A handmade Christmas

Our goal at Christmas with gift giving has been to give something personal, meaningful and inexpensive. I think we can all agree that presents for a long list of family and friends can quickly add up. Last year, we were in the throws of mucho tight times financially and therefore everybody got a picture of Haley and a jar of apple butter from one of our favorite stops in Tennessee. Ok, not so personal I know, but it was meaningful and inexpensive.

This year I was really inspired by an idea I saw at the Shrimp Festival in October. A vendor had taken pictures of architecture and nature to bring out the shape of a letter in the alphabet. She then took these letters and spelled words with them in art. I have since learned that this was a new craze and there's even been a successful company selling these Alphabet Photography art pieces worldwide. Anyway, I got really excited when I saw these and started thinking of what word I would want for our home...until I realized they were $8 per letter. Toby pulled me aside and said, "You could totally do this yourself." He's so encouraging and that's one of the things I love about him! I quickly came up with lots of excuses, laziness and lack of creativity being chief. But in the end, my frugalness and not wanting to drop $40 on art we really didn't need won out.

The idea didn't die there. During our 90 minute drive home that afternoon, I couldn't get the idea out of my head and I began seeing letters all over the landscape. Slowly some motivation began to grow. Long story short, I spent a few hours out one afternoon while Toby played with Haley and then another afternoon while Haley watched movies in the back seat...I'd drive around town until a found a fun letter, hop out, snap the picture and then run back to the car. Honestly, for my stay at home mom self, it turned into a fun project.

So this idea morphed into Christmas presents! I wanted to offer our family something meaningful. Not just from me and Toby, but from our Jesus Himself. So I spent several weeks in prayer over our family members and God faithfully gave me a word for each person. The original idea was to write a letter to each person to explain the art and the word God had for them, but as busyness often gets in the way, the letters got put off. Eventually, His Spirit became so heavy, the letters got written just in time, and I am SOO grateful for our obedience. I wrote the letters to my family and Toby wrote letters to his. To watch my family read Jesus' words and to see His love come across their face was priceless and afterward I reflected for a long time...Who am I to deny my family Jesus' soothing words that their soul so badly needed to hear? It was a wonderful reminder that I am here to serve Him...to do His work...to spread His love. My laziness nearly cost my family a beautiful blessing.

PEACE

REST

CHERISH

I took all of the pictures myself around Mobile, the boards came from Lowe's and were painted black. The clip frames came from Quadro frames ($1.49/each). Toby attached hangers on the back and I glued the frames to the board with wood glue. Being an accountant by trade, I've always considered myself "lacking" in the creative department, so if I can do this, so can you!

Thank you Jesus for a fun, creative and inexpensive way to share Your love with our family this Christmas. Thank you for loving each of us so much that You know exactly what we need to hear when we need to hear it. You continue to amaze me!

Mary, my hero

As is our Christmas Eve tradition (ok, second year in a row and hope to continue each year), we watched the Nativity Story together as a family tonight. I'm always taken aback by the emotion and life that comes from the movie...more so than from just reading the story from Luke.

I am always struck by Mary's young age, yet her mother even commented that she was married even younger. This seems so foreign and almost abusive in our culture, but to understand that her father's act of giving her to Joseph was a great gift of love, paints the situation in a new light. To see the poverty and oppression these people lived under brings to life why they were so eagerly waiting for a political leader to free them from their abuse. Mary seemed to know that the Messiah would not be that kind of king.

