Never Fear

This story is about a little boy named Mark. He and his mom talked about guardian angels. It is the last day of school and he is on his way home when he is hit by a car and saved by his guardian angel. We have read a lot about angels in this book. I believe in angels and believe God created them to help Him. Good things and bad things happen in this world with and without our prayers. Prayer is a way for us to communicate with God and it allows us to have a relationship with God. It is also a means for us to do everything that we can when there is nothing more that we can do -- namely, turn to God, trust Him, rely on Him and rest in Him knowing that He is in control. When you have time, I would encourage you to pray for those you love!

The scripture reading is Acts 12: 1-19. This is a story about Peter when he was in jail and how an angel of God came and miraculously got him out of jail even though he was being guarded by 16 guards. There were a lot of people praying for him. At the same time, James was in jail and was put to death. So, why is James killed and Peter released with the help of an angel? We don't know all the answers. There is evil in this world and everyone has a free will. We need to trust that God is in control and that He will use everything that happens to accomplish His purpose.

Matthew 18:10 - "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." Jesus said this.

Hebrews 1:14 - "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"

The Right Place at the Right Time

Deuteronomy 24: 17 - 22 tells us to not deny justice to others and that we are to help those who are needy. God takes care of us.

The story in the book is about a couple who want to adopt a special needs child. The husband, Anthony, was born with a cleft palate. As a child, Anthony's iife was not easy. The kids teased him and his father was not very supportive. But his mother's love was his saving grace. Anthony and Amber began to pray for a child. Lucy was a single mom and made the decision to give her child up for adoption when it was born. The baby was born wth a cleft palate. Who better to raise this child than Anthony as he knew exactly what this child would go through and what this child would need.

Read Phiippians 4: 4-7.

On a Foreign Battlefield

This is a story about Ben. He enlisted in the army and went to fight in the Gulf War. Back home in Texas he knew that his parents were praying for him. Then it happened!! During a fight, he was taken from his troop by an Iraqi soldier. He didn't know if he would live or die. He prayed and asked God to help him. Then he remembered that his parents were praying for him, too, and he asked God to let his parents know that they needed to be praying for him. Back home in Texas at about the same time, though it was about 2:00 am their time, his mother was awakened with an urgent need to pray for her son. The Iraqi soldier left and Ben was able to return to his troop.

The scripture reading, Exodus 17: 8-16, talks about how Moses lifted his hands up to the Lord during the battle the Israelites were having with the Amalekites. Every time that Moses dropped his hands, the Amalekites were winning and every time Moses lifted his hands, the Israelites were winning.

It doesn't say it in this reading, but I believe that Moses was raising his hands in prayer to God. I believe that our prayers give strength and power to God and the angels. I don't believe that God needs our prayers, but he does want us to have a relationship with Him and prayer is a means of communicating with God. It is a means for us to ask and for Him to give. I do believe that prayers gives the angels power to protect us and guide us. We need prayer, to be able to pray for ourselves and each other!!! I don't know if I have told any of you this, but there has been a few times when I have woken up during the night wide awake and have the urge to pray. I don't know who I am praying for or what for or why, but I pray. Maybe I'll get the answer someday in heaven.

1 Timothy 2:8 "I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing."
Psalm 134:2 "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord."

God is in Control

I decided this time, I'd post the scripture reading first (since that's easy to do and I know not everyone gets to the Bible prior to reading the blog):

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

A Time for Everything

¹ There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

² a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

Above all - we need to know that we do not determine these times - God does. And we need to remember that he is in control.

In this story, Miranda, 67, is losing her elderly mother, who initially had a series of ministrokes and then a nurse gave her the wrong meds and put her in a coma. Miranda, in her grief, is visited by a man and reminded that God is in control. She finds peace in this and can put aside her blame of the nurse.

I really don't want to even imagine losing anyone close to me (us). I think the closest loss was Kelly - and that was hard. I truly hope and pray we all live to a healthy old age and die of natural causes. But I also hope and pray that no matter what happens, and when it happens, that we can all have peace in God to get through it.

Angel in the Police Car

Angels come to us in many different forms and in this story as Kara was driving home she found herself falling asleep and prayed to God to keep her awake. God answered this by having a police officer pull her over and lead her to a rest stop. I can think of a couple moments where I was almost falling asleep while on a long drive and having my phone suddenly go off waking me right back up. While in those moments I don't think of God as being the one who interfered but I'm grateful that He's looking out for me. Some days I struggle finding faith but it's in moments like these that help to reassure that He is looking out for us.

