I must confess that I struggle with feeling like there is no true home here. This is not wrong thinking, as my true Home is in Heaven with Jesus. But I think I feel it more keenly because I do not have a mom who takes me in at times, unabashedly loving my husband and my children. She would have toys for my little ones when they visit, praising their antics and encouraging me in parenting. She would be thrilled to have us visit.
As I was feeling a bit sad lately, I was reminded of what Jesus says in John 14:2-3:
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Jesus is excited about my coming--He is getting the place ready and wants to be with me. He is the one with whom I will truly be at home. And it is an added wonder that my mother will be there too! There is this eternal hope--and the apostle Paul struggled with where he wanted to be in Philippians 1:21. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Right now I am here, and I want to be living here for Christ.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Fact Vs. Feeling (or He is Able...)
I definitely struggle with the conundrum of fact versus feeling in my walk of faith in Jesus. I KNOW whom I have believed and that He is able to do what He says (2 Tim. 1:12), but sometimes I don't feel like much. I guess that is why FAITH is such a big thing. To believe what cannot be seen or, at times, felt.
That is why I love 2 Corinthians 4--a chapter that I read to my mother on her death bed, as she lay just on the brink of seeing the unseen.
2 Cor. 4:7-18
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
And God's Word further says about Jesus in Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Imagine that FACT! He is able!
That is why I love 2 Corinthians 4--a chapter that I read to my mother on her death bed, as she lay just on the brink of seeing the unseen.
2 Cor. 4:7-18
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
And God's Word further says about Jesus in Hebrews 7:25
Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Imagine that FACT! He is able!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
I have been tagged?
I just finished reading Melissa's blog and I think I was tagged...but was clueless to that fact until now!
10 years ago I ...
1. Was married and had baby Hanna
2. Graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary
3. Moved from Dallas, TX to Santa Rosa, CA
4. Flew to Germany with my baby and remember waking up the first night and there was this huge black spider on her face...
5. Was house-hunting....and here we are
5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. Homeschool
2. Take kids to ice skating, ballet...
3. Curl up in bed during naptime now that I have my mongo period
4. Hug and kiss my love, Carl
5. Go to bed early!!!
10 years ago I ...
1. Was married and had baby Hanna
2. Graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary
3. Moved from Dallas, TX to Santa Rosa, CA
4. Flew to Germany with my baby and remember waking up the first night and there was this huge black spider on her face...
5. Was house-hunting....and here we are
5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. Homeschool
2. Take kids to ice skating, ballet...
3. Curl up in bed during naptime now that I have my mongo period
4. Hug and kiss my love, Carl
5. Go to bed early!!!
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. Give money away to many, many missionaries
2. Invest money for my kids and retirement? I don't know...it sounds good.
3. Hire a helper from Germany so I can speak more German and my kids can too
4. Go to Germany and see my family there (but I can afford to rent a car, go on the train, stay in a hotel)
5. Travel to encourage missionary friends around the globe
5 places I have lived...
1. Ridley Park, PA
2. Media, PA
3. Skillman, NJ
4. New Brunswick, Piscataway, and Highland Park, NJ
5. Dallas, TX
5 jobs I have had...
1. Babysitter
2. Housesitter/Pet watcher/Grass mower
3. Lifeguard and Swim Instructor
4. Graphic Artist and Drafter
5. Teacher
Ok...now I am unsure how to tag people. So if you have read this and you would like to be tagged...you can do this too!
4. Graphic Artist and Drafter
5. Teacher
Ok...now I am unsure how to tag people. So if you have read this and you would like to be tagged...you can do this too!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Some photos
This is my newest painting. It was fun to place the kids into a typical harvest scene from 15 minutes from our house.
Here is what the 4 "Fletchlings" look like now:
The girls love to dress like the olden days. Here they are holding our chickens, Chickety and Peck.
We love trying new things with our camera--like catching us in mid-air! This is near where our church is meeting right now.
We went to the mission at La Purisima in Coloma. It really has been restored to show what the California Missions were like. This trip brought us to Santa Barbara and Ventura, and this mission on the way home.
Here is what the 4 "Fletchlings" look like now:
The girls love to dress like the olden days. Here they are holding our chickens, Chickety and Peck.
We love trying new things with our camera--like catching us in mid-air! This is near where our church is meeting right now.
We went to the mission at La Purisima in Coloma. It really has been restored to show what the California Missions were like. This trip brought us to Santa Barbara and Ventura, and this mission on the way home.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Latest Learnings
I was blessed with being able to attend a pastor's conference with my husband (wives were allowed to come too!) Anyway, I realized that this was the first thing like this that I had been at for the last 10 years, since Seminary. It was super encouraging.
There were lots of sermons all focusing on "Exalting Christ:"
One godly man spoke about what a privilege it is to be a proclaimer of the loveliness of Christ. The biggest struggle can be a satisfied heart. Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God satisfies. In the midst of the dessert, He makes us "like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Jesus waters our soul. He is our contentment (Ps. 84:1-7;Phil. 4:10-13). We need to obey--start in the little things. Once you've seen Him, nothing else matters. The pitfalls here are that there is something better, or having self-pity. But "He came to give abundant life" (John 10:10), "to know Him and power of resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10), "be imitators of Christ" (1 Pet. 2), and "He empowers us" (Phil. 4) speak to this. The heart satisfied in Him discovers persevering grace. Christ is all we need.
Another spoke about Jesus as the One who can give rest and refreshment--looking at Matt. 11:25-30. In the context of the passage in the Bible, Jesus has demonstrated authority over earth, sickness, sin, and demons. But His disciples are rejected, His prophet (John) is in prison, and no one is listening. This all doesn't change the message or discourage Jesus as He knows the outcome has been determined. His mindset is that things are going as the Father has planned. He recognizes God as the Father and praises Him, recognizes His Father is King of Everything--the sovereignty of God in all, He recognizes the Father has the prerogative to hide/reveal His truth, He recognizes that the way things are going please the Father (aside here: Be faithful in preaching Christ), and He recognizes that He is the key to everything with an exclusive, intimate relationship with the Father (only Jesus can reveal the Father). And Jesus preaches Himself, presenting Himself as the answer to every human burden--"Come to me all," everyday, for every need. Submission to Jesus is like rest.
Another spoke of suffering and how our suffering exalts Christ. He defined human suffering as something hurting us in a way that disrupts life's pleasantness to the point where in some sense and to some degree we want that hurt to cease. Passages of Scripture like Phil. 1:29, "granted not only to suffer," 1 Pet. 1:7, "faith tested in order to prove genuine," and John 16:33, "in this world you will have trouble," point to the inevitability and necessity of Christian suffering. There are so many contrasts in Scripture: peace in Christ//trouble in world. We almost have to switch our thought process (gestalt switch) to understand. We are born and live among a sinful human race. We are supposed to be tired at the end of the day. We are supposed to die. It is the quality of how we live out or sinful, short lives before our holy, eternal God that shows our submission. Christ's servant is not better than his Master--we are in submission to Christ with our bodies. In sin we are tempted by pleasure (try self-denial) or with the avoidance of pain as if Christians are supposed to live their best life now. But suffering is a wonderful gift which stops us from projecting us into a wrong hopeful future, instead placing the future in God's hands. It reminds me of my dependence on my Savior.
How encouraging and timely for me to hear these words! So much to ponder. So many questions to ask:
Do I lack confidence in Christ and His power?
Do I believe that God has done in me what the world claims it can but it never does?
What sin is making me stupid?
There were lots of sermons all focusing on "Exalting Christ:"
One godly man spoke about what a privilege it is to be a proclaimer of the loveliness of Christ. The biggest struggle can be a satisfied heart. Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God satisfies. In the midst of the dessert, He makes us "like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Jesus waters our soul. He is our contentment (Ps. 84:1-7;Phil. 4:10-13). We need to obey--start in the little things. Once you've seen Him, nothing else matters. The pitfalls here are that there is something better, or having self-pity. But "He came to give abundant life" (John 10:10), "to know Him and power of resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10), "be imitators of Christ" (1 Pet. 2), and "He empowers us" (Phil. 4) speak to this. The heart satisfied in Him discovers persevering grace. Christ is all we need.
Another spoke about Jesus as the One who can give rest and refreshment--looking at Matt. 11:25-30. In the context of the passage in the Bible, Jesus has demonstrated authority over earth, sickness, sin, and demons. But His disciples are rejected, His prophet (John) is in prison, and no one is listening. This all doesn't change the message or discourage Jesus as He knows the outcome has been determined. His mindset is that things are going as the Father has planned. He recognizes God as the Father and praises Him, recognizes His Father is King of Everything--the sovereignty of God in all, He recognizes the Father has the prerogative to hide/reveal His truth, He recognizes that the way things are going please the Father (aside here: Be faithful in preaching Christ), and He recognizes that He is the key to everything with an exclusive, intimate relationship with the Father (only Jesus can reveal the Father). And Jesus preaches Himself, presenting Himself as the answer to every human burden--"Come to me all," everyday, for every need. Submission to Jesus is like rest.
Another spoke of suffering and how our suffering exalts Christ. He defined human suffering as something hurting us in a way that disrupts life's pleasantness to the point where in some sense and to some degree we want that hurt to cease. Passages of Scripture like Phil. 1:29, "granted not only to suffer," 1 Pet. 1:7, "faith tested in order to prove genuine," and John 16:33, "in this world you will have trouble," point to the inevitability and necessity of Christian suffering. There are so many contrasts in Scripture: peace in Christ//trouble in world. We almost have to switch our thought process (gestalt switch) to understand. We are born and live among a sinful human race. We are supposed to be tired at the end of the day. We are supposed to die. It is the quality of how we live out or sinful, short lives before our holy, eternal God that shows our submission. Christ's servant is not better than his Master--we are in submission to Christ with our bodies. In sin we are tempted by pleasure (try self-denial) or with the avoidance of pain as if Christians are supposed to live their best life now. But suffering is a wonderful gift which stops us from projecting us into a wrong hopeful future, instead placing the future in God's hands. It reminds me of my dependence on my Savior.
How encouraging and timely for me to hear these words! So much to ponder. So many questions to ask:
Do I lack confidence in Christ and His power?
Do I believe that God has done in me what the world claims it can but it never does?
What sin is making me stupid?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
In Christ Alone
The words to this song make me cry, especially the last verse:
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
I think of my babies with the words "from life's first cry" and my Mom with "final breath." Then I realize how this last year has been one of terrible schemes of man--in which nothing has been able to "pluck me from His hand." What an amazing, wonderful grace in flesh's form Jesus Christ is. How powerful for my daily life and perspective. May I continue to fix my eyes "on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter" of my faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.
"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music
I think of my babies with the words "from life's first cry" and my Mom with "final breath." Then I realize how this last year has been one of terrible schemes of man--in which nothing has been able to "pluck me from His hand." What an amazing, wonderful grace in flesh's form Jesus Christ is. How powerful for my daily life and perspective. May I continue to fix my eyes "on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter" of my faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
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