Back on track <3

Hey-ho and Happy Monday!

We had a good weekend and thank you for your prayers for our John. He is back in his apartment with power, no water yet as of last night, but able to find places to wash dishes and take a shower. 

Thank you for continued prayers for the state as they recover. I don’t think we can adequately understand the breadth of damage and heartache they endured last week. 

On Sunday we had some wanted and unwanted guests. 

These three needed a place to hang for a while…

and this one must have been very hungry because it camped under our bird feeder most of the day. 

Rachel said it took him a while to get across town but he finally found us. Hope he didn’t bring Gary Groundhog with him. 

For our devotional thoughts today, I wanted to be very upfront with you about a little struggle I had and almost lost a battle that I am so grateful I didn’t cave into. 

I have gotten behind in my Bible in a year reading and as I added the Elijah study with Priscilla Shirer and began contemplating what else I might want to do for Lent, I jotted down in my journal around Wednesday that maybe it was a year to not read through the Bible. 

Then I picked up Priscilla’s study for the day and she opens with how one year she determined to read through the Bible and found it challenging but hung in there. 

Okay. 

So on Friday I took The Message to work with me and decided that in down time moments instead of scrolling or texting, I would catch up reading. 

I am so very glad I did. 

I am in Deuteronomy now and everywhere I turn, I am seeing passages from that same chapter shared and posted and talked about. 

The Word is jumping off the pages to me as I read Moses final sermon to God’s people. 

There are so many thoughts I could share but for today, I have to land on this one from my morning reading. 

Often when I am praying for something good, I tend to want to point out to God why I deserve it…sigh…yes…that’s why I need to read through this book every year…still a work in progress. 

Then I read in Deuteronomy 9 what God had to say to Israel about how He was going to clear the way for them as they moved into the land that He had promised Abraham and his descendants. 

He basically tells them…don’t think I am doing all of this for you because you deserve it. You are stubborn, disobedient, rebellious and unfaithful of heart. Prone to straying frequently and rather unpleasant to be around when things aren’t going your way…no. I am clearing this area because I promised I would and I don’t break My promises. I am emptying this land of wickedness not because you all are good but because I am holy. 

Wow. 

I love it. 

I love God. 

He puts me in my place and then He meets me where I am and dwells with me. 

Wonderful <3