January 31, 2009

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with our churches Pathfinder club's Pathfinder Bible Achievement team. Pathfinders are a Boy/Girl Scout type organization of the Seventh-Day Adventist church for young Christians from 10 to 15 years old. Older youths can continue in the clubs as teen leaders. Pathfinder Bible Achievement is a Bible Bowl competition that encourages Bible study. This year the portion of scripture being studied is 2 Chronicles 10-36, which covers the history of the divided kingdom of Judah after Rehoboam messed up and caused the 10 northern tribes of Israel to rebel. This seems to be intimidating to a lot of people, but actually contains many interesting stories. Chronicles presents the history in a more spiritual focused way than Kings does, with emphasis more on the peoples interaction with God. I help our club study by making practice questions and thinking up ways to encourage the team to torment themselves by writing Flash Cards, lists of things to memorize, etc. It is fun to see how much I can remember as we practice and I have learned a lot as I study with the team and as I prepare for study sessions. If you'd like to see what a set of questions looks like in a competition, you can go to http://pbawiki.org/index.php/2_Chronicles_Practice_Sets and click on Invitational if you can read PDF files.

Tomorrow is a new day!

I am thankful for tomorrow. Today is almost over and whatever I've accomplished or failed to accomplish is locked in the past. Whatever mistakes I've made and whatever success I've had is set in my history. Tomorrow is a new day with a fresh start and new opportunities. I will live with the results of today, but I will endeavor to allow God to lead me in ways that improve my life and the lives of those around me. I don't know exactly what opportunities God has in store for me, I can only put my life in His hands and allow Him to guide me. Tomorrow is coming, a fresh start for me and I am thankful that a tomorrow awaits.

The battle within, a war between reality and despair

A kind word from someone when my heart is discouraged can lift me from a funk back into a more realistic mindset of hope. I tend to look more at my personal faults and failures and not think about any positive qualities I might have. I know God wants me to be positive and look on the good side of things, but my nature tends to want to look on the bleakness and darkness. God shines His light around me,but I allow my mind to turn the light into a gray mass of despair. A kind word of encouragement from someone else can help me to change my thinking enough to allow some of God's light to penetrate the darkness I have created. I am thankful for the light, I am also thankful for the kind word that lifts my spirit enough to see the light. I suppose the encouraging words are part of the light, and are a blessing that God gives when He sees I desperately need it. I hope that God will help me allow Him to shine some of His light around me by giving me kind, encouraging words for others.

Where have all the birds gone?

Was out bird watching at Roan Mountain State Park with my brother-in-law this morning. It was drizzly with temperatures in the upper 40's. We saw a few birds, but nothing very exciting. Mainly just crows. Finally we started heading back to the cabin when some chickadees and tufted titmice started fluttering around in some nearby shrubbery. Then the B-I-L got excited, he'd seen a golden crowned kinglet. A very small, but beautiful bird. It flitted around where we could see her (the B-I-L thought it was a her from the field guide picture, I agreed) very nicely. A disappointing trip turned good in just a moment. I am thankful God gives us those moments where things go from disappointing to successful. I am sure He gives me a lot more of those moments than I recognize, because too often I don't see what there is too see. And sometimes it is nice to have someone else, like my B-I-L, around to show me what I was missing. I am thankful that others eyes are open to the wonders and truths God has for me, and they are willing to share and point me in the right direction.