Lessons from a Fly?

Right now a little fly is buzzing around on my computer screen.

I was sitting here wondering what to write for my next post, but the little guy kept winning my attention.  It's like he was saying, "Me! Me! Me!  Post about me!"  I thought,

Well...

Why not?

*embarassed chuckle*

I mean, have you ever wondered why God made flies? Considering the fact that they were included in His creation of the world, I can only assume they're meant to serve some kind of purpose. (However big or small a purpose that may be!)  Still, I can't help but wonder why God created such pesky little creatures.  It's true that He involved them in some accounts told throughout the Bible.  The biggest and most obvious example being the ten plagues in Exodus:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them. “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the LORD, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” And the LORD did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies." Exodus 8:20-24

Here's another passage I found that refers to 'flies' as well:

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,

so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor." 

Ecclesiastes 10:1
.

So... not only does God use these insects to fulfill His purposes, but to demonstrate important truths as well! I never realized He used them as a way to compare things good and wholesome to things which are negative and hindersome--when it comes to living out our faith!  Who'd a thunk it? :)

-------------------------------------------------------

Well,

I can honestly say that I never would've thought I

could (or rather, should) write a post about flies! 

--------------------------------------------------------

But the truth is, this post isn't meant to be about flies.  It's about the Creator of the flies, who chooses to use seemingly small things (such as flies) to serve an even greater purpose (such as the deliverance of God's people from Egypt!)

It's about a God whose salvation lasts forever, and whose righteousness...

will never fail. :)

 

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

look at the earth beneath;

the heavens will vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment

and its inhabitants die like flies.

{mental picture -- tee hee!}
.

But my salvation will last forever,

my righteousness will never fail."

Isaiah 51:6

PRAISE THE LORD ALL THE EARTH.  :)

Read All About It!

In this post you will find a conglomeration of random topics including:

• My feelings on the first of November.
• A hospital update.
• Mustard.
• Femininity.
• Laughter. 
• And Scripture.

...All rolled into one...

...tee hee!

#1

It's officially November.

Yay!

#2

Update on Dad.
When I talked to my mom this evening she said my dad was feeling pretty good, which is a praise!  He is scheduled to have his last plasma exchange on Thursday, so we're hoping he'll get to come home sometime this weekend. :)

Also, everything is finally approved for Dad to begin his MS treatments. Once he's out of the hospital he will be able to start monthly infusions for a drug called Tysabri. We're praying that it helps to relieve him of all his exacerbations, but most of all that the Lord be glorified through it!


#3
Did You Know?
Mustard works nicely as a quick pain reliever for most burns.

Emphasis on the word "most" in that last sentence.  In a bit more severe case (such as the one pictured below) I've learned it really is quite pointless. lol!
.

(The above incident happened a few months ago. 

As I lifted a lid off a pan of boiling soup, the steam shot right out and burned my wrist!)

#4

Feelin' Feminine?

Eden is hosting this month's Feelin' Feminine Challenge, starting November 4th!



{Just click the button to find out more!}



I've loved getting to see past participant's outfits each day during the challenge, but I've never participated myself.  SoOo, I've decided I'm going to join in this Thursday!  Since I already wear skirts and dresses most of the time, this should be an easy challenge... But it will be a fun excuse to show a glimpse inside my wardrobe! ;-)

#5

Laughing Out Loud.

"Our mouths were filled with laughter..."  Psalm 126:2

Since Mom and Dad have been in the hospital, my sisters and I have slept in their bedroom together for the last few nights.  Well, before we went to sleep yesterday we all took turns praying, and then turned out the lights and lay down.  After a few minutes of complete darkness and silence... Shelly busted out laughing!  I looked over at her and said, "What are you laughing about?!"  She responded by mimicking a funny noise I had made earlier that day.  You see, Eliza and Samantha were watching a movie while Shelly and I tried to take a nap that afternoon.  As the two of us were lying in the bed, I had noticed something on my blanket that looked like a spider.  I sat up quickly and realized it was only some black string.  The room was completely quiet as I dropped back down on my pillow with an accidentally strange, high-pitched sigh of relief. 

Needless to say, that's what got her rolling with laughter at 10:00 last night.  And once she started laughing, I started laughing.  We ended up sharing the story with Eliza and Samantha.  Then all four of us were laughing and mimicking the same "funny noise" over and over. 

Okay, I guess you had to be there. ;-)

 
#6
Random Bible Verse to Close

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dreamed.
Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them.
Psalm 126


...........................................
Praise the Lord all the earth!
...........................................

"Clothed" with Patience

Okay, one morning a few weeks ago I woke up and walked through the living room to see Sisters #2 and #3 playing with all their stuffed animals. Everything seemed pretty normal through my sleepy eyes! ...But the next time I walked through, I noticed something strangely wrong with the whole picture, and I jumped! This is what I saw:

Do you see it???

Yes, poor Ty was buried underneath all their stuffed animal puppies!

I thought this was so funny that I ran and got the camera to take a few pictures. Doesn't he just fit right in? LOL! Normally he wouldn't tolerate lying there like that for very long, but he was very patient! I could really learn a lot from his example of patience here!

