The Sound of the Trumpet

I found strength in Nehemiah's story this week. He mourned, fasted, prayed. He approached the king, though afraid, he boldly made his requests and "because the gracious hand of God was upon him, the king granted his requests." Others joined him for the work and they were greatly opposed. They mocked and ridiculed them. His answer: The God of heaven will give us success... and you don't have any share in it, he told them. So many people came together. Progress. So, "they" (the bad guys) became angry and "greatly incensed." In front of everyone they made fun of God's people and His work. Nehemiah prays and the people work with all their might!!! But their strength is giving out, there is so much rubble that they cannot build the wall. Plus their enemies say they will kill them and end their work. Then, their neighbors tell them "ten times over" that they will be attacked no matter which way they turn. Nehemiah tells them not to be afraid. Fight for your brothers, sons, daughters, wives, homes.

The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely seperated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us! Nehemiah 4:19-20

So, they continued in the work. Half of the men with spears from first light of day til dark of night. They worked by day and guarded by night. Their weapons remained on them at all times. Accusations and threats are made. Nehemiah responds that nothing of the sort is happening. They are making it up. The enemies tried to frighten the people thinking, "their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.

But I prayed, Strengthen my hands. (6:9b)

A man was hired to intimidate Nehemiah and have him to run away. He would not go.

So, the wall was completed on the twenty fifth of Elul, in fifty two days. When all the enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

Day by Day

School is busy right now, but I am having fun. I had a birth during the night Wed/Thurs. Chrissy came over for supper on Thursday night. We had a nice supper and time catching up. Then we walked around the Duck Pond. Afterward, I went over to Kendra's to help her to pick out an outfit for a first date. It was fun being excited for her and talking.

I went to the Love and Respect conference at church this weekend. It is supposed to be for married couples though Alex encouraged the body that it was not just for couples. I found myself leaning over to Chrissy the week before at church and telling her I would go if she did. Next thing, we were going. To our surprise our friend, Michael, was there too. So, we all sat together and spent lunch break together. We were all so tired afterward.

Then, yesterday afternoon we went contra dancing! Yes, I know that you are happy about that. You should come when you visit. It is a lot of fun. I think it is more fun than ballroom dancing because it is more of a group activity. You dance with many people during one dance. We had a lot of fun. I did better than I thought I might, though I got really lost on a few of the moves. I need to learn what some of the calls mean before next time! We plan to go in a couple of weeks again for Chrissy's birthday.

Lonely Day in Jacksonville

No, I was not in Jacksonville today:). This is from my journal on 08/26/06. It was an encouragement for me tonight. I hope it encourages you too. (please excuse my grammer, as usual)

There is a place I go to find assurance and strength when I have run out of life. When the joy and purpose have been used up or given up I find myself with Him. At first it seems the place of despair because of my great and thirsty need. Now, I realize it is the best place because it is where I meet Him and He fills me. This is the place where others can draw from when I am unable to minister. Because it is from His understanding and strength and perfect wisdom and very compassionate love that they will receive. I have been to the place of Jesus, the wells that He has dug in the dry places of the Valley. They are for others to drink from and be refreshed and strengthened and encouraged to continue on their journey. Perhaps that well this afternoon is a new well of understanding and validation for the deep hurting who are overlooked and misunderstood... or maybe it was a reminder. Either way I am glad for the wells. How I love the refreshments of His hurting or (being) troubled, especially to go together to draw from Him. Have your way.

He sends the springs into the valleys, which flow among the hills. Psalm 104:10.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimmage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; every one of them appears before God in Zion. Psalm 84:5-7.

For Mr. Obama

These are the last words of David before he died:

When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness of rain that brings the grass from the earth... (2 Samuel 23)

So, Mr. Obama, I pray that you may turn to the Lord to lead you as you lead us. I pray that you may rule in righteousness and in the fear of the Lord. The Lord be with you. The Lord have mercy on us. Whatever happens next... He has the final say.

