Pondering God’s Grace…

Had you ever had those days when you are completely overwhelmed by the greatness of God?  Today is one of those days for me.

Ed and I have been going through a greenhouse class at our church called “4 Biblical Rules of Communication” and it has been amazing.  The rules we have learned thus far are 1- Be honest  2 – Keep current and  3- Attack the problem, not the person.  Scott Ellison, one of the pastors at our church, is leading the class and has shared some real practical ways we are to do the above (and ways we don’t do the above which, to be honest, has been real convicting).  The basic principle behind all of these things is not to have a more legalistic list of things to do and not to do, but as 2 Corinthians 5:9 says “So we make it our goal to please Him.”

But yesterday, as Scott was talking, he went on a brief tangent about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He briefly shared his viewpoint about how he didn’t believe Jesus was upset in the garden because he knew he would be whipped and nailed and suffer indescribable torture, but he was upset because he knew that God would turn his back on him, be completely absent in his life, and he would suffer the complete wrath from God of everyone’s sins – past, present, and future.  It was definitely food for thought, as I have never thought about it this way.  Whether you 100% agree with him, or don’t agree with him at all, or aren’t sure, let me share with you the part that awed me and has left me completely overwhelmed by the greatness of God today.

Have you ever thought for a second what it would be like to have God completely turn his back from you and be completely absent in your life?  Even for those who don’t know God, or even for those who consider themselves to be atheists, there are still ways everyday that they experience God’s grace in their lives.  The sun rising, the world continuing to spin on it’s axis, our bodies still functioning so we can live and breathe, our car starting so we get to work – all of these things that we consider a given, or science even, wouldn’t happen apart from God.

Even worse, what is God not only chose to be absent from our life, but chose to pour out all of his wrath for the sins of all mankind of one of us?  I don’t even know.  All I know is that I am so humbled and thankful to the Lord for his constant grace and mercy in my life and in the lives of others.  Grace is a word that we say a lot, but do we really understand it and how freely the Lord gives it?  Romans 3:21-24 says ” 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Praise the Lord for His grace and that Jesus experienced God’s wrath and absence so that we will never have to!

“10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)”

Bless the Lord, O my soul

O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore

Bless the Lord, O my soul
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

Big News on the Homefront

Well, some may know what is coming next…and some may not.  So here goes…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, we are expecting a precious bundle of joy on October 23, 2012!  We are overjoyed that the Lord has chosen us to be parents again and can’t wait to hold him/her in our arms.  Kinsley is beyond excited at the news as she LOVES babies and can’t mother them enough.

Please continue to pray for the health and safety of this child who I am carrying.  Also pray for me to feel better as this pregnancy has been rough – much tougher than it was with Kinsley.  I know that feeling sick means all is well, that it is a small price to pay for the joy of a new life, and that some women wish they could only get pregnant whether it means feeling sick or not.  Thank you for your encouragement and keeping our secret “mum” if you happened to know before this blog post!

The Floor is for….sleeping??

Have you ever had something that you knew needed to be done, but you were super anxious about it and kept putting it off, only to reach that point where you knew it was now or never?

Well, this is how I have felt about switching Kinsley to a toddler bed (or twin mattress on the floor in our case).  Maybe I dreaded it because I have a friend who just switched their child and it has been a nightmare for them to get her to stay in the bed and the room.  Maybe I dreaded it because I know Kinsley and how she loves to move, move, move and knew that she would have a hard time just laying in bed waiting to go to sleep.  Maybe its because I knew this would dramatically affect our traveling in the sense that we wouldn’t be able to just throw a pack-n-play down wherever we are, but we would have to think about making a palette on the floor or having a bed for her to sleep in (accompanied with rails of course).

