The Thirteenth Disciple Tag 7.27.2020 and 8.16.2020

Dear Lord, how interesting and exciting. This tag (The Thirteenth Disciple Tag) that Charity (aka Purple Rose) of Confessions And Thoughts Of A Reluctant Preacher’s Daughter created and nominated me for The Thirteenth Disciple Tag on 7.27.2020, a tag that she created. Thank you for having my dear sister think of me. Please forgive me for taking so long to get this done, and please let Charity know how grateful and excited I really was regardless of what they dates say. When I first read Charity’s tag, it made me smile and think of my mom. Whenever people would try to say the number 13 was bad luck, taboo, or evil, my mom would remind them that the 12 disciples plus Jesus made 13. ❤

Then you had my dear brother Stu of Something to Stu Over also nominate me for The Thirteenth Disciple Tag on 8.15.2020. Again I have taken so long. Please let Stu know how grateful I am for him as well. Bless them both and encourage them, Lord. Normally I would do the tags separate, but because I have taken so long I will do them together.

Thank you, Charity, for thinking of me. You created such an awesome tag! I loved the idea of hanging with Jesus!

Here Are The Rules:

1. Thank the person who tagged you and include a link to their post.
2. Link the original post (The Thirteenth Disciple Tag) and give credit to the creator of this tag (Purple Rose) https://reluctantpreachersdaughter.wordpress.com
3. Answer the 13 questions asked by Purple Rose
4. Tag as many people as you like
5. Use the original tag image as the FEATURED image on your post:

Here are the 13 questions:

1. Which disciple is your favorite?
John… the one who was noted for loving Jesus so, and who wrote the book of John that is absolutely Love, Love, Love. It even has the REAL Lord’s prayer where Jesus is praying to the Father on our behalf in chapter 17! ❤

2. How often do you pray The Lord’s Prayer?
Funny that this is the question just after I was thinking on it. 🙂 I pray as often as the Lord allows. There was a time I prayed it every day before I started my day, and every night before I went to bed as I felt the Lord asking me with compelling compassion, “Do you not think the words my Son gave you would be enough for everything?”
I had been praying for “the right” thing to pray. So I committed to using it to pray for ALL my needs in those only 2 prayers of the day, allowing anytime I felt I should be praying more to God’s trust. It is amazing how He opened my eyes and my mind to those words covering every single thing we need prayer for. And why wouldn’t they? Would Jesus leave us unprepared or ill equipped??
NO! OF COURSE NOT!

3. How often do you take communion?
It depends. If I attend my stepdad’s church, they do it every Sunday at the end of service. If I am at my church, I believe it’s quarterly (every 3 months). But since COVID arrived, I have not been back to church physically, and won’t be for sometime. They did one for Easter online, and that was the last time I did.

4. Do you listen to sermons during the week?
Absolutely! As much as God will allow! I would rather listen to sermons than watch TV or movies.

5. If Jesus asked you to have your own small group of 4, which 3 disciples or Bible Characters would you choose to be in your weekly prayer group?
John the Baptist, Samuel, amd Enoch

6. Why did you choose those 3?
They were all three devoted and obedient from the beginning to the end. I want to be with people who love Jesus and His Father no matter the cost, and whose every thought is dying to self. Enoch was even spared of dying. One minute he was here, and then “he was not.” 😉

“and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.”
– Genesis 5:23 KJV

7. What Bible characters do you relate to or understand the most?
I don’t know that I would claim to fully understand any of the Bible characters, but I relate to characters like Hannah, Hagar, Tamar (both David’s daughter and Judah’s daughter-in-law), Leah, and Mary. Hannah and Mary are the two I relate to most often.
I, too, prayed for a child to give back to the Lord, like Hannah did for so long. I didn’t know my Bible yet then or my son Anthoni would have been named Samuel. When I did have him, I was a single mom like Mary (yes I know their engagement was the same as being married, but technically she was on her own until the angel told Joseph to marry her).

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost… the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

When I think of the responsibility I felt from the beginning to raise a child given from God, especially when Anthoni began to be a little preacher, it was a very important concern for me every day…. and still is with him grown. How much heavier must that concern have been to be raising the Son of the Living God! ❤

8. Which disciple would you argue with the most?
Judas or Peter for always wanting to argue with Jesus! 

9. Which disciple would you get along with the best?
I would love to hang with John or Nathanael. John loved Jesus so, and Nathanael believed Jesus was the Son of God and the King of Israel from the beginning just because Jesus knew who he was. Jesus said there was no guile in him.

10. If you were in the painting of the Last Supper, where would you be sitting?
Definitely John because he was leaning on Jesus! He loved Jesus! ❤

11. Peter carried a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear in an attempt to protect Jesus. If you were there that night, what would your reaction have been to the soldiers coming to arrest Jesus?
When I first read the Bible for myself, I was so angry and ready to fight before I came upon it. I remember being so glad when Peter used his sword. So yes I probably would have, but I would have had the same astonishing rebuke that Peter got. 

12. We all need a Simon Peter in our life, someone who carries a “sword” and will fight for you. Who is/was your Simon Peter?
My son Anthoni has been a Simon Peter sent from God Himself to rescue me from my world, and keep my focus on God not only in my own relationship, but also in the determination to teach Him about God’s love and teachings. God has taught me so much about His love for me through my love for my son, and in allowing me to have in common with Him being a single parent of an only Son.

13. Similar to Jesus, we all have a Judas in our lives who helps us fulfill our destiny or find our purpose. Can you look back and appreciate their role in your life despite the harm they did or the hurt they caused?
Whatever God has given me, He has given. Regardless of who, what, where, when, why, and how… it is done. He has forgiven me, so I am to forgive. I pray the Holy Spirit helps me to appreciate all things that God has allowed or designed. I thank God for seeing me through all He has walked me through.

Nominees:
(In honor of Jesus and the 12 disciples making 13, I will tag 13 nominees. 🙂

1. Holly of Wholeness Haven
2. Alicia of For His Purpose
3. Margaret of The Word
4. Mercy of Herry Chic Counsels
5. Hephzibah of Being Found in the Vine
6. Doreen of Becoming the Oil and the Wine
7. Matt of Jesus Luvs All
8. Regina of Help From heaven
9. Tish of Ritisha’s Blog
10. Shae of Shae’s Days
11. Dawn of Drawing Close to Christ
12. Siphe of God’s Anointed Princesses
13. Gary of A Sagittarian Seeker

Hope the nominees have as much as I did!
What a joy to think of being Jesus!
We will very soon! 🙂 ❤