A Mother Who Sees

I believe the point of this week's message is the power and strength in mothers and how important they are to the family unit. This weeks bible passage is about a wife who cares for her family, is strong, smart, capable, and follows the Lord. The weekly reading was about a mother who encouraged and supported her son in everything. As mothers we have a lot of responsibility in raising our children to know God and to be strong people. We play a critical role in the development of our children. I think it serves as a good reminder that if we stay positive and do our best, our children will follow suit. As they say, "Monkey see. Monkey do." If we want our children to have a good relationship with God, then we need to make sure WE have a good relationship with God.

The Miracle of Love

This morning as I was working, cleaning the house, I was thinking how thankful that I am for all 10 of my children. How thankful that I am that everyone gets along. None of us are perfect. We all have our irritating traits, but we all love each other and accept each other for who we are and for that I am thankful. (Sorry, but I am feeling thankful and sentimental this morning.) What started all this thinking was thoughts of birthdays and birthday gifts and celebrating birthdays and that being someone's special day during the year because yesterday at work I was talking to one of my workers and she feels the same way about birthdays that I do though they celebrate 1/2 birthdays in their family and yearly birthdays, too, and I thought how could we ever do that in our family when everyone is so busy and I was wondering if I had ever hurt any of you in any way by forgetting to do something for your birthday that I had done for someone else. I have always thought that a gift, cake, and eating out or making a special meal shows you that you are special and loved and I have always tried to do that for everyone. I like to make sure that someone is getting at least 1 cake anyway (now when we are older, 1 is enough :-) and sometimes we get to celebrate with extended family, like this year, we had the pleasure of being invited to celebrate Greta's and Meghan's birthdays with their parents. Now when everyone is so busy and the family is growing, it's hard to get together more often than we do and I don't always remember if we have gone out to eat for your birthday or not. (I know that we did not get out to eat this year for Denise's birthday.) We had talked about getting together monthly to celebrate birthdays. I want each of you to know that if I ever hurt or upset you in anyway I am sorry and in the future, please let me know as otherwise I won't know to do it differently or what I have done. If there is something that I forget, please remind me. I am going to pray that we would always be considerate of each other and accept each other for who we are and that we would all be able to talk to each other honestly and in love if we are ever hurt.

Then I got this strong urge to read the next reading in our book and it wouldn't go away, so I finally decided to sit down and read it.

I don't know who all is reading the book yet, but I would encourage everyone to read this story or if you talk to someone and they haven't read this story, encourage them to. It's a good true story that could happen in any family and I have read this story before. It's about unconditional acceptance and love. The scripture reading 1 Corinthians 13, we often hear at weddings, but don't take the time to read it very often. It's about love and it's a scripture reading that I know I should be reading often.

A Gift of God

This reading has to do with prayer. In Samuel 1:1, Hannah prayed that God would give her a son and God answered her prayers. In the book, Jared prayed for a blonde, brown-eyed girl. That was his heart's desire, though he was willing to leave it in God's hands and accept and love whatever child God would give them. I can't help but think that even though he was openly willing to accept whatever child God had in mind for them, don't you think he still secretly said, but God, if there is a blonde, brown-eyed girl, remember me!! The bible does tell us to pray continually and for everything and that is what God wants us to do. He also wants us to have a relationship with Him and to know Him and the only way we can do that is through reading and praying and sharing with others. The bible also says that God wants to give us the desires of our heart. Now, having said that, I think we need to examine our heart and motives when we pray for something that we want because it is in our nature to be selfish and want things that we want and don't necessarily need and aren't in line with God's will. I believe that if we pray for and ask for things that are also in line with God's heart and God's desires, those prayers will be answered. We have to remember, that the answer might not always be what we want or expect, but I believe that God will answer with what is best for us and we may not fully understand His answers until someday when we are in Heaven. I do believe that God wants to give us the desires of our heart while we are here on earth. Sometimes, we just need to pray and say "God, your will be done". (When God does answer your prayer, share it with others because it affirms in your own mind that He answers prayer, it encourages others to pray and it brings glory to God.)

