A Few Things

Hannah and I watched Inauguration 2009 today. I was still feeling a little bitter because my guy didn't win and wasn't sure if I was going to watch or not. The Lord has brought me to this verse several times since the election:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1.

The new president was not my choice, but God is in control. I was a bit convicted of my attitude and decided to watch. I was thrilled to hear Rick Warren pray in Jesus' name. As he was praying, I was praying he would stand firm, but wasn't sure if he would succumb to the pressures of political correctness. I decided that I will no longer complain about our new president. That does not mean I won't express my opinion from time to time. Please hold me accountable on this one. Instead, I am going to lift him up in prayer more than I did our now former president. I am thrilled to see our country come to a point where an African American man can hold the office. Amazing. I know prejudice and racism still exist in our country. I've seen and heard it first hand. My kids amaze me. As they talked about Martin Luther King Jr. last week at school, they were appalled to learn that people were denied rights and privileges based on the color of their skin. Obviously, not accepting people because of a difference of skin color would be as unnatural to them as not breathing. I pray that everyone in our country will eventually feel the same way.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have joined a challenge issued by Beth Moore on her blog and have committed to memorize two new scriptures each month. The Lord has greatly blessed this endeavour. It has been so easy to memorize the scriptures I have chosen. Here is the one I chose to begin learning on January 15:

I remember my affliction and my wandering the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed, his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lam. 3-19-24 (NIV).

I actually started working on it a couple days early because I thought it was a bit long. After I memorized my first verse, I decided to not start another one until the next start date (always the first and fifteenth of each month). I've decided to go ahead and add another one before the next post date. I will have to play this plan by ear. If I am close to a start date, then I will just wait because I want to start one each time the "group" does. So I started a new one this morning:

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1: 19-22 (NIV)

We had a great three day weekend. Our friends Charlie, Pam and Alex came for a visit. The grown ups enjoyed visiting and the kids played hard and had lots of fun. We found a new mall which is always nice. It was a bit of a hike, but we enjoyed exploring. As usual, I hated for the kids to go back to school after an extended break.

I am quickly approaching my 100th blog post. This is a big deal in bloggyland. I've been trying to come up with a special post for that occasion. I've seen other bloggers do a list of "100 Things About Me" and I thought that would be fun. However, I have a list of about twenty things and was starting to bore myself. If you have a good idea for my 100th post, please leave your idea in a comment. I'm not promising to use it, so please don't be offended if I don't take your advice.

This afternoon while the kids were having an after school snack, I glanced out the kitchen window to see a robin sitting in a tree. Then I saw another and another and another.

Does this mean we are getting closer to Spring? A girl can dream...