't know what to do with my lesson tomorrow, I do know that God is Good! I am thankful that I have my 3 sweet little munchkins and that kids are learng about God at VBS - some kids that might not have heard about him before!

Cherries

On Tuesday, we went with friends and picked cherries at another friend's house. I was determined to bake some cherry pies. I didn't realize how long it was going to take to pit them. I pitted 19 cups of cherries. I cannot believe how stained my hands got. I made a pie right away. (The crust didn't turn out the best, but I am out of practice. Kirk said that he liked it - see- I am training him to say the right thing.) Even though the crust wasn't perfect -wow, it was so good. I am not saying that because I made it -but it ruined cherries out of the can for me. I think I ate almost the whole pie. I could not get enough. I made another pie yesterday (the crust was much better) and I am going to make another today to give to some friends. I also froze enough to make 2 more pies later. Daughter and Son #2 loved eating them. Son#2 just sat on my lap and as I pitted I would give him a half of one. I think that I would have had a full 20 cups if he wouldn't have eaten them all. Son #1 said that he didn't like them because they were "dirty and noisy."("Dirty" because another little boy who was picking cherries with us threw dirt into the cherry bucket. I did clean them, but he was not going to forget it. "Noisy" because when he bit into it, he hit the pit and it made a crunching sound.) What am I going to do with him?

VBS Fundraiser and Pre-registration

Yesterday, we had our VBS Fundraiser and Pre-registration. Our theme this year is Avalanche Ranch. So we served chili, corn bread, corn-on-the-cob, snickerdoodles, and a drink. Plus, we had water gun games, horseshoe tournament, cow patty throw, and a dunk tank. We had a good time and a pretty good turn out. The highlight of the night was Kirk sitting in the dunk tank. Daughter and Son#1 tried to throw to dunk daddy. When they missed the target, Tommy lifted them up and they push the button to dunk Daddy! Son #2 got to dunk Daddy too! Several people gave me money - $50, so I got to dunk him as much as I wanted. I didn't use all my turns, but I hit the target three times.

We did have an accident with Son#1. He was climbing up on the dunk tank, when no one was around. One of the kids hit the target and he fell in. There were adults that saw it happen and ran to get him. I was busy taking money and registering kids for VBS, so I didn't know it happened until it was over. I guess he did a good job treading water, but it did scare him - and everyone else. After a little TLC from mommy, he was up running around playing with the water guns.

Chicks

My husband had to fly back to Nebraska for a funeral. Right before he left, he said, "Rebecca, sometime next week, we are getting some baby chicks." What!? Well, he had this great idea to get some chicks, ducklings, and baby turkeys for our VBS. He got me somewhat set up with everything that I needed before he left. So Monday morning - Memorial Day - they came into our Post Office. I guess they hatched the day before - Sunday and they came from Webster City, Iowa. I am flabergasted how they got mailed to our house on a Sunday and then got to our P.O. on a holiday. But they did.
Now I have about 24 baby chicks in my garage. I am not for sure when the turkeys or ducks are coming. Sadly, one chick didn't live through the shipment, another died that day, and one more is clinging to life after being crushed with the watering can. I am not for sure how it happened, but it did and I feel terrible.
My kids love picking them up and holding them. Daughter never wants to leave them. Son #1 loves them and calls them his best friend. He named one yesterday - Joey. Son #2 just grabs them by whatever - a wing - a head - a foot- and he squeals.
The question that has yet to be answered by my husband - what are we going to be doing with these chicks when VBS is over in a few weeks? I will let you know how that one goes. So long for now from Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.

Garage Sale

Today I had a garage sale. I don't want to be a person who keeps too much stuff. I want to use what I have been given and then let someone else use it. But many of the things I sold on today's garage sale are treasures. Little shirts and shorts and shoes that my babies wore. Toys that my babies played with. Memories that I can't get back because like it or not my babies aren't so much babies anymore. And I could be wrong, but I think that many of the people today will not treasure my things like I did.

