You're Loved No Matter What

I finished this book this morning.  It was an excellent read.  I haven't read in a book in awhile that knew me so well.  As I read the book, I found my self sharing paragraphs from almost every page with my close friends.  It was like the book knew how I operated.  I hope I am able to retain some of the things I learned and live more in excellence than in perfection mode. 

This book has me excited about the concept that heaven will be like what our highest expectations of Earth are, and more.  I mean those things we wish were different here, will be different in heaven.  And that is an exciting concept to think about. 

There was also a reminder in there that I can enjoy my work; and that work for good things is good for us.  Sometimes we get bogged down in work and focus on the negatives we want to see, but I am reminded that are good things from work, and I don't want to loose that.  I want to enjoy everyday, not just live for the weekend.  And sometimes good work is more than just my job, but chores in the barn and work in the garden. 

We won't reach perfection until heaven, but we can always grow here. 

Micah

• Micah saw a vision of destruction of Samaria and Israel
• Micah will cry in sadness
• People have evil plans
• Prophets told Micah not to prophecy because they only wanted to hear good things
• Prophets aren't speaking truth & will not hear from God
• Judges take bribes, priest only teach when paid, prophets too; Micah is honest
• In the end, the mountain will the temple will rise and draw people to it; every nation will be judged and war will cease
• Israelites must go to Babylon, but the Lord will save them from there
• Peace will come in the form of a aby from Bethlehem with the Lord's strength
• Lord asks the people what has He done to us, what made people tired of Him - He did good things for you, what is right (freed from slavery, etc.)
• He has told us what to do: kindness, love, humility
• Pay attention to punishment & discipline
• Evil is rampant: "in both hands"
• The Lord is kind and will return for us in the light and defend us; Israel will return
• God enjoys being kind, mercy comes and sin is thrown deep into the sea

Jonah

• God called Jonah to preach to Nineveh
• Jonah ran away from God on a ship
• The sea became very stormy & the men threw cargo from the ship
• Jonah was sleeping deep in the ship and the other men discovered Jonah was the reason for the storm
• Jonah told them to throw him overboard so the sea calms, but the men tried to row instead, but they failed; they didn't want to be guilty of killing and innocent man
• The men threw Jonah over and the sea was calm, they made a sacrifice and feared the Lord
• A big fish swallowed Jonah; he was in there for 3 days and 3 nights
• Jonah prayed; the Lord spoke to the fish and spit Jonah out on dry land
• God again tells Jonah to go preach to Nineveh and he goes
• The people believed the message, including the king; the people fasted and wore rough cloth
• The king proclaimed everyone fast and wear rough cloth so maybe the Lord will change is mind if they show their regret and turn from evil
• God does change his mind and spares them
• Jonah is now angry and wishes to die; he goes outside the city to see what happens to the city
• God grew a tall plan quickly near Jonah for shade and comfort with Jonah was pleased with and comfortable
• The next day, God sent a worm to destroy the plant and hot sun and Jonah was angry the plant was gone
• God said to Jonah: you are upset about a plant  you didn't nothing to have; shouldn't I be concerned with 120,000+ people who don't know right from wrong??

Obadiah

**Obadiah has a vision the Edomites will be attacked
**Edom will loose everything
**Even friends will betray you
**Edom stood aside while Israel qas attacked
**Edom do not be harmful to Israel
**Nations will be judged and land will be back to original owners and it will belpng to the Lord

Amos

• A warning goes out to the people of Israel to stop sinning, each tribe's message
• God has done good things & disciplined
• Israel is full of sin and evil and needs to turn from their ways and repent
• The day of judgement will be a dark day even for those looking for it
• People living outside Israel lived easy lives of feasting and lying around and were not sad over Israel's ruin; they will soon be slaves
• God changed his mind about locusts and fire as Amos asks if small Israel can withstand the visions
• Plumb line vision (used to determine depth or upright vertical of surface) - it will show how crooked Israel is
• Amos, a shepherd, leaves his flock to prophesy as God asked, but he was told to stop so those against his words will be punished
• God will no longer overlook sin, palace songs will become funeral songs with dead bodies everywhere
• People will rush through festivals and Sabbath for greed and money
• They will end hungry for God, but will not find him and fall
• Israel will be destroyed and you cannot hide from God
• Israel will be scattered, then restored

Joel

• Locusts destroy the land
• A time of judgement is coming
• Change your hears to God; He is a God of great love; He can change his mind about harm
• God restores the land
• Judgement - the Lord speaks
• Those against Judah will be punished
• Judah will have a new life

Judah seems to talk about the end of times, the second coming, the final judgement.  I wasn't expecting that in the Old Testament.  I can understand that it is there. 

