Tomorrow is Nathan's 22nd birthday. We celebrated with his family tonight. There was a cake and presents and everything. My thanks to my wonderful sister and mother-in-law for cooking a lovely meal for him and decorating. :) Happy Birthday sweetheart!
I do have to correct myself on my former post. A good friend of mine pointed something out to me....just to let you all know we were married in 2008, not 2006. :)
I was thinking about something recently.... Hanukkah just came and passed. It was a joyful celebration with many lights, fried foods, and music... We read the story of the Maccabees and their victory over the Greek army....the miracle of the oil, and Hannah's seven brave sons...
Hannah's sons always get to me. Their courage and strength seems almost to far to grasp. I mean at first you think, "I could do it. I could say 'no' to an evil man's wicked commands and obey God instead. I could do the right thing...death is only for a moment..."
But when you think of a mother and her beloved sons standing before the most powerful men of the land, looking death in the eyes... She raised those children from the time they were born, until they were men. She loved them and taught them good things, and cared for them... There were most likely instruments of death around them and tormenting thoughts probably filled her mind... To watch her sons be killed just because they wanted to stand up for the truth. Her sons stood there and watched each other die horrible deaths...and they didn't falter. Not one succumbed to the pressure and gave in. Not one denied their faith so that they could live. And even at the end, the youngest child, with words of complete courage, went to his death. All while the mother watched.....
Could we do the same? Could we literally watch our family die one by one for the truth? What if we were alone? It was just you standing there with no one to hear your decision.... No one would know you gave in and let everything you ever believed in just go.... Would you have the strength to stand for what was right?
I pray for strength every day... Not just to be strong in hard times but in every day life. To withstand the evils that are all about us in the world and overcome. I will confess one of the hardest things for me is music. I love music - most people do. I love playing and listening and singing along... Music is a powerful thing right? It can literally sway our emotions and make us feel completely different than before we started listening. It's happened to me many times. Sometimes the reaction is good - we can be listening to a worship song and really join in the worship. Sometimes the reaction is bad - a song might make you feel depressed or angry or even rebellious. I don't want music to have that power over me. How can I overcome ? Where do I start?
I was listening to a song one day... it was catchy, I won't lie and I was enjoying it... I guess when I started paying attention to the words I became upset at myself for listening to it. So I turned it off....I said no... "I don't want to like this anymore" I kept saying. I kept saying"no" for several weeks after that. Gradually, the longing to listen to it diminished. I turned it back on one day to see how I felt. I really didn't like it. I was amazed at myself - I mean I thought I would want to here it again. (I'm not just speaking of one song, but a particular genre of music that I was a fan of...) Praise God! It worked!
I know of course, it was God that gave me strength to overcome, but I did have to actually do something first. I learned that waiting for God to "convict" my heart didn't work for me in this situation. Of course He convicts our heart, but I can't just sit there and keep doing what I wish I didn't do.... (Sounds weird doesn't it?) So I can safely say that, at least for me, strength is something I can build up right here, right now. If I start now and really try to overcome my faults one by one maybe I am making it easier for me in the future....when real persecution comes.....
Just a thought.
It's time for me to go to bed before I lose my eyesight completely... this computer screen can really change a prescription... :)
With all my love,
Caitlin Noel
*If I gotta' start somewhere why not here....If I gotta' start sometime why not now?... TobyMac - City On Our Knees *
No comments:
Post a Comment