Stay on the Path

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Tamar


Deuteronomy 3:23-6:15

“So Moses told the people, ‘You must be careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God, following His instructions in every detail. Stay on the path that the LORD your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.'” Deuteronomy 5:32-33

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy as the LORD your God has commanded you.” Deuteronomy 5:12

These verses bring such comfort to me today. Mostly because they give me hope in looking forward to my own Sabbath! I’m exhausted from yet another day of heavy duty cleaning and laundry. From almost the very beginning of this writing career God has stressed to me the importance of REST. Rest was my third book; the second book that originated from the blog posts. It details my journey to learning the importance of rest for mothers and how they are so much better at functioning when they are well rested. Not to mention happier too! Over the years this is a topic that God has continued to stress. Occasionally He calls me to quiet my soul and come to Him for a Daddy-Daughter day on those Sabbaths, but usually it’s just me taking a day to sleep and rest my body and brain from the constant activity of a mother.

When I started working at Dollar General I told them that I could work, pretty much any day or time EXCEPT Fridays, they were off limits. And wouldn’t you know it, I was only there for a week or two before I was scheduled to close on a Friday. Siiigh… I called my husband to ask him what he thought I should do. Do I put my foot down and stand my ground, or do I let it slide – it was a closing shift after all. He said that I needed to stick to what I had originally told them, no Fridays. I’ve been there for almost three months now and Fridays are still supposed to be my days off, but I continually have to remind them of this. Now I’m not complaining mind you, but I am pointing out something that may not have occurred to you yet if you’ve attempted your own Sabbath rest. Satan will do ANYTHING to keep you from taking that Sabbath rest.

You may look at that and shake your head and say, “well of course he will”, but have you thought about the things that he might be using to keep you from taking that day of rest? I didn’t, not at first anyway. But the longer I went and the more serious I became about them, the harder it became to stick to my guns. There was always something being scheduled for a Friday, a birthday party, a funeral, a meeting, you name it! And usually they weren’t events that were easy to say, “no” to. Why? Because it was a test! What would I choose? The birthday party, or hanging out with God all day? There was one instance in particular that I don’t think I will ever forget. Our church secretary’s husband died suddenly and his funeral was on Friday. Thursday night I spent forever chopping potatoes and onions and cooking potato soup for the funeral dinner. All the while telling the other church ladies arranging the lunch that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it to the funeral or not.

Friday morning dawned and I was WRACKED with guilt. This was our church secretary! She does SO MUCH for all of us, and I was the women’s ministry director with no job outside my home, how could I NOT go??? She would be so offended! I mean, yeah it’s nice that you made the soup and sent it but how could you not also go to the funeral? What kind of cold heartless woman are you?

I can’t remember if it came from my husband or my pastor’s wife but someone told me to stay home and remain faithful to the LORD. Was it easy? NO WAY!!! But was it worth it? Absolutely! Did I get some strange looks from the other church ladies who did go? Yeah. In today’s culture, the whole concept of a Sabbath day of rest has become so foreign to us that most people don’t even know what it is, let alone how to have one. We’re all so goal oriented that we forge ahead despite the fatigue, charge up on caffeine and keep going even though our human bodies are screaming out for a break. (And we wonder why we get sick and feel like crud all the time.) Yet the principle of the Sabbath is the oldest and most long standing tradition known to mankind. It was the FIRST of all of God’s commands to humanity. Genesis 2:1-3 “So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. On the seventh day God had finished His work of creation, so He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation.”

All the rest of the commandments: do not have any Gods before Me, do not make any idols, don’t misuse My name, honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, don’t steal or lie, do not covet your neighbors possessions, all those came later; much later. But the Sabbath, it came right after Adam and Eve’s creation. While God’s week ended with rest, their week started with it. Are you starting to catch my drift here? The Sabbath is kind of a big deal. Not because the Law says so, or even because the Bible says so, but because your body was created with a Sabbath rest in mind. And when it doesn’t get that rest your entire person suffers for it. Will it be easy? No. Does it get easier with time, eeeehhhhh, I’ll have to get back to you on that one. I’ve been doing this for about two and a half years so far and it’s still not easy. But a big part of that may be the fact that I’m kind of a push-over when it comes to people asking me to do things. I’m working on that, slowly but surely. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem right?