I remember when we were getting ready to move to California from Iowa. In Iowa I had collected many things and I had plenty of room to store them. Knowing that we were going to move to a small apartment in California, we had a garage sale. We sold a lot, but many of my treasures, didn't sell. It was hard for me to put some of those things up for sale, but I thought that if someone else could use them, I could be all right with that. It got hectic right before we moved and the garage sale items that didn't sell were going to be taken to the Salvation Army by a friend. Two days before the big day I found all my treasures in the dumpster. My first reaction? To jump in that dumpster and pull them all out. Before I could do that, I had to stop and pray. I knew in my head that all those things were God's things. I did my best to take care of them, but I had to let them go. I didn't have time to deal with them, there was still so much to do.

I would probably be ecstatic right now if we would have sold most of it, or I would have made a huge amount of money. But neither happened. So I am disappointed in the outcome and now I have to figure out what to do with the stack sitting in my garage. I thought more of the baby clothes would go. I had a bunch still practically new. I guess since they are not name brand - or maybe it is easier and nicer just to buy new baby clothes. Now I need to figure out which charity to give them to, but sometimes they are picky with what they will take as well. Won't that be just awful if I have to put my own stuff in the dumpster? Lets hope that it doesn't come to that.

After doing this capital campaign at church, I have been really moved to take care of what we do have and not to have so much. Isn't it easy to just accumulate more and more? My husband and I are coming up with ways that we can do that. I will talk more about that later.
I am going to leave with one last thought - isn't it sad that no matter what you have, it will all end up in the garbage someday? I am so glad that our Heavenly Father gives us the choice. Am I going to be trash or treasure? Jesus is the ONLY way to being treasure.

Mother's Day

I just had a nice Mother's Day. It isn't like it was spectacular, but I don't think that I ever have had a spectacular one. I still remember the Mother's Day when I was pregnant with our first child. One of the girls in the youth group asked my husband what he did for me and he said that I wasn't a mother yet. He said it to get a rise out of the girls - which he did. His problem is that he doesn't like having to do these days. He likes to make me feel special on the days he designates - he doesn't like to be "cut out of the cookie cutter". Besides, I think that he just plain forgets, and he makes some jerky response to cover for it. Then I think that the Mother's Days after I had children also were forgotten, although again, I think he said something to the effect that I wasn't his mother. Not that being the mother of his children wasn't enough, and sometimes I do feel like his mother. Washing his clothes, folding his clothes, putting his clothes away, fixing him meals, serving his meals, washing his dishes, picking up his shoes, etc. Not that I don't want to do those things, I just think that he doesn't realize the time and effort it takes for all those things to get done for him, me and 3 little ones. Like for instance, the times that it takes over an hour to make supper. I get the table set, dish it up on plates, and call everyone to come to the table. Then the kids don't like it. The baby can't sit still and is a mess. The 2 year old is playing with his utensils like they are trains. The 4 year old can't believe that I put onions in it and the husband is in his own little world - perhaps watching Sports Center or Fox News.

Well, I could go on, and I am ranting, so I will stop. I just wanted to say that my very fun, loving, wonderful-in-so-many-ways husband probably doesn't have a clue and he covers by making some jerky comment. I don't expect a lot for Mother's Day or any other day for that matter. I know that we don't have a ton of money, I just would liked to be recognized by the family. (By the way, I have some friends that send me cards and I love them. Girl friends are the best aren't they?) Besides, my own father fell short of recognizing my mother on certain important days as we were growing up. I do remember him making an effort as I got older.

