Season 3

Exodus 35:20-38:31

“All the women who were willing used their skills” Exodus 35:26

Every day. My Beloved, every day you pray. You seek My face and My will. Every day you ask for Me to open you up and pour My Spirit in. Every day.

Every day you ask for Me to guide your path, to lead your feet and use your words as My own – to “speak My Truth with boldness, clarity and conviction”. You ask Me EVERY DAY. How can I not answer a prayer like that? How could you even consider the idea that I wouldn’t answer the prayer I GAVE YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE? Every day you ask, and I listen. I hear your prayer and I lead you in the way that you should go. And while you may not like where I’m leading you, you’ve faithfully followed My lead every step of the way, even when it’s been hard. Yes, I’ve seen you. I’ve seen your struggles and your tears. I have heard your cry for help and your desperate plea for deliverance. Just because I’m waiting doesn’t mean I’m not listening or answering, it just means you’re not done there yet. And you know that Beloved.

Sweetheart, you can do this. Remember? “You CAN do all things through Christ who gives you strength.” Your faithfulness has not been un-noticed and will not go un-rewarded. I promise. I love obedience. And I am the One who can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you could ask or imagine. I have asked you to imagine BIG and with that has come much pain and heartache as you wait day by day for the fulfillment of those visions. I am not unfeeling to this pain that I have caused you. Please be patient with Me as I work behind the scene to unfold the most glorious thing you’ve ever seen in your entire life. You’ve heard time and again the phrase, “take up your cross daily”. And while there are days when your cross is heavier than you’d like, it is never anything more than the Light I’ve asked you to shine in this world. It’s nothing more than to follow My lead and to play your part in this valley of the shadow of death. Notice, it’s not the Valley of Death, it’s the Valley of the SHADOW of Death. That is all that it is, a mere shadow with neither the substance to kill nor the ability. I know that shadows can be scary at times, but they often appear much larger than they really are. Satan loves to blow things out of proportion and you all love to let him. DON’T.

I say “Every day” and remind you again of your own faithfulness to a simple prayer I gave you years ago. It’s simple yet, even you can feel its power. There is power in simplicity. My Dearest One, you are human and yet faithful to a simple daily prayer, reading and blog; how much MORE FAITHFUL do you think I can be??? More than you could ask or imagine My Child. So. Much. More. I know that keeping all these balls juggling in the air has been difficult for you, fear not, I am with you and I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. I adore you my Beloved One. You know that don’t you? I really do. It’s not just something I say, it’s something I mean.

I love you!

I LOVE you!

I love YOU!

Exodus 28:30-31:18

“Holy to the LORD” Exodus 28:36

This morning I wept as my children and I sped away from each other in opposite directions.

They were on their way to grandma’s house for the weekend with their cousins while I was on my way home to a completely empty house for the first time all summer long. I told Sean, “It feels like all I’ve done all summer is leave them and it’s breaking my heart”. I’m not sure why God has deemed this my summer of leaving, and I haven’t really liked it that much if the truth be told. However, I do trust in His wisdom and guidance and I do feel like this is His plan for us, no matter how hard it has been on all of us.

I have been able to see some good coming from this summer of leaving my children behind; they’ve grown leaps and bounds. They’re much more mature now than just a few months earlier. They’re a great team and while I’m pretty sure they’re sick and tired of being with each other, they’ve also grown together as siblings as well. I’ve also seen their father step up and take over my normal role of cook and chauffeur. He’s made more dinners this summer than I think he’s made in our entire fourteen years of marriage. He’s also been responsible for getting Gabe to tennis on more nights than I care to think of. He’s tucked them into bed in my absence and I am so grateful for the time he’s been allowed to share with them in these days of my absence.

So often as mothers we think we have to do it all. But maybe the reality is that by doing it all, we deprive our husbands and children of the experiences they COULD be having if we weren’t doing everything for them.

In today’s reading there’s a verse that I totally related to this morning, “Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons to be lifted up as a special offering to the LORD. Afterward take the various breads from their hands, and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering. It is a pleasing aroma to the LORD, a special gift for Him.” Exodus 29:24 As I read those words immediately after releasing my children into God’s capable hands for the weekend I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness remembering the sight in the rear-view mirror of their backs to me in the car heading west as I headed east. It made me think of the classic math problem, if one car driving 55MPH headed east drives for 10 minutes and another car driving 55 MPH headed west drives for an hour and a half how far apart will they be? The measure of one mommy’s aching heart away from her babies! That’s how far! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited about spending a weekend alone with my husband! But at the exact same time, I will be missing my kids and the life they bring to this party we live in this house day in and day out.

