God and Me

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Cor. 13:12)

Today, I was busy with my thoughts, my hands involved with a craft, when I suddenly realized something.

Brain: “You just ordered God to do something.”

Me: ::mentally starts pounding herself to pulp::

Brain: “Well, feather head (myself excluded) what are you going to do about it?”

Me: “I... don't know what to say.”

Brain: “A simple apology might be a good starting point.”

At first I couldn't believe how preoccupied I had become with myself. Even though I was praying for someone else, I had been mentally envisioning the power I have through Jesus Christ and my prayers to Him. Instead of humble petitions, my prayers became laced with pride until I was commanding God to do things. Amazing how quickly I go downhill.

On the other hand, not so unbelievable.

It's sobering when you think of the liberties we take with God. He's Awesome, Divine, All-Powerful, Just, Loving, Great, Three In One. You know that's just a drip of whole pitcher.

We don't know how to relate to Him.

We don't even know how to talk to Him.

We can't understand how much He's done for us.

We can't understand the extent of pure justice that only God understands and uses.

But.

He gives us glimpses of Him. Sometimes it's almost blinding.

He let's us talk to Him... and not only that, He talks to us.

He knows how much He's done for us and all He says (even when we make the stupidest mistakes), “Debt paid. I love you.”

Even though we do not understand, God's Justice is being bestowed on each of His children.

Ok. So I was being demanding. So I was thinking of myself instead of God. I could start yelling at myself and get very depressed. While doing so, I could stop thinking about God completely instead of concentrating on Him totally.

Or, I could get over it and begin again. Realizing again that I am a bumbling human being who's Father loves her and wants her attention and love.

Sometimes when I pray diligently for something for a long time, I feel discouraged when God doesn't answer in 'good' time (my time, of course). I start asking myself, “Did I not pray right? What if my prayer was selfish? Maybe I'm not good enough.”

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)

As I was writing, I remembered the man who's prayers and praises are probably the most read section of the Bible. David. The man after God's own heart.

Prayer beginning: “Oh Lord, please kill 'em! Slit their tongues. I can't stand these creeps any more.” Prayer ending: “Oh thank you, God, for answering my prayer! I praise You with my whole heart!”

It would be interesting to know if God answered David's prayer by killing those David asked Him to kill or... if God turned David's direction from his enemies, back to God. It's amazing how much becomes bearable when God is our focus. Ah... we serve a righteous God. A loving God. One whom I can't understand very well but of whom I get glimpses of.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. “(Hebrews 7:25)

Lesson summary from today? I need to focus on God. More. I need to rest in His perfection. More.

The most amazing thing about God is that there is never an end. There is always more. I am looking forward to Heaven. :-)

Song From The Heart

I recently found this song by The Isaacs... I really love the sound of the melody and their voices combined... and the words are great too! :-)

The Joys of Braces

I am the wearer of braces with dark green rubberbands. This post is for brace wearers especially but even if you haven't ever had pieces of car antennae plastered all over your teeth, feel free to read this and try to pick apart the lingo. For you brace wearing geeks out there, I salute you with heartiness and feeling and much affection. Well, knock out the heartiness part. My pain killer is wearing off.

Hehe.

That's right. On the 23rd (Tuesday) we spent the day in MB getting braces, dental work and little baggies of lovely stuff like flossers and tooth brushes and threaders and nifty little bracket cleaners that I LOVE!!! among other things. :-) It's actually going well, I must admit. The pain hasn't been horrible and it feels healthy brushing three times a day and flossing twice. I am really looking forward to getting them off, though. I keep envisioning my beautiful smile when I'm finished with the 18 months.

The worst thing about it is flossing. Eating takes 2nd place in the very bad category, yes, but flossing is definitely #1. The first time I tried to floss, I got tangled up with the farthest molar on the bottom left. The more I tried to (gingerly) work it off whatever it was tangled on, the more I wished I had three hands: two to work the floss and one to hold a flashlight. (You know how dark it is back there?!) I ended up getting some huge scissors and cutting the floss out of my mouth, which, by that time, was a mess of shredded white material that was slippery and gooey and didn't want to be gripped by anything.

