HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARA ELIZABETH!

Happy Birthday to my daughter, Sara Elizabeth. She is 20 today. I miss her. She is a part of me and always will be. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about her and pray for her. I hope she is happy in her life, but most importantly, I hope and pray that she is doing what God wants her to do. Because that is the only way that you can be happy in this life. She has been through a lot, but God wants to give her a happy life. He wants her to put aside her past and take on each day as a new challenge and as a clean slate. Each day is a gift from God. There is a reason that she is still here on this earth. She is here to bless someone else with her gifts and with her love, if she will open her heart to that. Someone will or does need her. I hope she had a wonderful day today on her birthday. I know every mom says that it seems like yesterday when their children were born and it does! She came out screaming and her skin was as pink as it is now-hence her nickname: Pinky. I immediately talked to her as they handed her to me at her birth and she calmed down at the sound of my voice. She was such a beautiful baby! So perfectly formed and so loved. I had picked her name out when I was about 14 or 15 years old. She was so active in my womb when I was carrying her that I was convinced she was a boy! Boy did she surprise me! She almost got named Otto Peter III : ) Family name, of course. She hasn't had an easy life. I divorced her father when she was very young because I saw no hope for our family. I gave up. It took a lot of years for the Lord to work on both of us so that we could get back together. I was one stubborn woman! Very unforgiving also, I might add. But God was working on my husband also. Back to Sara : ) I am very proud to call her my daughter. She has worked through some very difficult experiences and is seeking to better herself (as best as I can tell). She is trying, the best she can. I hope she will keep trying and be the Trettel that she is. She is not a Goad, but a Trettel. I hope she realizes that. Trettels do not quit easily and Trettels work through things. They are very faithful to their family. I, her mother, still have a LOT to learn and a LOT to unlearn. It will take time, but I hope and pray that she and her brother will be patient and realize that their father and I DO love them VERY much and want to be a part of their life. We don't want them to be dependent on us, as that is not healthy for a young adult, but to let us know how they are doing and what things make them happy.

Sara, if you read this, I LOVE YOU very much and NOTHING has ever changed that. I am not perfect and never will be. I WILL disappoint you because I am human, but God will not disappoint you if you open your heart to Him and learn to cry out to God for everything and about everything. God can take anything we "throw" His way, because He is God!

Bible Reading Challenge

I would like to challenge you to read through the Bible in one year-not on someone's schedule, but at your own pace. Read it from a version that you haven't read for awhile. Such as, I haven't read through the Bible in the KJV version in years and it is refreshing to read a different version-used to read out of the NIV or NASB.

Been reading in I Samuel about King Saul, his son Jonathan, and King David. Very interesting. Each time I read through the Bible, I see a new theme, a new truth, a new "take" on the truth (not stories) told in the Bible. You see, that is what knowing Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour is all about. He gives you understanding of the Bible and continually teaches you if you open your heart and mind.

What I am being aware of this time through I Samuel is this: As is already known, there was a rift in the relationship between Saul and David. Jonathan was sort of the "go-between". Jonathan seemed to handle it pretty well. Then one day Jonathan asked Saul about David and Saul got so angry with Jonathan (by the way, Jonathan was Saul's son), that he threw a spear at him. From reading through the chapters, it becomes very clear that the people of Israel kept the feud going. There are verses all through I Samuel where it says, so-and-so came to Saul and said, David is such-and-such. Then Saul would take off after him. There were 2 times that David could have killed Saul-one in which he cut a piece of Saul's clothing off and the other was when he took Saul's bolster and spear, I think. Each time, when David told Saul how he had spared his life, Saul's response seemed to be one of love and respect and he seemed okay with David until someone else came to him later and said, David is doing such-and such and David is in some city. Who knows if maybe they could have gotten along if the people had left them alone and also if Saul had not listened to the people? Another interesting thing I noticed is that it says that "an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul". Didn't know the Lord sent evil spirits to his children. Then the Bible says that David was brought in to play music for Saul and Saul would be comforted by the music. So, music can be used to take away an "evil spirit". I KNOW it can also bring on an evil spirit. I do know enough about music to KNOW that is true!

Anyway, my thots on reading thru the Bible.