Morning Enlightenment

 One factor that contributed to my accidental blogging hiatus was a verse I read during my morning reading time about living a quiet life and minding your own business. (1 Thess 4:11)

I'm never happier than when I'm puttering around the house, tending to chores and kids, with my phone out of sight and out of mind.

My life can get noisy enough with a husband, homeschooled kids, a large dog and a cat, that I don't need news from my phone clamoring for my attention.

I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Mark 6:31...

"Come with me to a quiet place and get some rest."

So my early morning quiet time, established years ago when my children were babies, has saved me and restored me daily.

I always sit here, by this window facing east, to watch the sun rise over the trees as I read.

I enjoy watching the sky lighten and turn a variety of stunning colors.

In the winter, I turn on my little heating pad and reading lamp, cover my legs with a blanket, and soak in the stillness and quiet.

(Summer mornings feel so different, don't they? The sun bright and sparkling; the birds boisterously singing...)

Because God's Word is "living and active," I always feel as though I start each day with fresh enlightenment.

"He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." Isaiah 50:4

Recently, I was reading about Jesus' miraculous feeding of thousands, and because we're on a math curriculum this school year that is training our minds to see math in God's character, I lingered over the numbers in Mark 8:19-20 looking for clues...

5 loaves for 5 thousand,

12 baskets leftover...

7 loaves for 4 thousand,

7 baskets leftover.

Hmmm...

I pondered for quite some time as to whether there could be a pattern, equation, or meaning.

This became the hot topic of conversation with my children as the day unfolded.

 

We decided to camp out on the numbers 12 and 7. Where else do we see these numbers in the Bible? In nature? In everyday living?

We discussed the obvious ones first: 

- Seven days of creation were divided into 12 hours.

- God established twelve tribes of Israel

- Jesus selected twelve disciples

- Twelve inches in a foot

But a little further research and deeper discussion uncovered many more:

- The Ark of the Covenant contained twelve sacred items

- After twelve generations, Solomon built the temple, which took seven years to complete

- The human body has twelve ribs on each side, connecting to the sternum in seven places

- The ocean has seven layers of ecosystems 

- Our calendar consists of twelve months in a year, seven days in a week

- Music has twelve notes, and harmony uses seven of them

- The diameter of the earth is 12,700km

Fascinating, isn't it?

I will forever be grateful for this homeschooling journey, and the beautiful truths we've learned together. But I am most thankful to my Lord for His faithfulness to meet me each morning.

"His mercies never fail, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:23

~ Courtney