Craving for What?

Numbers 11:34 The place was named Kibroth Hattuvah [“Graves of Craving”] because there they buried people who had craved other food.

I would hate to think that I would be remembered after my burial as one who “craved after food,” one whose main reason to be remembered was something so puny as what I wanted to eat, rather than being remembered for, say, something I did or something I was as a person.  These Israelites actually had not only craved meat (v.4-6) but all the food they had eaten as slaves, not even free men.  How easily I forget the blessing of my present circumstances when faced with the “delights” of my previous slavery!  “The heart is deceitful above all things…”

Retirement IS in the Bible!

Numbers 8:26 They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service.

Retirement is in the Bible!  I have always heard it said that there is no retirement in the Bible, but it is there!  

I had never noticed this before, but according to the verses immediately preceding this one, the Levites, who were the chosen ones to serve as priests in the tabernacle, were to serve from age 25 to age 50, at which time they were to “retire.”  However, their retirement was not to be completely without responsibility.  Their retirement was to be spent keeping guard and keeping guard was regarded as a ministry to the other priests.   

This got me to thinking about retirement in general and my own retirement in particular.  First of all, I see that retirement is not “the end” of work.  It is merely a change of responsibility.  These priests were still capable of doing something; it just was not the same something they had been doing previously!  And so it is with my own retirement.  I may not be doing the same thing I was doing during my younger years, but God has something for me to do in these later years.  I have struggled in these early years of retirement, thinking of all the things I have done to serve the Lord in the past and have at times felt frustrated because I do not feel able to do much of those same things (I am getting older!).  But this verse reminds me that it is not a matter of my not having a role to play … I have a different role to play now.   

That begs the question: WHAT is that new task for me to fulfill?  The answer is right there in this verse as well.  The retired priests ministered to their brothers by “keeping guard.”  I do not see this as my indication that I should become a security guard at the church!  Then how do I “keep guard?”  PRAYER is my answer.  I can help protect the church, its leaders and its members and its ministries, by praying.   It is my new responsibility and in keeping that responsibility I will be ministering to those for whom I am praying.

Minstering to others can happen in many forms, one of which is prayer (and granted, that is probably the most important form), but my ministry to others can be my focus in other areas of my activity as well.  I am beginning to see that my interest in paper crafts such as card-making can also be a ministry to others.

Here's to a productive retirement ministry!

Flocking and leather...

I had to make yet another sympathy card this week and since I still had some left-over pieces of the teal and brown flocked paper I had used for an earlier card (remember this one?).

I thought I would try a new, simple design on the new one.  I don't know why I never thought of this before, but I cut the size mat of paper that I wanted to use, then just turned down the upper right corner to reveal white space behind it and stamped the message there.  I also had a piece of dark brown "leather" paper, i.e., it feels like leather, which I used to mat the card... it feels nice but of course on the photos, it looks like plain brown card stock!
I was going to add a simple ribbon bow but decided that this heavy twine lightened up the coloring a bit, and I did like the final effect.

Anyway... here is the final result, of which I am very pleased.  You will see this design again, I am certain!

Blessing and the Name of God

Numbers 6:24-27  The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.  So they shall put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them.

This blessing is so beautiful!  It is very comforting and calming to me when I hear it said over the congregation at the end of a church service.  All by itself it has beauty and meaning, but I was struck with the last sentence in v.27.  In declaring the blessing on the Israelites, the priest was placing the name of God on the people and that brought the blessing of God on them.  When this blessing is prayed over me the name of God is on me!  It invokes the blessing on God on me as well!  This realization has added a new level of depth and meaning to hearing that blessing and has made it all the more beautiful.  It also makes me realize the importance of blessing others since I am now a part of the “royal priesthood,” according to I Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  I need to be more mindful of my opportunities to bless others.

Thank you card

I am learning how to use sketches to incorporate my own ideas, so this idea from Freshly Made Sketches came at just the right time for me to hone my skill at this and at the same time make a thank you card for John, who has done a greatly appreciated service for Russ and me.  Here is my attempt...

The paper is from an old collection I still have in my stash... Masculine papers from Hot Off The Press, to which I added some sparkling brown and teal cardstock die cut pieces and piece of glitter ribbon.  Add a few Jewel Dazzles and there you have it!

