A Lesson from Rachel

I was reading the other day in Genesis about Jacob and Rachel and something caught my eye that I hadn't really paid attention to before. If you read chapter 31:22-35, you'll find how Rachel stole her father's gods and then lied to him and said she couldn't get up because it was her "time of the month" (as the gods were tucked below where she was sitting). Of course her father wouldn't ask for her to get up, let alone touch anything she had been touching because she was considered unclean at that time.

For some reason, Rachel believed that these idols would accomplish something for her and her family. She must have believed this if she stole them and then lied about them. It wasn't enough for her to rest upon the true God, the Lord Who was the God of her husband, Jacob. She felt that she needed to bring something else along with her "just in case".

It's easy to want to judge Rachel and think of her actions as foolish, but we must first examine ourselves before we scrutinize her. What rope do you cling to that has no power? What is your "just in case"? A friend that could turn against you at any moment? A retirement fund that could go down the drain with one downturn of the market? A paycheck that could end tomorrow? I realize that too often I put my trust in things so weak, so powerless. The only strong rope we need to cling to is God. He is sturdy, He won't let go.

Unfortunately Rachel felt she needed more security and found it in things that weren't secure at all. How often do I do the same? How often do you? When our "I AM" is always near? He is, He was and He always will be.....do we need anything more than that?

Fall Firsts

Today we went outside and had a rousing game of family football.....the first in the Manne family of three. Cole had a blast, especially when Jake told him, "Run and get Mama." He came at me with a high pitched cry and tackled me right at my knees. Jake is impressed with Cole's arm, but he left us wondering if he realized where the endzone was. We're thinking not as he kept running and running, laughing the whole way. As you can see, he got a bit tired of football and found the next best thing.....sticks! So we're wondering who will call first........Joe Paterno or Ty Pennington?

A Parenting ?

For some reason Cole has not been sleeping through the night. Every night, like clockwork, he goes to bed at 8:00 but then is up almost always at 1:30. He was sleeping through the night for quite a while prior to this so I am just baffled at the change. This new pattern has also crept into his naptimes. He will wake up before he is anywhere near ready and just cries and cries. We are done with teething, so that's not it. We have a check-up scheduled for him at the end of this month, so I'm planning on talking with his pediatrician about it. But until then, did anyone else's kids go through this? I'm just not sure what to do......I don't know if he's having nightmares, is afraid of something in his room (although he goes in there to play all of the time), or what else it could be. There haven't been any big changes in our lives lately, so I'm just completely in the dark about all of this and how I can help him. Suggestions and advice are much appreciated!

Lessons

Do you ever just sit in awe at how God works? How He knows what you need when you need it? Jake and I have been going through kind of a rough time just with different things going on in our lives. It seems that we go back and forth encouraging one another but of course are never on the same positive page at the same time! So a few days this week it was my turn to do my "Negative Nellie" routine. I just couldn't get out of my slump. Although I knew that I should have displayed a better attitude, I just couldn't seem to move past my frustrations, doubts and my fears of what would be.

About a month ago, while on vacation, I decided that I wanted to try and find a book that would encourage me in doing my daily devotions. I had a conversation with a dear friend about the importance of doing our devotions first thing in the morning so you could ponder them the rest of the day (and also so they didn't get lost in the shuffle of other daily activities) and decided that I was lacking in this area and I needed a boost. So, I found a book at Baker Bookhouse called The Women's Devotional Guide to the Bible by Jane Syswerda. (I would recommend it if you'd like some really good daily devotionals)! Anyway, I knew I wanted something to help me along, but also wasn't quite sure why I was getting it.....I should be able to do devotions through my own discipline and study by now, I would think! I purchased the book and began my new daily routine of waking up at 6 a.m., doing my devotions with a hot cup of java in my hand.....a glorious way to start the day, I must say!

Last week I just couldn't make it out of bed in the morning, usually because Jake and I were up in the middle of the night with Cole. I kept thinking throughout Monday (the first of my grumpy days), I should just do my devotions. But alas, I never cracked open my new book or my Bible. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday go by and I'm still in my mood, never once turning to God's Word.

