A Merry Heart

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:  but a broken spirit drieth the bones."  Proverbs 17:22
In the past few days, Ian has given us many reasons to have a merry heart!  Martha has added to the fun as well!  Who says "Life is boring"?  They should come visit us for a few days - they would discover that life is FAR from boring - at least at my house!
This past Sunday night, we enjoyed watching the Live Stream service of our home church, Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK.  It was Old-Fashion Sunday.  I think the kids enjoyed it.  Martha didn't say much about it, but certain parts of the service left more of an impression on Ian than I realized at the moment.  When he saw the Ambassadors (the men's singing group from the college) singing, he informed me, "I want to go there and sing behind the cross."  The guys were standing behind the pulpit, which is shaped like a cross.  I told him that maybe someday Jesus would allow him to be part of the Ambassadors singing group while he was in college.
The fun really began when we were watching the "Hallelujah Offering."  For those of you who don't know what the "Hallelujah Offering" is, let me explain.  Several men are chosen for taking up the offering.  Before the actual offering begins, the men have a "practice."  For each monetary denomination put into the offering bucket, a different phrase is shouted.  For example:  a 1 Dollar bill - the men shout, "Amen!" and so it continues all the way to a 20 Dollar bill - which merits a "Hallelujah!"  I didn't realize how impressed Ian was by all of this until I sent him to the bathroom.  After being in there a few minutes, I heard him hollering.  I thought he was yelling for "Daddy!" and it sounded rather disrespectful.  When I asked Matt about it, he told me he was shouting, "Amen!"  Then I heard him very clearly shouting as loudly and deeply as he could muster, "Amen!"  I wish you could have heard him - it was hilarious!
Martha asked me recently what I would do if there were spiders in my house.  Apparently she was referring to a "plague of spiders" as I realized later.  I casually answered that I would have Daddy kill them.  I thought the matter was closed.  She asked me again, "But if there were still spiders in your house,  what would you do?"  Again I answered, "I'd have Daddy kill them."  After asking me the same question about 3 or 4 times, she finally said, "But if Daddy couldn't kill them all, what would you do?"  Seeing that I wasn't answering quickly, she solved my problem for me.  "I'd squash them for you, Mommy!" she calmly replied.  Now THAT's the kind of daughter I like having!
Homeschooling brings its joys as well as its struggles, as you Homeschooling Moms well know!  Today Ian apparently had an identity crisis, because instead of calling me "Mommy!" every time he needed me, I heard, "Teacher!  Teacher!"  And Daddy wasn't exempt from the identity change…today he was "Pastor Matt!  Pastor Matt!" instead of "Daddy!"
I am trying my hand at Container Gardening this summer.  This has been so exciting for the kids to watch!  They have loved planting the seeds and watching them sprout.  Their excitement knows no bounds when they notice more plants sprouting!  We are growing tomatoes, beets, spinach, and pumpkins.  I also have cilantro, oregano, basil, and mint that I am growing - with parsley still to plant.  We have a bucket on the back porch with a potato plant in it.  I look forward to more "merry hearts" for my children as they watch the plants grow!  I am excited about the lessons they will learn from this and carry with them throughout their lives!

Silicon cupcake pans make places for starting plants in for your garden!

Spinach 

Pumpkins planted by Martha and Ian

Applying My Heart

For the month of January, I have been reading through I Samuel and Proverbs.  God has been teaching me so much from these two books.  Do you ever find yourself reading your devotions and thinking, "Wow, how come I never saw THAT verse before?"  or "I know that verse, but I never thought of applying THIS way!"  That's exactly where I am in my life right now.  I know many of the events in the book of First Samuel - I've heard them growing up in church!  But the Lord has really been showing me the different attitudes of the different people in I Samuel and how I need to apply or avoid them in my own life.  And to top it all off....I read this verse this morning...."Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge."  Proverbs 22:17

I want you to take a moment (like I did) and let that verse sink in - not just to your mind, but to your heart.  I didn't see it at first when I read that verse this morning, but then the Holy Spirit slammed on the brakes and made me go back for a second look....and this is what I saw..."Apply thine heart unto my knowledge."  Do you see it?  How many times have I heard..."Read the Bible and apply It's truths to your heart."?  Now that is not wrong - we should apply the Bible to our hearts, but do you see what God is telling us here in Proverbs?  He is not telling us to apply His Word to our hearts, but rather apply our HEARTS to His Word!  Now like me, you're probably thinking - "It's the same thing - just said differently."  I thought so too, when the Holy Spirit brought me to a screeching halt at this verse.  "Apply thine heart" - hmmm.....I got to thinking about that (still am as I write these words) and I started wondering why God would say it that particular way.  Then I realized how I apply my heart to the things I want to do or need to do every day - for example:  Dishes, Laundry, Tutoring, Helping my Husband, Reading Time with my Kids (another story for another day), crocheting, cross-stitching, and all the other 101 things I need/want to do every day.  But how often do I just stop and apply my heart to the one thing that matters the most - My Saviour?  Yes, I have my quiet time with the Lord every day, but sometimes I just rush through to go to the next thing on my TO DO list.  Shame on me.  That is not applying my heart in the right way.  Do you also see that it goes on to say, "...unto MY knowledge."?  What a treasure-trove of knowledge and instruction we have inside the two covers of our Bible!  And the Holy Spirit gently reminded me that when I (my job) apply MY heart to HIS knowledge, HIS knowledge will be applied to MY heart.  Does that make sense?  In other words, when I take the time to apply my heart to His knowledge, the things I learn will become a part of my life, but it doesn't just happen....it's like telling my kids to go wash their hands - if they don't APPLY the soap, their hands won't come clean!  Yes, the soap is there and it will do the job, but they have to USE (apply) it first, then the soap is effective.

You know the Holy Spirit is so gentle.  He shows us things and then lets it sink in before showing us the next thing - at least that is how He works with me - I'm rather hard-headed you know, and I need time to get things through my head before He shows me the next thing!  So after I absorbed Proverbs 22:17...here is what else He showed me:  Proverbs 22:18-21 - all the reasons why applying my heart to his knowledge is a help and benefit to my life!  Yeah-hoo! (As my Martha says!)

So why am I telling you all of this?  Because the Lord has been working on things in my life, and I want to be a help and a blessing to others...after all, that is why God teaches us things, right?  To have the ability to help someone coming behind us, or someone walking along side us.  As I was thinking of these things and how to share them with others, the Lord reminded me - "You have a blog, Sarah, and it's not just for your personal amusement - use it wisely to be a blessing to others." (Didn't I tell you I was rather thick-headed?)  We all struggle with different things in our lives, but what a blessing it is to know we can encourage one another to keep on serving our Precious Saviour.  I pray that is what this post will do for you today - not because I have all the answers - I DON'T! - but because we can grow together in the Lord by applying our hearts to HIS knowledge!