Romans 9:6-13

Today I memorized:

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad - in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls - she was told, "The older will serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Romans 9:1-5

It seemed like it would never happen, but here we are in chapter 9! Chapter 8 took longer than any other chapter by a long shot. Its 39 verses took about 37 days when my goal is 18 verses per week. Prayerfully, I will get back on track and stay there. I would appreciate your prayers as I press on!

Today's verses:

I am speaking the truth in Christ - I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit - that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Children

Children are a delight. They are difficult at times, okay they are difficult a lot!  But, they are a delight. I am grateful for the opportunity to care for these two and to teach them the love of God. We will talk of him all the day long and will tell of the wondrous things he has done. Our prayer is that our children will grow to be children of God who love him deeply and worship him in spirit and in truth. 

Here are some more photos from our windy day at Sugarloaf.

Romans 8:31-39

Praise God! Today, I finished chapter 8! By his help this morning, I was able to memorize 9 verses:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As is it written, "For your sake we were being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:26-30

By God's help in my weakness:

Likewise the Spirit helps up in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who have been called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 

Romans 8:22-25

Today is one of those days where I feel like I could fall asleep standing up! By God's grace I managed to memorize:

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

For a short time only...

I put Chloe's hair in pigtails the other day before she went to see Nana and Papa. I asked her several times to leave them in so that Nana could see them (Papa picked her up) when she got to their house.  I hoped they would make it.

They didn't.  So, Christi posted this video so Nana could see the pigtails! The link will be open publicly for a short time so if you check it a month from now, it will likely no longer work.

This maybe one the family appreciates more than anyone else. We can watch the kids do nothing for 3 minutes and still think it is adorable!

Romans 8:18-21

Praise God! I was able to memorize 4 verses today!  Thank you, Lord, for drawing me up and out of bed this morning, for giving me faith to just plow ahead.  I ask for help for tomorrow to do the same. 

Lauren Rohwer, thank you for your email yesterday. Lauren has memorized Ps. 119:1-24. Last Thursday she had 1-8. In 5 days she memorized 16 verses!  Way to go, Lauren! Your email spurred me on.

Today's work:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Smiling Faces

Happy Easter everybody! Praise God for sending Jesus to die and be raised again! What a glorious day. It makes me long all the more for the day we will see our Savior face to face! What a day of rejoicing that will be!!

Thanks to our dear friend, Christi Baker, we have some great pictures of the kids to share!  I will include just a couple now, but look for more soon.

check out those teeth!

this is what we get when we ask her to smile 

love the dimple in her cheek!

he loves this hat

love this one!  she is "wearing" Papa's glasses

Thank you so much Christi! We loved spending the time with you and miss you already. I hope you had a wonderful birthday! We were thinking of you and wishing we could be there. The pictures are awesome and we are grateful for your talent.  We love you very much and are eager to see you again.

Against the Wall

It finally happened. I have hit the wall. I have been trucking along memorizing Romans since January 12th with no breaks, no missed weeks.  Now things have slowed to a crawl. It is difficult again. I am tired and feel the weakness of my mind. I am trying to review but finding even that difficult these days.

I wrote the previous paragraph on April 1st. I have been intending to finish it ever since and have not found the time until now. 1:40AM on April 10th (Happy Birthday Christi!). The things I wrote before are still true a full 10 days later. I am still against that wall. I have stopped memorizing. I even stopped reviewing for about a week. I felt distracted and busy. I was choosing the lesser things over the important things. I was choosing the urgent over the eternal. I was not happy in this state, but I felt helpless to get out of it. I was still reciting Ephesians every couple of days, but I was not pressing in.  

In his kindness, God allowed Kevin and me to attend the Pastor's Conference this week (held at our church, Covenant Life). I was not allowed much time to wonder what happened and why Scripture memory was suddenly so difficult. I was spending much time with other believers, worshipping God and dwelling on HIM. We heard much incredible teaching on his Word. We sang songs of worship to our God and rejoiced in him. I came away with a deep love for God. I came away with an even greater passion for his Word. I am grateful for the difficulty for it has served to remind me that hiding Scripture in my heart is worth working for - worth fighting for. 

It is not easy. 

It is valuable. 

Mark Mitchell said this at dinner on Monday evening, What better way is there to spend our time on this earth than in memorizing God's Word?

I was encouraged and spurred on. I will press forward by the grace of God who alone is able to give ability and desire. 

Very early this morning...

Chloe woke up crying. It was 1 am to be exact. I went running, still in dream-state, to her room, her bed. She was crying out, "My sleeve! I can't find my sleeve!" 

She was in a state of panic. I assured her that her sleeve was indeed still attached. She cried. I tugged on her sleeve several times to prove its existence. Slowly, the reality sunk in and she calmed. She laid in my arms catching her breath while I searched her bed for Monk-Monk. Once he was in the right place she was able to relax and drift back to dreamland.

I eagerly followed her there - after I recited the events of the previous moments in a desperate attempt to remember!