Things I Need to Remember

A couple weeks ago Matt talked about the art of remembrance. These are things that I know I daily need to remind myself of in order to have the right perspective and therefore make better decisions.
The art of remembering either pushes us toward Christ or it inches us away

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead."
Philippians 3:13

Paul's not meaning forget everything but rather forget the things behind you that Christ has already paid for and that would hinder your relationship with Christ.

So, how you go about remembering and what are you supposed to go about remembering.

1. Remember what God has done
"I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old." Psalm 77:11

"Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered" Psalm 105:5

We’re going to remember how God has interacted with His people and behaved in the scriptures so that as our life plays out we can have the confidence that He delivers, that He saves that He’s in and around even the worst of circumstances.
Not only do we see it biblically but in our own lives He has shown us a thousand mercies. Some of us walk in a level of idolatry that everything that is good and right in our lives we take credit for and anything that goes wrong God gets blamed for. When everything goes right you’re the one that pulls it off and you let one thing go wrong and God’s the one that did this to you. You’re a blasphemer and you have a wicked heart and that’s why you respond that way.
No one in this room got up this morning and went, “Oh my God everything’s working!” But you let yourself get up tomorrow and have chronic pain that doesn’t go away for a year or two, maybe ever, you watch how quickly will go, “You tricked me, you betrayed me.”
We should be constantly overwhelmed that He’s given us these gifts but our flesh doesn’t allow most of us to think that way. We need the Holy Spirit to really do a work in our heart because we are not constantly aware of the wonderful gifts that God has given us.

2. Remember the resurrection of Christ
"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel" 2 Timothy 2:8
Why this is so important: Because the scriptures say if Christ has been raised then we too will be raised.
I Cor. 15 - our physical, perishable bodies will give way to a new, PHYSICAL, touchable, moveable body that is imperishable. You, at your healthiest, are a shell of what is to come.
Don’t forget that there’s a resurrection coming. If you forget then you’re going to live as though this life is it.

3. Remember that at one time you were outside the covenant promises;
"Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:11-12

and remember that you’re part of something much bigger and historic than you can fathom.

The metanarrative . . .
A creator God created all things. The fall occurred and breaks everything and then we’re isolated from God. But then God come to a man named Abram and He tells him, I’m going to create a people and through that line of people I’m going to raise up a Messiah and through that Messiah I’m going to reconcile all things to Myself and all nations on earth will be blessed because of it. He gives the law to Moses.
He gives the law not so that we would be perfect but to reveal to us that we cannot be perfect. He gives the law as the first blow to destroy and kill religion. It becomes evident that they can’t obey the law so He gives them a sacrificial system to show that God is righteous and sin will need to be atoned for; innocent blood will have to be shed to cover (propitiation), and then the sin will have to be taken away (exviation), and the whole sacrificial system is built around communicating to Israel that their sin costs. All the prophets and psalms testify to this. Christ shows up and says I am He. He lives the perfect, righteous life that was imparted/imputed to you and I; He dies our death on the cross. All of your sin, past, present and future, nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ, with Christ. God makes Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him; we become the righteousness of God, He becomes our sin, dies, is resurrected, ascends, makes intersession for us, sends the Holy Spirit, we become not only beneficiaries of the cross but agents of it, and this is the way we live our lives.

Our life has one purpose: the Name and the renown of Jesus Christ. Your money, your job, your house, your children, your hobbies - everything is about the gospel of Jesus Christ and God reconciling all things to Himself. The man who understands this lives out the epic. The man who gets the metanarrative lives life intentionally
Paul says, don’t forget what you’re caught up in. Don’t forget God’s been doing this thing a long, long time and that you have a part in pushing it forward.
Play your part well.

But above all and in all and through all,
4. Remember the cross – for without it you no longer have Christianity. Without the blood-splattered, wrath-absorbing cross of Jesus Christ you no longer have our faith.

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
1 Corinthians 11:23-25

What keeps us from being proud people? The cross. We’re an interesting dynamic because we are horrific, wicked sinners; so horrific and so wicked that Christ had to die for us and at the same time so loved by God that Christ was glad to die for us. So we don’t walk with a swagger but we don’t sniffle either. The cross is constantly in our hearts. When it’s not and you stumble about, you will run from Him and not to Him. If you understand that it’s His sacrifice that gives you right standing with God, when you stumble and fall, you can approach the throne of grace with confidence because you know it wasn’t your merit that got you in to begin with.