Whatever the reason for my anxiety, I reached the peak last week where I pretty much decided it was now or never (ok, not never because what child goes to college in a crib?).  We knew we had a few weeks before our traveling began so we could either bite the bullet and start it NOW, or wait until what could possibly be August.  I felt like this thing had been hanging over my head forever that I just needed to DO IT.  So do it we did.  We took her to the store to help us pick it out (of course she had no idea what we were doing but she enjoyed running around the store and I realized a mattress store is the best place for a toddler because there is nothing to break, pull out, run over, etc.)  Then we took her to Target to pick out a cute sheet set, a pillow, mattress pad, etc.  So, the next night, it began…..

Despite all my concerns, it has gone really well.  Yes, she still cries a few minutes before passing out.  Yes, she has slept most days on the floor for her nap (she can climb back in it but for some reason has landed on the floor everyday as evidenced by this picture taken from our monitor) but I don’t care where she sleeps as long as she sleeps.  Yes, she feel asleep last night on the floor and we had to move her to her bed.  But I figure one day, she will realize the bed is for sleeping, not the floor, and that the bed is way more comfortable.  Until that day, the floor will be for…sleeping.

In other news, I was invited to be a part of a Bible study with women from our church who have children who are at home during the day.  This was such an answer to prayer and a huge blessing!  We are a part of a small group but most of the families have middle-school aged children so I was missing being in fellowship with more moms of my life stage and studying the Word with them.  We are reading through the book “Feminine Appeal” by Carolyn Maheney.  It has been great so far!  Today’s study was on self-control.  Whoa buddy, what an eye-opener to how much I lack of it.  But as she points out “If Scripture requires self-control from every Christian (Titus 2), it is obviously attainable by every Christian (with the help of the Holy Spirit).”  I look forward to seeing how the Lord uses this lesson to affect my thoughts, behaviors, attitudes, actions, etc. and uses it to grow me more into his likeness.

Here is a random, fun picture of Kinsley putting together (with Dad’s help, of course) her tallest tower of blocks.  These blocks are her new favorite fun thing to play with, but boy, do they get everywhere!!

Happy Easter!

Easter is my second favorite holiday (behind Christmas, of course).  Why is this?

Because I love celebrating the resurrection of Christ!  Granted, I should focus on this every day of the year, but I love sharing with my daughter and those around me the meaning of this holiday and its implications for us as believers.  I love hearing the Gospel message shared in churches all throughout the country.  I love having hope that those who may not know Christ may have set foot church on just this one holiday and that Jesus may choose just this day and message to draw them into a relationship with Him. The fact that Jesus conquered death being risen from the dead means that he is ALIVE!  As our pastor pointed out, all the prophets in other religions said “Follow my teachings after I die” while Jesus said “Follow me because I am alive!”  And because He is alive, I too know death isn’t the end and I, along with everyone else who knows Him, will live with him in eternity!  Praise the Lord!

While I love Easter because it means that Christ is alive, I also love the easter bunny, dying eggs, egg hunts, Easter candy, and spending time with family.  My most precious memories of my childhood are gathering at Granny and Poppy’s house with the rest of our family after church, eating a big Sunday dinner, and then doing egg hunt after egg hunt.  The adults would hide eggs for the kids, the kids would hide eggs for the adults, and then repeat the same cycle over and over until either the kids or the adults were worn out (I will give you one guess who were the last ones standing).

This year, Ed’s family (his parents, cousins and their two kids) came to visit us.  We had a blast!!  From soaking up the sun, impromptu trip to visit yard sales, playing games, dying Easter eggs, hunting eggs, eating lots of food, watching the girls’ (including Kinsley, of course) dance, watching the kids play on the slip and slide, to just enjoying each other, the weekend was FULL!!

And, no, we didn’t all plan on wearing red.  Kinsley had this dress from my brother Alex’s wedding rehearsal dinner and since its adorable and she has only worn it once, I couldn’t see not using it for Easter.  I picked out my outfit and then when Ed finished getting ready, what do you know?  He was wearing red too.  It does make for a good picture though!

Kinsley had a pretty rough weekend sleeping and just being grumpy over all.  We think its teething but aren’t sure.  One thing is for sure, we are really glad to get life back to normal around here and get her feeling better!

We pray you had a Happy Easter too!