But I won. ::high fives anyone else who has gone through similar degrading situations:: And today, I finally managed to finish my floshing without... wait a minute. That's flossing. Anyways... without saliva dripping off my elbows. Ok. Enough of the gross stuff.

Food is another challenge. I'm beginning to seriously wish that all foods dissolved or liquidated like crackers or stocks. Seriously. I've been subsisting on crackers, macaroni (gingerly), sugarless juice, yogurt, water and... oh yeah. I had gravy and mashed potatoes today for dinner. That was a treat. Everyone else was saying, “Aw man! These potatoes taste so old! I can't believe how horrible they are!” But not me! I was saying, “What beautiful, smooth, delightfully gorgeous potatoes!!!” :-) :-)

For the record, I'm not complaining. I'm merely finding something in this void of eternal misery to be thankful for.

Actually, I digress. It hasn't been that bad at all. I'm really thankful to be getting braces and I'm so looking forward to the pleasures of straight teeth. :-) Beauty takes place #13 in that regard. Of course... beauty doesn't hurt. :-)

End of crazy post. Adieu, my ever patient friends, until next time.

Eli Eli's first recording... I must recommend it. :-)

Eli Eli has produced their first recording!

The Nasby family have been good friends to us over the years. We met them the summer of 2002 and have enjoyed the years of fellowship, music, fun and good food. :-) Recently, the three brothers finally finished their first CD, entitled “Risen”.

When I first listened to their recording, I was impressed by the professional sound. They produced it in their homemade studio, working on it over 10 years and the perseverance and diligence they put into their recording is evident.

They wrote/composed all of the songs so it is a new sound you will be hearing. :-) The melodies vary in sound and tempo... some very brisk, some slow and beautiful. They play a variety of instruments and their voices blend in a three part harmony.

Make sure to check out their website at: www.elieli.net

It's a pleasure to call them friends. :-)

Italian Cheese Bread

Last night, we had one of my favorite snacks. It's called “Italian Cheese Bread”. We don't have it often since cheese is so very expensive, but when we do have it, it disappears very quickly! :-)

I got this recipe from my friends Erin and Lindsey S. The latter sent the recipe to Tammy Luna, who posted it on her cooking website. That being said, I changed the recipe a little when I made it (due to not having their recipe on hand) but the idea is the same. I'll post my version but I'll also post the link to the original.

Italian Cheese Bread

1 C. water (70* - 80*)

1 ½ tsp dry instant yeast

2 TBSP melted butter/olive or canola oil

1 TBSP sugar/honey

1 tsp salt

3 C. flour

¼ - 1/3 C. Ranch or Italian dressing

¼ tsp. onion salt

½ tsp. thyme

½ tsp. oregano

1/8 tsp (or less, I just shook the shaker over it a few times) black pepper

1 C. mozzarella, grated

1 C. cheddar, grated

In dough mixer, put water, yeast, butter, sugar and salt. Let sit for a minute. Add a cup of flour and mix. While mixing, add the rest of the flour. The dough should be firm but not stiff. Let knead for five minutes.

Roll dough out into a 12” - 14” circle and place on a greased pizza or cookie sheet.

Spread the dressing evenly over the surface of the dough; sprinkle the onion salt, thyme, oregano and pepper, then spread the cheese over that.

Bake at 400* F. for 14-15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and bread is golden brown around the edges.

www.tammysrecipes.com/italian_cheese_bread

Be sure to check out Tammy's website for more excellent recipes!

Computer fixed!!!

I am using my own computer, at last. I'm so happy. :) :) It's so nice to be able to feel the familiar keyboard under my fingers. :)

We're at the N's today... it's been so nice to see them again. :) Doing lots visiting, eating, playing music, sharing stories and smiles. :)

Life has been interesting.... :-) We got a new strain of the cold we had just gotten over, so some of us have been fighting it again. Thankfully today I woke up feeling much better!

It's good to realize that one can indeed live without a computer but I must say, I really miss writing. I will be so glad to have my laptop working again!

Sara is starting to talk. The other day, she wanted something and I told her that she needed to say "Please" so she did. :-) Then, yesterday, I spotted her and waved, saying, "hello!" and she responded by saying the same thing back to me. It's so cute! I can't get over how fast she's maturing. Ruth didn't start talking until she was over 2 years old. :-) I'm sure Sara will be walking before too long, as well.

