Short people matter!

A while back, I did a blog post titled "Concentrated Awesome" about Nate and his fight to grow. My reading this week in the Old Testament was along these same lines:

"Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; ...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

Through our struggles with Nate, I have come to learn in abundance that we cannot assume that we understand what God sees in people. Our abilities go beyond what our height, weight, or physical appearance provide us with. As we follow the council of this scripture, and try to see people for what is in their heart versus what we can see with our eyes, we give the Lord permission to help us see individuals as He would see them. In my experience, this has brought more love than I could imagine. 

In the New Testament, in Luke 19, we hear a story of Zachaeus. He is of "little stature" and has a problem seeing the Savior as He passed through Jericho. So, he climbs a tree to be able to see the Savior. The Savior sees Zachaeus, calls him by name, tells him to come down, and invites Himself into Zachaeus' home. We read in verse 3 that he didn't know who the Savior was. Why then, is the first word from the Saviors mouth Zachaeus' name? This sent the message to Zachaeus that the Lord knew him. 

He sees us. He sees more than our current hairstyle, our stylish clothes, or our made up face. You can't disguise who you are from the Savior. Who you are will shine through. I'll leave you with this question: Are you pleased with who or what the Savior will see?

Wandering in the wilderness

We have seen a pattern when it comes to the Israelites. They fall away from the church and begin to worship false gods, they are taken into captivity, they are humbled and turn to God asking to be delivered, God provides someone who has been prepared to deliver the Israelites, they are typically prosperous for a time, then they fall back into worshiping false gods and forgetting the Lord.

This happens in Judges 3. The Israelites pray to be delivered and the Lord sends Ehud to rescue them. Ehud prepares by making a sword and then followed he directions from the Lord to free the Israelites by killing Eglon. (Eglon was a very fat man!) The Lord prepared a way for him to accomplish that which he had been assigned. We see a few chapters later where the children of Israel forget again and fall back into the cycle. 

What can we do to keep ourselves from this cycle? Is it possible to break free from this cycle? 

It is my opinion that because we are a natural man, we will remain in this cycle until we reach our perfected state. I think the important part of this lesson for me is to recognize when I am in those areas of the cycle that are not good and make changes to move myself along. I think it is important for me to feel those feelings, however, it is dangerous for me to stay there for too long. I choose to surround myself with people that can see me slipping into those dark places and help me find my way out of them. I hope I don't wander in the 'wilderness' like the children of Israel for 40 years!

Giants & Grasshoppers

Moses selects twelve spies, one from each tribe. They are sent on a mission to the Promised Land to learn the challenges they would face and the situation they would walk into. They were also asked to evaluate what type of farming options were available. This mission took them 40 days. (Numbers 13-14)

When they returned, they reported to Moses, Aaron, and the children of Israel. 10 of the spies told one story and the other two had a different idea. All 12 reported walls around the city, milk and honey in abundance, and large fruit. However, there was a difference in their perception of the people that were currently dwelling there. The 2 said that they had what they needed to “overcome” the people. However, the 10 reported that they were great in stature. They called the people giants, and then compared themselves to grasshoppers. After a night of crying and murmuring, the 10 convince the people to not confront the people in the Promised Land.

Then comes my favorite part of this story. The Lord goes to Moses and asks how long until the children of Israel believe me. Not believe IN me, but believe me. I am sure they believed in God. They had seen the miracles before they were free, including the parting of the Red Sea. Those miracles are hard to deny. However, the Lord asks, how long until they believe me. I wonder if he asks us the same question. We fret with the challenges we are asked to face. Does He ask himself how long until we believe Him. How often do we get in our own way and render ourselves spiritually paralyzed in our situations?

Are we believers? I found an amazing song by Calee Reed that portrays my thoughts on this subject. 