While God has placed these children in my hands to raise and tend until they are grown, there come certain times where bit by bit they are removed from my hands and there is just nothing that I can do about it, nor should i. Children were made to grow up and go off on their independent way, not to cling to their mommy’s skirts their entire lives. And yet, there’s a tiny part of me that wants that. I want that feeling of being needed and loved by the ones upon whom I’ve poured my life out. It just goes so quickly!!!

Exodus 25:10-28:29

“Have the people make the ark out of acacia wood” Exodus 25:10

“Then make a table of acacia wood” Exodus 25:23

“For the framework of the Tabernacle, construct frames of acacia wood.” Exodus 26:15

“Make crossbars of acacia wood to link the frames,” Exodus 26:26

“Using Acacia wood, construct a square altar 7 ½ feet wide…” Exodus 27:1

“For carrying the altar make poles made of acacia wood” Exodus 27:6

So, is it just me, or do you think that maybe… just maybe God wanted to make a point with the material used to construct the Tabernacle? I sense some sort of a running theme here, don’t you? Perhaps we should investigate a bit further. Shall we?

A preliminary Google search turned up this strikingly beautiful picture:

And a Wikipedia entry that explained that the Acacia tree is a thorn tree with some seriously wonderful medicinal benefits. Its bark contains a high level of tannins which have a critical role in the ripening of fruit or the aging of wine. They can also been found in red grape juice and red wines, it’s the stuff that gives you that dry “puckery” mouth-feel when drinking them. Tannins have proven highly beneficial in many ways. They’ve proven to have antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasitic effects! The Acacia tree most likely to have been used in the construction of the Tabernacle was the Acacia Seyal which is a thorny tree that tends to grow between 20 and 30 feet high! But here’s the part that I think you may have been waiting for, it is also highly likely that the crown of thorns that Jesus wore at the cross came from none other than the Acacia tree!

The very same tree used in the construction of so many of the articles in the Tabernacle, is the same tree that provided the thorns that pierced our Savior’s brow. Coincidence? I highly doubt it! To walk into that Tabernacle and see the ark and the table, the framework of the entire building! Even the crossbars and the altar and the poles made to carry the ark and the altar were all made of the very same wood that would sit upon Christ’s head as a crown of the shame He was bearing for us. EVERYTHING in that Tabernacle screamed the name of Jesus from the rooftops to the dust on the floor. It all said, “This is temporary, but the Eternal is coming and He will tabernacle with you in ways you could never imagine now. This Tabernacle is a symbol, a prophecy of what is to come – and it’s BEAUTIFUL!”

All that, from one tree.

Hallelujah!

Exodus 21:17-25:9

“There will be no miscarriages or infertility in your land and I will give you long full lives.” Exodus 23:26

When I read that verse this morning I was instantly taken back to a post I wrote last year. I had to look it up. On April 23^rd 2013 I wrote Healed, a post detailing a season in my life where I felt like I was surrounded by infant tragedies, and then found this phrase. The reason this verse stuck out to me so much this morning was its amazing timing! The first time I read the phrase (in 2 Kings) a friend of mine had just miscarried her twins; babies we had been praying for for YEARS. To say we were all devastated would be an understatement. And, as God would have it, the very next time I would read this phrase (from Exodus) it would be the very same week that that friend delivered her beautifully healthy little baby girl into the world!!!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!!

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for friends! So much! And yet all too often we get so lost in the few things that Satan is poking us with (I am SO talking to myself here right now)! Tonight as I was waiting for my computer to start up I started flipping through my 365 Life Daily Planner

and looking back at all the things that I have written down over the last few months. The appointments that I’ve been to, the verses that I’ve focused on, the to-do list items I’ve crossed off, but my favorite section to look at was my “Thank You LORD for:” section. Looking back through those I remembered some of those harder times, yet I was remembering them through a lens of gratitude.