So back to this past Mother's Day. My husband made lunch and supper that day. He spent a good part of Saturday figuring out what he was to make, going grocery shopping, preparing the marinades for it, and finally taking the time to fix it all on Sunday. I really had to do very little. Then afterwards he cleaned up the kitchen. I appreciated what he did and it all was very delicious. For lunch, he grilled Red Snapper, deep fat fried popcorn shrimp, and baked potatoes. For supper, he grilled a t-bone steak, steak kabobs with pineapple and strawberries, and had a twice-baked potato dish. For dessert, he had Strawberry Shortcake. It was really delicious. I hope that this will be a trend with Mother's Day. It beat going out and waiting in line at a restaurant. I hope you all had a nice time on Mother's Day, whether you are a mother or not, it is always fun celebrating people you love who are mothers or who mother you. By the way, I forgot to send my mother and mother-in-law a card - I guess a phone call and an e-card will have to do this year. But Helen and Pat - you both are great mothers and we are blessed to have you. We love you!

Lost Bunny

The other day we couldn't find our bunny. The cage's door was open and the bunny was missing. My daughter was upset, because she loved her bunny and didn't want to believe he was gone. After a few tears, we prayed for the bunny - that he would find a good home with some other bunnies. In my head, I figured he had been a good snack for some neighborhood cat - we have some big cats that walk our fence line. After we got done praying for the bunny, she wanted to drive around looking for him - I convinced her we couldn't, knowing it was a hopeless cause. The funny thing is, I was sad. I knew that she was sad, and it made me sad. All day I kept thinking and praying for that bunny, even though I knew he was a goner. Well, that evening I was looking out my window thinking about that bunny - and there he was. He had found a good hiding place and was keeping cool all day, but I guess hunger drove him out. My Daughter was so excited about the bunny. I am so glad we prayed about it. Even when I thought that bunny was gone and I felt foolish for praying, I glad we did. She had a positive praying experience. Some might think that God didn't answer our prayers, the bunny was safe all along - but we didn't know that. Besides, the bunny could have been a meal for some cat during the course of the day and he wasn't. Does God care about these kind of things? He has to, this day shaped who she is and her relationship with the heavenly Father. I hope that no matter what the situation is, that we will always go to Lord in prayer.

I Can Only Imagine

When I lay my sweet babies down for bedtime, I play a worship CD for them. It is the same every night. The first song on the CD is "I Can Only Imagine." Today in the car, the song came on and I hear my middle child, who is 2 - almost 3, just belting out the words - at least trying to. It melted my heart. I could play any song, and my 2 year old would learn the words through repetition, but to know that he his learning about our Heavenly Father and that someday those words will make it into his heart is such a gift.

Garbage in/Garbage Out is so true and the opposite is true. The good things that we put in, means that good things will come out as well.

As I am writing about this sweet child, he is now sneakily trying to get out of taking his nap. I must now deal with this. Soon these moments will be over, I will try to treasure them.

My daughter

Our daughter got a rabbit on Easter. She was so excited when she won it in a raffle. I on the otherhand was not so excited. Who ends up taking care of pets? The mother. I have never had a rabbit before. Joy is the name our daughter picked for our new pet. He is living very happy in a cage that my husband built. I have been quite proud at the way our daughter has been feeding and watering Joy. This little bunny is growing on me, he is really cute.

Our daughter has also been taking a ballet class at the junior college. I wanted to get her into ballet in a studio, but when I looked into it, I couldn't believe how expensive it was. I decided to try this course at the college to see if she enjoyed it. I must say that again, I have been so proud of her. She listens and tries her best. Many of the other girls run to their parents, but she doesn't, although she looks at me and waves from time to time. I am just proud of that fact, but the teacher and then another parent have told me that she is a good dancer. In my head I said, "of course," but I know that I am biased. Now I have some choices to make - how far do I take this? Do I get her into classes that I don't think we can afford? Do I put her in dance now or wait until she is older - she is almost 5. There are so many different activities that children can get involved in,(soccer, softball, swimming) I don't know if I am ready for it all to begin for me. It feels like I may have to choose a few activities out of many and I don't like that she can't try them all. I was older, maybe 3rd grade before I did softball. I was in 7th grade before I started volleyball and basketball. Maybe I shouldn't get too excited. I just can't believe that my firstborn is going to start kindegarten in the fall and how big she is getting. I just hope that I will be ready for it when it happens.