Believer

Help me to be the believer that I want to be

Want the things you want for me

When I’m lost along the way

Help me find patience in the moments

When it’s hard to see

Your hand guiding me

Help me get out of my own way

O Lord, help me believe

Help me to be the believer that I want to be 

Feel the things you feel for me

When the feeling doesn’t stay

Help me to see the things I don’t want to see

As your hand showing me

Help me Lord, I pray 

Oh Lord

Help me believe 

Give place to the voice that always questions 

Give voice to the pain, the fear, the doubt

Give way to the moments I am faithless 

I can’t let you I 

If I shut them out

Help me to be the believer that I want to be 

Give the things You’ve given me

The words You’d have me say

Help me to walk this path

That You’ve set for me

Help me walk with steady feet 

Help me get out of my own way 

Oh Lord

Help me believe

Help me to be the believer that I want to be

Want the things you want for me

When I’m lost along the way

Help me find patience in the moments

When it’s hard to see

Your hand guiding me

Help me get out of my own way

Oh Lord

Oh Lord 

Help me believe

What do you need to do to become the Believer that would follow the two? An interesting fact - the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness until the 10 spies that were wrong died. They never had the chance to enter the Promised Land. Can we believe?

Social media fast & the golden calf

For my Old Testament class this week, we read in Exodus 20 - 40 & Leviticus 1-10. {Yep - all of it! I am doing pretty good at reading all the required scripture!} Here are my thoughts:

In Exodus 32, Moses comes down from the mountain after receiving the 10 commandments and finds what you see in the picture above. We see how quick the people of Israel forgot God. Moses takes the golden calf and burns and has the children of Israel drink the golden calf. How do you think that tasted? I think his desire was for the people to see that when they worship false gods, it is unpleasant but when they turn to the Lord, it is a good experience. (I sure wish we could sometimes take our computers and burn them! There is so much filth on the Internet these days!)

Tonight, President Nelson held a fireside for the youth (12 - 18 years old) of the church and spoke to them about their mission. (Can we talk about how that man does NOT look 93?!?) He gave the youth a 5 step challenge. 1. A 7 day social media fast. 2. Weekly sacrifice of time to the Lord. 3. Keep on the covenant path. 4. Pray daily for all to receive the blessings of the gospel. 5. Stand out. Be different. Be a light. So, our family decided to all join in on the social media fast. We have deleted all social media apps from our phones. Maggie doesn't have social media, so she decided to do a 7 day fast from her phone and YouTube. (This is HUGE!!) I wish the older 2 were going to be home this week. (They'll be in San Diego with our 12-14 boy youth group.) I look forward to seeing how this will change the dynamics in our home! 

How do these things mesh? Well, what does the golden calf symbolize? I would say it's a distraction from what is most important. Throughout our lives our golden calf will change shape, color, and size. However, it is what is keeping us from praying more, serving more, spending more time in the scriptures, spending more time with our families, and doing our callings. I think that social media is a HUGE golden calf for some and not so big, but still there, for others. One of my boys is obsessed with watching all the sports clips on Instagram (can you guess who it is?) while another one only has Snap Chat for school projects. (Please don't lecture me about snapchat....I know!) However, there is a golden calf or two in all of our lives, not matter what size, shape, or color it is right now.

The question is this: what are you willing to do to burn that golden calf and cleanse yourself of that influence in your life? With the golden calf gone, we can start to focus more on fulfilling our mission instead of wasting our time on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook (or books, or sports, or exercise...) Care to join us on our 7 day media fast? I am choosing to: delight in the words of the prophet, delight in quiet time, delight in my scriptures, delight in my family....

I get knocked down....but I get up again - you are never gonna keep me down!

Old Testament time again. This week we studied Genesis 25-50. I had so much fun reading these chapters. So many great stories and lessons. Here is one that stuck with me throughout the week!

Joseph of Egypt - some would say he deserved a small portion of what he got. You can't be the youngest and taunt the older siblings by telling them they are going to bow down to you and you are going to rule over them. Probably not Joseph's best idea. However, he didn't deserve what his brothers did. One brother, Judah, convinced the others to not kill him. (Have you read Judah's story? I almost died laughing....check out Genesis 38!) He leaves for a bit and comes back to learn that his brothers sold Joseph into slavery.

