The One who cares for me...

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore,⁽ confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
~1 Peter 5: 6-11

I am continuing to ponder these verses after both a fine sermon upon them yesterday, and a fine discussion of them last night in our fellowship group. I don't think I saw the connections before, or at least not so clearly: to humble myself before God is to obediently trust Him, casting all my cares upon Him, and not picking them back up again.  When I do this, I am resisting the Devil, because his prowling is useless when my heart is obedient and humbled as it is supposed to be.  What an amazing idea: when I am beginning to despair, I fight that temptation from Satan by casting all my cares upon the One who cares for me and bears them gladly.  It sounds too simple, but my own pride and inflated sense of self gets in the way over and over again. 

All the same, this morning I am marveling at a new day before me, and new opportunities to cast my cares upon One who not only cares for me, but leads every detail of my day, in His divine providence, for my good and His glory.  That is grace, indeed!  May you spend today surrounded by such grace, Gentle Reader.

And more thoughts on all that suffering stuff in the future...

Keeping the right focus...

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This morning in church I was challenged by the sermon from 1 Peter 5.  One of many thoughts that went through my hard little heart was how easily I get distracted by Satan's prowling.  The following hymn is a good way to refocus on what is important.


The God of Abraham Praise 






Words: From The Yig­dal of Dan­i­el ben Ju­dah, a Jew­ish judge in Rome, cir­ca 1400, par­a­phrased by Thom­as Ol­iv­ers, cir­ca 1765; first ap­peared in The Gos­pel Mag­a­zine, Ap­ril 1775. The lyr­ics are based on the 13 creeds of Mos­es Mai­mon­i­des (cir­ca 1130-1204).

The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days, and God of Love;
Jehovah, great I AM! by earth and Heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred Name forever blessed.

The God of Abraham praise, at Whose supreme command
From earth I rise—and seek the joys at His right hand;
I all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame, and power;
And Him my only Portion make, my Shield and Tower.

The God of Abraham praise, whose all sufficient grace
Shall guide me all my happy days, in all my ways.
He calls a worm His friend, He calls Himself my God!
And He shall save me to the end, thro’ Jesus’ blood.

He by Himself has sworn; I on His oath depend,
I shall, on eagle wings upborne, to Heav’n ascend.
I shall behold His face; I shall His power adore,
And sing the wonders of His grace forevermore.

Tho’ nature’s strength decay, and earth and hell withstand,
To Canaan’s bounds I urge my way, at His command.
The wat’ry deep I pass, with Jesus in my view;
And thro’ the howling wilderness my way pursue.

The goodly land I see, with peace and plenty bless’d;
A land of sacred liberty, and endless rest.
There milk and honey flow, and oil and wine abound,
And trees of life forever grow with mercy crowned.

There dwells the Lord our King, the Lord our righteousness,
Triumphant o’er the world and sin, the Prince of peace;
On Sion’s sacred height His kingdom still maintains,
And glorious with His saints in light forever reigns.

He keeps His own secure, He guards them by His side,
Arrays in garments, white and pure, His spotless bride:
With streams of sacred bliss, with groves of living joys—
With all the fruits of Paradise, He still supplies.

Before the great Three-One they all exulting stand;
And tell the wonders He hath done, through all their land:
The list’ning spheres attend, and swell the growing fame;
And sing, in songs which never end, the wondrous Name.

The God Who reigns on high the great archangels sing,
And “Holy, holy, holy!” cry, “Almighty King!
Who was, and is, the same, and evermore shall be:
Jehovah—Father—great I AM, we worship Thee!”

Before the Savior’s face the ransomed nations bow;
O’erwhelmed at His almighty grace, forever new:
He shows His prints of love—they kindle to a flame!
And sound thro’ all the worlds above the slaughtered Lamb.

The whole triumphant host give thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God, and mine! (I join the heav’nly lays,)
All might and majesty are Thine, and endless praise.

The Hanson get-together

 

On Christmas Day, 19 of us gathered for dinner and gifts and caroling here in New Mexico.  It was a delightful time, though we missed Jeff and family! Emma got properly passed around: above with Great-aunt Jeni and cousin Zoe, and below with great-uncle Matt.

  

Above, Emma with great-Aunt Annie, and below with great-grandparents Jack and Shirley.

 Maria, Zoe, Hallie, Atalie

Matt, Anne, Shirley, Jack.  In front: Hallie.  Behind: Gwen and Chris.

Jeni, Ben, Nikki, Emma and Tim.

Emma with Aunt Elsa.

Christmas is past...

So much life has been happening around here that little blogging has occurred!  We are having a wonderful Christmas with Ben, Elsa, Tim, Nikki and Emma all here. Here are a few glimpses:

Ben and Dave help finish off bean bags for Tim's Cornhole Toss game.  I had to capture them sitting together and sewing...

I completed these elephants for Emma, and she liked them!

I also completed this quilt for my sister, a stained-glass crazy quilt:

Elsa completed Emma's first pair of running shoes:

And they look adorable on Emma:

And here we are on Christmas Eve at church.  We enjoyed singing "Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light" together, and also Ben and Elsa and I sang Ben's arrangement of Coventry Carol. 

Christmases past...1987

Christmases past...1986

Christmases past...~1990