Backpacking Through Joshua - wk 2

Well. Here we are in week 2 of our hike through the Old Testament book of Joshua. Can I be real here for a second? Is anyone else already losing steam? I hate this unruly pattern I have of being so, so excited about a Bible study and then, gradually finding more and more things to occupy my time.

So ~ isn't it interesting that this week's focus is about how God is worthy. Worthy of what? Well, specifically in the lesson this week, worthy of my efforts to be a good witness to who He is. And you know what else He is worthy of? He is worthy of my undivided attention. Do you think that God was distracted by facebook when He was creating me? Of course not. Did He take the time every.single.day to feed the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness before we picked up their story in Joshua? Yes He did. Did He, knowing full well every sin I would ever do against Him, create a way from the beginning of time for me to be forgiven of those sins that I might be in full relationship with Him. In awe, I say to you, yes He did.

And where does 'your witness' come from? Is it in your countenance (your facial expressions)?. Is it in your tone of voice? Is it in your willingness/unwillingness to forgive others? Is it in your reactions to circumstances? Is it in the way you treat people? Is it in the time/effort you devote to getting to know your God better?

Yes.

Really poking at my heart tonight. What does it say about my God to the outside world that I am caught up on all my friend's statuses on facebook and I have the reigning score on Zumablitz AND Bejeweled Blitz, but I cannot even list all of the books of the Bible? Not because I have tried and lack the memory skills mind you, but because I have barely tried and then moved on to other things. Don't get me wrong, this is, by no means, a post about the evils of facebook, blogging, tv or whatever else. Nor is this me shaking my finger at you because, you also cannot list the 66 books of the Bible because you have the reigning score at a game I have not played against you :). (Or maybe you can) But I do have to ask the very real question of what of ME is my God worthy of? Answer = everything. Next question = Would people, through knowing me, believe that my God is worthy, like Rahab did, of turning from everything they have grown up doing and believing and rest their very survival in Him? I can't answer that question. But I can say this...I wish that is true.

Wishing is not enough.

Is our witness important? Fo shizzle. Are we always going to get it right? Of course not ~ there is no one perfect. Not one.
But being a sinner is not an excuse. We still have to try.

Geez. Did I even address this week's questions?

Worship =
In addition to You Are My God, which I posted at the beginning of the week, take some time to ponder this song...

You Are My God

Got the material for Backpacking Through Joshua week 2 and the focus for this week is "God is worthy"

Get your praise on backpackers! (And any one else who wants to praise too!)

Blessings on your day,

Backpacking Through Joshua (C)

(P.S. ~ I started writing this post last week.) Today is an exciting day. A good friend of mine heard the heartbeat of her little bundle today. She is an amazing woman and you would be blessed to be friends with her. Some of you are. :) You can get to know her here, where she is Standing On Hope.

Also, today I embark on a Backpacking adventure with a huge group of women. So huge, in fact, that we had to be divided into smaller groups. I am in the Red Group. Go Big Red!!




Some of these women I have never met, which is okay because our leader, (I would say fearless, but I won't because she is not, but she IS faithful) is my BFF, and more importantly our mighty and patient and faithful God is at the helm.


You might not know this about me, but I like tools. And sometimes, accessories. Here are my supplies for Joshua...



There are four components to Backpacking Through Joshua...

C = Commentary (This is where the author speaks a bit about the material we will cover that week)
A = Asking God (This is where we ask God ~ in our quiet/prayer time ~ specific questions about where we are and how we can improve)
M = More To read (Further study)
P = Putting It Out There (Answering group questions with the group)



M = More To Read

I decided to do a word study on Faithful, as it pertains to the faithfulness God has shown, not the faithfulness I/people have shown.
I didn't get very far in the breakdown of the word from the Hebrew, etc etc but as I was researching this, I heard a sermon referring to Joshua 1:8 - specifically where God talks about meditating on the Word, ~let it never leave your lips~ and it struck me that right here, in the very first chapter of our study, God is repeating a command that so many of us in the study have admitted to failing at; being in the Word, meditating, studying, sharing. To me that shouted of God's faithfulness when He says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and personal knowledge of me (and all of His children). It's as though He said, "Yes, you do struggle with this, and yes I know it. And right here, in the study that I have brought you to, we will address it." God even felt it necessary to remind Joshua to keep His Word in his mouth and mutter it (meditate) day and night. Joshua had already proven himself faithful to God's commands and God STILL reminded even him. (That makes me feel like less of a dolt and, somehow, more motivated to do better.)

