Renae Adelsberger

Seven Times a Day

Nov 08 2017

I praise You seven times a day for your righteous judgments.”
– Psalm 119:164

What do I do seven times a day? I’ve really been thinking about this question lately. Some days I eat six times a day. You know, like a hobbit! There’s breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and, of course, the mandatory sweet snack after successfully putting a child to bed!

I don’t mean to be impolite, but I probably use the restroom seven times a day. I’m not sure; I haven’t ever counted before.

I wash dishes once a day. If a dish is missed, I leave it for the next day! And, as much as I love my husband, I’m not even sure that I tell him “I love you” seven times a day.

On a typical day, I’m awake from 5:45-9:45. That’s 16 hours. 16 divided by 7 is 2.28 (*shout out to my calculator*) So if I were to act like the Psalmist, that means I would praise the Lord for His righteous judgment every 2.28 hours that I am awake.

Yolk of Slavery

Oct 20 2017

I was teaching Sunday School to the middle school girls. We were in a deep discussion about being enslaved to sin. The girls were following along carefully and seemed to be understanding that when we practice sin, we get better and better at sinning. And sin will take control. That’s why Paul uses the imagery of a yoke.

Galatians 5:1, “For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Our yoke to is sin. It leads us into more sin even if we don’t want to go.

The looks on the girls’ faces suddenly seemed blank.

I backed up and started again. Nods. Nods. Then, suddenly, blank stares when I got to Galatians.

“Do you guys know how yokes work?” I asked them.

“Yes.”

“Okay. Why don’t you each act out a yoke so I’m sure we’re on the same page.”

The first girl cupped her hands. The second put her hands around either side of her neck with her elbows pointing out. The third put her head between her knees and wrapped her arms around herself.

When Love Wasn’t Loving

Oct 03 2017

That’s not love. That thought has been on repeat in my head ever since we accepted our first foster placement 11 months ago. How do you explain love – true love – agape love – to a child who has mostly only experienced selfish “love.” I can barely even bring myself to say “selfish love” because, if it’s selfish, is it really love?

So, here we are, trying to teach a person how to love. It’s hard. Because love, much like C.S. Lewis continually teaches, is a choice, not a feeling. I’ve been fortunate, I’ve never had to fight very hard for love. Kevin and I have had a fun-filled marriage and drama-free dating relationship. I love him easily every day. In fact, my love for him has grown over the past year. But when the Lord adds a person to your house, even temporarily, love is a choice. I have to choose love even when told I’m hated. Because, as the refrain in my head goes, most of the love that was shown to her wasn’t loving.

More than a Foot Disease

Aug 29 2017

Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the Lord his God.He was diligent in every deed that he began in the service of God’s temple, in the instruction and the commands, in order to seek his God, and he prospered.
-2 Chronicles 31:20-21

Over the past two weeks, I got behind on my daily Scripture reading. I would love to point my finger and blame the start of school – we’re still trying to figure out what the new routine with ALL THIS HOMEWORK looks like. But that would just be me passing the blame. I haven’t made it a priority. I’ve chosen sleeping in over reading, watching videos over meditating, and monitoring everyone’s schedule over my relationship with God.

I’ve failed to read my Bible daily. But God is gracious and we’re getting back in our rhythm.

Many thanks to the Bible app which reads Scripture to me. I have enjoyed spending the morning stretching (rather than snoozing) while the app reads to me. I have even spent a couple morning drives to work with Psalms and Proverbs being read to me. It’s a a delight to hear God’s Words out loud – to encounter them in a new way.

So over the past three days of catch up, I have been listening to a lot of 1 & 2 Chronicles. This morning, I got to 2 Chronicles 31 where Hezekiah was described as “good,” “upright,” and “diligent in every deed.” (see Scripture at the beginning of this post)

It struck me how beautiful a legacy this leader left for the people of Israel. I began to reflect back on several recaps of kings that I had heard read to me over the past couple days.

Like Wisemen: Solar Eclipse 2017

Aug 22 2017

Unlike all the people this past weekend begging for solar eclipse glasses online, Kevin has had us prepared for a couple months! Ever since he discovered that his parent’s hometown was in the line of 100% totality, he has planned on driving to Southern Illinois to view the solar eclipse.

I was more reticent. Would it really be worth the drive? Isn’t Jackson’s 90-some-percent going to be just as good as the 100%? But he remained passionately certain that we should go – so we did.

And the totality of the eclipse was beyond words amazing. We had done a fair amount of research before leaving to help build up hype for the trip. We watched news reports, old Walter Cronkite clips from the last great eclipse, NASA photos, listened podcasts, and sang Total Eclipse of the Heart countless times!

So we basically knew what to expect and to look for. The sun disappearing behind the moon was interesting to watch. But the last seconds before totality were breath taking. The trees around us looked like we were seeing them through a filter. There was sunset all around us in the middle of the afternoon. Cicadas made a ruckus from the fields. The moon created a last “diamond ring” with a shining bright white light. And then … totality.

All four of us quickly pulled of our glasses; we knew we would have less than two minutes to enjoy this view. God’s creation on display in a way very few people have the privilege of viewing in their lifetime.

In Genesis 1, God’s creation of light and dark are understated. The sun and moon are glorious creations that we so rarely take time to appreciate and enjoy.

Then God created people in His wonderful image. He gave us creative, imaginative minds – much like His. He gave us intellect and access to other created items so that we could spend generations studying this world He made.

So when a star appeared in Bethlehem, the brilliant minds of their day knew something was different – they had to follow this star to find the Messiah! God used creation to lead this group to Jesus.

Author - Renae Adelsberger

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