One Easter Sunday

I must admit that I do find it hard to see a deeper meaning other than the one that's on the surface. That you must have faith in God and follow his word, for He loves you and will always know what's right. However, I am struggling to see the correlation between the story of Bonnie falling into the pond and God saving her with the bible passage of Jonah.

Bonnie was a child who was just curious about the fish in the pond. While Jonah was summoned by God to go to Nineveh, he disobeyed and tried to travel to Tarshish. God caused the sea to go torrent and the sailors threw Jonah overboard. God chose to save Jonah by having a whale swallow him. While in the whale Jonah recognized that he should have just listened to God and followed his word. God forgave Jonah and had the whale carry him to land.

What did you all find from this passage and scripture? I'm curious about all of your insight and what correlation you pulled.

Humble Yourself

In this story, Ashley has a dream to become a famous singer. She decides to travel with a Christian singing group and she thought this might be her chance to be discovered. At first, she enjoyed watching people come to God - but soon became disenchanted and began grumbling and complaining about the conditions and situation. At a restaurant, they met a bum and invited him for dinner. As they discussed knowing God, Ashley realized that she had been wrong to judge others and to complain about her situation.

The scripture reading is also about being humble and doing things for others rather than for yourself. Furthermore, it says to do everything without grumbling.

I find that this is very hard to do - and I think it's getting harder and harder in today's age of instant gratification. If we want to know something - it's as simple as typing in a question on Google. If we want to buy something - it can be found somewhere online! My college friend Jessica is going to quit teaching and try day care instead - she is discouraged by the children she has to work with. Only a handful are respectful and obedient - the rest are constantly talking and moving and doing what they want to do. But what can we do to change our children? Part of it is TV and video games - they only do something for snippets of time rather then sitting and learning to play a game.

I also find I complain about one aspect of work - but I have a good job that provides -

I think everyone can use the reminder time to time to do things for others and to work without grumbling - but at the same time, easier said then done!

The Gift of Dance

I think this story is typical of all of us. We do the best that we can but there are times when we feel that we weren't good enough, could have done better or failed. We think that we didn't do our best or didn't do well enough to accomplish what we wanted to. We didn't all start life the way Isabelle started life, but each one of us has our own personal challenges we need to overcome and/or change. But we forget that when we have done the best that we can, we need to leave the situation in God's hands. We don't know what other people are looking for when we have to put ourselves out front. Isabelle may not have danced as she wanted to, but she must have danced good enough for the school. Maybe they weren't just looking at her dancing skills, but at her personality and attitude, too!! Isabelle wanted to dance for a living, but she also loved to dance. God wants us to be happy and enjoy life.

The bible reading for this week is about David. Even though Saul tried to kill David, David showed mercy to Saul's grandson, Mephibasheth and he ate at David's table like one of David's sons. If David can be generous and forgiving to someone who doesn't deserve it, how much more can and will God be generous to us.

Is there anything else in the bible verse that relates to this week's reading?

When Life Changed in an Instant

Psalm 116 says "I love the Lord for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live". The writer of this Psalm is unknown, but the footnotes in my bible say, "this writer's love for the Lord had grown because he had experienced answers to his prayers".

If you wonder if God answers prayers, I would suggest that you write down all your prayers along with the date and leave a space to write God's answer. Then review your list often to see how God has answered your prayers.

Michelle's faith and determination helped in her healing process.

Read Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8. We need to pray, do what we can do and leave the rest up to God.

Letting Go

In the reading for this week a mother struggles over fearing for her children's safety. She doesn't like that she can't let the fear go. One day her son is severely hurt and she realizes that his safety is out of her control. It is interesting that it took a crisis to actually alleviate her fears and trust that God is in control. Because she had that trust, her son was saved. In the bible verse it also discusses a man's complete faith in Jesus and because of that faith Jesus provided for the man.

I have a couple questions for you:

1. Do you think that if the woman didn't have the trust in God her son wouldn't have been saved?

2. How can you relate this week's reading to the struggles we have been having with the authenticity of the stories in this book?

3. Are there things going on in your life now that you realize you need to let go of and give God control?

Buckle Up!