I am so in love with this sweet little daily planner folks!!! It’s concise, yet allows me the space to elaborate if I want to. It’ helps me plan and order my thoughts and my day, while at the same time giving me the space to keep track of my blessings too! I’ve been using this planner almost daily since March 25^th and I love it more and more every day! Now you know me, I’m not usually one to sit here and try to sell you on one of my books, but this one… well, you NEED this book!!! It’s 365 identical pages spiral bound into a tight little package of keeping you organized and focused on God’s blessings and plan for your life. But on top of that, once the day is over it serves as a GREAT journal that logs your every move throughout the year.

Just taking the few minutes to sit here and flip back through it has made me so amazingly happy and I feel so much more blessed than I did just moments before. God has done so much for me! He has been there and blessed me with such an amazing family and great friends and I’m so grateful that He inspired me to create this simple book so that I could keep track of all those things in one place to keep for years and years to come. Who knows, maybe someday little Ella Mae will see that journal entry about the “fresh new baby girls blessing this world” and find out that it’s HER I was thanking God for – the baby we prayed and prayed and prayed for. The baby we feared might never come, except then she did, and she’s HERE! His word to me on that day in April was true. Thank You Jesus for being True to Your word and helping us hear it more clearly. Lord I pray with every fiber of my being that everyone reading this blog will pick up their Bibles at least once today and spend some time with YOU!!! Your Word is such a blessing and I want them to know how much of a blessing it really is! LORD, thank You for little Ella Mae, and I pray that she lives a long, happy, healthy life with You right by her side every step of the way. May she never know a day without Your guidance, wisdom, reassurance, blessing, favor and LOVE! In Jesus’ name! Amen!

Seriously, I really think you would like this Daily Planner, check it out.

Exodus 13:1-16:36

“I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharaoh and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD!” Exodus 14:4

I saved the pictures and story of Saturday night’s derby for today so that we could really sink our teeth into the message. This was our last derby of this season. We had hoped to possibly run in the State Fair Derby in August, but three derbies in three weeks wore us out and we’re done. After we had pulled in

and set everything up,

Sean went up for inspection and came back with nothing to do! Since we had two hours to fill we ended up playing some cards until my parents showed up and surprised the kids. They were thrilled. At one point in the evening my parents took the kids to watch the power wheels heat (where little kids go out and drive their little power wheels into each other until the time’s up), Sean and I hung back by the car. With our arms folded on the side of the truck bed we looked toward the stands and talked about the last three weeks. It had been hard. Like blood, sweat and tears – hard. Sean looked at me and told me how he’d been looking around the house and the yard, at the car and the truck and thinking about all the things around home that have gone neglected because he’s been working on the derby car. (This is very much how I’ve been feeling about the house now that I’ve been working away from it; so I can totally relate to how he feels.) I looked at those crowded stands and said, “Yeah. God has called us to be good stewards of the things He has blessed us with. But He’s also called us to go out into the world and make disciples. And I’m pretty sure He cares more about us making disciples than if the dryer needs fixed or if the lawn isn’t mowed for a week.” Putting those things aside is much harder than you would think. We’ve been brought up in a society, and live in a community, where a tidy lawn is a sign of a good Christian. We’ve heard the axiom for as long as we’ve been alive, “Cleanliness is next to godliness”. A phrase, I might add, that is NOT in the Bible anywhere. When forced to decide between doing another load of laundry and sitting down to write a post, I have to admit I waver in the decision. This life is filled with a lot of gray areas and I praise God for the GIFT of the Holy Spirit and His guidance in which way to go. Without that we all would be so lost!

Then yesterday as we sleepily staggered into church at 11 o’clock, for the first time all month, wouldn’t you know what the sermon was on. Discipleship!!! I about fell out of my seat. It’s a good thing I didn’t too because we were in the balcony and it would have ended badly. There was something in his message that really hit home for me yesterday. He leaned heavily on the passage in Luke where Jesus says: “If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison – your father, and mother, wife and children, brother and sisters – yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you can not be My disciple. But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ Or what king would go to war against another king without first sending down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become My disciple without giving up everything you own. Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (14:26-35)

Executive Pastor Mark Crull said, “Being saved has to MEAN something”, we have to be willing to commit to the cause of Christ or we become flavorless salt that’s worth nothing. In Romans 12:1-2 Paul says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” The New Testament is filled with stories of the Disciples literally putting their bodies on the line for the message of the gospel.

On Saturday night my husband got into a car

and drove around.

