The Small Branch

  The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson I am not a huge fan of poetry.  Mostly because I am a very linear and logical thinker so, often, I have a hard time figuring out what the poet really is talking about.  I also try to make everything a standard rhythm.  Rhyme is also forced when I am reading poetry, whether it is there or not.  All this to say, it took me some effort to read this collection poetry, but it wasn’t as difficult as some other poets I have read.  One thing I really like about the G3 reading challenge is that it is forcing me out of my comfort zone and stretching my brain.  Even if you are like me and don’t really enjoy poetry, I would recommend stretching out and reading some occasionally.  Emily Dickinson is a great place to start and this collection is well done.  (I got this book from my county's digital library.)

  Dealing with our sin is an important part of our walk with Christ.   We start the journey by repentance, because of the faith He has given us (there are many who debate which comes first, faith or repentance, and I’m not really qualified to join that debate other than to recommend, again, The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson).   We continue the journey by repenting as sin in our lives is revealed to us.   Today, though, I’m not really addressing dealing with our own sin.   Today, I have a lot of questions about dealing with other people’s sin. We all know that the sins of others can affect us, sometimes in very detrimental ways.  Sometimes, we are directly hurt by their sin, whether  physically, like with a drunk driver causing an accident, or emotionally, like with an adult child who chooses rebellion rather than obedience to the Lord.  Sin also has affected creation and means that we have natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, sinkholes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.

  In 2022, G3 began a reading challenge.   I’ve mentioned the 2023 challenge before, but I thought I would post what I read for the 2022 challenge.   I’ll be honest, I didn’t start this until fall of 2022, so I’m not quite done yet (I’m still working on the first two categories), but here’s what I am reading/have read. Complete a Bible-Reading Plan : I chose to use the Chronological Bible Reading Schedule from Mostly Sensible.   I started in the New Testament and have mixed the Old Testament up more than suggested, but I am thinking I will be done with the whole thing in another month or so.  Just reading through the whole Bible is a challenge for me, so this has been hard, but I am persevering and finding it helpful to get the history and prophecy or letters, etc. put together well. A Hymnal : I chose Hymns to the Living God , which you can download or purchase.  ( I like my spiral bound copy because it lays nicely on my piano stand. )  I am about 95% done with this.  Reading a

The dictionary defines a prepper as , “a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition , and other supplies. "there's no agreement among preppers about what disaster is most imminent”.” So, basically, preppers are preparing for something that might happen in ways that might help.  But what about something that is a sure thing?  Do we prepare for that?  Unfortunately, most do not.  Jesus coming again to judge the world is a SURE THING.  It will DEFINITELY happen.  And repenting and believing in Jesus is the only thing that will save us.  And not believing something will happen doesn’t make it not happen. We need to prepare for the sure thing and not be anxious about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-34).  Sure, some common sense preparedness is a good idea.  Look at COVID.  Everything shut down, so we needed to have some food and supplies on hand.  But d

  As I have struggled through some difficult things in the past year or so (and continue to struggle), I have often sought the council people I consider to be godly and wise.   While I have gotten some help from them, I have noticed something that makes me ponder.   I have heard a lot of phrases like, “I can’t believe a God of righteousness would do that,”   “Logically, it has to be this way,”   “I don’t think . . . ,”   “I feel . . . ,” and more.   Some of these phrases have come out of my own mouth.   Lately, I have been rethinking them, though.   Does it really matter what I think, feel, or reason to be true?  I’m not sure it does.  What really matters is what God thinks, feels, and reasons to be true.  And we find that in His Word.  That means that, if we believe something, we had better be able to back it up with Scripture.  It also means that if we believe something, even if we have believed it and been taught it for decades, but then the Holy Spirit shows us through Scriptu

  Proverbs 1:7 says,   “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (LSB) Let’s break this verse down (I’m using the BLB App and the dictionary as references.  You can also find this at www.blueletterbible.org ). “The fear” - fear of God, reverence, piety (the quality of being religious or reverent); respect; fear, terror, awesome or terrifying thing; revered “of Yahweh” - Jehovah - the existing One; self-existent or eternal One; “I am Who I am”; the personal name of God “is the beginning” - first, best, beginning, chief; the first in place, time, order or rank, first fruits; principal thing “of knowledge” - knowledge, perception, skill, discernment, understanding, wisdom, cunning; in highest sense, knowledge of God (including obedience) “Ignorant fools” - one who despises wisdom; of one who mocks when guilty; of one who is quarrelsome; of one who is licentious (promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters); perverse;

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing  This book is a true story of courage and determination.  In 1914, Ernest Shackleton and his men set out to cross Antarctica.  Unfortunately, they ran into trouble before they made landfall.  They spent the next two years trying to survive long enough to make it home.   This book covers the whole of their adventure and is very well written.  It captures the harrowing nature of their situation in details recorded directly from the men’s journals.  The author has done extensive research, including long hours of interviews with the men who lived through this quest.  All of this effort shows in his writing.  If you are looking for a “travel book” that is well worth the read, this is one you should pick up.  (I got this book from my county's digital library.)