Words Woven

"A better book than I shall ever write was there;
leaf after leaf presenting itself to me,
just as it was written out by the reality of the flitting hour,
and vanishing as fast as written,
only because my brain wanted the insight
and my hand the cunning to transcribe it.

"At some future day,
it may be,
I shall remember a few scattered fragments
and broken paragraphs,
and write them down,
and find the letters turn to gold upon the page."
--Nathaniel Hawthorne ("The Custom House")

Nathaniel Hawthorne tends to be long winded and there are times when I find myself literally falling asleep over his stories! But in this instance, I don't think anyone could have written better what an author feels. The stories crowding in our heads, just waiting to be written down. And there are those moments when the words that come to our fingers are indeed golden.

Computer Troubles

Hi everyone! I just wanted to type a quick note to say that my AC cord for my laptop is not working so it might be a little while before I can post anything. I hope to get it fixed before too long... hopefully by getting a new cord! :-) I've had problems in the past with it and I think it's time to get a new one.

Cheers to all!

The Power of Prayer -- Adventures in the Life of Naomi H.

People use the words “The Power of Prayer” without really comprehending what they're saying. Have we any inkling of the power we have through Jesus Christ? Maybe just an inkling.

Since we have been scheduled to play several places in the recent weeks, we've been practicing our music. It's a challenge to get four grown girls, all of whom have strong opinions and wills, to practice together and have a good time. Add an 11 year old boy, 8 year old girl, 6 year old boy and a 4 year old girl and life just got a lot more complicated. Attitudes fly around the room like big, nasty birds, everyone is squawking at everyone and everything (each individual, the music, our family team) suffers.

In the past few days of practicing, I've had it laid on my heart that I needed to pray before we began our practice. But I ignored it. For what reason? Simply this, I was afraid. I was afraid that my family would look at me and think, “She's been as bad as the rest of us and she wants to act buddy buddy with God now?” I was afraid also that God wouldn't make a noticeable change and my younger siblings would question God's power. Ultimately, I was afraid that me praying would send my siblings further away from God.

Written out on paper, my fears are shown for what they are: ridiculous.

But they didn't seem so at the time. It finally got bad enough yesterday that I was on the verge of quitting before we were done and sending everyone their own ways. But God spoke to me as I was praying to Him silently. He reminded me of the need for prayer and told me to believe. So I did. I told everyone to be quiet and that I was going to pray. And I did. Then, I held on and believed that God would answer this prayer.

The change was immediate and very noticeable.

God gave us a spirit of love for each other.

Our skill with both our instruments and our voices was much improved.

And above all, we were able to bring glory to God.

We don't always get what we ask for but this time, God answered 'yes'.

Please pray for us, as you think of us. Pray that our focus will be kept on God and that He will keep us in peace and love for each other. It's amazing how much freedom we have in Jesus... when we allow Him to work in our lives.

How easy it is to make excuses when we know what is right. How easy it is to turn away and take another path. How easy it is for our vision to become clouded and our minds filled with things other than truth. How easy it is to depend on other things to replace a relationship with God.

But, take heart! The Bible promises that if we seek, we will find. What are you seeking?

Blog Recommendations

note: my apologies for the offensive link! It is now fixed and I highly recommend you brave ones to check it out. :-) I hope I haven't scared anyone off! Lol. :P Again, My apologies.

Since my internet time is so limited, I don't often leave comments but I do read several blogs. :-) I wanted to list some of my favorites...

My friend, Eppie, recently married, more recently pregnant and very, very funny. I love you, E!

www.mildlyamusingmusings.com

Another friend of mine pointed me to this blog and I appreciate her doing so. Jasmine has such a fun attitude towards life... but she's very deep, too. Her blog is a very good read.

www.joyfullyathome.blogspot.com

Bethany is also recently married. Her blog is full of photographs, scripture, happy thoughts and her signature [smile].

www.bloggingbeth.blogspot.com

My sister Lydia's blog. Other than the fact that Lydia is my sister, her blog is great fun to read. She has a unique perspective on life that makes me chuckle, shake my head and wonder alternately about her wisdom and stupidity.

www.gallopingguitarist.blogspot.com

Jessica and I have been friends since we first met... at the age of 13. Well, I was 12 and she was just 13. :-) I went to her wedding and have taken real joy in watching her family grow in the years since. :-)

www.testimonyofgrace.blogspot.com

My friend Cheri is a wonderful musician, photographer, blogger and seamstress... not to mention all of her other great qualities.

www.ajoyfulhandmaiden.blogspot.com

More interesting Stuff... ;-P

Our darling Dudley... after he finished making a complete mess out of our living room. ;-)

Summer plans:

1: Teaching at a children's camp in the month of July.

