Proverbs 3:3-4

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and humankind."

This proverb calls you to "write love and faithfulness on your heart".  This is important because in the Scriptures the "heart" is the place where everything in our lives gets filtered through and writing on it means that everything that comes out of the heart will come through love and faithfulness first.  It's kinda like the filter in the refrigerator or in the pool, keeps the water clean in a certain way, the "heart" is what keeps our lives filtered.  It is there that God makes His home and so in a way He filters everything.  However, if we aren't careful He won't be able to filter everything because we have not written the things that matter to Him on our hearts.

In life there will always be some type of competition.  Everywhere you turn, people are trying to do better than someone else. This is what we call the great "one-up".  It looks something like this:

"I just bought a 2008 Ford Explorer."  "Oh yeah, I just bought a 2010 Ford Explorer."

"I can stay underwater for 20 seconds."  "Oh yeah, well I can stay under for 30 seconds."

"I have a facebook page with 200 friends."  "I was looking last night at my facebook page and I have 300 friends."

Everywhere you turn, people will try to one-up you.  However, I have found that the easiest way to avoid this is not to participate.  Instead of trying to impress people, spend more time trying to impact them.  Jesus told his disciples that people would know that they loved Him if they could see them loving each other. So work hard on that.  Sometimes that means that you will have to do something that is challenging or that seems impossible; however, if it can honor God try to do it.  Try to get people talking about God when they talk about you, but if you can't get them to do that try to get them to talk about you in a way that will bring Him glory.  

Let your name be known for kindness, love, and being gracious. When people talk about you, pray that their conversation reflects the passion you have for life.  As your name is mentioned, ask that God would give you favor - or respect- to those people.  May they say words like:

"She is always so patient."

"He is always the first to open the door."

"They really try to be peacemakers."  

"I can always count on her."  

"He is always there when I need him."  

Each of you have been given a name that comes directly from the Scriptures.  Learn about your name and who inspired it for your mom and dad.  We love you so and we are grateful for all that are becoming.  

Hannah = 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11

Nathan = 2 Samuel 7:1-17; 12:1-14; 1Chronicles 17:1-15

Rachel = Genesis 29:15-30:22; 

(Tavo) Joshua = Exodus 24:13; 32:17; 33:11; Num. 27:18; Deut. 34:9; Josh. 1:5, 9; 3:7; 8:8. 

I love you so, 

Dad

Soli Deo Gloria