He can move the mountains

Whenever I hear the song "Mighty to Save" on the radio or at church, I always think about Benjamin. I suppose that is because he is always on my mind... and the obstacles we are facing are usually right under the surface, so it always pops up. You know the song, it goes like this:


Everyone needs compassion
Love thats never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
And fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
I Surrender
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Shine Your light and let the whole world see
Were singing
For the glory of the risen King
Jesus
Shine Your light and let the whole world see
Were singing
For the glory of the risen King
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
Shine Your light and let the whole world see
Were singing
For the glory of the risen King
Jesus
Shine Your light and let the whole world see
Were singing
For the glory of the risen King

I know there are lots of different aspects of this song and it can relate to any person and any situation, but I personally can't help but think of Benjamin and his speech delay. (among other things of his) I always gain perspective when hearing this song. Why should I be concerned with my abilities in helping Benjamin overcome a speech delay when He can move the mountains? And in all actually, it is stated that WE can move the mountains.

Matthew 17:20: He told them, "Because of your lack of faith. I tell you with certainty, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

Do you know how tiny a mustard seed is? That's all the measure of faith that you need to move a mountain. Imagine what a dozen little mustard seeds could accomplish.

I'm one of those people who truly believes that given time, good prevails over evil. What exactly constitutes the difference between good and evil? Is it all perspective or is there really a line to be drawn between the two? And who really tells us?

I'm not having a debate in my mind about obvious things such as stealing or killing. Nothing that serious. Warren is having a little conundrum at work and it really makes you question why things happen. I don't necessarily believe that a good job will always equal good rewards. Warren has always performed well at work and has received the blessings of good rewards most of the time. But now, he's made a simple mistake and he's being dragged through hell and back for it. Every day seems to be worse than the day before. His ship has failed an inspection that is mostly centered around the lack of correct paperwork, and most of it was fixed in a single day. It was an honest mistake for him, and yet they are responding well over the appropriate amount of disciple required. My immediate response is not the question of "why him, why us", but more just the general question of "why".

Is it wrong of me to think of these people as evil because they do not know Warren from Adam, and yet they want to throw him into the lion's den anyway? Or really is there something else behind it? I can't help but to think that in this economy, jobs must be justified because of the lack of funds that all companies are experiencing right now. Of course Warren's job is secure, but the "evil" people that are persecuting him are civilians. Will their job be more secure if they make an example of someone else? Is that the good, the flip side of this story? Making Warren go through this demise just to save another person's job who isn't as secure... someone who probably has a family of their own to support? Is that really a good thing or an evil thing? Good for them, evil for Warren. This situation definitely depends on perspective.

I do have a calmness about the situation in that whatever happens, happens. The world will keep spinning and we'll wake up to see another day. I have no fear, honestly. I can't say the same for Warren, but I'll believe enough for the two of us right now.

Hands tucked, please.

I still rock Benjamin to sleep. I know, I know, such a travesty in this day and age of expecting your children to become adults by the time they are two. I'm not really sure what that "independence" accomplishes really. Are they truly independent because they can put themselves to sleep if they scream for 20 minutes beforehand? I've noticed that children who are expected to be miniature adults have more frequent outbursts and become unraveled more easily at the tiniest little hiccup in their lives. Of course, there are some children who are perfectly content with putting themselves to sleep and never make a peep about it. This is the perfect situation for all involved, right? Like many others, my situation is not that easy. Benjamin has never been an easy child, and this sleep situation perfectly fits alongside his disposition. I'm not saying my way is the right way; I'm saying that my way is the right way for us right now. I enjoy holding him and watching him slowly unwind and relax and drift off. Right as he's made the decision that he is sleepy and wants to sleep, he tucks his hands in the sleeves of my shirt. I have no idea why he does this, but it is indeed a very sweet moment between the two of us.

"Children and mothers never really part- bound in the beating of each others' heart." -Charlotte Gray

Hobbies: God given or personally driven?

Do you ever wonder how much of your life is actually molded by God's voice, or his direction? How much of your personal interests are given to you by God rather than you taking them for your own? How many times do we miss the mark on becoming more knowledgeable on these interests? Have you ever been in a situation where you could have helped someone immensely had you had more knowledge on the given subject? Could you have been more helpful to the elderly widow across the street if you knew the perfect recipe for brownies? I know that sounds silly, but when you know that your neighbor's birthday is right around the corner and she loves brownies, would it not be nicer to make homemade ones rather than store bought ones? And knowing this perfect recipe would be the product of time spent in your kitchen cooking for your own family and honing your skills for service later.

Or perhaps, a more masculine example. Say you've always had a liking for carpentry, but never really knew where to start. You go and buy all the right tools, and inevitably, they sit in your garage collecting dust because you are only halfheartedly taking on this hobby anyway. You watch a few t.v. shows about building things and think to yourself "Wow, that looks easy and we need one of those." (those being whatever it is they are building on t.v.) Now let's say they are building a bench and you want one of those. You buy the lumber, nails, whatever it is you need to build it. Two months later you overhear one of your friends saying that they need a bench to sit on outside since the weather is so nice and his wife is 8 months pregnant and has a hard time sitting on the ground to make beautiful landscapes with chalk with her other children. If you had made that bench of yours two months earlier, you could just give it to your friend or make another one for them.. but you choose to watch more t.v. to get your skills "just right" before starting. So you're sitting there thinking that you had good intentions of course, but that only justifies laziness in most cases.

I often wonder these things because a lot of my personal interests seem to hold more meaning than I had ever intended for them. My most recent example would be that of sign language. All of my life I have thought that I would have a deaf child and that I should learn to sign. I've had countless opportunities to learn basic sign, but I've never really taken advantage of them. When Benjamin was born, I actually thought to myself, "Well, he's not deaf, so it must be our second child and I still have time to learn". Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that I would need to know sign language for a child that has perfect hearing.

Become masters of your own hobbies. Like to draw? Teach an art class to neighborhood preschoolers. Like to read? Volunteer to teach adults to read. Like to garden? Mow your neighbor's yard when they are on vacation. Like to fix cars? Teach your friend to change his oil. Like to cook? Find a shut in from your church and send them your leftovers. Computers? Teach your Grandmother how to send email.

Service to others does not have to be boring. Life is supposed to be fun!

Benjamin's babies

Benjamin's all time favorite movie is "Finding Nemo", which most of you already know. He has several Finding Nemo stuffed animals and lots of little clown fish all over the house. He adores these fish and loves on them constantly. I think it's precious.

The odd little thing is that he calls them "bebes". No idea why! Maybe he's trying to say baby, but it sounds more like bebe. Does he really think these fish are his babies? lol, that is just a joke of course.

Anyway, just a bit of humor for the day. :)