Notes to Self...and whoever's listening

Gideon isn’t the first tough guy that comes to mind when I think about the Bible. Honestly, I don’t know I ever thought a whole lot about him. But I kinda fell in love with him today. The Israelites have screwed up. Again. This time they’d messed with the wrong crowd and oppression clung to them in every facet imaginable. So once they couldn’t take it anymore, THEN the cried out to God. Again. So God sent another angel to appoint another person to get the Israelites out of this latest pickle they found themselves in. And the angel’s lead in statement is epic! “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (Judges 6:12) Woah! I think flattery like that might get me to perk up and see what the Lord has for me!  But, that didn’t seem to be Gideon’s response. Nope, he said some of the most honest words anyone could say. He didn’t mince words. He tried to remain polite. But he had questions. Here is how it went down with some of my editing 😉: “Pardon me, my lord,”  (How amazi...

This morning as I laid across my bed (my new favorite place to read my Bible), I contemplated briefly where I should start reading.  I decided on Joshua because he's a pretty cool guy who accomplished a lot for the Lord and had a lot of inner fortitude to succeed. Joshua 1 brings us up to date on where Joshua's story continues.  He had spent time being introduced in Deuteronomy.  Joshua was now being tasked with bringing God's people, the Israelites, finally into the promised land after the fiasco in the desert where they just  ended up wandering for 40 years.  During the "pep talk" God gave him, he was reminded three times to "be strong and courageous".  I'm guessing that there was some fear and trepidation on Joshua's part.  His predecessor didn't exactly have a great time leading and never got to see the promised land.  Moses's shadow loomed large before Joshua. God knew that Joshua was capable or He wouldn't have asked him to ...

Well done. We all want to hear that.  Whether it is from a boss, a coach, a teammate, a spouse, a friend, a child, a sibling, or anyone really, it changes us.  We stand a little bit taller, we work harder the next time, we smile bigger, we appreciate the praise.  We need praise.  We need to be acknowledged.  We need to know someone sees us. The Bible talks about the importance of our words often.  Here are a few... I even got a "good job!" from my boss this week and it made me smile.  Yeah, even a 43 year old assistant likes to hear that.  Something this assistant loves, too?  Getting cupcakes just because from her boss.  See those above?  I get to dive into those today!  He makes this office a nice place to spend my days.  I don't love being an assistant.  Never have.  But, I have great respect for my boss.  He is the reason I stay with this job. As one who bakes, I also like ...