Our vacation was a gift from God. His hand, His voice, and His presence were evident every step of the way.
We left on Monday, May 5th and returned on Friday, May 23rd. The first part of our journey consisted of a couple of days in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and a few days in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. The beauty of God’s creation in that part of the world is absolutely mind-blowing.
I couldn’t get enough of the ocean, sun and soft, white sand of the beach by our resort in Freeport. One of my favorite things to do was to go out into the ocean, by myself, looking out over the water and just meditating on how grand and glorious God is, asking Him to draw me nearer to Himself, and worshipping Him with thoughts and prayers based on the beautiful truths of a few of my favorite hymns and songs. (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the hymn “Be Thou My Vision.”)
On Saturday, May 17th, we went to a wonderful theme park called “The Holy Land Experience.” Anyone who watches TBN will probably be familiar with it. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. In a world and culture of selfish pleasure-seeking, this enlightening experience was an oasis of truth and light and crystal-clear, ice-cold, refreshing, rejuvenating Living Water.
On Sunday, May 18th, we went to the church of and spent some time with some very dear friends of ours. It was at their church that God spoke so clearly and profoundly to my heart to let me know that yes, we are exactly where He wants us to be, and yes, we are listening to His voice and direction.
First of all, the name of the church was “New Hope Presbyterian.” Secondly, the message printed on a leaf of the bulletin was “God’s presence our Joy” and contained one of my very favorite C.S. Lewis quotes. Next, the message was preached on a portion of Isaiah that one of my husband’s current favorite songs is based on. Finally, it was such a blessing to be able to sing an actual hymn with a whole room of people instead of all by myself.
After church our friends blessed us with a delicious meal, warm hospitality and a conversation that left us spiritually full and alive, and hungry for more of God. May they continue to be blessed with the riches of His grace and the satisfaction of His manifest presence, and may His matchless name be glorified forever.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
My favorite quote
"The battle is not to do, but to see." -- John Piper
What this says to me is that when we see the truth clearly, we act accordingly automatically. Only God can open the eyes of a person's heart, and, all glory and praise be to His name, He uses any and every tool available to accomplish this, according to His perfect will, and in His own timing (which is always perfect!).
"The battle is not to do, but to see." -- John Piper
What this says to me is that when we see the truth clearly, we act accordingly automatically. Only God can open the eyes of a person's heart, and, all glory and praise be to His name, He uses any and every tool available to accomplish this, according to His perfect will, and in His own timing (which is always perfect!).
What happened on Friday
I used to be afraid of relationships. It was difficult bordering on impossible for me to let anyone see my true self or to be honest about my failings and struggles. When God set me free from fear, it ushered in a new season of learning how to connect with people on a more real level, and it has been a faith walk to be sure.
The newest and most world-view-altering part of this faith so far is to realize and delight in the fact that God is absolutely sovereign and supreme over all things, including my will, mind, heart, choices, desires and everything else. Everything I do, even my mistakes, are part of the grand plan He has. Not that He causes me to make mistakes, but He does allow it, and whatever He causes or allows is always for a good reason.
On Friday I did something that caused another person, or perhaps several people, pain. It was the first time since February that I have experienced genuine grief over the affect of my actions on someone else, and the first time since then that I've really felt any kind of doubt and insecurity and really deeply questioned my own heart's motivation.
If I'm walking by the Spirit and being led by Him constantly, how could this have happened? Is my ability to hear His voice and sense His leading so dismal? How is it possible for me to advance with complete confidence into a situation that will bring pain to someone else unnecessarily without sensing at least a slight nudge from the Holy Spirit that this is not the direction He wants me to go?
I wrestled with these questions all Friday evening and until Saturday evening, praying and worshiping and crying out to God to open my eyes and renew my mind and teach me what He would have me learn from this. Faithful and personal God that He is, He settled my spirit and comforted my heart to know that my motivations were, in fact, pure, and that this is another step in the process of learning how to navigate the waters of human interaction in a way that is God-honoring and God-glorifying. He also showed me that even when something is not expressly forbidden in scripture, He will many times call us to limit ourselves, to hold ourselves back, not because what we want to do is wrong necessarily, but because the sacrifice shows our trust in God and love, honor and respect to and for another person.
