a Nichols worth....and some other loose change

Praising Him…

From the rising of the sun
To the going down of the same,
The name of the Lord shall be praised.

 

Some days you are ready for the end of the day.

Some, you wish would last just a little longer.

God in His infinite wisdom gave us 24 sweet little hours to each and every day.

Good or bad.

Whether that makes you happy or sad.

Ready or not…here they come.

Again and again.

24 hours.

Some days I wonder where all the time went.

Some, bedtime can't come soon enough.

With all that needs to be crammed into my days this time of year

I often find my head spinning.

I am striving to begin and end each day in study and reflection.

I am journaling again.

It is good for me to put my thoughts into words.

Goodness knows complete, uninterrupted thoughts are hard to come by these days.

Life moves too fast.

But it is by my choice…and I don't want to miss a thing.

24 hours.

How do you choose to spend yours?

Psalm 102:18 - Let this be written for a future generation,

that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:

Jesus send the rain…

I have marveled at how quickly things have gone back to green around here.

Just days ago I was walking on parched, sunburned, brittle grass.

Now it is sodden, green, and yielding.

We actually need to mow.

Miraculous.

It's got me thinking.

How quickly the rain healed the seemingly lifeless foliage.

There are days

weeks

months

where I feel lifeless inside.

I just go through the motions of living.

I don't seem to connect or grow.

I'm not in the Word.

I feel weary and dried up.

Dead on the surface.

Then God sends the rain.

It could be that He is drawing me closer to Him through a difficult state.

Something I cannot walk through on my own.

Storms, lightening, thunder…and the occasional hail when I am particularly hardheaded.

Or it could just be Him raining down on my dry and thirsty soul.

Slow, soft, steady, replenishing rain.

Whether I'm challenged to depend on him through the storm

or I'm nourished by the shower.

Either way I grow.

There is still Life living in me.

Jesus Christ dwells in my soul.

So I am deep down alive in Him.

Always.

De 32:2 - Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

Wordless Wednesday *SCC and Caleb and Will*

                   Will                            Caleb                          SCC

1Kings 20:4 –

"Just as you say, my lord the king. I and all I have are yours."

The most important decision

 

Will and I had a chance to visit this afternoon.

He has been pretty quiet today.

Moving pretty slow.

I figured he was just recovering from yesterday's illness,

but he obviously had other things on his mind.

God has been moving.

Stirring his soul.

Matt and I have been answering questions about salvation.

We have just been waiting on His timing.

Today Will was ready.

He did not approach the throne like our other three.

He went alone.

This afternoon he told me that he had asked Jesus into his heart.

I prompted him for a little more detail.

A mom needs to have the details.

"Well, mom. You know. I just prayed.

I was taking my sheets to the washing machine,

and I just sat down at the top of the stairs and talked to God.

I told Him I knew I was a sinner.

I asked Him if he would come in my heart

and protect me and stuff like that.

That was really all I said. So now,

Jesus lives in my heart."

Just like that.

It really is that simple.

The faith of a child…

And now my child shares in my faith.

Our family is now complete.

Part of me wonders if the washing of the sheets prompted him to think about the washing of his heart.

The other part of me wonders if his 'near death' experience yesterday spurred this on.

You never know…

God does work in mysterious ways.

Luke 19:9 - Jesus said, "Today is salvation day in this home!"

First day of school excitement…or was it?

Monday was our first day of school.

Excitement was in the air.

I had everything planned and printed and stacked.

Well, sorta.

We were ready to go.

Will gave me a predawn awakening.

Through my bleary eyes I was urging him back to bed…

when he interrupted me with that familiar gagging sound.

It wasn't the first day of school butterflies.

He was sick.

He spent the rest of the night and his first day of school in my bed.

I spent the rest of the day playing school nurse instead of teacher

with a Lysol can in my hand

running back and forth with a trashcan and a wet rag.

My oldest was walking around the house

with the neck of her shirt over her nose.

We were a sight to behold.

The girls ended up leaving the house for a while

to work on stuff they could do without me.

Will was pitiful.

He wanted to know how germs got in his body.

I told him.

He wanted to know how he was ever going to get better.

I told him there were white blood cell army guys killing off the bad germs.

He wanted to know why he was shaking.

I told him.

He wanted to know if he was ever going to be strong again.

Pitiful.

Matt and I decided this was probably his first experience being sick like this.

As the afternoon progressed and Will finally fell asleep

I was able to sit with the girls and cover most of our first day of school assignments.

By that night I think they were wishing they had been the one with the virus.

 

Philippians 2:26 - He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you.

Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about,

he's been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine.