Celebration!

After a hard week of fighting with myself

Finally laying on the couch, exasperated,

She comes in and says, "God is so Good!".

Any other week, these words would be coming out of my mouth.

I pause the worship music I'm trying to drill into my head,

Set my laptop on the floor,

And turn toward her as she tells of God's Faithfulness.

After she's finished and I'm off the couch,

I go up to her and hug her.

"I needed that,"  I said.

And then she asks about me

And I tell her

And she encourages.

After I get the laptop back on my lap,

I somehow find the motivation to get through my email,

Then I open the document and open the Word,

And I start counting,

And I'm so close . . .

Thirty more,

Twenty-five . . .

And I just do it.

I go up to the next hundred,

And I look at my roommate.

"Five thousand," I tell her,

Arms in a victorious pose,

Smiling silly.

Five thousand aspects of God's character,

Five thousand reasons to worship God.



Reasons 4893-5003 today,

(Finishing up with  Job - basing my counting off this series),

Celebrating who He is:

 

4893. No one is able to stand against Him (Job 41:10)
4894. No one has a claim against Him that He must pay (Job 41:11)
4895. Everything under heaven belongs to Him (Job 41:11)
4896. He can do all things (Job 42:2)
4897. No purpose of His can be thwarted (Job 42:2)
4898. He is angry with those who have not spoken the truth about Him (Job 42:7)
4899. He restores people's fortunes (Job 42:10)
4900. He gives people twice as much as they had before (Job 42:10)
4901. He blesses the latter part of people's lives more than the former part (Job 42:12)
4902. The fear of Him is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)
4903. He gives wisdom (Proverbs 2:6)
4904. From His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6)
4905. He holds success in store for the upright (Proverbs 2:7)
4906. He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless (Proverbs 2:7)
4907. He guards the course of the just (Proverbs 2:8)
4908. He protects the way of His faithful ones (Proverbs 2:8)
4909. He makes straight the paths of those who submit to Him (Proverbs 3:6)
4910. He disciplines (Proverbs 3:11)
4911. He disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:11)
4912. He disciplines those He loves as a father the son he delights in (Proverbs 3:11)
4913. By wisdom He laid the earth's foundations (Proverbs 3:19)
4914. By understanding He set the heavens in place (Proverbs 3:19)
4915. By His knowledge the watery depths were divided (Proverbs 3:20)
4916. By His knowledge the clouds let drop the dew (Proverbs 3:20)
4917. He will be at His people's side (Proverbs 3:26)
4918. He will keep His people's feet from being snared (Proverbs 3:26)
4919. He detests the perverse (Proverbs 3:32)
4920. He takes the upright into His confidence (Proverbs 3:32)
4921. His curse is on the house of the wicked (Proverbs 3:33)
4922. He blesses the homes of the righteous (Proverbs 3:33)
4923. He mocks proud mothers (Proverbs 3:34)
4924. He shows favor to the humble and oppressed (Proverbs 3:34)
4925. He hates haughty eyes (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4926. Haughty eyes are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4927. He hates a lying tongue (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4928. A lying tongue is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4929. He hates hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4930. Hands that shed innocent blood are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-17)
4931. He hates a heart that devises wicked schemes (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4932. A heart that devises wicked schemes is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4933. He hates feet that are quick to rush into evil (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4934. Feet that are quick to rush into evil are detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-18)
4935. He hates a false witness who pours our lies (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4936. A false witness who pours our lies is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4937. He hates a person who stirs up conflict in the community (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4938. A person who stirs up conflict in the community is detestable to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19)
4939. To fear Him is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13)
4940. He brought forth wisdom as the first of His works (Proverbs 8:22)
