I always suspected our 7-month-old great-grandson was a genius, but now I know it! He called me today! My phone rang and I recognized my daughter's number. It stopped ringing before I could get it, so I called her back. "Did you call?" I asked her. She laughed and told me her grandbaby was playing with the phone and pushing numbers! Okay, so it was an accident, but still pretty amazing.
A week or so ago the phone rang, and I said hello to who I thought would be my son. There was only silence for a minute, then a bright little voice said, "Hi, Mimi!" It was my 6-year-old granddaughter, Anne-Marie. She was calling from the back seat of their mini-van from a phone she had been playing with, when, recognizing "Mom and Dad" on her father's contact list, she called us! She called again last week, and this time Pa-Pa answered and enjoyed her sparkling conversation.
All joking aside, we do consider little Jaxon, the 7-month-old, a miracle baby. His mother wasn't expected to carry him and was put on bed rest for what was supposed to be the duration of the pregnancy. Then it was discovered he was implanted in a heart-shaped womb! He grew in one side of it, making the pregnancy an iffy situation, with close monitoring of his progress by the doctor on weekly office visits.
Insufficient amniotic fluid resulted in an at-risk baby, who proved everyone wrong by being a little trooper. By a what could only be called a miracle, a life-threatening condition was detected and treated when he was scheduled to go home from the hospital. Despite all his obstacles, he is robust, happy and brilliant. He was waving bye-bye at a couple of months and is learning new tricks every day to the delight of his family.
God is full of miracles. Just a couple of weeks ago a member of our congregation had brain surgery. Three days later, she was back at church! She was showing off her stitches up the back of her head at the next service! This woman was always skin and bones, like the worst anorexic imaginable. But now the doctors have fixed a congenital abnormality and she is able to eat and is gaining weight! She said she is blessed to be alive; if circumstances hadn't intervened so that the problem was discovered, she says she would have been dead! She gives the glory to God!
We had a dramatic answer to prayer in our family last Sunday, and our daughter related to me she had had an amazing answer to an urgent prayer she had prayed. God is so good! And our grandchildren are so grand! Anne-Marie is even studying French!
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Let Your Light So Shine
"The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up," Matthew 4:16. This was a prophecy of Isaiah 9:2 fulfilled by Jesus when he preached and taught from Capernaum, "which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim," Matthew 4:13.
Our pastor was preaching from this Sunday, emphasizing that, although there is much darkness in the world, we as Christians are called to bring light into that darkness. My husband was thinking of that at our Bible study tonight, and he gave this illustration:
"I had placed a "For Sale" sign on a piece of property, and two men came to talk to me about it," Howard said. "They were a little rough looking, and one of them held a can of beer in his hand," he went on. "At one point the man started to use some bad language, then he caught himself and put his hand over his mouth." Howard said he hadn't said anything to them about his faith, but he could tell they sensed something different about him, that he was a Christian.
One of the other men at the Bible study remarked that in his work as a counselor he doesn't preach, but he does teach Christian principles. He said, "One man came to me the other day and confided, 'I went to church Sunday.' Then he went on to say, 'When they took up an offering, my wife started to put in a couple of dollars. But I told her to put in $20.' He told me the preacher had said when you give to God, He will return 100 fold. Then he said, 'The very next day, my boss gave me new carpeting worth thousands of dollars!'"
It was obvious these two men were bringing light into the darkness. I remembered an incident that happened to my godly mother many years ago. She had taken a job in a large restaurant as a salad girl. She soon found out that the place was run by a boorish, rude owner who was unscrupulous and whose business was going bad. It was nearing Thanksgiving, and one day Mama remarked to a co-worker that she had already gotten her Thanksgiving turkey.
The next day, her boss accosted her and said, "So you stole one of my turkeys!" My spunky red-haired mother told him she had done no such thing! She was so insulted she took off her apron and threw it on the floor, telling him she was quitting. He turned around to stomp off and stopped in his tracks. All the other employees were facing him with their aprons on the floor. They were showing support and respect for someone they knew was innocent as they stared him down.
"Oh, don't quit," he turned to Mama and said. ( If memory serves, he offerered her any turkey she wanted.) Only then did her coworkers pick up their aprons and go back to work. She was a light in a dark place.
