Stopping to Think

"For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the LORD. As long as he lives, he is lent to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there.    1 Samuel 1:27-28 Have you ever received a gift, and being so overjoyed with that gift, turned and given it away? The Setting That seems to be how the book of 1 Samuel, found in the Old Testament of the Bible, begins. We meet in these opening pages a woman named Hannah. She is the wife of a man named Elihu-but she isn't his only wife. She has what v6  refers to as a rival, her husband's other wife, Peninnah. And beyond being her rival, Peninnah is prodigiously gifted in what would have been the measure of a woman some 3100 years ago: she's very able to bear children. Hannah, on the other hand, is barren.  This causes Hannah great distress, for although her husband loves her ( v5 ), one imagines that love has a hard time holding up in the face of how fruitful his...

I have oft lamented at the begining of a post how long it has been since my previous one. For example, it's been over a month right now. So, for the information of all interested, I am going to attempt to post more often. In the past, my posting has been basically dependant on the alinging of circumstances such as my mood, my ability to articulate pmy thoughts into writing, and being in an area with wifi in order to upload such thoughts onto the web. I have realized though that I simply need to discipline myself to write whenever the opportunity presents itself, and then make a point of finding time to get it posted. Writing seems to be the primary way God has gifted me for encouraging thought and faith, and for me to neglect the gift given me seems to conflict with the instruction given by Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6. So, for my neglegence, I believe I owe an apology. And an attempt at improvement. For a preview of what's to come, here's what I'm thinking (obv...