Oops

Tonight I wanted to eat pizza for supper (easy and tasty). I also needed to go to the grocery store. So, I bought a handful of healthy goodies. I bought a few staples. I bought a hillarious card for Sarah Case. On the outside is a picture of a chocolate bunny. The front of the card say, "no offense, but I am not coming to your house this year." Then you open the card and it says, "i've heard what you do with chocolate... Happy Easter!" And the song "Another one bites the dust" plays in the background. Yes, it was expensive, but I splurged since it was Sarah. Anyway, back to my story... They had some good deals. So, I make it over to the pizza isle and the California Pizza Kitchens were having a good sale- it said 2 for $5. I grabbed a couple then headed to the checkout. Usually I tally up prices as I shop, but this time I did not. I knew generally that I was in price range. But, when I checked out it was much more expensive than I had realized. So, I got to my car and looked over the receipt. The stinkin' pizzas were $6.99 each!!! "Ooohhh," was my first thought. How did I think there was a sale when there was not? It did not matter to me at this point. They may be worth that much (which is why I never buy them) but they were not worth it to me. I felt silly going back in, but I told myself better to feel silly than to spend an extra $10 on food. So, I took them to customer service with my receipt. I told her I had made a mistake and thought these were on sale, but they were not. I did not want to spend this much. I would like to return them. She put the money back on my card. Then I walked back to the pizza isle, thinking I would get a Publix pizza. That was my supper, after all. So, I decided to check out the CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) just to see how in the world I got confused. Sure enough, it said what I had thought. So, I am standing there trying to figure out what wrong with a puzzled look on my face. I was just realizing that $1 off of $6.99 was NOT 2 for $5. Then, the manager showed up with my boxes to return them back to the freezer. She realized that they actually were advertized as 2 for $5. Long story short she gave me the two pizzas for $5. I have a feeling whe changed the sign after I left. As I was paying for it, the whole situation was making sense to me- my deal was a mistake. Maybe I should have turned down the deal since someone was losing money on it. But, I did not realize at the time to decide that. In the end, I decided to just enjoy my deal and trust that everything would work out for Publix. Being an optimist, I am hoping that the incident helped them to correct an error in their business and that my reward for confronting the situation was $10 off on pizza!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So, I am not wearing green yet. But I might go home and wear my new green shirt. It is a nice shirt and may be warm depending on the weather. But, it is my only green item of clothing. Are you wearing your Dublin shirt? I bet you are (over a long sleeved shirt!).

Saturday night I watched the movie, Austrailia. Have you seen it? I liked it. There was a line in the movie when someone told a man that "they say you can't..." refering to something he was doing. It was a pivotal moment in his life, the breakthrough of a sort. His response was, "they say a lot of things."

Yesterday I confused myself and thought my assignment was due today instead of last night, giving myself a much shorter time line than I had meant. It was also not enough time. Of course, my first thought was of panic and worry. Then, I just yielded because what could I do? The Lord gave me a lot of grace to finish my assignments, do my homework, and do a postpartum visit. It was good to think on His terms instead of mine. I don't know my grade still, but have that victory already.

Hope that you have a great day, Anne!

The Little Things in Life

A couple of weeks ago it was a beautiful day and I really needed to get some homework done on a Saturday. So, I decided to go to Quizno's downtown and treat myself to lunch. This way I could use one of their tables in the beautiful sunshine to read. I ordered a sandwich instead of my favorite- the black and bleu salad. It was good. Plus, I was in a sandwich mood. And it was such a gorgeous day. Of course, you can't help but people watch. So, every now and then I would look up to see who was walking by. One particular interaction was precious to me. There was a young man with a young boy. I am not sure how old the man was. He could have been anywhere from early twenties to our age. Anyway. They walked down the street to greet another man who appeared to be our age to mid thirties. This man was wearing a black leather jacket and sunglasses. The best description I can give of him from outside appearance and manner is that I imagine any four or five year old boy would love to spend some time with him. I watched the men shake hands and then the little boy shake the man with the leather jacket. And off they went. I read some more, enjoyed the beautiful day. After a while I looked up from reading to see this threesome walking down the street together. This time the little boy was in the middle just talking away and holding the hand of the man in the leather jacket. It was such a precious site to me. The little boy was thrilled to be walking with this this new friend. He was so happy to be himself in the presence of this grown man. And I have to think this man was touched by the want of this child to hold his hand and to be near him. And I watched them walk by.

Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kindgom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:1-5

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Hi, Sissy! Guess where I spent the night on Sunday? Robbie and Laura's house! (Not their new one, the old one). I did get to see the new one too, which was fun to see the progress. I also got to pray with the intercessors at Good Sam on my way up. It was good to be with them and to see them all. On my way back to Gainesville, I stopped at the Uniform store to make a return (this was the whole reason for my trip). I made my exchange and decided to look around for a bit. As often happens when put one on one with a stranger for a time, she started talking to me about her problems. I listened to her with one ear and to the Lord with the other. I was not sure exactly my purpose to hear these things. I did not receive anything to speak to her. So, I just continued to listen and did my best to empathize with her without egging her on to remain in a bitter state. I prayed for her family while I was in the store and then some more throughout the day. In fact, I will continue to pray for them since I will probably see her again next year when I use the store credit. On the way out, I thanked her for helping me and told her I hope the best for her family. Those encounters are always interesting, don't you think?

We started Newborn class night. I am really excited about it. I am happy to begin to apply these things with the bits that I know and will learn at clinic. Our teacher was at one of the first births that I attended as a student. During this particular birth, I accidentally got nailed in the face and my glasses were knocked off. I had forgotten about that, actually. She let me tell the story as we went around and introduced ourselves. I like to add it to my list of birth stories:). So, I have a little treat for you. I finally signed up for facebook this past weekend after being asked one too many hundred times if I am on it. I needed a picture for my profile (esp since they gave me the man profile:(. So, Kendra took a picture of me after church. But like you, we had some troubles figuring my camera. So, we accidentally made a video. Enjoy!