My Bible is full of all kinds of things--notes from friends, from Toben, from the girls. Bookmarks and pictures made my own girls and the girls in my third grade Sunday school class. Bits of paper with notes and ideas for books. Folded sheets of paper with notes from conferences and Bible studies. And a Bic crystal pen or two.
Stuff often falls out.
And the other morning, what started to slide out from its spot was a packet of notes from the review I did for my Bible study group when we studied Beth Moore's The Patriarchs years ago. Lesson summaries, timelines, maps, family trees.
For whatever reason, I read through the notes before putting them back in place like I usually do. (Especially since this particular packet of notes falls out a lot.) Here's just some of what stood out to me:
God's purpose in blessing one is to bless many
God urges his children to believe he is believable
FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real--we must fear God more than we fear our fear; all people God uses battle fear
The trouble with "helping" God
God will keep his promises in spite of us
Seeing "hold ups" as the "how" of God's blessing
Impossible possibilities are available for those who believe
God has set eternity in our hearts; we were not made for goodbyes and endings
When God is up to something hard, he's up to something big
We must pursue becoming what we hope our descendants will be
The importance of blessing and the power of words
Ask God to increase our awareness of his presence in our everyday lives
Hang on till the blessing comes
How often the enemy tries to distract us by tempting us to fight with the very people we were meant to fight for
Godly actions affect family lines far more dramatically than ungodly actions.
And this one just jumped off the page at me as we return to Denver and face a big unknown as Toben looks for a job:
F.B. Meyer: "Thou hast brought me here; and Thou must now bear the whole weight of providing for me and mine: here I will stay till I clearly know what Thou wilt have me to do."
I want so much to handle this transition, this move, these changes well. I want my eyes fixed on God and his unfolding plan. I don't want to freak out, I don't want to scramble to come up with contingency plans for every possible scenario. I want to be calm, to be peaceful. I want to be wise, I want to depend on him, I want to put my hope in him, I want to obey.
I'm praying for you Joanne...
Adrienne
Posted by: fuzzytop | June 16, 2010 at 06:22 AM
Wow!!! What a treasure you found. Thanks for sharing. Just one that I liked this morning...
"God will keep his promises in spite of us"
Have a beautiful day!
Posted by: Fran | June 16, 2010 at 06:24 AM
I was reading about the temple build the other day, and was wondering why such detail. Why do I need to know the cubits of this and that. I felt in my Spirit God was showing me that not only is He about the big plan, He is very much about the details. Details He already has sorted out. Details that He has not left up to us alone. He has so got this for you guys;)
Posted by: rhonda | June 16, 2010 at 07:06 AM
Several of the quotes spoke to where I'm at today.
Thanks for taking the time to type them out.
Posted by: Sharon | June 16, 2010 at 11:11 AM
I've been reading your blog for a while now and enjoy your writing so much. Thanks for sharing your notes today -- great timing for me!
Posted by: Jen | June 16, 2010 at 05:15 PM
I just found your blog today. my daughter was searching how to make paper flowers and found you!
your notes from beth moore's study were JUST want I needed today. I love when God answers us unexpectedly.
thank you for your obedience in posting. you were God's word for me today.
Posted by: marian redwine | June 18, 2010 at 11:32 AM