Celebrating is over

The last week in September is birthday week. We both have birthdays within four days of each other. So Friday we met up with our same four friends from Tuesday evening at Beth and Harold's house this time. (It's a bad time of year to party with our farmer friends. We have to make up for it in winter!) We had a lovely dinner, crazy conversation, missed watching the debate, and played a great game of Pitch. It's a fun, fast game, so we still can converse as well as play.

Saturday was my actual birthday. I thought it would be fun to meet up with Ron and Diana for dinner. We met them another time for Ron's birthday, so it's doable to drive to Des Moines, have dinner and drive home. So I called Ron and they weren't doing anything, so we met up at Macaroni Grill in West Des Moines, 2 hours' drive from Omaha.

What a lovely drive! We left about 3:30. Farmers were out combining soybeans. The hills were green and golden in some places and various shades of tan and brown in others. Such rich warm colors! I took a picture of just the soybeans on Sunday just so I could try to find that shade of golden brown. It IS lovely! About half-way to Des Moines, in Adair, they are putting up wind turbines. It's amazing how big they are!

September is Isaiah month

I use the One Year Bible for my daily devotions. From 1993-2005 I used the NIV. Our church uses the ESV, so in 2005 I got that version. No matter the version, the set-up is the same and Isaiah is read during the month of September.

Reading a whole book in a short time helps me to see themes much more easily, and helps me to follow the ideas of the book. A couple of themes stand out to me. One is that God is indeed the Creator of the world. I haven't counted, but over and over and over God says,

"Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out , who
spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on
it and spirit to those who walk in it:" (42:5)

and again

"I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who
spread out the earth by myself," (44:24)

and over and over. That is a single most important issue to understand, that He made ALL THINGS. To deny that, is to deny Him.

A second theme is God's sovereign control over all of history. See 45:1ff

"Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus whose right hand I have
grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of king, to open
doors before him that gates may not be closed; I will go before you and level
the exalted places,...that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of
Israel, who call you by your name."

And by the way, Cyrus didn't come on the scene until about 100 years after the book of Isaiah was written, emphasizing God's point in that last phrase. 46:9-10

"declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet
done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my
purpose." v. 11, " I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it."

Lest we think this is only a theme in Isaiah, see Ephesians 1: 11

"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the
counsel of his will"

and again in 3:11 (the reason that the gospel is being made know to the world, the mystery now revealed

"so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known
to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ
Jesus our Lord"

Not only does God use the leader of the Medes and Persians as his instrument, but also Assyria and Babylon. If you know your world history, you know that world empires began with Sumer (Abraham's Ur), then Egypt, then Assyria, Babylon, Medes/Persians, Greece, Rome. So to read the book of Isaiah and see God raising up each one of these empires is AMAZING.

In speaking of Assyria and its leader, Sennecherib God says in 37:26

"Have you not heard that I determined it long ago? I
planned from days of old what now I bring to pass,
that you (Sennecherib) should make fortified cities crash into heaps of
ruins, while their inhabitants, shorn of strength, are dismayed and
confounded, and have become like plants of the field....."

Yet God says,

"Because you have raged against me...I will put my hook in your nose...and I
will turn you back on the way by which you came."

A third theme is the love and care for His people. He judges, but He also draws near. He opens blind eyes and deaf ears, even ones that He said He closed!

29:10 "For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and closed
your eyes..."

but then,

v. 18 "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their
gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.."49:16 (end of 15) "yet
I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."
and 54:10 " For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my
steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be
removed, says the LORD who has compassion on you."

(I love that verse!)

In conclusion, these themes give me assurance that God is STILL in control of the world and all its inhabitants. We could substitute the words "Hitler" or "Saddam Hussein" or "George Bush" "John McCain" "Barak Obama" for the world leaders in those passages. God is no different, nor has his plan for history altered. He planned it from long ago what we see happening now. What peace flows from knowing that!

43:1-3 but now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who
formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by
name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and
through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you
shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you, For I am the LORD your
God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour."

Dennis had ANOTHER birthday!

He seems to get sooo many! *smile* But he didn't run a marathon on his birthday this year like he did last year. We had a lovely taco dinner and the usual German Chocolate Cake (made from scratch, thank you very much). Den always feels comfortable with these friends. So his usual "no parties" attitude didn't apply to that night! We ended it with a great game of "Pitch". We added Harold and Beth to our list of friends who play. What fun!

Andrew popped in and out. (He had class.) He came home to watch House, pick up his laundry and get something for lunch. No, he doesn't always do this, but now that he has class twice a week, home is a convenient stop on his way back to his house. We're always happy to see him!!

OK, so I joined Facebook

When I was down at CIU a couple of weeks ago, a friend told me I should join. Well, I never have because I just thought it was a college/high school kids thing, and I wasn't going to crash my kids' private space. I'm still not going to crash my kids' private space (They will not be my friends! :)) but boy, have I found old friends! I typed in my high school and out of 20 I think at least 8 of my classmates are on there! And from my college class way more! Amazing! So I added friends. We'll see how many want to be my friend! :) I've already got a text from one.

Woohoo! Let's hear it for staying in touch! This is way better than the old telephone ad, "Reach out and touch someone." It's so much more convenient!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I love Iowa; I love autumn in the Midwest. Today is one of those golden weeks even before it is officially autumn. And I got to spend sometime outside looking at all the greens and golds of this season. Even the air is golden.

If I could figure out how to do it, I would put the slide show here, but go to my Flickr and check out our beautiful state (All right, I live in Nebraska, but Iowa is my home state and it is only a few miles away!!)

The importance of pronouns

I never thought about pronouns in theology, but Sunday evening I was reading Practical Religion by J.C.Ryle, an old English theologian (late 19th century). He is speaking about making one's relationship with Christ personal. I quote:

They [referring to those in the English churches] can say, He is a Saviour,
but not 'my Saviour'--a Redeemer, but not 'my Redeemer,'--a Priest, but not 'my
Priest, --an Advocate, but not 'my Advocate:' and so they live and die
unforgiven! No wonder that Martin Luther said, "Many are lost because they
cannot use possessive pronouns."

I think about our children growing up in Christian homes and Christian schools and homeschools and going to church 2 and 3 times a week, hearing all this teaching over and over. Are they making Jesus their Saviour, or is He just A Saviour. May we all realize the importance of personal pronouns, and encourage our children that in order for salvation to be real, it must become personal.

Last, but most importantly....

Our hotel accomodations could not have been better. Not only did we get a bed, but breakfast in some cases, dinner in some cases, and in others, both! And fantastic conversation with people we love! What would we do without great families scattered conveniently across the country. I didn't get photos at Marcia's (you saw them last May) or of Bud's trailer (what was I thinking??), but I did get a few. Thanks to all of you who made this trip so enjoyable! We'll return the favor anytime!!