Even in the Valley . . . .

My youngest son has decided on a new favorite song recently that talks about God being good even in the hard times of life. I'm sure, at his age, that he really cannot even begin to comprehend what the song truly means. He is far too young to have experienced any of those hard times. Part of me wishes for him to never know those difficult seasons of life. The other part of me knows there is so much value -- so much to be learned by going through those difficult times. There is much that can only be learned by experiencing hard things. I also know that life does not happen for very long without those hard things. They do yield good things - if we let them. Psalms 119:67, 71 says: " Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. . . . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."

I'm thankful for a loving, all powerful God who makes those choices for our lives. He knows what is best! I can trust Him to do what is best both for me and for my children. I can pray, too, that my little son will always remember those words which he parades around singing; and that when the difficult times come, he will be looking for the goodness of God -- knowing with all his heart that God IS Good -- Even in the Valley.

Name Tag

I was reading the Bible with my kids this week and noticed something. MANY times when the Bible mentions Jeroboam, it is tagged with a phrase similar to 'who made Israel to sin'. WOW -- what a thing to be remembered by!

In contrast, when we think about Enoch, the phrase that is usually attached to his name is that he 'walked with God'.

I wonder what kind of phrase people would tag to my name . . . .

Something to think about, for sure -- and a goal to strive for as well!

Starting Point

I'm not sure exactly why I started a blog - except that sometimes I like to write things down. I'm pretty simple minded -- nothing too deep here, but I'll journal things anyway.

Today, I've been thinking about choices -- the choices we make in life. If people were totally honest and really thought about things, most of them would agree that the choices we make in life are important. They affect the course of our lives. Some people would even say that some of the choices we make affect others as well. BUT, I really think that the choices we make and the way we live our lives have a greater effect than we really even want to consider.

Think about Jonah. He chose disobedience. Not only did Jonah have to experience the consequence of his choice, but others did as well. Think about those on the ship that Jonah was trying to use as an escape -- they suffered material loss and, I believe, thought that they were facing the loss of their lives as well. Then there are those people in Ninevah -- it was a huge city, and I'm sure that there were those during the three days that Jonah was in the belly of the fish whose life ended - without ever hearing the warning to repent.

Just think - every time we make a wrong choice -- there are far-reaching consequences for those choices.

Total obedience to God's Will, though I know I fall short, is my heart's true desire. I hope it is yours as well.