Colossians and Thessalonians 1 & 2

John 4

Joel

Isaiah 10:6-12:6

Long, long day today, which started off wonderfully (albeit a bit chaotically) in a Church classroom full of adorable 2-year-olds. :)

I ROUTINELY spend time caring for large groups of little children, and I know what it is like to be in their midst. Sometimes you are swarmed with hugs and overwhelmed by the quiet peace of happy smiling children... other times you must sprint to lift a wayward child off of the top of a rickety table before they fall over backwards. It's the nature of childcare.

And so I am struck today by a couple of verses, but the one that absolutely captures my image-filled heart is this one:

"Leopards will lie down with young goats, and wolves will rest with lambs. Calves and lions will eat together and be cared for by little children." -Isaiah 11:6.

Can you imagine a lion in the midst of a classroom full of 2-year-olds? :) A calm lion?

I wish I had time today in my busy day to find a lion, photograph it, and photoshop it into a classroom full of kids... but you know, it still wouldn't be as incredible as the real thing. Can you imagine? A lion being cared for by a little child? And not just one... little children, plural. Have you ever seen 2-year-olds fight over tasks?

Imagining a group of little children caring for and feeding a lion just AMAZES me... I long for the peace and comfort of a moment like that, when wild animals are docile and trustworthy in the face of innocent children... I long for the peace of the One who can make that happen... I long for that day.

Meanwhile, (because photoshopping a picture of a lion into a classroom full of children just does not do any justice to the actual possibility), I focus today on this verse:

Isaiah 10:27

And again... I love the feeling of peace within these words.

2 Kings 1-5

Sometimes things are just so SIMPLE. And the crazy part is that the simplicity sometimes baffles us... Like Naaman in 2 Kings 5, we might just stand there saying, well, it can't be that easy. It can't be true that such a simple thing can change my life.

Oh, but it can. We just have to believe.

2 Kings 2:3, 2:5

2 Kings 2:11-12

2 Kings 4:7

2 Kings 4:13

2 Kings 4:26

2 Kings 4:27

2 Samuel 18-24

2 Samuel 18:22

2 Samuel 19:2

2 Samuel 19:30

2 Samuel 19:33

2 Samuel 22:3

2 Samuel 22:11

2 Samuel 22:20

2 Samuel 22:33

2 Samuel 23:4

2 Samuel 23:5

1 Samuel 18-25

1 Samuel 18:3

1 Samuel 18:5

1 Samuel 18:6

1 Samuel 18:10

1 Samuel 18:28

1 Samuel 19:5

1 Samuel 19:24

1 Samuel 20:3

1 Samuel 20:8

1 Samuel 20:15

1 Samuel 20:19

1 Samuel 20:42

1 Samuel 21:5

1 Samuel 21:13

1 Samuel 23:10

1 Samuel 23:18

1 Samuel 24:4

1 Samuel 8-10

Our internet went out yesterday just before I posted these pictures, and I was again struck by how much my life revolves around connectivity. 

I wonder what would happen if everyone's modern lives revolved around God as much as they revolve around the Internet...

1 Samuel 8:5

1 Samuel 8:18

1 Samuel 9:2

1 Samuel 10:1

1 Samuel 10:2

1 Samuel 10:8

1 Samuel 10:19

1 Samuel 10:22

1 Samuel 10:24

1 Samuel 10:27