Saturday, January 28, 2012
Having a Two Year Old is Awesome!
I spent the morning at a local indoor play place for kids that's becoming a favorite of ours. It really struck me through conversation with a friend how much I love the age Zooey is at right now. It is such a fun age! Her imagination is really picking up, as is her attention span. Where as she used to spend time playing with one toy, then another and another and another all without any real focus, she will now actually pretend-play. We spent a good five minutes making "sandwiches" and another ten with her "feeding me" cookies dipped in chocolate sauce & peanut butter (even in pretend play, my kid knows what's up when it comes to food!). She also loved to sit and flip through a look & find book with me and even spent some time coloring on a chalk board with her little friend, Sybella. She took a stuffed bear up the ladder on the slide and pushed it down, laughing the whole time, before she herself went down. She "drove" a school bus for a good chunk of time. It just really is a fun age. Today was one of those days I wish I could bottle up and take out later to bask in. That's why I took a lot of pictures! To finish up our morning, we went to Chick-fil-A, where I had promised I get her an ice cream. As we shared our "girl's lunch," the sun was bouncing off Zooey's hair, and she smiled and carried on quite the conversation with me about her love of ketchup, and I realized again how incredibly blessed I am to be this little girl's mommy.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Heart's Desires
"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart's desires." Psalm 37:4, NLT
I used to read this verse and think that if I followed all the rules, then God would give me what I want. Ha. Ha. Hahaha! I'm so blessed He's brought me past that wrong way of thinking. Because, guess what? Every time I didn't follow all the rules, I was totally broken and dismayed by my level of guilt, thinking my own inability to please God was the reason I wasn't happy. Romans 3:9b-12 says, "We have already made the charge that Jews & Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." I could never - never, ever, never - please God on my own. Thank God that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and cover me with His grace, so that now when God looks at me, He sees Jesus' purity and accepts me into His family.
How does one "take delight in the Lord?" By reading His Word, by poring over it and making Him your passion. By carving out the time to form a real, personal relationship with Him just as you would do with your closest friend. What would happen if you didn't carve out time with your friend? The relationship would become stagnant, non-existent. What happens when you don't carve out time for God? You start seeking fulfillment and happiness elsewhere, you start looking for pleasures that abound in the world, but are fleeting and still leave you wanting. The relationship grows stagnant, and God lets you go out and explore...He gives you over to these temporary desires. But these desires, even the good ones (having a good career, finding the love of your life, having a child, making and keeping friends) are still all earthly things, so they still don't fulfill. So, what is God talking about when He says He'll give you your heart's desires? When we delight in the Lord, we start to see things from His Word, His will and His perspective. Simply put, our desires change. They begin to mesh with His desires for our lives, because His desires for us are best. He wants us to be free and at peace and find joy - even when we don't necessarily feel it. There will be hurts, there will be suffering; sometimes our deepest wants won't be met. But when we make God's desires the center of our heart for our lives, we will be fulfilled in a way that's indescribable. It's indescribably by human terms, because it comes from Him. It's why we can rejoice in suffering, because of the hope He offers.
No one can guess the secret will of God, and you know what? Sometimes it doesn't make sense, it doesn't seem fair and we just don't understand. The good news is: He does. And someday, when we give it over to Him, He'll show us why He arranged things just so. And we'll say, "Aha! I get it now!"
I used to read this verse and think that if I followed all the rules, then God would give me what I want. Ha. Ha. Hahaha! I'm so blessed He's brought me past that wrong way of thinking. Because, guess what? Every time I didn't follow all the rules, I was totally broken and dismayed by my level of guilt, thinking my own inability to please God was the reason I wasn't happy. Romans 3:9b-12 says, "We have already made the charge that Jews & Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." I could never - never, ever, never - please God on my own. Thank God that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins and cover me with His grace, so that now when God looks at me, He sees Jesus' purity and accepts me into His family.
How does one "take delight in the Lord?" By reading His Word, by poring over it and making Him your passion. By carving out the time to form a real, personal relationship with Him just as you would do with your closest friend. What would happen if you didn't carve out time with your friend? The relationship would become stagnant, non-existent. What happens when you don't carve out time for God? You start seeking fulfillment and happiness elsewhere, you start looking for pleasures that abound in the world, but are fleeting and still leave you wanting. The relationship grows stagnant, and God lets you go out and explore...He gives you over to these temporary desires. But these desires, even the good ones (having a good career, finding the love of your life, having a child, making and keeping friends) are still all earthly things, so they still don't fulfill. So, what is God talking about when He says He'll give you your heart's desires? When we delight in the Lord, we start to see things from His Word, His will and His perspective. Simply put, our desires change. They begin to mesh with His desires for our lives, because His desires for us are best. He wants us to be free and at peace and find joy - even when we don't necessarily feel it. There will be hurts, there will be suffering; sometimes our deepest wants won't be met. But when we make God's desires the center of our heart for our lives, we will be fulfilled in a way that's indescribable. It's indescribably by human terms, because it comes from Him. It's why we can rejoice in suffering, because of the hope He offers.
No one can guess the secret will of God, and you know what? Sometimes it doesn't make sense, it doesn't seem fair and we just don't understand. The good news is: He does. And someday, when we give it over to Him, He'll show us why He arranged things just so. And we'll say, "Aha! I get it now!"
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Waiting for Glory
I titled this blog after Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I love how Paul uses running a race and staying strong and firm so many times in his words and letters. This morning, I read Acts 20:24, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." This is the kind of life I want to lead. I want to love like Jesus loves. I want to turn from my sin and be pure and holy.