Right now I’m pretty sure that there are some of you out there reading this that you are EXHAUSTED. I’d also wager to bet that God has been putting it on your heart lately to set aside one day of your week to rest and to seek Him once you’ve slept for as long as you could possibly sleep. I’d also go so far as to say that there is something that Satan is putting in your path to make you feel guilty for taking that step. Whether it’s your current commitments, your finances, you name it; there will ALWAYS be something that Satan is going to try to put between you and God. Trust me, I know! But I also know this, physical fatigue is one of the easiest ways for Satan to pull you down and it makes it so much easier for you to fall for his temptations. Again, trust me on this one, I know because I’ve been there!

Sweetie, you are not Super Woman. You weren’t created to be Super Woman, or even Bat Girl. You were created to be human with a body that needs its REST. And there is NO SUBSTITUTE for it either. No amount of energy drinks, or caffeine, or even exercise and health drinks can equally substitute for the benefits of a whole day OFF. Beloved the Sabbath was created for your benefit, take it. It may mean telling a few people, “no”, and that might be hard for you (it may not be) but it will be soooo good for you and you will be sooooo very glad that you did it. Trust me on this one!

Take a day to lay around in your PJs all day, wear the ones that you wouldn’t DARE to be seen wearing in public. That way if something comes up they’re a reminder that you’re not supposed to set one foot outside your door all day long – that’s 24 hours for anyone who needs to get legalistic about it. After you’ve slept until you can’t possibly sleep any longer, start praying, God will tell you what to do from there. It may be to get up and watch those recorded shows that you just haven’t been able to get around to lately. It may be to lay in bed and read that book that’s been eyeing you from the shelf. It may even be to simply lay there and just listen to the stillness and to wait for that small voice inside that guides us into all Truth. But no matter what you do, just the fact that you’ve dedicated that day to resting in order to honor God is keeping the Sabbath holy. (If you think about it, it’s actually a form of fasting! You’re fasting from WORK!) And He will honor YOU for having kept it.

I can’t even come close to explaining to you what it feels like at the end of that day of rest. You feel like a newer fresher version of yourself and it’s amazing! You should try it some time!

Maybe today! 😉

Categories: 365 Life, Deuteronomy, Season 3 | 1 Comment

Please Pray for PEACE in Our Time of Chaos

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Tamar


Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22

“the LORD your God will fight for you” Deuteronomy 3:22

Ahhhhh… for this weary girl’s soul, nothing sounds better than for my God to fight for me while I rest! We have five days until the first derby and six days until a certain young man’s birthday party and this house is in utter turmoil. Well, sort of. Actually it’s been in utter turmoil for the last several months but it’s getting back into order now and it’s causing some chaos of its own. You know how, even when things are a mess, you at least know where they are. Well, now that things are getting put back into order, we don’t seem to know where ANYTHING is because we keep putting it away! Just in the last three days we’ve completely lost a set of keys, several 4H books and papers, and even my phone! And I’m not talking like, “Oh, I’ve lost my keys” and then look for several minutes to find them. I’m talking like, Gabe spending DAYS in his room looking for a book that HAD to be found and completed by 6pm tonight! Sean’s keys? Yeah, they are his keys to the shed where ALL of his tools are locked up so he hasn’t been able to work on anything with the car since the 3rd of July! Not good news when you’re first derby this season is coming up in less than a week! Then my phone, it was lost the least amount of time of all the things today, only 6-7 hours. And the only reason I found it was because I wasn’t looking for it. I was just cleaning off the kitchen table and went to put a chip clip away in the drawer when I saw my little message light flashing from the “old phones” basket. Don’t ask me why in the world I put it in there!

