Suffering & God's Glory

God has been impressing upon me the importance of His glory these last months.  I'll never get to the end of His glory this side of Heaven and I'll never truly understand His glory as long as I'm stuck in this earthly tent.   However,  I've decided to share what I've learned so far, which isn't much, but it has the potential to be huge.
God first arrested my attention on the subject of His glory at the beginning of March of this year.  I had been praying that God would draw me closer to Himself and that I would glorify Him in my suffering.  It was a good prayer, prayed in sincerity, but prayed without any idea of what it really meant.
That week's BSF lesson was on the first chapter of Ephesians.  Three times in chapter one, Paul says, "to the praise of His glory."  One of the questions on the lesson that week was, "How can you be the praise of His glory?"  I simply wrote, "I don't know."  Of course the discussion group leader called on me to answer that question, so I got to share my very profound answer with my whole discussion group.
The next day, Thursday, I went to my 5 Aspects of Woman Bible study.  The theme of that night's lesson was, "Reflect the glory of God."
Then on Friday, we hosted our small group Bible study.  We listened to a lecture given by R. C. Sproul.  The point of the lecture was that we are here to glorify God.  Plain and simple.  If you're a believer, your purpose is to bring glory to God.
Well, sometimes I'm a slow learner.  It wasn't until that third whack over the head that I got it.  I had been entirely too concerned about my own suffering and not much at all concerned about God's glory.  My focus was completely wrong.  God was beginning to answer my prayer.
So I continued to pray over the coming weeks, "Lord, show me how to be the praise of your glory."  Which lead to the question, "Lord, what is your glory?"   God answered my prayer in a completely unexpected way.  Others would call it a "chance encounter," but what it was really the Divine Hand of God reaching out to me personally in answer to my prayer.  I believe God got me to Texas for that very reason.
All of the ladies were sitting in the sanctuary of that little church listening to Barbara Mouser as she expounded on the Scriptures.  The weekend conference was on the Bible theme of clothing.  Then Barbara stopped teaching and asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"
One woman asked, "What are some other Bible themes?"
"Oh! I'm so glad you asked!" Barbara replied.  "The greatest theme of scripture is the glory of God."  At this point, I went into high alert mode, my ears perked and ready to hear what Barbara would say next.
"The great pillars of God's glory are what He is praised for in Revelation.  He is Creator, Savior, Judge, King and All in All."
I nearly fell out of the pew.  God had answered my prayer by way of a random question asked by a total stranger.  Later at lunch, I was able to tell Barbara about God's answer to my prayer.  I told her I didn't think I'd ever truly grasp God's glory, even with her explanation of it.  She said, "God is like a flood.  You study Him [through His Word], you get to know Him and then you're just overtaken by Him."
In essence, God is just too big for us to understand fully.  Yet He desires for us to know Him and to have a relationship with Him.  This knowledge humbles me, as does the fact that He would so specifically and wondrously answer my prayer.
I met a friend for lunch recently and told her of my learning more about God's glory.  "But I'm not sure where to go from here," I said.  She wisely responded, "Why don't you just pray that God would show you how He is Creator, Savior, Judge, etc.  Pray through one attribute until you feel He's shown you what He wants you to see."
I've just recently begun this project.  I'm praying through Creator right now.  I was in a particularly sour mood the other night as I was driving home.  I looked up and saw the most beautiful sunset I've seen in a long time.  "Yes, Lord," I said.  "You are Sovereign Creator.  You are worthy of praise."

(As an added note--I heard something I'd never heard before last Sunday.  We had a guest pastor at our church and he talked about how times of suffering in our lives are to be stewarded, just the way we steward the money God gives us.  We can either choose to steward our suffering well and bring God glory, as in the case of the servant with the ten talents, or choose to call God a cruel master, thereby not bringing God the glory due Him.)  

Ready for Swimming Lessons

Bedtime Conversations

"Can we move to Texas someday?"
"Sure, someday."
"When we move to the middle of Texas I don't think there will be any Indians.  Indians don't live in the middle of Texas."
"No, they probably don't."
"Do you think Jedediah Smith will have a scalp in Heaven?"
"Probably, the Bible says we'll get new bodies someday.  So he'll probably have a scalp."
 ---I bought magnifying glasses for the kids and gave them to them today so that they could go exploring for bugs and other creepy crawlies outside.
--When we said bedtime prayers tonight, we thanked God for a friend who died and is now with Jesus in Heaven.  Then this conversation occurred:
"Where dis (this) nagfiyin' (magnifying) gwass (glass) come from, Mommy?"
"From the Dollar Store."
 "Dis nagnifyin' gwass came from Great Great Gamma.  She bought it at da Dollar Store before she died and went to Heaven."