We are called to submit to one another. May our eyes be opened to see the beauty and value of true submission and what it really means.
I used to be afraid of relationships. It was difficult bordering on impossible for me to let anyone see my true self or to be honest about my failings and struggles. When God set me free from fear, it ushered in a new season of learning how to connect with people on a more real level, and it has been a faith walk to be sure.
The newest and most world-view-altering part of this faith so far is to realize and delight in the fact that God is absolutely sovereign and supreme over all things, including my will, mind, heart, choices, desires and everything else. Everything I do, even my mistakes, are part of the grand plan He has. Not that He causes me to make mistakes, but He does allow it, and whatever He causes or allows is always for a good reason.
On Friday I did something that caused another person, or perhaps several people, pain. It was the first time since February that I have experienced genuine grief over the affect of my actions on someone else, and the first time since then that I've really felt any kind of doubt and insecurity and really deeply questioned my own heart's motivation.
If I'm walking by the Spirit and being led by Him constantly, how could this have happened? Is my ability to hear His voice and sense His leading so dismal? How is it possible for me to advance with complete confidence into a situation that will bring pain to someone else unnecessarily without sensing at least a slight nudge from the Holy Spirit that this is not the direction He wants me to go?
I wrestled with these questions all Friday evening and until Saturday evening, praying and worshiping and crying out to God to open my eyes and renew my mind and teach me what He would have me learn from this. Faithful and personal God that He is, He settled my spirit and comforted my heart to know that my motivations were, in fact, pure, and that this is another step in the process of learning how to navigate the waters of human interaction in a way that is God-honoring and God-glorifying. He also showed me that even when something is not expressly forbidden in scripture, He will many times call us to limit ourselves, to hold ourselves back, not because what we want to do is wrong necessarily, but because the sacrifice shows our trust in God and love, honor and respect to and for another person.
We are called to submit to one another. May our eyes be opened to see the beauty and value of true submission and what it really means.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Hymns: A Mega-dose of Rock-solid Theology
At the Women of Faith Conference this year, the theme was "Infinite Grace." When asked what her favorite hymn was, Luci Swindoll said "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." She said she loves hymns because they're so full of rock-solid theology, and that she loves this hymn in particular because it covers so many of the bases.
God has been drawing my heart to hymns more and more over the last few years, and since the conference He's laid song after song on my heart. I go to "cyberhymnal" and print out the words to each song, and then I pray through them. God is, well, He's indescribable! I'm beginning to understand just a tiny bit more what "infinite" really means.
This is my hymn for this season. Look at these words and think about them:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Doesn't that just make our spirits soar? If it doesn't, I pray we'll seek God for His vision.
At the Women of Faith Conference this year, the theme was "Infinite Grace." When asked what her favorite hymn was, Luci Swindoll said "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." She said she loves hymns because they're so full of rock-solid theology, and that she loves this hymn in particular because it covers so many of the bases.
God has been drawing my heart to hymns more and more over the last few years, and since the conference He's laid song after song on my heart. I go to "cyberhymnal" and print out the words to each song, and then I pray through them. God is, well, He's indescribable! I'm beginning to understand just a tiny bit more what "infinite" really means.
This is my hymn for this season. Look at these words and think about them:
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower;
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Doesn't that just make our spirits soar? If it doesn't, I pray we'll seek God for His vision.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Florida, here we come! Lord willing, of course.
We've been planning this trip to Florida for over a year now, and here we are with the date almost upon us already. We're scheduled to fly out on Monday evening. Our daughter Lisa is going with us, and we're also taking our daughters Linnea and Megan and our son, Stephen, with us. Our little ones, Rebecca and Michael, will be staying with my husband's mom and her husband on their 20 acres in the mountains outside of Colville.
