Showing posts with label Reflection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reflection. Show all posts
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Our days are not empty. We somehow manage to fill them to the brim everyday with activities, work responsibilities and ministries--school work, stretching carpets, washing dishes, cleaning doors, laundry, teaching English, playing with children, setting tables, riding bikes, working at the front desk, cleaning bathrooms, baking cheesecakes, teaching crochet, reading books, shopping for groceries, talking with friends, assisting others with their work projects, playing volleyball (or attempting to play, for some of us), writing letters, playing games, eating ice cream, seeking the Lord... And those are just some of the things we've done as a family this week. ;-)
We've decided that we must either be an unusually boring family (Nate says we're not...thanks Nate =), or we just somehow fail to capture the "beauty and sweetness of everyday life" on camera. With six+ cameras in the home you would think someone would take pictures more often, but not so! We don't exactly like to rely on friends to take all of our pictures for us either (although we sincerely appreciate their willingness and skilled efforts). So we've planned a mission: we're going to see just how many normal, everyday moments we can capture of our work and daily life as a family at ITC...and then maybe we'll have a few worthy enough of sharing with you. ;-)
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the GOODNESS of the LORD in the land of the living." Ps. 27:13
"Oh how great is thy GOODNESS, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!" Ps. 31:19
We've decided that we must either be an unusually boring family (Nate says we're not...thanks Nate =), or we just somehow fail to capture the "beauty and sweetness of everyday life" on camera. With six+ cameras in the home you would think someone would take pictures more often, but not so! We don't exactly like to rely on friends to take all of our pictures for us either (although we sincerely appreciate their willingness and skilled efforts). So we've planned a mission: we're going to see just how many normal, everyday moments we can capture of our work and daily life as a family at ITC...and then maybe we'll have a few worthy enough of sharing with you. ;-)
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the GOODNESS of the LORD in the land of the living." Ps. 27:13
"Oh how great is thy GOODNESS, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!" Ps. 31:19
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Theme of My Life
On Tuesday evening I had the remarkable honor of sharing a testimony with the Hair Design girls. I'm afraid that my life is very, well...normal, so I wasn't sure that any testimony of my life would be at all meaningful. But I agreed to share anyway. As I gathered my thoughts together beforehand, the Lord very clearly revealed to me a common theme threading throughout my entire life. Surrender. Isn't this what He asks of all of us? The Lord has asked me to surrender many things throughout my life (I shared about eight of the hardest of them with the girls), from homeschooling, friends and clothing to my vision for hospitality, home and marriage and just about everything in between! It amazes me how real something becomes in my own life when I simply share it with others.
A few thoughts that came to mind when preparing to speak to the girls....
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24
“Castles in the air take a vast deal to keep up.” I have found this to be true in my own life, and no matter how long or precisely I’ve labored to build those precious castles of mine, the Lord has always asked me to surrender every one of them—to experience the “death” of all vision. There is nothing so hard to do than surrender what is precious to us, is there? But just like the seed that dies to bring forth life, so every good dream and desire must die to bear fruit. When we surrender our wills and allow our dreams to die God is glorified, because death yields fruit, and fruit brings glory (John 15:8).
God's desire is that we be wholly and willingly surrendered to Him, His life flowing through us as we empty ourselves of self (2 Timothy 2:20, 21), and allow ourselves to be filled with Him.
Brokenness is having no will of our own. When we allow God to bring us to the place where He is the only thing we ask for, the only thing we desire in life, where we no longer seek our own will but His alone, only then can we truly hope to be filled with Him as He dwells in us. The way to the heart of Jesus Christ is not by striving and working on our own, but by surrender and submission, by faith rather than by self. No one can perfectly surrender anything to the Lord, but if we’re willing to surrender, Jesus Christ can do for us what we can never do for ourselves, and that’s what He desires—a willingness in our hearts to give up ALL things that we might take hold of ONE thing—Jesus Christ.
Brokenness is having no will of our own. When we allow God to bring us to the place where He is the only thing we ask for, the only thing we desire in life, where we no longer seek our own will but His alone, only then can we truly hope to be filled with Him as He dwells in us. The way to the heart of Jesus Christ is not by striving and working on our own, but by surrender and submission, by faith rather than by self. No one can perfectly surrender anything to the Lord, but if we’re willing to surrender, Jesus Christ can do for us what we can never do for ourselves, and that’s what He desires—a willingness in our hearts to give up ALL things that we might take hold of ONE thing—Jesus Christ.
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