Do you see what I mean though? I could really use someone fighting for me because it’s crazy around here right now! We had family over for the 4th, so there’s that clean up. But then on top of that we’ve had the dryer to deal with. You see, Sean’s sister gave us her old washer and dryer to scrap. Except when we went to go pick them up they were WAY nicer than we were expecting so we decided to keep them. And because we have no garage to keep them in, they made their way into my living room. We asked on Facebook for a local appliance repair man, called him and booked an appointment for him to come out to look at the dryer to see if it was worth fixing up. The day he was supposed to come, he was 30 minutes late. He knocked on the door and barely even said, “Hi” to Gabe when he opened the door to let him in. Sean had pulled around the extension cord that he uses for the welder so that we could plug the dryer into it in the living room for the repair man to look at it. The repair man took one look at the plug, said, “I can’t do anything with that”, picked up his tools, walked out the door, got into his truck and drove away. I didn’t know if he was going back to his shop to grab another extension cord, or if he was literally driving away screaming from our house. I had no clue because he didn’t tell me anything! It was by far one of the strangest things I’ve ever had happen to me – well, as far as service technicians go anyway.

So, since my original washer and dryer were still working just fine, and because we were BUSY we just let the “new” washer and dryer stay where they were; in my living room. Then on the second of July I was having a rough night. I had had an issue at work earlier in the afternoon that I just couldn’t get out of my head. I was doing the laundry, so I started the dryer and pulled the lint screen out from the top of the machine like I always do. I heard something fall down into the lint trap and start rhythmically thudding around inside the machine. I sighed and opened the door back up to see if it had fallen into the drum. I searched around in the clothes; nothing. So I gently rotated the drum and heard the thing fall even further down into the back of the machine. Thinking, “Oh! That may have done it!” I closed the door and restarted the machine, only to be greeted with a sound that I can only describe as a machine gun type sound. I scrambled for the dryer door and yanked it open to turn off the machine. Then I grabbed the back door and with frenzy brimming in my voice yelled, “Sean! Can you come here for a second please!!!” He, of course, dropped what he was doing and came right in. I told him the whole story, thingy falling in, rhythmic thudding noise, opened the door, turned the drum, fell in farther… then I turned it on for him. He shouted frantically, “TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!!!” Until I yanked the door open again.

That night he tore the whole thing to pieces to find a big metal thingy (I’m sure it has a name but I don’t know what. It was something of his) lodged in the exhaust fan of the dryer. But it didn’t explain why the dryer was so blasted HOT. He got the whole thing put back together and hooked up and when he turned it on everything sounded ok, except for this slight buzzing noise. When we opened the door to the dryer and looked in we could see the panel in front of the heating element glowing orange!!!!! Sean just kept shaking his head trying to figure out how the thingy and the heating element short could be related. When I looked at him and suggested that perhaps they weren’t related at all. Maybe God allowed the thingy to fall in and make a racket in order for us to notice that there was a short in the heating element so that we didn’t catch the house on fire! Praise God! Thank You Jesus!

So here I was with two dryers and neither of them worked properly. One didn’t heat and one heated a little too well. With family already in town for the Fourth we decided to simply turn that circuit breaker off, and unplug the dryer, and deal with this later. So it sat there until the 5th when Sean pulled both the washer and dryer out, I spent the entire night painting the laundry room. (The LAST room in our house to be painted; it only took us seven years to get them all done! Hallelujah!) The next day, yesterday, we spent several hours moving the washer and dryer into position and getting them all hooked up. Then I spent another couple of hours putting everything that was in my kitchen from the laundry room back into the laundry room this afternoon. Just as I was hanging up the second load of still-damp laundry for the day, our super-sitter’s mom knocks at the front door to pick up the fish tank that has been sitting in front of my desk in our entryway/library for the last two months since we re-did the living room floor and rearranged the furniture. She and I and her two muscled-men spent the next hour fishing the last few fish out of the tank and draining what was left of the water so that they could carry it out to the truck. We loaded them up with boxes filled with our old goodies and topped their load off with our old still-working washer for our super-sitter to sell in her yard sale to raise funds for her mission trip to Chile.

