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Have you ever hear the saying "Home is where the heart is"?

Well I'm having a homesickness day. I've been sitting here looking at pictures from my beautiful little town of Burns Lake, while tears start to fill my eyes and chocolate wrappers fill the floor. It is hard starting a new life in a new place. Sometimes it is easy to take for granted the place you live and the friends that truly love you, even when they know how silly you can be at times. I feel fortunate to have such friends who send encouraging letters to help me get through these times. What a blessing you are to me.

The one thing I would do if I were in Burns right now is: Go for a drive out of town and shoot my bow and arrow.

Of course at the moment it would be kind of cold to do that.

Well, I send a shout out to all my good friends. I pray you are all well and that one day I will see you again.

Love You All.

Pondering the book of Matthew.

To Ponder: to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care

I always enjoy reading the book of Matthew. It is laid out in such a clear way that I find it a refreshing start to the year. It helps me to reexamine my own life, and therefor giving me a list of things to improve in myself for the year. I also usually find one or two things that I tend to overlook or not see the importance of or simply misinterpret in daily study.

Matthew to chapter 21: 22

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

It sound simple enough but I think I had a dozen questions regarding this verse: Does that mean you can only pray for something once and if you pray for it again you don't truly believe? Does "If you believe" refer to your faith in God or faith that it will be done?

It was interesting the questions that popped up in my head even though I felt I already new the answer.

Matthew 7:7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Matthew 7:8"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

In each case the meaning is- keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. My Dad said to me "Your heavenly Father knows how to give good gifts to his children...he will give you what you want but maybe not in the way you expect." So, Lord, I will keep on praying.

Here's another one:

Matthew 22:14 "For many are invited, but few are chosen."

Okay, maybe a bit of a tricky topic but it is a verse that has interest me. It comes from the parable of the wedding banquet. Jesus was saying that "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son..." In short, the king sends his servants to those that had been invited but they refuse and mistreat the servants. He then sent servants to invite those that were gathered in the streets. The wedding hall was filled but when the king came in to see the the guests, he noticed a man who was not in wedding clothes. He then told his attendants to throw him out where there would me "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

In Greek "many" and "few" equal everyone. So, everyone was called, but some people refused the invitation and are not chosen. I see this as God chosen people, the Jew's, refusing the invitations because they are still waiting for the Messiah to come. Jesus has seen this so He sent his disciples to the gentiles so they will be invited also. However in reference to the man who was thrown out; it can not be assumed that a gentile will accept the invitation either and so he will be thrown out. Interesting!

Now that last comment I will make will be about Matthew 28:11-15.

"...You are to say, 'His disciples cam during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.'...And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day."

I don't have much to say about this but I find it amazing that this one action has gone down through so many generations of Jews. This one deception has caused God's chosen people to turn from Jesus. They still wait for the day to rejoice that the Messiah has come.

God Bless

Your comments are welcome.

Oh, Great God.

My Dad sent me a song:

Nichole Nordeman-Small Enough

oh, great god, be small enough to hear me now
there were times when i was crying
from the dark of daniel's den
and i have asked you once or twice
if you would part the sea again
but tonight i do not need a fiery pillar in the sky
just wanna know you're gonna hold me if i start to cry
oh, great god, be small enough to hear me now

oh, great god, be close enough to feel you now
there have been moments when i could not
face goliath on my own
and how could i forget we've marched around
our share of jerichos
but i will not be setting out a fleece for you tonight
just wanna know that everything will be alright
oh great god, be close enough to feel you now

all praise and all honor be
to the god of ancient mysteries
whose every sign and wonder turn the pages of our history
but tonight my heart is heavy
and i cannot keep from whispering this prayer
"are you there?"

and i know you could leave writing on the wall
thats just for me
or send wisdom while i'm sleeping,
like in soloman's sweet dreams
but i don't need the strength of samson
or a chariot in the end
just want to know that you still know how many hairs
are on my head
oh great god, be small enough to hear me now