Joseph is sold to Potiphar. You can see his work ethic and character shine bright during his time as a servant to Potiphar. He rises through the ranks and is given charge of Potiphar's household. Then, Potiphar's wife accuses Joseph of rape and he is thrown in prison. Again, Joseph begins to work and do what his character would have him do. This causes him to rise in the ranks at the prison until the keeper of the prison puts Joseph in charge. It's like everything Joseph tries to do, he succeeds.

He interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh's butler and baker. One of them dies, and one of them gets out of prison. He forgets about Joseph for 2 years until the Pharaoh has strange dreams and the butler remembers Joseph and tells Potiphar about him. In one day, Joseph goes from head prisoner to Vice Pharaoh in one day. (What do you think that looked like?)

The bottom line of Joseph is this: whatever he is, he is the best that he can be at it. Can you say the same thing? I know I have some work to do. I tend to start to feel sorry for myself. I wonder if Joseph did this. What are your thoughts?

Picture taken from the play Joseph and the Techni-Color Dream Coat that my brother-in-law was in. The camel was tired and done!

Old Testament Fun

This semester I am taking a class that covers the first 450ish pages of the Old Testament. Part of my weekly assignments is to post here an idea/thought from that weeks lesson. So, for the next 14ish weeks, I will be posting each Sunday insights and cool things from the Old Testament. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know!! I truly am learning to DELIGHT in the scriptures.

This week our block of Scripture was Genesis 4 - 11. Much of this weeks reading included the story of Noah. He is a descendant from Enoch and is one of the few who chose to follow God. Noah spent his time preaching about Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism. He warned the people of the coming destruction. Many try to take his life because of this. His message was not received and the world is filled with corruption and violence. 

Noah and his family enter the ark and the rain starts. It rains for 40 days. Everyone living on the earth is destroyed. Then, the earth is flooded for 150 days. Can we talk about this for a minute? Noah and his family were in the boat for a minimum of 190 days. I am one that gets extremely sea sick within seconds of getting on a boat. Just thinking of being on a boat for that many days causes my anxiety level to rise. Many will say that the Lord blessed them, and I am sure that is true. One thing that I have learned on a deeper level recently is that there are some trials we just have to endure. Some of our trials cannot be taken from us. 

When we moved from Anchorage to San Diego, we decided to take the ferry from Haines, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington. It was a 2 day drive to Haines (I get car sick). We boarded our boat, The Colombia, on Monday night and got off the boat in Bellingham Friday morning. I got off the boat every possible chance, including when we stopped in Juno during the middle of the night. To say I was medicated the entire time is an understatement. I did occasionally come out of our cabin room to spend some time with the kids, but I was miserable. The kids had a great time. Playing with other friends (both that came with us and that they met on the boat), watching movies in the movie theater, playing in the game room, doing puzzles, and looking at the beauty from the deck of the boat. What did I do? Sleep! Now maybe you can understand the anxiety that I feel when I think about 190 days on a boat!! 

I wish we knew more of what happened on the boat. I guess that isn't important information for us to know, but I think it would be interesting to hear if one of them was sick the whole time, if they fought over silly things, and if they ever questioned why it was taking so long. I find myself doing that in the middle of my trials. I question the Lord and ask how long I have to keep enduring this specific trial. 

The takeaway from these chapters for me is found in 2 ideas. 1 - we need to heed the words of the Lord's prophet. He speaks what we need to know. I'm sure the people in Noah's time were wishing they would have listened when the rain started. 2 - the Lord keeps his part of the covenants we make with him. We are not perfect in our part, but he is perfect in his. He will always come through. It is His plan and His timing, and even when it is hard, we need to trust in that. He wont forget or choose not to follow through. His timing is just different than ours. One day we will be able to see the entire picture, but for now, we can only see our little puzzle piece.