During that time Sean got home and was keeping Gabe on track working in the Aerospace 4H book I had managed to miraculously find only a short hour or two before. You know, because it was due tonight at six after all. After the fish tank left Gabe was just finishing up his books and we were getting him all packed up and ready to get them checked in when he couldn’t find his Shooting Sports papers to take! That entire project includes only two posters and those two papers that prove he attended the workshops – and we couldn’t find them. Now, the poor kid had just spent the last THREE days in his room looking for his Aerospace book and now all the sudden he can’t find his Shooting Sports papers, all on the night that Sean has set aside to work on his car, finally, because he’s been working on the dryer situation, but can’t work on the car because all of his tools are still locked in the shed because we can’t find the key! Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!

So after looking for those papers for an HOUR, we decided to call it quits and pray that the 4H leaders would have Grace on us and allow him to show anyway. I volunteered to take Gabe so that Sean could get to work on the car. So with only fifteen minutes left in the check-in time frame, the kids and I jumped into car and headed out to the leader’s house where they had done the book signing last year. Except when we got there no one was home! So I called Sean and asked if he had any idea where else they might be doing the check-in. He suggested their other site a few miles away. Nope, no one there either, not a soul. I headed back into town trying to think of where in the world they *might* be meeting to sign books. We went to the elementary school, no one. The high school, nothing. The library, nada. From the parking lot of the library I called Sean and he said that he would call the other guy he had talked to the other day about check-in and see if he knew where they might be; when suddenly he said, “OH NO! Move kitty move! OH NO!” I cringed, he was in the truck, “Did you hit it?” “Oh yeah. It was a kitten.” Sigh…

The kids and I headed home and met Sean there in the driveway. I started dinner and Sean got a call from one of the 4H leaders giving him directions to the check-in location (which was nowhere near any of the places I had gone to earlier). So as I sit here now, Sean’s shed has been broken into and his tools have been liberated, Gabe’s books have been signed, and I have a working washer and a sort of working dryer. It just takes a really really really long time. And Anna, well, she’s just being Anna.

Yes my friends, it has been a very long week. A mostly good week with lots of changes and upgrades – if you will – but it’s been stressful and chaotic and at times downright frustrating. We have five days until the first derby. That means LATE nights for Sean who has early mornings for work. We have six days until 4H projects are due and Gabe’s twelfth birthday party. Which means days filled with lots of scrambling to get things recovered from the chaos of remodeling all while trying to help Gabe with his projects without doing them for him. AND trying to keep Anna from feeling too left out in all the excitement, because none of this is all about her. I guess I say all that to say this, we could REALLY use your prayers right now. The first derby of the season is always the most stressful – especially for Sean. We’re all tired and grumpy and frustrated by this point in the season and honestly, we’re just ready to get out there! Prayers for PEACE would be so very much appreciated!!!

Thank you so much for everything you do! You guys are always there for me and I can’t thank you enough for that. Just telling you about how things have been going has made me feel better. I hope it was at least entertaining for you to read. 😀 I love you all!!!!!

Categories: 365 Life, Deuteronomy, Sheridan Reporter, The Crazy Mom Blog | 1 Comment

Sunday SHMILY

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Tamar


Daniel 10:1-12:13

“He will stir up his courage” Daniel 11:25
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We got to meet Randy Frazee the author of The Story today at church! I’m still TOTALLY geeking out about it! Like on a level I never would’ve expected! Of all people for Sean and I to meet, this was PRETTY HUGE! I just wish I could’ve taken a better picture!
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A smile on the way out of church. God is GOOOOOOOD to us!
I emailed Randy a copy of our book True Intimacy today, I would love for you to pray with me that he a) actually gets it and b) actually reads it then c) really loves it!

Categories: 365 Life, Daniel, Season 3, SHMILY! | Leave a comment

7×70

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Tamar


Daniel 4:19-6:28

“A period of seventy sets of seven” Daniel 9:24

It’s the Fourth of July and Sean’s driving in the Sheridan Fourth of July parade, how could I resist the temptation to take pictures of my Beloved and NOT share them with you all? 😀 Happy
Freedom
Fourth
Ya’ll!

