I have posted some devotionals from Spurgeon’s book, Morning and Evening, before. Here is another one I found especially encouraging from yesterday. Have a blessed and worshipful Lord’s Day!

“The eternal God is your dwelling place.” -Deuteronomy 33:27

“Dwelling place may be translated “refuge”or “abiding place” and provides the thought that God is our abode, our home. There is a fullness and sweetness in the metaphor, for our home is dear to our hearts, although it may be the humblest cottage or the tiniest loft; and dearer still is our blessed God, in whom we live and move and have our being.

~ It is at home that we feel safe: We shut the world out and dwell in quiet security. So when we are with our God we fear no evil. He is our shelter and retreat, our abiding refuge.

~ At home we take our rest; it is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. And so our hearts find rest in God when, wearied with life’s conflict, we turn to Him, and our soul dwells secure.

~At home also we relax; we are not afraid of being misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So when we are with God we can commune freely with Him, laying open all our hidden desires; for if the Lord gives favor to the humble, then they may share their secrets with Him, confident in His love.

~Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness: And it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. We have joy in Him that far outweighs all other joy.

~It is also for home that we work and labor. The thought of it gives strength to bear the daily burden, and quickens the hands to perform the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our home. Love for Him strengthens us. We think of Him in the person of His dear Son, and a glimpse of the suffering face of the Redeemer constrains us to work in His cause.

Happy then are those who have the God of Jacob for their refuge!”

Over the weekend we attended a family conference near Kansas City. It was such an encouragement! I met new friends, caught up with old ones, and enjoyed spending quality time with them and my family. We played a number of games, including basketball and kickball, we canoed, and did English Country dancing!

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures, but Mom took this one of several sweet girlies and I. :) Our family came away encouraged and blessed by the teaching (which was on true strength in Biblical worship) and Christian fellowship. I am so thankful that we could be a part of it!

Link of the day: Miracle of the Bananas. Read this story today, and be encouraged by the amazing grace of God in the life of Darleen Deibler Rose!

Yes, folks, we DID indeed finish our half-marathon race on Saturday! It was great to see, or rather, feel our training pay off.

I think I mentioned before that we were going to do the Bass Pro half-marathon here in Springfield. There was a change a plans, as we have something going on that weekend, so we did a smaller race near Kansas City instead.

So I got up around 3:45 on Saturday morning to get ready. Our whole family left at 4:30, and started driving for a town called Warrensburg. It was cold, cold, COLD that morning. :) Which made me appreciate all the more our awesome pit crew. Daddy, Austin, and Jonnie-B were all incredibly supportive. They would drive to different spots along our running route, and cheer us on. :)

One bummer was that my iPod completely froze up at the beginning of the race. It was acting goofy the day before, too, but I didn’t worry to much about it. I had spent lots of time finding great running songs, and putting them on my iPod for the race. After the race it started working perfectly fine again. That was a bit…..odd. Anyway, Mom very graciously let me use hers for part of the race, which really helped.

Now this race course was super hilly. It seemed to me like we were running one hill after another. The first 8 miles or so felt good for me, although it was hard to eat energy chews while trying to run at the same time. ;) I started feeling pretty tired during the last two miles, and had to slow down a bit. Mom and Wesley had more energy left to speed it up during the last mile, but very graciously finished with me. :) We finished in 2:08, almost the exact time as my time from last year!

After the race….whew! I was pretty tuckered out. :)

A Noble tradition after a races (for both racers and pit crew) is to get cappuccinos. I don’t know when this tradition started, but we’ve done it for quite a while. What fun memories!

 So there you have it! I must say that it is indeed a privilege to be able to run any distance. So many times I take health and the ability to be active for granted. I don’t want to end this post without saying that all the glory goes to God. He gives us the strength to do things in the first place, and whatever we do, be it eating, drinking, sleeping, working, or playing, may we always do it to His glory!

Have a wonderful day!
~Brookie