There is even mention of God judging all the nations in the Valley of Decisions, but it refers to a new life for Judah.  Which is a little confusing.  In the New Testament, we stray away from the Israel and Judah are the chosen people, but this mentions a new Judah.

The Hate U Give

I finished this just after the first of the year.  It was a good read.  I enjoyed the book, but it's hard to say that.  I don't want to say I enjoy it when it tackles such tough topics of racism, oppression and opportunity in our culture and society today.  But at the same time I think it is important to be aware and seek to better understand how life really is for people different from ourselves.  And it is a little easier to do in a novel that personalizes it in place of facts and statistics and research. 

Now, I'm waiting to see the movie.

This Life I Live

Finished reading this last night.  It didn't flow throughout like a long story, but mini chapter essays that did weave together into their bigger story, which is how he described his life, so I guess it makes sense. 

I did enjoy reading the story and even made me thing about faith in some ways. 

Surprisingly I didn't cry a ton through it.  I supposed in part because I already knew of their story and what to expect, but It was a good quick read.   

Hosea

• At God's direction, Hosea married an unfaithful wife and had 3 children by her:
• Jezreel = God Plants
• Lo-Ruhamah = Not Pitied
• Lo-Ammi - Not My People
• Israel will grow and be numerous and great again
• Israel has been unfaithful, will be punished and brought back to God
• Hosea had to buy back his wife after she'd had relations with other then abstain from sex for a time - this is like God's love, he loves even when people worship idols and turn away and Israel will go a time without rules, sacrifices and idols and they will return to God
• Evil is abundant in Israel
• The priests like sin because they live off sin offerings
• People are wrong, evil and unfaithful in Israel, including the priests
• Israel's pride will be their defeat
• Israel has trusted themselves and their soldiers, not God
• Built alters to remove sin, but they became alters of sinning
• Israel's sin will be punished
• God loved and care for Israel, but they sinned and went against God
• God will bring punishment
• Israel does return to God

A New Years Eve to Remember

For the past few years we've enjoyed hosting some of our local friends for New Years Eve.  We play games, eat great food and talk the night away.  This year was no different, except that around 10:30PM there was a loud pop, and the house went DARK!

The wind had been howling terribly for much of the night, so it really wasn't super surprising, until we looked outside and all but 1 other house around us still had power. 

Candles were lit immediately, Caden was EXCITED and on top of that part.  And Keith got the generator hooked up and plugged in some work lights from the garage to light up the dinning room and turn the TV on for the ball drop. 

We all gathered around the TV minutes before the ball drop, and the crowd of kids were on the floor near the power strip and extension cords running power from the generator, when one of the girls fell to the side as the 10 second count down begin and knocked the power out, again!

We laughed and celebrated anyway.  And the fun continued until about 2AM.

The girls went to bed hesitantly just after midnight, not loving the dark.  Ruth fell asleep in my lap and Elinore slept in our bed. 

By morning, both girls were in our bed scared of the dark, and the power didn't return until about 9AM new years day.

Our friends were great and text us that morning with offers of bathrooms and showers and power if needed, but fortunately it was restored for us. 

Things Boys Do...

How Caden got ahold of the staple gun, I'm not so sure, but I do know he doesn't have it anymore!

Bringing Up Boys

I finished reading this book over the weekend.  It took me awhile to get through.  It wasn't hard to read, but it was a hard read.  I found myself feeling guilty for not following a few of his strong recommendations.  1 - I send my kids to public school.  2 - I work outside the home. 3 - I am part of a blended family.  Even with these differences in lifestyle choices from the books recommendations; I feel the book was a valuable read, and I learned some things and have applied some things in our life of raising boys. 

This book was written close to 20 years ago, and still applies today.  I can see the viewpoints and the society changes and examples that directly related to the world today.  With twin boys in my house, I'm always looking for ways to be a better parent to them, to connect with them, and to understand them.