FINALLY! Friday I do the assigned Scripture readings which happened to be on Abraham and Sarah. Then, I read the summary of the text in my devotional book. It said,

"God often does the impossible, working through the unlikely, accomplishing what you might think is absurdly improbable. He doesn't do it just for fun. God always has a purpose. God knows what He's doing. Don't ever doubt it, even when it seems debatable. Look at the mess Abraham and Sarah created when they doubted. They took matters into their own hands and produced a son through Hagar. The resulting chaos had nothing to do with God's perfect plan to create a nation through another son, Isaac. As the story of Abraham demonstrates, waiting and trusting that God knows what He's doing is always the better option."

I couldn't believe my eyes! This addressed everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that Jake and I were dealing with all week! Doubt, fear, trying to figure out the easy road and whether or not we should take it, etc. Now, I'm not superstitious, so I don't think that I have been punished for not doing my devotions all week.....BUT! If I had read this on Monday and taken a lesson from Abraham and Sarah, oh the burden it could have lifted off of my shoulders and the peace and hope it could have provided!

I believe with my whole heart that God is a sovereign God who knows what we need, when we need it and is there to provide it for us. I believe He knew that I would need this lesson this week and He used a conversation from two months ago to encourage me to spend more time in His Word. I know this has happened to many of you as you read the Bible and different things pop out at you in ways they never had before and it's something that you needed in that moment. Isn't God the greatest? He is so loving.....loving enough to touch us in the simplest ways. I am looking forward again to my mornings with my Father......and to the lessons He is waiting to teach me.

Going Private

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I am planning on making my blog private so I feel more freedom to post family pics, etc., especially of Cole. To do this, my blog friends will have to log into Blogspot with their own email and password after I have sent an invitation to them to view my blog. If you would like to continue keeping up on what's going on in the life of the Manne family, please email me at meganmanne@hotmail.com. Once my blog is a little more protected, I will post photo albums and other such fun things!

Goodbye to Summer....

The Manne family is finally home! We have been on the road all summer it seems and it is so nice to have no plans of traveling in the near future. Jake and I went on two wilderness trips to Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada, then we visited my parents for a week in Hastings, we took our youth group on an overnight trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, Cole and I went to Michigan to visit the Manne family and my sister-in-law and nephew who were visiting from Alabama, and lastly, we had our own family vacation at Hoffmaster Park in Michigan. Jake's parents were kind enough to let us use their fifth wheel and camp for a week. Of course, as it turns out, Michigan got the only rain it received all summer that week, but we still had a wonderful time. We often went to the Lakeshore mall so Cole could play in the kids area. He loved it and made a ton of new friends. This was the first vacation Jake and I have taken together since our honeymoon and of course it was the first vacation with just the three of us, so we made sure to cherish every minute. Here are some pictures to share with you.....

Playing on the beach

Taking a mud bath at Grandpa and Grandma Ainslie's

Playing with Cousin Sophie at Great-Grandma Janet's

Our family day at Millennium Park

All tuckered out from summer!


Cole's Summer Memories:

• Playing at the beach......nude!
• Eating popsicles that melt all down your hands
• Discovering my love for Elmo for the first time
• Going to the zoo at least once a month
• Learning about mud puddles.....through experimenting of course!
• Visiting all of my cousins......Leto, A.J., Garrett, Anna, Drew, Will, Sophie and Audrey!
• Visiting all of my friends.....Will and Isabella, Jenna and Chase!
• My first camping trip
• My first taste of S'mores.....yummy!
• Drawing with sidewalk chalk
• Eating the sidewalk chalk
• Taking colorful baths because of the sidewalk chalk
• Playing in the sprinkler
• Going down our stairs forward on my bottom.....this has been a dream of mine forever! =)

Cole has grown a lot just in this last summer. We were looking at pictures of him from his birthday in March and I can't believe how much he's changed since then. We are excited to "do" fall with him now that he's old enough to enjoy the leaves and the apple orchards, pumpkin patches and Halloween.....I especially can't wait because fall is my absolute favorite time of the year! I will make sure to post our fall fun as well! And any cute/creative ideas for a toddler boy Halloween costume, let me know!