The Living Stone

This morning, I'm up and ready to go! This dog is definitely from God because He will bark, ironically especially on the days God wants me up! So he was at it at 4:50 this morning!!! I'm glad, I was able to spend some good time in prayer this morning and God has shown me something good in His word as well!

I'm in 1 Peter 2:4-12. The title in my bible says The Living Stone and a Chosen People. I don't know exactly why, but I really have never referred to the Lord as "The Living Stone". But, oh my, after reading this today, I sure will. The first thing that really struck me is that Peter (the apostle) must have been a very sensitive guy.........In the NIV version he uses the word "precious" twice in those few verses. I don't know about you but my guy......he's never even mumbled the word "precious"! Now, I have and the girls have........now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever heard my dad use that word either!! So that caught my attention that Peter used it twice in this short passage. This is just not a "guy" word, so Peter must have been in a very humble and gentle state when he wrote this passage. I feel like throughout the whole passage Peter really showing our God as a very "sensitive" God, something men may not be the best at!!

Peter identifies that we are God's chosen people, and we are precious to Him. He even goes on to say that we are like living stones in the making! The second reference to "precious" is to those who believe. He says in verse 7: "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone" v8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." This passage reminds me of something Taylor used to do. She used to be quite a rock collector (thank goodness that phase has passed!) But she used to go outside at one of the house we lived in where the whole driveway was rocks. She would look through those rocks and find ones that really stood out, she'd spend HOURS doing this and would be so excited to show me her rocks! To my eye at first glance, they all looked the same, but in her eyes each one was different and they all were very precious to her! She kept them in a special place and NO ONE was to touch her rocks! Everywhere we went she would find rocks. At my mom's, her grandma's and neighbors. She was always bringing rocks home! Isn't that exactly what Peter is sharing with us??? To Taylor, those rocks were precious, they didn't have to do or say anything to capture her attention, she was just drawn to them. In the same way, God is drawn to us, we don't do or say anything to make Him love us, He just does, we are precious to Him as it says in verse 4! But just as Taylor only picked certain rocks, God picks certain rocks as well. Not all the rocks are precious to Him, only His chosen ones (those who love and believe in Him). Just as Taylor tossed the rocks that meant nothing to he aside, it's described in the same way in verse 7, "The stone the builder rejected has become the capstone". Oh, I hope this all makes sense this morning, it's early so forgive me if it doesn't! =)

Yesterday was just an awful day........Satan was all over my life yesterday. The hospital called me to share with me the details for this job. Well, it turns out, it's not the position I wanted, it's the full-time one. Not that I'm not willing to work full-time, it's just four nights a week, instead of three. (My friend Nicki Bailey will understand this!) Four nights is a lot harder than three. Plus I would really never see the girls b/c the hours are 3p-1am. So, I just was very upset about the whole thing. There has been so much miscommunication about this. So, she was going to call the nurse manager and see if they still had the part-time one available, the only problem is, they changed the hours to 9pm-7am. Not that I'm not willing to work those hours, I will but originally they were going to be 5pm-3am, which I would prefer, I would get more sleep that way. So, I don't know what today will bring. I'm trusting in the Lord and I know he's got this all worked out. He knows I need to work and He knows all the details! So, I'm trusting in Him to show me the way. I know whatever the hours are going to be, He will give me the strength I need to get through it! But, I will not allow myself to react the way I did yesterday..........feeling awful, upset, angry, frustrated. I just know I need to be patient (which I have been) but I need to display it more and more in my life. Well, this has been a long entry today. I'll be sure to update later if I hear anything! Thanks for your prayers!!! Have a very blessed "living stone" day!!