4941. He brought forth wisdom before His deeds of old (Proverbs 8:22)
4942. The fear of Him is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10)
4943. Knowledge of Him is understanding (Proverbs 9:10)
4944. He does not let the righteous go hungry (Proverbs 10:3)
4945. He thwarts the craving of the wicked (Proverbs 10:3)
4946. His blessing brings wealth (Proverbs 10:22)
4947. His blessing brings wealth, without painful toil for it (Proverbs 10:22)
4948. The fear of Him adds length to life (Proverbs 10:27)
4949. His way is a refuge for the blameless (Proverbs 10:29)
4950. His way is the ruin of those who do evil (Proverbs 10:29)
4951. A false balance is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 11:1)
4952. A just weight is His delight (Proverbs 11:1)
4953. Those of crooked heart are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 11:20)
4954. Those of blameless ways are His delight (Proverbs 11:20)
4955. A good man obtains favor from Him (Proverbs 12:2)
4956. A man of evil devices He condemns (Proverbs 12:2)
4957. Lying lips are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 12:22)
4958. Those who act faithfully are His delight (Proverbs 12:22)
4959. In the fear of Him, His people have strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26)
4960. In the fear of Him, His people's children will have a refuge (Proverbs 14:26)
4961. The fear of Him is a fountain of life (Proverbs 14:27)
4962. The fear of Him is a fountain of life, that His people may turn away from the snares of death (Proverbs 14:27)
4963. His eyes are in every place (Proverbs 15:3)
4964. His eyes are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3)
4965. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:8)
4966. The prayer of the upright is acceptable to Him (Proverbs 15:8)
4967. The way of the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:9)
4968. He loves him who pursues righteousness (Proverbs 15:9)
4969. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before Him (Proverbs 15:11)
4970. Sheol and Abaddon lie open before Him; how much more the hearts of the children of man lie open before Him! (Proverbs 15:11)
4971. He tears down the house of the proud (Proverbs 15:25)
4972. He maintains the widow's boundaries (Proverbs 15:25)
4973. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 15:26)
4974. He is far from the wicked (Proverbs 15:29)
4975. He hears the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29)
4976. The fear of Him is instruction in wisdom (Proverbs 15:33)
4977. The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Him (Proverbs 16:1)
4978. The ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but He weighs the spirit (Proverbs 16:2)
4979. He has made everything for its purpose (Proverbs 16:4)
4980. He has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4)
4981. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 16:5)
4982. By the fear of Him people turn away from evil (Proverbs 16:6)
4983. Man's ways can sometimes please Him (Proverbs 16:7)
4984. The heart of a man plans his way, but He establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:9)
4985. A just balance and scales are His (Proverbs 16:11)
4986. A just balance and scales are His: all the weights in the bag are His work (Proverbs 16:11)
4987. Those who trust in Him are blessed (Proverbs 16:20)
4988. The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Him (Proverbs 16:33)
4989. The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and He tests hearts (Proverbs 17:3)
4990. Those who mock the poor insult Him (Proverbs 17:5)
4991. He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 17:15)
4992. He who condemns the righteous is an abomination to Him (Proverbs 17:15)
4993. His Name is a strong tower (Proverbs 17:10)
4994. His Name is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe (Proverbs 17:10)
4995. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from Him (Proverbs 17:22)
4996. A prudent wife is from Him (Proverbs 19:14)
4997. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to Him (Proverbs 19:17)
4998. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to Him, and He will repay him for his deed (Proverbs 19:17)
4999. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is His purpose that will stand (Proverbs 19:21)
5000. His purpose will stand (Proverbs 19:21)
5001. The fear of Him leads to life (Proverbs 19:23)
5002. The fear of Him leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied (Proverbs 19:23)
5003. The fear of Him leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm (Proverbs 19:23)

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

<a href="http://maryschieferstein.blogspot.com/search/label/10000%20Reasons" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitidrfBKBWTHSBiWyh3WMRKjHFgYKk-RxjYB9-uePQb1-uI3t3bjysPnR65zloJJ0LgTqhT5kW70Rk8VOC2utXFUWhGRPIxNCqzZ_9YQryYPMJdj2XpiX0oawLUiMnmxFOeMkmjk3IIA/s320/10000ReasonsButton.jpg" /></a>

Counting in community:


 

Opportunity

"Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; it is an opportunity to serve. As we go through each day, our heart's cry should be, Lord, where would you have me give, serve, and invest myself to bring hope to the poor?"
~Orphan Justice author, Johnny Carr

It wasn't always easy for me to understand this.

Poverty has always felt so big -

What could I ever do about it?

Then I began to read blogs,

People who went to some of the poorest areas of the world,

Met some of the poorest people -

And with all those faces?

Poverty started to seem less like a big issue

And more like individuals -

Individuals who desperately needed hope.

God began to show me that it wasn't about the big issue,

But the individual person.

He began to put child sponsorship on my heart.

When I finally decided to sponsor a child through Compassion, -

Began to write letters,

Build a relationship -

I saw that this was an opportunity for me to serve.

I wasn't going to solve the issue of poverty,

Not even for one person,

But I could serve

And I could offer hope

And I could make a difference.

The really funny thing, though?

From the first letter I received,

I could tell that I wasn't only serving

But also being served.

It's blog month over here,

Blogging for Compassion,

Trying to get 3,160 children sponsored this month.

Honestly, the ability to make a difference,

The ability to develop a relationship with a child,

To teach,

To learn,

Is one of the greatest gifts God has given me.

Please consider joining us in releasing children from poverty

In Jesus' Name.





Sorry I don't have any Reasons today -

I've been counting, but it's been slow going

Between my little accident this week,

Cooking,

And homework starting to pile up (especially when the prior two excuses are factored in).

If anyone else would like to share?



Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

<a href="http://maryschieferstein.blogspot.com/search/label/10000%20Reasons" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitidrfBKBWTHSBiWyh3WMRKjHFgYKk-RxjYB9-uePQb1-uI3t3bjysPnR65zloJJ0LgTqhT5kW70Rk8VOC2utXFUWhGRPIxNCqzZ_9YQryYPMJdj2XpiX0oawLUiMnmxFOeMkmjk3IIA/s320/10000ReasonsButton.jpg" /></a>

Counting in community: 

I Wear Red

I wear red.

It is the symbol of honor, love, and prosperity.

Once, not so long ago, I did not wear red.

It just didn't seem fitting.



I was not prosperous.

I come from a poor part of my country.

Sometimes my father had a job working the fields.

Sometimes he didn't.

We never had enough.



I was not loved.

Girl children in my country are often not valued.

My birth meant an arranged marriage,

A dowry,

Both expenses far beyond the family budget.

My grandmothers had hoped for a boy.

"A boy takes care of you when you get older."

That's how it is here.

That's how it's always been.

They blamed my mother for bearing another girl.

Intentionally or not, she passed that blame onto me.

In our culture, the males are most important.

Whenever we sat down to eat, my father would be fed first,

Then my younger brother.

Whatever was left,

Which was never much,

Went to me.



I was not honored.

A girl,

And a poor one at that,

No one had much respect for me.



I was married young,

One less mouth for my parents to feed,

Less dowry money to be paid.

My husband was poor, as I was.

We had four children together.

He struggled to provide for us,

Always doing his best,

But it was never enough.

I was pregnant with our fifth -

My rounded abdomen just beginning to show -

When my husband lost his job

And our meager income was gone.

I didn't know what to do.

An acquaintance whispered to me about a program at the local church.

They would find a sponsor for one of my children -

Provide education,

Health care,

Job skills -

All the opportunities I never had.

And these benefits wouldn't be only for my child -

They would help our whole family!

They would teach me and my husband how to read,

How to better care for our children,

Other ways of earning money.

They would provide all of this for us -

Even before a sponsor was found, if we were accepted -

And it would not cost our family anything!

I could not believe the generosity of these people,

Or of the people around the world willing to reach out to us in our need,

People who didn't even know us!

For the first time, I had hope -

Hope that my children might have a better life than mine,

Hope that our family might find greater stability,

Hope that we had a future.



My five-year-old was accepted into Compassion's child sponsorship program.

She has a sponsor in Australia who writes to her every month.

The love that this stranger has for my daughter never ceases to amaze and bless me.

My husband and I are learning how to read.

My children all attend school.

My daughter goes to the development center

And comes home telling us about all she learned,

And telling us about Jesus.

I hadn't grown up religious,

But, naturally, had been taught about the many gods

And considered myself a Hindu, as most other people in my community.

Now, my family and I go to church every week,

We have heard the wonderful news about the One True God,

And how He sent His Son to rescue us -

To rescue me -

Me, who's laid as much blame as my mother ever did,

Me, who's carried resentment more than I've carried my own children on my hip,

Me, who's been angry at the whole world and taken it out on whatever or whoever was within earshot.

Yes, there is grace even for me.



Now, I am prosperous,

Blessed with enough to provide for my family,

Blessed with time and moments with my children,

Blessed with opportunities and hope for the future.



Now, I am loved,

I am loved by my children,

By my husband,

And, most of all, by the Author of the Universe.

It's funny how love makes you come alive,

And how it makes you love right back.



