The Peace Offering

Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings...

he shall offer it without defect before the Lord.

Leviticus 3:1

"Is there any point of dispute between thy Lord and thee? One little thing which thou dost not surrender? He is right He cannot change. It is thy heart which must surrender. Then canst thou receive the peace which passeth knowledge. He has made the offering which atones for all thy past, but thou must yield thy will to Him. Shall it be now?"

A Mighty Wind

As it is our Monday morning tradition, we went to Super Target this morning to get our weekly grocery shopping done. We always stop in the Thomas the Train section on our way from the baby aisles over to dairy. If Jack is good as I weave my way up and down the grocery aisles, he is allowed to have a cookie from the bakery when we finally make it up there. Today's version was chocolate chip, as evidenced by the photos below.

(a closer look in case you can't see it above)

He was very concerned about the crumbs on his hands so he insisted on using the little tissue that the cookie comes in to wipe them off. When he handed it back to me I asked him how he was going to get the chocolate off of his face. He said "I gonna go outside and the wind will blow it off." That's a mighty wind.

Manna

The people of Israel called the bread Manna. Exodus 16:31

"There is an art, not known to all who travel, by which a wearied and exhausted life may gather, in a way which seems to those who do not understand almost miraculous, new strength, new vigor, new physical power, for an onward march. So does the Master feed the souls of His children Himself a spiritual 'Manna' as real and more wonderful than that strange, mysterious food with which He fed the House of Israel. To 'feed upon the Lord' may sound like empty mysticism, but may be a fact to every trusting soul. For unto us are given 'exceeding great and precious promises, that by him we might be partakers of the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4)."

This makes me think of life's physical trials that require lasting endurance above and beyond what seems humanly possible; child birth, marathons, enduring a long and difficult fight against cancer... And while it seems "easier" to endure spiritual trials, I would argue that these are the trials that carry more significance. We spend endless amounts of energy fighting for our physical health, which we all know is limited because there is an end, but when it comes to fighting for our spiritual health and strengthening our relationship with the Lord, which carries eternal consequence, we often come up short on energy. We're too tired to get up 30 minute earlier or stay up 30 minutes later to spend time in prayer or studying God's word. Isn't it wonderful that God is never short on energy when it comes to relationship with His children? When we feel stretched, physically or spiritually, we can rely on His strength and energy to get us through. Lately, I have been very apathetic about my walk with God and have since asked Him to revive me. As always, when we are praying God's will in the name of Jesus, He is faithful to answer.

What sustaining "Manna' is the Lord giving you this week?

What does a 6-month-old do with a hammer?

The answer is not "pound nails." Check out Wesley's adventures with Jack's toy hammer:

How to Save Millions in HR Costs

As an HR professional in a field that many employees don't know even exists, I tend to get a little defensive when the HR profession as a whole is over-simplified...

I was listening to a radio show this morning and the discussion turned to school uniforms and whether or not that takes away a student’s ability to express his/her individuality. The talk show host maintained that it didn’t; it was a requirement of the school and it was more an issue of dressing appropriately for the environment than an inability to express indivuality, similar to a dress code at work. The caller responded with, “Well, we know not everyone dresses appropriately for work, otherwise we wouldn’t need HR.”

So if a company can train its managers to enforce the dress code, it can get rid of HR altogether and save millions! I think I’m going to steal this idea, market myself as a “consultant” to Fortune 500 companies and cash in.

Goats!

Saturday morning Sean and Jack came downstairs for breakfast. While Sean was preparing Jack's cereal, Jack decided to have a look at what was going on in the world that day and looked out the patio door into the backyard. He started exclaiming excitedly, "Daddy!...ooh!...aminals!...backyard!...GOATS!" Knowing the likelihood that there were really goats in our backyard was low, Sean wandered over to the door to see what was actually going on. He saw three deer by the apple trees and explained to Jack that these animals were actually called deer, not goats. I guess we need to focus a little less on the farm and start exploring the forest.

The Rock of Israel

But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed limber, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel. Genesis 49:24

"Oh Stone of Israel, chief Cornerstone, rejected by the builders, Stone of Stumbling, Rock of Offense, Foundation Stone, on which alone we build aught that shall stand, make me a polished, living stone; built in with other stones; perchance a pillar to go out no more, but always a part of Thy temple, for Thine own indwelling. Thrice Holy Lord, self-offered for my peace, through death that I might live, through fire that I might become indestructible; consumed that I might feed on Thee in holiest communion - enlighten me today till I perceive Thy peace that passeth understanding. Amen."

What part of God's church are we supposed to be? He has gifted all of us and He desires for us to use those gifts to further His kingdom. In this way, we make up God's church with our faith in Christ as the unifying element.