Friday, June 21, 2013
Thoughts on contentment
In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about a thorn in his side and how God told him that His grace is sufficient for him and that His power is made perfect in weakness. Then Paul says 'so for the sake of Christ, I will be content in hardship, suffering, and calamity for when I am weak then He is strong.' I love how he says that for the sake of Christ he chooses to be content whatever his circumstance. What an awesome reason to not complain or grow bitter! The love of Christ/the message of the gospel is every reason to rejoice and be satisfied with our circumstantial difficulties. Satisfaction is not based so much on what we have as how we choose to respond to what we have, by either grumbling or giving thanks. Paul emphasizes this so much in his letters, to rejoice in The Lord always!
Thoughts on contentment
In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about a thorn in his side and how God told him that His grace is sufficient for him and that His power is made perfect in weakness. Then Paul says 'so for the sake of Christ, I will be content in hardship, suffering, and calamity for when I am weak then He is strong.' I love how he says that for the sake of Christ he chooses to be content whatever his circumstance. What an awesome reason to not complain or grow bitter! The love of Christ/the message of the gospel is every reason to rejoice and be satisfied with our circumstantial difficulties. Satisfaction is not based so much on what we have as how we choose to respond to what we have, by either grumbling or giving thanks. Paul emphasizes this so much in his letters, to rejoice in The Lord always!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Is this my life?
Seriously I must be the luckiest woman in the world. I get to spend everyday with this cute little chub.
She is so precious, I never thought you could love someone this much and so fast. I would do anything for her. Its wild to think that God loves and delights in us even more than we do our own kids! I was walking with Em the other day just thinking about what an awesome Father we have. That we don't have to earn His love, He loves us because we are His creation and made in His likeness. I'm so thankful that in knowing Christ and being reconciled to God, I have real hope and life that I can pass on to our daughter.
Our little Emmylou has already has shown us glimpses of a wild personality! She has quite the angry streak if she doesn't get fed on time and she is known for her serious/concerned faces.
What a joy our Emmylou is. I cannot say enough how wonderful my husband is to let me stay home and raise her while he has to go to work everyday. I love this man!
For The Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk up rightly. Psalm 84:11
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Recap from 2009 to today.
Somehow my blog managed to go untouched for four years. So here's a short recap on all the important happenings of my life. In the fall of 2010 my sister married and so I moved in with four of my close friends into a split level home in urbandale. The memories made there were awesome from picnics on the patio to wheelbarrow races in the yard. It was never a dull moment. That fall I was also to begin dating my first real boyfriend. It was pretty hard for me and so I broke it off with him in the spring as I felt unsure of the depths of my feelings for him. That summer my heart tried to heal but we were involved in the same bible study and I couldn't avoid him or get him off my mind. The jealousy bug struck whenever I saw him innocently interacting with other girls and my anxiety shot through the roof. I began to run late at night to relieve stress and spent a lot of extra time pouring my feelings out to The Lord. In July, Tyler asked me if there was any way we could get back together. I knew I still had feelings for him so after some prayer and counsel we were back on the dating scene. In November he proposed and in may of 2013 we were married. A year and one week later and we would meet our beautiful daughter Emmylou for the first time after a relatively short five hour labor.
It is unbelievable how much God has blessed my life! I have endless reasons to rejoice in Him.
Friday, June 14, 2013
I'm a mommy!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Vigilance
Vigilance is the act of being alertly watchful especially to avoid danger. Vigilance is only necessary when there is an interest to protect. Apathy is its greatest enemy, comfort its greatest temptation.
Thomas Jefferson is well known for saying "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance".
That is because freedom must be protected or it will be lost. It is not something that is easily obtained or kept, but its value and price is so great that once obtained it must be fought for and consistently maintained.
How much more valuable are our souls? How much more valuable is the unity found in the body of Christ? Are we striving to protect it?
I've noticed in the last month some negative talk and thought circulating amongst believers..and yes, even in my own head as well. And the only reason I have been apathetic to the danger of it is that I am both lazy and comfortable and that I have forgotten the treasure that I have in the body of believers I am apart of.
2 Timothy says,
Share in the troubles we have like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier wants to please the enlisting officer, so no one serving in the army wastes time with everyday matters. (NCV)
Don't be a fairweather Christian. Get in the trenches.
I hate war...blatantly. But there is a lot to be learned from this analogy. A soldier puts himself under the authority of his commanding officer. He understands that his life is not his. He doesn't follow his own judgements, he only follows orders. His life is completely given to the mission of his unit. He understands the constant danger around him and it makes him alert and cautious for signs of danger. I once heard about how in World War 2, metal toys were even collected in mass in order to make weapons to be sent to the troops. In time of war people make sacrifices for the good of the cause.
In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul says,
We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy's strong places. We destroy people's arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. (NCV)
As Christians we are called not to fight in the flesh. We are to control our tempers and not seek vengeance. However we are stilled called to fight. But our fight is spiritual. That's why its so easy to let down our guards. Its very similar to fighting to retain freedom. This is because we are fighting for something that we can't see with the naked eye. Freedom is not tangible and neither is unity in the body of Christ. We are in this fight for the long haul. Because freedom and unity are both lost gradually. They are gradually degraded, until suddenly you are left defenseless and overpowered.
Thomas Jefferson is well known for saying "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance".
That is because freedom must be protected or it will be lost. It is not something that is easily obtained or kept, but its value and price is so great that once obtained it must be fought for and consistently maintained.
How much more valuable are our souls? How much more valuable is the unity found in the body of Christ? Are we striving to protect it?
I've noticed in the last month some negative talk and thought circulating amongst believers..and yes, even in my own head as well. And the only reason I have been apathetic to the danger of it is that I am both lazy and comfortable and that I have forgotten the treasure that I have in the body of believers I am apart of.
2 Timothy says,
Share in the troubles we have like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier wants to please the enlisting officer, so no one serving in the army wastes time with everyday matters. (NCV)
Don't be a fairweather Christian. Get in the trenches.
I hate war...blatantly. But there is a lot to be learned from this analogy. A soldier puts himself under the authority of his commanding officer. He understands that his life is not his. He doesn't follow his own judgements, he only follows orders. His life is completely given to the mission of his unit. He understands the constant danger around him and it makes him alert and cautious for signs of danger. I once heard about how in World War 2, metal toys were even collected in mass in order to make weapons to be sent to the troops. In time of war people make sacrifices for the good of the cause.
In 2 Corinthians 10 Paul says,
We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy's strong places. We destroy people's arguments and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. (NCV)
As Christians we are called not to fight in the flesh. We are to control our tempers and not seek vengeance. However we are stilled called to fight. But our fight is spiritual. That's why its so easy to let down our guards. Its very similar to fighting to retain freedom. This is because we are fighting for something that we can't see with the naked eye. Freedom is not tangible and neither is unity in the body of Christ. We are in this fight for the long haul. Because freedom and unity are both lost gradually. They are gradually degraded, until suddenly you are left defenseless and overpowered.
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