When the angel appeared to her, she calmly agreed and offered herself in obedience. She couldn't possibly understand in that moment all that she was agreeing to...bearing a child out of wedlock and the stigma that would follow her, likely for the rest of her life. Yet, she humbly replied, "Let it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) It makes me think, "How many times has God asked me to do something for His kingdom, even something small, and my response is opposition or a pitiful excuse? What would our world be like, if we all displayed Mary's humility, trust and obedience? Sure there have been times we have been hugely obedient, but what about the small things? "Carey, I want Toby to quit his job, for you to move back to Mobile and I'll fill you in on the rest later." We were eager with this big thing, "Sure! Let's go" "Carey, I want you to walk across the street and love on the lonely single mom that lives there." "Ooo, I don't know. I don't seem to have much in common with her. I'm not sure how she'll react to my friendship. Maybe later." What is that?!? How is it that we could so easily obey with the life altering command, but now I can't bring myself to pass on His love to the very people He brought us here for? Jesus, please help me to trust You and be obedient with Mary's great faith.

So Mary receives this earth shattering (yeah, literally) prophecy. What's the first thing a 14 year girl wants to do with big news? Duh, share it with the first person who will listen! Well, this wasn't quite that kind of news. She may not have known the full picture, but she knew enough to know that turning up with a baby while engaged could quickly get her killed. This was a BIG deal and Mary knew it. I doubt she even shared this news with her mother at first. I can only imagine the thoughts going through her mind with the gravity of what had happened. Now, she went to visit Elizabeth who immediately responded to her presence with excitement and blessing (Luke 1:39-56). Our sweet Jesus knows exactly what we need and when we need it. Mary needed to talk. She needed someone who understood and someone who supported her. By God's grace, Elizabeth understood before Mary told her one word about what had happened and why she had come to visit. As we watched the movie tonight, I let out a sigh as Elizabeth embraced Mary and the weight of all that she was carrying was lifted, if only for a while. Thank you God, for giving Mary the love, acceptance and encouragement she needed during such an overwhelming time!

Joseph will always blow my socks off. He was an honorable man and could have easily (and rightfully) had Mary stoned for her apparent infidelity, but his love of the Lord and his obedience spared her life. I wonder what their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was really like. In the movie, Mary and Joseph get to know each other for the first time and he proves to be a servant of the Lord and a servant to others. He is strong, humble, caring. Perhaps their trip really went that way. God knew that Mary and Joseph had a difficult road together, and He was working, even at this rocky, early stage of their marriage, to knit them into one flesh. Thank you God for your provisions for marriage. I pray a special blessing over all marriages today, that they would be strengthened and that husbands and wives will work together, with servant hearts for the good of Your kingdom.

When they finally made it to Bethlehem and Mary goes into labor, I can only imagine the myriad of emotions that coursed through them. Their was likely the excitement any couple feels as they prepare to welcome their child, but more than that great anxiety...where to settle to deliver the baby and the actual delivery itself. Perhaps Mary had been a part of Elizabeth's delivery of John, but she was still a girl herself with no mother or midwife to help her through. Men weren't generally invited to partake in the childbirth experience and having no previous children, Joseph was certainly completely lost and overwhelmed. Even though the fear of the moment was likely enormous, I like to think that God's mercy and supernatural peace filled every inch of that stable. My motto from the last year has become, "God will never ask you to do something and then not provide what you need to do it." I have to believe the same was true for Joseph and Mary on the scary night. He provided exactly what they needed, exactly when they needed it. He is so good and His timing is impeccable!

After the movie was over, I thought for a bit about how God's hand was fully involved with every single step of bringing Jesus into our world. Not only had He waited for the right time in history, but He had specifically chosen Mary and Joseph, out of all of humanity from all time, these are the two people He entrusted His son to. He knew that they loved Him, that they would be obedient to the scriptures and to His specific instructions to them, and that they would prepare Jesus for His ministry and ultimately His precious sacrifice. He protected Mary from stoning when she turned up pregnant out of wedlock. He orchestrated the census and coordinated the timing of Jesus' birth with the fulfillment of ancient prophesy. He protected the tiny baby Jesus from Herod's numerous attempts to destroy Him. God's eye did not leave that little family for one second. He had a great plan for that baby and He was going to see it fulfilled.

As I checked on my sleeping Haley tonight, I thought, "Jesus, I love her so much. I totally understand the adoration Mary had for that baby and her instinct to protect him with everything she had." I cannot fathom the thought of someone tearing into my home and killing my two year old right in front of me...a horror that many mothers in Bethlehem endured (Matt 2:16-18). The need to protect my Haley was overwhelming and physical. I couldn't tear myself from her room. Just then, I heard the beautiful, still small voice, "I love you that much. Just as I love Jesus and I had a plan for Him while He was on the earth and I protected Him all of His days, I love you that much." As soon as the voice finished, I heard a song of confirmation from Haley's stereo..."Yes, Jesus loves me." I am totally undone when I try to imagine the depth of His love for me. For ME! Carey! Of all people, I am nothing special. I'm not noteworthy in this world's eyes. I am not worthy of the love and affection of the master of the universe. But yet, He sees me. He knows every thought and He has a wonderful plan, just for me. And just as He used Mary, a nobody from a nowhere town, He can use me to change this world forever...if I would only respond with Mary's trust and obedience...."May it be done to me according to your word." And nothing more...no more excuses or procrastination. When He says "go," world changers go. They don't ask questions or complain or pout or negotiate the details. They trust the Almighty and they go.

Sweet Abba, I will never understand the depth of Your love for me. I will never understand how Your grace and mercy are never ending and You give them so freely and in such abundance. I will never understand how You were able to send your son here for me. Although I will never understand these things, please help me to never take them for granted. Thank you for sending Jesus to love me with all that He had. Thank you for loving me with the depth of love You have for Him. Help me to grasp this and trust it more each day. Help me to walk in Mary's obedience and faithfulness and to share Your love and Your mercy with every soul I encounter, without hesitation, from this day forward. I want to be a world changer like Mary. Please lead me closer to You, day by day. With all that I have to give...


Labor of Love by Andrew Peterson
This is a glimpse, please take a few minutes to quiet your soul and experience this incredible night with Mary.

You can read the entire story of Jesus' birthday below:
Matthew 1:18-2:23 and Luke 1:5-2:40

Redeeming Santa

Now that we are parents and have reached the Christmas season, the question of Santa as come up again. Growing up, both Toby and I were fully engulfed in the magic of Santa and his flight around the world delivering presents. The thrill and anticipation was almost unbearable on Christmas Eve.

Now that it's our turn to set Christmas traditions for our family, we've discussed how we want to approach it. I assumed we would teach our children all about Santa, elves, the North Pole, and all the magic that Christmas entails. I was shocked the year Haley was born when Toby said, "I'm not sure about the whole Santa thing." What?!? "I just don't think I can lie to my kids like that." I thought the idea was ridiculous, but seeing as how Haley was four months old that Christmas, we decided it wasn't that big of a deal that year and so we swept it under the rug. This year, Haley is 2 and while she doesn't really get it, she understands that people are giving her presents and that is SO much fun! Again, we don't have to make the call this year, but we know next year is going to be a whole different ball game.

We recently stumbled on a article that perfectly articulates how we've been feeling...click here to read it. Did you read it? You really need to read it to understand where I'm going...go on...it's a short read.

So, now that you've read that article, what do you think? We love his point of distinguishing between pretend and dress up and lying. Just as there is nothing wrong with watching the story of Ariel, the make-believe mermaid princess, there is no harm in telling the stories of Santa. The jolly fellow our culture has created is pretend and it's a fun story to tell. We fear that the danger comes from selling this make-believe story as truth. As a parent, I would never want my children to lie to me, and as their example of Christ, I should not lie to them either. The more I've thought about this and prayed about it over the last few weeks, the more unsettled I become with telling my children a bold face lie. I just can't do it. But our entire country seems to embrace this lie! It's ingrained in our cultural make up. So now what do we do? I don't really want to be seen as one of those parents who sucks all the fun out of Christmas, but I'm not ok with going along with the fable.