Our pastor was preaching from this Sunday, emphasizing that, although there is much darkness in the world, we as Christians are called to bring light into that darkness. My husband was thinking of that at our Bible study tonight, and he gave this illustration:
"I had placed a "For Sale" sign on a piece of property, and two men came to talk to me about it," Howard said. "They were a little rough looking, and one of them held a can of beer in his hand," he went on. "At one point the man started to use some bad language, then he caught himself and put his hand over his mouth." Howard said he hadn't said anything to them about his faith, but he could tell they sensed something different about him, that he was a Christian.
One of the other men at the Bible study remarked that in his work as a counselor he doesn't preach, but he does teach Christian principles. He said, "One man came to me the other day and confided, 'I went to church Sunday.' Then he went on to say, 'When they took up an offering, my wife started to put in a couple of dollars. But I told her to put in $20.' He told me the preacher had said when you give to God, He will return 100 fold. Then he said, 'The very next day, my boss gave me new carpeting worth thousands of dollars!'"
It was obvious these two men were bringing light into the darkness. I remembered an incident that happened to my godly mother many years ago. She had taken a job in a large restaurant as a salad girl. She soon found out that the place was run by a boorish, rude owner who was unscrupulous and whose business was going bad. It was nearing Thanksgiving, and one day Mama remarked to a co-worker that she had already gotten her Thanksgiving turkey.
The next day, her boss accosted her and said, "So you stole one of my turkeys!" My spunky red-haired mother told him she had done no such thing! She was so insulted she took off her apron and threw it on the floor, telling him she was quitting. He turned around to stomp off and stopped in his tracks. All the other employees were facing him with their aprons on the floor. They were showing support and respect for someone they knew was innocent as they stared him down.
"Oh, don't quit," he turned to Mama and said. ( If memory serves, he offerered her any turkey she wanted.) Only then did her coworkers pick up their aprons and go back to work. She was a light in a dark place.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Born Free
"Look, that goose is still there!" I exclaimed to my husband when I saw it loitering at the edge of the water around the small island in the pond. Then I peered further through the binoculars and saw one sitting in a clump of wild grass on top of the large mound of earth.
"There are two of them," I mused, then it hit me! "She is setting on a nest of eggs, and the male is keeping watch!" Of course! Why else would he be lingering there so long when no other geese were in sight. This was an interesting development in my pond observations! Not only was it fun to see the blue heron standing majestically by, or catch sight of the turtle sunning itself, and wonder about the resident beaver, now perhaps soon I would see a parade of downy fluffs paddling after their mother!
Watching wildlife in their freedom living peacefully in God's creation is a relaxing and therapeutic pasttime that leaves me refreshed and with a new perspective when we drive away.
It reminded me of something my daughter Amy said to me yesterday. She mentioned that, in her job as a nurse, she had been interviewing a patient who had come in with another woman in preparation for outpatient surgery. She said they seemed foreign, and she found out they were Kurdish. "Mama, these were the most delightful women!" she said, "Even though one of them had had major problems and was facing surgery, they seemed so positive and happy!"
I could understand why with her next words. "The older woman introduced the younger one as her sister. She said, 'My mother gave me my sister when we fled our country to escape death under Sadam Hussein.' Mama, they said they love it here! They said they are free! The woman said, 'I was under the sentence of death! It is so wonderful to be free!'" Amy said she had never seen people so joyous and grateful.
My daughter said it made her think, as she reflected on the fact that before she became a Christian, she, too, was under the sentence of death. "But now I am free with a life in Christ, and that should fill me with joy! I was ashamed of ever complaining about anything, when I have the best reason of all to be joyful and happy!"
The male goose stays near the nest to keep watch over it, especially when the female leaves it briefly to feed, although he does not stay so close as to reveal its location to predators. (That's why the male was lingering so nonchalantly in the water!) The instinct to protect the eggs causes the female to disguise her nest with sticks and twigs when she leaves it.
Jesus is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother, Proverbs 18:24. He is an ever-present help in time of trouble, Psalms 46:1. From now on when I see geese flying over the pond, free as the breeze, I will think of the freedom we have in Christ as our spirits soar with Him, at peace, but oh, so full of joy at being redeemed from the sentence of death!
