Happy 9th BIRTHDAY -- ALYSSA !

We celebrated Alyssa's 9th Birthday yesterday.

She is becoming such a sweet young lady.
She looks good in her baseball cap,
waiting to catch a fly ball!

She looked great at her Aunty's wedding
as a Bridesmaid!

One of her favorite things to do is hunt with her daddy.

She is good with
all the little kiddos.
And she can spot
a bargain at a Thrift Store a mile away!!

I pray that Alyssa will continue to grow in her faith......
I pray that she will always desire to honor and obey the LORD Jesus,
and I pray that as she grows in stature.....
she will grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus.

I love you
Alyssa Lou ...... with all my heart !!

Another Chance -- for 1,997,000

Moses called the people to repentance.

"Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 

“Who is on the LORD’s side? Come to me.”

Exodus 32:26

Each one was given the chance to repent and turn back to the LORD.

There were 3,000 who refused to repent & lived their last day that day.

But there were around two million people in the camp.....

so that means 1,997,000 repented and took their stand with Moses.

3,000 of these people refused Moses' offer of repentance.

Their hearts were set against God.....their attitudes were firmly in rebellion against Him.

 It was not so much their "deeds" of worshiping the golden calf; 

but their hearts' attitude of rebellion and their refusal to give up their sin.

These people had seen the very glory of God, heard His voice,

and yet refused to come to Him.

"The next day (after he called them to repentance)

Moses said to the people, 'You have committed a great sin.'"

Exodus 32:30

The people knew this.....they repented and stood with Moses. 

The ones who did not were killed.  Why did Moses remind them again of their sin??

Whatever happened to forgiveness??  

Didn't Moses see their sorrow, their repentance??

What more did he want from them??

I really noticed in these verses that there was 

NO FORGIVENESS OFFERED BY GOD HERE.

He remained silent.......strangely silent. 

Wasn't it God's DUTY to forgive them.....???

Something must happen 

before forgiveness can be granted........

Six weeks is all it took

Just finished reading the book of Exodus.

It is truly an amazing story...
many parts of it have encouraged my heart over the years.

But my thoughts today focussed 
on the two million people that Moses was in charge of.

These people had the privilege of HEARING 
the very voice of GOD speak the 10 Commandments!! 

Exodus 19:9 and Exodus 20:1

The reaction of these people?  
"Now when all the people saw the thunder 

and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet 

and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled,

and they stood far off and said to Moses, 

You speak to us, and we will listen; 
but do not let God speak to us, lest we die. 

Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you,

that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.  

The people stood far off,
 while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."

Exodus 20:18-20

So Moses went back up the mountain 
where he remained for 40 days.

Thats almost 6 weeks of waiting 
and the people got tired of it.

They took things into their own hands 
and made a CHOICE 
that directly contradicted 
one of God's instructions He had spoken 
to them just 6 weeks earlier.  
Remember those words just up above in bold?

Moses had just reminded them to fear God and  sin not.


But.......they whined to Aaron, who took advantage 
of his popularity at the moment.
He sunk to giving in to the whims of a selfish, impatient people.
Endeavoring to meet their 'felt need' of the moment.  
(Sounds like some churches in today's world)
Meanwhile, Moses had the uncomfortable task 
of coming down from the mountain
and breaking up the party. 


The Bible tells us, "Aaron shaped the gold into the form of an idol "with a tool".
But when asked about the image by Moses, 
Aaron said,
".....they gave me gold, I threw it into the fire 
and out came this calf!"


Really, Aaron....it just walked right out of the fire???
All by itself....with no help from you???


Quite a different story than what REALLY happened.


Now Aaron is on the slippery slope downward.
He lies to make himself look not quite so bad.


I keep thinking about how short a time 6 weeks is.
And how God had been so faithful to those two million people.
And they turned their back.....to serve other gods.


"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
God said this because He is the only God.  There is no One like Him.
He tells us that we must not make any images of Him because
when we try to shape physical representations of Him,
we only succeed in detracting from His greatness and His glory.


What are your choices??
Do I have any gods that I put before Him?
Do you have any gods that you put before Him?

