Tag: Blogs

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I Got Tagged

I don’t usually do these…. but…. I was tagged & don’t feel like posting what I have been struggling with (challenged with & encouraged by…) at the moment. So here it is. My tag, courtesy of Holly. 🙂

Rule #1: the tagged person must write their answers on their blog and replace any question they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.
Rule #2: tag 4 people to do this quiz; they cannot refuse (ok, so nothing bad will happen if you don’t participate but I would love to see your answers). The tag-ee must state who tagged them.

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals or are they members of your family?
Our Dilly-dog is a family member (to a certain degree).

2. If you could have a dream come true, what would it be?
I think everyone knows my answer to this: be able to have children.

3. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Hah! Pay lots of taxes, probably. Build our new house exactly the way we’d love it. Afford medical treatments (or adoption, if the Lord called us to that) for a few babies. Buy this great little brick schoolhouse in our future hometown and start a homeschool coop there. Save save save (because my husband & I are both compulsive savers).

4. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?
Music, tea, Yankee candles, chatting with someone I love, being silly with my Gabriel, a neck rub from my husby, praying.

5. What is your bedtime routine, with your kid(s) if you have any?
Around 8 we wind things down, go potty one last time, brush teeth, get in jammies, sit on the couch as a family to “read & sing” (read Scripture, read a prayer from the Valley Of Vision, singing from Cantus Christi, and pray as a family), then one of us (usually Mommy, occasionally Daddy) rocks with Gabriel in his room and reads a few books (his current favorite is Blueberries For Sal – he can recite the entire thing), sings a couple songs, prays with him & for him, gives him a blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), tucks him in, and says goodnight. This is usually finished before 9.

6. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your significant other?
Sovereign Grace Singles online. Whee! The Lord does some magnificent things sometimes. 🙂

7. What kind of books do you read?
I always have a few practical Christian books going at once, and very occasionally read some fiction. I used to love L.M. Montgomery the most, and Dorothy Sayers, and lots more. Right now I am reading Streams In The Desert (my daily devotional), Prayers Of An Excellent Wife (as a springboard to hold me accountable to pray specifically for my husband, and also for our son), When I Don’t Desire God (for the ladies’ study at church),  One Thousand Gifts, Place Of Healing, and Brave New Family. Yep, I have a bunch going at once. 😉

8. How do you see yourself in 10 years?
Through impossible glasses.

9. What’s your fear?
I am striving to fear the Lord and nothing beyond Him.
This is, of course, an incredible work in progress.
But as such, I don’t want to delve into my other fears.

10. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to see outer space?
I don’t really like junk food (unless french fries count!), but I also don’t have a real desire to see outer space. So I guess not.

11. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
Literally, the first thing? Take meds.

12. If you could change one thing about your significant other, what would it be?
The only thing that has ever disappointed me about him was that when I first heard his voice on the phone he didn’t have an accent ~ he lived in North Carolina and had just spent a year studying in Scotland, thus the disappointment ~ so I would give him an accent. 😀
I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. He isn’t perfect, but he is perfectly designed for me.

13. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
I would love to have been named after my grandmas. Carily would do it. But I like my name, so I wouldn’t, even if I could.

14. If you had to choose where you would live would you rather live in the east coast or the west coast?
I wouldn’t want to live in either coast! I don’t like swimming in oceans!
But, I’m a west coast girl forever.

15. If you had to give up one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?
Caffeine. Oh wait, been off of that for 2 years already…

16. What is the thing you enjoy about blogging the most?
Being able to witness and share my heart with people; being vulnerable and honest even when going through the dark valleys of life, and sharing Christ through that experience.

17. Do you prefer salty or sweet foods?
Usually salty.

18. What items are in your purse right now?
Wallet, cell phone, lip gloss, hand lotion, antibacterial wipes, keys, and a packet of tylenol.

19. If you had to choose between vacationing at the beach or in the mountains where would you go?
Mountains.

20. What do you watch on television?
We don’t have television, but we stream things online. Bones is our current favorite.