Assignments

Numbers 4:49a At the Lord’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

Here is yet another reminder of the importance of details to God.  Not only were the Levites assigned the work they were to do, but were even told what to carry!  Nothing would be haphazard.  No item from the tabernacle could be lost or left behind if each carried what he was assigned to carry.  Moses gave the orders to the Levites, but the commands were actually coming from the Lord.  Every individual had his assigned task of either serving or carrying (according to the wording of the English Standard Version).  If each one was faithful to his assigned task, every task was accomplished and nothing was lost or left behind.  It makes me think about my own life and the tasks I have for “serving or carrying.”  God is orchestrating everything in my life, even the smallest details, but He is depending on me to be faithful so that my share of His work in the world gets done, and gets done correctly.  This makes me all the more determined to do what He has called me to do, and I pray regularly that I will be able to “stick with it” to do my job faithfully and completely.

Counted in the Desert

Leviticus is done, but now I am reading in Numbers and it is equally challenging!  But I read somewhere that the Jewish title for the book of Numbers is "In the Wilderness" so I have had anticipation to see what God has to say to me in this book.  I am not disappointed on this first day!

Numbers 1:19 And so he counted them in the Desert of Sinai.

“Desert” or “wilderness” (as some versions put it) conjures up a picture of barrenness and dryness, to me.  A desert is nothing but the same thing from horizon to horizon, a dismal place where nothing is new or exciting, where everything appears to be dead.  So the phrase in this verse that says Moses counted the people in the desert brings a spark of newness and life that I was not expecting.  Counting the Children of Israel brings a picture of potential … possibilities must be there for the future. Every person mattered.  They were counted even though they were in the middle of the desert.  The desert must not be the end of it all.  And that is my reminder that no matter how dismal things may look to me at any given time, even in my slowing down with age, everything is being “counted,” being noticed by God.  I matter to God no matter what my circumstances may seem to be; I am counted.  I won’t always be in the desert.

Yokes

This is my last day reading in the book of Leviticus.  It has been a rich and rewarding experience and this is a most fitting end to my reading!

Leviticus 26:13b I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

I love this word picture of what God does when He frees a person from slavery, whether literal slavery such as He did for the Israelites, or spiritual slavery.  A yoke is burdensome not only by its restriction of freedom of movement, but also because of the heavy load it puts on your shoulders.  You can barely stand up straight with a yoke on your shoulders and it is certainly a humiliating posture.  But when God breaks that yoke, I can stand up straight and I can hold my head up high!  No need to be ashamed of myself or of what God has done.  I am able to accomplish all of what God wants to do in me and through me when He has broken the bars of my yoke of sin.  This reminds me of what Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”   With Jesus in my life I will still be able to walk with my head held high because His new yoke is not burdensome or humiliating.  It merely helps me stay on the right road and go in the right direction.  I have a wonderful Savior and salvation!

Learning to Connect the Dots

Luke 2:50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

I do not feel like I can be too hard on Mary and Joseph for not understanding or fully comprehending who Jesus was or what he was.  After all, as I look back over my own life and spiritual experiences, I sometimes feel appalled at my lack of insight in many circumstances.  Even though Mary and Joseph lived with Jesus, and had occasion to observe him on a daily basis, they were only human, finite in their ability to comprehend spiritual things.  They had to grow and develop spiritually just like anyone else, and they had nothing in their background that measured anywhere close to this new experience and knowledge so they had to learn to “connect the dots” just as I have had to do … and am still doing.  My advantage is that I have the entire Bible plus 2000+ years of learning at my disposal and I still do not understand!  I can still learn a lot from Mary and Joseph.

God with a Capital G

Leviticus 22:32b-33 I am the Lord, who made you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God.  I am the Lord.

The word “lord” means “master, or ruler”.  God reminded the Israelites of Who He is both before and after His statement of His purpose, so I think this must have been an important piece of information He was giving them!  Why did He make them holy?  To be their God.  Why did He bring them out of slavery in Egypt?  To be their God,  “God”, with a capital G … not just something or someone admired as superhuman, but THE Supreme Being, THE Creator, and THE Ruler of the universe.  His purpose in saving me is to have His rightful place/position in my life, to free me from the effects of slavery to sin, and to make me holy in His sight.  He is my Lord.

Becoming holy

I am still working my way through the book of Leviticus, in case you hadn't noticed!

Leviticus 11:44 …consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy.

I usually think of my holiness as something that only God can create in me, and in one sense that is true because I cannot work myself into a state of holiness.  But there is another sense in which it is my responsibility.  If I am not dedicated, i.e., consecrated, within my own spirit to be holy, then God cannot, and will not, make me holy.  This verse says the people had to make the first move toward being holy by obeying God’s commands, by consecrating themselves.  As I move towards being holy by determining that this is what I want God to do in me, God completes holiness in me.  I have to make the first move, and the older I get the more I recognize my need to remind myself of this every morning by praying and asking the holy Lord God to work His holiness into me.

