Friday, October 31, 2008

Tis the season for snot...

Lord have mercy... If I sneeze one more time, so help me...

If anyone has any tips on getting rid of the congestion, nasal pressure, and all that good stuff, please pass it along. I've about had it! I can't breath, my head is splitting, and I've sneezed a bazillion times in the past 24 hours. I do NOT have time for this!! CALGON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Bible Story with Rachel

This morning, I was sitting in my chair doing my Bible study and Rachel got up quite a bit earlier than usual. I asked why she was up so early and she said she was scared - that "Rackshack", Meshack, and Abednego had been thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down to the golden bunny. :) I wasn't quite finished with my study, so I asked if it was ok if I finished the little bit I had left to go and then I'd read her a story out of the Bible. She said she wanted to hear a story about a unicorn. I said I didn't think there were any stories about a unicorn. Well, what about a princess riding on a unicorn. Nope, pretty sure I couldn't find that sort of story either (if anyone knows a princess riding on a unicorn story that I can't remember, please let me know). I did tell her that I would find a good story to read to her.

I finished my study and turned over to Daniel and began reading about the fiery furnace... she said, "That's just like the story!" and was so excited that what she'd seen on Veggie Tales was actually in the Bible. So we read along in the story and it came to a part about the men getting thrown into the fiery furnace. The exchange went something like this:
Rachel: "There were four men!" *holding up four fingers
Me: "No, there were three - Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego."
Rachel: insistant - "NO! There were FOUR! Rackshack, Meshack, Abednego, and the Son of God!"
Me: "Rachel, you are absolutely right." :) Smart little cookie.
Rachel: "They got thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down and sing the Bunny Song, but God saved them."

Thank you, Veggie Tales. My day has been made because my baby girl, though it's via a bunch of vegetables, knows the story of how God delivered the men from the fiery furnace.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

A Misunderstanding

I need to preface this story a bit.

First of all, my husband has been traveling quite a lot lately. He's been leaving on Mondays and coming back on Fridays. It's rough during the week without him. He was home last week and has been here this week except he's leaving tomorrow for an overnight trip down to Dallas. That's the first part of the story.

Also, our family has been injected in the financial hardships everyone is facing right now. We're really praying God will show himself to us mightily right now and that He will be our strength. We are trusting him to take care of us.

Next, our church is reading through "One Month To Live". Good book. I'm a little behind where we're supposed to be, I think, but that's beside the point. Since I've been reading that book as part of my quiet time, I'm also reading a chapter in Proverbs each day - Chapter 1 for the 1st of the month, chapter 2 for the 2nd of the month, and so on. Today was supposed to be chapter 7.

Now, on to the story. I got up this morning and made my coffee and sat down to read my chapter in Proverbs. I have to go ahead and confess right now that I didn't read my chapter Sunday or yesterday (yesterday because I WAY overslept), so I was a bit behind, but I was going ahead with the schedule and reading the chapter according to today's date.... or so I thought. So I read the chapter in proverbs, pen in hand, underlining some of the great wisdom I found today. It seemed to be exactly what I needed to read today. Isn't God good that way? The title of the first section in the chapter was "Financial Entanglements" and gave advice on getting out of those entanglements. Then once I finished that, already knowing that I needed to share that with Mike this morning, I went on to read some in my One Month to Live book. I'm confessing again that I'm behind on this book. I don't get to read a full chapter every morning as I would like to. So, I read the next chapter in the sequence and started flipping through looking at chapter titles. I came across one that talked about God still being in the miracle business. Man, God was being good to me this morning and giving me so much encouragement given the circumstances we're in. I knew for sure at this point that Mike needed to read not only the chapter in Proverbs, but also that chapter in our book. I'd just been blessed and as we're seeking God's wisdom in what to do, I knew God would bless Mike today as he'd already blessed me. I finished the book, marked the chapter I wanted him to read and as he was fixing his breakfast, he was sitting at the snack bar flipping through his bible trying to find a good place to read today. I said, "Here. I just read this today and I think you need to read it. Read Proverbs chapter 7 and then this chapter in the book." He replied that he would and I went to the bathroom to begin getting ready.

After about 4 minutes, Mike came to the bathroom door in a very confused, somewhat disturbed state asking, "What chapter did you want me to read in Proverbs?!" I said it was chapter 7. He walked back into the kitchen and I followed him, wondering why he wasn't seeing how appropriate that was for us today. He said, "Are you sure this is the right chapter? It talks about the adulteress!" I said, "Well, yes, but not that first part...." and then I looked at the chapter that I'd told my husband to read....

Let me remind you that Mike is leaving tomorrow on a trip. Let me also say right now that I actually read Chapter 6 in Proverbs this morning, thinking it was Chapter 7. I told my husband to read Chapter 7....
"A Story of Seduction" is the title to the major section in chapter 7.
It talks a lot about the seductress...
Then - I nearly peed my pants laughing at what I'd just done to my husband - it says in verse 19 of this chapter...
... the seductress, "My husband isn't home; he went on a long journey." ...vs 21 talking about what the seductress is doing while her husband is away - "She seduces him with her persistent pleading; she lures with her flattering talk. He follows her impulsively like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding toward a trap."
I pretty much just inadvertently told my husband, via a chapter in Proverbs, that I would be cheating on him when he went on his "long journey" tomorrow!!!

I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard! Boy, what a mistake I'd made! Here I thought I was being such a good wife and sharing these wonderful spiritual truths that God had given me this morning and instead, I just scared the life out of my husband who thought that was my not-so-subtle way of telling him of my cheating intentions. Thank goodness he has a good sense of humor or we might be in more than just financial strain in our marriage this morning!