Now, before you get all in a tissy...I am not saying we will not celebrate Christmas or participate in present exchanges or stuffing stockings. I simply want my children to reside in truth...related to all things. In this instance, St. Nicholas was a real person. He did wonderful, generous things and we should celebrate his life and the example he left for us. From that perspective, Santa is wonderfully giving and his generosity should be duplicated. However, we will not tell our children that the presents on Christmas morning magically appeared in the middle of the night from a jolly man who flew around the world with his reindeer. They will know that their family has provided these gifts for them out of their love for them, and honestly, I doubt that knowledge will diminish any of the fun of Christmas.

As I've pondered this whole Santa idea, I've thought a lot about how do we turn the focus from the presents and the busyness to Christ...the reason for celebrating in the first place. We have to admit that the glowing tree and abundant wrapped presents can easily take center stage this time of year. And while attending a Christmas program at church, reading the birth story from Luke and playing with the nativity scene are nice things to turn our attention to Him, they often get overshadowed by the glamour of the gifts. So, as I prayed over this, God gave me the neatest idea! On Christmas morning, before any presents are opened, we are going to give Jesus His presents first! "What present?" you ask...the present of ourselves. All He's ever asked for is our hearts, so we will take His birthday to commemorate all that we have given Him throughout the year. The idea is to start a few weeks before Christmas and gather pictures and remember times that we have served Him...with our time, our talents, our money, our love...and make a card or a book to show these gifts. In addition, I would like to remember and celebrate all of the gifts God has given us...from the basic necessities of life to miraculous answered prayers. I have visions of years to come of my kids working diligently on their gifts, and on Christmas morning, we will each (Toby and I included) share how God has loved others through us, how we have allowed Him to use our lives for His glory, and how He has given so generously to us throughout the past year.

"What if we get to Christmas and we don't have anything to share?" Toby asked. Well, I think that's where our responsibility as parents kicks in. We need to be aware, year round, of opportunities for our family to serve others. Whether it be serving dinner at a homeless shelter, sharing Christ with a neighbor, helping another kid on the playground, giving allowance money to the church or a friend in need, or simply spending time with each other and offering encouraging words. I recognize this will require a bit of organization...a handy camera to catch a loving moment, a notebook to jot down memorable conversation, and a journal to document God's guidance and answered prayers so that these events easily come to mind at the year's end.

At the end of the day, Toby and I have learned a valuable lesson in our two short years of parenting...every family has to do what is right for their family, and deserves to do so without enduring the judgment of others. This applies to all areas of parenting...from breastfeeding, to bed time routines, to discipline, to education choices, to Christmas celebrations. There are a million ways to raise a child in a loving, God-fearing home and we recognize that each child is different. In the vast majority of situations, there is no right or wrong way, no better or worse way. There's only the way that works best for each family. For us, we have decided to celebrate Christ's birth by giving Jesus our time and talents, by remembering a Godly man called St. Nick, and by exchanging a few (not a ridiculous pile) meaningful gifts. I hope you are intentional as well to develop Christmas traditions that will draw your family closer to the best gift of all...sweet Jesus!

Merry Christmas!!

A day redeemed

Last week we had a little scare with the baby. It turned out to not be a very big deal, but my doctor still wanted me to "stay off my feet" through the rest of the weekend. Seeing as how it's not very often that I am ordered to lounge on the sofa for four days straight, I did my best to be obedient.

Have you ever heard the saying, "lazy breeds lazy"? The idea is that the more you sit around, the less energy you have, so the more you sit around and so begins a vicious cycle. Well, four days of Disney movie watching was enough to set that cycle into motion. By Monday I was antsy to get moving again, but utterly crashed by lunchtime. I spent the rest of the day either dozing on the sofa again, or watching Haley play throughout the house...from the sofa. By the time this morning came around, I wanted to do nothing but sit and stare into space. The mounting to do list was daunting...laundry, clean the overflowing kitchen, run errands, bathe the dog, and not to mention the seemingly endless items in preparation for Christmas. As is my bad habit, when I get overwhelmed by my to do list, I choose to do nothing. I often find a mind numbing movie and stare into space instead of making even a little progress on my chores. It's a terrible habit, but that's where I found myself this morning.

