Lessons From Ecclesiastes

Lately as I've been walking through life I've felt like there is so much I'm trying to figure out. There are a lot of things about the work field, politics, current events, and life in general that I want to know about. I guess I can accredit that to my young age and youthful curiosity.

However, I'm constantly being reminded to "love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." So I thought thes would be a great time to read Ecclesiastes, the book full of reasonings about life. What better time then this to learn how to balance my life so that it is pleasing to God? (Pro. 11.1)

When I read Ec 1.18 I was very puzzled. "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knwledge increaseth sorrow." What?! Doesn't the Bible tell us to seek after wisdom as choice silver and to get knowledge  so that we will have understandin? Tese verses seemed to contradict each other, something I know the Bible is not capable of doing.

After I recived no answer I forgot about the verse and went on wit hmy life. On the way to work I listened to the radio, eager to learn more about this new health bill, but I also heard about abortion rights and a man facing murder charges. At work the topic of the week ahs been nothing other than the infamous health bill. Later on in my day I was informed more deeply about electronic medical records. Over and over I saw how communication between co-workers, doctor to doctor, and even patient to doctor is slipping away. Basically, what you can't do for yourself, the computer will do for you. No direct human contact needed, in some cases.

By this point I'm starting to feel a little down. But I still tuned in to the local radio station only to hear about trouble in the schools and a down sliding economy. When I got home I realized that too much news is really bad for me. All of a sudden I couldn't stand the sound of the world news playing in the next room. All negative, no possative. Every minute of it was a reminder of how quickly our nation is deteriating into a weak group of people void of the fear of God.

It was then that God gently brought my mind back to that verse. "For in much wisdom is much greif: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." Could it be that Solomon was writing about worldly wisdom and worldly knowledge?

When we become "world smart" and aware of what is going on in this wicked world, it can cause greif and sorrow. If we put too much emphasis on learning more about this world (even though it may seem inocent) our vision is turned from God to something corruptable. I can see why Paul tells us to think on good things. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

I've decided that I'm not going to stay up to date on the news, I'm not going to stress over the health care indistry, and I'm not going to frett over being unknowledgeable about a lot of things. It's not worth it. Those things are going to vanish. I'm going to set my mind on things eternal, things that really matter. I'm going to set my mind on God!

Misery

Written in August of 2009

Miserable unhappy,

Lost and confused,

Trying to keep,

Myself amused.

Doing what I please,

Going where I will,

Thinking of myself,

Trying to have zeal.

My conscience prodding,

Constantly at me,

I knew this way,

Was not all glee.

Yet I still ran,

Going astray,

But my loving God,

Would not go away.

Slowly I realized,

A Christian am I,

I must serve God,

For me He did buy.

Unhappy with rules,

Still I know,
By living right,

Fruits will show.

Turning back to God,
Forgiveness I seek,

I need His strength,

For I am weak.

Day by day,

I have a choice,

Listen to God,

Or my inner voice.

By this experience,

I now know,

What to expect,

If back I go.

Miserable unhappy,

Lost and confused,

That is my life,

When Christ I abuse.

So I’ll stay,

Close by His side,

For after all,

He is a great guide!

Things That Make Me Smile

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Today I'm thankful for . . .

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♥ A God who forgives

♥ A mom to remind me to take the sheets off the bed and not to forget my lunch

♥ Co-workers who make me laugh even in the middle of the stress

♥ Songs that uplift

♥ A sister who says, "I'll do the dishes tonight"

♥ Clean sheets

♥ An organized room

♥ Warm weather (I didn't think it would ever come!)

♥ And long days to enjoy it all!
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What made you smile today?

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Living Through Trials

Yesterday I came upon a short article that really got me thinking. There's nothing extraordinary about the post, it's just one girl's honest thoughts about what she is going through and how she is dealing with it. But what is extraordinary is the God we serve, and this article reminded me of that. It reminded me that when I was going though the hardest time of my life (for a teenager that is) it was then that I ran to God every minute of the day seeking his strength. It was then that I spent so much time in the Bible and in prayer searching for an answer or a way out. It was then that I felt alive!

A God fearing Christian doesn't float through storms or wander aimlessly through a trial. They live through trials. It is during those times that every emotion they posses comes to life, fighting for peace and joy.

We may feel like we are so weak that we can't take it any more, but in reality, we are becoming stronger and more alive. The only way to do it is to "fight battles on your knees".

My Favorite Place

Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with the ladies at work. We were talking about how spoiled we are in America these days and how easy we have it. Nice homes, constant communication, fast food, instant this, instant that, and practically everything you would ever need can be bought at a store already complete. So many people in America pay others to do all the hard work for them. From building houses, cleaning up the yard, to even peeling their potatoes!

