Heart's song

This morning, once again I am reminded of how important it is to keep my eyes focused heavenward and to have an eternal mindset in all decisions, no matter how small. It's so easy to be caught up in life's activities and struggles; being led by the flesh but oh so much more beneficial to rest in God's eternal promises as I instead deny my sinful self. I am not my own. I have not been created to please myself! My heart's desire is to live out every moment of the day for His glory. I fall short. Every minute of every hour, whether it be in thought or deed. All glory to my Maker, the richness of His grace doesn't depend on what I do, and words cannot express how thankful I am to Him for that truth! Praising my Lord and Savior this morning for His gentle mercy, His ALL consuming fire and His promises fulfilled and yet to be in His Word. They work together for the good of His purposes in and through me, as I am robed in Jesus' perfect righteousness, being eternally minded and sacrificing the love of earth for His everlasting glory.

2 Corinthians 5


Awaiting the New Body

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Random Thoughts

I am LOVING all of the refreshing rain we've been having and the green it's awakening these days. It's beautiful and energizing to see new growth and the changing of the season. I'm so ready to be out with the old and in with something NEW!

Now, honestly I am the LAST person to want to slam our president with words. I pray for him and respect his accomplishments and what I am going to say next is not meant to deface or put him down. He is merely a man. I have no prior personal expectations about who he should be or what he should do. As a public figure, though and the leader of our country I do believe we have the obligation to be aware and call him out on blatant lies along with his political and ethical moves or lack thereof. It is frustrating to me to see our president's reaction to the crisis in Japan. It reminds me of a donor, showing up long enough to put on their show and take the credit but leaving as soon as the "deed" has been done and the spotlight is off of them... Really? Leading our country is not about putting on the best show or a bunch of useless words-or even about giving money. That's easy.  It's about personally caring, showing sincere concern, sacrifice and leadership. Being the ultimate example in action, not about resting in luxury as you push your agenda. I guess what perplexes me the most is the fact that very few in this selfish country, including our president are willing to sacrifice. Whether it be money or time as well as putting prior plans on hold for a time, leaving room for flexibility; postponing tee time... if it inconveniences too much personally, it isn't even thought twice about. Life isn't a show! It rarely plays out like Hollywood depicts. Sometimes real life happens, catastrophe strikes and the fun stuff has to wait. Running our country is serious business, and I feel our president lives in a dream world, not the real world like the rest of us.

I am completely and utterly busy, busy, BUSY(borderline overwhelmed) getting things ready for my trip to New York City, New York(sorry, I just love writing the entire name, it get's me all excited)! So much to do, so little time, but that doesn't damper my excitement-I CAN'T WAIT!! So excited(did I already say that?) and I know it will be worth all of the gobbledygook to-dos once we're on the plane headed east. I am so thankful for this opportunity to travel, photograph, learn, grow and have heart to hearts with my sister and mom. What a blessing! I thrive on studying diverse cultures, putting feelings into pictures and my heart into print...  I am oh-so-passionate to a fault sometimes.

My kids and I enjoyed a day out shopping today despite the downpours. They are such sweet kids who desire to please. I enjoy them! 

They are quite the funny crew. They enjoy me, too I suppose most days. Ha ha!

Their favorite school subject is health and it's easy to see why.  We do hands on experiments and activities that correlate with our lesson.  What child wouldn't love to run around crazy for a few minutes to observe our elevated heart rate or put a raw egg in vinegar for days to watch how the vinegar seeps through the wall of the shell just like oxygen is exchanged with carbon dioxide through millions of alveoli in our lungs every time we take a breath(and we're a product of chance? *Ha ha cough snort choke--whatever floats your boat!), or a surprise oral competition,  reviewing things we've learned; playing for candy! Fun times.

The Lord is gracious to give those precious moments, those encouraging times to remind me WHY I am home schooling these sponges children...

For His purposes...
For them.

Sunset on the farm

Wonder

Has it really been 4 years since that exciting restless night of contractions?

I remember it as if it was yesterday!

I was awake most of the night with contractions every 5-10 minutes.

Watching the clock. Anxious. 

I tried baths, sleeping and resting to no avail.

He wasn't due until the 27th... the 13th seemed far too early to be in labor!

But alas, I was and in the morning I arrived at the hospital ready to deliver our first baby boy! 

Wondrous unknown the thought of welcoming a baby boy into the world was for us after having 3 beautiful little girls. 

I pondered the difference of meeting, nurturing and watching him grow in contrast.

I still do!

We have been blessed beyond measure with his tender spirit, adventurous willingness and humble gestures.
I stand amazed and thankful as I soak in and cherish every moment of his life.

You will always be my baby boy.

My Little Man.

Happy birthday sweet son of mine. 

Praying

As the world watches, Japan has undergone a catastrophe of a magnitude that has not been seen in many many years... Along with the horrific remnants of an almost 9.0 earthquake, power outages, the threat of nuclear reactor core meltdowns and a 40 foot tsunami wave that left astounding sights such as an entire bus left sitting atop a three story building after the retreating ocean left it there-the entire nation of Japan moved up to 8 feet to the east! Along with that mind staggering statistic, we also know that the rotation of the earth has been altered a few inches from the shaking, shifting and groaning of the planet last Friday... amazing. It's hard to wrap my mind around everything that has happened and for some probably impossible to understand why it has happened. It is impossible on many levels of our comprehension to completely understand why and how these things happen. We sit around as human beings in our robes of worldly wisdom and try to figure things out, take preventative action and box up and label phenomenons because we feel more in control if we completely "understand" the situation. I believe though, as a Christian, that in this world, things are always going to come into our lives that are "bigger" than us. In this world there will be trouble. There just is and always will be. Because this earth is the Lord's and everything in it, we will NOT always understand the reasons behind our troubles. The earth is God's creation. He alone can control, completely understand and prevent catastrophes from happening. Our minds can't comprehend things that we haven't already seen: "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth..." The earth along with everything and everyone on it will see it's end one day.  There is a last breath for everyone. Every dawn of morning brings us closer to that day. The earth is groaning under the weight of age and sin-God can only wait so long.
I plead with my fellow human race, to those who haven't given their lives to Him yet, that you will do so today because Jesus' return is soon.  I pray He doesn't tarry and comes quickly and rescues us from having to endure anymore pain and devastation as Japan has seen this past weekend and will undoubtedly have to overcome throughout the coming days, months and years.

Watching. Praying. If possible enabling.

"Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds in the sky.
Destruction and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,
then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”

Shabby Vintage