A marathon of books

At breakfast, I read more from A Place of Quiet Rest. Something she said hit home. "I find it impossible to cultivate an intimate relationship with God or become the woman he wants me to be apart from spending daily time alone with him. It's not possible in human relationships and no more possible in our relationship with God." She likens this to manna the Israelites got in the desert. How just as they relied on this manna daily for their sustenance, we rely on time alone with the Lord for our spiritual nourishment. I think I agree with that. I notice my heart being disconnected and less purposeful those days that I'm not taking that time to be alone with him.

This morning we drove with daddy to work since he can't park down there due to construction. We drove home and stopped at the Sequoia library where we hadn't been in a while. We spent about an hour browsing through books, reading to J, playing with foam letters and numbers. He interacted well with a few of the kids that were there, but with one got a little grabby so I had to referee.

At home, J got a nap while I had some time alone with the Lord. I started Luke 6 today. Jesus speaks of being Lord of the Sabbath. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. People are already starting to come against him. Jesus never allowed himself to be trapped like that. As he healed a man with a shriveled hand, he asked what was lawful on the sabbath, to do good or evil? The Pharisees were furious and couldn't argue with his response. His question made them look foolish. They were discussing what they could do with him while Jesus brought restoration to this man.

Tonight I was to bring a meal to a mom in our group who just had her second child. I am usually very organized but the day got away from me and things were not planned out. To make a long story short, I realized I wouldn't have the time to make a full meal since I had to pick my husband up from work so I picked up something from My Menu which they'd have to microwave. I felt bad about that, but they were very gracious and invited us in. J had a great time pulling all kinds of toys out of their son's toy box. Their son was very generous letting J play with all his toys. It ended up turning out well and we even had time talk for a bit.

Today we were on a book marathon. We read a book when he woke up, books after breakfast, probably 8 books at the library, a book before nap, books after lunch, books after dinner, a book before bed. Whoa! It helped that I got several books from the library on fire fighting, earth movers, construction and dinosaurs. A lot of these we read a couple times through since he just can't get enough of them. I'm so glad he loves to read. It's something L and I also love to do. But I don't think I could go on a reading marathon like this every day!

Our small group got together tonight. We discussed the sermon which was related to Jeremiah 29:7 when the Israelites were exiles in Babylon and God told them to bring peace (shalom) to these people. A main thing we were looking at is participating in God's work of bringing peace to our community. We shared ways we are currently doing that and ways we feel God is calling us to do that. One place we mentioned that we often overlook is bringing shalom into our own home, and into our marriage relationship. An example was "picking our battles" so to speak. Choosing not to make an issue of something and instead being silent about it when we realize it would not bring peace and would not be worth the argument. I need to do more of that. I tend to speak off the trigger and when my anger is triggered, I need to take time to process and not speak.