"There are two of them," I mused, then it hit me! "She is setting on a nest of eggs, and the male is keeping watch!" Of course! Why else would he be lingering there so long when no other geese were in sight. This was an interesting development in my pond observations! Not only was it fun to see the blue heron standing majestically by, or catch sight of the turtle sunning itself, and wonder about the resident beaver, now perhaps soon I would see a parade of downy fluffs paddling after their mother!
Watching wildlife in their freedom living peacefully in God's creation is a relaxing and therapeutic pasttime that leaves me refreshed and with a new perspective when we drive away.
It reminded me of something my daughter Amy said to me yesterday. She mentioned that, in her job as a nurse, she had been interviewing a patient who had come in with another woman in preparation for outpatient surgery. She said they seemed foreign, and she found out they were Kurdish. "Mama, these were the most delightful women!" she said, "Even though one of them had had major problems and was facing surgery, they seemed so positive and happy!"
I could understand why with her next words. "The older woman introduced the younger one as her sister. She said, 'My mother gave me my sister when we fled our country to escape death under Sadam Hussein.' Mama, they said they love it here! They said they are free! The woman said, 'I was under the sentence of death! It is so wonderful to be free!'" Amy said she had never seen people so joyous and grateful.
My daughter said it made her think, as she reflected on the fact that before she became a Christian, she, too, was under the sentence of death. "But now I am free with a life in Christ, and that should fill me with joy! I was ashamed of ever complaining about anything, when I have the best reason of all to be joyful and happy!"
The male goose stays near the nest to keep watch over it, especially when the female leaves it briefly to feed, although he does not stay so close as to reveal its location to predators. (That's why the male was lingering so nonchalantly in the water!) The instinct to protect the eggs causes the female to disguise her nest with sticks and twigs when she leaves it.
Jesus is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother, Proverbs 18:24. He is an ever-present help in time of trouble, Psalms 46:1. From now on when I see geese flying over the pond, free as the breeze, I will think of the freedom we have in Christ as our spirits soar with Him, at peace, but oh, so full of joy at being redeemed from the sentence of death!
Friday, April 12, 2013
How Joseph Got Marri (ed)
"Tell them about the first time you saw me," I coaxed my husband, wanting him to relate the story I had heard him tell many times in sermons. He told how he was sitting in a car with friends before church and noticed me getting out of my dad's car and walking into the church. To hear him tell it, he was smitten! (It may have been the time I first saw him, when an incredibly handsome youth entered the church and I was smitten myself!)
We were in a nostalgic mood recalling old memories as we sat in my niece's living room after coming in from a festive lunch for my sister's 84th birthday. "I'll tell you the first time I saw my husband," my sister volunteered. She went on: "We lived in the country, but sometimes Mama and Daddy would let me go to Grandma's in town for the weekend.
"I got acquainted with a girl next door to Grandma who invited me to a Christmas program at her church, which happened to be The Salvation Army. 'Who is that playing Joseph?' I asked my friend. He was handsome! She told me, then after the play, a bunch of us were gathered outside, and he talked to me. He asked if I wanted to go to the show the next night.
"I got permission, and planned to meet him and his friend (who I thought was really cute) at the theatre." My 13-year-old sister only had a dime, enough for a child's ticket, so that is what she asked for, thinking she would already have her ticket when they bought theirs.
"'How old are you, honey?' the lady asked from the box office. "Eleven," she told her nervously. She was handed the ticket, and turned around to see the two boys standing behind her! "I was so embarrassed!" she remembered.
I have a dim recollection of a couple of snapshots of two bright-eyed teenagers at a camp put on by the Salvation Army, looking incredibly young as they perched on a rock in their rustic surroundings. Their romance must have blossomed there, because by the time I was five years old my sister's handsome beau was a fixture at our house.
When he joined the Navy, they got married and went to California together. He got shipped out, and Daddy had to go get his newly-wed daughter and bring her home to Oklahoma, even though she was a little girl no longer. She still looks young for her age!
