A Life of Gratitude

"The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." 2 Chronicles 16:9 (NLT) Have you ever considered all the things people plan for in life? We create budgets and lists to help us keep track of our ever-busy lives. We consult financial planners to help us plan and prepare for the future. We go to the doctor to help us stay healthy and proactively prevent illnesses. We put a lot of effort into planning events like weddings and birthday parties. Some people hire travel agents to plan every detail of their vacations. Many try numerous diets, pay for gym memberships, plan out all their meals, and even hire personal trainers and dieticians to get or stay thin. Parents plan and prepare countless activities for their children and some begin saving money for their child's college education before he or she is even born. We research, plan, and spend years being equipped for careers. We plan and strive to be successful

My kids enjoy watching a well-known You Tuber who has a generous heart and often helps people around the world. In one of his videos, he helped 100 blind people see again.  The surgeon he partnered with said half of all the blindness in the world could be cured with a ten-minute surgery. Isn’t that sad? In just ten minutes, half of the people dealing with blindness could see clearly. Financial concerns or lack of access to this type of surgery is what prevents so many people from seeing. When I heard that statistic, I immediately thought of the millions of people in our world who are spiritually blind. Within just minutes, those who have been blinded by worldly things could have their eyes opened and they would be able to see clearly. So, what prevents so many people from being healed of spiritu al blindness? 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says that these people have been blinded by Satan and they do not believe in Jesus. Without belief in Jesus, they are unable to see and understand the gosp

"You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 1 Kings 17:4 (ESV) In 1 Kings chapter 17, we are introduced to Elijah, an unlikely prophet of God. It's here that we witness normal guy from the hills of Gilead standing in front of King Ahab, boldly declaring that there would be no dew or rain for several years. Can you imagine the faith it would take to tell an infamously evil king that there would be no rain for years? Elijah's faith was strong, and his obedience is inspiring.  After speaking with the king, God tells Elijah to go into hiding beside a brook called, Cherith. He tells Elijah that he will drink from the brook and eat food brought by ravens. This promise is an interesting one because brooks typically only have water when the rain comes. During a drought, most brooks dry up. So, where would the water come from? And ravens delivering food; that sounds outlandish! Ravens are scavengers, always searching for food and even fighti

 " Abraham planted a tamarisk tree  in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the  Lord ,  the Eternal God." Genesis 21:33 I came across this verse this morning and it caught my attention because I love when the Bible gives specific details. The writer could have just said Abraham planted a tree, but instead we're told the exact type of tree he planted. So, I had to learn more about this tree.   A tamarisk tree  is known to thrive in very harsh environments, but it remains steadfast. It is a large tree, often reaching 20 feet tall with branches that are widespread. It provides shade that is much cooler than other trees, and since it is an evergreen, its protection isn't dependent on the season. During Biblical times the leaves and bark of this type of tree were often used for medicinal purposes.  Its leaves also collect moisture in the air during the night, so when the sun beats down on the tree during the day, the droplets evaporate and produce a cooling syste

Yesterday, my oldest son began talking about Thomas from the Bible. He said, "Everyone refers to him as doubting Thomas. I bet he's up there like, 'come on guys, is that really what is remembered about me.'" "One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” John 20:24-25 My son's comment made me think more about Thomas and I feel sort of bad for the reputation he has received because of his doubt. The more I ponder it, the more I wonder if Thomas was just the honest one. I can't imagine that everyone else just believed without any doubts. His friends were telling him they had seen Jesus, even though everyone knew he was dead and in a tomb. They believed because they had seen Jesus with their own eyes. It's als

Yesterday, while my family ate lunch at a restaurant, we noticed that the Styrofoam cups had various Bible verse references printed on them. The kids called out the verses and I used the Bible app to look them up and read them aloud. Allison called out 1 Kings 1:1, so I looked it up and read it to myself. I laughed because I knew that couldn't be one the verses on the cups. The verse says, " King David was now very old, and no matter how many blankets covered him, he could not keep warm."  I read it to the kids, and we all laughed. Allison admitted she just said a random verse. We talked about the people we know that are always cold, wear multiple layers of clothing, and always need blankets. We also discussed why verses like these are in the Bible. Yes, they're funny, but maybe they were included to help us understand that the people of the Bible were normal human beings, just like the rest of us.  Some other verses in the Bible expose this truth as well:  Moses had