Waiting for the parade.
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Go 7×70! Praise Jesus we’re forgiven!
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Categories: 365 Life, 7x70, Daniel, Season 3 | Leave a comment

God is in Control

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Tamar


Daniel 4:19-6:28

“…until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone He chooses.” Daniel 4:25

This phrase is repeated four times in today’s Word of the Day and perfectly sets the tone for the next several chapters of reading. Not to mention my day. God is in charge, period. He is the Most High God, ruler of heaven and earth. He is the commander of heaven’s armies and the Ancient of Days. He is the Father of every living thing on the planet. He is the holder of the keys of Hell and the Conqueror who overcame this world.

So often I get tempted to think that Satan is gaining an upper hand on my life, but that’s just what he wants me to think. And nothing could be farther from the Truth. In Job chapter one Satan is in attendance for a heavenly meeting where he and God end up discussing Job and how faithful he is to God. It is in this conversation that God agrees to let Satan test that faithfulness. Did you catch that? Satan had to ask for permission FIRST. At the last supper Jesus tells Peter that Satan had ASKED to sift him like wheat. If someone is the head cheese, the big man, the one who is large and in charge they don’t ask permission from anyone before they do something; they just do it. Satan doesn’t get to touch us without God’s permission. And if the God, who loves us enough to send His one and only Son to DIE for us on the cross in order to pay for our sins and give us eternal life, gives him permission to touch us, then He MUST have a good reason to do so. And that’s where faith comes in. When life comes crashing in around us we have to cling to the faith that we have a God who LOVES US and cares so deeply for us that He gave His only Son FOR US.

Categories: 365 Life, Daniel, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Papa Blue Jay

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Tamar


Daniel 2:1-4:18

“‘I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?‘

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.'” Daniel 3:15-18

I just love this story don’t you? These three Jewish men unrelenting in their faith and traditions, standing toe to toe with the most powerful king of the time, telling him that they will NEVER serve his gods or worship the statue he has created. Talk about guts and moxy! They knew the meaning of a faithful God! They had seen how God had helped them honor Him with their bodies when they asked the guard to give them vegetables and water instead of the king’s food. They stayed up and prayed with Daniel when he volunteered to talk to God for king Nebuchadnezzar about his terrifying dream. They’d been through some stuff with this God whom they serve. They knew that when it comes to being in a pinch He always comes through.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been noticing lots of blue jays in our yard, and not a whole lot of anything else. I didn’t really think too much about it until this morning. It’s a gorgeous morning and I wanted to come out and enjoy it on my beautiful new deck that Sean made for me.

So I poured myself some coffee and grabbed my “office in a bag”

and headed out to the deck to read my Bible and write this post. A soft breeze blew through the back yard sweeping my hair back from my face as I prayed my Morning Prayer with thanksgiving for the peaceful morning beauty. Then from the other side of the house I could hear a mama blue jay cawing her little lungs out at something. I didn’t think too much about it until Mama Blue Jay came around to the back yard and started dive bombing our cat! I’ve been sitting here for the last hour listening to Mama Blue Jay cawing like mad at anything that even comes close to entering our yard, cats, other birds, even other blue jays! In fact right now she’s going ballistic on our cat Socks who is tormenting Mama Blue Jay by being on our roof! There is no way that anybody is going to get anywhere near her baby blue jay.

It wasn’t until I read the passage above that I realized why God had put it on my heart to come out here to write today. He is just like Mama Blue Jay and we’re His little baby birds. He protects us with such ferocity it would startle us if we could really see it happening. There’s a verse (somewhere in the Bible and I don’t have time to look it up this morning) that says that He protects us like the apple of His eye. Think about how your eye lids and lashes instinctively protect the apple, or pupil, of your eye; quickly and without even thinking they blink and protect. Just like Mama Blue Jay, dive bombing and cawing maliciously at any intruders to her territory, our Father God throws His hands protectively around us the moment trouble even looks like it’s coming near our nest. And before it ever reaches us in the nest we’ve been protected from troubles unseen and often unheard. But our Papa God has seen them and He heard them for us; protecting us from them before they ever got near enough to cause us any harm.

