The Masked Musketeer

Samuel had the opportunity this year of being in our home-school group's performance of "The Masked Musketeer."  He was Jose, one of the bandits.  His first time being the bad guy.  It was a fantastic play, and we could tell that all the kids had worked really hard to make it great.

Plan A

When my kids were younger, I began most mornings telling them about the day’s plan.  We would stop by the grocery store, the library, the post office, and some days, the park.  I stopped revealing the plan for the day as they grew older because they would grumble when Plan A morphed into Plan B or Plan C due to uncontrollable circumstances.  So far my track record with carrying out Plan A is lousy; I cannot think of a day that went according to plan.

But I know someone who is still on Plan A after many, many years.

            God.

He stated Plan A way back in Genesis.  He would send the Messiah through the woman’s seed to “crush” Satan’s head, defeating the power of sin in the life of those who believe in His Messiah.  As the years passed, God revealed more details with each passing generation, and in the NT, He perfectly executed Plan A.  The Messiah was born. 

A plan is easy to accomplish if there is only one element, but a plan with several elements is difficult to carry out.  With each added detail the intricacy  increases, making the plan very difficult to fulfill, but that is just what God did.  He made His plan intricate, full of details, creating a situation that looked impossible for the completion of plan A. 

                        Detail #1:  The Messiah would come through Abraham.    Genesis 22:17-18.

 

                        Detail #2:  The Messiah would come through Isaac.  Genesis 17:19.

                        Detail #3:  The Messiah would come through Jacob.  Genesis 28:14.

                        Detail #4:  The Messiah would come through Judah.  Genesis 49:9-10.  

           

                        Detail #5:  The Messiah would come through Jesse.  Isaiah 11:1.  

                        Detail #6:  The Messiah would come through King David.  2 Samuel 7:12.

                        Detail #7 The Messiah would come through Zerubbabel.  Haggai 2:23.

                       

Every promise, every covenant God made with men about the Messiah increased the intricacy of His plan.  The Messiah wasn’t just to come through the line of Abraham, He would come through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, King David, and Zerubbabel.  Just read Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38 and you’ll see each of these men listed in the lineage of Jesus. 

            I have yet to execute Plan A when I have five things on my list for one day.

            Yet, God accomplished His Plan A, over centuries of time, following each intricate detail.  It is amazing to see how God makes Plan A then carries out Plan A to completion through His Son Jesus, the promised Messiah.

            What does that mean in our lives?

            “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  Phil. 2:13. 

            If the God who orchestrated and carried out the plan for His Messiah is working in you, can you lose?  God, the maker of Plan A, will always carry it out unto completion.  You are part of that plan.  Don’t believe me because you’ve messed up so many times you are sure to be on Plan X by now?  Just study the men and women found in the genealogy of our Savior.  They were all sinners, and yet, somehow, God still used them to complete Plan A.  He can do the same in our lives.

I feel like 16 again

After weeks of not being able to drive, I'm very excited to have my freedom again.  Yes, I waited excitedly for Darin to get out of bed so he could take me to practice driving. So far driving has been the thing my leg has remembered easily. 

Praise God! He is continuing to heal my tendon as we prepare to leave KY.   I just may arrive in Texas ready to lace up the running shoes. 

More tough changes

As we continue down this road of getting rid of our earthly possessions, we reach another tough milepost. One more of the things we can't take with us is our dog. (We will on the other hand take the little girl.) As we search for a new home for her, we consulted with her in order to make this profile. She tried typing herself but it was taking altogether too long.

 My name is Josie. I am a 7 year old Chocolate Lab. I am fixed, but I have had two litters of puppies. I love to play and I love people, but I am getting a little older and I sleep more than I used to. I have decided not to dye my gray hair as I believe it is a sign of wisdom. I am scared of loud noises, so when there is a thunderstorm, I will probably try to climb into your lap. I will need someone to keep me who has a fenced yard because I have grown up on a farm that is a long way away from the road and I don't really understand that cars can hurt me. When my family comes home, I usually run out in front of the car because I know they will stop and get out. If there is another family who is interested in adopting me, I would like to come and visit for awhile to see how we get along.

Project Time

While my mom visited, the kids began their semester's projects. This is one of my favorite weeks of school because we don't do the other subjects and just focus on the projects. Plus I enjoy the hands on of cutting, gluing, and making play-dough. I can't share Samuel's because he did a Lego stop motion video about creation. His next step is to figure out how to add sound to his video and post it on our blog.

I took Samuel out deer hunting this morning. Just before sunrise a doe walked out and Samuel took the shot. When we got out of the stand we walked to where we thought it was when he shot it. We couldn't find any blood or evidence the deer had been hit. I even crawled around on the ground and couldn't find anything. So after looking for awhile, we decided he had missed completely so we got back up in the stand. About an hour later, this big boy walked out about a hundred yards away and promptly met his maker. While walking back to the house, we all of a sudden found a blood trail from the first deer about 50 yards further away than we thought he was when Samuel shot. So... now we have a lot of meat.

Looking good

Look at me. I'm vacuuming while standing without crutches. (Please ignore the PJ pants and totally awesome stylish shoes).

It has been a loooonnnnng 8 weeks, but I'm on the mend. My physical therapist even told me to bring my shoes on Tuesday. That can only mean walking without the boot.