What trees and I have in common

Genesis 2:9a The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

To me, there is nothing quite as peaceful, restful, or soothing as seeing the beauty of the green tops of trees against a robin’s egg blue sky.  Almost every time I see that kind of view I am reminded that God could have created the world in only black and white!  But for His pleasure and for ours, He made it full of hues that we can see and from what I read about our eyesight, hues we cannot yet see.  And while I am quite certain that my non-scientifically inclined mind does not know or comprehend all of the purposes of trees, of one thing I am certain because Genesis 2:9a tells us… every tree I see has a purpose.  And if an inanimate object such as a tree has a God-intended purpose, how much more do I, as an animate, living person, have a God-intended purpose?

View of trees from our trip to North Carolina last fall

Using up my left-overs

I have always had a hard time throwing away the scraps of paper from my paper crafting projects.  You know, the ones too small to keep but too large to throw away, like the proverbial ball of string?  There was a time when I kept a filing box with scraps that I would "use later."  Finally, about a year ago, in spite of my reluctance and guilty feelings, when that box got so full as to be unusable, I emptied it of everything (into File 13).  However, I began with new resolve to work on finding ways to use some scraps and last week I successfully did just that with a card that I really like (most of my previous attempts have been less than stellar).

I had some grey and white patterned paper scraps from another project so I cut them up into 1 1/4inch squares and paired them with a light purple (I know it looks blue, but it's purple) background backed with light grey and put it all on a black card front.

Now I find myself fighting the urge to get that file box  back out...

With my own hands

Leviticus 7:30 With their own hands they are to present the food offering to the Lord.

The food offering (i.e., fellowship offering as described in 7:11-21) was an offering someone brought as a sign of thankfulness for something.  This verse says the person bringing the offering should himself, with his own hands, present that offering of thanksgiving to the Lord.   My thanks to God is my special offering to Him and it carries a weight that cannot be equaled by any thanks that someone else might give for that thing that God has done for me. This reminds me of a song we have sung in church at times in the past that says "We bring a sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord."  My praise and thanks is my offering to God that I can bring "with my own hands," so to speak.

Sooo ... what kind of thank offerings can I offer to God today?   Well, I can think of quite a few, actually.  Things such as:

*thanks for such good health for an overweight 70-year-old woman.  I take one pill every day and compared to many older citizens that is amazing.  I need to give an offering for that good health.

*an offering of thanks for a husband who loves God and me so much.  He washes the dishes almost every night after supper and vacuums and sweeps and mops regularly "so I don't have to do it."  Yes, God deserves a thank offering for my great husband of 29 years, 51 weeks, and 3 days.

*I should make an offering for the blessings of a more than adequate house and belongings.  Our house is small and simple but more than we really need and far more than many have.  It wasn't an expensive house but it is tight and stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  And after the experience of losing most of my belongings to a civil war in another country, I am thankful for each item of furniture, each trinket, each pot and pan, each plate and cup.

*An offering of thanks for my supportive family of sisters would also be in order.  Not many people have siblings with whom they get along so well, and I fully recognize the value of such a blessing.

For these and many other blessings I am happy to give my offering of thanks to God.

Simplicity

I am a craft store clearance shelf plunderer.  I almost never pay full price for any of my crafting items and I am particularly pleased when I find a really good bargain to add to my supplies.

One such item was this stamp that I found for a tiny price about a year ago.

I had no idea how I would actually use it, but I knew that I would use it sometime, so I went ahead and purchased it even though I rarely buy things I don't have at least a good idea of how I want to use it.

Well, the other day I wanted to make a simple, mostly plain (white) card with a simple but colorful design included on it somehow.  Ah ha!  Eureka!  A chance to use my never-before used stamp!  So... with the help of some colorful bling and my "just for you" stamp (that I use a lot), and my trusty black Memento stamp pad, I created a card that turned out exactly as I had pictured it ... a truly uncommon result for my non-artistic self!

 My biggest issue ended up being that with the gemstones I used, it would be difficult to mail this card but as it turned out I had occasion to hand-deliver it so I saved myself the effort of figuring out how to make it safe for delivery intact.

It's not my inadvertent sin that's the problem

In my quest to read through the Bible in a year, February has always been a challenge for me because it brings me to the book of Leviticus, and that has always been a hard book to read through.  It is full of detailed instructions for how the Israelites were to carry out their worship.  Because this was all before the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, most of these rules and regulations seemed to be irrelevant to my life now.  However, I have come to see how many ways reading these rules and regulations and standards are principles upon which I can base my own relationship to God now.    It has been a rewarding venture in recent years to read books of the Bible such as Leviticus in a totally new way.  I have gained unexpected spiritual insight and it is spiritually invigorating!

