School! and an Eternal Perspective...

The air is crisp, the soccer cleats are out, and school has started! We had our first official day of home school today and had a great time! We love doing school in our new classroom in the 5th wheel. It is cozy and roomy at the same time. We all agreed that we are in for a great year.

First day of school

Our Heavenly Father has been speaking to our hearts lately about a certain theme; having an eternal perspective. This morning I read in Luke and John about the disciple James, and three noticeable things about him. The first thing that struck me was that he was short-tempered and the second was that he was selfish. His short fuse was shown when the Samaritans didn't approve of Jesus coming to their city and James and John wanted to call down fire from Heaven to kill them. In my own understanding, I imagine Jesus to have been quite frustrated with this, in His patient, gracious way. He rebuked them, basically saying "You have no idea who I really am, or why I'm here if you want to do that." (And this is after they saw Jesus glowing on the mountainside during his transfiguration, while God's voice came from the heavens to declare who Jesus was/is.)

Their selfish natures were exhibited when they asked Jesus to promise them each a special place in His kingdom, thinking only of an earthly kingdom. They had enjoyed being in Jesus' special group of disciples and could see enjoying that to an even higher degree for the rest of their lives, being "high-ups" in the greatest kingdom on Earth.

See, James and John couldn't understand what Jesus' long-term plan was. The most they could imagine was that He was on Earth to free Israel from the Roman rule, which was, in their minds, their biggest problem. They never could have imagined that glorifying His Father and billions of souls (mine, yours) over thousands of years was what was on Jesus' mind and heart. They didn't understand that eternity and an eternal, spiritual kingdom was what motivated Jesus.

The third thing that I noticed, and that encouraged me greatly, was that James loved Jesus with all his heart, and wanted to be with Him. He was the first to die for Jesus in fact. Jesus knew this and loved James' heart, even though he had flaws. I LOVE that Jesus chose disciples who were flawed, who didn't always "get it" right away. I have many flaws, and I certainly don't always get it. I have a hard time seeing God's eternal plan and often am only looking at what's right in front of me; at what I think are big problems. But I love Jesus with all my heart and want to be with Him forever. He knows that, and loves it. I prayed this morning that He would help me to see everything in my life today through an eternal perspective. I want to see His bigger picture.

Having a little fun....

We, Michael and I and the kids, want our lives to matter in an eternal way. We want to see beyond our daily goings-on as only that. We want to see them as part of an eternal plan in which we are blessed to participate.

Eternity's already here! Blessings to you today!

Fawn