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Psalms 23:1 -  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23 is a very well-known Psalm of David.  David had been a shepherd in his youth and had personal experience with the responsibilities of a shepherd.  Dutifully he had to watch over the sheep and take care of their every need…lead them.  He also had the duty to protect them from harmful predators and  keep a watchful eye over any sheep that may be wandering astray.

To be a good shepherd must have been full-time job and an exhausting one at times, I am sure.   From a mother’s view point of taking care of her own little “flock” at home, it’s hard to imagine the responsibility of managing a whole flock of sheep.  A good shepherd would never leave his sheep alone, wandering helplessly. (Would we as mothers leave our little toddlers out wandering down the street alone?)  The shepherd cared for his sheep with compassion.  Ancient shepherds knew each of their sheep by name.   They were familiar with their individual characteristic marks, their peculiarities, their personal habits and tendencies, etc.

To begin the day of leading his sheep, a shepherd’s morning call was a distinctive guttural sound.  In trusting obedience, each flock would rise and follow its master to the feeding grounds.  Amazingly, even if two shepherds called out to their flocks at the same time where the sheep were intermingled, they were able to recognize their own shepherd’s voice.  They never followed the wrong shepherd.

When we realize the great responsibility of a shepherd, we can truly begin to appreciate David’s remarkable statement when he says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

There’s three simple points that I would like ponder….

1.  We have a choice to follow.

Our Heavenly Father wants to be our Shepherd, but He gives us a choice to follow.  He did not create us to act as robots upon forced command.  Because Jesus willingly laid his life down upon the cross to pay for our sins, we should willingly repent of our sin and accept Him as our personal Savior, allowing Him to become our Good Shepherd.  (See YourFreeGift.org)

Jesus says in John 10:11,27, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

2.  When we follow, we do not lack.

For those who scoff at Christianity, claiming it to be a mere “security blanket” to believers, they’re truly missing the absolute  joy of having such a tender, loving, caring Shepherd.  Never do we have to face life difficulties and struggles alone.  Never is there a need or worry that we cannot approach our Heavenly Father and simply ask Him to meet our urgent need.

Matthew 7:11 – “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him?”

3.  When we follow, our future is covered as well.

As we take one more quick glance at verse 1, we notice the particular word, “shall“ not want.  The word “shall” may express our near future, our tomorrow (isn’t that what we usually worry about?), but it also expresses what will definitely be done.

We might claim to our neighbor that “tomorrow we might pick blackberries if it doesn’t rain.”  But, when we use the word “shall”, we have obviously mustered up the determination that we’re definitely going to do something whether rain or sunshine…it’s definitely getting done!

God already knows all about tomorrow and our future needs…all our needs “shall” be met…we shall not want!

Matthew 6:8 – “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.”

When we let Jesus become our good Shepherd, we do not lack.  Our every need is met….emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Won’t you follow Him today?

Side Note: I grabbed the opportunity to join the Faithful Bloggers writing project which currently is on the topic of the entire chapter of Psalm 23.  I chose to blog about verse 1.

Yay! Kids Can Help with the Laundry! (Video)

My own kids have been helping to do their own laundry since they were 3 and 4 years old.   I just thought I would share this cute video of  Jendi’s children doing laundry.  I think you’ll really enjoy it! (And hopefully be inspired.)

By the way, this is a great summer time “training” project…which should help relieve stress during the busy school year if you have older children.

*You can visit Jendi’s blog, by clicking here.

Note: By the way if you’re interested in doing your own Vlogging (video blogging), Jendi offers some great tips!  Check it out by clicking here.

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies – Quick Recipe

“Because Mom Makes them Better” was my youngest son’s quote this morning immediately after my middle son said that it was better than Braums.   I don’t know if I could exactly compete with Braums, but the price sure is better. (BIG GRIN)

You may be surprised that I served this for breakfast.  For a quick breakfast, I used to feed them some bananas with peanut butter smoothed over the top with a small glass of milk. Suddenly, I thought, why not make breakfast super special by serving it all mixed in a smoothie! (Great idea, mom!)

Here’s the pic, to entice you a bit…

Note: I found these three glasses at the thrift store for 49 cents each.  I swiped them up to make our smoothies a little more special.   We were praising God for a special find…because the fact is there were just three of them….which made me think immediately of my 3 sons.

Here’s the original recipe:

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 cup P.B.

• 1 ripe banana

• 2 tsp. maple syrup

• 4 ice cubes

Use blender to mix till smooth & creamy.

To make enough for my boys:

I toss in 3 bananas, 3 tsp.maple syrup, 2 or 3 cups milk, 3 large hunks of P.B. with my spatula, and 8 -10 ice cubes.

Tip: About 15 – 30 minutes before making our smoothies, I toss the bananas in the freezer to get them really cold.  You can also use frozen bananas that are getting a little soft and store them up just for banana smoothies.  Just slice into frozen chunks and toss into the blender.

Yes, the peanut butter can be a little fattening, but oh, it adds such a nice thick, rich texture like a Braums treat. Big $avings!

Finding the Time to Pray

As busy moms, we use all kind of excuses for not praying.  The most common excuse is that “I just don’t have the time to pray!”.  Does that sound familiar to you? Prayer plays a vital role in our relationship with the Heavenly Father.  When we make excuses not to pray we are telling God He is not that important to us.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing.“  Prayers do not have to be long or eloquent in words, but we can certainly see that prayer should be very frequently…as a continual state or attitude of prayer.

Keep in mind that prayer is not just a time to ask God for something, but more importantly, it’s a time to praise and thank God for the things He has done in our lives.  We should also pray for others who have needs.  We can pray constantly throughout our day.   A prayer can be something as quick and simple as, “Thank you God for allowing me to miss that traffic accident on the highway” while we’re driving,  or a simple prayer while cleaning house,  “Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me strength to clean up that mess.”

You don’t have to speak out loud to pray. Remember God knows every thought in our minds.  Nothing is hidden from Him.  It is easy to say a quick prayer while getting ready for the day, before meals, while driving, or even at the grocery store.  Stuck in traffic?  Use your time to pray!

While the quick and simple prayers are great, you still need to make sure to spend some quality time with the Lord in your prayer closet.  A number of Christians do this first thing in the morning (we often do our top priorities first, and this is one of our top priorities so you may need to rise a a few minutes earlier than normal if you have a busy schedule ahead).

Another great time for quality prayer is before going to sleep at night.  Set aside a few minutes of prayer and do nothing but pour your heart out to God.  Praise Him, thank Him, ask Him.  You’ll also want to choose your quality times to bring out your prayer journal to remember others in prayer. (I’ll write soon about keeping a prayer journal.)

By continually praying you will see your personal relationship with the Heavenly Father begin to grow.  Prayer can help take worries away, reduce stress, and give you peace.  The Lord Jesus wants to help carry our burdens. Having a regular prayer life with the Lord will change your life.

I want to challenge you this coming week to spend more time in prayer.  Please feel free to share your comments about your own prayer time or share about your own answered prayers.  Let’s encourage each other!

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