We were in a nostalgic mood recalling old memories as we sat in my niece's living room after coming in from a festive lunch for my sister's 84th birthday. "I'll tell you the first time I saw my husband," my sister volunteered. She went on: "We lived in the country, but sometimes Mama and Daddy would let me go to Grandma's in town for the weekend.
"I got acquainted with a girl next door to Grandma who invited me to a Christmas program at her church, which happened to be The Salvation Army. 'Who is that playing Joseph?' I asked my friend. He was handsome! She told me, then after the play, a bunch of us were gathered outside, and he talked to me. He asked if I wanted to go to the show the next night.
"I got permission, and planned to meet him and his friend (who I thought was really cute) at the theatre." My 13-year-old sister only had a dime, enough for a child's ticket, so that is what she asked for, thinking she would already have her ticket when they bought theirs.
"'How old are you, honey?' the lady asked from the box office. "Eleven," she told her nervously. She was handed the ticket, and turned around to see the two boys standing behind her! "I was so embarrassed!" she remembered.
I have a dim recollection of a couple of snapshots of two bright-eyed teenagers at a camp put on by the Salvation Army, looking incredibly young as they perched on a rock in their rustic surroundings. Their romance must have blossomed there, because by the time I was five years old my sister's handsome beau was a fixture at our house.
When he joined the Navy, they got married and went to California together. He got shipped out, and Daddy had to go get his newly-wed daughter and bring her home to Oklahoma, even though she was a little girl no longer. She still looks young for her age!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Changes, Changes
"We'd like two junior cones," my husband said into the drive-in speaker at a fast food stop on our way home from Wichita, "one chocolate in a cake cone and the other black walnut in a waffle cone," he specified.
"Thank you, that will be (x amount) of dollars," came the reply. That sounded like a lot for junior cones, so I remarked at the pay window that I didn't think junior cones cost that much. "Oh, you wanted junior cones? I thought you wanted single dips," the attendant said. She redid the order and we drove to the pick-up window.
"Where is everybody?" I remarked as we sat in front of the empty window. Then a worker approached and disappeared again. "Look, there's our order!!" I said when I spied two ice cream cones of the right color melting in a holder. Finally a young man came to the window and handed us a triple-dip strawberry cone. "No, those are our cones over there!" we pointed out. They were good, anyway, and just enough.
Sometimes things are just incongruous. When we were driving up the road on the way there, the new-leafing trees in their misty green veils reminded me of a bride on her wedding day, dewy and tender in their freshness. A few miles farther, the trees looked more like iced wedding cakes, frosted over and glittering in their sparkle. Some of the delicate branches were weighted to the ground after the ice storm last night, and some were split and broken. I couldn't believe the difference a few miles north make!
Upon arriving home, we decided to drive the few miles to the country to feed our chickens and gather the eggs. Then Howard wanted to drive along the pond to see if it had filled more from the heavy rains yesterday. The water was definitely higher, the sand bar completely covered and water lapping against the end of a boat tied high on the opposite bank. "I see a turtle on that little island," I said, thinking it was the one we had often seen sunning itself on an old tire partially submerged in the pond.
Howard couldn't see it, and I was beginning to wonder if were just a rock. It looked round and blurry in the distance. "Oh, I think it's the beaver!" I exclaimed. We had heard that one made its home in a culvert on the opposite side of the lake. I grabbed the binoculars, but I couldn't be sure. Suddenly it began to move, and I saw a long black neck protrude and realized it was only a very large goose!
Life is full of changed perceptions, misunderstandings and misconceptions. Things are not always what they seem. They can be funny, irritating or surprising. In our world today, only one thing is constant. The Bible says, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever," Hebrews 13:8.
James 1:17 tells us, "Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." These we can depend on!
"Thank you, that will be (x amount) of dollars," came the reply. That sounded like a lot for junior cones, so I remarked at the pay window that I didn't think junior cones cost that much. "Oh, you wanted junior cones? I thought you wanted single dips," the attendant said. She redid the order and we drove to the pick-up window.
"Where is everybody?" I remarked as we sat in front of the empty window. Then a worker approached and disappeared again. "Look, there's our order!!" I said when I spied two ice cream cones of the right color melting in a holder. Finally a young man came to the window and handed us a triple-dip strawberry cone. "No, those are our cones over there!" we pointed out. They were good, anyway, and just enough.
