Mining for Truth

 Photo courtesy of Matt Seymour

 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17

Have you ever been gem mining? My grandson always loved swishing a pan of sand in the water and finding little gems. The water helped the sand pass through the sieve, leaving the goodies in the pan. If the sieve had a hole in it or was coming loose from the side, the gemstones would slip through and be lost. That would never do. We needed a good sieve so he could come away with a nice pocket full of rocks.

Just like with gem mining, we need a good sieve in life.  It's often hard to figure out the truth. We hear so many versions of "truth". We see so many video clips trying to convince us of "the truth". We read so many "facts" to demonstrate "the truth". We need a good sieve to pass all this information through. One with no holes or loose edges that would allow an untruth to pass through. 

 Jesus said that God's word is truth. How do we filter everything through God's word? It's hard to understand. It's a big book. We don't have time. My grandson didn't pour water over the pan of sand and just wait for the gems to appear. He had to swish it and dip it again and again. Each time swishing and taking out little treasures until he had devoured the whole $15 bucket. So too, we must take little bits, letting the Water of Life swish over the words, revealing the gems a few at a time. Here are a few tips I use:

• Commit to reading one chapter each day, just one.
• Pray before reading to commit that chapter to God's revealing.
• Look for the gem, the one thing God is speaking to you about in the chapter.
• Journal your find.
• Write an application for yourself.
• Write a prayer about that application.
• Share your gem with someone else, a spouse, your family, a friend, etc. 

One find leads to another. As soon as my grandson finished one bucket of sand he always wanted more. When you begin to find the gems in God's word and apply them to your life and the things you hear and see and read, you too will be hungry for another chapter of truth. 

Blessings, 

Gail

Windows Of Learning (5) Ships on the Seas

The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 

Proverbs 30:19

Until recent times ships needed sails, oars, and a rudder to maneuver across bodies of water. Now we use engines but ships still need a rudder. What does the rudder do? Where is it located? These are beginning questions for not just the children but all of us to investigate. 

The captain of a vessel steers the rudder to keep the ship, boat, or vessel of any kind, even airplanes, pointed in the right direction. There are also other factors to help the captain guide the ship. There are no roads to follow on the water so the captain must use God's creation to help him find his way. Many of us know how to use the sun for directions. It rises in the east and sets in the west and with a little knowledge of where the destination is located, we can head in the right direction by using the sun. But what about night travel?

A ship's captain can use the stars to guide the ship at night. Stars rotate in the night and through the seasons but there is a constant in the North Star. It's always going to point north. A captain uses a sextant to measure distance and help guide his ship both day and night. 

Each of us is like a ship. We need to be guided both day and night and across the years. How does God's creation help us with guidance? The Lord created many things in three's.  Think about the sun for a moment. There is the big burning mass, the light, and the heat. This helps us picture the Father, Jesus-the Light, and the Holy Spirit which we cannot see but we certainly can feel his leading. The sun is our guide by day but by night, in the dark? The North Star never changes. It's our guide by night. Jesus is our constant around which everything rotates. When the storms of life come and we just can't see how we will ever make it, know that behind the clouds day and night Jesus is there and when the storm passes He will still be there. The Lord has given us a sextant to help guide us. He has given us His Word, the Bible. 

In leading our children this coming school year, how can we help them investigate ships?

• sink and float activities - how are heavy metal ships with heavy cargo able to float?
• tides
• shipping lanes
• the Bermuda Triangle
• the Titanic

Each investigation can be tailored to the age, ability, and interest of the child. Writing, reading, math, science, and history can all be covered in one project.

One thing may lead to another such as a study of the stars.

• Identify constellations
• history of constellation names
• constellation legends in different cultures
• Design constellations
• Meteors
• star gazing
• Milky Way

How fun to just lay on your back under a clear night sky just watching, relaxing, quietly talking, contemplating the magnificence of all the Lord has made. 

God's Creation teaches us many things about our Creator. We are the ships on life's seas. What/Who is our life revolving around? Where are we getting our direction?

Blessings,

Gail

Windows of Learning (4) - Snakes Alive

Photo Credit - Sam Sasticum Barnwell

The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 

Proverbs 30:19

A friend of mine took this picture of a snake. But yes, we've seen several snakes this summer. A couple on the road, another on a trail. Our verse says the way of a snake (serpent) on a rock. I got to thinking about a snake we once saw when I was a teen on a trail far up a mountainside. We were in bear country so when we began to encounter an odd smell like a baby diaper, we thought we might be coming on a bear den or wallow. Then we spotted a rattlesnake sunning itself on a rock. We had nothing to kill it with except my dad's old army bayonet. The choice was to go back or chop down a sapling and try to kill it. Reasoning that another hiker might encounter the snake as well, Daddy decided to kill it. 

At the first blow the snake attempted to coil and rattle its tail. Daddy kept pounding it enough to prevent it from striking until its head was a pulp. Now continue up the trail or turn back. We turned back thinking there may be more snakes in the area. My brothers took turns carrying the snake on the sapling Daddy had used as a weapon. Having watched cowboy movies where they cooked rattlesnake and ate it, we planned our supper. 

Back at camp, we showed it off to Mama and Grandma. The boys took their pocket knives and skinned it. Daddy decided we might have ruined the meat with the venom since we pounded the head instead of shooting it like the cowboys did. We abandoned the idea of snake for supper opting for hotdogs. But what did we learn about snakes? 

• Snakes like to sun themselves on rocks.
• Snakes smell like dirty diapers (found that out after other encounters with snakes).
• Snakes coil to strike.

How did we use prior "knowledge"?

• Snakes can be used for food.
• Snakes can be skinned.
• Snakes can have poisonous venom.

What other things could we have investigated? 

• How do snakes move?
• Where do snakes live?
• Are there different types of snakes?
• Are all snakes poisonous?
• Do all snakes strike?
• What snakes live in our area?

Depending on the age of children you might take the knowledge and apply it to other things like springs, coils, speed, pressure on the coil for distance, measurement. The possibilities are endless which is what the Lord intends for us to find out about His universe -the endless possibilities. The serpent was also the form Satan took to tempt Eve. So in thinking about the way of a serpent upon a rock we might also think about how quiet and innocent it appears but how deadly the strike. 

Eve's encounter with the serpent (snake) appeared innocent at first but how deadly to the entire human race that encounter became. My daddy pounding the serpent's head also reminded us that God said

 And I will put enmity

    between you and the woman,

    and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

    and you will strike his heel.

Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

Satan thought he had won when Jesus died but Jesus rose again. He has crushed the serpent's head. He died for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life. Have you asked Jesus to forgive your sins and give you eternal life? If not, today is the day of salvation. We know we have already encountered the snake because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  

Blessing,

Gail