Just a little leisurely reading
Ecclesiastes 11:5: Parallel Verses (from bible.cc/)
ASV: As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all.
BBE: As you have no knowledge of the way of the wind, or of the growth of the bones in the body of her who is with child, even so you have no knowledge of the works of God who has made all.
DBY: As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child, even so thou knowest not the work of God who maketh all.
KJV: As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
JPS: As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all things.
WBS: As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor the structure of the parts of conception in her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
WEB: As you don’t know what is the way of the wind, nor how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; even so you don’t know the work of God who does all.
YLT: As thou knowest not what ‘is’ the way of the spirit, How — bones in the womb of the full one, So thou knowest not the work of God who maketh the whole.
That’s my big girl!
Ha! This has been a week full of little milestones for the kids! I am so thankful to see how God is answering all my prayers for help with them right now. Lydia has been such a joy this last week at home, and it is truly miraculous to see how differently she is obeying and responding to instruction and affirmation. Today she did a “first” that I have been awaiting for months! I was picking up some toys in the bonus room, and she did it! She took a book we had read together earlier, opened it, and “read” the whole story back to herself 
out loud (and in complete sentences)! I just went crazy laughing, congratulating her, and then I started crying because I was so happy and proud of her. I said, “Mommy is so happy to hear you read the whole story by yourself!” Steven just laughed and laughed, and I’m sure he had no clue what was going on, but it was a great moment. I wanted to grab my camera and get a little movie clip of her reading, but at least I got this picture before she finished (at least the camera was in the room because there was no way I was going to run down the stairs to get it – haha)!
I am in awe of all that God does every day in this world. I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything — anything! I am one amazed mother. Granted, it doesn’t take huge things to amaze me. Perhaps that’s why God makes children little and lets them grow up – so the little things can amaze people like me!
That’s my big boy!
sleepyhead . . .
When I went crazy clapping and smiling, he was so happy, and when Eric came in to congratulate him, he was even happier (he is in love with his daddy)! I still want to make a quilt that matches his room, but for now it has a special one that Nanny made for us when we got married (thus the purple and flowers – haha). Well, I just wanted to share our joy and how God answered our prayers. I told Lydia last night, “God is also answering my other prayer, which was that you would obey mommy and daddy more right now.” Miracles do happen, people!
Thank you for everyone in the last few days who have encouraged me GREATLY through your comments and emails about this phase in my life. I was blown away by the kindness and wisdom; I love how we can practice Galatians 6:2 and help each other in our weaknesses, fulfilling the law of Christ. We’ll see how the naptimes go for Steven in the next few days! I’m so happy for my big boy!
What kind of arms do you have?
This is a post about “arms.”
Disclaimer: Jesus said not to throw your “pearls to swine.” Sometimes I wonder if I’m blatantly disobeying that command by even keeping a blog! However, other times I think there are people, weak in faith like me, who need reassurance that there are others on a narrow road, finding strength, joy, and peace in Christ alone. It is those people who I appreciate reading my blog, and for myself, and those, I will write! (Everyone else, you can go click on some other site where people pretend to have it all together . . . haha)
Eric wrote a song last week to coincide with our pastor’s sermon, and he sang it in each service Sunday. It is based on the epitaph of William Carey, great missionary to India, which reads, “A wretched, poor, and helpless worm on thy kind arms I fall.” –Mission Burial Ground, Serampore
Here are the lyrics:
1. A wretched, poor and helpless worm
On Your kind arms I fall
O, be my strength and righteousness
My Savior and my all
(chorus)
My Jesus, to You alone
I give my life, my all
Forever guide me by Your grace
‘Til on Your kind arms I fall
2. My guide and help, Lord, You have been
Both now and ages past
Into Your kingdom I will come
By grace from first to last
3. May I be strong in this good fight
And run hard in this race
And keep the faith until that day
I see you face to face
How can you go wrong when you depend on the strong arms of Jesus Christ? Indeed, His arms are the only ones that are truly strong. Our arms may bend, may break, atrophy, or age, but the mighty arms of God minister to us through the blood of his Son, Jesus. No one or no thing can break their power.
I think I need to make the words of my husband’s song my fervent prayer for the next several weeks. Here is where my “pearls” come into play. Yesterday I asked God for a miracle. I asked Him if he could make my job a little easier with my two-year-old daughter, just for the next 4-5 weeks. Honestly, if you have never taken care of a growing toddler, 24-7, you may not understand what the tiring task involves. I love my sweet Lydia so much, but sometimes she is not so sweet, and in those times I see myself becoming more and more helpless to love her the way Jesus calls me to love. Yesterday I just broke, and I thought, “I cannot do this any longer! I can’t take care of a teething baby, a whining, rebellious two-year-old, and a full-term baby in my womb, cramping up every inch and muscle within me!” As her voice got louder with toddler protests, mine got louder with commands and pleas for her to stop, and all day was a losing battle, until I completely crashed out of exhaustion when Eric came home from work. No dinner. No, “Hey, how was your day?” Just defeat.