Thankful For

Today I am thankful for so many things.

I am thankful for the God of Peace and I am thankful for the Peace of God.

As I get older sometimes I wonder what life will bring.....

But I have many great promises given to me by my loving Heavenly Father.

This verse from Hebrews 13:5,  reads the same frontwards and backwards!!

"I will Never Leave Thee Nor Forsake Thee"

"Thee Forsake Nor Thee Leave Never Will I"
Hebrews 13:5

Then there is the promise.....

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed  on Thee...."

Reminds me of a very old hymn that has become very precious to me.

Sweet is the promise, "I will not forget thee;"
Nothing can molest or turn my soul away
E'en thro the night be dark within the valley
Just beyond is shining an eternal day

I will not forget thee or leave thee
In my hands I'll hold thee, in my arms I'll fold thee
I will not forget thee or leave thee
I am thy Redeemer, I will care for thee

Trusting the promise, "I will nto forget thee."
Onward will I go with songs of joy and love
Tho' earth despise me, tho' my friends forsake me
I shall be remembered in my home above

When at the golden portals I am standing
All my tribulations, all my sorrows past
How sweet to hear the blessed proclamation
"Enter, faithful servant, welcome home at last

by Charles H. Gabriel

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY -- LIDDY RU

This is Lydia.

Some of us call her Liddy Ru

Because her middle name is Ruth.

She has the softest, chubby little cheeks.

I just HAVE to kiss them whenever I see her.

Lydia always comes running when she sees me!

She is full of life and energy.

On Sunday night I listened to her recite

18 verses from Psalm 119.

She says them in the sweetest way.

I hope she will always want to 

hide God's Word in her heart

and

I hope she will heed His Word and desire to live by it and obey it.

Lydia's birthday was last Tuesday but her parents were out of town

so we are celebrating today instead.

But we couldn't pass up the day, last week, without making a memory.

We took one of her cousins, Sydney, to the mall for lunch

(we met the rest of the cousins later for Lindsey's Birthday)

 and

great Grandma Peterson made some Special K bars.

Four squiggly candles and one happy girl!

Happy Birthday, Lydia.

You are precious and I love you with all my heart ! !

Valentine's Day 2011

Myron and I have been together for almost

40 Valentines Days.
Whew...thats a lot!

February 14, 1972 Myron gave me a little pocket sized Bible.

It was a very special gift .... I recently gave the Bible to one of my girls.

The binding is broken, the leather cracked and the snap loose,

BUT the Words have not changed or faded...NOT ONE BIT!

And we still try to live by those same WORDS!

He has given me many gifts over the years,

some I remember, others have long been forgotten.

But tonight,
in our 'old love'
(means somebody married 25 years or more !?)

or maybe just because we are too impatient to wait in any restaurant lines

We went to the grocery store together and purchased
our Valentine Dinner ......

Deli Chicken (ummm it's so moist)
Gourmet Potato Salad (with eggs)
Bean Casserole (just  like his momma makes!)
(cuz I only use one kind of bean and she uses 3)

A red candle


A glass of ice cold Diet Cherry Zero

A fire going in the fireplace

And a Walton's Movie.

It was a great evening.
After the movie we talked a little.
About the 'good ole days'.    
And about the present days.

We are steadfastly devoted to one another.
I am grateful for the knowledge of being Myron's one and only woman.
Grateful for the knowledge that we serve an Awesome God -- together!
Grateful that we will spend all our days
appointed unto us together on this earth.
Grateful that we will be spending Eternity together ---
with the ONE who brought us together!

We topped off our evening by making
Home made Vanilla Ice Cream
in our wonderful little Cuisinart Speedy Ice Cream Maker!

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY - LINDSEY !!

Today is Lindsey's Birthday.

I remember very clearly the day, 

eleven years ago, when she was born.

Lindsey was the very first grandchild

 to be born to me.

I remember thinking how weird

 and how wonderful it was

 to be holding

a child of MY child.  Whoa.....

 Every last  grandchild

IS VERY SPECIAL.

