Still Waters

I don't know about you, but homeschooling has brought with it an assortment of guilts, big and little, subtle and not-so-subtle.  You know...I'm not doing enough--academics, foreign language, sports, hospitality, housecleaning, correspondence, keeping up with friendships, yardwork--whatever.
Well, the Lord showed me how to be free of one of them today!  A guilt I carry nearly daily is that of not having enough time in His Word.  No matter how I try, my quiet time seems so often sabotaged by the urgent and it's so hard to get it back before bedtime.  Sound familiar?  Probably one of the more effective tactics of the enemy since it's so critical to our life on every level.
This morning He reminded me about the manna in the wilderness.  The more obvious analogy to us today is that of their need to gather it every morning; so do we, yes.  But remember when He said that he that gathered much didn't have more than enough and he that gathered little had plenty?  It all even…

Last night we attended a 50th anniversary celebration of a dear pastor and his wife.  Family and friends shared some great stories and honored them with thanks for so many years of faithfulness to the Lord and His causes.  Some particular thoughts really spoke to my heart and challenged me afresh in my own walk with the Lord and His call on my life:
- As a couple, they are known for loving people, for taking them just as they are and loving them into the kingdom.  Practical, sacrificial love.
- In tandem with that is their ability to build relationships.  Everyone is important to them, everyone has value and is highly esteemed.
- They are known for nurturing people into their own ministries, pushing them out of the ministry nest and helping them succeed.  They've spoken vision and confidence and the Word into countless peoples' lives, which is truly Jesus' mandate to us to go and "make disciples." 
- They are people of astonishing vision, working in nearly 200 countr…