Prayer

Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."

She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone (Mark 7:24-30).

I am sure there is a perfectly good explanation for why Jesus seems to liken this gentile woman to a dog. I could probably even postulate a guess. However, I am not sure any guess would make this exchange seem appropriate. But unless John is misremembering the details a bit, I am faced with dealing with it. The most interesting thing to me about this story is that it seems that the woman's faith changes Jesus' mind. No offense, Father Luther.

I took a very intensive class on the prophet and book of Isaiah last summer. In studying this major prophet, it was interesting just how many times God was described in human terms (his arm being strong, being filled with grief, being moved to tears, etc).

Is it heretical to suggest prayer is a bit fickle? Maybe so, but I would be lying if I said I understand how God hears and responds to my prayers. Does God have the cosmos rolling in a way that leaves us as mere actors in a play that has been written long ago (either billions of years or about 5000)? Or is God more like an author who only writes those books we read as children where when coming upon a pivotal point in the storyline you could choose which direction you would like the story to go and turn to that particular page? Or maybe God is a painter who has been working on a masterpiece since time began, and now he has handed us the brush (maybe we always had the brush). We are not going to know the answers to such questions until we stand before our Maker. Until then, I will continue to pray.

Oswald Chambers said that "prayer does not necessarily change things, prayer changes me, then I change things."

Isaiah's admonitions to the Israelites to live more righteous lives did not always fall on deaf ears. King Hezekiah was a tough, good leader who loved God and his people. As Hezekiah was about to die, he feared what would happen to his people without his leadership. He feared that he was about to die when there was so much work left to be done. He expressed this to Isaiah when Isaiah came to tell him that his time was up. As Isaiah left Hezekiah, God quickly turned him around to deliver a different message. Hezekiah had 15 more years to live.

Maybe everything is already planned out. But if you are not so sure. If you think that God heard Hezekiah and in a wave of emotion decided to let him live, you will not hear criticism from me.

Living

This is Brandon.

Lesley Ann and I watched Grey's Anatomy tonight. I think we still watch it just because we have up to this point. We are invested in the story. And it is getting pretty good again. However, tonight was tough to watch. I would not have cried like that before Howell.

So we are going to try to be consistent with posts to this blog. It really could be a cool thing for Howell to read and maybe even continue when he is old enough.

We are still waiting on the little guy to get a tooth or crawl. Not sure which will happen first, but each is eminent. While on his belly, he can only turn himself in a circle. He has yet to figure out how to push himself up or scoot. So he tries for a moment, realizes his efforts are in vain and begins to cry. What does it say about us that we can't help but laugh when he does this. We do feel bad for him, but it is just so darn funny. I hope he will forgive us for that someday.

We are in our sixth month after moving into our renovated house. We are very blessed to have a house that we love. It was already home before construction, but now it is home to us three. Much like the rock that Jacob slept upon and then used to declare that place holy, our home is holy. It is where we first meet God each and every day. It is where we pray, where we eat, where we make small talk as well as tell stories, where we cry, where we laugh and where we rest. Our home is where we have learned so much about each other and will continue to; it is where we live. And I sure hope we are really living. For God has chosen to place our son here with us. A loan entrusted to us for not only safe keeping, but for instruction as to how he should live. All the things that we do at home, Howell will soon do them as well (he already has mastered the laughing and crying!). I guess we will get a pretty good look into who we are as we watch who he becomes.

Oh Lord, please be revealed through us. Those beautiful eyes (when awake) seem to always be upon us.

8 months old

This is my first post. I'm posting from LA (lower Alabama). Gulf Shores to be exact. Granddaddy grew up down here. They have kept a beachhouse all these years, and this is already my 2nd trip down! I may be only 8 months old, but that is old enough to know it is super cool to have a beachhouse in the family.

Mom is at some luncheon. At least that is what she said. Someone she knows is getting married tomorrow (that is why we are down here), and although I don't know who it is, my mom tells me that they love me. Come to think of it, everybody I meet seems to love me before they even have a chance to get to know me. Especially Jesus. Mom and dad are always telling me how much Jesus loves me. I think whoever that is loves me as much as mom and dad do. I haven't met Jesus yet.

I have been hanging out with my daddy all day long! We read books and sang songs and played with my toys. We put our matching sunglasses on and went down to the beach, but it was so windy we had to come inside. Sand was getting all over us. I ate squash, chicken and corn and then had some strawberries and bananas. But it is strange because mom and dad don't eat their strawberries and bananas with a spoon. Hmmm?

I am currently fighting against naptime, but I always lose this battle. I get so sleepy. But it is very painful to give in and fall asleep. I just feel like I am missing so much.

Anyway, I am learning little things here and there about this Jesus. My dad and I were listening to this preacher earlier and he was talking about Jesus. He was saying that Jesus was a Rabbi who had twelve disciples that followed him everywhere he went. He said that this guy Mark was trying to teach me about Jesus by teaching me how Jesus interacted with his disciples. Disciple means "learner." From the preacher I learned that I am not supposed to simply learn from what Jesus says or does although those things are very important. What is most important is that I learn who Jesus is. I am anxious to do this. I sure hope I meet him soon.

Well I am going to give up my fight now. Naptime. See you soon.

H