"Down in the valley, valley so low, Hang your head
over, hear the wind blow.
Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow, hang
your head over, hear the wind blow."
As we were driving through the Ozarks and watching the
beautiful scenery unfold along the highway, I looked out over the high hills
and low valleys through my car window and saw cattle and horses grazing in the
fields. The Bible verse "the cattle on a thousand hills" came to
mind. Of course, when we got home, I had to look up that verse and guess what?
Further along in that chapter is a verse about thank offerings!
"The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the
earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. From Zion, perfect
in beauty, God shines forth. . ." (Psalm 50:1,2)
Like many other former homeschooling families we know, we've
gotten in the habit of listening to stories on tape while traveling and my
husband picked up several sets of audio CD's from our local library before we
left. One was a volume of creationist stories of Jonathan Parks, a Vision Forum
product, which we have never listened to before. In this story, they were after
thieves who had stolen the first translated copy of the Danish story of Beowulf
from the British museum.
"for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle
on a thousand hills, I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of
the field are mine. . ." (Psalm 50:10,11)
We were traveling to a funeral of my husband's cousin's
wife. She had died of a massive heart attack while dropping off school
children. Fortunately she was in a valley bottom of a hilly road, there were
only six children left on the bus, most of which were her grandchildren, a tree
stopped the bus from rolling, and the children were able to exit the bus
through the back as she had trained them to do should there be trouble.
She was a tremendous blessing to her community and the
church was packed the day of her funeral. We felt blest to find a parking space
and a seat. While the pastor eulogized her life, he said one of her children
and grandchildren's memories of her life was how she spent her time while
driving as a busy farmer's wife and church member and that was quoting
scripture out loud she was memorizing for Bible studies or quizzing
tournaments.
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
and he
prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."
(Psalm
50:23)
Coming home, I saw a church sign that read, "If your
Bibles were all confiscated tomorrow, what would you have left?"
1. My thanks = for the grandma who loved her grandchildren
so much she was willing to take them to the funeral and graveside service
because they were influenced by Phyllis' light. If you are a prayer warrior,
please pray for this family (and wisdom for the congregation as they grapple
with how to best serve this family) as the grandma died enroute to the
graveside service of a heart attack. The oldest grandchild, a 12 year old, was
able to get the car over to the shoulder where someone flagged down the police
officer directly behind us at the end of the funeral procession.
2. I'm grateful =.to God for his traveling mercies to those
of us who attended the funeral from the Far West.
3. I'm thankful = for comfort
"Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in
any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." ~ 2 Corinthians
1:3-5
5. My thanks = for people who have mechanical skills. I've missed my father so much since he's passed. My dryer quit, now it's working thanks to Kevin! Thanks guy!
5. My thanks = for Karen who knows what I like and gifted me
with a tiny perpetual spiral friendship calendar decorated with teacups.
