Thoughts from January 19

      Dear reader,

     What I learned from reading through Genesis (NKJV) from Jan. 1 -- Jan 18, 2021:

• God is powerful. I mean, really powerful! (All of Genesis)
• God loves science (Gen. 1, 2)
• God loves beauty (Gen. 1, 2)
• God thinks history is important (All of Genesis)
• Satan will flat out contradict God at times (Gen. 3)
• Satan will make things seem better or worse than they really are (Gen. 3)
• God wants so much to save us (Gen. 3)
• God knows all, but still wants us to talk to Him (Gen. 4)
• May I be righteous and walk with God like Noah (Gen. 6, 7)
• God is an engineer and an architect (Gen. 6)
• God is orderly (Gen. 6, 7)
• God is a poet (Gen. 8)
• God speaks to us in a way we can understand (Gen. 8, 9)
• May I trust God, and believe what He says, and not elevate myself, unlike the builders of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11)
• May I be a peacemaker like Abram (Gen. 13)
• May I be generous and loving like Abram (Gen. 14)
• May I follow God unlike Abram with Hagar (Gen. 16, 17)
• God cares about even the humblest of us (Gen. 16)
• God sees each of us (Gen. 16)
• May I be compassionate like Abraham (Gen. 18)
• God is compassionate and merciful (Gen. 18)
• God goes to great lengths to show mercy (Gen. 19)
• May I follow God immediately, unlike Lot (Gen. 19)
• May I be a good influence, unlike Lot (Gen. 19)
• May I be truthful, unlike Abraham (Gen. 20)
• May I be faithful like Abraham and obedient like Isaac (Gen. 22)
• May I trust my parents' advice like Isaac (Gen. 24)
• May I be honest, unlike Jacob and Rebekah (Gen. 27)
• May I be a hard worker like Jacob (Gen. 29)
• May I be close to God like Jacob (Gen. 32)
• May I be forgiving like Esau chose to be (Gen. 33)
• May I not be jealous or envious, unlike Joseph's brothers (Gen. 37)
• May I not excite jealousy or envy, unlike Joseph (Gen. 37)
• May I be faithful like Joseph (Gen. 39)
• May I be pure and resist temptation, like Joseph (Gen. 39)
• May I give God the credit, not me, like Joseph (Gen. 41)
• May I be one of integrity no matter what station in life God allows me to be in, like Joseph (Gen. 39, 41)
• May I be forgiving like Joseph (Gen. 42 - 50)
• May I be thoughtful like Joseph (Gen. 45)
• May I use wisely the talents God has given me and the abilities He has allowed me opportunity to develop, like Joseph (Gen. 47)

     God has given us the Bible for a reason -- there is so much to learn about Him, about our world, about our heritage, and about us from it!

     Blessings on your day. :D 

     Bye, 

     Christina Austine

Thoughts from January 13 (2021!!!)

      Dear reader,

     Welcome to 2021! I know for many people (including myself), 2020 carried with it some very hard things. However, God also gave us many beautiful gifts. Challenging times help us to grow, and give us unique opportunities to serve others in new ways -- for example, like holding a normally-in-person playathon fundraiser virtually, so strings students could still join together, share music, participate in community, and raise money to help our area recover from the Easter tornado (see my blog posts about it here and here, and see the fundraiser's YouTube videos here)

     For American History in school, I was assigned a project that was to write a hymn talking about God's power in Creation. I'm pleased with it and wanted to share it. It is adapted from Genesis 8 and Job 38 and 39, NIV.

Verse 1

Who has shown the dawn its place?

Who can take light to its home?

Who has said where sun shall raise?

Who its dwelling place has known?

Chorus

Seedtime, harvest, cold and heat,

Summer, winter, day and night;

God’s creation does repeat

His wisdom, power, and foresight.

Verse 2

Who cuts channels for the rain?

Who disperses lightning bolts?

Who producing frost can claim?

Who makes way for thunder’s roll?

Verse 3

Who the Pleiades’ chains can bind?

Who Orion’s belt can loose?

Who leads out the stars to shine?

Who the laws of the heavens knew?

Verse 4

Who has given horse its strength?

Who has made the eagle soar?

Who receives the lions’ thanks

For food that gives them strength to roar?

     May your 2021 be blessed abundantly!

     Bye,

     Christina Austine