  Lately, I have been hearing my friends talk about what their children will be doing for school next year.   There are a lot of changes in the works and it got me thinking about something that they are saying and that I have said in the past.   “She decided she wants to . . .” and “he would rather . . .” are the main ways the conversation starts.   I did this with one of my kids.   I gave her a choice - she could go to school and not play sports or she could homeschool and still play sports.   She chose to homeschool, but really, should I have had her making that choice?   On the one hand, we want our kids to want what we decide is best for them.   But on the other hand, it is our job as parents to decide what that is, even when they are 16.   Now, I am a firm believer that teens should be making more and more of their own decisions, even if they choose something that will turn out to be a mistake.  I think teens should be learning how to be adults, with responsibilities and cons

  The story of the 10 Minas in Luke 19 tells of a master who goes away, leaving his servants with some of his money to manage.   I have always thought about this story (and the similar on in Matthew 25) as teaching me to use what God has given me (like talents, abilities, and resources) wisely in big ways, but for some reason, when I heard a sermon about this passage recently, the smaller things grabbed my attention.   In the middle of verse 17, this phrase stood out to me: “because you have been faithful in a very little thing,” and I have been pondering it since that Sunday.   What does it mean to be faithful in a very little thing?  Let me give you a little background so you can understand where I am coming from.  I have four children whom I have stayed home with and even homeschooled for most of their childhood.  At this point, only one is still in high school.  Even though three of them live at home, they all three have jobs and one is also in college.  This means that I am a

  “The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will act arrogantly toward the old, and the worthless toward the honorable.” -- Isaiah 3:5 (CSB) The young acting arrogantly toward the old.  We are definitely suffering from this problem.  Notice that, in Isaiah, this is a curse as a result of Israel’s sin.  Today, we don’t just have disrespectful teens, but disrespectful 30somethings, 40somethings, even 50somethings.  Our culture values youth and tries to hold onto it as long as possible.  We are reaping the results of this trend of “youth culture” more and more today. This trend started about a hundred years ago with the beginning of the “youth culture.”  Sometime after WWII, we started using terms like “teenager” and separating teens out from adults in all areas of life.  Teens were all in high school and activities with their peers, rather than spending these years learning to be adults by spending time with adults.  Families bega

  I am a believer in a Classical Education.   I also am a believer in Unschooling.   “Wow,” you say, “those are totally opposite philosophies of education.”   You would be correct.   To a point.   Let’s start at the beginning of the journey and I’ll explain. From the moment that beautiful newborn baby is laid in your arms, you are a teacher.   This is where the unschooling begins.   You live life.   Your child learns to talk, to walk, to obey.   At this point, some parents really want to put their children into preschool or at least pull out some preschool workbooks.   “DON’T DO IT!” I yell.   Preschool, and even early elementary school are great times of learning naturally.   This is the perfect time to follow your kids’ interests.   Go to the library.   Read living books (see below).   Take “field trips.”   Plant a garden.   Cook together.   Clean the house.   Count everything in sight.   Sort everything in every way you can.   Draw or paint pictures - with chalks on the driveway

  This year, I am participating in the G3 reading challenge (you can find this challenge HERE ).   One of the books that I have read so far is Edward T. Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small .   (I definitely recommend this book and the whole reading challenge in general.)   One of the main points of this book is that when people have a proper fear of the Lord, then we will fear nothing else.   Since fear of man is something I struggle with, I decided to do some looking into fear of the Lord and share my findings with you. Several times in Leviticus, we are commanded to fear the Lord (Leviticus 19:14, 31; 25:17, 36, 43; etc.).  Deuteronomy 6:13 says, “Yahweh your God you shall fear; and Him you shall serve; and by His name you shall swear,” and verse 24 says, “So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today.”  Deuteronomy 10:20 says, “Yahweh your God you shall fear; Him you shall serve,