After allowing Haley to watch videos in our bed for nearly an hour while I snoozed in and out of consciousness, I decided it was time to start moving. I mindlessly prepared breakfast and told Jesus, "I'm going to need You to get me through this day...both Your strength and Your patience." Before I knew what had happened, breakfast was finished and I had cleaned the entire kitchen. I looked around, amazed at this feat and thought back to my prayer, just thirty minutes earlier...it was happening. I also got the grand idea (aka Jesus told me) to move my errands to after nap time instead of before so we wouldn't be so rushed..."brilliant", I thought. The morning continued and I did two loads of laundry and sorted through nearly a week's worth of mail. While Haley was napping I even stole away an hour with my Beloved and read the next few chapters of Judges. That was a great lifter of my soul. After nap time, Haley and I ran errands, including grocery shopping, prepared a healthy supper, bathed the toddler and had her in bed almost on time. Then I cleaned the kitchen (again), wrote the Christmas letter I've been postponing for weeks, and even have enough energy to write to you!

Wow! Today is the best I've felt in a week, and I know it's because Jesus poured His supernatural strength on my tired bones and allowed me the resolve and patience to chip away a few items on my ever growing to do list! Thank you Jesus for redeeming my day! For allowing me to be productive, to invest time in my daughter and to see Your handiwork...and for my day not to be stolen away by staring aimlessly into space, as was my desire when my eyes opened this morning. You are so good, and so concerned about my pitiful woes. It never ceases to amaze me.

...........................................................

I know some of you are concerned about me "doing too much" as my pregnancy continues, but please trust that I know my own body. The fatigue that has come with this first trimester caught me offguard...I had forgotten the extent of it, but I do know when I need to sit and rest. Like I said, it's not very often in life that we have such a wonderful excuse to rest...I don't plan on wasting it! You should also know that Toby has been so wonderful over the last few weeks. He has been helpful around the house and with Haley, despite his mounting schoolwork. He even took Haley to Wal-Mart (with coupons in hand) one day last week so that I could rest and we would still have the necessary groceries to make it through the weekend. He makes me feel so special. Rest assured, as soon as my head hits the pillow tonight, I'll be out like a light! On that note...I'm pooped. Good night, all.

He inclined to me and heard my cry

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

When I was a little kid and people would ask, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" "Mommy" is all I could ever come up with. I have always imagined myself with a house full of little ones running around with happy laughter filling the air. We were beyond thrilled when God blessed us with our precious Haley in 2008. Soon after she was born we moved to Tennessee for Toby's job and I stayed home to play with Haley. With two mortgage payments and one income, our finances got really tight, really quick. In that season God taught us so many wonderful things about how to steward His money and how to be more resourceful, but our hearts broke as we made a commitment to not have any more children until our rental house in Alabama sold and our finances freed up.

From February to August of this year, God took us on an incredible journey that culminated with us living in our little rental house in Alabama. If you haven't had a chance to read that story, please take the time to...it's incredible! (Go to the blog archives and scroll all the way to the bottom and work your way back up.) During that six months, God poured lavish blessing after lavish blessing on us. The most recent being the joy of my heart...we are finally expecting another baby! Haley will be a big sister! The icing on the cake was that we found out this incredible news on Toby's birthday a few weeks ago.

I am currently nine weeks along and baby number 2 is expected to arrive on July 8. With the exception of a small issue this week resulting in a small placenta bleed and four days of bed rest, everything is going wonderfully. The baby looked to be perfect at our ultrasound last week.

Baby 2 at 9 weeks gestation

I apologize for the poor picture quality as I am having issues with my scanner. If you look really closely you can see the outline of it's head and an arm. So tiny, yet so perfect. The baby measures to be almost 2 cm long, and to think most of it's vital organs have already formed or are close to being finished. I am amazed at such complex life on such a small scale. Our God is an amazing creator!!