Remember.

A Parable . . .

"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Matthew 18: 21-35

Restoration

You bring restoration,
You bring restoration,
You bring restoration to my soul.

You've taken my pain And you call me by a new name.
You've taken my shame And in its place you give my joy.

You take my mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my weeping and turn it into laughing
You take my mourning and turn it into dancing
You take my sadness and turn it into joy.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, You make all things new.

Written by: Audra Harke, Clay Edwards

Psalm 23:3 - He restores my soul.
Psalm 30:5 - Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Psalm 30:11-12 - You have turned my mourning into dancing, loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

This Year?

{Thoughtful Thursday}
This year? Seriously, where has it gone. I can't believe next week we'll be starting October. Then we'll be in the holiday season when things will really fly by.

Here is us at the beginning of this year (not the best background but that's what you get when fall lasts for three days here in Texas and you waited till the weekend to take pictures!!!):

How things have changed! And fast! The boys have grown up so much and Kenadi is no longer kicking the inside of my ribs! It just makes me wonder we're we'll be in a year from now, and a year from then, and so on. I love how no matter what can and will happen, God will always be reminding us that He remains the same and promises us things through who He is:

"I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies."

Psalm 18: 1-3

"Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and He delivered them from their distress.

He sent out His Word and healed them,

and delivered them from their destruction.

Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love,

for His wondrous works to the children of men!

Psalm 107: 19-21

He makes the promise to always be our Strength, our Rock, our Fortress, our Deliverer, our Refuge, our Sheild, our Salvation, our Stronghold, our Healer, our Steadfast Love.

Fabric

{Transaction Tuesday}
So, I have some new fabric! So far I finished an order for another tie shirt (I love these - perfect way to feel like you dress your little man as cute as you did your little girl :) and a hooter hider.


Also, just in case you didn't know, we can make our flower hair clips into pins to attach to your shirt. I love it! I'm about to make some bigger ones with the new fabric so stay tune :)

Training?

{Inspiration Monday}
I haven't been thinking about it much but I know I've missed running/cycling/swimming when something little like this makes me want to get up and go work out!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Soon and very soon! In the past I've trained for triathlons but have never actually competed. I think it's time to go for it!

Impossible???

{Family Friday}
(yes I know it's Saturday - I'm a little late)
So, whenever I tried to take pictures of the boys when it was just them, I thought I had a hard time trying to get a good picture. I eventually gave in to the fact that the pictures I got, though they may not be perfect, reflected where we were at/what things were like at that time. Well today I let it get to me AGAIN. All I want is some nice pictures for around the house of the kids all together; all LOOKING and SMILING at the camera. Of course this is a lot to ask with a six month old but I know I can get her to look at me and smile and every time I did someone else would be looking the other way or be giving me some crazy goofy smile. So again, I have to remind myself these turned out great because it shows us:us.

This is the best one of everyone together although that smile Kenadi has is not her real happy smile. It's an inbetween smile that actually turns into screaming crying in less than a second.

I'll try for some more later . . . trying to get a good pic can be exhausting :)

And yes Kenadi is getting 4 of her top teeth right now but you can really only see one in the pictures.

Sweet

{Thoughful Thursday}
This will be short and sweet :)

Lately I've needed to remind myself more of the character of God. Since I was a little girl I heard the story of Moses and the bitter water at Marah . . .

"Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." Exodus 15: 23-25

. . . naturally, I couldn't relate that story to my own life experiences back then. We can see through what happened in Marah that God is our provider and healer. In the next verse God promises "For I am the Lord who heals you." (v.26). Just as Moses threw a piece of wood into the waters to turn the bitter water sweet, the cross of Christ can turn your bitter life experiences into something sweet for Him.

Shirts

{Transaction Tuesday}
A couple of new shirts . . .
B is for Bird







I had tried making a headband that I could attach one of our flowers to but I think I'll make the flower just a little bit smaller next time.

T is for Tree . . .
and an initialed tee order :)

and another order for one of Sara's diaper cakes.

Inspirers

{Inspiration Monday}

Next on my list of people who have inspired/influenced/motivated/encouraged me:
John Piper

I was first introduced to him when I was a senior in high school. I read "God's Passion for His Glory" which I guess I still haven't finished because "The End for Which God Created the World" by Jonathan Edwards was the second half of the book which I only got about half way through with. I did finish John Pipers part and it was through it that I found out about Christian Hedonism. If you've never heard of it it's basically summed up in this:

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

or

"The chief end of man is to glorify God

BY

enjoying Him forever."

