my "place", defined

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone — while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!

(Job 38: 4-21)

And the prize for comedic timing goes to...

I was on the phone, late to the semi-regular evening Bible time (we're going through Acts together this summer). The kids and Eric were finishing up reading through the section when I slid into my living room chair, and I heard the verse from near the end of Acts 4: "...those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales, and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

"Sorry I'm late!" I said. "I hate missing that...are you still reading or are you discussing? Read that one again, it's one of my favorite verses!"

*Long pause as everyone adjusts to Mom's interruption of their train of thought.*

"At that moment she fell down at his feet and died," read Delaney (from Acts 5, which we were not even reading yet).

Another reason why I wish I drank coffee

Scene: our living room, 7:09 a.m., everyone curled up in a chair or couch as we start our day

Me: So, in John this morning...."He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

Leah: Mom. I have an interesting question.

Me: (smiling) Lay it on me.

Leah: So, how do you know if you actually love Jesus?

(Maybe we should move Bible lessons to a different part of the day...!!)

Don't let...

...the busyness overshadow the small stuff

[6yo's who light up at being the "shark"; excitement over new uniform colors; sunsets that overwhelm the world with the reality of Him]

...my detailed self make mountains out of molehills

[really? I have to get that paper over to that place right this instant? will school planning get done by worrying about when I will get it done?]

...my kids miss the people, the purpose

[my attitude is reflected in them; do they see stress or joy? do they understand why we are putting others before ourselves?]

...me forget:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Psalm 31...fresh bread

How great is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you,
which you bestow in the sight of men
on those who take refuge in you.

In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from the intrigues of men;
in your dwelling you keep them safe
from accusing tongues.

Praise be to the LORD,
for he showed his wonderful love to me
when I was in a besieged city.

In my alarm I said,
"I am cut off from your sight!"
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.

Love the LORD, all his saints!
The LORD preserves the faithful,
but the proud he pays back in full.

Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the LORD.

So much going on, but it's all in my head

Will be thinking for some time on this passage and the discussion the kids and I had about it this morning...

From Luke 17:
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Troubles...what troubles?

"Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty." -- Socrates

"Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife." -- Proverbs 17:1

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." -- I Titus 6:6-8

Merry Christmas

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God, Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Is that in your Bible?

So we're back in the routine of our regular devotions, now that we wrapped up our homeschooling year's study of Matthew. Each night -- generally -- Eric reads a short passage from the Bible and then the kids draw what they heard and remember from the passage on their own little white boards. Then each one gets to show his/her picture and explain it. They get pretty intense on these pictures! It's great to hear each of their descriptions, but Leah has been taking the cake lately:

After a passage on people getting baptized: "...and this is Jesus, and he can't see down in the rivah (river), and see the baptized, because he can't see with his eyes, because I didn't give him any eyes, because my marker was too big."

After a passage on Jesus healing and casting out demons, which is irrelevant because she was still stuck on the baptisms: "...and these are four little girls, and they're going to be baptized in the tomato juice." (she had used the red marker that night)

For your bonus, here's a recent pic of her with her sisters:

A Norton Christmas Eve

We're still mixing it up from year to year with our Christmas Eve traditions, except for three sure things: the reading of Luke's account of the birth of Jesus; eggnog with nutmeg; and singing. Tonight we added in viewing The Nativity Story, singing Silent Night with some carefully held candles, hanging our next-to-last Jesse tree ornament, and, strangely, wrestling with Dad (can't you just see their children years from now? "Dad, why do we always wrestle on Christmas Eve?" "I don't know, son, that's just always what our family has done.").

Here are some quote highlights:
"In those days, Cas-car Ah-goose-tus issued a decree...." -- Levi, who sometimes reads the Bible passages a bit too quickly.

Eric (with his annual "trick" question): "So, who was Jesus' father?"
Levi/Delaney/Jesse/Sara: "Joseph!"
Eric: "No. "
Delaney: "Daniel?"

Merry Christmas everyone! May God's grace and mercy be renewed to you tomorrow, and every, morning.