We will start where we are supposed to start this time. Let go all the passages that I missed and forge ahead with where we should be. It may not sound like the greatest idea, but I feel God guiding me in that direction and that's the direction I choose to go.
Before we start into the reading, I want to tell you a little bit about what has been going on. Out of the blue my husband recieved an amazing job oppurtunity that we couldn't ignore. It was good money, and would open up doors to help us pay bills off and get to a more comfortable living without having to scrimp and save and budget every penny. I was very skeptical about the whole thing, because he was not looking for a job and this one just appeared out of no where. Here I was on the verge of completing my BSN, getting to start a Nurse Practitioner program next year and my schedule was going to be crazy and my babysitting security was being threatened! How could this be?
Then we find out the job was arranged by people who tend to think they have too much control over our lives. I will not name them, for sake of privacy. But those of you who know me will know exactly who I am talking about it. "They" decided that my husband needed to go back to work, instead of being a stay at home Dad. "They" decided it would be best for us. My husband had no desire to go back to work because he enjoyed taking care of our children. And we were fine. Yes, money was tight. But we had everything we needed. We didn't go without, all our needs were met and we were fine. But "They" decided we needed bigger and better things, and so "they" didn't have to label him as "Unemployed". My husband is not unemployed, he has the most important job in the world, raising his children and taking care of his household. Not to mention supporting me during my school and work hours. He is far from unemployed. Chris decided he should still give it a chance though and I supported him, and prayed. Hard.
I didn't pray for him not to get the job, I prayed for what was God's will in our lives, because that would have been what was best for our family. And I still to this day believe that if we made more money it would open us up to worse things. Like overspending and accumulating more debt then we need. I just didn't have a good feeling about the whole situation. First my kids would be without the caregiver they have known their entire lives, second they would be dependent on strangers to care for them while their Daddy and worked (not that that is a bad thing, its just something we all are not used to, millions of parents do it everyday and its fine), Third we would not have as much family time as we have now. Fourth, what about my schooling? Would my dreams of being a nurse practitioner be put on hold? Not to mention our priorities with the Church would go down and we wouldn't be able to help as much as we do now. Change is not always for the better, even if it was more money.
But, like I said, I went along with it to support my husband. If I needed to put the nurse practitioner thing on the back burner to support him I would. He has been somewhat great in his support of my education the last 4 years and he deserved his chance to do whatever it was he wanted to do. I decided I would give him my full support.
We were told he would get a call to come to work Monday or Tuesday. They didn't call. Tuesday was our anniversary, so we went out to eat and went to the Christian bookstore. And as I chased the kids up and down the aisles at the bookstore, trying to find something to use a witness tool and reminder for my father and mother in law (who were joining us for our anniversary dinner), Madi & Landon bought those rubber bracelets with "Jesus loves me" on them to give to them and right as we were leaving, I saw it. Right there on the door, in big black bold letters. "Part time help wanted, thurs, fri and sat 1-8:30". I think God smacked me in the face with that one. I said, "Look honey!" Chris looked at it, read it and said, "That would be awesome to work here, I would love that! And the hours are perfect.". So he got an application, filled it our and turned it in. We've not heard anything about that job yet, but I took it as a sign that God was telling me: "Relax, Beck. I got this.".
So that's part of my stress and stress relief. It may not sound like much, but it was a big deal to me. Right now, I don't have to worry about who has my kids while I work, do school work, attempt to sleep off the midnight shifts, because my husband has them. I know that when they are with him they are being cared for and loved like I want them to be.
We may still hear about that other job, the one "they" chose for Chris, but I am holding out for the one God picked for him. Wether it be at home, with his children, or at the Christian bookstore, or even at the other job. I leave this in God's hands. I know we'll be okay.
Okay, enough blabbering. Here is the reading for today. And if I get off track again, I'll just pick back up and start again. I can only be discouraged for so long before God picks me up, dusts me off and places me back on the path again.
This reading is Micah, chapters 1-4. I know we've missed alot, but we will forge forward. When we get back to the beginning, we'll pick up those we missed.
My favorite verse from these chapters:
Micah Chapter 4 verse 12
But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
Isn't out God and amazing God. Here I was going on about how I was so unsure of the possible changes coming into our lives, all before I read these 4 chapters and what verse speak out to me? This one! Its perfect. Praise God for always knowing what I need when I need it. I do not know his plan for me, or for my family, but we will follow without question!
Here are the other chapters:
Micah
Chapter 1
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
Chapter 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.
6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
Chapter 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Chapter 4
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth
Enjoy your reading, and pray for me as I continue this journey. I meet discouragement and barriers everyday, and somedays I just don't have the strength or energy to overcome them. But we will continue this, and pick up and start again as many times as it takes.
As a way to catch up what should have been read up to this point, I am making another entry today with all those chapters. Read it when you can, every little bit at a time and it will bring us up to spead for what we are reading now.
Tomorrow's assigment, Micah 5-7.
May God continue to bless you as he has me!
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