Adjusting to life in a motor home can be quite a challenge.  Many little things that we take for granted are simply not part of our everyday life anymore.  For example, we no longer have an office with shelves and a large desk or a dining room with a large table.  Instead, we have a small table that serves as our office and our dining room.  So you can just imagine the clutter.  We no longer have plenty of counter space.  We have one tiny counter top to use when cooking.  There is no privacy.  If we get up in the middle of the night, the other person knows it.  In fact, you can’t even go to the bathroom without the other person knowing it.
But the one thing that I miss the most, is taking a hot shower that lasts as long as I want it to last. When you are not only limited to the total amount of water you can use but you also know that the hot water heater is not very big, you learn to use your water sparingly.  You no longer stand in the shower enjoying the endless supply of water.  It’s as if you are on a mission.  Turn the water on, get your hair wet.  Turn the water off, wash your hair.  Turn the water on, rinse you hair and get your washcloth wet.  Turn the water off, apply conditioner to your hair, shave your legs, and wash your body.  Turn the water on, rinse off, and get out.  And believe me; I am doing all of this at a high rate of speed.  But nevertheless, I have mastered the process.  I can take a shower in a record of amount of time.
Upon returning home on Monday as I was getting in the shower, my first thought was Hallelujah; I can take my time and use as much water as I want.  As I was reflecting on my showers in the motor home, I was reminded of how Christians, including myself, sometimes live.  When the water is on represents when we are under the will of God.  The water is hot and it feels good.  When the water is turned off represents when we have stepped out from the will of God.  Maybe we have grown discouraged because of a current situation or maybe we have committed some sins that we need to confess.  Whatever the reason, it’s not a good feeling.  However, we constantly go back and forth.  Turn it on, turn it off.
According to Timothy, “And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Jesus Christ.” I am so thankful that God’s grace is not like my motor home water supply. I don’t have to worry about God turning it on and off and I don’t even have to worry about the supply running out.  His grace is exceedingly abundant.  Even when we stray from God’s will, we are still under his grace.  Just imagine how hopeless we would be if there was a limited amount of grace that we could use and once we used it all that was it.  It was over.  We had used all our chances.
So just as it feels so good to stand under the hot running water, think about how good it feels when you are in the will of God and how awful it fills when you step out from under God’s will.  Therefore, we need to strive to always be under God’s will allowing his grace to flow through us.  I think this is what Jesus meant in John 4:14 when he was talking to the woman at the well.  Jesus said, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  This living water is available to all of us, so let’s drink from the spout that never runs out!

In the past, while traveling from town to town, I was never much of a sight seer.  In fact, most of the time, I was asleep within 15 minutes after I left the house. But since Bill and I have started spending so much of our time on the road because of our ministry, I am learning to look outside the motor home windows and enjoy the beautiful scenery that our Lord created.  Last month as we were traveling through the mountains in Arkansas, this lonely cedar tree standing high on a rock caught my attention.  It brought to my memory the song, “The Wise Man Built His House.”
When my children were young, I loved teaching them to sing songs and perform hand motions.  This song was always one of our favorite. I have been teaching this song to my children and grandchildren for years and I never knew that I was leaving out part of the song.  I never even knew there was a verse that says “the blessings come down when prayers go up.” What a shame to think that I left out perhaps the most important verse.  And why did I never know this verse existed?
Perhaps whoever taught me the song, didn’t know the verse.  Or maybe, whoever taught me didn’t like the hand motions for that particular verse.  It is even possible that I was taught the verse and just forgot it.  But regardless of the reason, I have not been singing the verse.
I wonder how many times this same thing happens with the word of God?  Do we only practice those verses that are familiar to us?  Do we leave out verses that we don’t really like?  Do we just learn from listening to others and assume they are telling it correctly?  Do we tend to forget verses, because we haven’t heard them in a long a time?
I discovered the last verse of this song, when I researched the song online so that I could copy and paste the words into my story. Little did I know that it would change the whole direction of my story.  I believe the same theory holds true for the Bible.  We cannot fully know and understand it until we spend time reading and researching it.  We can’t be satisfied with just hearing what other people want us to hear.  We must examine it for ourselves, so that we can be as the scripture describes Titus 1:9, “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
I was blessed with God fearing parents who believed in daily bible reading and prayer time.  My dad read the bible to us daily during our family devotion time. I attended Sunday School regularly and started learning bible verses at an early age.  During my teenage years, I read the bible through.  As an adult, I have taught young children and youth in Sunday School and Discipleship Training classes.  But regardless of my past experiences, I am continuously discovering verses that it seems like I have never read before.  I am amazed at how God unveils new meaning to me daily as I yearn to learn more. So instead of simply relying on others to tell us what we need to know, we need to spend time in God’s word. We need to search his Word for answers to our many problems.  And then, we also need to spend time in prayer.  Just as the song suggests, as the prayers go up, the blessings will come down.
