Hanukkah

Lord, Your chosen people have been through so much. In my pea-sized little brain and lack of appreciation for history, i had no idea the persecution of Your people went so far back. First of all forgive me for not knowing and not appreciating.

In John 10:22ff Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication. This is the Hebrew transliteration for Hanukkah. This is where they are celebrating the revolt beginning with Mattathias against Antiochus. He was considered and actually was a "madman" that absolutely put the Jews through unspeakable things. This man is a possible foreshadow of the true antichrist to come only he will be much worse and terrible. I am not completely sure if the Christian church will be around to see all that persecution to come and be persecuted by it either - i have not figured out the timeline of the end times. But that for me would be reason enough to become a Christian if i were a Jew - to escape possibly the terrible persecution coming to Your chosen people. Of course for many other reasons as well, but that is one GREAT reason. Oh Lord, may they see You! May they accept You as the one True God and Messiah. Lord, my heart hurts for those still looking for You to come! You are a King - the King of kings and Lord of lords! It is You and You are it!

Lord Jesus - We have now finalized a house in Norris City just yesterday. That really feels good to have that done and know that we have a place to plant our feet. There were some nice places in Carmi, but just not much big enough. I am scaling back as it is, but that is a great thing. The kids will share a room, but that is no different than now. I am excited to have less to clean.

Father, i am going to speak in Lexington today and it will be a different kind of talk. Not just a message of me speaking, sit down and be done. Lots of discussion among the ladies and lots of thinking through the different kids in your house at that moment. (I know that probably doesn't even make sense.) We will be discussing the Birth Order and Love Languages of children. It is a fun talk, but i just am so tired and all. Lord, I need your strength and word flow clarity. I need You to do all You can to keep me from chasing rabbit trails and to stay true to Your message. This message can be huge eye opener for families and many times marriages!

Lord Jesus - I surrender to Your plans today. I pray none of my agenda succeeds, but what You have for this group today. Lord, i pray the same for the retreat this weekend. I am really excited and know it is going to be a good time. I pray for Tina as she is not feeling well in her pregnancy. She is the leader of it all and this is not a good time to be sick. (Like any time is good to be sick...) I have a lot to do for today and this weekend and it is already Wednesday. We had fun last night trick-o-treating. My baseball head, my cheerleader, my princess, and my cowgirl. It was a great time! I love you, Lord.