Louder Than the Voices

Here it is, 365 days since my very first post on this blog. So many things have happened and though 2016 has been rough on a lot of people, I feel like it has been pretty decent for our household. I feel like we have accomplished a lot, as a family, as a couple, as a small business, and as workers for the Lord. I am really excited that I managed to get this blog up every Saturday morning but 2, in the last year. Those two were a planned little respite, and I probably should have worked harder to put something out there, but I had some issues to deal with and it was easier to just give me time to adjust. I know God knows we are human, and there are some situations that just take longer for us to have that "It is Well with My Soul" moment. I was looking up verses this morning on looking back and I found a couple that I thought I would share. Isaiah 42:18-19a says, "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing;...

2  And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. 2  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of t...

S-L-O-W  D-O-W-N,  it was a message that came across my phone several months ago when I had sent a text to a friend, and had apparently been able to express my feelings of stress through the previous text to her. My thought was that I really wanted to slow down but had no real time to do so. I am venturing a guess that many of us are in that state right now as Christmas is now a week away. We had some ice last night and I always love the phenomena that happens after, the utter sound of peace outside. I live on one of the busiest streets in Newton, but after a snowfall, or even more so, after ice, it is quiet. In the wee hours of the morning, there is what some would consider an almost eerie silence, but I love it. That peace is one of the few things I miss about living in the county, so I treasure it when it happens right here in the middle of town. I have only one verse today, Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust...

Hope everyone is enjoying this Christmas season. I have had one of the most spectacular weeks that I have had in a long time; one of those that for a few hours, everything just seems right with the world. I know most of you have watched as things have happened over the years to our family. We have had some real challenges and faced some tough times. I am thankful that I always had faith in God to see us through, but have still been pretty scared at times as to what "through" was going to entail. I know there are people that are having less than the perfect Christmas, sadly, life doesn't stop being life just because we turned the calendar to December. I have a friend who I went to school with that had a major problem this week and is in Intensive Care in Champaign. I know his family is thankful he is alive, but it still doesn't feel right to be in such turmoil during Christmas. We had two really rough times during Christmas that I remember growing up. December 10th,...

It is beginning to look, and feel, a lot like Christmas. I love this time of year for so many reasons, but mainly because we take the time to really concentrate on God's love for us. I had mentioned last week about Max Lucado's book and Bible study, Because of Bethlehem. I am really enjoying going through it. At one point it mentions that Christmas started what Easter finished. I had never really thought about it in terms of simply birth and death, but that is what it is, but think about this: Christ was born to die so that we could live. In his death, we have the ability to be born again. And, because he conquered death, and rose again, death is not the end of the story, for any of us. I have been looking back this week, on my own, to the Old Testament, back before there really was a Christmas to celebrate. I always equated those people to looking for the Messiah's first coming similar to how we look to His second coming. One of the comments from a participant on Lucad...