However, we haven't had it as easy as some. Part of the reason was out of necessity, and some was by choice.

When we bought our five acres of land 10 years ago it was nothing but woods full of bushes, trees, and lots of briars. We hired a friend for one day to help us clear some of it out, but we did the rest. We picked up sticks and clipped the brush down for years it seems! We built pens for our animals, put up fence for our pastures, built a shed for Daddy to work in, and built a club house for the younger ones to play in.

We didn't build our trailer, but we did add on a carport along with a front and back porch. For the past several months we reddid a lot of ourrooms. Our kitchen has received a complete make-over and our living room, our hobby room, the girls room, my room, and Phillip's room has been painted.   After we finished painting the living room one of the younger ones said, "Why didn't we just buy a house?" The answer I gave to that is one that I hope they will learn to appreciate as much as I do.

If we were to buy a house, pay someone to paint in when we want it remodeled, or hire someone to clear our land, we wouldn't be able to take as much pride in it. We couldn't say, I did that! We couldn't look at it knowing that we put a lot of work into it.

My favorite place in the whole world is our home. Yes, our five little, yet full, acres where we sit our mobile home is a wonderful place to me. I can look all around me and remember where we started and see all the hard work that we did together as a family. Sure, there are lots of mistakes. But who wants a perfect home anyways?

I don't say this to boast; so many people take it that way when we talk about the things we do. But the truth is, years and years ago this is the way everyone lived. To us it is not something we do to get attention; we just like to do things the old way. This is our way of living . . . and I like it!

Pictures:: Top left: Daddy standing in our drive way. Bottom Right: Our driveway 8 years later. (The brick house is not ours.)

To see the renovations we've been making to our house visit these links:
My New Kitchen 
My Red Room 
My Fresh Painted Living Room 
My Room is DONE!!!
My New Bedroom
Phillip's Bedroom

My New Bedroom

When we moved in our trailer over 8 years ago most of the house was done in this ash looking wall paper. My room had 3 walls of grey, and one pure white wall which showed up every thing that wasn't suppose to be there! Here's what my bedroom loked like earlier this week.

Now it's green!

I was suprized at how good it looks with color! I debated several days over what color to paint my room, and even when I picked the green I was still afraid it might not turn out like I wanted, but now that it's finished I appsolutely love it! Now I really want to finish my quilt (which will look really good with the green!).

Phillip's Bedroom

We have been doing a lot of painting at our house! I was looking at our blogs (mama's Bethany's and mine) and I realized that Phillip's bedroom wasn't on any of them! I didn't want to leave him out, so here's a few pictures I took of his room. It wasn't very clean and he and Amy were in the middle of a game so I just took a few shap shots of the corners.

Phillip was so glad I was posting a picture of his new fish tank!

His curtain and walls match his bed spread very well!

A Work in Progress

More pictures to come . . .

Faith Means Waiting

Last night we heard a missionary preach at a local Mission Confrence. It is no surpise that he peached on faith for after all, the focus for the whole month is Faith Misisons.

The preacher brought out some good points on faith and the steps that we usually follow to see our faith fulfilled. What I liked most was his deffinition: Faith is obeying God where you are right now. So many times when we think we are stepping out on faith we want to see the results right away. We don't want to wait and let God teach us understanding and give us knowledge - we want it now! But sometimes having faith means that we are going to believe God will take care of us or the situation, and we may not see that for a long time, mabye even years. So we have to obey where we are and wait for our faith to be fulfilled in His time.

Little Fish; Big Name

Over the years we have had just about every kind of pet you can imagine. Dogs, cats, a hampster, turtles, frogs, guinie pigs, guinies (the bird), quail, cows, goats, rabits, a salamander, ducks, chickens, a donkey, pigs, and even an iguana. Now, we have fish once again.

For about a week now Phillip and Amy have been eyeballing the fish in the pet department. After figuring up how much money they would need to buy the tank, food, fish, ect., they put their money together and begged me to take them to Wal-Mart after church. They bought a really cool looking 3 gallan fish tank and 4 little gold fish.

But now, what about those names? Amy named one of hers Fitzhubert. (That was my idea!) The little fish just about has a name that's longer then his own body! Amy's other fish is named Mozart. If someone can name a dog Beethoven, why can't we name a fish Mozart? Phillip's names are just as interesting. One is Ezekiel and the other is Zechariah. I guess we can now say that even our animals are Christians!

Another addition to our little farm, and more excitement in our happy home!