Now, I am honored,

I may not be honored by my parents,

By my community,

But I am a daughter of the King,

And there is no greater honor than that.



And, so, I wear red.

It seems to be the most appropriate color.






It's blog month over here,

Blogging for Compassion,

Trying to get 3,160 children sponsored this month.

Honestly, the ability to make a difference,

The ability to develop a relationship with a child,

To teach,

To learn,

Is one of the greatest gifts God has given me.

Please consider joining us in releasing children from poverty

In Jesus' Name.




Reasons 4778-4892 today,

(Still in Job - basing my counting off this series),

Always so amazed at His Grace:

 

4778. He answers out of a storm (Job 38:1)
4779. He has plans (Job 38:2)
4780. He questions (Job 38:3)
4781. He laid the earth's foundation (Job 38:4)
4782. He marked off the earth's dimensions (Job 38:5)
4783. He stretched a measuring line across the earth's dimensions (Job 38:5)
4784. He knows upon what the earth's footings are set (Job 38:6)
4785. He laid the earth's cornerstone (Job 38:6)
4786. He laid the earth's cornerstone while the morning stars sang together (Job 38:6)
4787. He laid the earth's cornerstone while all the angels shouted for joy (Job 38:6)
4788. He shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb (Job 38:8)
4789. He made the clouds the sea's garment (Job 38:8-9)
4790. He wrapped the sea in thick darkness (Job 38:8-9)
4791. He fixed limits for the sea (Job 38:8-10)
4792. He set the doors and bars of the sea in place (Job 38:8-10)
4793. He told the sea, “This far you may come and no farther” (Job 38:8-11)
4794. He told the sea, “[H]ere is where your proud waves halt” (Job 38:8-11)
4795. He has given orders to the morning (Job 38:12)
4796. He has shown the dawn its place (Job 38:12)
4797. He has shown the dawn its place that it might take the earth by the edges (Job 38:12-13)
4798. He has shown the dawn its place that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it (Job 38:12-13)
4799. He has journeyed to the springs of the sea (Job 38:16)
4800. He has walked in the recesses of the deep (Job 38:16)
4801. The gates of death have been shown to Him (Job 38:17)
4802. He has seen the gates of the deepest darkness (Job 38:17)
4803. He has comprehended the vast expanses of the earth (Job 38:18)
4804. He knows the way to the abode of light (Job 38:19)
4805. He knows where darkness resides (Job 38:19)
4806. He can take light and darkness to their places (Job 38:19-20)
4807. He knows the paths to the dwellings of light and darkness (Job 38:19-20)
4808. He was already born (Job 38:21)
4809. He has lived so many years (Job 38:21)
4810. He has entered the storehouses of the snow (Job 38:22)
4811. He has seen the storehouses of the hail (Job 38:22)
4812. He reserves the storehouses of snow for times of trouble (Job 38:22-23)
4813. He reserves the storehouses of hail for times of trouble (Job 38:22-23)
4814. He reserves the storehouses of snow for days of war and battle (Job 38:22-23)
4815. He reserves the storehouses of hail for days of war and battle (Job 38:22-23)
4816. He knows the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed (Job 38:24)
4817. He knows the way to the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth (Job 38:24)
4818. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain (Job 38:25)
4819. He cuts a path for the thunderstorm (Job 38:25)
4820. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain to water a land where no one lives (Job 38:25-26)
4821. He cuts a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no one lives (Job 38:25-26)
4822. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert (Job 38:25-26)
4823. He cuts a path for the thunderstorm to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert (Job 38:25-26)
4824. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain to satisfy a desolate wasteland (Job 38:25-27)
4825. He cuts a path for the thunderstorm to satisfy a desolate wasteland (Job 38:25-27)
4826. He cuts a channel for the torrents of rain to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass (Job 38:25-27)
4827. He cuts a path for the thunderstorm to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass (Job 38:25-27)
4828. He is the rain's father (Job 38:28)
4829. He fathers the drops of dew (Job 38:28)
4830. The ice comes from His womb (Job 38:29)
4831. He gives birth to the frost from the heavens (Job 38:29)
