We had more or less come to accept the fact we had now lost 2 dogs and a cat within a few months. The kids were feeling rather upset and even all the cousins were upset, too, as they are all animal lovers.
But then, the miracle happened. Someone from the humane society contacted us through Facebook. It seemed they might just have him! We couldn't believe it. That was when we found out he had been basically picked up off our property, leash attached to him and all. The killer part was how much we had to pay to get him back! The impouding fee, the boarding fee, the renewing of license fee and on top of all that we had paid big bucks to get all sorts of pictures printed of our lost dog...add that to our euthanized cat from a couple weeks ago.....we are going to go broke on animal expenses. Mind-boggling how much a pet can cost. However, when we picked him up it was all worth it....at least to the kids. The dog? I don't even think he knows he was gone. He walked up to me like nothing had happened. It wasn't one of those "run to the owner with lots of hugs and kisses jump on the shoulders" events. No. He walked out and proceeded to pee on a bench. I shook my head.
You just never know what a day will hold here on the farm. So much activity! We are scrambling to get the garden tilled and have done one pass. It is going to be about 1/3 acre and it might get bigger yet. We'll see. I'm now in full blown craft-making mode for the roadside stand or even for on-line sales. We have my husband's teaching income to make up for and there isn't much we can cut out of our budget, so here we go....we have multiple family meetings, always trying to inspire everyone. The little guys just want to play...we must be so annoying! Oh well.
Still writing for the homeschool moms. Here's this week's blog/vlog that I'm about to record:
A Guide on How to Pray for Our Families - Genesis 18 and 19
This week, as I continue to slowly make my way through Genesis, I’d like to share with you a few things that have struck me. I was reading speficially in Genesis 18 and 19.
As I read through the passages on Abraham and Lot, I couldn’t help but notice how different the two men are. Though Abraham is not a perfect man, compared to Lot, he’s clearly more righteous and blessed by God. Why does God include these types of characters in the Bible? I can only assume that we are definitely supposed to gain wisdom by studying them, and not just the great qualities of Abraham, but the terrible flaws in Lot, as well, in order to learn how to avoid his foolish ways. So I set out to do a mini study on these two men and compared and contrasted them just from the looking at chapters 18 and 19. Iin the process I started to see that by studying their differences, we can start to see certain patterns emerge that can help us and guide us in the ways we can pray more specifically for our husbands, our children and even any future spouses we gain in our families down the road..
Ok, let’s start...In Genesis 18 and 19 angels come and meet both Abraham and Lot, respectively. In both cases they are greeted very politely and are offered hospitality. Things go sour very quickly, though in Lot’s case, as the men of Sodom surround his house and want to attack Lot’s guests for their own pleasure. Lot’s response is mind-boggling. He says, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” Lot’s response should repulse us. He was willing to sacrifice his two daughters to the world for what, keeping the world happy? Saving face? Having a reputation in the city? It makes no sense. The comparison to Abraham is striking.
In Genesis 18, God says, “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Lot was willing to sacrifice his children, specifically his daughters, to the ways of the world, whereas Abraham was chosen because he wouldn’t. Here is our first lesson for our families:
#1 - We need to pray that we will not compromise and sacrifice our children’s souls on the altar of keeping the world, or others, happy, as Lot was willing to do. Instead, like Abraham, we must be parents that will command our children to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. We must ask God to show us ways we are putting our children at risk. I’m certain none of us would willingly sacrifice our children the way Lot does, but maybe there are ways we are subtly sacrificing our children to the world. Are we saying yes to ungodly friendships, or relationships that don’t please God or to activities that could be negative influences when we should, in fact, be saying no, but we don’t want to hurt people’s feelings or embarrass or offend others by our convictions? We need to ask God to show us where we are compromising and then stand firm like Abraham.