Just as we prayed for Haley during this time, our prayer for this baby is perfection! I know that my God can deliver a perfect baby and I also know what an incredible miracle a perfect baby is! We are also praying for God to instill, even at this stage, a sweet spirit that is sensitive to His voice and His promptings. A spirit that will be fun and full of life and joy. Please join with us in praying for this new life, and you know I will be happy to keep you posted as the weeks go on and it's arrival gets closer.

We have told Haley that she will be a big sister. She seems excited, but I think she's mostly reflecting our excitement. When we ask her where the baby is, she often points to her own belly. She's so sweet and precious, and I know she will be a wonderful big sister!

One bad dude (Joshua)

I've told you a million times that I grew up in church and have heard Bible stories all my life, but HELLO, they were holding out on me! Most of my knowledge (to date) of the Old Testament was gained through popular memory verses, the occasional OT sermon, or happy Sunday School stories, aka the felt board. If you have ever stepped foot in a third grade, Southern Baptist Sunday school class, you know what I'm talking about. As I read through the pages of Joshua over the last few weeks, I was blown away at how skewed my understanding was of the Promised Land...whoa baby, hold on to your hats!

At the end of Deut, Moses taps Joshua to lead the Israelites on his way to be with Jesus. From my calculations Joshua was pushing 90 and boy was this geezer handed a big assignment! It was time to bust into the Promised Land. The land God had been talking about for generations, hundreds of years. It was finally time to stop talking about it and start taking it and a 90 year old man was just the man for the job.

Joshua had lots of military experience...funny how God prepares us along the way, isn't it? In fact, we first met Joshua when Moses charged him with leading the battle against the Amalekites, not long after they crossed the Red Sea. As Joshua fought, Moses stood atop a hill and held the staff of God high. When his hands were raised the Israelites prevailed, when they lowered the Amalekites prevailed. Remember, Moses was no spring chicken by this time, so naturally his arms got tired. (Don't judge, you try standing there with your arms up for hours on end...P90X's got nothing on that workout!) Anyway, Aaron and Hur came to his rescue...they brought him a rock to sit on and they each held up an arm...all, day, long. At the end of the day, Israel won and I'm sure Moses was one exhausted dude. But anyway, this was Joshua's first taste God's military faithfulness (as far as we know anyway). (Exodus 17)

Next, Joshua was included in an elite group that got to meet with God. No, no, I'm not talking about a Tuesday night prayer meeting...MEET. WITH. GOD! "and they saw the god of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank." (Ex 24:10-11) Now, I would like to think physically seeing the God of the universe and sharing a meal with Him would have some kind of lasting impact on a person. God knew what He was doing, Joshua was being shaped and molded for the enormous task that lay decades ahead. Joshua had a taste of the real thing, and he couldn't get enough. "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent." (Ex 33:11)

Later, Joshua was selected as one of twelve men sent on a spy mission to check out the Promised Land. The men came back and reported to the people of the amazing land they had seen, but they quickly coward and were afraid of the strong people and fortified cities. Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the twelve confident that God would provide what He promised..."The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us - a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." (Num 14:7-9) Can't you just hear the dun, dun, dun drama music? I wonder if Joshua had any idea that he would be the one to fulfill those words...40 years later.

So, here we are. Israel has wandered, seemingly aimlessly, throughout the wilderness for four decades. Their beloved Moses has just passed on and Joshua has been tapped to take them in. It's about 1400BC. Just a side note here, I was curious as to what else was going on in the world around this time and it just so happens that King Tut died about 60 years later in 1343BC. Now, why do we hear so much about the young king and his bling and rarely hear about one of the greatest military conquests in all of history? I wonder if Tut had heard of Joshua's conquests? After all, it was just one generation later and you know how a good story will last. Nowadays, people are still talking about where they were the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. Hmm...food for thought.

Anyway, back to the story. The book starts with Joshua's charge. God tells Joshua, "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." (Josh 1:5) Then He told Joshua to "be strong and courageous" not just once, but four times in the first chapter. Um, hello? Is there something scary ahead?

