New Year
Christmas Eve at Church
Christmas was amazing. As I work on a book telling our adoption story, mostly for Yakobe right now, I am constantly reminded of God’s hand in it all. Putting up the tree was emotional as I remembered putting it up last year listening to the song, “All I Want for Christmas” by Steven Curtis Chapman. If you don’t know it, it is all about an older orphan boy who longs for a family for Christmas. I am blessed to be able to sled with my kids, help them make snow men (Sam and Abbie) and snow animals (Katie, Tom, and Emily) and snow king chairs (Yakobe). It was good to have Mark home. As we embark on a new year, I pray that our family will continue to work on unity, especially among siblings, but also as Mark and I lead, that we would be one in purpose. I also pray we will walk in the ancient paths. These paths are ones that don’t seem right to man, they are not paths that we will be directed to walk by humans. They are narrow paths where God walks alongside us. May we all strive this year to walk where God walks, to fear Him, to obey his precepts, and to bring Him glory.
Jeremiah 6:16 This is what the Lord says, “Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jeremiah 8:15 (paraphrase) Don’t forget the Lord - don’t burn incense to worthless idols - they will make you stumble off the ancient path onto by paths and muddy trails.
Isaiah 57:14 And it will be said, “Build up, build up - prepare the way. Remove every obstacle out of the way of my people.”
Isaiah 62:10 Go through, go through the gates. clear the way for the people; build up, build up the highway. Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples.
Twice Solomon wrote: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 and Proverbs 16:25
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
Amen
