Wednesdays in the Word

There are two accounts in Genesis that I found interesting this week because they show the different ways that God intervened with people in relation to their places of employment,
so to speak. : )

In Genesis 31 we see that Jacob had a rough go of things working for his father-in-law, Laban.
 In previous studies I've mentioned how much I adore "But God" moments and this chapter has one!
"Your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times but God did not allow him to hurt me." Amen!

Jacob was an excellent 'employee.'
"I have not eaten the rams of your flock. That which was torn by beasts, I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it. You required it of my hand whether stolen by day or by night.
 -There I was! In the day the drought consumed me and the frost by night and my sleep departed from my eyes." 
(Finish school Kids, so that you don't have to become a shepherd) ; )

God spoke to Jacob and said "I have seen all that Laban is doing to you." (verse 12)
Isn't that the best? Knowing that God sees and knows, is sometimes all you need!

But, in this situation He intervened!
If Laban declared that all the spotted flocks would be Jacob's, then God made all those animals that gave birth be spotted! When Laban switched to the streaked flocks being Jacob's, all of the sudden they were all having streaked babies.
How agriculturally awesome is that?!
Jacob summed up the situation by saying "So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me." 
He said "God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands..." 

Now lets see how God deals with Hagar in her place of employment. : )
In Genesis 16, Hagar is a maid to Sarah. She becomes more than a maid when Sarah realizes that she can't have children, she decides to help God fulfill His promise to make she and Abraham parents. She gave Hagar to Abraham to "obtain a child by her." (not a good idea!)
Hagar didn't seem to mind that plan until she actually got pregnant. -Maybe she thought the problem had been with Abraham. LOL
Anyway, she went from being a sweet maid to becoming someone who "despised Sarah!"
I think it is funny that when Sarah talks to Abraham about her situation with Hagar, he says "do to her as you please." Otherwise known as "leave me out of it." Because that's a whole lot of female drama! Sarah's solution was to"deal harshly with her," and so Hagar ran away.

God sent an angel, who found Hagar by a spring of water in the wilderness and He told her to
"Return to your master and submit yourself under her hand."
 -Ouch! I'm sure that wasn't what she wanted to hear. I've always thought Sarah was entirely to blame, but apparently Hagar was in need of an attitude adjustment.
He directed her into a path of humility that surely touched Sarah's heart and improved the situation.
Hagar then calls God by a name that up to that point, He had not yet been known by.
 She said "You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees" or Yahweh Roi.
I love that name of God! It means a lot to me.
Because sometimes, even if your circumstances stay the same, just knowing that He is the God Who Sees, is enough. It was enough for Hagar, because she returned and humbled herself.

Take heart, God sees you in the work place!
If we are being wronged, He can change everything. And if we are in the wrong, He can change us!

~Becky

The dates continue

My sweet hubby has been taking our kids on dates since they were very young.
He loved the chance to hang out with them in a one on one setting and hear their hearts. He always came home impressed with whoever he had taken and with the knowledge of how he could more specifically be praying for that child.

So, when he passed away recently, I decided the dates must continue!
-I kept them in the monthly budget and changed Date with Dad, to Dates with Mom!

Zac went first, this week and we had such a great time! There was a lovely park around this cool restaurant that made for a great place to walk and then we sat and caught up. (And sine he's married, I have a sweet daughter-in-love, that I get to add to the rotation. Yay!)

~Becky

The wedding video!

Nathan recently finished this!



Yay!!!!

 <3







~Becky

When Bible geeks break up

When my hubby and I were dating, he felt the Lord call him to move 3000 miles away to help start a church. And breaking up with me was apart of that plan. (boo-hoo!)

We decided that our break up needed what I can only describe as a theme verse! -Weren't we cute? Who picks a theme for a break up? ; )
We chose Joshua 22:34

"A witness between us that the Lord is God."  

We chose it because it would remind us that even though things had not turned out the way we had hoped, we were first and foremost committed to doing the Lord's will in our lives...because He is God. 

That fateful night we cried so much that the inside of my car was completely covered in moist tissues! At some  point during the sobbing, we exchanged gifts!
 These gifts included our theme verse! ;)
I bought him a rather large pewter heart to hang on the wall with the verse engraved on it. -That may not have been well thought out on part. LOL Thinking back, I'm wondering what bachelor wants to have a heart hanging on his bedroom wall? (I know my boys wouldn't in a million years!) ; )

His gift to me was this lovely locket!

It has the verse printed in tiny type on parchment paper inside. -He had the only friend we knew in the world who owned a computer back then (!) type it out in a tiny font. : )


Obviously, that trial had a happy ending and we eventually got married!

I haven't worn that locket in awhile, but it hit me the other day, how appropriate our theme still is! Even now, when things have not turned out the way we'd hoped, and whether they ever make sense or not, the Lord is God!
That was and always will be our "theme."

