Two nights ago…yes, I’m aware I’m missing nights here and there; I’m sorry…I started to read chapters 26-30 of Genesis. I didn’t make it past Genesis 26:7-9.

In just 2 short verses something really stood out to me. Read the passage and let’s see if you’ll see what I do.

“When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.” But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” “Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.”
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Isaac repeated the EXACT same sin his father, Abraham, did with his wife, Sarah. We know that Isaac had yet to be born when Abraham committed this sin, TWICE, so he wasn’t around to witness it. So I got to thinking, I know! Shocker! 🧐

I thought about how we are with our girls, how we teach them, spend time with them, laugh with them, learn with, and from them, and everything else that entails a relationship with them. I got to thinking about how Isaac did the same thing his father did. How did he think to do it? I think he probably heard the story told a time or two. Now this is all conjecture on my part, but can’t you just see it? Isaac with his father, Abraham, working together, chatting as they’re going about their daily routine, and his dad told him some of the things he did in his life. Like the lie of saying Sarah was his sister instead of his wife.

So! Is this a possibility of Isaac learning a sin that he was taught by his father? It’s possible.

The thing to think about as parents is simple: what am I teaching them? They’re not just hearing our words. They’re seeing our actions. They’re seeing us steal glances at our spouses or girlfriend or friends. They’re seeing us physically react to things happening around us. They pick up on EVERYTHING!

One of my children is so good at observing people that she can tell when someone’s upset just by their texts. I asked her to explain it to me and she said that she can tell by the way they type if the person is ok versus mad versus sad versus happy. She can tell by their lack of punctuation, word choice, etc. She’s done it to me and she’s very accurate. If she can do that with just texts, imagine what she picked up around her as she was growing up. 😳

So, as parents we need to make sure we’re doing our best to set good examples for our children. Have I always done that? Nope! You know why? I’m not perfect! There’s no handbook for this parenting stuff. 😬 However! I do my best and I’ve come to a point where I realized that my choices as a parent were all made out of love for my girls. One constant I’ve told my girls and still do is this: My mom was a better mom than my Mamaw, and I wanted to be a better mom than my mom and I want my girls to be a better mom than I am and, eventually, they should want their children to be better moms than they are. The reason I can say this so freely is because my mom showed me it’s possible to be a better parent when it’s your turn because you learn from the wisdom of the women who went before you. Thank you, Mom. 🥰

So just remember, you’re always teaching your children, even if you’re silent as a church mouse. Sleep well, my friends.

I took some time off from posting because I’ve not been on top of my game. I apologize. I was, however, mulling over the last 5 chapters I read and what they meant to me, what spoke to me.

Usually it’s a verse or two that captures my heart and I just know God’s talking to me. I’ve had people ask me how I know this. My answer is simple: I know it to be so when I go back and read the posts I’ve written and I remember none of what I’ve written. It’s like I’m reading it for the first time. There are a few here and there that struck me so deeply that I cannot forget them, but the majority of them I don’t remember writing. That’s how I know it isn’t me saying what I want to say, it isn’t me manipulating God’s Word to fit what I want it to say for my own personal reasons. I’m always careful as to what I write and I always ask Jeff for his input, always after I’ve posted, and he always agrees with what I’ve written. That’s another indicator to me that it isn’t me manipulating God’s Word because Jeff is the best man I know when it comes to one who seeks after God’s own heart.

This time, however, I was impressed with a simple thought of love. Abraham’s love for Sarah, their love for their child, Isaac. Isaac’s love for his parents, and his love for his wife, Rebekah.

Abraham loved Sarah so much that when they thought they wouldn’t have children, he accepted her wishes and took her maid and had a child with her. Then, when they had Isaac and Hagar was getting…high and mighty…when Sarah asked Abraham to kick her out of the home, he did so for he loved Sarah.

Abraham loved GOD so much that he was willing to sacrifice his one and only son, Isaac. Where else do we see this image? You see, Abraham knew, he KNEW God promised him that, thru his seed, Isaac, his descendants couldn’t be numbered. It isn’t until the New Testament that we learn that in Abraham’s inner thoughts he reasoned within himself that God would simply bring Isaac back to life because he KNEW God doesn’t break His promises to His people. Due to all of that, he was faithful in his love to God and God provided the sacrifice for him.

Abraham loved Sarah so much that when she died he sought to buy a tomb to bury her in. He was a stranger in a strange land at he bought a field with beautiful trees and a tomb to bury his beloved Sarah in. Although the person who owned the tomb, which is all that Abraham initially asked for, said he’d give Abraham not only the tomb but also the field as well, Abraham declined. He wanted to pay for her final resting place. It was important to him. He paid 400 pieces of silver, which in those times was a lot of money. So you could say he spared no expense for her final resting place.

Abraham loved his son so much that in his old age he sent his servant back to his homeland, to his relatives, to find Isaac a wife. He wanted to find a bride for him of his own people. Abraham’s servant did as he was instructed and when he reached Abraham’s homeland, the servant prayed to the Lord, asking Him to show him which woman He wanted to wed Isaac. Immediately we see Rebekah come into view.

When Rebekah comes to Isaac, she sees him walking in the fields and asked who he was. Upon learning it was Isaac, she covered her face with a veil and went to him. In Genesis 24:67b it says “He loved her deeply, and she was a special comfort to him after the death of his mother.”

When Abraham died, he had 8 sons but he gave everything he had to Isaac. Before he died, he gave gifts to each of his other sons and, “sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.” I believe this was also done in love for Isaac, but also for his other sons. For Isaac because it keeps his brothers from coveting what was rightfully his, and for Abraham’s other sons to not feel anger upon seeing all that Isaac had compared to them. This isn’t, to my knowledge, written about in the Bible, but I kind of wonder if the brothers born after Isaac were given enough to be satisfied and sure to have a good footing in their lives.

So, what do you think? Do you see what I see? A common thread of love running thru these chapters? Please, read them for yourselves! Sleep well, my friends.