At the age of 14, I can remember asking myself and looking for why I was living/what was the purpose of life. At 18, God revealed this to me and I was fully satisfied.
So what is the end for which God created the world? "That end, Edwards says, is, first, that the glory of God might be magnified in the universe, and , second, that Christ's ransomed people from all times and all nations would rejoice in God above all things. But the depth and wonder and power of this book (The End for which God Created the World) is the demonstration that these two ends are one. The rejoicing of all peoples in God, and the magnifying of God's glory are one end, not two."
Here are some implications of that:
#1 God's passion for His own glory and His passion for my joy in Him are not at odds.
#2 Therefore, God is as committed to my eternal and ever-increasing joy in Him as He is to His own glory.
#3 The love of God for sinners is not His making much of them, but His graciously freeing and empowering them to enjoy making much of Him. (if God would do us good, He must direct us to His worth, not ours)
and later . . .
#15 If the exhibition of God's glory and the deepest joy of human souls are one thing, then, as C.S. Lewis said, "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can be.
Sometimes people ask: should we pursue obedience to God or joy in God? Edwards would answer: The question involves a category confusion. It's like asking: should I pursue fruit or apples? Obedience is doing what we are told. And we are told to delight ourselves in the Lord. Therefore pursuing joy in God is obedience."

"The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life" Psalm 63:3

Labor Day Weekend

{Family Friday}

For Labor Day weekend we went and hung out with our friends Mark and Brandi. I can't resist to post all these pics of Kenadi swinging. I love how little and happy she looks :)

Cole got to try out a snorkel (he'd been wanting to for some time now :)

Growing Up . . .

{Thoughtful Thursday}

I love periodically asking the boys what they want to be when they grow up and seeing how their answer changes as their little personalities form.

Mom: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Cole: "I want to build space shuttles and go to space."

Chase: "When I grow up, I'm going to walk to the place where there's dinosaur bones, dig them up, and put them together in the sand."

Cy: "I want to be Jaws!!!"
(Yes, Daddy has let them watch it)

Mom: "I don't think you'll get paid money to be Jaws."

Cy: "Oh." (so defeated)

Clipboards

{Transaction Tuesday}

Here's what we've been up to at Needle in a Scrap Stack:

More letters for Sara's Diaper Cakes

(this was my first letter I made with fabric!)

More clipboards and a Papa size clothes pin to match.

My friend Gina ordered this for her friend Shay who is on "The Biggest Looser"
The new season premieres next week!

In the Routine

{Family Friday}
So we are back in the groove of things! Cole just finished his second week of school and everything is going nice and smooth.

Kenadi is also happy in her routine of things and is growing like a weed. Somebody make it slow down!!! She's now eating 3 times a day and just gobbles everything up like a little turkey! She also has a new favorite toy:

Have a great weekend!

Infants ;)

I was just reading and it made me think back to something I heard Matt Chandler say just a few months after Kenadi was born. At the time, Kenadi was still in the infant stages where I was still getting up every couple hours at night. Every time I've read these verses before, I never really connected it to a baby crying out in hope because of their need (which you'd think I would have because of the verses beforehand).

“Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."” Luke 18 :15-17

Matt went on to say, "So what we tried to unpack is how does an infant receive things? I am intimately acquainted with this right now. Nora, when she’s hungry, her only hope to get food is to cry and hope. When she’s in her own filth, her only hope is to cry. When she’s uncomfortable, her only hope is to cry. When she’s cold, her only hope is to cry. When she’s hot, her only hope is to cry. When she wants to be cuddled, her only hope is to cry. Nora can do nothing except cry and hope."

If you read back in the text a little bit, it shows what the Pharisee and the tax collector prayed. The Pharisee's prayer was not bad - he's giving God credit for his spiritual growth. The problem was that he thought his spiritual growth justified him.

The tax collector pleads the blood of Christ. He cries out because he see's how unworthy he is. He see's his need. By no act of morality, by no act of religion will he be saved. It will be by His mercy; through Christ alone.

The only ones who will be justified are the ones who come to the kingdom like infants, whose only way to receive is to cry out.

New in the Shop . . .

{Transaction Tuesday}

Just finished a couple of new things to put up in the shop this week!

New Initialed Burpcloths . . .

and our Gentleman Onesies.