Thank You LORD for everything You do for us. The things we see and especially the things that we never see. Thank You for protecting us from the dangers all around us. Thank You for standing guard over us every second of every day. We are so grateful for You and Your activity in our lives. Thank You LORD. We love You! 😀

Categories: 365 Life, Daniel, Season 3 | Leave a comment

So Long Insecurity!

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Tamar


2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23 & Daniel 1:1-21

“The LORD, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent His prophets to warn them, for He had compassion on His people and His temple. But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the LORD’s anger could no longer be retrained and nothing could be done.

So the LORD brought the king of Babylon against them. … God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the LORD’s temple and from the palace of the king and his officials. … The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.” 2 Chronicles 36:15-18, 20

“During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. The LORD gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God.” Daniel 1:1-2

I probably said this last year on this day, but God is so awesome!!! I mean seriously. We’re reading through the Bible alphabetically and yet we still end up reading chronologically when we read from 1 Chronicles to 2 Chronicles to Daniel!!! Honestly, isn’t that just cool??? To my knowledge, and I haven’t check recently, I am the only one publicly reading through the Bible in a year alphabetically. I’m sure there are others doing it, but the last time I looked I couldn’t find them online. I’m just so honored that God chose me to do this! And I’m so grateful that He used my friend Kelly to introduce me to the idea! I love you Kelly!!!

Today’s Word of the Day was all about transition. It was a transition from one book of the Bible to another, in that transition was the Israelite’s transition from a time of rebellion into a time of captivity in order to use that captivity to guide them back into a humbled position with their God. And I love how God works, because my reading in Beth Moore’s So Long, Insecurity You’ve Been a Bad Friend to Us went along those same lines. This week’s reading was about Beth polling her blog audience for stories on how insecurity has made a fool of them. She shares MANY stories that are great examples, many of which I could have written myself – sadly. And of course, God also has all this timed so that I’m dealing with all this in my own life at the moment so that I can even further relate to what they’re saying.

The more time I spend in these two books the more I’m recognizing insecurities in myself and I hate them. Hate isn’t a word that I throw out there often, but in this case I think it fits. I hate the way insecurity makes me feel. I hate the way that it makes me act. I DEFINITELY hate the way that it talks to me and tries to get me to believe its boldfaced lies! Insecurity has tied me up in knots with no bows. It has no laces hanging free to simply pull and unloose the work it’s done. It has grown and wrapped it’s tentacle-like roots tightly around my feet and kept me from walking freely and easily through my life. (Not that my life would have been easy without the insecurity, but it certainly would have been easier.) I’m fairly certain that insecurity caused me to make choices that set me on a path that wasn’t good for me – at all. I remember my Freshman year in High School the pressure I felt to have a boyfriend and to get physical. And the saddest part was, the pressure wasn’t from the other kids, it was from my insecurity!!!!! I was so insecure in myself and who I was that I felt like I needed to be like everyone else, do what everyone else was doing. And “everyone” else was getting physical with their significant other (this is of course the biggest lie of the century, but I believed it hook, line and sinker at the time). I never stopped to realize that honoring my personal worth should be more important to me than bowing to the status quo.

This week I’ve been in awe of my husband’s ability to voice his mind with very little concern to what other people will have to say about his opinions. He throws stuff out there on Facebook and really doesn’t get his feathers ruffled when people say things back to him. Me on the other hand, I can only be on Facebook for a few minutes before I take people’s status updates so personally that my heart starts to race and my hands start to sweat. One night I actually made myself physically ill because I was so distraught about what people were saying on Facebook – none of which was actually to me, or about me, just about things going on in the world that I don’t agree with. The thought of truly speaking my mind in such a public format terrifies me to pieces! What will they say? Facebook is vicious and people can be so mean without realizing it. What will they think of me? Will they still like me? To which Insecurity pipes up: “Of course they won’t, you have a different opinion than they do, they’ll hate you for it – duh!”

