Thank you for your book suggestions. I have made a list and will try to get some of these selections for her to choose from. For those who like good books, try the Redwall series, it is many volumes long and she loves them. Also Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of Nimh (sp?)  is a great book.

I am still choked up. Today in discipleship class we were giving testimonies, continued over from last week. I got to give mine, the focus was women who were mothers and bored housewives. My set comes from my real life membership in a book club, where the women are connected to the New Age. So I tailored my testimony to that group. If you haven’t read my testimony it is on the following dates of this year. March 15, 19, 29, 31 and April 2, 7, and 16.

Listening to the people who spoke kept me in tears. Our church has so many wonderful people in it who are vibrant and filled with Christ and life and joy, but hearing their testimonies and how far they come makes me realize just how awesome God is. I love the fact that our church is like a hospital for hurting people, and that God moves so wonderfully in our lives. I am also blessed that Pastor Don has discipled so many wonderful people and helped them to come to Christ. Especially grateful that Pastor Don helped me come to Christ. If I can be saved, believe me, anyone can be saved.

I will get to notes tomorrow to start sharing some facts that I am learning in the class.

Hope you have a great weekend. Here in New York Monday is a holiday, so the kids are off from school. We have boy scout activities (unless we get rained out).

Heather

Was at Barnes and Noble with my teenaged daughter looking through the teen book selections. Was shocked to find out that so many of the offerings there were occult in nature, or dealt with relationships that are things that she is not even ready or old enough to conceive of.

Wanted to ask you if you have any recommendations for good books for teen girls.

Preferably they should have realistic characters (human or animal), and should engage her. I would love them to be books with godly themes, but not necessarily preachy. I would love them to be books she could pass on to friends as great books.

She has read Redwall and The Lord of the Rings. Can’t quite get into the Narnia books yet.

I am thinking sort of a Francine Rivers type of book for teens. Does this make sense?

Curious if you have any ideas.

Heather

Thank you for your input, before I share what I was going to say about the verse, It is good to talk about what Beth Moore was getting at. She talked about God’s Absolute sovereignty and God’s unfailing love being like bookends, that help us to sort out the issues of our lives.

Regarding the verse, she said, “If the verse makes you uncomfortable, bare your heart before God and try to tell Him why. Don’t fear what He’d do if He saw hues of distrust in the depths of your heart. He knows why they are there better than you do. You might consider asking Him why His sovereignty scares or unsettles you. Perhaps the reason is the missing bookend on one side of the volumes you know about God Most High. Recall Psalm 21:7 God’s sovereignty can terrify us only to the extent that we are uncertain of His love. You and I are never childish or unwise to remind ourselves daily how much God loves us. Only to the extent that we abide in His love can we be comforted by His sovereignty.”

It is funny, but now I can see that resting in God’s love, it is alright for God to do as He pleases in my life because He cares about me and would choose only what is in my best interests.

But years ago, when I was in the midst of abuse and God seemed not to care or respond to my prayers, I got the image of God as being very distant and uncaring. I imagined him as washing His hands of the earth and walking away, or in one short story I wrote, comparing life to an industrial clock. God was the short arrow on the sweeping second hand that never touched the lives of the people (represented by the minute dots), and sweeping by so quickly that people couldn’t even get a sense that He was there.

It took a long, long, long time before I could dare think that God might regard me with love, and even then I was afraid to draw attention to myself because I was sure if God was aware I was in His kingdom that He would kick me out, so I tiptoed around. Then I wondered about the difficult questions like, Why did God allow free will, when free will of some hurt others so terribly? Where was God in the midst of my suffering? Could God be so loving if He could sit back and watch me be abused? Where was the love in that?

So when they said God could do as He pleased, I imagined that to be like my father, who got what he wanted, when he wanted it, and then still hurt you. Or if he said he loved me, then it meant he wanted something from me and it would hurt.

I was so bitter and resentful against God for a long time, and I think it takes experience in the Kingdom of God to be able to fully trust that when God is sovereign there is a freedom in my life that is unimaginable to the ordinary mind. A freedom from bondage, a freedom from pain and hurt, and a freedom to be what God’s best for me is.

But it is not all smooth sailing for me, because often I trust for awhile, then I back away in fear. Fortunately God is patient as I learn this thing called trust.

Have a blessed evening.

Heather

Here is a question from the Beth Moore Bible study, The Patriarchs. I am curious about how you might answer:

Beth Asked this question. How does the scripture Psalm 115:3 make you feel? Here is the scripture: But our God is in Heaven: He does whatever He pleases.

In light of the testimony that I have been preparing for my discipleship class (I did not get called last week, so will be called on this week) this verse is so apt.  I have felt on both sides of the issue, but I am curious what you feel about the verse.

My vacuum cleaner never got touched this weekend, but it has been hectic. I should be able to get on more in the next few days.

Heather