Tagging:
Nobody particular 🙂 If you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged!

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New Beginnings

Thank you to my sweet husband Steven, who worked hard to move my blog for me, and get it all set up. (Please note that his blog has moved as well, so if you had it linked anywhere, you’ll need to update that, too, I think.)

Please bear with me as I get used to the changes, and try figuring things out a little at a time. I am trying to go back and re-tag old posts because none of the tags came across in the archives. I don’t know if it’s worth the effort or not… so we’ll see if I actually make it very far, or if I just get a very large “uncategorized” category as a result. 🙂

If you find anything particularly nice about this new layout, please let me know; but even more importantly, if you find anything that isn’t working, or that you think could be improved upon, please make sure to tell me! This is all very new to me. My husband is a blessing, since I am, uh, shall we say – not very techie. 🙂

So cheers to new beginnings! On the blog, if nothing else. 🙂

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Saturday March 20, 2010

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.”
James 5:13

The New Testament has numerous references to suffering in relation to Christ & His Kingdom: sharing His sufferings (2 Corinthians 1:5, Philippians 3:10, 2 Timothy 2:3, 1 Peter 4:13), suffering for the Kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians 1:5), suffering for the Gospel (2 Timothy 1:8). And these, of course, are just the first instances that pop up; there are many more, should you wish to study it out more in-depth.

But anyway, Scripture talks a lot about suffering — nobody can dispute that. One of the biggest books in the Bible is all about it: Job. Scripture connects suffering to glory (Romans 8:18, Ephesians 3:13, Hebrews 2:9, 1 Peter 1:11, 1 Peter 4:13, 1 Peter 5:1), mostly in reference to Christ but also in reference to His people. So this morning I have been pondering how my own suffering is connected to glory.
In the midst of suffering, it simply feels -well, honestly- sorrowful. It can feel shameful. Even overwhelmingly dire. I would, most days, just rather give up altogether. Where is the glory?, we wonder. It is future glory. Gold is beautiful and glorious, but while it is in the refining fire, beware: it is brittle and hot and not to be envied. It is the after-effect that is shiny and precious. (Zechariah 13:9 and 1 Peter 1:7 refer to this.)

I don’t like suffering. (Who does?) But the fact is, we all suffer. In different ways, at different times.
Sometimes I wonder how the Scriptural references to suffering impact me and my own suffering. It talks about suffering with Christ, but am I being physically mocked, persecuted, and tortured because of my faith? It talks about suffering for the Kingdom and suffering for the Gospel, but -again- is that what I am doing?
Sometimes it is hard to see the connection.
It is hard to see how my suffering (or your suffering) is sharing in the sufferings of Christ, is suffering for the sake of the Kingdom of God, is suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

But I am sharing in the sufferings of Christ — I am suffering -grieving- because sin inhabits this world, and death came through sin (Romans 5:12). My suffering produces Christlikeness.
I am suffering for the sake of the Kingdom of God — I am suffering as we pursue growing the Kingdom of God, in Heaven if not on earth (Matthew 19:14, Luke 18:29). My suffering preaches the Kingdom.
I am suffering for the sake of the Gospel — the Gospel is all about Resurrection (John 11:24-25), and there is nothing I speak of more often & intently than that (Romans 6:5, 1 Peter 1:3). My suffering proclaims the Gospel.

In my suffering, there is nothing I want more than to bring glory to God because of His faithfulness and endurance. He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Amen!

This is what it is to share in Christ’s sufferings, to suffer for the Kingdom and the Gospel — to faithfully endure by the power of God’s grace, and to proclaim it to the nations.

So today while I sit here suffering, grieving for my children, may I also be enabled by the power & grace of God to look ahead toward future glories. May I somehow see through my vale of tears that there is a glorious hope, redemption, and resurrection. There may yet be these things here on earth ere I die. And if not, if the Lord should see fit to fill each one of my remaining days with suffering & grief, may He still cause me to praise His name for the knowledge that there is heavenly hope awaiting me. And that, if nothing else, is glorious beyond measure.

