strong and courageous

  Here we are on the eve of my 21st birthday and after spending tonight with both of my amazing parents, I've realized what an impact upbringing has. We talked about society today and how (due to daily advances of social media, and a lot of other things) people are becoming less and less mannered. People don't have conversations anymore, they text, not call, they facebook instead of meeting up with friends, or talking on the phone, we're just a more distant society, as a whole. You can't go out to eat with friends without everyone checking their phones every other second. Although I play guilty to some of these things at times, I am by no means forgetting the 'big picture.'


My point being, in the LONG distant future, I plan on raising my kids with an appreciation for normality. I've prayed for my future family for a long time now. Not in a creepy, i-have-no-life kind of way, but every now and then, I remember what I desire most of all for my future, and I say a little prayer for my future house. My husband, my children, their friends, their teachers, their 'role models', bosses, etc. I've been the most spoiled, regular kid the world's ever seen. Without the other 4 Scotts, and my extended family, I don't know where I'd be. How you are raised is so crucial  I think I turned out alright. I just pray I do HALF the job my parents have done.


I'm not sure how it relates, but just follow me here:
It all reminds me of Joshua after his mentor Moses died, and he was going to have to 'face it' alone. Moses had been his teacher for the past 40-ish years and all of a sudden, it was Joshua's turn. The then-cranky Israelites were ready to finally enter the promise land, and it would be Joshua's task to see them through. Responsibility was thrown to him, and I think anybody would have been a little intimidated by the task. However, HOWEVER, because Joshua had stuck so close to Moses' side all those years, he was well-prepared and knew exactly how to lead those people, how to comfort them during their loss of Moses, how to be who God had always intended him to be. Although, I'm sure there were challenges.


That's how I feel about my walk with God when it comes to my future. If I stick by His side, the whole way through like Joshua did to Moses, I'll be completely prepared for the task of raising great, passionate children. I'll be able to comfort them and cheer them on, and be exactly who God intended me to be. I have no doubt that if I ask these things of God, he'll give them to me. I need only stay by His side, the whole way through.
These were the 'instructions' God gave Joshua that day:

"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."- Joshua 1:6-9

I wonder how exhilirated Joshua must have felt, and how scared. Which is exactly how I feel tonight. VERY VERY exhilirated, and ecstatic to see what God has for me, but scared I won't trust it.
Joy comes in the morning, and so does my birthday!
Redeemed, JAS.