Trenton's Mites

My mom was tucking my little brother, Trenton in, when he asked a very serious question that had been troubling his little mind. “Mom, you know the story dad told about the witch who gave everything she had?”
My mom started to wrack her brain for an answer. “What kind of stories is Tom telling the kids?” she wondered. It was then that she remembered the story Trenton was talking about. The Widow who gave everything – the Witch who gave everything… What’s the difference?
She couldn’t hide her mirth and she began to laugh, unknowingly offending the little boy who had courageously brought up this question that had been bothering him.
Exasperated, Trenton said, “Don’t laugh mom. She really did. Jesus said she gave the most!”
I’m not certain if Trenton pictured Jesus watching a green faced lady with a black robe, and a tall crooked black hat give her offering in church, but whatever the picture, he knew that she had pleased Jesus, and he wanted to do the same thing.
In his little hands he held a couple of Ugandan shillings – probably comparable in worth to the widows mites, but it was all he had.
“Mom, how will I ever get money if I give it all to God?”
How many of us have asked ourselves the same question? The answer is clearly given in the Bible, but it is an answer that requires faith. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it shall be given you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal shall it be measured to you again.”
There is no question in my mind as to whether this verse is true or not. God said it and that settles it. However, that does not mean that there are not times that I don’t look at the meager amount in my hand, and question the wisdom of giving it away.
In the end all that we have, belongs not to us, but to God. Who do you think will take better care of God’s possessions - you or Him? Just like we will not force Trenton to give God his few mites, God will not force you. He is waiting patiently for you to surrender all you hold in your hands to Him, so that He can fill your arms so full that you cannot hold it all.

The Gifts of God!

We have found that nothing is quite as predictable over here in Uganda as it was in Washington. Let me give you some examples: Some times we turn on the faucet to our drinking water, and get nothing more than a trickle; tonight as we were eating dinner, the lights went out and it was so dark that we couldn't see what we were eating (of course that did not stop me!); we had 4 tiles that were lifting up off the living room floor, so the man who came to fix them took out almost all the tiles in the living room, broke some, and then put them back in (although he did add some new colors to the floor... for special effect, I'm sure.)
However, the most exciting thing happened the other day! Most of us have started to dread taking showers or baths because one shower doesn't have any warm water at all, and the water heater on the other doesn't work unless it wants to.
This water heater has something against me in particular though. Up until a few days ago, I seriously doubted that it was even able to produce warm water. I wondered if my family members were just trying to make me jealous when they said they got to use warm water.
For these reasons, I was surprised and thrilled when warm water did come from the tap. I looked up at the water heater that used to seem so menacing and evil, and thought about hugging it! However, as we know, every good and perfect gift comes from God.
What has God given to you that you've forgotten to thank him for? Even the cold water flowing from the faucet is a gift from God. We have so much to be thankful for! It is our selfishness that assumes we deserve warm water, and all the other luxuries that we whine about. I challenge you to remember that we are deserving of nothing more than death and hell. And yet, it is the mercy and the love of God that provides life and peace. What have you forgotten to thank God for?

Though He Slay Me

Abram was a man of God.
He walked before the Lord.
God promised this great man a son.
He trusted in God’s Word.

And truly when the time was ripe,
And Abram old in years,
God gave to him his promised son.
Abram praised with joyful tears.

Many years from that time passed
And Isaac grew to be
A man of God much like his dad;
Abram thanked God joyfully.

But then God asked the strangest thing:
“Give your son to Me.”
Abram wept and yet he said,
“Yes, Lord. I will trust thee.”

Though You take and wring from me
The very breath of life,
Though you kill my only son
And offspring of my wife,

Still I’ll lift thy name in song.
Still I’ll hope in thee.
Though Thou slay and break me, Lord,
Still I will trust in Thee.

As Isaac placed himself upon
The altar he had made,
His face he raised and through his tears
This prayer of praise he said:

“Lord, I will lift Thy name in song.
Lord I will hope in Thee.
Though the fires round me rage,
Still I will trust in Thee!”

As God looked down upon these men,
A smile graced his face.
A tear drop trickled from His eye
At their sacrificial faith.

“My child, you need not kill your son.
For I’ll provide the lamb.
Your love and faith in Me you’ve proved.
I have the perfect plan.”

And so our Lord and Heav’nly King,
Turned to His perfect son.
“I need a perfect, spotless lamb.
You are the only one.”

As Jesus hung upon a tree,
He turned His eyes above,
And to His father’s tear stained face,
He sang this song of love:

“My father, though you slay me;
Though you turn your face from me,
Still I will love and praise your name;
Still I will trust in thee.”

Oh God, Dear Heav’nly Father,
You gave Your son for me.
May I with trust and simple faith,
Love and trust in thee.



Job 13:14
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.”

He Is Faithful Who Has Promised

In my Bible reading and daily living, it seems as if God is pointing me to Himself. When I try to look down at myself, as often I do, God seems to lift my chin and draw me back to Him.
Do we own anything that does not belong to God? Do we eat anything that was not made by God? Do we Breathe any breath that is not ordained by God? The answer is no. Proverbs 16:4 clearly states that "The Lord hath made all things for himself: year, even the wicked for the day of evil." Every thing that is, or was, or will be, was made by and for God.
And yet, we spend so much of our time trying to see how much of God's possessions we can hold in our arms and call our own. We consume the Almighty God's creation upon our own lusts. We attempt to draw praise for ourselves from the lips of men whose mouths and minds were made by and for God. Indeed, all our efforts to do so are nothing more than vanity.
I would like to illustrate the previous paragraphs with an example from my own life. I don't like to eat. I love to eat! If I could, I would probably eat all day long, and then wake up in the middle of the night to eat some more. Because of this, I worry where my next meal is going to come from and what it will be. I'm not alone in this. A certain, unnamed sister of mine, feels this fear so strongly that she packs food when she goes to other people's houses, in case they forget to feed her. I find it incredibly humorous when I realize how concerned I am that I might starve, when I could go several days without food, and be perfectly fine. In fact, it might be advantageous to my health if I did skip a few meals. Others may not struggle with trusting God in this area, but I believe that most people have forgotten that God is the great Provider and that He promises that even the seen of the righteous shall not beg for bread.
In my Bible reading several verses have stood out to me as to what we should turn our mind to when we worry about our physical bodies.