I am going to summarize Genesis 27. Rebekah had two sons and they were fraternal twins. Before they were born, God told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger son. Esau was born first and Jacob was born second. When their father, Isaac was old, he was going to give the blessing to his oldest child, which was a part of their tradition and culture as long as the father felt that the oldest should get the blessing. The father could give another son the blessing if he felt that son was more deserving of it. Through the blessing the son became the leader of the family. Anyway, when Rebekah heard that Isaas was going to bless Esau, she took matters into her own hands and had Jacob pretend that he was Esau and deceived Isaac so that Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob rather than to Esau. Esau got so mad that he said he was going to kill Jacob and Jacob had to flee. The consequences of Rebekah's interference were that she never saw Jacob again, Esau became the founder of an enemy nation, and Jacob was exiled from his family for years. The irony of this all is that Jacob would have gotten the birthright as God had proclaimed that Jacob would before he was born. If Rebekah and Jacob would have waited for God and let God work things His way things would have turned out much differently for them. I don't think it's appropriate to use deceit to get what we want. My questions to you are: (1) Why did they use this scriptue for the reading this week? (2) How does Proverbs 23.22 relate to this week's reading? (3) Why is Colossians 3:21 another good reading for this week? (4) Is there anything different that Andy's mom could have done? (5) Why do you think Rebekah and Jacob did what they did? (6) Why do you think Andy's mom treated Jared the way that she did? (7) Should she have treated him differently and why? (Enough questions for everyone to answer at least one!!!)

A Voice in the Storm

I just want to say that I believe that God does talk to us if we listen to Him. He may not talk audibly so that we can literally hear Him like we hear each other. But I believe that He talks to us from within. That would be from our conscience, or you can say it is from your heart and/or a gut feeling or through someone else or something you read. I believe that God can use pictures, stories and events from our past to try to reach us. I also believe that He brings Angels into our lives for a reason. I believe that we show our faith when we believe in God and listen for Him. Don't you think that it shows just a little more faith when we believe without having to have an actual physical encounter with God/an Angel??? Remember when you were a child and one of your parents said "trust me". If you did trust them based on their experience or knowledge, you had faith in them without having the actual experience and doing what they were asking you not to. I don't know exactly what happened to Kody while he was out in that snow storm, but it was real to him. That's all that matters. Maybe some of these stories do seem unreal and unbelievable, but I know one thing for sure, I am thankful that I and none of my children or their spouses have ever been in these situations. I am sure that a lot of situations like these do not turn out so well. It sure is nice to know that God is there for us no matter what. Psalm 107 talks about being thankful! It talks about people who ask God for help and He helps them. It talks about people who have turned their back on God and when they have no where else to go and turn to God, He answers them.

The Most Friends of All

Larry was a high school student with no friends - his only friend was his dad, both of whom were devout Christians. His dad prayed for Larry to someday have more friends than anyone in his class. Larry often spent time during the school day reading his Bible, which seemed to push people away. His dad passed away from a fatal heart attack while Larry was in HS and fortunately, this pushed Larry deeper into a relationship with God. Larry eventually ended up with his own family, and when he was 37 he was diagnosed with Lung Cancer and invited to his reunion. He declined the reunion but asked his classmates to pray for him. The response and support from his classmates was overwhelming - Larry ended up getting better and going to his class reunion. Two years later, he passed away and at his funeral there was standing room only - his dad's prayer came true.

The story in the Bible is about Daniel and three others from a kingdom overtaken by the Babylonians. These four men were taken into Babylonia to be trained to enter into the King's service. Meanwhile, they were to eat the royal food. The four men requested to eat their own food to not be defiled with the royal food. The asked to be tested for 10 days - eating vegetables and drinking water - if they looked healthier than the other men, they would be allowed to continue eating their food. They ended up being the smartest of all the men and were hired into the King's service.

The link between these two stories is that the men stuck to their beliefs. Larry continued to read the Bible - even though he was being persecuted and Daniel ate the food of his beliefs. God rewarded them both - Larry with more friends than he ever thought he'd have and Daniel with a job in King's service. And both acted as a witness for the Lord. Both brought believers to God.

A Time To Go Home

This is a story about Brian and he doesn't appear to be a rebellious and angry teenager, he's just someone who wants to do what he wants to do. I guess being a prizefighter isn't what every parent prays for for their child. Because of his owns actions, he is at the point of falling to his death when an angel intervenes. At least a miracle happens and he finds himself in the boxcar. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom or having something like this happen to make us realize that it's time to change our ways and/or do something different than what we are doing.

