Never a cloudy day

I was washing the dishes tonight and thinking of our little sunshine, already tucked away in her bed for the night. I was trying to think of words to describe her outlook on life--sorting through it in my mind. Bethan is quite the little girl. I remember a day recently when she was sick with I-can't-remember-what and, rather than spending her day recuperating glumly, she chose to spend it jumping vigorously up and down on a sheet of bubble wrap. I'm reminded of this because last night she came down with the stomach flu. Ugh. After throwing up she took a happy little middle-of-the-night bath and went back to bed. She wanted me to hold her on the couch before she went back to her bed, but was all smiles and sweetness and not one complaint. Then this morning when I realized she had a fever and I gave her some medicine to drink, her only comment was a cheery, "Thanks, Momma" before going back to her various activities. Sooooo what is her secret? Is it that she really isn't that sick? I don't think so. I've seen her dog sick before and still hardly heard a complaint. Is it that she chooses to look on the bright side of things? I don't really think that's it either...I'm pretty sure she's still too little to realize she has such a choice. So what then? I think she's genuinely that happy. That content. She doesn't complain because she doesn't see anything to complain about. And as I stood there in the kitchen tonight I saw the beauty of what she has. Amy Carmichael once said something to the effect of, "Make very little of hard things in your life, but make very much of the good things." My life is so full of "good things" and I am old enough to know I have a choice in how I view the circumstances in my life. I want to choose to be more like our little girl. Get well soon, sis!

Be afraid to be afraid

Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:8)

Whenever fear comes in and makes us falter, we are in danger of falling into sin. Conceit is to be dreaded, but so is cowardice. "Dare to be a Daniel." Our great Captain should be served by brave soldiers.
What a reason for bravery is here! God is with those who are with Him. God will never be away when the hour of struggle comes. Do they threaten you? Who are you that you should be afraid of a man that shall die? Will you lose your situation? Your God whom you serve will find bread and water for His servants. Can you not trust Him? Do they pour ridicule upon you? Will this break your bones or your heart? Bear it for Christ's sake, and even rejoice because of it.
God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and He will deliver you. Remember how Daniel came out of the lions' den and the three holy children out of the furnace. Yours is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the Lord would bear you through and make you more than a conqueror. Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, "I will trust, and not be afraid."

-C.H. Spurgeon, Faith's Check Book

Super huh?

Superhero dad and son at the hardware store? Oh please- what dad would actually do that??

...okay, at least two others I'd say.

(P.S.I love the superhero and son shot. Absolutely classic! 

P.P.S.Secret identity of the lower three-some is Mase, Skippy (Charlie), and Pop (Bill) Vann. Photo taken November of 2012. They've had nearly three full months to hone their three-some skills. Watch.out.)

Standeth God

Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,— Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. -James Russell Lowell

Charlie Mason

Before He's through

"God does ten thousand things in every deed. Perhaps we know a dozen.
Maybe two. But not enough to judge before He's through." -John Piper

HT ten thousand things

God-shaped hole

Sometimes I can characterize time periods in my life by a certain song or by a certain artist. I recently rediscovered this song from a very distinct time period in my life. I was lost, empty, sad...everything was gray. Then a friend gave me this CD, and I listened and re-listened and re-listened. And for the first time in my life God began to speak to me. I wasn't saved until probably a month or more later, but I very distinctly remember feeling the reality of God being personal when I first heard this song and the others on the CD. I fell asleep listening to them and listened to them when I woke up. Could it really be that God was real? Could it really be that He would be willing to be at peace with me? Could it really be that He was actually the One seeking me?

There is a God-shaped hole in all of us. And it is a void that only He can fill. I still feel gray sometimes. Sometimes I even feel lost and empty and sad. And He's still the only One who can fill the void. And He can. And He does. I love You, King Jesus.