Proverbs 15:16-17
"Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble therewith.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."
Proverbs 16:8,19
"Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right."
"Better is it to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud."
Mattew 6:25-34 really arrows in on this subject. "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

Do you doubt the very Word's of God? Do you doubt that He who has promised is able also to perform. I would say, "No, I don't doubt." But my life says otherwise.
Lord God, teach me to trust you to provide. Teach me to live each day to fufill your purpose and plan for me and not my own. Teach me to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humply before my God.

"Just Start With One"

Today as I worked with Trenton on writing his numbers, he optimistically wrote a whole line of one’s and a whole line of two’s. Of course after each two he had me look. “I did it, Bekah!” He was so pleased with himself, as was I, since we had struggled with the number two for several hours the precious two days. He seemed so pleased with himself. However, he wasn’t quite so confident with his three’s Before he had even finished his two’s he asked me, “Do I have to do a whole line of three’s? Can I just do three? I told him, “Just start with one.”
I found it interesting though, because just this morning I had been asking God similar questions. “Are You going to have me stay here, or are You going to let me go to college?” “Where will I be in five months?”
However, God was probably looking at me as I did Trenton and saying, “Just start with today.” Just this morning I read Psalm 55:17, which says, “Evening, and morning, and at noon,, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Why am I crying for tomorrow before I have lived today. In Lamentations 3:22 and 23 the Bible says, “It is of the Lord’s merices that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
God is not with us only in the big decisions. He wants us to rely on Him every step of the way. I let go of His hand so often and try to find the right way by myself. It is truly of the Lord’s mercy that I am not consumed. There is little that I like better than walking to new places and discovering something, and like most single woman, I look forward to the day when I will have someone to hold my hand during these adventures. But if I was to look at my life through the eyes of God, I would see that I already have that. God promises that He will never leave me, forsake me, or leave me comfortless. I have the best travelling companion one could ask for. He is the Most High God.

Long Life Insurance

It is a well known fact that children are not only invincible, they are immortal. To the child anything is possible. My brother Jacob wanted to be a missionary baseball player when he was younger. My sister Victoria is a princess. I wanted to have 100 children! However, with years comes a dampening of our creativity. Adults realize that there are boundaries.
As a child, I remember thinking, “I know that most people die, but I just don’t think I know how to die. I might be the first person to live forever.” I wasn’t being cocky. My young mind just couldn’t imagine that my body, so full of life and the ability to eat anything, climb anything, dream anything… could ever lose that spark that we call life.
As I have grown, I have recognized life for what it is. It is a gift from God. However, unlike eternal life, our life here on earth is fleeting. As the Bible says it is like a vapor, it appeareth for a little while and then vanishes away. No man will live forever. No man has a guarantee that he will be able to take another breath.
Are you worried about how long you have left? Would you like to know that you are going to live a long and prosperous life? Are looking for the recipe for peace in this fleeting and changing world? Look no further! The Bible has the guaranteed solution for all your fears, frustrations, and failures. Let’s take a look!
Exodus 20:12
“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

Deuteronomy 5:16
“Honor thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee:”

Proverbs 3:1-2
“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.”

Proverbs 4:10
“Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.”

Ephesians 6:1-3
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”

Like anything else, long life does not come without some cost. The cost: right living. It may not be easy, but I can guarantee it will be worth it. Evaluate your life today. Do you qualify for length of days, peace, and a well life? God commands that you should.

That Which We Cannot Hold

Proverbs 23:4-5
"Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

Psalm 39:4-5
"Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah."

Jeremiah 9:23-24
"Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight sayeth the Lord."

Beyond the Gate

As I sit on this 7th day of March, 2010, my senses are accosted from every direction. My immediate surroundings are pleasant ones.
I sit at the top of a cement stairway that leads to the lower garden. The ground I am sitting on has been warmed by the sun, but is now gently shaded by the trees. A light breeze ruffles my hair, but not my nerves. All that stands around me: the trees, our large white washed house, and the walls that run the perimeter of the grounds, remind me that I am safe, secure, and sheltered. A myriad of birds whistle, chirp, and crow around me. They herald that all is well, food is plenteous, and the weather is pleasant.
What if we moved beyond the confines of these walls? This is a feat easily accomplished, as I have a perfect view of the town from where I sit. I can see people walking from place to place. I hear the industry of the people: hammers pounding, metal clanking, busses honking, people calling to each other, and radios playing. This collage of sounds do not create a grating pallet of noises. It is more like an industrial orchestra, mixed with the sights and smells of everyday living.
Right before me runs a path. Not well worn. It leads to a gate with a small padlock on it. This is what separates my two worlds. One world is comfortable and comforting. The other is exciting and holds the unknown and unexplored. This gate does not hold me in. Even now, I could go find the key hanging in our kitchen. What keeps me from running to get that key? What causes me to remain locked within the confines of these walls? Could it be fear of the unknown? Perhaps distrust for my fellow man. Maybe even the prospect of facing the heat, the dusts, and the crowds.
Lord God, give me courage beyond myself. Give me excitement for the future, and an eye that can see people as you see them. May I not waste this opportunity, this chance to unlock my door to these people for whom you died. Teach me to love them as you have loved me.