The passage in the Bible is about the lost son. The son who asks his father for his share of the inheritance and then travels to a distance land and spends it foolishly. After awhile he gets a job feeding hogs and is so hungry that he wants to eat what the hogs are eating. Then he remembers how much his father has and that the hired hands are never hungry and he decides to go home and ask his father to make him one of his hired hands. But the father has been waiting and watching for his son and while his son is still a long way off, he runs to great him and puts on a big celebration to welcome him back.

God is like that for us and for Brian. He is waiting and watching for us to come to Him and he will celebrate with us. We want to live how we want to live and do what we want to do and often times that life is not fulfilling. But if we have God in our life and live for Him, our life will be filled with joy. God never promises that life will be easy, but He does promise to be with us always. God's love is like that father's. It's constant, patient and welcoming. He searches for us and waits for us but does not force us.

God is a gentleman. He waits patiently for us. He gave us a free will. He wants us to love Him freely and willingly. He is always waiting with His arms wide open. He is our heavenly Father. Read Matthew 7:7. I don't necessarily believe that God wants us to ask for riches or worldly things, I believe he wants us to ask for wisdom, and knowledge and love and those kinds of things and to provide for our daily needs. He is waiting to give us those things.

Great Job!!

After this first round of readings, I just want to say that you all did a "great job"!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and think about it and write down your thoughts and ideas about what the book and Bible were saying to you. Even though the stories seem to be the same, they are different. The bible readings are different. If you look back at what everyone has written, there have been a lot of good things written and things that we all need to stop and think about and things that are good for us to read. Sometimes we need repetition to remember things. I know that I want to spend more time reading in the Bible and learning about God and this is helping me. So, "Thank you" to each and every one of you for helping me to do this. I love you all more than you'll ever know!!!

Miracle of the Heart

As I read this story I couldn't help but feel sorry for both Kate and Leah (from the scripture).

Kate who is in love with the man she believed was sent to her by God, has to go through a horrible accident to see his true colors in the moment she needed him the most. As she goes through the next year she turns to God asking him to help her learn how to love and bring someone who would accept her for her scars, and to "let her care for a child one day". Soon months turn to years and she still hasn't found love. Kate turns to God and says "God, if you don't want me to find love, if children aren't in my future, so be it. I give my whole life over to you." It is this same day that another horrible accident brings children and love into Kate's life.

I had to read a few passages before and after the one listed to understand more into the meaning. Leah is the older sister to Rachel, but also a wife to Jacob. She was taken on as a wife as a trick from her father, Jacob had never intended to marry Leah and had no desire for her. The scripture says "when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. After each son that she conceived she believed that this would make Jacob feel some connection to her, but was unsuccessful, after her fourth son she too was then unable to conceive. After some time Leah bears Jacob more children after she gives Jacob her maid as a wife and she finally proclaims that she is happy.

I believe that the section of reading and scripture are pointing out that you need to have faith in God because he has a bigger picture worked out for you. Stop trying to control everything because when He closes one door He will open another, or maybe even a window. Both Kate and Leah had less then ideal situations but God looked after them and found ways for both of them to find love and fulfillment.

God's Ways

Ok, so I read the story for this week and I also read the the scripture reading. My first reaction was, "Dang! Jacob sure got around!" But then I tried to tie connections between the two. Here is what I found:

1. Both contain characters that are desperate and that desperation led to even more pain.

-Rachel was desperate for children because she wanted to give Jacob children. Margaret and Bill were both desperate to have children to complete their lives. Both made the decision to get children in other ways. Rachel through her maidservant and Margaret and Bill through adoption. It seems as though their desperation led to a lot of heartache. Rachel could not wait for God to give her a child so she allowed Jacob to sleep with her maidservant, which probably caused more jealousy and hurt feelings for Rachel than the fulfillment she was looking for . Margaret and Bill relied too heavily on the Agency which promised a 100% risk free adoption, but in reality it was not risk-free at all.

2. Both illustrate that God has the power to give and the power to take away.

-God made Rachel barren, but when the time was right allowed her to have a child. God let the first adoption fall through, but then brought them another little girl.

I think the lesson to be learned is that although it is hard sometimes we just need to leave our fate up to God. He truly does know what is best for us and in the end when we see the big picture, we will be thankful. When we can't wait for God and we take things into our own hands, well, there's the potential of being hurt even worse.

So in the end, trust in God. He knows what is best, especially when we don't.