Leviticus 4:27b-28a …when they realize their guilt … they must bring as their offering for the sin they committed…

These verses are describing the sin offering procedures that the Israelites were to follow.  For me, the “what” is second in importance to the “why” and the “when” of this offering.  When was the person to bring the sin offering?  When he/she realized their guilt.  If they had inadvertently sinned, as soon as they realized what they had done, they were to bring the offering.  My concern needs to be with what I recognize as sin in my life.  That is what I need to worry about asking for forgiveness for, not the inadvertent sins I may have committed.  I can ask forgiveness for them when I recognize them as sin. I need not worry; if it is sin, God will help me recognize it (if not now, sometime soon). 

Why bring the offering?  Because that is my acknowledgement before God that I have sinned.  God already knew it, but I need to acknowledge it as sin and part of doing that is for me to ask God’s forgiveness.  Once that sin is taken care of, I can move on as forgiven by God for that sin.  I can move on to the next step, understanding whatever guilt I have in some other area of my life, and repeat the process.  This is part of my process in growing spiritually, and the step-by-step aspect of this process is immensely liberating!

Representing God

Exodus 39:43 Moses inspected the work and saw that they had done it just as the Lord had commanded.  So Moses blessed them.

As God’s representative, Moses had given the instructions on every detail for the tabernacle.  Then, again as God’s representative, he chose the men who would be in charge of the building and preparation of it all.  As His representative, Moses oversaw the work, and as God’s representative he then inspected the finished product.  In the final step, Moses once again served as God’s representative and recognized the good work the builders had done by blessing them.  Back in the beginning of the book of Exodus we read of God’s call to Moses to be His representative to the Israelites and the Egyptians.  When Moses hesitated, God chose his brother Aaron to be his spokesman, telling Moses “[Aaron] will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” (Ex. 4:16).  In other words, Moses was God’s representative to Aaron as well.  Everything revolved around Moses being God’s representative to the Egyptians and to the Israelites.  God planned to speak through Moses in every situation.  This got me to thinking about God's call to me. In a sense, I am like Moses … I am God's representative to people with whom I come in contact.  When I bless a person who has done a good job or performed an act well, I am in a sense representing God to that person.  Pretty awesome thought!  Makes me more eager to bless more people.  Look out, waiters and waitresses, store clerks and stock people, mail carriers and garbage collectors, lawn and garden keepers, auto mechanics!  More blessings coming your way!

Sympathy card

It's been a hard week in many ways.  One of the challenges that comes along with growing older is the fact that you can lose three friends in one week, all to age-related issues. But it does give me the opportunity to put my card-making supply stash to good use, as I did with this card.  I had a sheet of brown and blue flocked paper that I'd kept for quite a long time, thinking I might eventually find a good use for it, and it worked well for this sympathy card.  I cut 3/4 in. off the right side of the front of the card so the blue interior would show, then foam-taped the die cut label to the front, extending it over the edge .  Adding the topaz-colored stones helped set off the color of the brown flocking. 

The picture of the interior is not too clear, but I stamped the image and words with brown ink on the light blue cardstock and it has a very quiet effect, which is what I was looking for.

Overall, I was pleased with the outcome, and pray that the recipient of this card will sense the love and concern I've tried to express in this small way.

My morning after morning offering to God

Can you tell I've been reading the book of Exodus lately??? 🕮

Exodus 36:3b And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

I see several important words in this verse, key words that can give special direction to my life:

   1.  “continued” … The offerings people brought were requested only one time by Moses and the tabernacle construction/decoration engineers.  Requested one time, but received more often.  The people obviously had caught a vision for what they were supporting.

   2.  “freewill” … The people were not forced into bringing the offerings.  They recognized how much their small portion contributed to the whole need.  Evidently, how much each person brought is not important enough to have been mentioned.

   3.  “morning after morning” … Although there is no indication that the same people came every day, nevertheless every day an offering showed up!  

 As long as I have something to offer God, why not make it continuing, freely given, morning after morning?  The blessing will be mine if I give God whatever I have to offer.  As I grow older, I am realizing more and more just how much better my life is when I am regularly, continuously, freely giving myself and all I can do to God, no matter how simple or small I may consider that offering to be.

That Necessary Divine Presence

Exodus 33:13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.