2: Helping at another children's camp for the next 6 days.

3: Attending first week of Kenosee Lake Kitchen Camp as a student.

4: Going to John Arcand's Fiddle Fest.

5: Attending second week of Kenosee Lake Kitchen Camp as a student.

Excepting Johnny's Fiddle Fest, our entire summer will be spent at one location. I've never been away from home/family for so long... the longest I've spent away from home was a little over three weeks. This is bordering on 2 months.

My biggest fear is that I will not be the best witness that I can be. The children we will working with are not church going children... they have been sponsored to attend this Bible Camp. It's going to be a challenge. :-) Last summer, the director of the camp came to me and my sisters and asked if we would be willing to teach the next summer. During the conversation, I had a strong feeling that this was what God wanted for me and it hasn't gone away since the moment I heard the request. That alone is amazing because it's not usual for me to feel so strongly about something being God's will. I prayed and others prayed about it and the details have been coming together...

So my fears are unfounded and my excitement is not. I can't wait to experience what God has planned!! :-D

We're making lists of stuff we need to purchase... I would really like to bring as little as possible but it's better to have too much than too little. I hate being away from home and running out of essentials. :-P

It feels good to be on the mend! We're still not 100% but I'm hoping that it will be so, soon. The symptoms from this virus seem to be of the tenacious sort. Some days, I'm good... other days, not so good. We are scheduled for music twice in the near future so we have been practicing each morning before school. Invariably, one of us will have to leave in the middle of a song because suddenly something comes and we can't breath and we're gagging, etc, etc. This morning it was me. :-P Lol. Ever since we've begun practicing, my lungs/back have been hurting quite a bit. It's not too bad but it's getting to where I'm having trouble getting comfortable in any position. However, I'm sure it will pass in time... I'll just have to keep busy to keep my mind off of it. I'm not sure what's happening inside that's making them hurt but I imagine that it's from them being cleared out after having this cold.

We had some 'exciting' times this week when my parents took Sara to the ER to get X-rays of her left ankle, which was very sore. There was literally no swelling... at least that we could tell... and little to no heat. But she was in a lot of pain for a couple days. You feel so helpless when you can't do anything to help. Even Baby Tylenol didn't work that well. :-P Anyway, the X-rays showed nothing was broken. They thought that she had bruised her ankle somehow (we're still wondering how it happened... maybe she slipped while pulling herself up on something?) and that it would simply take time to heal. Since then, she's been obviously in a lot less pain and is starting to put a little weight on it. Such a relief. I hate it when babies are in pain. I hate it when anyone is in pain but it seems worse with babies and young children because they can't tell you how it happened or what hurts, etc.

We have company today... For dinner, we're having fried chicken and mashed potatoes... with tapioca pudding for dessert. It's almost time so I will close this up and get it ready to go for tomorrow. Mom is going into Preeceville so I will have a bit of 'net time, hopefully. :-)

Oh yes. I was going to thank everyone who writes a comment. It makes my day to read what you have to say about my ramblings... In fact, I might even say “I blog for comments”. Lol! :-D Is that bad?

The Things That Go On In The Holter House.. and other interesting stuff

Last time I was able to get a connection, I posted three blog posts. I had gone for over a week without getting on the internet so I had been given time and inspiration for that much material. Lol! This time, I have at least two, maybe more. We shall see. I trust it's not overwhelming when I post more than one at a time. :-)

Our music went well the night of the 5th. The first song was the best. No mishaps with timing or anything like that. :-) Plus, with kids of all ages singing, it was pretty cute. Ruth (4) and Uriah (6) were big hits and people told me they could really hear their voices. I was quite pleased.