John MacArthur (not always, but sometimes, a good read) and Toby Sumpter (not just sometimes, but always, a good read) have thought-provoking, excellent things to say on the subject of Christian suffering. Go take peeks. And join me in prayer today. Is anyone among you suffering??

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Friday March 5, 2010

I just spent the last hour sitting here, going through pages and pages of blogs (I made it back to late summer 2009) trying to attach “tags” to all my blog entries… And now it looks like it didn’t even do anything. Grrr. A little frustrated now. 🙂 And disappointed. I was excited to make things more organized and easily accessible.

EDITED TO SAY: actually…. if you notice, I now have a “tag cloud” on the lefthand side of the blog page! So exciting. 🙂 So if you want to click around in a more themed way… feel free. 🙂

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Sunday February 28, 2010

Greetings, Femina girls!!
It’s a pleasure to “meet” you (feel free to say hello) and share some blog hopping with you all today.
I love to glance at Mrs. Wilson’s (et al) blog on a regular basis – and frequently share links and excerpts right here on my own blog.
When I was younger, my family attended Pastor Wilson’s church, and we gleaned many things firsthand from their beautiful family. I continue to be thankful for the gleanings God provides through the distance, although I now live elsewhere & attend a different CREC church. The Lord is kind to give books, email, blogs, and sermon tapes (I guess they’re cds these days, huh?).

PSALM 134
Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the LORD!
May the LORD bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth!

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Saturday February 20, 2010

My long time dear friend Erin of EAdams Designs sent me a lovely birthday bouquet (it’s so nice to receive flowers for a happy occasion now & then, too!), which arrived this morning while we were eating brunch as a family. Gabriel was excited to hear the doorbell ring, and equally thrilled to help Mommy open the newly acquired box.
Inside was a beautiful bouquet (don’t you agree?!), and I was so thrilled by the bright flowers and cheeriness that I couldn’t stop smiling. It was such a sweet offering. Thank you, Erin!! I wish I could hug you right now. 🙂
 

In the enclosed card, along with birthday wishes, she (who is likewise a bereaved mommy) included a beautiful quote of encouragement:

“The Lord does not measure out our afflictions according to our faults,
but according to our strength,
and looks not to what we deserve,
but what we are able to bear.“
~George Downame (1560-1634)

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Sunday February 14, 2010

SONNET 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

	Admit impediments. Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

	Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no! it is an ever-fixed mark

	That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

	Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

	Within his bending sickle's compass come:

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

	But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me proved,

	I never writ, nor no man ever loved.



			 William Shakespeare   

				(1564 - 1616)

EPHESIANS 5:2, 22-33

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up
for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ
is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its
Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also
wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church
and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her,
heaving cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might
be holy and without blemish.
In the same way husbands should love their wives as their
own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
because we are members of His body.
"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother
and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh." This mystery is profound, and I am saying
that it refers to Christ and the church.
However, let each one of you
love his wife as himself,
and let the wife see that
she respects her husband.

I can’t necessarily count on you to click, if I just include the link to Mrs. Wilson’s latest entry on marriage. And since it’s so appropriate right now for Valentine’s day… I am just going to copy the entirety of the text. And hope you take a couple minutes to read it. 🙂

