Looking out our back door to the left...
Looking out the door to the middle of the backyard, we have a one car garage and carport that is not connected to the house.
This is other half of the backyard. When we bought this house, this area was almost entirely consumed by an above-ground swimming pool and surrounding deck. We decided after a few months that the pool was a LOT of work and, I was a little nervous having a pool with Noelle so small. Travis spend most of this spring planting grass and this was the result of his hard work! Looks like the perfect place for an eventual swingset. :-)
This is the gist of what is under my bed - two large rubbermaid containers and pillows. One has wrapping paper and gift bags in it, I'm not sure what is in the other one...
Beth also asked for a photo of my vehicle, but it's with Travis today and I can't find a picture of my car anywhere. (I know I have a photo of it when I bought it somewhere, but can't find it). I'll try and remember to take one and post it later.
Getting excited about my trip to Houston with Travis - have been emailing with my college buddies and we are formulating plans to hang out. Claudia, my friend told me it was 100 degrees there this week . . . I don't think I'm going to have to worry about being cold. :-)
This morning I was working on my study in 1 Samuel while Noelle napped. We're in 1 Sam 13 - Samuel has just made Saul king of Israel and instructed him (Saul) to wait for his (Samuel's) arrival before offering sacrifices to the Lord.
"And you [Saul] shall go down before me [Samuel] to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do." 1 Samuel 10:8 [parentheticals my addition]
Saul goes ahead like instructed and begins gathering the men of Israel together to prepare for battle against the Philistines. The people see the Philistines assembling to fight with Israel and they begin deserting and hiding.
"Now he [Saul] waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, 'Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.' And he offered the burnt offering." 1 Samuel 13:8-9
The question that the study asked was to point out exactly what Saul did wrong here only by using the text. Samuel tells us in 1 Samuel 13:13a, " . . . you have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD." As a direct result Samuel says (v.13b-14), " . . . for the LORD ould have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as a ruler over His people, beause you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." I was struck in this passage about how serious the Lord was in dealing with Saul's sin. There was no 2nd chance. Saul was in a leadership position over the nation of Israel. God held him to a higher standard of obedience and Saul did not obey. Because of this, Saul (and his descendants) were denied the privilege of ruling over the nation of Israel.
The reason this so struck me is that I've recently stepped back into a position of leadership with our church's worship/music team. This position is a blessing from the Lord - one that He has entrusted to my stewardship. I need to be cultivating my relationship with Him, and being obedient to his commands. But, if I instead choose to slack off in this area, then it seems reasonable and Biblical to me that He will take this responsibility away. Lord, thank You for how Your scripture teaches me when I choose to spend time with You. Thank you for this word from You and help me to change how I view this responsibility that You have blessed me with.
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