Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Jemima L. Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker.  Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says.  And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.

I was back with Menzie and Arabella in the “green room’, Aunt Pink and Aunt Gwen’s restroom outside the den where the Sunday school class was now held.

Arabella was talking a mile per minute while Menzie worked on my hair.  Arabella had a week and a half with Michael.  The hired hands at the farm had been milking the goats, and now Michael was extremely busy making cheese.  And Arabella had a lot to say about everything.  Darrell and Blake were converting half of the haylofts into bedrooms for Clyde and Barry who each had their own quirks regarding being cooped up in a small space.  Clyde hated the idea of a door, and Barry needed the wall to have gaps between each slat to see into the barn.  They were at opposite ends of the barn, but the llama enclosure was beneath Barry and the goat enclosure was beneath Clyde.

Other than Arabella giving both Menzie and I headaches with the volume of details, she did not do anything weird at the start of the class to throw me off.

Easy, B.B., No Joe, Amazon, Skinny, and Dr. Ellie had Wilma, a new potential teammate in the Turtle.  That meant I had to lead us in prayer, but Dr. Ben was back in the little choir.

I made an announcement that Joseph had given me the file and e-mail the prayer list to everyone.  I asked if anyone needed a paper copy and a few did.  They did not read their e-mails every day.

I led us in a short prayer that mentioned those on vacation, those storm chasing, and for more info, they could pray through the prayer list.

Emmett led his choir.  The lead was sung by Arabella, Menzie and Carla.  At alto, there was Brooke and Mercedes Lothrop.  At tenor, Michael, Samuel and Emmett.  Dr. Ben sang baritone.  And Goober sang bass.  The hymn was All the Way My Savior Leads Me.

I asked, “Why that hymn?”

Emmett said, “We are past halfway on our second trip through the attributes of God and this one ties a bunch of them together.  I apologize if that excuse is not a good one.”

Samuel said, “Aunt Jemima, ‘What Attribute of God are we studying today?’”

I laughed, “We are studying our response to God’s omnipotence.  Do you need Mr. Dictionary?”

Arabella said, “Maybe.  What aspect of the word potent are we referring to?  I mean, potent in the perfume industry is kind of saying a little can go a long way.  But when it is a bad stink, a little goes a long way without even trying.  I mean, road kill can stink.  Skunks can sure stink.  And…”

I said, “Please, do not remind me of when you pulled the tarp off the silage.  That was the worst stink that I have ever smelled.”

Emmett shook his head, “No, Aunt Jemima, I disagree.  Silage is organic waste, like corn stalks and field grass and such that has been pickled to be a highly fortified meal for the animals.  To a farmer, the smell of silage is the smell of money.”

I groaned, “But it still smells horrible!  But sillage, with one extra ‘l’, is the quality of a perfume to linger.”

Angus asked, “So, Aunt Jemima, sweet lassie, what’s the sillage of silage?”

I growled, “Oxford Language says that omnipotent is ‘having unlimited power, able to do anything.’  Arabella, does that satisfy you?  And my dear professor Angus, I burned the clothing that I wore that day.”

Arabella giggled and nodded.

“Okay,” I sighed, “We have several people who are not going to be here next week for a variety of reasons, so I am going to have them read.  And give me the reason for your absence, along with comments about the verse.”

Brenton (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Brenton smiled, “Carla and I are getting married, and we will be on an extended honeymoon.  We had thought we would continue dating until we graduated college, but we have decided that our most important education we can get is knowing Jesus more.  Close behind that is knowing each other more.  And if we cannot budget time and money now, how can we manage when we have a lot more of it?  But as for this verse, God created everything.  All we tend to do is invent something with the stuff God created, and half the time, maybe more than half, we tear things up instead of making it better.  And when God first made everything, He called it ‘good.’”

I smiled, “That was ‘good’, Brenton.”

Carla (Job 42:2) “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Carla said, “Here I am planning on being a bride, and I read over these verses.  I have no idea where the energy came from.  I am wearing my mother’s wedding dress, but it is being modified.  Tucked in here and let out there.  But we are not having a quickie wedding.  I am not pregnant.  We prayed about it, and it felt right.  I think we are going to live in Brenton’s parent’s old servant’s quarters, back when that was a thing.  We can walk here and use the bus to go to school and church.  But this verse was said by Job after he had his face-to-face talk with God.  Job is saying that God is so powerful that no other energy, force, manifestation in the universe can stop God’s plans from going through.  You cannot gang up on God.  What He says will happen will happen.  That looks at this all powerful thing from a different angle.  If Brenton’s and my marriage is to last, we need God in it from the beginning to the end.  And if God blesses our marriage, nothing can stop it.  We might screw up, but God’s will for our lives still goes on.”

Angus (Psalms 115:3) “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

Angus said, “Carla, nothing against you.  You are a lovely lass, but I am taking my extended family to visit my last living aunt and uncle, and cousins.  And with me will be the most beautiful bride in my thinking, Missy MacDougall, her daughter, Menzie, Menzie’s children Lauren and Sammie, her boyfriend Samuel and his mother, and then others that we have been connected with since the Grandmama Collins episode went to trial.  There will be Missy’s father and his wife, Menzie’s other grandparents on the Menzies side, and two others who are getting married this week so that they can take their brides with us for a wonderful honeymoon.  But as for this verse, it is much like Carla’s verse.  Hers talks about how God’s plan cannot be thwarted and this talks about how God does whatever pleases Him.  And I pray that God will be pleased with all the honeymoons this summer.”