Piano Recital

Lydia, Paul and Grace had a piano recital a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, I missed Lydia's performance as I had a bridal shower to attend at our church.  However, Matt, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Dianne reported that she played well.  The main reason that Lydia is taking piano lessons is that she wants to be like her big brother and sister.
I did get to see Paul perform.    As I've mentioned before, to Paul, piano lessons are merely a means to an end.  And he'd really like to see the end of those means very, very soon.  He played Home on the Range and a couple of other tunes and he played them well.  Joel sang the words to Home on the Range as his brother played.  It was cute.
Grace is very disciplined.  She practices piano a minimum of an hour a day.  When she suffers through a nerve-racking performance, she doesn't let it slow her down.  She practices more, gets right back into the saddle and asks for permission to play again (this has happened both at church and BSF).  In addition to the piece in the video, called Menuet in G by Paderewski, Grace played Mozart's Rondo from his Sonata in C Major at the recital. And despite her nerves, she also sang a duet with her piano/voice teacher and a solo.  She did very well.  I told her Daddy that night, "The girl's got grit."  She certainly didn't get it from me.  I was a piano recital flunkie.  (Unfortunately, the video doesn't do her performance justice.  Grace filled the entire sanctuary of the church with this piece.)

On the Menu Tonight

Bibimbap. When he was a young man, Matt's Korean mother, Misa, spoiled him with her good cooking. Thus, his affinity for Korean food. He loves bulgolgi and bibimbap. He's not, however, a fan of kimchi. Pickled anything doesn't make Matt's top 100 list, but pickled cabbage fails to make the list altogether.Matt figured the spread we had tonight would have cost our family close to $100 in a restaurant. We made it for way less than that. Plus we used grass fed beef, farm fresh asparagus, organic carrots and our own free range chicken eggs. (Unfortunately, we didn't use bean sprouts as our local Walmart didn't have any. We've made this recipe before with the bean sprouts and they are good.)

I've been experimenting with starting dinner early so that I can accommodate small sous chefs in the kitchen. So far, I haven't lost my sanity and the kids really enjoy contributing to the making of a meal. They're also more willing to try strange (to them) foods if they've had a hand in preparing them. Case in point: tonight the kids all sampled and enjoyed the bibimbap. If I keep this up, I may work my way out of a job. That would be quite the payoff.

Another Puppy Crash & Burn

Of Nightmares and Weddings

Saturday was the long awaited wedding day of our two friends, Emily and Jason. I volunteered to make the baked beans for the reception. Beans for 300? No problem. Let me tell you, a couple of days before the wedding, I actually had a nightmare about those beans. I woke up in a cold sweat because I hadn't been able to get the beans ready in time for the big event.
That nightmare almost became a reality on Saturday. Our family was actually clean, dressed in wedding clothes and in the van by our goal departure time, so we started out well. We had a forty five minute drive to the farm where the wedding was to be held. On the way, we stopped to use the bathroom at a little restaurant. I knew we'd be shaving it really close if we stopped, but I really didn't want to have to use the port-a-potties at the wedding location. I called into the back of the van before I got out, "Anyone have to go potty? Now's the time." One of my littles, who shall remain nameless, but who wears a mustache, took me up on my offer. He went into one of the stalls of the ladies bathroom. I waited. And waited. And waited. Oh yes, it's only when you NEED to be at a wedding location NOW so that you can cook the beans for 300 people that your son decides that he should take the time to get his business done.
We finally got back on the road again. When we arrived at the farm, my family unloaded all the stuff while I got started on the beans. I had four 18 quart electric roasters, but was told I could only use one. "Well, that's going to be a problem," I thought. Thankfully the son of the farm owner got some more extension cords hooked up for me. With Matt's help, I successfully loaded the four roasters and got them cooking. Yay for unflappable husbands!Despite the chilly, windy weather, the wedding was beautiful. Emily and Jason love the Lord Jesus very much and their wedding was completely centered around Him. What an incredible testimony. After the ceremony, the reception got underway. Grace and Elizabeth helped serve the wedding feast. The little boys swung on the tire swings (who cares about wedding food when there's tire swings?) and Matt and I finally got settled down with Isaac and our plates to relax a bit. The thing that really struck me about the wedding was how happy all the guests were. Everywhere I looked, people were smiling and laughing. I think people were just tickled to be a part of a celebration marking the beginning of a very special young couple's life together. I know our family was. And for my part, I was glad the Great Bean Project of 2012 was complete.

My Big Brother Dressed Me

Southern Dinner

This past Christmas, I gave Matt a book of coupons for dinners I planned to make him throughout the course of this year. Actually, I gave it to him the year before last, but then had to give it to him again after producing only one of the meals the book included (red beans & rice).

I've now also made black beans & rice, as well as the aforementioned red beans & rice several more times. Last Saturday night I made jambalaya. (Matt has a particular fondness for Southern food as he has taken many business trips to the South). I gave half of the jambalaya to my friend Cathy. She's in the midst of preparing for her daughter's wedding, so cooking dinner on Saturday just wasn't happening. So being how there were no jambalaya leftovers at our house, I decided to make it again tonight. Of course Matt was pleased. So was Isaac. He ate seconds.Elizabeth made cornbread (another of Matt's favorites) and I sauteed some fresh swiss chard and spinach with bacon, onion and garlic for a side dish. My brother-in-law's house is the drop off point for one of the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs. When someone forgets to pick up their box of fresh produce for the week, he gets to keep it (in addition to his own family's box). So we've worked up a deal--his extra box for a couple dozen of our fresh chicken eggs. Lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, asparagus and spring onions were in this week's box. We're upping our veggie intake and they're enjoying delicious scrambled eggs. Feels kinda old fashioned like, this bartering thing. I kinda like it.