The first targeted city is Jericho, just to the west of the Jordan River. Joshua sends two spies to check it out and report back to him. Somehow they meet up with a harlot (that's Bible for prostitute) named Rahab who takes them in and hides them. Now, let's think about this. Why did they need hiding? Did they stand out that badly? I suppose forty years of wilderness wandering would leave one without the current fashion, not to mention the nation of Israel may have had distinguishing physical features. Either way, Rahab spotted them but then protected them? Well, why did she do that? Word had traveled through these cities about the Israelites. (Josh 2:8-11) How God dried up the Red Sea, how they had amazingly defeated the Amorites and Og (I'm sorry, I think the phrase was "utterly destroyed"), and that God had given their land to them and now they were coming for it. Funny...how did they know all that? Well first, it's probably not too difficult to spot nearly 2 million people wandering, especially after they'd passed by a few times. Also, I'm guessing the Israelites traded with or interacted with people over their 40 year stay in no man's land, either directly with these residents or with traveling traders or such. Just a hunch, but either way word had gotten around, Rahab had heard it and had accepted that theirs was the one true God. Long story short, Rahab hides the spies and helps them get away, Israel spares her and her family during the attack, and she, a harlot and a foreigner, is blessed by being added to Jesus' lineage...talk about an inclusive God! (Matt 1:5).

The spies return to camp with the necessary information and Israel packs up to head that way. One problem...there's a huge river between point A and point B, and no Golden Gate bridge waiting to assist them. So God, for the second time, dries up a massive body of water for the entire nation, livestock and all, to cross. And mind you, Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who got to see the Red Sea split first hand. The rest of the nation had heard about it all their lives and now they were seeing their own miracle. Pretty cool. So why does God perform these miracles, even today, (besides the physical need of crossing said major water system)? "that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever." Joshua 4:24 (Uh huh, so that they will know that I am God...sound familiar?)

They set up camp a few miles from their target city, Jericho, and received the battle plan from the Lord...march in circles around the city, blow your horns and the walls will fall down. Really? Seriously? That's your big plan? You see, cities during this time had enormous walls all the way around them and often only had one gate for people to go in and out. These walls would be several stories high and many, many feet thick. We're not talking about a center block retaining wall here. This was a fortress. And God told them to yell at it and it would fall...riiight. But Joshua never wavered, never questioned or doubted. He followed God's instructions to a T because he'd seen Him do great things before and he had absolute confidence that He would come through again.

So here's where my felt board education has failed me. My vision of this event climaxed with 25 men standing outside the huge city gate, they gave a yell, "Ah," more like a football cheer than a battle cry and the walls fell and everybody came out with their hands up. Well, close but not quite...actually, not close at all. I need a visual. Have you ever seen the movie Troy?

The great war between Troy and Sparta (Helen of Troy, Trojan horse, you with me?) happened around 1200BC. Joshua took Canaan around 1400BC. Troy was a great fortified city with a massive wall surrounding it, much like Joshua's first target, Jericho. Being only 200 years difference in ancient history, I'm guessing the military equipment and tactics were fairly similar. God told Joshua to strategically circle the city in silence over the course of seven days. We're talking thousands of warriors marching around the city walls. Jericho was already petrified of Israel and had closed themselves inside the city. On the seventh day, the warriors followed the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, not once, but seven times around the city. At the end of the seventh lap, the priest blew the rams' horns, all of the warriors shouted and the massive walls of this fortified city came crashing down.

Ok, so Joshua didn't have soldiers facing him outside the city, but get a load of those walls!

