bless the LORD, o my soul

B.J. read familiar, beautiful Psalm 103 at the supper table Wednesday night.  Fitting, I thought, as I remembered my post from a few days before.

For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.

Even more fitting when we met our son, Eli Caleb, several hours later.

Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

First photo

B.J. not only cut Eli's cord - as he did with all our other children - the midwife even let him deliver Eli and hand him up to me after exclaiming, "It's a boy!"

Sweet reward.

One proud papa.

Thursday morning, with all our kids - not the most flattering shot of Nath and I, but you get the idea.  :-)  We're happy!

Quiet time at the hospital with Mom.

So glad to be bringing our baby home!

Home.

He's beautiful.

And we?  We are blessed.  And honored...and humbled...that He chose us.

Abundantly blessed...

...and blessing the Lord.

1 Corinthians 14

           I decided a while back to work through the book of 1 Corinthians for two reasons.  First, I was having trouble coming up with topics on which to write, and secondly, I wanted to learn more about the book myself.  By no means do I consider myself an expert in Biblical interpretation, nor am I able in several hundred words to exhaust a chapter that is nearly that long itself.  Never has this been more true than it is today.  My intention as I write on 1 Corinthians 14 - as it always is – is to “keep the main things the plain things, and the plain things the main things.”    

We learned from the previous chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, that love for our Christian brothers and sisters is more valuable than any spiritual gift that we have been given.  In fact, the apostle Paul stated that anyone who speaks in tongues, prophesies, gives generously, or even has strong faith but exercises that gift without love is worth nothing.  God gives spiritual gifts to each of us for the benefit of our fellow saints.

                 Paul continues with the themes of love and spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14: “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.”  Already in the beginning verses of this epistle we were made aware of the Corinthians’ tendency to partiality.  Some favored Paul, some Apollos, some Cephas.  Those who were skilled debaters were held in esteem.  Now in this chapter we learn that there were some in the church at Corinth who elevated highly the gift of speaking in tongues.  We can glean a few things about this tongue speaking from the chapter.  1) The words that the tongue speakers uttered were not understandable by others - verse 2.  2) Paul himself spoke in tongues - verse 18.  3)  Those who spoke in tongues had control over their tongues – that is, they could choose to keep quiet – verse 28.  Ultimately, Paul does not forbid speaking in tongues, but he demonstrates that in desiring to speak in tongues, the Corinthians‘ priorities were out of order: the gift of prophecy was the better spiritual gift.

Why?  What made prophecy valuable?  Often we think of prophets as those who tell the future, but that really is not the main idea of the word prophet, nor was that the chief work of the prophets who lived in Bible times.  A prophet is one who “bubbles over” with the word of God.  Therefore, one who prophesied in the church edified his fellow saints by offering words of instruction, application, or comfort.  In contrast, one who spoke in an unknown tongue benefitted only himself.  Paul qualifies the prophesying that was to be done in the church: others were to judge the words of prophecy that were spoken.  2 Peter 1:20:  “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.”  Paul also commands that if anyone was going to speak in tongues in the congregation, then they must then interpret what they said for benefit of those around them.

There are several verses in this chapter that I would like to note in passing:  Verse 20: “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”  How quick we are to be malicious to others; how slow we are to develop our knowledge of God’s Word.  And also verse 34: “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.  And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.”  How quick many are today to dismiss this Word of God; how readily most disdain the glorious role for which God designed women.  

Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a prophet.  Grow up in your understanding of His Word so that you may be a ready vessel, bubbling over with words that edify and comfort.  

first day

Saturday morning at North Lake Park

North Lake Park is right around the corner.

You can feed the geese there, go fishing, and play on the playground...let's go!

a pick-me-up

Ever since Willem was born at 42 weeks - yes, count them: 14 days overdue - I tell people, "I go over."

And I have.  With every baby since.

But even though I tell myself and everyone else that, there's still something about going past your due date.  Though I'm feeling great, and the baby seems to be doing well, it's just harder for me to keep my chin up when I reach this point.

But our Father knows our frame.  He remembers that we are dust.

And He gave me an older sister who knows exactly how I feel.

Yesterday she sent me flowers.

a happy birthday princess

'Member "Baby Girls"?

 She turned four yesterday.

 Her princess preoccupation persists.  So we turned her Sleeping Beauty doll into a Cinderelly cake for the day.

(Opening her gift in front of the computer so Grandma could watch on Skype.)

 And a few weeks back I purchased some glitsy-looking polyester fabric from Wal-Mart and sewed her a Cinderelly play costume.  And one for Sleeping Beauty to match.

Now that's worth twirling about.  (And worth waking Mom and Dad about at 6 AM when you can't fasten your own dress.  After all, when one's a princess... :-)

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.  How we love you.

the relatives came*

*Text adapted from Cynthia Rylant and Stephen Gammel's delightful children's book with the same title.

It was the 3^rd day of August when the relatives came.

They came from South Dakota in a motor home, and they packed its refrigerator with soda pop and Goldfish crackers and some ham sandwiches and they came from South Dakota.

They drove all day long, and while they traveled along they looked at the strange houses and the mountains and they thought about Molly back at Grandma’s.  But they thought about us, too.  Waiting for them.

So they drank up all their pop and ate up all their crackers and traveled up all those miles until finally they pulled into our yard.

Then it was huggin’ time and into the house, and so much laughing and shining faces and children in the doorways.  You had to climb over at least four children to get from the kitchen to the front room.  Oh, those relatives!

One night after a big supper and a bunch of baths there was quiet talk on the patio behind the house.

The relatives weren’t particular about beds, which was good, because they slept in the motor home which they parked on our driveway.

The relatives stayed for several days.

We played dress up, and went bike riding and fishing.

 

 We rode the train with our dads at North Lake Park

 ate our lunches outside

 and scavenger hunted

 and geo-cached.

 We celebrated Jenna's birthday

 and ate up all the ice cream cake

 and hiked

 and picnicked in the mountains.

And then the relatives packed up their motor home and headed back to South Dakota at six in the morning.  We were asleep in our beds when they disappeared down the road, and when we woke up, the house felt too big and too quiet. 

The relatives drove all day and into the evening.  And while they traveled along they looked at the strange houses and the mountains, and they thought about Molly and Grandma waiting for them.  But they thought about us, too.  Missing them.  And they missed us.

And when they were finally home in South Dakota, they crawled into their own soft beds…

...and dreamed about Christmas.