Anyway, I know this is a little silly, but I thought it was cute! Have a wonderful rest-of-the-week!

Colossians 3:12

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." :)

Another "Sister Day" :)

This afternoon Mom and sis #1 left to get church work accomplished and run to the bank, post office, etc. While they were gone sisters #2 and #3 and I had a tea party and ate leftover chicken salad from Family Ministry last night! (If you don't already know, we really like to drink hot tea!) I also thought it would be nice to read them a chapter from the book "Beautiful Girlhood". We've owned the book for a few months now, but still I had not read it yet. We only read the first chapter today.

Afterwards, they were asking if we could make some kind of dough for them to play with. They had apparently done it before with sis #1, so they just told me what to do. (I honestly wasn't sure how it would work out, but I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to try!) These were all the ingredients they had me use:

Okay, so the cook book and pretty towel were only for show! :)

The whole process of mixing the unmeasured ingredients together took no time at all. They were begging me to add sugar to it, but I kept reminding them that our purpose in making this dough was NOT to eat it but to play with it. Still they persisted in their asking, as if each time they told me it was a brand new idea they'd just thought up. It was quite comical really. Here's a picture of our decent-looking dough: (I must say I was rather impressed!)

Okay, I'm not really sure why it rotated the picture after downloading it onto Blogger. It was turned the right way when I selected it. Oh, well. I guess you get the "picture"!

Anyway... for some reason I ended up leaving the kitchen for a few seconds and came back to find sis #3 sitting over the bowl with dark green ALL over her hands, and this:



Yes, I was shocked. Also a little upset to find that she decided to use most of the food coloring we had stored in our pantry to decorate our play-dough. Let me tell you, it's never ending in our house! :) So, the whole mixing of the food coloring didn't really work out quite right, considering the substance we had created was very thick and wouldn't stir at all. Oh, well. They did get to play with it and they enjoyed every bit of it, which was good. What's funny is if you know sis #2, then you know she always has some logical or reasonable solution. So here it is:

Sis #2: (Sitting at the island with the dough) "Look Tay! I just made a really awesome thing."
Taylor: (Sitting over at the table) "I'm sure you did. What is it?"
Sis #2: "Well, if you want to know, you're gonna have to come over here."
Taylor: "Okay... Hold on." (Finally walks over)
Sis #2: "See. Can you guess what it is?"
Taylor: "Of course. It's Texas." (Acting not too impressed. (Keep in mind, they've shown me a hundred things by now.))
Sis #2: "Yep. And the yellow and green colors make it look like the weather forcast on T.V.!"
OKAY, so I was actually rather impressed after that! You can always count on sis #2 to come up with something like that.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share what was taking place in our kitchen this afternoon. I'm glad I made the decision to take pictures as it all unfolded. It was definitely worth doing because of the story we had to go along with it! There's certainly never a dull moment. For those who know me, I'm sure it was funny to picture me (the serious, boring sister) in the kitchen with those two!
~We had a good time, and I'm glad we did it! God bless and have a beautiful day!

Sayings from the Wise?!?

In honor of my Dad, I thought it would be fun to post different little "sayings" we've heard him say through the years. There are so many, I probably won't list them all!

What did George Washington say before he crossed the Deleware? He says this many times as we are getting into the truck, and we girls respond: Get in the boat men!

A.B.B.A. (Already Been Breathed Air) He is sure to let us no when we're too close to his "breathing space"! He just cries out with this abbreviation! :)

Shadrach, Meshach, and to-bed-you-go! This wasn't one we enjoyed hearing quite so much!

Jeet' yet? Naw. Yo'nt to? Ite.

I feel like I do now more than I did then.

Boats were made to float, not sink. -You see some of his wisdom coming out here! LOL

Punch it Margaret! (My parents say it's from an old commercial.)

I'm starvin' Marvin, full like a bull, thick as a tick, and stuck like Chuck. ...He likes to rhyme! :)

I've got three words for ya: ty - pi - cal.

Even fish stay out of trouble if they keep their mouths shut. (Fishing analogy. Ty-pi-cal. He likes to fish!)

I'm exhauscapated!

NOW... for some wisdom:

"Let no unwholesome talk proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear."
Ephesians 4:29 He really does like to quote this often! How funny that it somewhat applies to our subject!

Thank you, Daddy, for all that you are and all that you do! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, wise father. I love you, Taylor

Urim and Thummim... Huh?

A few nights ago I decided to check out this book I got from church by an author named Robert J. Morgan. Now, I don't know anything about this man, so I can't recommend his work. I just saw the book and thought I'd give it a try! ;) It's called "From This Verse". It's a small 365-day reading plan with daily Scripture readings and testimonies of encouragement. So, I started on day 17 in January where it discussed the topic of the Urim and Thummim of the high priest in the Old Testament. He told about a man who explained that he wasn't completely sure what the two objects were. He only knew it was put on the breastplate of the high priest and that through it the high priest was able to discern the mind of God. He said that he found he could get the mind of the Lord nowadays by changing only two letters in the words. Here's his direct quote:

"I take the blessed Book, and just by "usin' and thummin'" I get the mind of theLord!"

Ha! Ha! I know, it's a little corny, but I thought it was worth sharing! :P