Friday, April 17, 2015

Me & Gideon

Dan has a stuffed bear that i bought him when we were dating. 
his bear is named Samson.
Dan bought me a stuffed dog way back before we had kids or even any pets.
my brown dog with the big head and large sad eyes is named Gideon.
i liked that Gideon had a cool story in the Bible.  
see a common theme?
*i also have a tiny lion with big sad eyes i received for Valentines when i was pregnant with our boy whom i named Shamgar*

this is not about my stuffed dog named Gideon.
this is me spending some time hanging with Biblical Gideon.
the ladies Bible Study at church is working through a study entitled:
Gideon: your weakness, God's strength.

Gideon appeared unsure if God even loved His people anymore.
"But sir," Gideon replied, "if the Lord is with us, why..." (Judges 6:13)

Gideon didn't think too highly of himself.
"But Lord,"  Gideon asked, "how can i save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manassah, and i am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15)

Gideon wanted proof, not just God's word.
Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me." (Judges 6:17)

Gideon was afraid.
Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.  But because he was afraid of his family and the men of his town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. (Judges 6:27)

have i told you that Gideon likes to have proof?
..."look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.  If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then i will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said." (judges 6:37)

he's all about the proof.
Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me..." again with the fleece. (judges 6:39)

Before the fleece x2 
The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.
he called the men together to form the army to defeat the Midianites.
then... after the fleece x2

God began cutting their numbers back.

I'm not thinking Gideon was liking it too much.
22,000 men left because they were given permission if they were afraid.
10,000 still there.
they headed to the water.
those who lapped the water like dogs were sent home.
the 300 men that knelt and cupped the water, bringing it to their mouths, they were now Gideon's army.

What?
oh, Gideon, i can feel you trembling in your boots.
i can see you standing there watching the men pack up and walk away.
standing by the water, one hand on your hip, your other hand shading your eyes from the sun as the men walked off into the distance.  
Your heart beating with such force you're sure it's going to come right through your chest.
reminding yourself what God had said.

God was going to use him, Gideon, to save Israel.  
God had shown him three times that He meant what he said.

but 300 men.
the Midianites have an inconceivable number of warriors, and camels.

But God was going to use 300 men and give the Midianites into his hands. (judges 7:7)

that night God knew how Gideon was feeling.
He knew the fear.
He knew the nervousness.
so He spoke to Gideon.
he told him to get up and go get the Midianites.

i can hear the large gulp from Gideon as he grasped God's words.
but before he could ask or say anything.
God continues.
"if you are afraid..."
that's right, God knew what was going on in Gideon's heart.
"if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying.  Afterwards, you will be encouraged to attack the camp."  
(Judges 7:10)

Gideon took his servant and went to listen.
he heard two men talking about a dream.
it was interpreted that God was going to give the Midianites into Gideon's hands.

Gideon did have more courage after that.
He immediately went and got his men up.

Gideon.  
He wasn't a great warrior.
He wasn't a preacher.
He wasn't the strongest.
He was afraid.
He felt weak.
He didn't want to be in that position.

But when God called him to do something.
He did it.
He did it with God's plans, strength and boldness.
He couldn't have done it alone.
if he had, he probably wouldn't have even thought the initial 32,000 were enough.

Gideon didn't defeat the Midianites with 300 men.
God defeated the Midianites using Gideon and his 300 men.

I'm enjoying hanging out with Gideon over these weeks.
he is teaching me that God has patience with me,
i mean, he didn't yell at Gideon and tell him to suck it up and just do as he said.. 
he let him be afraid.
even when i question Him more than once.

But, 
He does want to use me in some way, 
to reach others for Him.
and i need to grasp onto His strength, His boldness, His Words.

God doesn't need me to do His works, 
He wants to use me.



*I don't do the whole hashtag thing.
but if you do and want to see what others are learning from Gideon you can see them at 

*if you just want to watch a fun song and see the connection between our stuffed animals' names
(Samson, Gideon and Shamgar)
then check out this song:







Thursday, April 2, 2015

School Days: Gr 2 *part1*

age: 7
year in school: 4
grade: 2
class: only gr. 2s

Wow, April is here.

Hi.
my boy is now in grade 2.
well, he has been since the beginning of September 2014.
i'm just getting around to telling you.

he LOVES school.
He has a phenomenal teacher.
he has had one each and every year so far, and for that i'm extremely thankful.

i kind of asked for this teacher this year.
i wasn't going to do that but at the end of last year i wanted him with this grade 2 teacher.

his spectacular teacher from last year wasn't going to be grade 1-2 this year... just 1s.
so when i discovered she wouldn't be his teacher i asked her if there would be some way he could have this teacher.  she said she could put in a good word for this suggestion.

He loves his teacher.
back in December he made his teacher a card.
*wish i had a photo of it*
it said Thank you for being my teacher.
and he drew a picture of his teacher doing something he loves to do - bird watching.

he brought it to school the next day - even though it was a snow day.

he thinks his teacher is funny.

my husband and i went for the parent-teacher interview and had a great chat.

our boy loves to read, to do math, to learn.
and his teacher says it is obvious.
it was a good chat.

i still volunteer in the library once a week - tuesdays this year.
and i head to my boy's class and pick him up.
he still loves coming to have lunch with me and read books.
he picks out a book as soon as he comes in the library and we read.

he has some good friends in his class again.

he has moved seats at least 4 times.
i asked him one time why he kept getting moved.
"i don't know mom.  i'm not bad, i think it's funny."
he thinks it may be that the people he sits with speak too much.
(i'm sure he's chatting too)

He loves everything about school.
he enjoys going each day.
he finished a book he was writing in class that's all about him.
i'm excited to read it as he's been telling me about it.
he doesn't know when it will come home but he has loved making it.

i have loved experiencing grade 2 with my boy.
i love that school has been such a positive for him so far.
i continually pray for him and what he learns at school.
who he befriends.

love this kid.