The Lord has really convicted me this morning of some sins I need to turn from. Gossip that sneaks into conversations, a bitter root that's been seeded and watered and is growing in my heart, unforgiveness...among other things. My prayer is that the Lord will help me to turn so fully from these sins that I am like the Ephesians who burned their scrolls of sinful sorcery, so they couldn't turn back to it even if they wanted to. They completely removed the temptation from themselves. (Acts 19:18-20). I am praying about how to do best do this, but I do know that part of it will include being bold in my obedience to Christ, even if others might be "offended" by my passion, even if others might call me obsessed or uptight. After all, the whole purpose of our lives here on earth is to be holy, set apart for God. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians in both of his letters to them to stay strong in God's word and remain obedient to Him. In 1 Thessalonians, the text that really stands out to me is "Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thes. 5:21-22). And in 2 Thessalonians 3:15, Paul writes, "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter." As a Christian, I am not to live this life as the world does, moment by moment, doing whatever feels good at the time, be it entertainment (movies, books, off-color jokes, drinking myself to drunkenness, etc.). I am also not to waste my time away in a saddened state, pondering the big Why's (why did my mom die? why does God allow babies to be raped and killed?). As a Christian, I am called to be passionate and obsessed with God's Word, with living a life that is God-honoring and looking toward Christ's return, living and working for Him. As I read this week, "A person who is obsessed with Jesus thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them." (Francis Chan, Crazy Love).
What is this going to look like in my daily life? Well, one thing is for certain: Scripture makes it very clear to us that true belief in Christ requires obedience to Christ. To have received Jesus as Lord and Savior is shown by careful study and obedience to God's Word. I am so thankful that God has been helping me to get up each morning to spend time with Him before I go on with my day. I am thankful that He's revealed these sins to me and am asking Him to change me from the inside out. I am praying for courage in facing people who want me to compromise, or who may think the compromise isn't compromise but merely something harmless or that perhaps I'm being too uptight. While these words may hurt, I am convinced that having Jesus ask me why I went along with it, with tenderness in His eyes on His Day is going to hurt my heart a whole lot more. I want to make good choices today, no every moment, so that when He comes in Glory, I can be found watching and working for Him.
The Lord has really convicted me this morning of some sins I need to turn from. Gossip that sneaks into conversations, a bitter root that's been seeded and watered and is growing in my heart, unforgiveness...among other things. My prayer is that the Lord will help me to turn so fully from these sins that I am like the Ephesians who burned their scrolls of sinful sorcery, so they couldn't turn back to it even if they wanted to. They completely removed the temptation from themselves. (Acts 19:18-20). I am praying about how to do best do this, but I do know that part of it will include being bold in my obedience to Christ, even if others might be "offended" by my passion, even if others might call me obsessed or uptight. After all, the whole purpose of our lives here on earth is to be holy, set apart for God. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians in both of his letters to them to stay strong in God's word and remain obedient to Him. In 1 Thessalonians, the text that really stands out to me is "Test everything. Hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thes. 5:21-22). And in 2 Thessalonians 3:15, Paul writes, "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter." As a Christian, I am not to live this life as the world does, moment by moment, doing whatever feels good at the time, be it entertainment (movies, books, off-color jokes, drinking myself to drunkenness, etc.). I am also not to waste my time away in a saddened state, pondering the big Why's (why did my mom die? why does God allow babies to be raped and killed?). As a Christian, I am called to be passionate and obsessed with God's Word, with living a life that is God-honoring and looking toward Christ's return, living and working for Him. As I read this week, "A person who is obsessed with Jesus thinks about heaven frequently. Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity; they are not fixed only on what is here in front of them." (Francis Chan, Crazy Love).
What is this going to look like in my daily life? Well, one thing is for certain: Scripture makes it very clear to us that true belief in Christ requires obedience to Christ. To have received Jesus as Lord and Savior is shown by careful study and obedience to God's Word. I am so thankful that God has been helping me to get up each morning to spend time with Him before I go on with my day. I am thankful that He's revealed these sins to me and am asking Him to change me from the inside out. I am praying for courage in facing people who want me to compromise, or who may think the compromise isn't compromise but merely something harmless or that perhaps I'm being too uptight. While these words may hurt, I am convinced that having Jesus ask me why I went along with it, with tenderness in His eyes on His Day is going to hurt my heart a whole lot more. I want to make good choices today, no every moment, so that when He comes in Glory, I can be found watching and working for Him.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Christmas
Christmas was different this year. (HELLO, Captain Obvious!) In addition to having some very rough moments, I also had so much joy in some moments I thought my heart would burst. I cried until my eyes were red and my pillow was covered in snot on Christmas Eve; the missing was horrible. But I awoke on Christmas more excited and happy than any Christmas morning I'd ever had as a kid; I couldn't wait to see Zooey experience it. We went to the candlelight service at our church on Christmas Eve (which was wonderful, always a favorite tradition for me) and then spent the night at my dad's eating posole. Christmas was also different in the fact that we just did different stuff. Zooey & I spent Christmas day at my sister Melissa's house, because Sarah & Ryan were working. It was so nice to spend some time with her and her family and get to just hang out. Ryan was off on Monday, so we had our time with Sarah & Rey & my dad on Monday. Overall, our Christmas was truly a time of joy and togetherness.
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| Checking out the new slide from Santa |
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| Cinnamon roll breakfast - our family's Christmas tradition! |
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| A new favorite - an easel from Mom & Dad |
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| Zooey with her cousin Kate, checking out the hamster |
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| MORE PRESENTS?!?! |
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