~Becky

Catching up!

We had technical difficulities last week... And blogging from my tablet isn't very fun. But now our desktops have internet again, so, I'm back!


We celebrated Zac's 23rd birthday with a family dinner and a Monopoly marathon. Spiderman Monopoly, no less. It went on for hours... and then the birthday guy won!

When Joy asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said a date with her. Best idea ever!
Last weekend we had a fun day together at the mall and she bought me lunch and a gift while we were shopping. I'm totally picking that gift every year! She's so sweet and fun to be with!

My sweet friend taught me to crochet recently, which was awesome because I have a lot of free time on my hands in the evenings now. I'm working on a blanket and I've ripped it apart and started over about 5 times so far. But I'm enjoying it. I've still got a ways to go before I finish it, evidenced by the fact that Joy mistook it for a scarf the other day. LOL

I love watching our boys play and worship. I had the priviledge of being at their young adults group last night to support a sweet friend who was the speaker.
This picture is blurry but I love it for all it represents, so I am posting it anyway! : )
I also love the singer all to pieces!

Some dear friends of ours along with some folks from Natha's church in CA are sending us out there for a week to visit!!!
What an amazing gift!
 So, we will get to see lots of people we love in February and we can't wait!

Andrew's boss at the florist, asked if I would like to help deliever flowers on Valentines Day! Doesn't that sound like a blast? Showing up at people's doors with flowers?! I love the idea! -I think it will be the perfect remedy for missing my Valentine!

~Becky

Wednesdays in the Word

Due to some technical difficulties, which might drive me crazy, I'll keep this short today.  :)

"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
of God.'"

This verse struck me in a new way recently and I thought it was so powerful.

We stay alive by eating bread (food)
but to really LIVE,
we need the Word of God in our lives.
We aren't REALLY LIVING without it!

Why settle for just existing?

~Becky

A sheep and his Shepherd

The other day I found some papers that my hubby wrote in college. One of them was on Psalm 23 and I read it knowing how much that Psalm has always meant to him. This part touched my heart:

     "There is one aspect of my old life I will never forget,
And that was the beauty of coming out of it.
I hope that someday I too can share the good news about Jesus
with a lost sheep looking for a shepherd."

He wrote this in 1989, and I'm happy to say that he spent his life doing that very thing! And there were so many lost sheep....

~Becky

Edited to note:
For our far away friends, you can still watch his memorial service on You Tube. Just search his name. Our kids played and sang one of his favorite songs that just happened to be based on Psalm 23!
Someone told me last week that "Everything they said about him at his memorial was true, unlke some funerals! "  lol  ☺I thought so!

Wednesdays in the Word

This verse just keeps popping into my mind and helping me these days:

"In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me BOLD with STRENGTH in my soul!"  Psalm 138:3

Here are some other verses that I believe: 

"God is faithful," 1 Cor. 1:9 

"For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened." Mt. 7:8

"We have the mind of Christ." 1 Cor 2:16 

"and the rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that (my) house, 

and it did NOT fall, for was it founded on the rock!"  PTL : ) 

Mt. 7:25

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Tim.1:7 

A 'sound mind' means- safe thinking, the ability to make right decisions with self control and self discipline, good judgement, disciplined thought patterns.  -Thank you, God for a sound mind during these times of decision making! 

He is the God who comforts those who mourn. Mt. 5:4

He "restores my soul." Ps. 23:3

He is "close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Ps. 34:18

And He will " turn my wailing into dancing" and "remove my sackcloth and cloth me with joy." Ps. 30:11

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love, 

Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you and you shall be rebuilt."  Jer.31:3-4

AMEN and AMEN 

~Becky

Happy New Year and a Happy Birthday

We spent New Year's Eve having these fun people over:

We played Hand and Foot all evening and now we are hooked!

This sweet guy is 23 today! I'm so proud of him! He's courageous, determined, diligent and devoted to his family and God and a blessing to us all.

Surprisingly, there were a few hours today when no one had to work, so we spent some time celebrating him with a family wiffle ball game!
More accurately, it was a wiffle ball-dodge ball combo, with crazy rules that we made up on the fly.

It was loads of fun! And it is actually chilly here! 61 degrees!

More celebrating will commence on Saturday! 

Here is one of my favorite moments of 2015: 

Hope you have a Happy New Year, filled with God's grace and favor.

~Becky

Farewell to the fish

We often joke around here about how the fish did not fair well during cancer. In fact, they didn't fare well either, because we never remembered to feed them! -We said they were fasting.

 And due to that fact, many  bid us farewell. ; )

So, it is the end of an era and I've decided that I'm done feeding and cleaning a fish tank. It's been fun! Hubby loved it! But he'd get a kick out of the fact that I'm done!!! -He knew it was a labor of love just for him. : )

As a result, there are 4 resilint little guys who are going to find out whether or not this is true:

~Becky