Sometimes things are just incongruous. When we were driving up the road on the way there, the new-leafing trees in their misty green veils reminded me of a bride on her wedding day, dewy and tender in their freshness. A few miles farther, the trees looked more like iced wedding cakes, frosted over and glittering in their sparkle. Some of the delicate branches were weighted to the ground after the ice storm last night, and some were split and broken. I couldn't believe the difference a few miles north make!
Upon arriving home, we decided to drive the few miles to the country to feed our chickens and gather the eggs. Then Howard wanted to drive along the pond to see if it had filled more from the heavy rains yesterday. The water was definitely higher, the sand bar completely covered and water lapping against the end of a boat tied high on the opposite bank. "I see a turtle on that little island," I said, thinking it was the one we had often seen sunning itself on an old tire partially submerged in the pond.
Howard couldn't see it, and I was beginning to wonder if were just a rock. It looked round and blurry in the distance. "Oh, I think it's the beaver!" I exclaimed. We had heard that one made its home in a culvert on the opposite side of the lake. I grabbed the binoculars, but I couldn't be sure. Suddenly it began to move, and I saw a long black neck protrude and realized it was only a very large goose!
Life is full of changed perceptions, misunderstandings and misconceptions. Things are not always what they seem. They can be funny, irritating or surprising. In our world today, only one thing is constant. The Bible says, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever," Hebrews 13:8.
James 1:17 tells us, "Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." These we can depend on!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
A Giving Spirit
"It's yours if you want it." This phrase echoes from my childhood as I heard my mother or dad answer fondly in response to my question of "Whose piece of cake (pie, fudge, etc.) is that?" as I eagerly eyed the last piece of dessert or treat, knowing they had probably not had a serving themselves yet. Wow! How could they be so generous? I remember thinking, as I helped myself to another luscious mouthful.
And it wasn't just me, any of my siblings (there were 11 of us) could ask the same loaded question and get the same reply. It was only after I grew up and had a family of my own that I could understand their perspective. It is more pleasurable to see your child enjoy something than to have it yourself. (Jesus said that it is better to give than to receive!)
Mama and Daddy had generous spirits all of their lives. As an adult, visiting at their house, I might admire some decorative item, trinket, or dish, and Mama would say, "You can have that," sometimes giving me a whole set of dishes she had picked up at a garage sale (I was the one with a houseful of children by then), and once a set of Salad Master stainless steel pots that I still have.
In that simple, less structured time when I was growing up, we could bring home a friend to spend the night without checking with our parents first, knowing they would be welcome. In fact, to do so would have been an insult to their hospitality.
Something else Daddy always did (I shudder to think about it now), was to pick up hitchhikers, as often as not giving them a place to stay for the night. He was always bringing someone home who was "down on their luck" to enjoy a home-cooked meal and even giving them room and board for a few days. (If it sounds like the Waltons, it's because it was of that era.)
Daddy had a big heart, as did my mother, herself Tennessee born and mountain-folk friendly. In later life, they found even greater fullfilment in serving the Lord, both in church and in Daddy's vocation of spreading the Word of God across the country through Bible sales.
Our heavenly Father also has a giving heart. He sent His Son, Jesus, to be his representative on earth. Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." In His time on the planet He had created, Jesus reached out to people, especially the poor and hurting, but also to the wealthy, often miserable in their wealth and unaware of their need.
Jesus lived a joyful life (the Bible says he was anointed with joy above his fellows. Psalms 45:7), and he wants us to have an abundant life: John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." His purpose in giving His life was that we would have eternal life in Heaven. Like I was told as a child, "It's yours if you want it."
And it wasn't just me, any of my siblings (there were 11 of us) could ask the same loaded question and get the same reply. It was only after I grew up and had a family of my own that I could understand their perspective. It is more pleasurable to see your child enjoy something than to have it yourself. (Jesus said that it is better to give than to receive!)