This is Nana Nancy, Let Jesus be YOUR guide, as you enjoy YOUR ride!
(Below is a copy of the song just in case you’ve never heard it.)
The Wise Man Built His House
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
The wise man built his house upon the rock
And the rain came tumbling down
Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the wise man’s house stood firm.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
The foolish man built his house upon the sand
And the rain came tumbling down
Oh, the rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
The rain came down
And the floods came up
And the foolish man’s house went “splat!” [clap hands once]
So, build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ
And the blessings will come down
Oh, the blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayers go up
The blessings come down
As your prayer go up
So build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since Bill and I started traveling, I have had to learn to do many things that make me uncomfortable.  Not bad things, just things out of my comfort zone.  For instance, driving my car up a ramp into an enclosed trailer. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal, but to me it is terrifying.  You must drive the car very close to the right side of the trailer so that you can squeeze out of the driver seat on the left side while at the same time making sure you don’t hit the fenders, which you can’t even see.  Then when we get to where we are going, I back the car out of the trailer, making sure I stay on a ramp that once again, I can’t even see. My mirrors are folded in, so I can’t even use them to help me back up.  I am totally dependent on Bill and his signals.  In addition, I have also had to drive the motor home and trailer, which is 66 feet long.  But believe it or not, going forward in the motor home makes me the least nervous.  I figure the trailer has no choice but to follow the camper.  And then, I have had to back the motor home and trailer up, with Bill behind the trailer making these strange hand motions.
Visualize this. Bill is 70 feet behind me.  I am looking through the mirror and I see his arms moving in all directions.  What does he want me to do?  The motor is running and noisy, so I can’t ask him what he wants me to do.  So, what do I do?  I just guess.  And then when I get really frustrated, I just quit looking at him.  If he wants me to do something, he will have to be much clearer than that.  He will need to explain to me exactly what his signals mean because I really don’t like doing this anyway. Lol. By the way, we did have a lesson on the hand signals of truck drivers.
I wonder how many times we treat God the same way.   We see his signals and we try to follow them. Or we see his signals, but we don’t understand them and maybe we don’t even like them.  Sometimes, we ignore the signals hoping they will go away or maybe we just wait, hoping God will give us better signals.  And then, finally, we just turn our back on him.  Maybe if we act like we can’t do something or don’t want to do something, God will change his plans.
Can you relate to this?  In Proverb 3:5-6, Solomon says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  So why can’t we do this? Why can’t we just take God’s signals and do what he says, believing that he will guide us in the right direction every time?  And why can’t we just stay focused on God, never looking around and never turning back? Always remembering what Jesus said in Luke 9:62, “…no man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Bill is an early riser and I am not.  I like to sleep late.  So this morning, Bill was ready to eat breakfast before I even thought about getting out of bed.  As he is leaving to go eat breakfast next door at the iron Skillet, I told him that I wanted an order of pancakes and some bacon for breakfast.  He left, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  Never once did I worry about it.  I knew, without a doubt, that he would return with exactly what I asked for. And if for some reason, he was unable to get pancakes and bacon, he would bring me something just as good as or maybe even better than I requested. He knows what I like to eat and he would not disappoint me.   And sure enough, about thirty minutes later, he returned with a short stack of pancakes and a side order of bacon.  He even made sure that I had plenty of syrup and butter.  And to top it off, he brought me a Coke.  He is a man after my heart!


Why can’t we do the same with our heavenly Father? Give our request to Him, and leave it there; knowing that He is going to answer our prayer in the way that is best for us. He may not give us exactly what we ask for; but he will give us exactly what we need. And many times what he gives us is far better than what we even imagined.  As the scripture says in Philippians 4:19, “But my God shall supply your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  And in Ephesians 3:20, he says,  “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”But instead we tell our Father what we want and then we worry about it.  Or even worse, sometimes, we just try to handle the matter ourselves; especially if God seems to be working too slowly.  My prayer today is that I will learn to give all my requests to God and then leave them there; knowing and believing that He is going to take care of me and that he is going to supply all my needs.