A BANQUETING HOUSE, by Mrs. Nancy Wilson

Today was week four in a series I am teaching on women and marriage, updating an old tape series that Canon Press has been carrying for many years. The subject today was the marriage bed, and don’t expect me to dive into the whole topic here. But, I will mention one or two things. The first thing has to do with the bed itself. What kind of place is your bedroom? Is your bed inviting? Or is it buried under loads of laundry waiting to be folded? If we want our marriage bed to be comparable to what is described in the Song of Songs (a banqueting house with a banner of love), we might consider purchasing a small storage shed in which to keep the spare bicycles so we can get them out of the master bedroom!
The second thing I will mention here is the beautiful garden imagery. The bride is a locked garden, and the beloved is invited into the garden. It is a private place for them to enjoy alone. Do you view yourself as an inviting garden? Or is the garden a bit bedraggled, untended, full of weeds? Well then, time to start doing some tending, weeding, planting. Could be some little resentments have sprung up, crowding out the joy. What better time than now to start clearing away the debris?
Conjugal love is compared to feasting; it is described as celebratory; it is a time of rejoicing together. The wife says to her husband (Song of Songs 1:2), “Your love is better than wine.” Not grape juice. Not even sparkling grape juice. But wine. Rich, potent, intoxicating. But here’s a problem: What if we don’t drink wine, not even in the Lord’s Supper? If we only drink grape juice, how can we understand the potency of this passage? And if we never feast and celebrate around our tables, how will we understand the comparison made here between the marriage bed and a banqueting hall?
Marriage is to be honored and the marriage bed undefiled (Hebrews 13:4). The Bible is not prudish when it comes to the marriage bed. So we should not be prudish about it either.


~~And her follow-up about wine:

I made a comment a couple of posts ago about how wine should be something within our Christian experience, so we can understand a verse like “Your love is better than wine” in Song of Songs. And I got a question about this, so here is a little explanation. The Bible says not to be drunk, and that is as clear as can be (Eph. 5:18). In fact, that’s a simple one. But the Bible does not prohibit wine. If it did, there would not be much need for the admonishment against drunkenness.

Psalm 104:15 describes wine as gladdening the heart of man. At His mother’s urging, Jesus made quite a bit of the very best at the wedding at Cana (John 2:3). So it is safe to assume that wine is a given. At the same time, Scripture warns about misusing wine, and so we should be wise about wine. Older women are singled out in Titus 2:3 with a warning against too much wine. I have wondered what it is about the older women that creates a particular vulnerability for wine. I have a friend who suggested a good possibility: perhaps in the days before pain killers for the many aches and pains of old age, older women were tempted to rely a bit too heavily on the benefits of a glass of wine (or two). Wine is a mocker (Prov. 20:1) and “whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Wine requires wisdom because it is potent.

Proverbs 5:19 addresses the husband and says to always be enraptured or intoxicated with his bride’s love. Married love should be intoxicating. Comparing the marriage bed to grape juice would be weak. You may as well compare it to lemonade. But wine is rich, potent, and intoxicating. Thus, for the Christian to be unacquainted with wine is not a sin, because the Bible does not require wine drinking. But non-drinkers simply have fewer biblical metaphors in their experience.

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Monday February 8, 2010

Excerpts from Toby Sumpter’s excellent post on Haiti’s tragic earthquakes — and, consequently, all things under the sun:

God is the Creator and sustainer of all things. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). “In these last days [God has] spoken to us by His Son whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds… and upholding all things by the word of His power…” (Heb. 1:2-3) “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord do all these things” (Is. 45:7). This includes earthquakes. While this is perhaps the hardest part of the answer, it ultimately rests in the conviction that God is love and that this love is supremely evidenced in the horror of the cross of Jesus Christ. Christians refuse to get their definitions of love, justice, and mercy from the newspapers, Hollywood, or sappy vampire romance novels. We insist that these and all other virtues must be grounded in the person of Jesus crucified. So we do not begin with an abstract notion of “God is love” or even that “God is good.”

God hates evil and suffering, but God is not bound by them. God is free.
He is free to overcome evil and suffering through bending it to His good purposes.

God hates evil and suffering in itself, because it is the remnants of the old sin cursed world that still haunts all of us. But God is free to use this ugliness as He pleases, and He does.

God does save lives and others He takes. “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive: I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from my hand” (Dt. 32:39). He is the God of the living and the dead: the life of every living thing is in His absolute control (Job 12:10). He takes the lives of those who are wicked and in high handed rebellion, and He brings His own people home to rest in His presence until the resurrection.
In this, He is absolutely just and merciful.