The second song, however, is a different story. We learned several very important lessons: Firstly, it's best if the musicians can hear each other. If you are playing back up for the fiddler and you can't hear the fiddler, it's called 'bad news'. Secondly, don't set loose sheet music on a playing piano. The vibrations of the instrument will make the music first fall onto your hands, then onto the floor, leaving the poor pianist moaning to herself, “Why didn't I memorize it?!” Indeed! Lol! But since I had played it a million times before and I was only accompanying, I was able to pull it off with only a few mistakes. ::sigh:: :-)

[Uriah (6) was making a huge fuss about his math. He kept insisting that he couldn't do it, no matter how much Mom and I tried to explain to him. Finally, Mom said if he didn't get it done in 15 minutes, there would be consequences. He was done in five. And (get this!) the answers were correct. :-P Kids. :-D]

Zeke celebrated his 11th birthday on the 9th and we had our nice ice-cream and pizza. My portion was eaten with you all in mind, so ::kisses::. :-D Happy birthday, Zeke.

I've been reading lots lately and watching some movies. Here are some titles:

Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancy) [definitely going to watch this movie someday. This book was excellent. I love it. Minus the language. :-) Great story, style, etc. I love Ryan and Jonesy best. President was fun, too. Not written from a Christian perspective.]

The Stone Maiden (Velda Johnson)

The Underground Stream (Velda Johnson) [both books were written in a timeless style that I love. I must say that I appreciated the former more than the other but I liked the mystery and storylines of both. Not written from a Christian perspective.]

And some of the movies I've been watching have been:

Amazing Grace (Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell)

[I love this movie. It's like a documentary about William Wilberforce that's a movie. Very interesting, intense, moving, sweet. Great acting.]

Night At The Museum (Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams)

[One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Made me get tears of laughter in my eyes. :-) It's a satire but it's sweet and has a moral at the same time. Really funny. Some minor language and references to evolution... but I must say, I thought they were making fun of belief in evolution.]

Riders of the Purple Sage (Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Henry Thomas)

[I've seen Henry Thomas act in three westerns and in each, he was my favorite character. Lol! This movie is based on Zane Grey's book. Very nicely acted with a great story and mystery. Love the horse stuff. :-)]

The Nativity Story (Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub)

[I thought this movie well done. Well acted certainly and they stuck fairly close to the Bible. There were a couple things that made me go “Yeah, right.” (sarcasm helps some things go down easier ;-)) But I thought for a biblical movie, they did fairly well. :-) I do advise you to go see it.]

Does anyone have any good biblical films they could recommend? Usually they seem to take liberties with the story, therefore missing important things. :-P That being said I haven't watched many biblical films.

Hannah and I are on a committee from church that's organizing an evening called, “Ladies Time Out”. Each year's theme is different and this year, it's The 50's. It's basically going to be an evening for all the ladies in the community to come and hear about God while having a fun and enlightening evening. I'm quite excited about it. :-) We're trying to stay away from buying anything more than we have to so we're trying to keep our eyes open for costumes, magazines, cookbooks, decorations, etc that we borrow (or be given) from that era. Anybody have old Reminisce magazines they would be willing to send to me? We need ideas for costumes, etc.

Do you remember that post I wrote about the Jehovah's Witnesses that came to our door? The old gentleman who came from Hungary, who was telling me about the horrors of WW1? He had a stroke not long ago and isn't looking too good. There might be just a chance that he can think and reason and be convicted... please pray for him as you are led.

[At the children's group we help with at church, the teacher was asking the kids what things we could do to obey our parents. Then she asked them to tell, without names, some things people have done that were disobedient. Right away, a little boy named Dylan (5) piped up, “My Dad--” and was promptly cut off with, “No names!” He sat silently for several minutes as other children said their pieces, then he began, obviously thinking really hard, “My mother's husband...”]

I hope you all have had a great week so far and that the next will be full of joy! God bless and stay warm. :-) :-)

P.S. I recently learned that green was Napoleon Bonaparte's favorite color. I knew there was a reason I liked that color. :-P :-D

Patriot vs. Tory? Is that all?

Before I begin, I wish to say that I thank God for freedom of speech, to own land, guns, animals, etc, etc. I appreciate the sacrifice men and women have made through the centuries to gain this freedom for us. But sometimes it's easy to forget that the winner writes the history. One of the great advantages of living in Canada is the different sorts of literature you can find to read. Authors write from the Canadian viewpoint of history, wars, famous people, etc. It is true that we have a lot of the same material available here that I have read down in the States but there is quite a lot here that wouldn't be as easy to find down there.