P = Putting it out there

1. What made you decide to join this adventure? There are lots of factors I could list ~

• I know the author,
  
• I am not currently in a group study,
  
• I need to do more studying in the Old Testament,
• Lots of my friends are doing it,
  

and they would all be true. However, the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit has been seeking me on the issue of making decisions based on my own knowledge, out of my own understanding and reasoning, rather than my knowledge of God and His character and commands. Amber addressed this issue IN THE INTRODUCTION of this study. So there you go. God reading my mail again. What do you hope will come from the study? Less of me. More of God.

2. In what ways have you found God to be faithful recently? read here

I have decided that I am going to add one more component to my study each week (without author permission or approval) :) and that will be

W = Worship (I will post for my benefit and yours a song that goes with the week's study)
Today is a song called He's Always Been Faithful by Sara Groves. (Thank you AR for teaching me this song!)

Two Years

Today marks 2 years since the birth of our first grandchild. This year we had the privilege of visiting him and celebrating with him (last weekend). It has been a beautiful two years of healing a relationship that was in tatters before this little guy came along. He is the light of our lives. A bright, handsome, sweet and funny boy who loves his Mommy and Daddy and just about everyone else he comes in contact with.


When I first saw this, I didn't believe I would ever see it in person or hold it for myself. Although I prayed and prayed that it would be so. I was already in love with him. He came into the world about 2 weeks later.




And his hand was even more beautiful...

Then, somewhere in there, God manifested the miracle of healing in our relationship with our daughter and then I got to see this hand in person. He was almost a year old.


Then he came to see his Auntie graduate and we got to take him on his first trip to the zoo. Of course, he had to try his hand at driving the safari jeep.




This is his hand today; which I got to watch use a fork and eat his birthday cake with. His Mother and Father are both so gracious to allow us to be a part of his life and theirs. I love this boy. And his Mama.


Today marks two years since the birth of our very first grandchild.

Old School Shout Out

This one goes out to S4J's BFF HisGirl.


Please ignore the video. Just listen to the song.

It's A Giveaway!

It's that time of year again for the Department of the Army Digital Photo Contest. I submitted several entries through Fort Polk And some of them won! These are the selections that have been forwarded on to the Department of the Army level.

Beautiful Reflections

Frozen Gate

Snow On A Fence



Sitting Alone

Now for the giveaway....
Leave a comment voting for which one you think might win. Then, if that photo wins 1st, 2nd or 3rd place at the Department of the Army level, I will send you a free 8x10 of that photo!! The results are usually released around February.

Ps ~ Even if you don't want a print, you can still vote. :)

Blessings on your day,

A Day Off

It's been a beautiful day in Texas. Sunny, in the 70's and windy. Reminded me of growing up in Southern California and the Santa Ana winds coming up in the afternoons. Today was my first day off in a long time. I started the day connecting with some of my loved ones. It was a sweet time of chatting about nothing and that feeling of belonging. The rest of the day has been spent with the husband. We popped in on his Dad just to say, "Hello". Funny how we live next to each other and I barely see these people more than when we lived 7 hours away. They actually had to come through my line at Hobby Lobby just to get some face time! We almost finished up our Christmas shopping, had lunch together at the Olive Garden and walked the back 40 together. As we were walking along the back fence, we came upon our neighbor. Funny that we had to go all the way back there to meet her. She was friendly and telling us tales of how she was checking the fence because one of her cows, who is actually her friend's cow, freed itself from the pasture and was roaming the neighborhood when she came upon him on her way home from work. My husband's barn is coming along so nicely, although not as fast as the framing. It's a much slower job working on your own. It's a beautiful place to me (and I hope to my husband as well). He is now officially retired from the Air Force and stays home full-time handling the main portion of the household duties and the child-rearing. He's a good, good man. We are preparing to receive our first pension payment; that in addition to my part time pay at Hobby Lobby is somehow going to sustain us and build the big house. I see through my bookkeeper glasses that we may not have our home built any time in the near future and I am truly okay with that. We have all that we need, and the rest will come in its due time. We have managed to set aside enough money to go up and celebrate our Grandson's second birthday with him the first week of January and we are just ecstatic about that! As I write, dinner that my husband lovingly prepared is cooking in the crazy 1950s oven that never has the right temperature. The little artificial Christmas tree is shining and we are blessed to have gifts underneath it. The laundry is going and I even have time to put some thoughts down on cyber-paper. I still have lots and lots to do on my 'day-off-to-do-list' and I have this assurance: If I do not get to it today, it will still be there on my next day off.

I will leave you with the view out my front door this very minute...




Blessings on your day my friends,