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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

Time Flies!

{Thoughtful Thursdays}

My big 6 six year old had his meet the teacher night tonight! Lately I've been constantly reminded of how fast time flies by. Cole's starting 1st grade this year, Chase starts Kindergarten next year, and the year after that Cy will be in school. Then it will just be me and my baby girl for a little while till they'll all be off and running.

With time flying by it brings to mind how much I want to make these years count and how we all should strive for excellence. What does God say about the kind of mom I should be and what really matters against the backdrop of eternity? Here's what I should be striving for:

{Teach them the Word}
"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life.Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on ithe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me,‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ "
Deuteronomy 4:9-10

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
Deuteronomy 6:5-9

{Teach them of God's Mighty Works}
"They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,and the glorious splendor of your kingdom."
Psalm 145:11-12

{Teach Them to Obey and Honor You}
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”"
Ephesians 6:1-3

"My son, keep your father’s commandment,and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life."
Proverbs 6:20-23

{Discipline Them}
"The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother."
Proverbs 29:15

"Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart."
Proverbs 29:17

{Do Not Provoke Them to Anger}
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Ephesians 6:4

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"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."
Colossians 3:23-24

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
Galatians 5:22-24

Explicit or Assumed?

{Thoughtful Thursday}

In a post on The Village blog last week, Josh Patterson wrote on if the gospel was assumed or explicit in your relationships. Basically do people know that you've been transformed by the death and resurrection of Christ?

"Those who live life under the banner of an assumed gospel simply navigate the waters of life with an underlying foundation that is personal and meaningful. An assumed gospel often means that a person deeply values the gospel and tries to live life according to the gospel.

The issue with an assumed gospel is that it is often too personal and, therefore, becomes private. The person who lives under the assumption of the gospel often knows how it relates to their life, but nobody else does. "

I tend to lean on the assumed side. I think to myself that people will see by my example. The problem with that is that in the years and years that have gone by with me thinking this, NO ONE has ever come up to me to ask "What's different about you" not to mention I have failed time and time again on being that example.

This is something that God has put on my heart time and time again mainly because it is WRONG. When you've been in the assumed for so long with your friends, neighbors, co-workers, your passion and the very thing that your living for seem to get lost and disappear. The gospel is very personal and meaningful to me so much so that living in the assumed almost equals superficiality. Most of my friends don't know what God has done in my life when everything in me should me screaming how the wrath that God has toward my sin was poured out on Jesus Christ and I am now saved. Yes, this is my fault and I think that's why I am wrestling with this so much. But it's a good wrestle and one I need to get through.