People keep asking me if I'm so excited for our trip. And the answer is yes, of course I'm excited. I'm especially excited for my husband and my daughters Lisa and Linnea, because they are looking forward to this trip with great anticipation and have been for months. Lord willing, it will be a time of great refreshing and rejuvination for all of them.
I, on the other hand, am wading in the waters of uncharted territory in this amazing adventure of being God's child. Vacation is going to be wonderful, different from the norm, exciting and experiential. It is not, however, going to be any better than any other aspect of my life. I love it all, even the painful and frustrating stuff, because everything, absolutely everything, points me towards the face and heart of Christ. You know that nervous, butterflies in the stomach feeling when you're really, really looking forward to something and just can't wait for it to get here? That's how I feel all the time. I just can't wait to hear God's voice, to see His hands at work, and to have a greater revelation of His heart and passion. It can and does happen anywhere and at anytime, especially in the difficult places. Ah, Life! How could it be any better?
We've been planning this trip to Florida for over a year now, and here we are with the date almost upon us already. We're scheduled to fly out on Monday evening. Our daughter Lisa is going with us, and we're also taking our daughters Linnea and Megan and our son, Stephen, with us. Our little ones, Rebecca and Michael, will be staying with my husband's mom and her husband on their 20 acres in the mountains outside of Colville.
People keep asking me if I'm so excited for our trip. And the answer is yes, of course I'm excited. I'm especially excited for my husband and my daughters Lisa and Linnea, because they are looking forward to this trip with great anticipation and have been for months. Lord willing, it will be a time of great refreshing and rejuvination for all of them.
I, on the other hand, am wading in the waters of uncharted territory in this amazing adventure of being God's child. Vacation is going to be wonderful, different from the norm, exciting and experiential. It is not, however, going to be any better than any other aspect of my life. I love it all, even the painful and frustrating stuff, because everything, absolutely everything, points me towards the face and heart of Christ. You know that nervous, butterflies in the stomach feeling when you're really, really looking forward to something and just can't wait for it to get here? That's how I feel all the time. I just can't wait to hear God's voice, to see His hands at work, and to have a greater revelation of His heart and passion. It can and does happen anywhere and at anytime, especially in the difficult places. Ah, Life! How could it be any better?
There's this rock...
A friend of mine showed me the prototype of a product she's thinking of making as a side business. It's a rock with a message engraved in it. When I first saw it, it wasn't finished yet, but I saw enough to know I loved it immediately. It reminded me of the verse that talks about the rocks crying out in praise to Jesus if the people didn't do it.
A week later, I was able to buy the finished rock at an auction our church held as a fundraiser. I didn't even know that there was going to be a live auction, or that the rock was one of the items. But as soon as I heard our lovely auctioneer mention the rock her friend had made, I knew exactly which rock she was talking about, and also knew that I was supposed to have it and that I would spare no expense to make it my own. $35 later, I had this precious rock in my hands. I consider it a gift from God. He gave me the money, the power to earn the money, the love for the rock and the ears to hear His voice through it.
God speaks to me through this piece of the earth. He made it, probably hundreds-if not thousands-of years ago. It reminds me that everything that exists was created to bring glory and honor to Him, and that we are just a small part of the tapestry He is weaving in the fabric of time.
Then, at the right time, He moved through a person, by inspiring her and planting a vision within her, to pick up this rock and mold it and shape it so that it would proclaim the message it was designed to proclaim, and thus fulfill its purpose.
What is the message it was designed to proclaim? This: “It’s all God.”
We’re all familiar with the expression, “It’s all good.” And it is all good. But even more, it’s all God. Not that the rock or any other created matter is God, but that He created it, He holds the atoms and the molecules together by His power, and He gives meaning to its existence and it exists for His glory. In the same way, He created us and holds us together and gives us meaning and we exist to bring glory to Him. And everything that happens anywhere in the universe and beyond, no matter what it looks like or feels like, is either caused by Him or allowed by Him for a very good reason.
That’s what “It’s all God” means to me. As my fingers trace over these beautiful words etched in stone, I delight in the truth and beauty of our amazing Father God, and His peace overwhelms me.
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