IN TIMES LIKE THESE

Worried About Lost Donkeys, and Stumbling on a Kingdom!


“Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago.
They’ve already been found. But who are all of the people
of Israel longing for? You and your father’s whole family!”
(I Samuel 9:20, NIV)

donkey on grass lawn

 

We all have misplaced and even lost things that we treasure. Everybody should be able to identify with the cycle and anxiety of mentally backtracking, trying to recall where we lasted placed something.

There are people in the Bible we can identify with, who have lost things, too. There was a character in the Old Testament whose name was Saul.  He was from Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. He seemed to be an average citizen who one day was sent on an assignment by his father to locate some of their donkeys who had ran away (I Sam. 9:1-27). The father was troubled by this lost (9:5). The family did a diligent search and Saul and his servant travelled to many areas, no doubt, spending days in the process. They came upon a prophet by the name of Samuel who had knowledge that the donkeys had been found. This must have taken a load off these two exhausted travelers! It’s is such a blessing when we find what we have lost!

While finding their donkeys seemed like a time for rejoicing, there is a greater blessing to this whole account in the book of I Samuel. The prophet further shared with Saul that God had called him to be king over all Israel! We see a perplexed man who was at a loss about a lowly animal, yet he was about to step into the greatest blessing he could not even have imagined!

It’s amazing how God can have some greater plan for a man or woman who, at present, is perplexed, and so unsure about loss. God has a way of showing us our future even when our present seems bleak. Saul’s mind was toward one of the lowest animals God had created and yet God’s mind was to give this man authority to oversee the kingdom of Israel! The scripture has declared that the people we read about in the Old Testament, such as Moses and David, in some unique way, are not complete without us (Heb. 11:39-40). It also states in verse 40: “God having provided some better thing for us”. Whatever the loss we may feel today, it is safe to say that God has some better thing for us tomorrow!

Here is a song about uncertain times and anxiety
when we are at a loss. Please click the link below:

Didn’t I Walk on Water

 

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125 Things to Do with Your Kids Without Leaving Your House!


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Let’s Have Some
Positive Family Time!

Do you want a great list of things you can do with the kids while you are home. Make it a family time and have a indoor picnic, train the dog, watch the Cincinnati Zoo live online, make elephant toothpaste, do dollar store crossword puzzle books together, make a pizza, do chores bingo, and over 100 more things to do with your family!

Click the text below to get this great list and find out where to go and how to have fun while you are indoors!

GREAT INDOOR FAMILY THINGS TO DO

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Suggestions for a Productive Prayer Call


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The following guidelines (or similar guidelines) should
be stated by the moderator at the beginning and end of each
prayer call. These may not be “best practices” but maybe
some “good practices” call leaders may want to consider:

  • All callers should mute their phones if all lines are unmuted (by the moderator) and the moderator wants to hear only one person praying. In this case, all others who are praying will not be heard across the line.
  • Those who are not familiar with where their mute button is on their phone should ask a family member to show them prior to joining a prayer call. The caller can then mute and unmute their phone as needed.
  • Always keep a phone on mute unless otherwise directed what to do by the moderator.
  • For joint prayer — everyone should use their speaker phone and no one should be praying directly in their phone as you would like having a normal conversation.
  • The prayer leader may want to set their phone down at about elbow length or closer. All others may want to extend their arm and hand, and set their phone down at arms length or farther. The prayer leader should direct their voice at their phone while all others direct their heads slightly away from their phones.
  • Everyone should be aware of background noise in their homes, such as the volume from TVs, open windows, children playing in the home; also listening while in cars with windows open/cracked, being outdoors, etc.
  • If you are speaking on any conference call/video call and you hear echoing, chances are good that your volume is up to high on your phone, computer, or external speakers nearby. If you are having these problems and you need to speak, try turning down your volume and/or taking your phone off of speaker and speak directly into the receiver.

We welcome any suggestions you have that can be added to this list.

 

 

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