12 Years!

 

Dear Taylor,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my sweet boy! 12 Years! How can it possibly be 12 years?

On this day 12 years ago, I woke up an unsure and insecure young married woman who had no idea if she was prepared to have a baby! I went to bed that night as a Mom, still unsure and just as insecure, but head over heels in love with your sweet little face. I was so excited about my new gift that I couldn't sleep and sneaked down to the nursery in the middle of the night just to look at you.

Constant friends, inseparable buddies -- that's what we were for a few years until your sister joined in on the fun! We talked, laughed, played -- I was amazed at how easy it seemed to be your parent. I couldn't wait for you to get up in the morning. When you napped, I rocked you the whole time if I wanted to! When bedtime came, I was exhausted but still wished there could be just a few more minutes of playtime with you. If I could have videotaped your every waking moment, I would have done it. I didn't want to miss a thing!

I remember rocking you as an infant and wondering what you would be like at 5. When I dropped you off at Kindergarten I wondered what you would be like at 10. Now I look at you and wonder what you will be like when you graduate from high school and imagining the sadness I will feel when you leave home to go to college. Wow -- how do the years slip by so quickly?

I'm grateful that you have accepted Christ at such a young age and I challenge you to remain faithful to Him. One night while praying specifically for you, God allowed my eyes to drop down on this passage and I really felt like it was the scripture I was to pray for you and over you for the rest of your days:

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. (Psalm 86:11-12)

Taylor, I pray that you will always follow close to the LORD. Learn from Him. Allow Him to teach you and then walk in the way He directs. I pray that your lips will never cease to praise Him for the rest of your days.

Thank you, my sweet boy, for making me a Mom! My heart has never been the same -- completely overwhelmed with love for you. I make tons of mistakes and some days are hard, but at the end of each one I pray that you will never doubt that you are loved!

Happy Birthday! You are a fine young man and we love you with everything that we have!

Love,
Mom

Don't Leave the Tent

Exodus 29:42
"For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you."

Exodus 33:11
"The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun DID NOT LEAVE THE TENT."

Oh, LORD, I could have missed You today! I could have missed what You wanted to speak to me today. Thank you, thank you, thank you for stopping my feet in my tracks, sitting me down at my table and opening up Your Word to me today.

Bible study had me looking at Joshua and how He learned about God from Moses. He was Moses' aid in the wilderness. He never left His side. The scripture above is smack dab in the middle of telling us that anyone who wanted to approach the Tent of Meeting -- God's temporary dwelling -- to inquire of the LORD could most certainly come. But the scriptures tell us that the people didn't approach, they didn't come near. They stayed away and waited for Moses to speak with the LORD as a friend and then come back and tell them all the things that God had said. But Joshua? Oh, Joshua came near alright! He went with Moses into the Tent of Meeting. Watched the dialogue going on between Moses and God. But when Moses left to tell the others what God had said, Joshua hung out!! He stayed. What happened in those moments? Who knows! But I do know that God would never invite anyone to come near and then not speak to those who were bold enough to do so!! Oh the things Joshua and His LORD must have talked about! Oh the things Joshua must have learned sitting in that Tent and listening for the Word of God!

Wouldn't you just love to know what God said to Joshua? I'm sure it was a very specific Word for his very specific inquiry. Just as surely as God invited anyone to come and inquire, we are even more personally beckoned to come -- and come boldly!!

"Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]." (Hebrews 4:16 AMPLIFIED)

I surely don't want to be with the one's who were hanging outside the Tent of Meeting at a distance, on the fringes, to hear what God had said to someone else. I don't want to be JUST like the Israelites who were told that they could approach the Tent of Meeting and inquire of God just like Moses. But they didn't. They hung back and waited for someone else to experience His glory and then hopefully they would have the pleasure of having him share what God said. The study I was doing this morning had this commentary:

"We are people of the new covenant -- people to whom God has offered a surpassing glory (2 Cor 3:10). Yet, like the children of Israel, much of the body of Christ still stands back and watches those they consider truly anointed draw near God's glory...Never settle for a secondhand relationship. Joshua wasn't satisfied with a distant glory. He wasn't satisfied to live his relationship with God secondhand through that of Moses. Joshua learned his lessons well...Joshua's great faith was born in the presence of God."

My, my, my! Is that good OR WHAT? Whatever I do in this life, wherever I go...I don't want to miss the specific Word God has for ME and opt just to hear what He has said to someone else! I don't ever want to leave the tent!!

"LORD, I want to hang out in Your presence long after those who minister to me have gone on to minister to someone else. I want to be there hearing You speak...to me AS A FRIEND, One Who deeply loves! LORD, help me APPROACH boldly, DRAW near, REMAIN in You....because You are most definitely in me, LORD and You are most certainly the hope of any glory I may see in this day and the days to come."

Blessings,
Dori

Lost and Found

I had someone give me a handwritten list of exhortations and encouragements for me Sunday! Wow! I can't say that has ever happened. To have someone to take their quiet time with the Lord and think of me was astounding. I love how God does that and then truly puts it to work in my life.

The first encouragement was to lean on the Lord's provision in everything -- big and small -- in my life...at home, in marriage, in service, in parenting, in everything! Little did I know I was going to have to put that one to use pretty quick.

After church Sunday, we decided to go and take a walk at the local park. We loaded up the kids into the car and headed that way. What we didn't realize is that my husband had laid his wallet on top of the car and forgot all about it as we drove off from our home to the park. About 3 hours later, he realized what he had done and went looking for the wallet while I quickly called the bank to cancel his debit card -- the only real thing of importance in the wallet as he had removed his license sometime earlier in the day and had that at home.

On my way to Bible study, my friend's encouragement to lean on the Lord for provision in EVERYTHING rang in my ears. I prayed all the way to church just asking the Lord for His provision in this. I confessed that this seemed trivial in the eyes of most people, but it was important to us and I graciously asked Him to help us locate the wallet with little or no inconvenience.

As I burst into my classroom -- 10 minutes late -- I told the girls in my Believing God class of our predicament and I was so blessed. They immediately went to the Lord on our behalf and prayed for a quick resolution. I checked in from time to time at home to see if the wallet had been located and sadly, it had not.

Sometime around 1:00 yesterday, my husband called and asked if we had been to a neighboring county -- over 50 miles away -- recently. He had a "smile" in his voice, but I was confused. He said that a sheriff's deputy had called and said that someone had found his wallet on the side of the road. Everything was still inside, including the debit card. I'm not sure how the wallet flew off our car in Spring Hill and was found in Ashland City, but I definitely know Who picked it up and made sure it found its way back to my husband's dresser. Provision, I tell you -- God's provision!

You know, I could have just said the night before, "Oh well, it's gone and we can replace everything in it -- no big deal." But God wanted me to exercise my belief in Him and how He cares for us even in the things that seem small and trivial. He wants to show off for us. Sometimes He is just waiting for us to ask. Not only did it encourage my faith, but the faith of my class was strengthened as they were able to participate by praying for us. I got e-mail after e-mail yesterday from my girls asking me about the wallet and it was so exciting to get their responses when they heard that it had been found. My children were able to participate because I told them that we needed to pray that God would help Daddy find his wallet. They were so excited when they found out that it had been found. Do you think they might remember this little story the next time they ask God for something they really need for their lives? I'm praying they will!

This story is way more about a lost wallet that is now found. It reminded me that I don't ever want to be found lacking simply because I didn't ask!! It is about a God who loves us, cares for us, teaches us, listens to us and delights in making provision for us -- in the big things and even in the small!

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it! (John 14:13-14 New Living Translation)

Blessings,
Dori