I just finished Janet Lunn's book, “The Hollow Tree”. It's about the revolutionary war written from a point of view I had never introduced to before. Phoebe's father fought on the side of the patriots and died for the cause. Phoebe's cousin, who was as close to her as the brother she never had, fought on the loyalist side and was hung as a spy by his patriot neighbors. With loved ones dying for the cause of either side, Phoebe was driven to a point of view that wasn't popular at the time... and still wouldn't be with some people.

“I don't even know for certain which side he's for... and I don't even care. I saw neighbors doing terrible things to neighbors... and those neighbors who did those things do not seem any different from [people she was traveling with who were full of bitterness]. ...I do not care who wins this dreadful war.”

Later, she has a conversation with a loyalist soldier in Canada.

The soldier sighed again, “I reckon fer me 'twas when the mob stripped the clothes off old Obadiah Hanks and slathered him with hot pine pitch and rolled him in chicken feathers [a person's skin starts rubbing off, at this point], then rode him around on a fence rail 'til he screamed. He hadn't done nothin' but call them a clutch of rowdies and roughnecks. That set my blood a-boilin' and I lit into Billy Pierce, and it wan't but a sneeze-up afore the whole clanjamfry of 'em was after me. I lit outta there lickety-split. I was set to hide in the woods fer a time and then go on home, but I was so riled, I up and took myself up to the St. Lawrence River and marched all the way to the British holdings up Three Rivers here in Canada and,” he finished on a low, sad note, “I joined up with 'em.”

“And now you hate it.”

“Wal, I don't see the use of it, much. I been in Gentleman Johnny's army alongside of Captain Sherwood and Colonel Peters and the rest in this here Queen's Loyal Rangers and I seen things worse than what happened to old Obadiah Hanks. What I ain't seen is, I ain't seen anything to make me doubt we'd all be a sight better off getting' the ---- outta here and goin' home, beggin' your pardon, Mistress...”

I love studying psychology. I watch how people react and deduct what makes them tick. I think that's one reason I love Agatha Christie so much. Her stories are all based around the psychology and why people do the things they do. I was reading a story of hers the other day called, “Death Comes As The End”. It's her typical murder mystery but set in ancient Egypt, for a change. :-) In this particular story, there is a family in which the father is the ruler/leader/boss over the entire family. Things have been the same for half of forever when suddenly the father brings home a beautiful and proud concubine. What happens after that isn't pretty but fairly interesting. Forgive me. :-P

But what is said in the end of the story is the interesting thing.

Yes, the concubine was a selfish, evil girl but she didn't change any of the members of the family. She simply uncovered who they were on the inside and let it out for everyone to see.

I believe this ties in with the Phoebe's view of the Revolutionary War. Becoming Patriots or staying loyal to the Crown didn't make people nasty or nice. It simply showed who they really were. And if I may say so, I believe the same thing applies to WW2 and the holocaust (or any other event which causes great strife and contention). People have never been forced, by Hitler or anyone else, to behave any way that was foreign to their innermost heart and will.

If they were selfish, they threw stones and shouted, “Dirty Jews!” or turned Jews in to the authorities. If they wanted to care about folks more than themselves, they hid and helped the Jews.

But it was more than than helping or turning Jews in or working in the underground. There will always be people on both sides who are 'good' or 'bad' people. There were patriots who hung their neighbors or sent them away from their homes to starve because they were on the 'wrong' side. There were patriots who were good and generous people who acted for the good of their neighbors and friends. And there were loyalists who did the same sort of things.

What it really comes down to whether we have the spirit of God in us; whether we are truly selfless. And you know what has to happen between us and God before that can become you or me!

When the time of testing comes for us, I wonder who we will be? Thoughts?

Thinking on blessings...

John 16

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth;

It is expedient for you that I go away:

for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;

but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come,

he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you,

but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,

he will guide you into all truth:

for he shall not speak of himself;

but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:

and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me:

for he shall receive of mine,

and shall shew it unto you.

15 All things that the Father hath are mine:

therefore said I,

that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.