The Small Branch

Proverbs 2: 1-5 says:  My son,   if you accept my words      and store up my commands within you, 2  turning your ear to wisdom      and applying your heart to understanding— 3  indeed, if you call out for insight      and cry aloud for understanding, 4  and if you look for it as for silver      and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5  then you will understand the fear of the  Lord      and find the knowledge of God. Did you catch that - "if you look for it as  for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God."? How hard would we search for silver, for a hidden treasure?  How much time would we put in?  Then, the more important question, do I seek God like that?  Do I put in the time and effort like that?   "if you look for it as  for si...

As I was studying several days ago, I read John 12:24-25: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  He who loves his life, loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." God opened my eyes to see the results of dying to yourself, rather than just looking at the costs.  Too often, we look at the cost of following, the cost of obedience when the instructions don't make sense, the cost of obedience when those around us don't agree.  But we need to look at the results.  Fruit.  When a wheat plant falls to the ground, over time, it dies and is covered by dirt.  But this, this friends, is the time when it truly lives.  For, while in the earth, it is brought to life again in such a way that it not only lives again, but lives to bear much fruit.  In dying to ourselves, we truly live and, more importantly, we help others to tr...

     Did your parent ever tell you that you had to do something "because I said so!"?  My parents said that to me a lot.  My dad even had a shirt with that splashed across the front.  Have you ever said that to your kids?  I have, but very rarely.  I read somewhere, when my kids were little, that using the "because I said so" reason wasn't good for them.  It was lazy of me as a parent to not explain the reason and it didn't help them a bit.  I wonder,  though . . .      As I have mentioned, we have been studying Job in our women's Bible study.  We are wrapping it up this week and talking about how we don't have to understand God's reasons, we have to obey and trust, believe and have faith.  In other words, sometimes God just says "because I said so."  It made me think, am I causing my kids problems by always trying to make sure they understand reasons, whys, and wherefores?  Yes, they are older no...

     Do you ever wonder what people are hearing when you are speaking?  I wonder that often.  I feel like I must be a terrible communicator because the responses I usually get don't really go with what I thought I was saying.  Sometimes, I wonder if the words coming out of my mouth are anything like the thoughts that go with them in my head.       Then, of course, that leads me to wonder if I am listening well enough to really understand what other people are saying.  How often am I distracted or trying to think of what I want to say when I should just be focusing on what someone else is saying?  Listening doesn't just involve being quiet.  Listening means concentrating on what others are saying so we can ask clarifying questions and really get to the heart of what the other person is saying.  In this "all about me" culture, listening is a dying art.       Lord, please grant me ears to hear and ...

I feel the need to answer this question.  Homeschooling is not only doing what you would do in a classroom at home.  Many people say they are "homeschooling" right now because schools have had to move to an online format.  While there are some homeschoolers who use online schooling to "homeschool", in my limited experience, most families who homeschool exclusively using online schooling don't last at home very long.  Online schooling can be frustrating and can circumvent real learning.  The beauty of homeschooling is that it doesn't have to follow any kind of pattern.  There are as many ways to homeschool as there are homeschool families.  Some families totally unschool - just learning through life and rich experiences.  Some families spend all morning sitting at the dining room table doing workbooks and using textbooks.  Most fit somewhere in between.  The thing is, as homeschoolers, we can remember that the goal is LEARNING, not grades...

     We are doing a study called Job: A Story of Unlikely Joy  by Lisa Harper (Lifeway Press 2018) in our Bible study at church.  Job is a book about suffering.  It tells us that the "health and wealth" gospel has been around for a long time and was just as much a lie then as it is now.  This week, we have been looking at "wound care" using Elihu's discourses from chapters 32-37.      I have been struggling with one main thing this week - what is suffering?  Job suffered the loss of his children, his wealth, and his health, not even to mention the loss of respect and friendship that seems to go along with those.  His were huge, obvious sufferings.  Lisa Harper mentions some huge, obvious traumas in her life as she discusses these sufferings.  But what if we haven't had the huge, obvious sufferings?  Personally, I think I have lived a pretty charmed life.  I was never abused in any way.  My parents love...

Friday was rough.  I woke up a little frustrated and angry and little things kept happening all morning that, while I don't like them, wouldn't normally make me feel like screaming.  Friday, I felt like screaming.  It was one of those days where the battle was fierce.  After ranting with fellow teachers at lunch, I spent the rest of my lunch buried in my Bible, asking for help, and, finally, got some peace.  But the problems and frustrations didn't end.  One of the big frustrations of my day was the lack of retention my students were showing.  Things they needed to know from the past math they have learned, they didn't remember.  Another teacher and I were discussing (this was the ranting part, really) what we could do to combat this - more homework, more class time, what would help?  Once lunch was over and I was feeling some peace about life, I could finally listen to the Father, talk to the Father, and think logically as He guided me....

This morning I was awakened early but the Spirit.  Abiding.  John 15 talks about abiding and the importance of abiding.  We cannot function if we are not abiding with Jesus.  But what does that really mean?  The picture God gave me this morning helps me to see abiding more clearly.  In medieval times, villagers lived around a castle.  For protection, they had to come inside the castle walls to be shielded and under the protection of the king.  The choice was theirs, they could stay in their thatch huts or they could come into the castle and be with the king, protected.  We have that choice, too.  We can come into the castle of the King, or we can stay in our thatch huts, built by our own hands.  Once we are inside the castle walls, it is our choice how much relationship we have with the King.  Those who are closest to the King are the ones who make the most difference for others.  The ones who are closest to the King are t...