Brenton said, “I second that prayer, Professor Angus, and I agree with the way you put it.  We each have the most beautiful bride in our own eyes.”

Missy (Psalm 135:6) “The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.”

Missy smiled, “And to echo what my most handsome of grooms has said.  God does as He pleases, but this verse takes it beyond that.  As we fly to our destination, God does as He pleases there.  If we go anywhere by boat along the way, God does as He pleases in the sea and on the earth, no matter what continent we are on or what island.”

Arabella asked, “And what island is it where you are going?”

Missy shrugged, “Och, lass, I have no idea.”

Menzie (Jeremiah 17:10) “’I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’”

Menzie said, “According to Papa Angus, I might be singing with a different backup band.  Even with Emmett here in this Sunday school room, I have always had him with me, but Papa Angus has something lined up.  But this verse seems to be more knowledge than power, but it speaks of God seeing within us to understand our motives.  We can be rewarded or punished based on our conduct, but that conduct is tempered by what our heart and mind were trying to do.  They talk about good intentions as if failing isn’t all bad.  But here, good or bad, God reads our minds and our hearts.  So, throw out your comic book superheroes.  I think any of those guys would like the superpower of knowing our hearts and our minds.  You would not need those other powers if you could do that one thing.”

Samuel (Jeremiah 32:17) “^‘Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”

Samuel said, “Papa Angus has things planned, but then we have time to contact our various clans.  You have the option of going off on our own to visit with distant relatives.  If I make the girl of my dreams to be my wife, I will take someone whose active father is a MacDougall, whose bloodline includes Campbell, Menzies, and Ruthven, and whose daughter has a bloodline to the MacLaren.  But I hope she will be a Farquharson someday.  So, there will be a lot of research this summer.  But this verse ties Brenton’s verse to a general statement that all these verses point to.  That nothing is too hard for God.  And I am like Brenton and Angus, praying for safe travels this summer.”

I will take this last one although I plan to be here next Sunday (Romans 1:20) “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

I said, “This ties what Brenton and Samuel talked about with God being the Creator.  It talks about His eternal power.  We have not looked at that aspect.  There is a fixed supply of fossil fuels on the earth.  We can stretch that with renewable fuels.  There is just so much that we can do with windfarms and hydroelectric power.  But God has eternal power.  Blake, when you work out do you have eternal power?”  He shook his head. I asked, ”Brenton, can you continuously play golf, that is if you have light to do it?”  Brenton snickered, probably thinking of playing night golf, but he shook his head.  I laughed, “The commercials may not admit it, but that pink bunny needs to replace a battery eventually, but God’s power is eternal.  And the proof is out there for people to see.  They just choose to not see it.  And right here, the Apostle Paul tells us, refusing to see it is no excuse.”

Blake said, “Penny and I prayed before we, umm, did the, umm…”

I asked, “Each time you went to bed together?”

Blake nodded, “That works!  We both knew that I did not have enough swimmers, but all we needed was one.  Sometimes, we think God has not heard our prayer, but God is everywhere, and He is all powerful.  He hears our prayer.  Sometimes, we doubt if God can do what we ask Him to do, but like everyone has been saying, if God pleases, it is going to happen, and Penny and I will be parents.  Hopefully in December.”

Sophie said, “And I have worked Cold Cases at the police precinct a couple of summers.  Some people don’t think they can ever get justice, but God can show the detective what they missed the first time and justice can be served.  God does not just create or heal.  He can guide us to answers we did not know were there.”

Bart said, “And thinking of our sun.  Our sun is a very unique star.  Most stars that are its size have become unstable and the galaxy collapses, but our sun supplies a lot of heat to the planet, and it is stable.  There is no other star in the galaxy like it.  God put us in the right galaxy so that life can be preserved.  Not just all powerful, but the right power in the right place.”  Tamara smiled and squeezed his hand.

I concluded, “So, God’s power helps us to live in this galaxy.  God’s power helped God to create all things.  God has power beyond man’s power in that He can read our thoughts and know our motives and intentions.  God’s power can heal us or help in other biological ways.  And God can give us the strength to turn from temptation.  A nation’s power might come from who makes the biggest bomb or fastest rocket.  But God’s power is seen in everything we do each day.  His power is as mighty as two asteroids colliding in space.  But His power is strong but tender, when He helps us overcome the slightest fear.”

Lauren came from behind Menzie and patted her on the knee, “Mommie!  The buses!”

I smiled, “As we have been doing, let’s end with the Mizpah benediction.  Everyone, bow your heads in prayer.  “May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other.’” (Genesis 31:49b)

Brooke came over on her own and picked up Stormie’s carrier and went with me to the bus.

Credits

I am now starting to use the David E. Fessenden study guides for The Attributes of God, A Journey into the Father’s Heart by A.W. Tozer, in two volumes. Again, no quotations, just some Scriptures that keep the flow going.  But I will admit that I did a search on the topic and found most of the verses that I used this time.

Here is Melody St. Clair Randazzo with Greg Howlett singing All the Way my Savior Leads Me.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.