You Are Invited

I have been reading through the chronological bible lately.  This particular scripture really stuck out to me today.

"and the Lord said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat."  Leviticus 16:2

 Aaron, the high priest, wasn't allowed to approach God casually, whenever he wanted.  But because Jesus came to be our sacrifice, we have a special invitation to come.

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Matthew 11:28-30

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  Isaiah 55:1                       (see also John 4:10-14)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"  John 7:37-38

 Are you "heavy laden"?  Are you "thirsty"?


What are you waiting for?

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Come Unto Me 

(by Charles P. Jones)

1. Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppressed,
   “Oh, ye heavy-laden, come to Me and rest;
   Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
   Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care.”
   • Refrain:
     Come unto Me, I will give you rest;
     Take My yoke upon you, hear Me and be blest;
     I am meek and lowly, come and trust My might;
     Come, My yoke is easy, and My burden’s light.
2. Are you disappointed, wand’ring here and there,
   Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?
   Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
   Bring your case to Jesus—He will give you rest.
3. Stumbling on the mountains dark with sin and shame,
   Stumbling toward the pit of hell’s consuming flame;
   By the pow’rs of sin deluded and oppressed,
   Hear the tender Shepherd, “Come to Me and rest.”
4. Have you by temptation often conquered been,
   Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?
   Christ will sanctify you, if you’ll claim His best;
   In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest.

Reading the Bible

This morning I was reading my Bible at the kitchen table.  Noah came up to me and said, "Mama, I want to sit in your lap."  So I picked him up and sat him in my lap.  He began trying to flip the pages of my Bible, which, as you can imagine, was making it a tad difficult to read.  


"Stop, Noah. Mama's trying to read her Bible."  I'm beginning to get a little irritated.  


I think Noah was equally as irritated that I was keeping him from flipping the pages of my Bible. "Mama, stop!  I wanna read the Bible, too!"


My son wants to read the Bible.  Well, that made my day just a little. :)  So I let him "read" my Bible.  He flipped the pages a few times.  Then he bowed his head a little and said, "Jesus, God, help our friends...." and mumbled a few more words that I couldn't understand. 

Another similar story from a few weeks back:

Noah was sitting in his high chair at the kitchen table finishing up a snack and watching Dora the Explorer.  I was sitting in the living room.  I can't remember exactly what I was doing, probably feeding Hannah and/or watching HGTV or Food Network.  Noah had finished his snack and was tired of watching Dora, so he begins to yell (even though I'm only 10 feet from him) for me to come get him down from the table.  

I kept putting him off.  "Just a minute, Noah.  I'll be there in a minute."  

But that was unacceptable.  "Mama!  Stop reading your Bible and get Noah!!" he yelled!  :)  

Well, I wasn't actually reading my Bible, but it sure made me feel good that he assumed I was.

I am so thankful that I have such a hardworking husband and that God has given him a good-paying job so that I am able to stay at home with my kids.  Many days I don't feel like it's worth the financial stress for me to stay home.  But it's times like these that God reassures me that we're doing the right thing.  

Big Brother is a Big Helper

Noah and I were waking Luke up this afternoon to go in to work and Hannah started fussing.  Noah stopped what he was doing and said, "Mama, Hannah is crying.  Let's go check her." 


"Alright!  Let's go!"  And I jogged into the living room to check on Hannah.  Noah ran behind me yelling, "Stop, Mama! Wait!  I check Hannah!"


"Okay," I agreed. "You check on her then."


Noah leans down over Hannah who is sitting in her Boppy chair and says, "Whazza madder, Hannah?  You want chur paci? Here.  Here's your paci."  And he plops it (almost gently) into her mouth. :)


Such a good brother!


[Hannah spit the paci out as soon as he walked away. :)  She's gonna be a feisty little thing.]

Underwear & Curious George

Tonight, I was telling Noah that we would get him some big boy underwear if he would stop peeing and pooping in his diaper and start going in the potty.  I said, "Then you can wear underwear like Daddy instead of a diaper like babies."  He thought about it for a minute and then said, "That sounds GREAT!"  ha!  


Before bed tonight, I spent some time rocking him in the rocking chair.  We read a few books.  Then I talked to him about how much I love him, how smart and sweet he is, what a good big brother he is, etc.  I reminded him again that he could start wearing big-boy underwear if he'd start using the potty.  He said, "and policeman underwear? like daddy?"  I said, "Yeah, we'll try to find you some policeman underwear like daddy's." :)  He thought a minute and then said, "you wear policeman's with me?"  :)  I don't know exactly what policeman underwear looks like, but I guess I'll be hunting all 3 of us a pair before too long. :)


After reading and rocking and praying together, I put Noah in bed and tucked him in.  I sat down beside his toddler bed (while holding Hannah) to wait a while, hoping he would go to sleep quickly.  He laid very still and quiet for a long time.  Then I saw him give his Curious George an "mmm-mmm tight" hug and heard him whisper, "I love you, George."  Then he sits up in bed, looks at me, and says, "Mama, I love George." :)


He. Is. The. Sweetest.


I am a happy Mama!