Secondly, it is interesting to note how Lot responds to the angels’ requests compared to Abraham. When Lot is told to to bring his family members out of Sodom, it simply says, “Lot went out….” and then later it says, “the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” Again, Lot’s response is so different to Abraham’s. It says, “But he lingered.” When you go back to chapter 18, all the words related to Abraham’s actions are night and day. Verse 6 says, “And Abraham went quickly…..” and then, he told Sarah, “Quick!” Then he “ran to the herd” and had the calf prepared “quickly”. Abraham’s actions are very different to Lot’s aren’t they? He runs and does everything quickly. There is no lingering. He seems to know there is no time to fool around. He is talking with God’s messengers. There is no time to waste. So what do we take away from this? We need to pray that when our husbands, our children, and ourselves hear from the Lord, we need to respond right away. We need to pray that our families will learn to be people of action without hesitating when we hear the voice of the Lord. We need to spiritually run and not linger like Lot. If you or your husband feel prompted to call someone or stop a dangerous activity or read better material or introduce better habits in our homes, don’t linger. Do it rught away. Run like Abraham and teach your children to do the same. As you show them how you hear God’s voice, His commands and promptings, they, too, will learn to obey right away. As they are young, you are the voice of God to them, so get them to learn to obey you right away, get them to literally run when you call them, to come quickly when you ask them to do something, to do any chore without lingering. As they grow up, they will learn to do the same in their walk with God.
Ok, thirdly, back to chapter 19, Lot goes to this future sons-in-law and tells them “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destory the city. But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.” That one verse says so much about Lot. His sons-in-law clearly do not respect him. He has sadly allowed his daughters to marry men who are fools. He himself is a fool, so that makes sense, but it goes back to being willing to offer his daughters up to the world. Later, by contrast, however, when Abraham goes to look for a wife for his son, he refuses to get a wife this way. He says in chapter 24 to his servant, “Swear….that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites..” We must pray that any future spouses for our children will not come from the “Canaanites”. One obvious sign that our children have met solid people is that they show respect to us as parents. Sadly, the two men that Lot had chosen for his daughters did not respect him and therefore ended up being destroyed when Sodom was destroyed. Here we can learn the power of praying for a godly spouse for our children and how important that is and even articulating that from a young age to our children, and often. From as far back as I can remember my parents told me, “We are praying for a godly spouse for you”. I knew I had to marry a Christian. I think this is so important to articulate to our children their whole lives, even if they don’t understand it right away. Clearly the results were devastating in Lot’s life and his daughters’s lives as the two potential in-laws ended up being destroyed.
Finally, when Sodom was about to be destroyed and Lot had lingered, the angels had to seize him because he was taking so long. They commanded him one more time to escape for his life. Again, Lot didn’t fully obey, but instead begged for an easier way and made excuses for what he would rather do. When told to go to the hills, he said, “But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there - is it not a little one? - And my life will be saved!!”
This is craziness! He was bartering with God! He didn’t want to obey on God’s terms, but on his. Abraham, however, was once again, night and day. When told about the covenant that God was going to make with him, Genesis 15 says, “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” We must pray that our children will learn to obey right away, all the way, and in a happy way (that’s a quote rom the Manners Lady from years ago from those who might remember her!), to not make excuses like Lot said, “it’s just a little one”, to not try to negotiate with God, but to instead believe Him right away and respond, by faith, believing that whatever He requires of us is for our good, to provide a way of escape for us. Again, this is something we must model as parents. We should try our best to talk with our kids about faith stories from our past where we followed through with the actions we believe God wanted us to take and then how we acted on them or even about consequences in our past when we did not obey right away. We need to be really specific. We’ve explained to our kids how we felt God was speaking to us about financial wisdom and steps we needed to take to change our behaviour, or times we felt God was literally telling us to move and how we responded to His voice. We’ve also told them of our failures. Then we need to teach our children, young ones especially, to do the same. I literally used to practice with my kids by calling their names and seeing how fast they would come and how fast they would obey without excuses. It was kind of a game at first, but I was trying to teach them the principle of immedidate obedience without excuses.
So, in the end, Lot barely made it out alive. He had to be grabbed by the angels because he was taking too long. He lost his wife, who turned back, his sons-in-law who refused to listen and watched the whole city go up in flames. Abraham ended up receiving God’s promise of a son as well as so many descendants he couldn’t count and he and his wife became known for their faith and righteousness in Hebrews 11. We must pray that we won’t go through life like Lot, barely making it by the skin of our teeth. We must pray that we will be families that “keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice…” as God promised Abraham in Genesis 18. God must have included the two men in the Bible on purpose to see the striking differences and learn from them. May we be families that don’t compromise, that obey quickly, that seek godly spouses for our children who in turn impact the generations to come and also familes that make no excuses or barter with God, but instead obey all the way. Seems easy enough, eh?! Let’s pray for our families this week keeping these principles in the forefront of your mind and trust the Lord as we try to live this out ourselves day by day. Love to you all!
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