Mama and Daddy had generous spirits all of their lives. As an adult, visiting at their house, I might admire some decorative item, trinket, or dish, and Mama would say, "You can have that," sometimes giving me a whole set of dishes she had picked up at a garage sale (I was the one with a houseful of children by then), and once a set of Salad Master stainless steel pots that I still have.
In that simple, less structured time when I was growing up, we could bring home a friend to spend the night without checking with our parents first, knowing they would be welcome. In fact, to do so would have been an insult to their hospitality.
Something else Daddy always did (I shudder to think about it now), was to pick up hitchhikers, as often as not giving them a place to stay for the night. He was always bringing someone home who was "down on their luck" to enjoy a home-cooked meal and even giving them room and board for a few days. (If it sounds like the Waltons, it's because it was of that era.)
Daddy had a big heart, as did my mother, herself Tennessee born and mountain-folk friendly. In later life, they found even greater fullfilment in serving the Lord, both in church and in Daddy's vocation of spreading the Word of God across the country through Bible sales.
Our heavenly Father also has a giving heart. He sent His Son, Jesus, to be his representative on earth. Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." In His time on the planet He had created, Jesus reached out to people, especially the poor and hurting, but also to the wealthy, often miserable in their wealth and unaware of their need.
Jesus lived a joyful life (the Bible says he was anointed with joy above his fellows. Psalms 45:7), and he wants us to have an abundant life: John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." His purpose in giving His life was that we would have eternal life in Heaven. Like I was told as a child, "It's yours if you want it."
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Heartthoughts: From Pillow to Pillar
I couldn't wait to go to bed last night. We got new pillows! What a difference! Instead of two semi-collapsed pillows under my head, with my new pillow I slept on a cloud all night! There is nothing worse than a hard pillow.
I wonder how Jacob stood it in the Bible? The story is in Genesis 28:11-18. The scriptures say he put stones under his head for pillows! Apparently he was so tired from running from his brother, Esau, that he slept, but not a dreamless sleep.
Verse 12 says, "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Through the dream, God gave Jacob the wonderful message of blessings that would be upon him: The promise of His presence, the land, innumerable descendants, even extending the blessings to us and the whole earth, through Jesus who would come!
In his astonishment, Jacob proclaimed the place the house of God and the gate of Heaven. When he arose early in the morning, he took the stone he had slept on and set it up as a pillar, consecrating it to God and calling the place Bethel (House of God). "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
These days, when most people do not do the hard physical work of our forefathers, sleep can be hard to come by. Ecclesiastes 5:12 says, "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer (allow) him to sleep."
Mattresses have come a long way from the simple sleeping mat or pallet of times gone by (and still used in some cultures). There is so much competition between mattress companies today that we are bombarded with ads on how to get the perfect night's sleep. Everything from mattress toppers to sleep numbers are touted as the solution to achieving that elusive goal of restful slumber.
Perhaps a better solution would be to use a pillow to kneel on for bedside prayers, (even committing to a tithe of 10%!). That would be the perfect sleep number!
I wonder how Jacob stood it in the Bible? The story is in Genesis 28:11-18. The scriptures say he put stones under his head for pillows! Apparently he was so tired from running from his brother, Esau, that he slept, but not a dreamless sleep.
Verse 12 says, "And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it." Through the dream, God gave Jacob the wonderful message of blessings that would be upon him: The promise of His presence, the land, innumerable descendants, even extending the blessings to us and the whole earth, through Jesus who would come!
In his astonishment, Jacob proclaimed the place the house of God and the gate of Heaven. When he arose early in the morning, he took the stone he had slept on and set it up as a pillar, consecrating it to God and calling the place Bethel (House of God). "And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
These days, when most people do not do the hard physical work of our forefathers, sleep can be hard to come by. Ecclesiastes 5:12 says, "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer (allow) him to sleep."
Mattresses have come a long way from the simple sleeping mat or pallet of times gone by (and still used in some cultures). There is so much competition between mattress companies today that we are bombarded with ads on how to get the perfect night's sleep. Everything from mattress toppers to sleep numbers are touted as the solution to achieving that elusive goal of restful slumber.
Perhaps a better solution would be to use a pillow to kneel on for bedside prayers, (even committing to a tithe of 10%!). That would be the perfect sleep number!
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