Secrets: The Sphinx

If you're interested in ancient history, you might enjoy the documentary by the Smithsonian, Secrets: The Sphinx. We watched it on Netflix this evening and found it to be interesting speculation. A summary from the Smithsonian:

It stands as tall as a six-story building and is the length of a jumbo jet. Egypt's Great Sphinx is the biggest single stone statue in existence, and the mysteries surrounding it are equally sizable. When was the monument built, and why? Was it an act of devotion or part of a much larger plan? Join a team of international investigators as they attempt to shed new light on these age-old questions, using the latest research and techniques in order to solve the complex riddle of the Sphinx once and for all.

You can watch a few brief videos of the documentary on the Smithsonian website.  It's also going to be aired on the Smithsonian TV channel in March.

Image ~ Giza Plateau - Great Sphinx with Pyramid of Khafre in background, Daniel Mayer CC 4.0

We Do Not Lose Heart

Reflecting on the discussion in our small group last evening. The passage was relevant to how distraught some have shown themselves to be these past several weeks. Those with faith in that which is temporal have plunged into hysteria. Faith and hope have been misplaced, and they are frantic and distressed.

Yet God is raining on the just and the unjust, as He is righting some of the wrongs that have taken root in our national soil. And He seems to be using a Motley crew to do it. His ways, indeed, are not our ways.

Verses 15-17 of 2 Corinthians 4 caught my attention in our discussion:

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you see it?  

For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God. 

God is always working for our good and for His glory.

And look again...

so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

For it is only God who can make a change for the good of America. His grace is spreading to more and more people. Thanks be to God. To Him be the glory!

Therefore, we do not lose heart.

Painting ~ Woman in the Open Air 1853, Alajos Gyorgyi Giergl 1821-1863

 

Home Duties and Pleasures

 

After Laura and Mary had washed and wiped the dishes, swept the floor, made their bed, and dusted, they settled down with their books. But the house was so cozy and pretty that Laura kept looking up at it.

- Laura Ingalls Wilder from The Banks of Plum Creek

Painting ~ A Girl Reading, 1871  Johann Georg Meyer 1813-1886

Walking Peacefully

I'm re-reading a book that I need right now — Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I have several of her books, and I recommend her writings to you. These are troubling times, yet a time filled with hope and expectation. I'm reminding myself to trust God in the midst of it all, as He works for our good and for His glory.

Why does God delight in helping us to become trusting children, filled with peace and confidence, children who lean on His strength? Because when He changes hearts like ours into hearts like His, He receives praise and glory. When we discover that we're able to walk peacefully through conditions that formerly terrified us, our hearts will overflow with gratitude and thanksgiving — and that brings joy to God. Only He can change hearts that are frequently overwhelmed by fear into hearts that are overshadowed by His power and bravery, and it's His delight to do so.

~ Elyse Fitzpatrick

Hearts on Display

So thankful that President Trump is giving attention to Christian refugees who have been ignored for far too long. They have suffered much. So grateful that God has raised up a president who has compassion in spite of those who reject such an idea.

So much hatred spewing from the hearts of those whose cry has been tolerance for so many years. Tolerance only for themselves and their lifestyles. What reigns in their hearts is now on display, with their odious intolerance for righteousness.

If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you (John 15:18).

Sunday Ponderings ~ Rejecting Knowledge

Thinking this evening about a verse from our Sunday School lesson this morning. Continuing in the class on minor prophets, and today we looked at the book of Hosea. One of the verses that arrested my attention:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children (4:6).

 Israel was in decline and being judged by God. They had once followed Him, but now

• The priests were no longer teaching them God's laws.
• They rejected what knowledge they had.
• They would not listen to warnings about their lifestyles, their immorality and idolatry.

The parallelism of Israel's decline to our own nation is striking.  When prayer and Bible reading were taken out of the government schools back in the 1960s, the decline began. Children being educated in that system of philosophy have not been taught God's ways and have grown up in a society of moral decay. They have a lack of knowledge.

Many of those who have had the teaching of God's ways have rejected it. That is their own doing. I have a friend in her early 30s who has the knowledge from years and years of being taught about God, yet she rejects Him and His ways. She has an anti-God, recovery from religion, freedom from religion agenda. It is sad to see her so empty as she pulls others down into the pit with her. Yet it is her own choice. She will not listen. Thousands upon thousands will not listen.

But God continues to pursue the hearts of people. Some of them He lets go their own way and suffer the consequences, but others He draws back to Himself. For that we are eternally grateful.

Has God drawn you? Do you have knowledge of Him? Have you rejected His ways?  Have you given your children knowledge of Him? Does their educational system teach them about God's ways?

I do hope you know Him. I do hope you pursue knowledge of His ways. I hope you haven't forgotten. It would be so sad if you have. And, oh, the children......

Painting ~ School Is Out, Elizabeth Forbes 1889

From the Sewing Room ~ Flannel Sheets for Anna

Finished the bed sheets today for our little Anna. It's cold up north this time of the year, and she had asked her mommy for some flannel sheets. Since those are hard to find for her toddler-sized bed, Elizabeth asked if I could make them for her. I was happy to do that, of course! A labor of love!

I had made crib sheets when Anna was younger, so I just adjusted the size a bit and followed the tutorial I had done back then. The bottom sheet has scattered hearts. The top sheet is a pink and white pin stripe, and the pillowcase matches both sheets.

If you'd like to make sheets for your little one, just click on the image and it will take you to the tutorial.

Thinking about our Anna as she snuggles in the for the night.
Sweet dreams, my dear little one!

Being A Different Kind of Woman

The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, 

but the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman.  

~ Elizabeth Elliot

Open the Alabaster Box

The death of another celebrity today. I recall seeing her on television when I was a teenager. She didn't impact me as she apparently did some others, but there are glowing words of how much she was admired and appreciated.

I'm at the age now where I read the obituaries most days, hoping not to see anyone's name that I know. Many of those whose circle of influence has a much smaller radius than this celebrity also have glowing words following them to their graves. Words that would bring a smile and brighten their day if they knew. I do hope they knew while they were living.

So it's a reminder to myself not to keep affections and affirmations in an alabaster box until those I care about can neither hear nor read of them. I want to brighten their todays, as a dear friend did for me some years back. She gave me this beautiful box with a sweet sentiment written underneath the cover. A treasure to me as valuable as alabaster.

Today may be that last day of opportunity. Open the alabaster box.

God's Faithful Care

For the past few days I've been especially reminded why we chose to move here. I've been with my mother as she's been in and out of the hospital again, helping with things that come as a result. Taking her to the doctor again tomorrow.

I am sometimes discouraged (as I know she is as well), but then God reminds me that I am an instrument in His hands as He cares for my mother. And as a friend commented to me recently, I am also gaining much from this season myself. I haven't been ill very often throughout my life, and the familiarity with doctors and processes that I'm experiencing now will benefit me and calm fears that may lie ahead of me. It's helping me to understand how it is to grow old, for I may be 86 some day myself.

In His faithful care, God is taking care of Mom. But also in His faithful care, He continues to show me my own heart. Some of it I don't like. There are moments when I struggle with self-focus, both hers and mine. I want to walk in a manner worthy of God's calling, but it's only by His strength that I can do so. So I ask Him to help me respond appropriately, to do what needs to be done, and to have wisdom and joy in doing it. That He may be glorified, and His loving care be made known.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10