GOD is Awesome!!

Go to: www.crazylovebook.com (Francis Chan) and look at the video "The Awe Factor of God".
R. C. Sproul wrote "Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God".

Week 4: A Series of Miracles

Spoiler Alert! Another sad story with a happy ending. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, the book is titled "Miracles."

Ok, I'm being serious now. It is amazing that this couple who wanted children is now miraculously able to have them and were able to adopt two healthy girls from China who serendipitously are biological sisters. Oops, there I go again being sarcastic.

HELP! I'm feeling quite cynical tonight. Any guidance?

Heaven's Perfect Timing

Well, it seems we've all thought about this kind of situation before since we discussed it in week one! I thought this story was interesting in that she did pray to God before she started her trip to keep her from crossing the summit if it was too dangerous. She didn't realize though at first that her hunger was that signal from God to stop. I think a lot of times I do ask for help from God but then I don't always know how to read those signals either. For Amy in this story, the signal was the physical sensation of hunger. In the scripture reading, the wise men paid attention to their dream from God and avoided returning to Herod. They were wise enough to know that the dream was God's signal. God may not always come right out and TALK to us, like he did Amy. He may give us other signals in our lives though. Do you think a lot of that is trusting your instincts? Maybe the feelings and sensations you have in a situation are giving you clues as to how to proceed. Did you get other ideas from this reading?

The Littlest Angel

The bible passage that goes with this story is about Paul traveling on a boat with several sailors when a terrible storm hits that lasts for several days. It is so bad that they've had to discard a lot of their food and other items and their ship is falling apart. As they start to despair, Paul tells them that he was visited by an angel and that their ship would be destroyed, but all of them would live. A comment by a source I found on the internet said that God knew how much the men could take and that they needed some kind of hope to keep them from falling into utter despair and possibly becoming suicidal. This makes a lot of sense in the context of the story that we read, as this woman lost her daughter only a month before, seemed to be near poverty, and also had fallen seriously ill. I would imagine that she had to be nearly suicidal - but to have her daughter through God visit her - and save her - would perhaps be the reassurance she needed that her daughter was okay and in a better place and that would enable her to continue on. God has compassion and opens doors when others shut. It's amazing the twists and turns that life takes -

Note

Hi all,

I just wanted you to know in case you didn't notice that there is a place for comments under each post. So, if you want to reply to someone, you can just click on the comments link. For example, right now there are 5 responses to Mom's post. Denise, if you meant to create a new post, that is cool. I just wanted you to be aware of those comments in case you didn't know they were there. I just know that everyone isn't too familiar with blogging, so I thought I'd make sure.

New Year's Eve

Mom is right - this story is hard to believe. I hate to be a party pooper, but this story leads me to the age old question, "Why would God choose to help two girls making a stupid choice, and not the hundreds or thousands of other girls and women who are innocently assaulted?" And I'm not saying they asked for it - but they did put themselves in a risky situation. And I dare say we've all done stupid things - I know I have. It makes me think of one time on the river in Winona and a boy with a jet ski asked if I wanted a ride and I did - once we were out on the water, I thought how stupid that was, and luckily, he really was a good guy, so no harm done, but it did make me think. They were lucky, but severely ignorant. And please don't answer my question above with "God has his reasons." I'm stating my case rhetorically.

New Year's Eve - Week 1

A story like this might be hard for some people to believe. But I really do believe that God watches over all of us every day. Hopefully, we will be fortunate enough to never be in any situation like this. Sometimes when I have been delayed and am driving along the highway and see an accident, I can't help but wonder if I hadn't been delayed, if that would have been me in the accident that I see. We only need to pray and ask Him to watch over us and then we need to take the time to listen to Him and be open to Him and His Word. When all the kids were little, I used to stand at the door in St. Clair every morning and watch them walk to school and pray that God would watch over them and keep them safe. I don't do it as often as I would like to now, but I know that when I pray, I don't feel as anxious about everyone's safety as I do when it's been a long time since I last prayed. It's a challenge for all of us to make time each day to pray.

Psalm 124 - Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Welcome to the Six HAGS!!

Welcome to our Six HAGS blog. No, we are not ugly witches. We are six strong women with four last names: Hoffman, Anderson, Gottfredsen and Scheurer. This blog is the meeting place for reading and discussing the devotional book Miracles.