He drove around like a maniac on a mission from God to spread the good news of the gospel in that arena filled with spectators staring at the gospel boiled down into four characters, 7×70. We have been forgiven infinitely and all he really asks of us is to forgive infinitely as well. To forgive each other, and to forgive ourselves. He has performed the ultimate sacrifice of His body and His life on the cross for us. And Sean went out there this month, over and over and over again, and literally put his body on the line for Christ.

(and these are just the tip of the iceberg!)

Watching him move around the house Sunday was painful for me, so I can only imagine what it was like for HIM! It’s been a hard month for this Knochel family. But every second of it will have been worth it if even just ONE person was saved from our efforts out there.

Satan HATES the gospel. He HATES those who love it. But he especially HATES those who share it with others. There is a cost for following Christ – we have to put up with Satan’s shenanigans. But here’s the thing, while we will have trouble in this world, we can take heart, because Christ has overcome this world. And because we are in Him, we too can overcome this world and everything in it; including Satan’s shenanigans! Praise God!!!!

Exodus 5:1-9:12

“Why have You brought all this trouble on Your own people, Lord? Why did You send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh as Your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people. And You have done nothing to rescue them!” Then the LORD told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of My strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!” Exodus 5:22-6:1

This morning I felt like my life was spiraling out of control and I was desperately crying out to God for something solid to hold onto. I wanted routine and normalcy and order, so He pointed me to my office/library. Specifically, He pointed me to my desk/command center. And I have spent almost the entire day today working on getting it re-organized right along with my finances. My desk has always been the command center of our home, but for the last few months there’s been a huge fish tank sitting in front of my desk making it next to impossible to get to pretty much anything on the desk. I made do with my little “desk in a bag” but now that I have my desk back I’m ready to renovate! I started a Pinterest board that I’ll probably continue adding to as I find other ideas for our “Command Center“. A couple days ago I found a GREAT pin for a finance binder and normally I would have used it to inspire me in making pages of my own. However, God has really been pressing on me to keep it simple silly and stop re-inventing the wheel!!! So, I just printed off the beautiful PDFs I found at www.Dimplicity.com.

You can find them all here, there are TONS of them!

Well, of course after all that work today I want to show it all off to my friends!

You can download the cover here.*

I used some of the dividers that I already had and was using in another binder that I just cleaned out.

These are the calendar pages I made for the reading plan… that I never finished… so I used them for this binder and they’re PERFECT! 😀 You can download them here.*

I also added some clear plastic sleeves to the binder in order to slide bills and papers into them and then back out when they’ve been paid without having to punch holes into them first. I didn’t want to use my three-hole punch for EVERYTHING.

These two pages are for long term to do’s and wish lists. It’s a place to actually write down all those things that you walk around the yard with your husband day dreaming and planning for. I’ve read a lot recently that if you have those kinds of things written down somewhere you will much more likely to actually do them.

(In the clear plastic sleeve at the end of the section.)

A little more dreaming…

Well, once I got my binder done, I wanted to keep going! And I had found these super cute envelope templates on www.Dimplicity.com and I just had to make some of those to go in my wallet!

There’s nothing like getting all organized to get you pepped up and ready to do things right! Am I right? 😀

I’m hoping to tackle my menu planning supplies soon and turn them into a menu planning/recipe binder tomorrow in the truck on the way to the derby. I absolutely LOVE those templates I made and I use them constantly. They’re a great way to get a lot of information into a small space and done quickly. But right now all my favorite recipes and my templates are all shoved into the kitchen cabinet in file folders that don’t fit in the cabinet quite right. So they’re all curled up and difficult to sort through when I’m looking for something specific.

*So, I can’t seem to get my computer to send these files to the blog in order to make them available to you!!! Grrrr!!!! But I’m going to try again in the morning because they’re SUPER CUTE! And we girls are all about things looking pretty, am I right??? So check back to the blog again later and these links may be working at that time. Sorry for the delay!

Exodus 1:1-4:31

“When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him.” Exodus 2:5-6

Friends, I have something written for today, but it’s just too personal to share at the moment. I could use your prayers for wisdom and guidance though. I’m feeling a change, perhaps some drastic changes, on the horizon and I want to be ready for them when they get here. Your support of my life and writing means the world to me, but more important to me is God’s will and my obedience to it. I’m sure you can understand and agree.

Also, if you’d like to begin praying for this week’s derby, we’ll be visiting the Tippecanoe county fair on Saturday night! 😀 Thank you for everything that you do for us. We appreciate it all so very much!