Show & Tell

Today I walked with the grandbabies to the park and the sky was just so and there was a slight breeze … Just a faint smell of fall in the air, a few leaves turned yellow had fallen to the ground … Sweet chubby arms reaching up for a quick hug before toddling off to play again.

I remember walking with my mom on days like that when I was a child. I remember her telling me, “Do you see those trees? God made those trees. He loves us very much.” In my mind’s eye I can go back and remember a street lined with trees, the sun floating down on thin golden ribbons, streaking us with their rays.

I remember my dad picking me up from a nursery. The walls were blue and the windows were high up near the ceiling. He would pick me up and as soon as we were out on the walkway, he would swing me up and carry me on his shoulders and we walked down the arch-lined walkway. He the king and I his princess greeting everyone we’d meet.

Today we live in a world where people have forgotten that they must Show & Tell their children about their faith or their will be no faith to share. Deuteronomy 6 says

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ^a]">[^{a] 5} Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

On this day that the world around us celebrates everything that is anti-Christian, let us not forget that the Lord, our Lord brought us OUT of the land of slavery, slavery to another nation, slavery to their idols, idols made of wood and stone and fashioned by their own hands. God brought us OUT of slavery INTO freedom and blessing … and then warned us to be careful NOT to forget the Lord.

¹⁰ When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹ houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

My parents were careful to Show & Tell me about His great love towards us. It is important that we Show & Tell our children, our children’s children, our friends children, each other … about how God delivered us and about His great mercies towards us

²⁰ In the future, when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" ²¹ tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders—great and terrible—upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³ But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. ²⁴ The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. ²⁵ And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

Let us obey all that God has told us to do and let us fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive. Let us have an answer in season and out of season to tell the next generation of the goodness of the Lord.

Moving With God

by Barbara Chadwick

A UHaul truck just went past my house. Into my brain came so many pictures of past moves - the packing, the boxes, the emotions, the adjustments. I wonder if it was any easier for Sarai? When Abram came in and said, we're going to a land that God will show us, did her mind go into high gear, thinking about all that had to be done? Did her emotions go into some higher dimension with questions that had no answers?

They were nomadic people. We have that in common with them. American society is very fluid.

Abram (later God changed his name to Abraham) always carried his faith with him. He never packed it away to be carried by a camel. It was steady in his heart. Hopefully, as christians we will do the same.

This is the command . . ., Moses said, the Lord, your God has instructed me to teach you so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter... Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:1-9

So as we go let us carry God's word in our hearts and in our hands. And please remember to join a church with a group of other believers in your new land. You will be encouraged and strengthened by other christians who believe as you do. People who practice their faith, who carry it with them into halls of their occupations and into the marketplace.

You know how you have to call and reserve the UHaul truck specifying the size and type? Wouldn't it be neat if we could also order the kind of picture we want on the truck? A picture of a family reading God's word together or entering a church together. Or maybe we could order the scripture above from Deuteronomy to be painted on the sides. :)

When you pass a UHaul truck on the road, say a little prayer for the family that their faith would sustain them and their transition would go smoothly and they would find a church to join.

The Genesis Siblings

Siblings … those people you love to hate! They seem to be the ones most likely to make you crazy and give you the most warmest fuzzies. How can that be? Probably because usually they know us the most and have lived with us the longest. We’ve been through Christmases and summer vacations and Spring Break together. We had the chicken pox with them and broke their toys and they shared our toys with their friends who destroyed them. We listened to them cry. They listened to us whine. We share parents who always loved them more than us. And when we share our experiences growing up they seem to have been raised by different parents in different places, at least that’s what my dad says about his sister’s stories. ^_^

I’ve been reading through the great sibling stories in Genesis and I have to say that my three brothers come out smelling like the real gems/roses that they are. For example:

· Cain & Abel

· Shem, Ham, and Japheth

· Abram & Sarai (1/2 brother and sister)

· Ishmael & Isaac

· Jacob & Esau

· Leah & Rachel

· Joseph and his 11 brothers

Did I leave anyone out? Wow after reading these stories and their dysfunctional lives and realizing that God in all of His great mercy still continues to love us and counts us faithful based on our desire to pursue relationship with Him, based on His faithfulness He forgives us, based on our feeble actions to obey His leading and do what He tells us to do, He makes it possible for us to walk and talk to Him.

Who is like this great God of ours? No! There is NONE like Him and none can compare.

God bless you as you pursue enriching and encouraging your sibling relationships.

How do you know when you're getting older?

Yesterday I squatted down to clean something off the bottom of the door and when I stood up I realized something was wrong with my back. Actually I groaned! or did I yell? I'm not sure but it got me to thinking about getting older.

It's hard to think of yourself as old - or even old - er because there's this young spirit inside you. But here are some clues.
You notice that people start offering the senior rate to you.

Your body begins to close down earlier at night, you can't keep going as long as you used to and you can't do things as quickly as in earlier years.

You start getting these brown spots that one Dr. called barnacles of old age. - in your 60's! Shouldn't that wait to happen in your 90's?

Wrinkles and things sagging. You get a new wrinkle and a new gray hair - is it every year or every month? AND they say that your ear lobes keep growing as long as you live. What will that look like?


Your feet and your back don't like it when you stand too long. Some knees and hips just give up altogether!

Then there's the hairs that grow out of your ears and nose and chin but won't grow on top of your head.

And what about those words that get lost somewhere in your brain?

You give up trying to learn the newest thing:

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Iphones and Ipods

- and why do you need to learn this? You can get any information or the answer to any question on Google!

There's bifocals, trifocals and then the magnifying glass!

Some people say that you start out with diapers and you end up with them.

Do you know the song, Stand By Me by Charles A. Tindley?

When the storms of life are raging stand by me.

When the storms of life are raging stand by me.

When the world is tossing me like a ship upon the sea,

Thou who rulest wind and water, stand by me.

Then the last verse is perfect for this morning:

When I'm growing old and feeble, stand by me.

When I'm growing old and feeble, stand by me.

When my life becomes a burden, and I'm nearing chilly Jordan,

O Thou "Lilly of the Valley," stand by me.

The words of Deuteronomy 31:6 are especially poignant for times when we're feeling this way:

Be strong and courageous. . . the LORD your God goes with you; He will not leave you nor forsake you.

So keep smiling.

One Foot From The Goal Line

Louisiana State University players were just standing on the field this Saturday, un-comprehension the only facial expression at their loss. Mentally, reviewing the play … about one foot from the goal line … their center hiked the ball and it sailed right past the quarter back … the quarter back unprepared reached, flailing for the ball as it sailed past him waist high.

The Tennessee crowd roars at the win. Unbelievably they who saw their loss one foot from sure defeat … won! Absolutely amazing.

But wait … the referees are conferring. Three flags had been thrown and the start of the play but because all eyes were on the play no one noticed. Tennessee had 13 players on the field for the play (you’re only allowed 11). It’s not a win.

Incredibly, LSU is going to get a second chance to score. And score they do. Neither team was happy with the outcome. The LSU coach says, “A win is a win” but he never wants to get another win like this again.

http://www.rockytoptalk.com/photos/some-positives-from-tennessees-loss-to-lsu/1114025

Ever feel that way? Like “How can this be happening?” “What happened? I thought I was prepared … but I missed it.” “I thought I was winning … but I lost.”

Hebrews 10:35-39

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while,

"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him."

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.