Now, let's talk about this shout. I always pictured an enthusiastic yell, but that's so wrong. First of all, we're talking about thousands of warriors. In these battles, there were no snipers or computerized spy planes or fly by missiles for cover. This was man to man combat. Kill or be killed. Swords flying, blood flinging, men dropping like flies and being stepped over by a thousand others. The adrenaline pumping through their veins was incredible. Israel had marched around Jericho for six days in silence...talk about intimidation. On the seventh day, they circled the city seven times. That's a long time to get phyched up! By the time they heard the ram's horn, they were lit! The roar that came out of their mouths was more likely beast than man in full on survival mode.

The walls of Jericho fell, each man plowed straight ahead into the city and they "utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword." (Josh 6:21) Later the city was burned. The silver, gold, bronze and iron were put into the Lord's treasury and only Rahab and her family survived. (Joshua 6)

Joshua continued from Jericho, strategically taking one city after another. His command was "you shall not leave alive anything that breathes" (Deut 20:16). Several cities banded together to fight Israel, but they too fell and were utterly destroyed. Throughout these battles, God continues to remind Joshua to not be afraid...no doubt renewing his strength. Remember, we're talking about a 90 year old man here! But never once, did Joshua question or doubt God's instruction! He obeyed the Lord to the letter, fully expecting God to make good on His word...and He did, every time. At the end of the day (well, likely years), Joshua and his army had defeated thirty-one kings (Josh 12:24). Each one a complete victory. No easy undertaking, but with God all things are possible!

Now, here's where a lot of people struggle with our "all loving" God and make claims against the "mean God of the Old Testament." I too have questioned, how could such a loving God so brutally wipe out so many people? Well, we'll have to look a little closer at these people to understand this. The Canaanites (general term for many nationalities who previously occupied the Promised Land), were a sick and twisted group of people. In fact, when we get all in a tissy about how the world is "going to hell in a hand basket" these days, we need to take a look back at these guys. In a lot of ways, we've come a long way. (Now, don't get all worked up...of course there are MANY things that need to change in our world, but that's not the point here.) God clearly reminds Israel before they ever even crossed the Jordan that they were not receiving this land as a reward for anything they had done. He is giving them this land out of faithfulness to the promise He made to Abraham and because of the extreme evilness in those cities. (I can't find the reference...it's late and I'm tired, but I know it's there...I'll get back to you on that.) These people not only tolerated, but actively worshiped their imaginary gods. Said "worship" included child sacrifices of the most disturbing order and disgusting sexual activities, among many other things. Wiping them off the planet was actually an act of mercy. As if God stepped in front of Satan and yelled, "NO MORE! You can not have one more child or torment one more woman. ENOUGH!" For the children in that society to be killed and sent to the arms of the Lord was far more merciful than allowing them to be tortured, abused and murdered by their own parents. God did not wipe out the Jones' or Leave it to Beaver...these were some sick, nasty people. Whew, that was rough, but needed to be said. So, please do not think of God as "mean and vengeful" in the Old Testament. He has never and will never change. He was the same loving God then as He is now. Remember, He showed great mercy and blessing to Rahab simply because she trusted Him to be the true God. That offer was available to any other Canaanite who wanted to take it...too bad there weren't many others.

After the land was given rest from war, Israel divided up the land between the 12 tribes. Two and a half of the tribes chose to have land east of the Jordan (conquered earlier) so they returned home, and the other nine and half tribes began setting up house in their new diggs..."land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant." (Josh 24:13)

After many years of battle and faithful service, Joshua prepares his last words to Israel...primarily a strong warning to remember what God had done for them and to always serve and obey Him. Despite his desperate pleadings, Joshua knew they would eventually turn their backs on the Lord. I can't imagine the pain that must
have caused him. He gave them one last charge, "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the rivers, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Josh 24:15) Joshua is saying that we were all made to worship something. We will all devote our attention and our affections to something...that's how we were designed. Today we could rephrase this verse, "choose for yourselves today whom you will serve; whether your job and your bank account; or your football team and your social status; or you can choose to serve the Lord."

We were all made to worship something. Joshua worshiped and served the Lord with everything he had at every opportunity he was given. What an incredible example of radical pursuit of the Lord...the only one worthy of our praises!