Watch out! This train is coming through!

Okay, so I talked about in my previous post how I got whooped at Mexican Train last week at the Senior Center. Let me tell you, Mexican Train is an addicting game! I stayed and played this week, too. I was totally expecting to get my rear whipped again! But lo and behold, I walked away with 2nd place position!!! I couldn't believe it! I was so excited, and then I realized that I was getting way too excited about almost beating a table full of people from the Senior Center! "Get a grip!" I told myself. But I can't help letting myself be a little excited! It was stinkin' fun!

Mexican Train

Every Tuesday at 12:00pm several people in our community meet at The Senior Center for lunch. No, you don't have to be a senior to attend. So my family usually takes advantage of this time to visit with the community and get to know people. Also, it is one day of the week that I don't have to cook lunch! Yeah!

So, a couple of months ago my husband stayed after lunch and played a domino's game called Mexican Train. He came home telling me that he wanted to buy some domino's so he can teach me how to play! He had a great time playing this with the Senior's in our community! So, we did! and Norman and I played several times over the next few weeks.

So, today being Tuesday, we went to the Senior Center for lunch and Norman says to me "you can stay afterwards and play Mexican Train if you want. I will take the boys home." Here is my delima. Come out of my shell and play this game with people I only know a little bit and get some time out of the house without the boys.....OR.......go home, fold laundry, take care of the kids, and not have any time out to myself. Not a hard one to figure out, right?

Yes, I stayed and played Mexican Train with some folk's from the Senior Center and I had a BLAST! They whipped my rear!! These people were really good! I had to stay on my toes at all times. The tried to distract me with popcorn and chocolate but I stayed strong! (Ok, I ate 2 peices of chocolate and a cup full of popcorn:) I didn't come in last, though. I came in 5th out of six player. Not bad for my first time with professionals!

So, if you are ever tempted to take on Seniors at Mexican Train here is my warning.....Be sure to practice a lot beforehand!!!! They are good!

Spiritual Milk

By Becky Soyster

“Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation, since you have [already] tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord.”
1 Peter 2:2&3


The Lord has blessed me with a baby who sleeps through the whole night. So by the time morning comes you can imagine how hungry he is. When he first wakes up he fusses around trying to get my attention, but not too distraught about it if I lie there for a few minutes to wake up. The second I get close to him and he sees me and smells his milk, it is a totally different story. He starts letting out this urgent, barky cry and pulls himself to me trying to search for his food. There is no doubt that this baby is hungry. As I sit down with him to feed him, he is still crying but now he grabs my shirt with both hands and pulls his face to me, tossing his head back and forth trying to find the food he knows is there. He searches with extreme fervency. I know that this baby will be fine if he has to wait for his food for a few minutes but it would be really hard to convince him of that.

The Lord showed me this as I was reading 1 Peter 2. This is how we are supposed to be. We are supposed to crave the pure spiritual milk like newborn babies. The Word of God is our spiritual milk. Imagine yourself waking up and earnestly searching for your spiritual milk, The Word of God. How much stronger would we be if we woke up and could not wait to get nourishment in the morning, if we sought the Word with the fervency of a newborn searching for his milk? Can you feel your soul crying out for the nourishment it so desires?

When my son is done eating, I don’t even have to pat him on the back usually to get him to burp. All I have to do is sit him up and out it comes, the evidence that he has a full belly.
God does not want to have to beat us on the back to get the evidence of being in His Word to come out of our mouths. It should naturally come forth. We should be excited to share what we have learned with others. People should be able to look at us and say “Wow, there is something different about her today.”

When my son overindulges himself and does not let his milk settle, it is not very pretty. Up comes a good portion of his meal, usually all over himself and me.
What he has taken in did not have time to settle before he became active which results in it coming back up. My first reaction to this is repulsion. Does anyone enjoy being thrown up on? The same thing can happen if we don’t take time to meditate on what we read and try to hear the heart cry of God. We end up walking around spewing out what we “think” God was saying to us without being in tune with God. The reaction of those being thrown up on? “Gross, that was disgusting!”
God showed me that this is what happens to us when we feed on God’s Word without meditating on it and asking God what he wants us to learn from what we read. Reading the Word is great but if we don’t balance it out with communing with the Father, we are robbing ourselves of the full relationship we could have with our Lord.
My son would never let me get away with only feeding him for a few minutes in the morning. Well, anytime really. I spend a good portion of my day nourishing my son. I would have it no other way. That is our time to bond, to be close to each other. It is satisfying to know that this baby needs what I am providing for him and it brings us closer to spend that time together.
It works the same way with God. He is our maker and he longs to nourish us, to spend time with us. Take time to let God speak to you through His Word. If you quickly read the Word for five minutes and then go about your day, what you took in won’t nourish you through your whole day.

Amos 5:4 says “For this says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek Me [inquire for and of Me and require Me as you require food] and you shall live!”

When we eat we have an expectation that the food we eat is going to nourish us. It has to be put into our body and consumed for it to be able to do that. We need to come to the Word of God with the same expectation remembering that we need to intake it for it to nourish us.

Life

(This is my front porch view!)

Sometimes life can be hectic, that is how I describe my life lately. Today was a bunch of running around. I know, running around in a town of 150 people! There isn't much of anywhere to run to but between getting something posted in the mail and picking up the boys at two different times from school and going to the store and running to the church a couple of different times to ask Norman a question; it was hectic! Sometimes I just have to stop and take in my surroundings and just rest in God's love for me and the peace He provides. So, that's how my day ended. Basking in God's peace.

Fall

( Our family likes to make leaf angels instead of snow angels!)

I think Fall is my favorite time of year, God paints such a glorious picture for us during the fall. It reminds me of the scripture that says we become new creatures in Christ, old things have passed away, behold! All things have become new!

That is what Fall reminds me of, old things passing away so that the new can come. Do you notice how beautiful the trees, the leaves, and even the grass looks in the fall before it passes away? The colors are so vibrant and gorgeous! I just love Fall! Cooler weather, leaves on the ground, hot chocolate, yummy food, families getting together, warm cozy sweaters, getting to use the fire place. I love it all! Thank you God for a beautiful season!