Our Church's Capital Campaign

My church is trying to pay off our debt by having a capital campaign. It is called "Share the Vision." We had a luncheon and we are going to participate in a 40 days of prayer. They also handed out a book for us to read. It is called "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn. I haven't got through the whole book, but it is a very good and easy read and I recommend it to you to read.I just wanted to quote a part that I read yesterday from chapter 4.

A PBS television program called "Affluenza" addresses what it calls the "modern -day plague of materialism." The program claims:

+The average American shops six hours a week while spending forty minutes playing with his children.
+By age twenty, we've seen one million commercials.
+Recently, more Americans declared bankruptcy than graduated from college.
+In 90 percent of divorce cases, arguments about money play a prominent role.

What strikes me about this program is that it doesn't argue against materialism on a moral basis but a pragmatic one: Material wealth doesn't make us happy.

Earlier in the chapter it talks about how everything ends up in the land fill. It says, "Sooner or later, everything we own ends up here. Christmas and birthday presents. Cars, boats, and hot tubs. Clothes, stereos, and barbeques. The treasures that children quarreled about, friendships were lost over, honesty was sacrificed for, and marriages broke up over - all end up here. (I recommend taking a family field trip to a junkyard. It's a powerful object lesson.)"

Reading this book has made me real thoughtful about my material possessions.I know that I don't have as much as many, but I also know that I have more than so many in other countries. I want to be a good steward of what God has given me. One last quote from the book that I want to end with is, "Show me your checkbook, your VISA statement, and your receipts, and I will show you where your heart is." The book wants you to realize that you can't save treasures here on earth, but you can save them in heaven.

Please pray for my church family, that their hearts will be touched to change the way they handle money, not so much for the church's sake, but for their sake. Also - I haven't kept caught up on my One Year Bible. I am starting again, skipping to the month of April's selected reading.

No Electricity!

Yesterday, our electricity went out for about 8 hours. (Just our block - I guess there was a faulty transformer). I can handle a few hours with no electricity, but after a while it wore out its welcome. I couldn't do laundry AND I couldn't make a hot supper AND I couldn't use our phone ( I don't have a cell phone.) Plus, I didn't have many candles. I just wasn't prepared for a power outage. After getting some pizza from Round Table and after playing some games of Hide and Seek, we still had a good hour before it was time to get ready for bed. So we decided to go to Walmart to walk around. We couldn't buy anything because we didn't have any extra money in our budget, so we just walked around.

As annoying as it was that we didn't have electricity (I couldn't watch my American Idol - I missed all the perfomances!) It actually was a needed distraction in our life. We wouldn't have done those things if the power had been on. Usually when the family plays Hide and Seek - I don't play. We don't usually go to Walmart as a family - even though we couldn't buy much, it was fun just to be out. AND don't I love not having to make the meal - that was a plus.

That just makes me think about one of my favorite church songs from my childhood - Count Your Blessings. I am truly blessed.

Prayer Request

I have many things that are requiring my attention lately and I am feeling overwhelmed by them. So much so that I keep putting them off and they just need to get done. Besides that, we are going to probably have to move and I am not sure how it is going to work out. Last night, my youngest was not sleeping well - crying no matter what I did. After I got him to sleep, I just laid there thinking of all the things that need to be done and then the fact that I don't know where we would move to if we have to move - the owners of the house that we are renting from have been looking at selling the house. We would love to be able to buy, but we have obstacles in our way - I just don't see how we could. Housing cost in CA is crazy! When we first moved to CA, we lived in an apartment, but it got too crowded. Finding this house to rent, that was in a decent neighborhood with a park and good school close by and in our price range was a great blessing. (it wasn't a beautiful house, but it worked for us.) We have lived here for a year and a half. I am asking for your prayers. Help me get my mind focused to get done what needs to get done and when we have to move out, that we will find what we need. Thank you!