Can't forget some more clips (which can be made as a pin, hair clip or magnet)

I've also teamed up with Sara Nichols making custom letters for her super adorable diaper cake business. You can check them out at: http://sarasdiapercakes.blogspot.com/

Inspirers :)

{Inspiration Monday}

For the next few mondays I want to write about a few of the people who have inspired/influenced/motivated/encouraged me.
When I went to California this summer my brother-in-law, Derek, was just starting a new Bible study at church. It was on Randy Alcorn's book "Heaven" and first of all it's a miracle that I'm even half way through a book (and this book isn't small) and second,God has used it to change my view of heaven and in return, my daily outlook. This may be long but I'll try to sum up the beginning chapters quickly for you.
In chapter 1, Randy talks about all of our misconceptions of heaven - words like boring, even depressing. Nearly every Christian thinks about a never ending church service in the sky. "We loose heart, and we turn once more to the present to find what life we can." In contrast, when we have an accurate (biblical) view of heaven we will desire and look forward to it.
"We do not desire to eat gravel. Why? Because God did not design us to eat gravel. Trying to develop an appitite for a disembodied existence in a non-physical Heaven is like trying to develop an appitite for gravel."
He goes on to say how there are very few books about heaven, very little said in church services which raises the question: Does Scripture really have so little to say about Heaven? The bible says "NO!"
"Satan need not convince us that Heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that Heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we'll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we'll set our minds on this life and not the next, and we won't be motivated to share our faith. Why should we share the "good news" that people can spend an eternity in a boring, ghostly place that even we're not looking forward to?"
Another source of our misconceptions of Heaven is naturalism: "We succumb to naturalistic assumptions that what we see is real and what we don't see isn't. God can't be real because we can't see him. And Heaven can't be real because we can't see it. But we must recognize our blindness. The blind must take by faith that there are stars in the sky. If they depend on their ability to see, they will conclude there are no stars."

In chapter 2, he talks about the importance of using our imagination. How books about Heaven are notorious for saying we can't know what Heaven is like but it will be more wonderful than
we can imagine. "However the moment we say that we can't imagine Heaven, we dump cold water on all that God has revealed to us about our eternal home."
"We cannot anticipate or desire what we cannot imagine. That's why, I believe, God has given us glimpses of Heaven in the Bible - to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts. And that's why Satan will always discourage our imagination - or misdirect it to ethereal notions that violate Scripture."
"If God didn't want us to imagine what Heaven will be like, he wouldn't have told us as much about it as he has." He talks about fueling our imagination with Scripture and how nearly every notion of Heaven he presents in this book is reinforced by biblical texts (he also encourages you to look it up for yourself).
I love how he makes it clear that the Bible tells us that Heaven is a physical, tangible place; that God's Kingdom will come to Earth; that God's plan isn't to demolish but to redeem/resurrect the Earth; that a physical resurrecton awaits us.
"We should accept that many things about Heaven are secret and that God has countless surprises in store for us. But as for what God has revealed to us about Heaven, these things belong to us and to our children."
"Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1). This is direct command to set our hearts on heaven. To long for Christ is to long for Heaven.

I may have quoted the book a little much but hopefully it's inspired you to either:
a) think "she's crazy, I better find out for myself"
or
b) Diligently, actively, single mindedly pursue the things above.

Either way I'll be back next week with just a little more to say on the topic :)

New News

{Family Friday}
This week was an exciting one . . .

. . . Cole started 1st grade . . .

. . . Kenadi was 6 months old Tuesday . . .

. . . I made a new shirt . . .

Chase, a long time lover of connect the dots, is just as addicted to tracing his name! He's also not getting as frustrated with his drawings :)


. . . Cole also moved up to Kids Village at church . . .

Chase was pretty excited for him and gave Cole his crown :)

Just What I Needed

{Thoughtful Thursdays}

Today while me and the boys (Chase and Cy) were eating lunch I realized I hadn't said a blessing (the boys usually remind me of this but hadn't yet). Since we were already half way through I said, "Thank you Jesus for this food."
Chase chimes in immediatly, "And thank you Jesus for being in my heart."
Then in his best deep and powerful voice he says, "Your welcome, Chase" and smiles and tells me that's what God would say to him.
It was just what I needed.

Fabulous Fall

{Transaction Tuesday}

A couple of shirts . . .

. . . and now I'm inspired to make some more with matching hair clips. I'll be posting them soon!

I also listed a couple items for our Fabulous Fall section. Here they are . . .