Moses had a big responsibility to lead the children of Israel and he felt the weight of that responsibility very keenly.  He recognized that unless God helped him, he would not be able to do it successfully or effectively.  In the verse before this, we see that Moses knew of God’s promise to him to help him, but he still felt the need to voice his own desire to know God’s ways and to know God better.  I can certainly understand that need.  The older I get the more keenly I feel the need to express that desire to God, to remind Him that He knows my heart and my goal to honor Him with my life.  I want to request His divine assistance in accomplishing that goal.  God’s response in verse 14 is my own encouragement as it was Moses’:   “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”  Moses would have all the help he needed for whatever he had to do … and he would have rest [from turmoil and/or confusion] in the process!

Today I am trying my hand at a new venture... making a card that follows a sketch and then submitting it to that site.  I have enjoyed watching Freshly Made Sketches for a long time, and today am adding my submission.  Here it is:

I hope my friend likes this card!

I had some square cards I wanted to use and I like how this one turned out.  The paper is the Sorbet collection from Hot Off the Press.

Spirit of God and ... crafts?

 

Exodus 31:3-5 I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills … to engage in all kinds of crafts.

This is what God told Moses about Bezalel who God had chosen to work on the furnishings for the tabernacle.  I find it interesting, enlightening, and exciting to see Bezalel’s skills with his hands coupled as equal to his spiritual condition.  His ability to do his crafts – his skills – was as important to God as his being filled with God’s Spirit.  In fact, his being chosen for his skills seems to be vitally linked to his spiritual qualifications.  This spoke to me when I read it now that I am able to spend more time on my hobbies in my retirement years.  But those hobbies, and any other skills I may have, are not just for my own enjoyment, if I am anything like Bezalel.  I cannot imagine that Bezalel did not truly enjoy what he did as a craftsman.  I need not be afraid to enjoy my hobbies while at the same time letting God use them along with my spiritual “skills.”  At first I felt hesitant to say that my scrap books and cards could be/would be used by God, but as I have stepped out to allow that to happen, I have seen how they can be used to bring encouragement to others, and that is most rewarding!

That being said, I think I'll go make another Valentine card!

Consecrated BY God's glory, not FOR it?

When reading in the book of Exodus this morning, I was struck by one little word ... "by."

Exodus 29:42b-43 There I will meet you and speak to you; there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

Although this verse is talking about the location of the burnt offering at the entrance to the tabernacle, it reminds me that when I meet with God (as the burnt offering represented) regularly, its promise for me is the same as for the Israelites.  When I go to God, He will meet me and speak to me.  My “place” – where I am – will be consecrated for God’s glory.  This also reminds me of the important place my own church (Lexington Baptist Church) holds in my life.  It is the place where I and my fellow “Israelites” meet God and it is consecrated by His Glory.  I noticed that the place was not consecrated FOR His glory … it was consecrated BY His glory!  In other words, there is nothing I or anyone else in that church can do that can make it special.  If God is present, it will be consecrated.  It is a special place for me because it is the “place” God has given me, and it is consecrated by His glory.   He is present there and that is what has made it special, and why God meets me there so often.  I cannot allow myself to become lax in my presence there.

Heart-themed cards

 I wanted to try a heart-themed card but using something different from just the usual reds and pinks, so I chose a light blue background and put a peach heart in between the red glittery papers.  The words are die cuts from Paper Wishes.  In "real life" it doesn't look too bad!

Shhh... this card is for my dear husband.  Our 30th anniversary is coming up just after Valentine's Day!

For this second card I used a Stampin' Up stamp of the tree and added some little red hearts from Hot Off the Press.  The color doesn't look so striking in my photo (blane that on the photographer!) but I was very pleased with the final result. 

4 years+

It has been four years, one month and seven days since my retirement.  In that time I learned
>how to care for an elderly parent full-time,
>how to say good-bye to that parent (temporarily, until we meet in heaven one day), and
>how to manage my freer time and energy.
>I have been able to read and write like I've always aspired to do, and
>I have been able to learn new scrap booking and card-making techniques.

And that has led me to this blog ... my way of publishing what I am doing on a small scale and without deadlines.

For example, just today I was reading and meditating on Luke 18:26-27: Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"  Jesus replied, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."

I am reminded once again of the magnitude of our salvation through Jesus when I read this statement of His.  We often think of the "impossibilities" as physical or material things ...
~it is "impossible" to manage natural disasters or even weather ...
~ it is "impossible" to heal an incurable disease ....
~it is "impossible" to keep evil people from conjuring up ways to do their evil deeds ...
and the list can go on and on.  Yet the impossibility being spoken of here is a far bigger, far more intimidating one than any other.  It is a spiritual impossibility.  No matter what methodology any religion has ever come up with, only God Himself can ever guarantee a person's eternal salvation.
 All other methods only offer a "hope for the best" style of salvation if any at all.  But with God, salvation is possible.  That is great comfort to me!