Compassion

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness,

He will not always strive with us;

Nor will He keep His anger forever.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins,

Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

Psalm 103:8-14

"The Scripture says a great deal of the mercy of God, and we all have experienced it.

The father pities his children that are weak in knowledge, and teaches them;

pities them when they are froward, and bears with them;

pities them when they are sick, and comforts them;

pities them when they are fallen, and helps them to rise;

pities them when they have offended, and, upon their submission, forgives them;

pities them when wronged, and rights them:

thus the Lord pities those that fear him."

Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Bible

Finish Psalm 103 for more encouragement on, as Henry says, "the constancy of His mercy."

(art credit to hmiracle @Etsy, A Mother Love Magnet)

(forgive the mom art- I know that this passage clearly refers to God the Father, and Henry to a father's love for his children, but since most of the GiantFaith readers are moms... :-) )

Dark sayings of old

Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should teach them to their children,
That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born,
That they many arise and tell them to their children,
That they should put their confidence in God'
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
And not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
Psalm 78:1-8

Look at those imperaties:
tell
teach
arise
not forget
keep

Those are our marching orders.

Tell of His Greatness

I will extol Thee, my God, O King;

And I will bless Thy name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless Thee,

And I will praise Thy name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Thy works to another,

And shall declare Thy mighty acts.

On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty,

And on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.

And men shall speak of the power of Thine awesome acts;

And I will tell of Thy greatness.

They shall eagerly utter the memory of Thine abundant goodness,

And shall shout joyfully of Thy righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

The Lord is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

All Thy works shall give thanks to Thee, O Lord,

And Thy godly ones shall bless Thee.

They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom,

And talk of Thy power;

To make known to the sons of men Thy mighty acts,

And the glory of the majesty of Thy kingdom.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Thy dominion endures throughout all generations.

Psalm 145:1-13

(photo credit to JamesWatkins)

& oh the stories!

Many people have said to me, "What a pity you had such a big family to raise. Think of the novels and the short stories and the poems you never had time to write because of that." And I looked at my children and I said, "These are my poems. These are my short stories."

-Olga Masters

(quote credit to caron & whocares)

(art credit to Dorothy Tennant, At Play)

Compassion and Comfort

“Children are meant to understand compassion and comfort because they have received compassion and comfort - and this should be in the family setting. A family should be a place where comfort is experienced and understood, so that the people are prepared to give comfort to others.” ~~ Edith Schaeffer

The 5:00 Club

Set my alarm for the same time everyday.
Get up. Turn off alarm, which is strategically placed on the other side of the room. (I’ve learned this is my most critical moment in getting up early. It is crucial that I never, never, never, hit the snooze button or lie back down to catch a few more winks.)
Head straight to bathroom and then proceed directly to the coffee pot.
Be prepared to feel absolutely miserable for about 10 to 15 minutes. (But the feeling of misery turns into pure gladness as I soon experience the delight of having that alone time and as I reap the benefits all day long. It is totally worth feeling miserable for about 15 minutes.)
Your body responds to a regular wake up time. In other words, it gets easier.

- Nicole Whitacre from GirlTalk on The 5:00 Club

Number one- this post is about waking up early.

Number two- this post is NOT about guilt.

Last year on January 1, my husband and I made a commitment to getting up together early in the morning to spend time in prayer and in the Word.

Wait. Let me clarify. We get up in the same house, at the same time, but we don't pray or study together. In fact, we rarely speak to each other. But we are both awake!

We kept doing it through the year, not perfectly, but consistently. And we're still doing it.

God is faithful. That time has grown to be precious to us.

The ladies at GirlTalk talk about this practice today. Well, not ME, of course, but what they write could be me, except we are the 5:30 Club. It's familiar and it's true, and like they are doing, I commend it to you all too.

It's dang tough in the winter, when it's dark and cold and snuggled under the comforter is such a good place to be. It's easier in the summer, when the birds are awake and the sun wakes up with you and you can even go outside on the porch.

It's not really about the hour. As the GirlTalk ladies say, "The question isn’t, “How early do you get up in the morning?” but rather, “Does your daily schedule reflect your priorities: specifically, seeking God at the outset of the day, romancing your husband, and serving your family?” The purpose of getting up early is to make the most important priorities most important."

Notice- it might not be for everyone.

The GirlTalk girls note, and I do too, that 5 am is not for those with young children that still wake up at midnight and at 3 am.

That's ok.

Youngun's grow, and they learn to sleep.

I promise.

For more on The 5:00 Club, read on at GirlTalk.

(photo credit to a Flickr search for "sunrise omaha" and Flatland Moutaineer.)

Texts to Pray for Our Children

I have printed out this list, and placed it in the little notebook I use to keep track of how I pray for my kids...

Texts to Pray for Our Children

(art credit: Mother Praying, by Neil Iverson)