Foreign gods and the Ocean

Today was the first day back to school for our kids in quite a while. With the move and everything, school has been put on the back burner. My kids thought it was great until I informed them that we would be doing school all summer to make up for the missed school. They were not as pleased then. The older ones are now wishing that they had done some school work on their own. I knew it was going to be a trying day. Anytime you start a new routine, it takes time to get into a groove. I woke up early and immediately reached for my Bible. I began to read my daily chapters. I am reading through the Bible in 90 days and I am in Joshua and Judges. It sometimes seems like these early books of the Old Testament can be boring but if we pray for God to reveal things to us in scripture, He will answer that prayer. Today my nugget was all about foreign gods and I intentionally left the “g” and a lowercase letter. There is only one God that deserves to have the capital “G” and that is our Holy God.

“Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” Joshua 24:23

Who are the foreign gods? I always thought of the foreign gods as actual idols that people worship. You know, the shrines to other gods that people have in their home or anything they physically bow down to. I definitely do not have anything like that in my house so I must be okay. Right?

WRONG!!!!
An idol is anything that steals my time, my heart, joy, or thoughts away from God. I have many of those unfortunately.

TV can be an idol – a foreign God.

Music can be an idol- a foreign God.

Homeschooling can be an idol – a foreign God.

Even my husband and my children can be something that I worship more than God.

These things can be good things. Blessings from God. Things God can use to bring glory to his name. But, when I allow these good things to become more important than God in my life. When my first thoughts in the morning are of those things and not God, then those things have become an idol to my heart.

We need to be so careful to guard our hearts to what takes our time and hearts.

Do I desire God above all things?

If not, what is it that steals from that love for him?

I need to seek out those things and make sure I put them where they belong. Beneath God in my priority list!!!

Search me O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24

I definitely needed this nugget today as it was a trying day. It is going to take us some time to figure out where everyone is going to do school and when. With our very limited space it takes some creative moving around. I was able to get school done with Sam, Daniel, Esther and Nathan before lunch. I worked with Caleb while I was fixing dinner. He was so excited. It was just the two of us in the trailer as Carl had taken all the other kids (except Alex) on a walk. He did so well. The only ones I did not get to work with was William and Alex. They both need my help to. Right now I am listening to the One Year Adventure Novel DVD. The boys begged to watch the first lesson. I am not one to deny them something they are so excited about. They cannot wait to start working on their books. Carl and I are going to have to work out some things, but it is only the first day. It will take some time and Carl and I are going to have to have lots of patience during this time. This has all reveled some things that we need to work on. Tonight devotions was on treating others with respect. It was very good for all the kids and Carl and I to hear verses talking about getting along with others. We are working on many things during this journey and we have just started so there are many things to work on.

Carl and I determined every day that we would work on school in the mornings and then do more fun adventurous things in the afternoon. Today we stuck to that plan. We had planned to go the Fort Fisher Aquarium but we could not find a parking spot. It was so crowded. We forgot that it was a holiday. We decided to just go to the beach instead. We had a great time picking up seashells and trying to avoid the waves. Tirzah and Caleb did not do that so well. They both ended up wet. We had a great time walking amongst the trees and basically just having fun being with one another. I was able to take some very good pictures with my new camera. I had a blast playing with the different settings and the light. We returned to the trailer to spend some time playing in the campground before it got dark. Carl took most of the kids to the river to see the sunset. He took some awesome pictures. It was good because I was able to do school with Caleb and get dinner on the table. By the time the walkers got back Esther and Tirzah (who had returned early from the walk) and Caleb had all gotten baths and dinner was ready. We had dinner, devotions, story time, and the little ones are now in bed. The older kids are watching the DVD’s for school. This tired mama is ready for bed. We are going to try the aquarium tomorrow. Hopefully. If we are not able to go I will have one disappointed little Sam on my hands.

I had a most enjoyable day despite the hardships of it being our return to school after a long break. My time with the Lord this morning was the key to my being able to get through the day. I look forward to my time with the Lord tomorrow morning.