God has called me to public speaking and publicly voicing His words. Words that vastly contradict what the mainstream is saying. And insecurity has me immobilized. I’m paralyzed with the fear of the rejection of the people I love AND the people I’ve never even met before. For as long as I can remember I’ve always been desperate for people to like me. At times to the point where I would become someone else in order for them to like me. Obviously this is ridiculous because then they don’t like ME they like the pretend me which totally defeats the point! Honestly, if I can’t be ME and have you like me, then we shouldn’t be friends! I don’t want to be such a passive people pleaser that I completely lose myself in the process. That shouldn’t be OK with me and it shouldn’t be Ok with you either. I mean, I don’t want to be friends with someone whose not being themselves, do you?

I think that’s where I’m so grateful for God putting my husband and I together. He is my perfect match. He’s everything that I’m not. And he’s not everything that I am. I admire him so much and his ability to not let the opinions of others phase him when it comes to be honest to himself. When I grow up, I want to be more like Sean. Honest and unafraid to share how I REALLY feel about something. I believe I will get there. But in the mean time I’m so glad that God has blessed me with a partner who loves me for who I really am. He’s seen me at my best and at my absolute worst and he has stuck with me through it all. I can’t ask for much more than that now can I? 😀

Categories: 2 Chronicles, 365 Life, Daniel, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Fear Grips the City

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Tamar


2 Chronicles 32:1-34:33

“The Assyrian officials who brought the letters shouted this in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture the city.” 2 Chronicles 32:18

Fear grips the city. The Assyrian officials are shouting about the LORD and that He’s unable to protect us from their army that has successfully taken down every other god out there. And who is “the LORD” to them? We see the people gathering in huddled groups whispering with each other in hushed conversation debating the truth of the official’s statement. They HAD conquered every other land they’d gone up against. Would the LORD be able to hold them back? Would the LORD be able to help us in this time of desperate need? And what’s more, would He be willing?

The Assyrian officials knew exactly what they were doing didn’t they? Not only did they put Fear into the hearts of the people, they put it in there along with Doubt. Doubt and Fear often seem to go hand in hand together. One never seems to be too far away from the other. But while there may have been some along that wall that heard those words and were afraid, King Hezekiah was not one of them. While some may have been paralyzed by Fear, King Hezekiah was moved to prayer. He went to the only One who could actually help them. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the God of Hezekiah. And in answer to their prayer, “the LORD sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword. That is how the LORD rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.” (2 Chronicles 32:21-22)

As much as the Assyrians taunted and shouted, it didn’t matter because they were shouting lies. It doesn’t matter how loud you are, what matters is the amount of Truth you’re telling. Yaweh is the Lord of lord and the King of kings and no amount of lie-shouting is going to EVER change that. He is the beginning and the end. He is the Creator and the Father – your Father. He is the One who loves you with a love that surpasses all knowledge and experience you’ve ever had. He is your biggest fan and your highest honor. He is the one who cheers the loudest for you when all you hear is stillness – He’s there. Satan shouts in your ears while Jesus whispers to your heart. Listen to the sweet whispers of your heart today. What are they saying?

He loves you my dear one. More than you could EVER hope, think or imagine – and then some more on top of that. 😀

Categories: 2 Chronicles, 365 Life, Season 3 | Leave a comment

Sunday SHMILY

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Tamar

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2 Chronicles 28:22-31:21
“Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result, he was very successful.” 2 Chronicles 31:21

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First peas of the season!

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New roses!

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Sean started a deck for me in our back yard!

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On the deck

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A snuggly kitty

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It’s a little hard to see but it’s a smile in some vinca vine I annihilated from our front flower beds.

Categories: Writing Through the Bible in a Year | Leave a comment

7×70 Season Starts Soon!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Tamar


2 Chronicles 24:20-28:21

“Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.” 2 Chronicles 26:5

We’re getting geared up for this summer’s demolition derby season and we would LOVE it if you would join us, either in person or in prayer! This flyer mentions a “7×70 page on www.TamarKnochel.com” it’s not up quite yet, but I’ll be working on it shortly so keep looking back for it. 😀 It’s where we will be posting everything until we get the 7×70.me website up and going. Not sure when in the world that will be though.

Categories: 2 Chronicles, 365 Life, 7x70, Season 3 | Leave a comment

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