Abraham, the Father of Nations

Marilyn here! Today I spent a few hours with some dear friends. During that time, I heard a remarkable story about faith. It reminded me of Abraham, so I thought I'd post a bio of Abraham that I wrote for my book It's All About Dad & Me. How much do you know about the Father of Nations?
His name means: Exalted father/Father of a multitude
Born: About 4,000 years ago in Ur of the Chaldeans (a city in Babylon)
Husband of: Sarai/Sarah
Father of: Ishmael and Isaac, father-in-law of Rebekah
Occupation: Farmer, herder, and father of a nation

God promised Abraham (who was born as Abram) the Promised Land. When he was seventy-five years old, Abram moved his entire family (which included a lot of people—brothers, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins) to Canaan, the land that God promised he would inherit.

God also promised Abram that he would become the father of a new nation, Israel, which included all God’s chosen people. Even though Abram and his wife, Sarai, were both very old, God continued to promise these things to Abram. Despite how unrealistic and ridiculous they must have sounded to Abram, he responded with faith, trusting God’s words and obeying Him.

God said to Abram, “Number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:5)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God changed his name to Abraham and changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. Their first son, Isaac, was born a year later. When Isaac was still a boy, God told Abraham to take his son to a place in the mountains of Moriah and offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God.

Although Abraham must have been in complete shock at this command, he obeyed God and took Isaac to the spot that God had chosen. While Abraham and Isaac built an altar for the sacrifice, Isaac asked, “Where’s the animal we’re gonna sacrifice?”

Abraham said, “God will provide the lamb to sacrifice,” as he prepared his son on the altar.
Convinced of Abraham’s complete faith, trust, and obedience, God told him to stop preparing Isaac for the sacrifice. Just then, Abraham noticed a ram (male sheep) caught in the woods nearby. Realizing that God had placed the ram there for them, he and Isaac sacrificed it to God. God then repeated His promise that Abraham would be the father of the nation of Israel.

* Read all about Abraham in the book of Genesis.

And God bless you!

Doll Necklace

Aloha from Karen,

It's autumn so I thought making a doll necklace similar to one in God's Girls#1 could be fun.

Take a piece of thick yarn and cut it long enough to go around your neck and end about the middle of your chest. Bend a 2-inch piece of chenille stem in half to make a simple needle. Fold yarn in half and over the chenille stem-needle. Thread 5 pony beads for the body and then a larger bead for the head. Remove the needle. Slide beads so both ends are about 4 inches below the bottom pony bead. Tie the ends together twice under the last bead to hold beads on necklace. Tie an overhand knot towards the end of each end to form feet. Cut a  5-inch piece of yarn and tie the middle of the yarn between the head and top body bead to form arms. Tie overhand knots at the end of each arm to form hands. Cut a 3-inch scrap of shiny garland or boa to make a skirt. Twisst a piece of chenille stem around the center of the skirt and then around the necklace, between the bottom two beads, to attach the skirt. Add yarn or twist another piece of chemille stem around the top of the head to make hair. Use permanent markers to draw a face. It's ready to wear.

Have fun with the doll necklace. Cut fabric or paper scraps to make little costumes to dress the doll. These can be attached with short pieces of wire or chenille stems.

From my book, there's a matching devotion for the doll. The verse Romans 16:12 in a letter from Paul asks people to greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, two women who work hard in the Lord. He praised them for their hard work. Tryphena means delicate and Tryphosa means dainty. These were ladies who served God and impressed Paul with their virtues. God sees them as special daughters, so you can make dolls as reminders of these gentle, delicate women. Make a second necklace for a friend who also loves God.

Enjoy these autumn days and bright colored leaves!