I LOVE spring! And for those of us who live in Northeast Ohio it has been a great start to spring this year. There are so many things to love about spring and I don't just mean the weather. What I love most about spring are the vivid pictures that remind me of God's promises and His Word.
This is the time of year we come across caterpillars that will turn into butterflies - reminder of 2 Corinthians 5:15 - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
The days are getting longer and what better way to spend them than to do what Psalm 113:3 says, "From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised."
And what is more significant about spring than the coming of new life? From flowers beginning to grow to baby animals being born, new life is everywhere.
This brings me to my absolute FAVORITE thing about spring - celebrating EASTER!!!! I think it is wonderful that this time of celebration of Christ's resurrection from death to life, that brings us the opportunity for new life, comes at a time of year where new life is all around us to remind us of this very thing! God is awesome - just sayin' Here are some Scriptures that come to mind as I think about this:
Romans 6:4 - "Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." John 6:33 - "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."
I love spring, because I love how even nature cooperates to tell the story of Christ's death and resurrection and the newness of life that brings for those who put their trust in Him.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Being a Trophy Wife
"Trophy wife" is generally an expression used to refer to a physically attractive female who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband.
I strive to be a trophy wife. But not the kind described above. Although for many years, that was the type of trophy wife I sought after being. Over the last five years, and even more pointedly over the last year, God has been speaking to my heart and changing my desire of what type of wife I want to be. I still strive to be a trophy wife, but in a different way.
The kind of trophy wife I want to be is described below:
"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband..." Prov. 12:4a
"...for her worth is far above jewels." Prov. 31:10
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Prov. 31:30
"Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; her husband also, and he praises her, saying: "Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all." Prov. 31:25-29
"to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Titus 2:5
Prov. 31:10-31
My point is, I want to be the prize of my husband. Not in a way that is shallow and fading, but in a real way. A way that brings honor to my husband. A way that encourages him and builds him, helping him to be a stronger leader - in our home, in the church, and on his job. In a way that shows him love, real love. In a way that tells him I believe he can do all things through Christ who gives him strength (Phil. 4:13). In a way that changes the atmosphere of our household and affects my community. Sure, I also want to try to be physically attractive to my husband, but even that outward beauty is going to be a reflection of the beauty of my heart.
Let's not forget also, that as the church, we are the bride of Christ. I want to bring my groom, Christ Jesus, honor as well.
What kind of wife are you? What kind of wife do you want to be?
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A Dangerous Mind
Have you ever experienced a time when you could not close your eyes without thinking about something you knew was absolutely wrong to think about?
I had this experience last night as I laid down to go to sleep. Each time I tried to close my eyes, my mind immediately went to something I knew I should not be thinking about. I'll be honest, usually I end up giving in, but for whatever reason last night was different.
Quite frankly, I got tired of the same things coming back to my mind that I do not want there and have such a difficult time getting rid of! This time, I was not willing to give up, because I was tired of Satan always winning. So what did I do? I kept my eyes open.
I kept my eyes open and I prayed, out loud. I prayed that God would fill my mind with truth instead of the lies that were there. Then I spoke Scripture out loud, anything I could think of (at this point, I really didn't care if it fit the context). After quoting a few, for some reason the only other verse I could remember was John 3:16 (probably because that is the verse I am teaching my kids right now and we had just gone over it before they went to bed).
John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life."
I don't know about you, but I cannot think about that verse and not think about Christ's death on the cross. That's exactly what happened last night. I thought about Christ's death on the cross and then I thought about how all the times I give in to those thoughts, those are the things that put Him on the cross.
Tears came to my eyes as I thought about all the times I've just given in, because I didn't want to fight anymore. How many times have we all given in to sin because the fight is exhausting? But even still... God loves us. He loves us so much in fact, He was willing to allow our sin to be the death of His own Son. Why? Because He is victorious over sin. Satan cannot withstand the battle against God's holiness.
I didn't even realize until this morning, that as I thought about Christ's death and victory over sin, that thought went away. The desire to give in, went away. I am absolutely positive that it will try to come back. But I have hope that when it does, I will remember that fighting was worth it!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Have I abandoned ship?
Recently in the news there has been reports of the captain of a cruise ship who abandoned his ship as it was sinking; leaving all of the passengers to fend for themselves. New reports have said there is even an audio recording of the captain refusing to get out of his lifeboat to go help passengers.
For the last month, God has really been hitting me about my words. Giving me a desire to be more encouraging in how I speak to my husband and children and just really being mindful of my speech. After much prayer, I began studying the book of Jeremiah in relation to this - I know it seems like an odd choice, but man has God spoken volumes so far, and I'm not even all the way through the book!
Do I have a heart like Jeremiah that says, "Lord I am unqualified" but is still willing to be used?
Or is my heart more like the people of Judah who have turned to their own ways, because the ways of the world seem easier than what God requires of us?
Am I grieved over sin, mine and others, out of a humble heart?
Or has pride calloused me to the depth of what it means to have committed treason against the High King?
Unfortunately, what I have learned is that I have had a lot of pride in my heart. My speech needs a lot of work, because it reflects my heart and, well, that's not very pretty right now. Of course it wasn't so blatantly obvious until just last night...
Last night we had a meeting for our upcoming women's retreat that our church does. In this meeting we decided who would serve in which areas. I was chosen to run sound. Really? Sound? That was my reaction.
Ok, I know this is going to not make sense to some of you, but doing background is not my comfort zone. Yes, I am more comfortable being out in front. How can that be? Well, I have spent pretty much my entire life as an attention seeker, so being in the center of attention is right up my ally.
The more I talked about how awkward I thought it was that I had been chosen for such a background position, the more I realized the extent of my pride. God was showing me my selfish "me me me" attitude. That I like to be out front, because I like getting recognition for the things I do and quite frankly, running sound may never receive any praise.
Talk about hard to hear!
Anyway, so what does this have to do with the ship captain I mentioned earlier. This morning I heard that story mentioned and I realized that like that captain, I was more concerned with my own comfort than that of others. There are going to be many things in life that God asks us to do that may be difficult for us for one reason or another. We can decide whether or not we are going to, through Him, do what's difficult and allow Him to grow us through it, or if we are going to abandon ship.
If I'm going to be honest, I would have to say that I have abandoned ship. I have not been willing to put aside my own wants and desires in order to show grace to my family. And for a little while, I was not sure I was willing to put aside my pride and comfort to join my church family in rescuing the lives of those who are spiritually dead. I admit, the job of sound still does not sound very enticing to me. However, knowing that God is doing a work on my heart does.
For the last month, God has really been hitting me about my words. Giving me a desire to be more encouraging in how I speak to my husband and children and just really being mindful of my speech. After much prayer, I began studying the book of Jeremiah in relation to this - I know it seems like an odd choice, but man has God spoken volumes so far, and I'm not even all the way through the book!
Do I have a heart like Jeremiah that says, "Lord I am unqualified" but is still willing to be used?
Or is my heart more like the people of Judah who have turned to their own ways, because the ways of the world seem easier than what God requires of us?
Am I grieved over sin, mine and others, out of a humble heart?
Or has pride calloused me to the depth of what it means to have committed treason against the High King?
Unfortunately, what I have learned is that I have had a lot of pride in my heart. My speech needs a lot of work, because it reflects my heart and, well, that's not very pretty right now. Of course it wasn't so blatantly obvious until just last night...
Last night we had a meeting for our upcoming women's retreat that our church does. In this meeting we decided who would serve in which areas. I was chosen to run sound. Really? Sound? That was my reaction.
Ok, I know this is going to not make sense to some of you, but doing background is not my comfort zone. Yes, I am more comfortable being out in front. How can that be? Well, I have spent pretty much my entire life as an attention seeker, so being in the center of attention is right up my ally.
The more I talked about how awkward I thought it was that I had been chosen for such a background position, the more I realized the extent of my pride. God was showing me my selfish "me me me" attitude. That I like to be out front, because I like getting recognition for the things I do and quite frankly, running sound may never receive any praise.
Talk about hard to hear!
Anyway, so what does this have to do with the ship captain I mentioned earlier. This morning I heard that story mentioned and I realized that like that captain, I was more concerned with my own comfort than that of others. There are going to be many things in life that God asks us to do that may be difficult for us for one reason or another. We can decide whether or not we are going to, through Him, do what's difficult and allow Him to grow us through it, or if we are going to abandon ship.
If I'm going to be honest, I would have to say that I have abandoned ship. I have not been willing to put aside my own wants and desires in order to show grace to my family. And for a little while, I was not sure I was willing to put aside my pride and comfort to join my church family in rescuing the lives of those who are spiritually dead. I admit, the job of sound still does not sound very enticing to me. However, knowing that God is doing a work on my heart does.
Monday, January 9, 2012
A Perfect(ed) Body
Yesterday, at church, my pastor mentioned how when a Christian goes to heaven their perfected soul is joined with their perfected body. So those who have illness or physical impairments will have a perfected body in heaven.
DISCLAIMER: I have no biblical reference for what I am about to say, it is purely an interesting thought I had that I would like to further study.
What if, when we got to heaven, we were given the same bodies we have, but because there is no sin in heaven, we would see those bodies as being perfect because that is the way they were created?
Wouldn't that be kind of cool? It would be like when we finally start to look at someone who really drives us crazy through the eyes of Christ. We can't help but love them. So rather than anything about our physical bodies actually changing, how we view them would be what changes. We would see them through the eyes of Christ.
Again, this is just a random thought, but I thought it was an interesting thing to ponder. And if you have any Scripture that supports or even discredits this thought, PLEASE share, I would love to know!
DISCLAIMER: I have no biblical reference for what I am about to say, it is purely an interesting thought I had that I would like to further study.
What if, when we got to heaven, we were given the same bodies we have, but because there is no sin in heaven, we would see those bodies as being perfect because that is the way they were created?
Wouldn't that be kind of cool? It would be like when we finally start to look at someone who really drives us crazy through the eyes of Christ. We can't help but love them. So rather than anything about our physical bodies actually changing, how we view them would be what changes. We would see them through the eyes of Christ.
Again, this is just a random thought, but I thought it was an interesting thing to ponder. And if you have any Scripture that supports or even discredits this thought, PLEASE share, I would love to know!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Looking Forward to 2012
This new year has much in store for our family. I'm looking ahead with excitement as I get to be a part of some new beginnings, some "landmark" moments and just another year of the Lord's faithfulness.
Here are some things I'm looking forward to in 2012:
Here are some things I'm looking forward to in 2012:
- First time taking the kids on a real sledding hill and not just the plow pile in our backyard.
- Josh getting his IT certification.
- Watching the kids play soccer for the first time this spring.
- Welcoming baby #6 into our family and our world.
- Taking the kids to the amusement park for the first time this summer.
- Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary (Yes, we have actually been married for that long, or at least we will be in August).
- Having all three girls in elementary school.
- Gideon getting to begin Preschool.
- Celebrating Jade's 5th birthday.
- And honestly, I'm a little scared about this last one - turning 30.
These are just some of the things this year holds, but I'm definitely excited about what I know is to come. Imagine how exciting all the extra surprises will be!!!!
Happy New Year!!!! May your year hold many blessings from the Lord.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Who I've Been, Who I Am, Who I Want to Be & the People Who Help Get Me There
The other day I was thinking about the people that I have looked up to throughout my life. These are people who have inspired me, taught me, or just modeled for me what I want (or wanted) to be. So rather than just doing a look back over the last year, I guess you can say I looked back over the whole of my life. Where was I at certain points in my life? Who did I look up to and why? Where am I now? Where do I want to go? Who do I look up to that models where I want to be? Does this line up with what God wants me to be? These are the questions I asked myself and here is the outline version.
Let me preface this by saying, I never wanted to be these people, but I admired certain qualities they have/had and think about do I exemplify these in my life and if not how can I.
The younger years:
When I was little I looked up to my sister Cathy. She was only two years older than me and my best friend, but she taught me so much. She was kind to me, even when I was mean to her. She helped me with my homework and even taught me some of the things she was learning so I would be smarter than my classmates : ) - not sure how well that worked.
Older elementary:
At this age, I was really into my music and already wanted to be a professional dancer. However, I still looked up to those who didn't get into a lot of trouble because they chose not to be troublemakers. (I obviously was not one of those.) One friend in particular who was like this was my friend Mary Black. She simply didn't want to do what she wasn't supposed to. I didn't understand that, being a rebellious sort. Anyway, I admired that in her and continued to admire that as we went into jr. high and high school. As I got into more and more trouble, sharing my adventures with her, she still just didn't understand why I would seek after that. It made me question that myself.
Jr. high:
Honestly, at this age I looked up to any woman who was a professional dancer in music videos or who was considered attractive by men. Yes, I was very shallow. That was where I was at that point in my life and I'm not going to deny it.
High school:
Jon (my stepdad). It took me a long time to really even like Jon, but when I finally got over my immature ridiculousness or just not wanting a father figure around, I was able to see how much he really loved our family.
As an adult:
I am saying as an adult meaning from the time I was 18, because, well some of them have stayed the same.
Glen and Georgann Richardson have been staples in my life for as long as I remember. But it wasn't until I was about 18 that I really got to know them. I truly admire Glen's dedication and commitment to studying Scripture daily, and his incredible recall of Scripture. Whenever I am realizing that I have let myself get out of my quiet time routine, I think about Glen and his commitment to being in the Word daily. Oh how I want that kind of commitment. When I think of a gentle and quiet spirit, Georgann is always the first person to come to mind. She is the sweetest person I know. She always has a word of encouragement on her tongue. I do have to say when I learned that she has only ever yelled at her kids one time I was struck with shock. I can totally believe that she would never yell, because again she is just a gentle and quiet spirit. I was shocked because I could never imagine that being me, although I would love to have enough control over my tongue that I don't yell at my kids (or Josh), so that is something I am working on, because I know that it is Christ in her that is the reason she can do that. Knowing that it would have to be Christ in me gives me some hope of it being a possibility.
Wendy Whitely is a great model of being a supportive help-mate to her spouse and I truly admire that. I'm not always so supportive or encouraging to Josh and I definitely need real people to be examples of that for me. At times when I need a reminder of what it looks like to be the help-mate, I think of Wendy.
These people are by no means perfect. However, I see them as the Paul's in my life that are saying, "Follow me as I follow Christ". They are living what they believe. They are living what they say they believe and what they teach others. I admire them in that I want to develop those Christlike qualities that I see in them, because I know that's what God wants for me and that's what He wants to do in me, if I will give up the control so He can. (As I stop writing to yell at my kids) Quite obviously, I am by no means perfect either.
Anyway, I don't know if those I wrote about will read this or not, but they have really meant a lot to me and continue to mean a lot to me. They are also the ones I still keep in contact with regularly, because of how much they mean in my life. Love you guys, and thank you so much!
Let me preface this by saying, I never wanted to be these people, but I admired certain qualities they have/had and think about do I exemplify these in my life and if not how can I.
The younger years:
When I was little I looked up to my sister Cathy. She was only two years older than me and my best friend, but she taught me so much. She was kind to me, even when I was mean to her. She helped me with my homework and even taught me some of the things she was learning so I would be smarter than my classmates : ) - not sure how well that worked.
Older elementary:
At this age, I was really into my music and already wanted to be a professional dancer. However, I still looked up to those who didn't get into a lot of trouble because they chose not to be troublemakers. (I obviously was not one of those.) One friend in particular who was like this was my friend Mary Black. She simply didn't want to do what she wasn't supposed to. I didn't understand that, being a rebellious sort. Anyway, I admired that in her and continued to admire that as we went into jr. high and high school. As I got into more and more trouble, sharing my adventures with her, she still just didn't understand why I would seek after that. It made me question that myself.
Jr. high:
Honestly, at this age I looked up to any woman who was a professional dancer in music videos or who was considered attractive by men. Yes, I was very shallow. That was where I was at that point in my life and I'm not going to deny it.
High school:
Jon (my stepdad). It took me a long time to really even like Jon, but when I finally got over my immature ridiculousness or just not wanting a father figure around, I was able to see how much he really loved our family.
As an adult:
I am saying as an adult meaning from the time I was 18, because, well some of them have stayed the same.
Glen and Georgann Richardson have been staples in my life for as long as I remember. But it wasn't until I was about 18 that I really got to know them. I truly admire Glen's dedication and commitment to studying Scripture daily, and his incredible recall of Scripture. Whenever I am realizing that I have let myself get out of my quiet time routine, I think about Glen and his commitment to being in the Word daily. Oh how I want that kind of commitment. When I think of a gentle and quiet spirit, Georgann is always the first person to come to mind. She is the sweetest person I know. She always has a word of encouragement on her tongue. I do have to say when I learned that she has only ever yelled at her kids one time I was struck with shock. I can totally believe that she would never yell, because again she is just a gentle and quiet spirit. I was shocked because I could never imagine that being me, although I would love to have enough control over my tongue that I don't yell at my kids (or Josh), so that is something I am working on, because I know that it is Christ in her that is the reason she can do that. Knowing that it would have to be Christ in me gives me some hope of it being a possibility.
Wendy Whitely is a great model of being a supportive help-mate to her spouse and I truly admire that. I'm not always so supportive or encouraging to Josh and I definitely need real people to be examples of that for me. At times when I need a reminder of what it looks like to be the help-mate, I think of Wendy.
These people are by no means perfect. However, I see them as the Paul's in my life that are saying, "Follow me as I follow Christ". They are living what they believe. They are living what they say they believe and what they teach others. I admire them in that I want to develop those Christlike qualities that I see in them, because I know that's what God wants for me and that's what He wants to do in me, if I will give up the control so He can. (As I stop writing to yell at my kids) Quite obviously, I am by no means perfect either.
Anyway, I don't know if those I wrote about will read this or not, but they have really meant a lot to me and continue to mean a lot to me. They are also the ones I still keep in contact with regularly, because of how much they mean in my life. Love you guys, and thank you so much!
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