4832. He gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone (Job 38:29-30)
4833. He gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the surface of the deep is frozen (Job 38:29-30)
4834. He can bind the chains of the Pleiades (Job 38:31)
4835. He can loosen Orion's belt (Job 38:31)
4836. He can bring forth the constellations in their seasons (Job 38:32)
4837. He can lead out the Bear with its cubs (Job 38:32)
4838. He knows the laws of the heavens (Job 38:33)
4839. He can set up His dominion over the earth (Job 38:33)
4840. He can raise His voice to the clouds (Job 38:34)
4841. He can cover Himself with a flood of water (Job 38:34)
4842. He sends the lightning bolts on their way (Job 38:35)
4843. The lightning bolts report to Him, “Here we are” (Job 38:35)
4844. He gives the ibis wisdom (Job 38:36)
4845. He gives the rooster understanding (Job 38:36)
4846. He has the wisdom to count the clouds (Job 38:37)
4847. He can tip over the water jars of the heavens (Job 38:37)
4848. He can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of the earth stick together (Job 38:37-38)
4849. He hunts the pray for the lioness (Job 38:39)
4850. He satisfies the hunger of the lions (Job 38:39)
4851. He satisfies the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens (Job 38:39-40)
4852. He satisfies the hunger of the lions when they lie in wait in a thicket (Job 38:39-40)
4853. He provides food for the raven (Job 38:41)
4854. He provides food for the raven when its young cry out to Him (Job 38:41)
4855. He provides food for the raven when its young cry out to Him and wander about for lack of food (Job 38:41)
4856. He knows when the mountain goats give birth (Job 39:1)
4857. He observes the calving of the does (Job 39:1)
4858. He can number the months that the does fulfill (Job 39:1-2)
4859. He knows the time when the does give birth (Job 39:1-2)
4860. He knows the time when the does crouch (Job 39:1-3)
4861. He knows the time when the does bring forth their offspring (Job 39:1-3)
4862. He knows the time when the does are delivered of their young (Job 39:1-3)
4863. He has let the wild donkey go free (Job 39:5)
4864. He has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey (Job 39:5)
4865. He has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey, to whom He has given the arid plain for his home and the salt land for his dwelling place (Job 39:5-6)
4866. He made the ostrich forget wisdom (Job 39:13-17)
4867. He gave the ostrich no share in understanding (Job 39:13-17)
4868. He gives the horse his might (Job 39:19)
4869. He clothes the horse's neck with a mane (Job 39:19)
4870. He makes the horse leap like the locust (Job 39:20)
4871. It is by His understanding that the hawk soars (Job 39:26)
4872. It is by His understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south (Job 39:26)
4873. It is at His command that the eagle mounts up (Job 39:27)
4874. It is at His command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high (Job 39:27)
4875. He questions people (Job 40:7)
4876. He questions people, and they shall answer Him (Job 40:7)
4877. No person has an arm like His (Job 40:9)
4878. His voice thunders (Job 40:9)
4879. He adorns Himself with glory (Job 40:10)
4880. He adorns Himself with splendor (Job 40:10)
4881. He clothes Himself with honor (Job 40:10)
4882. He clothes Himself with majesty (Job 40:10)
4883. He unleashes the fury of His wrath (Job 40:11)
4884. He looks at all who are proud (Job 40:11)
4885. He looks at all who are proud and brings them low (Job 40:11)
4886. He looks at all who are proud and humbles them (Job 40:12)
4887. He crushes the wicked where they stand (Job 40:12)
4888. He buries the proud and the wicked in the dust together (Job 40:12-13)
4889. He shrouds the faces of the proud and the wicked in the grave (Job 40:12-13)
4890. He made Behemoth (Job 40:15)
4891. He made people (Job 40:15)
4892. The Behemoth ranks first among His works, yet He can approach it with His sword (Job 40:15-19)

Counting 10,000 Reasons to worship Him: 

(Sylvia's already made it to - past - 10,000!  So amazing to think of who He is like this!)

<a href="http://maryschieferstein.blogspot.com/search/label/10000%20Reasons" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitidrfBKBWTHSBiWyh3WMRKjHFgYKk-RxjYB9-uePQb1-uI3t3bjysPnR65zloJJ0LgTqhT5kW70Rk8VOC2utXFUWhGRPIxNCqzZ_9YQryYPMJdj2XpiX0oawLUiMnmxFOeMkmjk3IIA/s320/10000ReasonsButton.jpg" /></a>

Counting in community: