Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Things I'm learning lately....

1. He is ENOUGH, period. I have found myself becoming disappointed with people rather easily lately. No one person in particular, just various situations in life. God REALLY convicted me in this area because the problem wasn't that people were necessarily doing things (or NOT doing things, in some cases) to spite me or anything like that. It was that I was relying too much on PEOPLE, and not enough on GOD. By design, PEOPLE are not created to be "enough" in my life. But HE is. I need to focus more on HIM, and less on my expectations and desires of others. Chances are, I was falling short in most of those situations as well.

2. He is not limited by my feeble mind. Another area I've been super convicted lately is not trusting God to work fully in all situations. Well, let me be a bit more specific. I trust Him with things. I believe that He has the power to change any human life. I just sort of put boundaries on what I expect him to be able to do. AND THAT'S SO WRONG. Sometimes, God chooses to work in a situation by having us accept it for exactly what it is, not changing anything about it. Sometimes, He changes tiny details and circumstances in ways that affect bigger things. And sometimes, He TOTALLY steps in and changes things completely around. Any way He chooses to work-- it's for His glory. Who am I to tell Him (or others) how I think He is going to work??? Because I'm probably going to be wrong! I'm probably underestimating Him.

3. Community is a BEAUTIFUL thing. I've had the greatest joy watching the community I am from rally behind several of its own lately. This is one picture of community. An actual physical, demographic community. But it's also a totally perfect picture of a Godly, Biblical community. Stepping in and taking care of your own. No matter the cost. No matter the labor. No matter the reason. Love.

4. I am totally doing what God called me to do. For a while, I secretly struggled with the desire to be a stay-at-home-mom. Not even because I had this burning passion or desire to stay at home with Parker because I thought that was God's plan for our family. But for totally selfish reasons- some big reasons like "Well, all of my friends get to stay at home with their kids and I'm jealous." or "I'm missing out on SO much that I could be doing with Parker." or even ridiculous little things like "I could do more sewing/scrapbooking/napping/blogging/crafting/playdates/etc." I also found myself feeling inadequate up next to some of the women I know who ARE stay at home moms. BUT THAT IS NOT WHAT GOD CALLED ME TO DO! Believe me, if God calls me to stay at home and raise my child (and other children if He chooses to bless us with them), I will totally, wholeheartedly be thankful and gladly transition in to that role. BUT- right now, He has called me to love on some absolutely AMAZING high school students in a public school setting, and I LOVE IT. Sure, some days are super tough and I want to pull my hair out and cry and yell, etc., but for the most part, what I do is a tremendous blessing. My kids are the best- I love them as though they were family. I get to invest in their lives. And hopefully, in the process, I get to be a reflection of Christ, even if I can't BLATANTLY share Christ with them. It truly is the best job in the world.

More later.... this is probably a lot to digest considering my last few posts have been so skimpy/frivolous/non-informational. Ha!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Song on my heart: Beauty Will Rise

Promised lengthy post to come... but for now, a "teaser" if you will... the lyrics I've had on my heart all week.

Praying for Haiti.

Praying for Kelsey.

Praying for Michael.

Praying that beauty WILL rise.

from "Beauty Will Rise" by Steven Curtis Chapman

Out of these ashes beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see Him with our own eyes
Out of this darkness, new life will shine
And we'll know that joy is coming in the morning...
In the morning... beauty will rise.

This is our hope
This is the promise
That it would take our breath away
To see the beauty that's been made
Out of the ashes.


Saturday, January 9, 2010

New Post on other blog....

I finally put up a new post on our Family Blog....

A new post is in the works for this blog too. I'm sorry it's so neglected...

Until then, go check out our Christmas pictures!!