Communion Devotion

*I was suppose to give a communion devotion for church yesterday. About a month before hand I was fretting because I wasn't for sure what to talk about - the angle. Well, I stumbled on a blog called "Silver Bullets" and he had a great message. I asked Tom if I could use his thoughts and I turned it into a great communion meditation. I got a lot of comments on it so I thought I would post it.

Neil Clark Warren, Christian psychologist and founder of eharmony.com, has said that he would like to change the frequency of the marriage vow. He said, “Instead of it being taken once in a lifetime under stressful conditions, I suggest that it needs to be said 2 to 3 times a week for the first 10 years and at least once a week for the rest of marriage. Why? To maintain a steady focus on the promises that form the steel framework of marriage. With this structure in place, it is more likely that commitment will shape the attitudes of the person.”

I think that we all could agree that being married can be hard work. "During stressful times in marriage, wedding vows seem like yesterday’s news, but it is in the repetition of our vows that can renew our commitment."

I am going to suggest to you that our relationship with Christ is much like a marriage and I think we all can agree that this relationship can be hard work at times. Look at it like this, Baptism is like a wedding. It is our statement of trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for our salvation. Participation in the Lord’s Supper is renewing that statement of trust.

I Corinthians 11:26 says, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

"In modern western culture, we have devalued the necessity and power of ritual." Just as in marriage, spouses take their vows lightly and each other for granted, we as Christians can take our baptism lightly and forget the importance of communion. As marriage partners, if we are continually reminded of the vows we took during the good and bad times, that reminder could strengthen our marriage. As Christians when we take part in communion during the good times and the bad times, we strengthen our trust and renew our faith each week in the Lord. Sometimes communion once a week is not too often.

Let us pray. “Heavenly Father, Some of us here today are living the good life and some of us here are struggling. Whether in good times or bad times, ‘We proclaim our Lord’s death until He comes.’ Help us to do that today and everyday. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45 talks about Jesus healing a man who had leprosy. Jesus asked him to not tell anyone, but to instead take an offering. But what did the man do? Of course, he went and told everyone. Why did Jesus do this? Of course He had to have known that this man wasn't going to do what He asked.

I know as a parent that I am always disappointed when my children do something after I have told them not to, especially if it is something that could hurt them. After this healed man told everyone, Jesus had to stop going into a town openly, but He stayed outside in "lonely places." The Bible says that people still came to Him from everywhere.

I just wonder what the consequence is of this man not doing what Jesus asked him. Is that what Jesus didn't want? He didn't want to have to stay in lonely places - He wanted to be able to walk about freely? Is that just a testament to how God works? - to be able to make a negative into a positive. Even though Jesus couldn't walk about openly, He still ministered to people (vs 45.)

I don't know if my questions quite make sense. I just think that God could do anything so what is the point of Jesus telling that man to not tell anybody except to give him a choice to do the right thing or the wrong thing. And that is my conclusion. We can make a decision to do what Jesus tells us to or not. He may not be happy with our choice, and there may be a negative that comes from it, but He can always turn that negative into ways that Glorify Him. Thank Goodness for that.

Manna

So have you thought about how the Israelites had to eat manna and quail for 40 years in the wilderness. That is my understanding - that they ate that for their meals for the majority of their wilderness wandering. Maybe I should remind my husband of that after we have had bologna sandwiches for lunch, 5 days in a row.

Bible Reading

Okay, I got behind on my reading. I was planning on telling you all my excuses, but as much as these excuses may be plausible - they are still excuses. It took me until today to get caught up. The thing about reading the Bible through in a year is that it does not take that long to do the daily reading, but once you start getting behind - it is overwhelming. Thanks for keeping me accountable.