A Day in the Life of a Lego Guy

Benjamin and Allen's first Movie Creation

Christmas tomorrow!

I know tomorrow is December 23 but it is our Christmas day! We wanted to get to our out of state family and still have one whole day with just the 5 of us at home. So, we asked Santa to come early. Tonight's the night! I am excited and calm at the same time. I don't have any expectations that I have looming over me. That was yesterday. All things are ready!

Expectations

I have realized today that my expectations are often quite silly. Well, truthfully I realize this many times and then go right back to the silliness that I came from! Anyway, today's silly expectation that I am letting go of is the one that says I must finish school by lunchtime in order to get everything taken care of. The one that says we can't take breaks and jump back in where we were after the break is over. Right now, obviously, we are all taking a break!! It feels quite lovely to sip my candy apple hot tea and type a few thoughts and read a few thoughts of my friends! Now I have 3 more minutes to see if we can jump back in where we were!

questions

Tonight Jeff asked Benjamin, "How many questions can you ask in an hour?" Benjamin, who just bought himself a new watch, replied, "I don't know. Let's time it!"

Moses and God sure went round and round at the burning bush! Here we have God telling Moses, "You are the one I want. I'm going to use you to deliver my people from their oppression." Then Moses says, "Who me? Why me? They won't believe me. I can't speak well enough." (Notice all the me in his responses.) It was like telling God, "You don't know what you're doing." Moses must have been overwhelmed, shocked, and scared. Isn't that how we feel when God asks us to do something out of our comfort zone? Our response is often, "You want me to do what? Are you sure? There are certainly many areas where I know God has asked me to be his servant. He says, " I want you to nurture and train these three boys to be men after my heart." To be honest, sometimes that seems like a more daunting task than leading the Israelites across the desert. But who am I to compare my task with any other task given to any other person by God. We all have something God is asking us to do. What will our answer be? Do we trust that God is faithful to give us everything we need to fulfill the task he has given? Or do we get stuck on what we believe our abilities will allow us to do? It comes down to trusting or not trusting in God's ability to use me for His glory. It may be scary. There will be days filled with heartache and others full of joy. I will most certainly reach the point again of thinking I can't do this. It is then that I will remember - I can't! But God can!

High Tech Bible Study

I really enjoyed my bible study today! I decided to do something different. Instead of sitting down with my bible, I used biblegateway.com to read from and pulled up my word processing program to take notes as I read. I would read a little and when a thought or question popped in my head I would switch over to my document and type away. Typing is faster for me that writing and I don't have to worry with paper. I really enjoyed studying this way. It really helped me develop my thoughts and meditate on what God was showing me.

Giving Attention To My Thoughts

Writing gets my thoughts going. So many thoughts swirl around in my head begging for an audience or at least some time to be pondered over but slip away as the next pushes its way to the front. This is a cycle that continues when I refuse to give my attention to something. You see, I read somewhere that attention means "setting my mind to whatever I'm about." That means choosing one thought above the others, saying one better or more important than the rest. I dare not choose one thought over another! Yet that is just what I am asked to do by my Lord. God tells me through the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3,5b "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh... we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." I must capture each thought and decide if it is worthy of being thought and if it will help me obey Christ. Philippians 4:8 says I am to meditate on whatever is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and/or praiseworthy. So, here is my checklist! Many times though after filtering out thoughts that will not help me to obey there are still many thoughts fitting that checklist still whirring through my head. What can I do? I can ask God to guide me in choosing which thought to give attention to at the moment. James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." So, I will be doing more asking for wisdom to chose which thought receives my full attention. After all, when I seek God above all else I receive His peace. He wants that for me! Already it is as if I hear him telling my thoughts, "Peace! Be still!" So, I"m off to think on my thoughts one by one as God lines them up!