I could continue, but what is the glory in that? I asked God for a miracle. “Please, Lord, could you work a miracle, days with less spankings and more cheerful obedience from the heart of my child?” Some (pardon, but they are “swine”) may laugh at my request. “Ah ha! That is in impossible and silly thing to ask of God!” Well, He may not make her more obedient for these next couple of weeks like I want (and, he may), but I know that for certain there are the strong arms of Jesus on which I can fully lean at all times, “rain” or “shine.” In the end, God is the only one who can change hearts anyway. I want to depend on Christ. Paul said that God’s grace was perfected in weakness, and when he was weak, he was strong. Do I really believe this? Yes, I have to believe it. In reality, I am a poor, wretched, worm. In reality, I have nothing good in myself to offer to anyone. Motherhood surely is a spiritual boot camp, and I thank God that the weakest of us don’t get kicked out, for I would quickly be sent out with my papers. Thank God for the strong arms of Christ, to lift, to heal, to help finish the work in us that God has started. As our pastor said, “HE is able . . . ” And this I believe.
Last night as we talked, I told Eric how much I want to help everyone in our family and take care of myself, but how helpless I feel to do it. He comforted me, in his joyful patient way, like he always does, and I hope he realizes that his song may have ministered to his own wife more than anyone. It makes me cry to think about it. We laughed and talked about other stuff, and we did something we do every now and then, which is look at funny video clips on the computer together (I know, exciting marriage, huh? haha Just kidding). Well, we came across this one that turned out to be more amazing than humorous. Eric and I just stared at each other, and I said, “Okay, I don’t feel so helpless anymore.” I thought, “God must have really wanted me to end my day by seeing this.” I think you’ll know what I mean after you see it. I need to be thankful for the work I have to do, and rejoice that God gives me a way, every day, to do it. Enjoy.
Beta Blogger
I discovered the new Beta version of Blogger today and tried it out a little, but the blessing turned out to be somewhat of a curse for me because I know a bit more html than I’d like to know 
I had made a lot of individual changes months ago to the html on my template to give it a customized look, and for months I’ve been wanting to add a “categories” feature to my post, so I could easily archive them and find them later. Tonight I was looking around and found the blogger “buzz” to mention that they’ve just added this feature! “Great!” I thought. All you have to do is create a google account, sign in, and you can use the beta features…… except that you have to “upgrade your template,” which means you pretty much lose any kind of dorky customization you’ve written in, and you know I would be that dork.
So now I’m in much deeper than I intended to be, and I have to find a way to reconcile the automatic changes beta blogger makes with the old encoding I rewrote on my old blog. Anyone have any tips? I really would like to categorize my posts, and pretty soon everyone will be using the new blogger version anyway…. so I need to figure this out I guess. Anyone help if you know a fast way I can do an “import” of “parts” of my template or something! I visited a forum on the help blog, but I don’t see anything relevant yet.
Double-Flowers
As Bunyan says, “All the flowers in God’s garden are double.” There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. — C.H. Spurgeon, Morning & Evening’
Is there someone (besides me) out there who needs these words today?
In the beautiful, powerful Son of God, Jesus Christ, we have all the mercy we need. And yes, we need it! It is extremely wonderful to know that the mercy of God towards sinners never runs dry.
When I lived in India several years ago, I remember one morning distinctly. We lived in a house with a balcony and a full-sized cobblestone roof, and it was on that roof I would sit many mornings and read my Bible and pray. We lived right in the middle of two masjids (mosques), so the traffic around our home was very busy. I can still smell the cows, the open garbage piles, the wonderful food cooking, and hear the ringing melodies of bells and street vendors. As I watched so many women scurrying through the streets, covered, nameless and faceless, I wept uncontrollably. “God, there are so many. How will so many of them go unmercifully to their graves without knowing the saving love of Jesus, your Son?” I remember feeling so helpless and small. One morning I realized that it is in this helpless and small mentality that God wants us to live, and He is the one who gives mercy to those he will give mercy. When he does, as Spurgeon says, “There is no little in God.”
Maybe you need a reminder today, that nothing a sinner can ever do, no matter how awful, can keep him from God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. God’s forgiveness is a wide-open ocean, full of tender mercy. I hope and pray there is someone out there who needs this today because I know how sweet God’s mercy sounds to my own ears!
How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
John Newton, 1779
How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
in a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
and drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
and calms the troubled breast;
’tis manna to the hungry soul,
and to the weary, rest.
Dear Name, the rock on which I build,
my shield and hiding-place,
my never-failing treasury, filled
with boundless stores of grace!
Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
my Prophet, Priest and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thought;
but when I see thee as thou art,
I’ll praise thee as I ought.
Till then I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath;
and may the music of thy Name
refresh my soul in death!
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