Carmen Horne, Author at Carmen Horne

In this season of sadness mixed with gladness for God’s mercy in my Mom dying, my Bible reading plan marched on and left me. What to do? I debated whether I should start on the current date, or start where I stopped. Now all you type A folks (I’m not quite there, but I resemble it at times. I am a first-born. So there you go.) know that unmarked boxes will drive us crazy so I have decided being behind is much better than unmarked boxes :-D

The Old Testament is so much like reading a diary that missing any of it makes me think I’m missing something big, deep and probably confusing, Ha!

Also, I really enjoy the OT because a personal relationship can be developed with so many of the people. Some of them we meet only briefly, but others we are allowed to get to know more intimately. They become our people.

Y’all, David is my people.

Lil’ ol’ whipper snapper David whoops Goliath, is Saul’s BFF, get’s called by God to be Israel’s next king…then he’s not Saul’s BFF…is a great warrior, a loyal friend, and loyal subject to his king.

And, so very human in his behavior.

I’m deep in his story. Exciting, harrowing, amazing. God saves David’s life time after time. Then I read this:

But David kept thinking to himself, “Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me in Israelite territory, and I will finally be safe.” 1 Samuel 27:1 NLT Emphasis mine

David, David, David we are so alike. Am I in your family line?

I read this about David and think, Get ahold of yourself. You just stepped over Saul’s men and stole his sword and water jug “…because the Lord had put Saul’s men into a deep sleep.”

The more David thinks about Saul, the more he feels the need to make a plan. His plan. What happened between 1 Samuel 26 and 27? He does what I often do, he starts thinking about what could have happened.

God answers my prayers. He’s merciful and graceful to me. He provides what is needed in a situation, and then I start shaking in my boots because what if He doesn’t do it next time.

Do you get caught up in that kind of distrust too? I’d like to call it something prettier, less convicting, something that sounds less like sin, but it just smacks of distrust. Sigh.

My comfort comes with the knowledge that God never left David. He might have spanked him a few times for disobedience, but He never left him. He used him mighty and blessed his descendants for a gazillion generations. Jesus was the most beautiful branch in his family tree.

Remember this chorus?

And He’ll do it again
He’ll do it again.
If you’ll just take a look
At where you are now
And where you have been.
Hasn’t He always come through for you?
He’s the same now as then.
Don’t you know God has not changed;
You may not know how,
You may not know when,
But He’ll do it again ~Dawn Thomas (Constance Change) – He’ll Do It Again

God knows us. We are His people too. David reminds us, “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” Psalm 103:14 NASB

Lord, help us live in the peaceful heart knowledge of Your mercy, grace, love, and care. Thank you for Your patience with us. We want to be people who You can say, “They are women and men after my heart.” We ask in Jesus’ name.

So, it’s been a little minute since we’ve talked. I’ve been doing what you do when your Momma moves in with Jesus. I’ve been sad, then glad, then tickled with a memory, then hit with the shock of it all over again. Me and my little Sis have been deep in a gazillion pictures and mementos. We have breathed deep in her scent still on her clothes and shook our head over enough costume jewelry to open a little shop. The wonder of her still overwhelms me. She was always so much cooler than me.

Mom did not have worldly wealth. Sometimes we get so caught up in that, don’t we? Lary and I plan and save. Buy insurance and think of investments. We want to leave something to our daughter and the family she will have one day.

Momma left so much more than all those things we worry about. Her funeral visitation was so crowded that someone came in and asked the funeral home staff if there was a celebrity there.

All of this has made me think about what I really need to focus on as an inheritance for my family.

Here’s a few things we can learn from a lady whose treasures were of the heart:

Love and be loved. I have often laughed and said, If you get in our family, you never get to leave. It didn’t matter if divorce was a part of the picture, she still considered you a part of our family. She didn’t need to agree with you, your lifestyle, or your choices. She loved and let God do the sorting out.

Be a forward thinker. She didn’t live in her past mistakes. She often said of her bad choices when she was younger, “That’s covered by the blood.” When she was knocked down, she got back up. Sometimes she even had to start over. Can’t we do that? Can’t we just stop worrying over where we messed up and get on with living? As my dear friend Linda would say, “Going forward let’s…” Quoting Mom, “Let’s do something even if it’s wrong! If it’s wrong, we can fix it later.” She was never one to shy away from trying something new.

Laugh…alot. She laughed with her whole body. Sometimes at herself. We will not always be happy. We can live with joy.

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” Psalm 28:7 NLT

Believe God. I’m not talking about believing in God. I’m talking about believing Him. Her last days were peaceful. She knew what lay before her was so much more than she could comprehend. She was excited to meet Jesus face to face.

Trust is all tied up in belief. Gosh, I can struggle with this. I so want to trust God completely. I tell Him I trust Him all the time. I’m really reminding myself. I’m so glad for God’s patience. He’s brought me a long way. He’s still working on me.

What are some treasures of the heart you have inherited? Let’s hang on to them. We need to pass those down to the generations after us. Someday someone will be remembering our words and actions.

God Will Do It Again

Learning What’s Real