But somebody has to be first in everything!

I will never forget the memories of that day!

I've watched Lindsey in her  swimming lessons,

playing softball and cooking and whatever she does

she does whole heartedly!!

The other day I saw she had crocheted a sweet little hat 

for her sisters doll.

I asked where she got the pattern.  She said, 

"Gramma, you don't need a pattern just to make a hat."  

But I do!!

And so, as Lindsey continues to mature and grow into a lovely young lady.....

my prayer for her is from Colossians 3:17

"And whatever you do, in word or deed,

do everything in the Name of the LORD Jesus,

giving thanks to God..."

Happy Birthday Lindsey.....I love you with all my heart ! !

Perfectionist ... I am NOT !

I make NO claim to be a perfectionist.

You can ask any of my girls about this....

or probably anybody that knows me.

This shirt would NOT have been worn in my home,

by any of my girls.

In my book not being a perfectionist sets me free 

from having to do things in a nearly perfect way.

I like things the way I like things.....but I don't have to have them perfect!

Three of our fourteen amazing grandchildren are staying

with us for a few days.  This keeps me on my toes.  I am enjoying each day with them.

Anyway, I was just brushing my teeth getting ready to leave for work day at the chapel this morning.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, a little six year old named Chloe.....

standing in the middle of my bed....with her socks on.  

Usually this would not be any big deal but we are in the middle

of a construction project and there is construction dust, sheet rock dust, saw dust....everywhere. 

In other words.....our socks are dirty 

just from walking on the floors here.

When I suggested maybe she get down she replied 

that she would like to help me out 

by making my bed for me.  

Wow! What a sweet thing to do for her gramma!

I asked her if she thought she could do it from the floor

and she thought she could.

When she got done making the bed.....

the "lines" on the spread are not straight and are not exactly

where I put them when I make the bed.

  There are wrinkles on the top.

The pillows are not 'rolled over' as I do it.

But the made bed is a sweetness to me that

I almost cannot describe.

I was not even tempted for one little second to remake that bed.

I grabbed my little Chloe and thanked her

for her kind sweetness to me.

Not even if I were a perfectionist would I

want to change the way she made my bed.

It is one of those "moments" to hide in my heart ..... forever on earth!

Chloe

Thank you Chloe, for your sweetness to me.
I pray that you will always have a sweet spirit
and that you will always want to please others,
 but especially the LORD Jesus.

Shiphrah & Puah

Do you know who these Biblical women were?

They were my kinda women!

Their story is in Exodus chapter 1.

Shiphrah and Puah were midwives to Hebrew women.

They were women who feared God more than the king.

They were women knew that God was the giver of life.

They were women who chose to do the right thing.

Even when the right thing could mean their own lives were put in jeopardy.

These midwives were told by the king of Egypt to kill all the baby boys as they were born, to the Hebrew women, and let the girl babies live.  I don't think it took them any time at all to decide that they were NOT going to do this.  (Hmmmm this reminds me of Daniel and can you think of others?)  Verse 17 says, "but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live."  

Wow, they really took a stand for right and honored their God as they did this. I think I would have been very much afraid to stand up to the king of Egypt.  But they knew their God was with them.  They also knew that as they honored and pleased Him, He would protect and honor them.  When questioned by the king, what did they say?  They said,  "... the Hebrew women are NOT like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."  Go Hebrew women!!  Go Shiphrah and Puah!! 

The verses that REALLY encourage me are these......

20-21  "So God dealt well with the midwives. 

And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 

And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families."  

Again we see God working in His sovereignity to:

                          build the 70 people who fled to Egypt into His Chosen Nation

                          make them a strong people under the most adverse of circumstances

                          bless those women who CHOSE to honor Him in their decisions

One of these women was probably the midwife who attended the birth Jochebed when she gave birth to Moses.  The LORD used Moses in a mighty way to lead HIS PEOPLE out of bondage and into the Holy Land!

What choices will you make today?  

What choices will you make in the future?  

Choose to honor Him in your choices.

It will bring great joy to your heart and much glory to your LORD!