Discover the Treasure Within!

Well hello there! You may have noticed it's been awfully quiet on my blog.

Sorry if you've been missing me (and I hope you have!). If you trot over to www.berniceseward.com, you'll discover my new blog.

My new blog is called Discover the Treasure Within, and it focuses on the treasures we find in life. Treasures found in God and who He is. Treasures found in discovering who we are. Treasures found in discovering God's Big Dream for our lives (and walking in it). Treasures found while living the simple (and not so simple) daily life as child of God, wife, mom, friend, daughter. . . .

So jump on over and say hi at www.berniceseward.com.

I can hardly wait to see you there!

1950s Theme Birthday Party Video

My Animoto Video

I love having an Animoto account! It's easy and soooo fun to create high quality, eye-catching video presentations.

It's addicting, really.

So, maybe I should have started this post with "Hi. I'm Bernice. And I'm an Animoto-aholic."

Check out the video, and you'll see what I mean. Plus, you'll see some fun 1950s themed party ideas . . . .

Anyway, happy **undisclosed year** Birthday, Mom!

Psalm 120, BSV (Bernice Seward Version)

I wrote this personal version of Psalm 120 while taking Beth Moore's Stepping Up Bible study. It's a great study, by the way :-)

 

Psalm 120, BSV

I am distressed and call to my Yahweh;

And You answer me!

Yahweh, deliver me from perceived lack

And desire for things I cannot have.

 

Yes, what will He do to you,

Stricture and deception and want?

Sliced through with the sword of the Spirit,

Divided asunder by the Word of Truth!

 

Such misery, that I have dwelt in Want-land

And lingered over desires that need not be met.

Too long have I lived with discontent.

On one level I desire contentment,

On another I am conflicted.

Excuse Me, God, Was That Really You Speaking?

Sacrifice of Isaac, Giovanni Tiepolo, c. 1726

What would you do if God asked you to do something that seemed contrary to his nature or the promises he has given you?

Would you think you were hearing from the enemy? Would you run the other way? Would you wonder if you were crazy?

I wonder what thoughts went through Abraham's head when God told him to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah.

Did Abraham test the word? Did he ask himself if that was what God really said, what he really meant? Did he wonder how on earth God would bring his promise of descendants beyond number . . . through this promised son . . . . . to pass if he offered Isaac up as a burnt sacrifice?

Whatever emotions or rationalizations flitted through his head, Abraham chose to believe God rather than his own limited understanding. He obeyed God's instruction to him.

For, "against all hope, Abraham in hope believed . . . . being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised" (Romans 4:18a, 21, NIV).

And on the mount of the Lord it was provided, for God provided a ram to take Isaac's place on the altar.

What has the Lord been whispering in your ear lately? Is he asking you to take a step of faith? To traipse up the mountain and lay an offering that's dear to your heart on the altar?

Don't fear! Be strong and of good courage!

Against all hope, in hope believe . . . . being fully persuaded that God has the power to do all that he's promised you.

Letter to Heaven

 

Dear Brendan,

I can hardly believe it's been 10 years since you went to be with Jesus. Ten years since I realized God chose to heal your little body on His side of heaven rather than on ours.

I'm sure that time in heaven passes differently than it does on earth. And just because you were 25 days old when you left for heaven doesn't mean you were a baby when you arrived.

I often wonder what you're like now. Do you look like Daddy or like one of your siblings? What's your personality like? Are you bubbly? Reserved? A peacemaker? A go-getter?

What does a typical day hold for you in heaven? Do you attend some sort of school or training "classes"? Do you worship with the angels? Do you sit at Jesus' feet?

Did you greet Gandpa when he arrived earlier this month? Have you been giving him a tour of heaven and showing him the ropes up there?

Daddy and I love and miss you, sweet Brendan. I am ever grateful for the time YHWH gave us with you on earth--9 months plus 25 precious days. And that we get to spend eternity together in heaven.

Happy "entering heaven" day to you, my precious Burrito Baby.

All my love,
Mama

Time to Fish or Time to Wait?

Maggie shopping for a fish

Now that I have an adult son I think more carefully about the decisions I make, especially financial ones. What will my choices say to him? How will they impact the decisions he makes?

For instance, a video-creating site I wanted to join sent an email with a 20% off code last week. I'd wanted to get a membership, and knew they would probably offer a discount at some point. I was tempted to jump in and begin the membership right then, even though it was two days before I had the money on hand. What's a credit card for, right? And there's no interest due if paid the same month . . . .

And yet, if I set that precedent before my son, what will it create in his mind? An impetus to "get it now" that could lead to him becoming thousands of dollars in debt like the majority of Americans? At 18, he's already surrounded by people who haven't yet grown in wisdom. My example will either help nudge him towards wisdom or towards folly.

So I waited patiently--for two looooong days--and purchased the membership the old-fashioned way. The way that didn't involve the regret of "I just had to have it and didn't want to wait."

I doubt that he consciously noticed my choice, but I am setting the precedent, one decision at a time.

When True Life Begins

Minute Meditation

After the earthquake shook the foundations of the prison Paul and Silas were in, the jailer thought the prisoners had escaped. He prepared to commit suicide rather than face the death penalty such an occurrence would incur. In that instant the jailer thought his life was over--but true life was just about to begin for him, and for his family.


Acts 16:16-34