Information, Please

**This entry was first published without pictures on April 19, 2008 in our home school journal.**

The Lord laid it upon my heart to clear out the school shelf. I began working on it with a right heart - I had to have the mind of Jesus to do this. I'm a Keeper. I don't mean that I am a very special individual, I mean that I like to keep things that are good.

But then the LORD began showing me how to become selective and how to become focused - not all sprayed out.

I searched the book shelf and began tossing old text books we didn't use and any material I felt was contrary to the Standard Book, that is, God's Word.

I realized that I was in need of a new encylopedia set. So I asked God if He would send me one that was no more than ten years old (the areas we study right now are not extremely dated materials), was new, would fit on my living room bookshelf, and that would be beautifully bound like my small poetry books.

The shelf size is important to me. Most encyclopedias are very large - like a dictionary - and my living room bookshelf (built into the wall beside the fireplace) has shelves closer together; only books no larger than 10" tall can fit.

The week before last, our friends S and S called us to come pick up some discarded items for them. When we arrived, they asked me if I'd be interested in any encyclopedias. (They know we home school.) Naturally, I was very excited to see the books! They took me into a back bedroom and there were stacks of beautiful, large 1996 encyclopedias. They were not brand new, but I sure was grateful.

Then they showed me the other set. The box (the very box the set came in) was opened and there inside was a beautiful, brand new set of 1998 Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia. Ten years old. All but one book were still shrink-wrapped. The very first book had been opened, I suppose for previewing the set. The cover was a plush soft hardcover (if that makes sense); beautiful burgundy-brown. The tops of the pages are gold.

My God shall supply ALL your need ... And He will withhold NO good thing. I love my God!

**But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11**

NIV Life Application Study Bible

Not long ago, a friend of mine truly dedicated her life to the Lord. She had been saved for a while, but now came the time for her to live what she professed to believe.

Not being too familiar with the Bible, my friend asked the Lord for a Bible that she could understand easily and that would explain things to her simply.

A few days later, the Lord graciously blessed her through a friend of hers. That friend, led by God, gave my friend the NLT version of the Life Application Study Bible. She was thrilled and enjoyed it immensely! We were so happy for her.

Being students of the Word ourselves, I asked God for my own Life Application Study Bible, specifically a New International Version. I wanted a blue Bible because I think they are so pretty. Regular price for my request is anywhere from $60-$80.




Not long after the simple prayer, we were in one of our favorite shops. They have several used books there. Up on one of the book shelves was a near-new NIV Life Application Study Bible, navy blue. It had only a few small markings outlining a few verses. The price tag? $6.00--10% or less of the original price. :)

"...yet ye have not, because ye ask not."
James 4:2

Milk Glass Tea Cup & Snack Tray Set

There is a little store we love stopping in to every now and then. They sell all sorts of antiques and unique items you can't find just anywhere!

Toward the end of last summer, we stopped in for a small break from work when we came across this beautiful set of 14 tea cups and 14 snack trays.

I am a BIG fan of classic white dishes and milk glass. To me it is timeless beauty! This beautiful little set caught my eye right off!

It was selling at a wonderful price-- only $35 for the set (of what I thought was 12 settings). I wanted them badly and imagined how beautiful they would go with a pink tray set I found a year ago. I could just imagine serving my snacks on these trays at our weekly Bible study meetings we have in our home!

Yet--

No matter how I tried, I just could not imagine spending the money on myself.

So I talked to God about it. I told Him how much I liked the little set. I told Him how I would just love to serve our Bible study snacks on them! I told Him how I'd love to serve ANY snack or treat to my family on them! I talked to Him about it quite a bit. I never felt that God didn't WANT me to have them-- I knew He didn't mind.

Finally, at the beginning of this year, I just knew that I wanted the set, but was still unsettled about the price. One day a few weeks ago, Him said he felt a prompting to go back to that little store and get the set for me. Knowing how I am, Him was just going to pay a little and put it on layaway for me.

We searched the little store, but couldn't find the set. Then I found myself standing next to a large display FILLED with all kinds of wonderful milk glass and a sign that read: "MILK GLASS 75% OFF".

We bought the whole set for only $8.00 plus tax! The whole crew of workers wrapped my set beautifully in paper and placed it in a large box. It wasn't until a few days later, when I was carefully unwrapping the set, that I realized this was not a 24-piece set-- It's a 28-piece set!

I just knew that somehow God would give me the set for less; something I wouldn't feel so guilty about. :)