Job 1:21 “…The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
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Monday February 8, 2010

    Our pastoral intern, Ben Alexander, preaches excellently. I am always both encouraged and challenged by the words of Truth which Christ speaks through him.
    This morning he preached on 1 Corinthians 13 — you know, the famous “love” section. He highlighted verse 7:

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.“

    It made me think about the members of Christ’s body that have truly reached out to us with such Christlike love lately. It isn’t just anyone who has loved us with this true type of love. The type that bears with us, believes with us, hopes with us, and endures with us. There are a number of people who have tangibly loved us this way. And my eyes filled with encouraged tears as soon as he began reading his sermon text this morning.
    A dear friend sent me an email not long ago saying that they find my husband & me to be exemplifying the love mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. The email meant a great deal to me, and blessed me. To know that we are ministering to others, proclaiming the Gospel through our life, and showcasing Christ’s love even in our grief and pain — that knowledge blessed me. And so I was reminded of that this morning.
    But in all honesty, I do not feel deserving of such encouragement. I do not feel like I bear all things or endure things — not well, at any rate. I feel like believing and hoping are grasping at straws for me some days.
    But may the Lord enable me to continually grow and become established in Him, conforming more and more to His image, so that I may (ere I die) be mature in this.
    Upon hearing the sermon text for today, the number one person that popped into my head was my Steven. He is patient and kind; never envious or boastful, arrogant or rude; he does not insist on his own way (even though he knows I would necessarily submit to him if he did); he is not easily irritated or harbor resentment; he rejoices in Truth; and truly, truly he bears all things (good, bad, ugly…) with me & for me, he believes all things (by the power of God in him) with me & for me, he hopes all things (for his hope is grounded deeply in the Lord), and he endures all things (I don’t even need to begin a list here). This man loves with a never-ending, never-failing love.
My Steven epitomizes this section of Scripture.
Praise the Lord. And amen!
    The next set of people that popped into my head are my parents. Never have such parents existed before, I think. (I know, I know — I’m partial, right?) They bear, believe, hope, and endure so much with us. Tangibly.
Praise the Lord. And hallelujah!
    And then there are others. Some who read this very blog! 🙂
Thank you for loving us with Christlike love.

    I know that Galatians 6:2 (“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”) is referring specifically to burdens of transgression, but I think the principle is largely (and appropriately) applied to other burdensome situations as well. My dearest friend’s mother leads a Bible study I attend, and she said recently “if you are bearing one another’s burdens, you should feel burdened. Truly burdened.” So for those of you who are specifically loving us in the way of helping to bear our burden of the past year — thank you for being burdened, and may our kind Father in Heaven bless you with a doublefold reward.

This morning, Ben Alexander said

“Maturity is the man of the most love.“

and

“Maturity is a person who knows that God loves them…
Who hates their sin and loves their forgiveness.“

I liked those snippets.
He also said

“Post millenialism is confident faith in God’s victory over the world.“

I love God’s victorious reign!

The five main points of the sermon application are as follows:
1) Christ’s enduring love is not provincial.
2) Christ’s enduring love is not self-preserving.
3) Christ’s enduring love does not believe a person can’t change.
4) Christ’s enduring love does not give up on people.
5) Christ’s enduring love places maximum value on the other person.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never ends. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
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Monday February 1, 2010

Read this entry of Steven’s, and the excerpts of Mr. Palpant’s prayer.

Some of the sentences that made my chin quiver and my eyes pour out like little salty fountains:

~”We are those who buried another child, though we prayed against it, and though we hoped, and now the dark is very dark and we are often tired in the very center of our being.”
~”Forgive us for wanting to simply get through to the other side of the anguish, unwilling to sit in the desert and let you wash us off and clothe us and be with us. Forgive us for forgetting our great heritage of suffering and the Cross that stands as the sign and purpose of our mortal lives. Forgive us, Father, for hoping our joy would come cheaply.”
~”Forgive us for keeping our suffering to ourselves, for hiding behind a stoic smile, for selfishly wishing we could be only left alone.”