Back in the BRF saddle again. It’s been awhile and my Reviews have been sporadic. I’m back on track this week and am praying that I’ll be able to stay on track.
The first thing that I have to say about Joel, is that I had trouble getting past the first few verses.
(1:2-3) Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
Tell them. Tell your children, tell your grandchildren. So that they can learn from what has happened to you. Tell them about the hard times so they can learn from what you learned, and know that someone else has gone through it when their own hard times come. Tell them also about the good times, so they can see how you were blessed. Lead by example, and tell them. Let your stories of hard times and blessing, too, be used to teach the generations coming behind you. Everytime I would read these verses I would stop and think and think and think. And sometimes only get this far. Can I honestly tell my children that when the hard times came, I relyed only my Savior, that I knew that He would get me through? That even when nothing seemed to be going right, I knew that He was in control? That when the blessings came and things were going well, that I praised and thanked Him for that? Can I tell my kids that I depended on my Savior always?
(2:12) “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
Even now–even after the locusts, or the awful things that have happened , return to Me. I’m still here. Return–turn back. Stop going your own way, turn around and come back to Me. I’m still here. I’m so thankful for a God who is still there, waiting for me to return when I’ve gone off in my own direction and strayed from His path for me.
I loved Joel. The song that kept going through my head as I was reading was this one. “And so what we have learned applies to our lives today, God has alot to say in this book.” Yup, VeggieTales. No matter what book Shannon chooses for us to read, there is always something there for us to learn. Always. Whenever I first start to read a book in the Old Testament, I find myself wondering what can possibly apply to me, today. But it’s there, I just need to read it, and read with an open heart. He’ll show me. It’s God’s Word, and it’s still alive and still applies today!
We have a new club here at the kitchen table. “The Clean Plate Club”. We have a few fussy eaters and nothing seemed to be working. So Saturday night (with no prior thought or warning) I blurted out “Who’s going to be a member of the clean plate club tonight? I know I am.” Daddy immediately piped up with “I am, too”. And two of the three kids joined that night. And were rewarded a cookie after supper.
