The Whole Freakin' World

Do you ever have one of those moments where you're reading your Bible and you're just brought to tears? Like, you could have read the exact same thing two days ago without much emotion, but for some reason in this moment, right now, at 1:08 pm, it just totally brings you to tears. 


That happened to me today... first I read my devotional and I'm pretty sure Jesus wrote this very devotional through Sarah Young to speak directly to me and me only. (Ok, ok maybe others can benefit from it too):


My Peace is the treasure of treasures: the pearl of great price. It is an exquisitely costly gift, both for the Giver and the receiver. I purchased this Peace for you with My blood. You receive this gift by trusting Me in the midst of life's storms. If you have the world's peace- everything going your way- you don't seek My unfathomable Peace. Thank Me when things do not go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials. Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world. Expect them each day. Rejoice in the face of hardship, for I have overcome the world. 
(Matthew 13:46, James 1:2, John 16:33)
(Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)


A couple things really struck me in this... first of all that His Peace is a gift. His Peace was purchased for us. We do not earn our way to His peace.


I also really liked the idea of "the world's peace." I think we often get the world's peace and God's peace confused. Sometimes when things are going really well, it's easy to think that we have God's peace. But it's not until things go wrong, until life's circumstances shake you up a bit that you realize what kind of peace you are really trusting in. I have found myself at various times during various trials saying things like, "well, at least my children are healthy," or "well, at least we have a roof over our head," in an effort to be thankful and realize that other people are going through more difficult things than I might be. While I think it's ok to count our blessings, I actually think that thinking this way is not really Biblical. When I say "at least my children are healthy," I'm actually finding my peace in my children's health instead of in God. I'm saying, "well, this and this part of my life might be really difficult right now, but at least I have this part of my life that is thriving!" The problem is... God doesn't promise that the health or that the "good" part of your life will stay how you consider it to be "good," so it's a completely temporary hope that I'm trusting in when I choose to think that way.


And then I read John 16:33... "In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world." And there came the tears. I'm sorry, but is this verse not SO powerful? Jesus doesn't say, take heart; things will get better. He doesn't say, take heart; at least your children are healthy. He doesn't say, take heart; more money will make things easier. He doesn't even say, take heart and look for the good in the situation.


He says, take heart; I have overcome the whole freakin' world. All of it. Like, you literally have nothing to worry about because it's all been taken care of. This is the world. Don't you understand that this is not IT? This is not where you find your peace. This is not where you will spend eternity. This whole life on earth is like a blink of an eye. This is not where you find contentment or joy or hope... you will find it in Heaven and you will find it with ME. All things will be made new... including yourself. And it will all be perfect. You just don't see it in its fullness yet. You see some of my glory and some of my goodness, but not all of it. Not yet.


I'm sorry, but THIS is true hope and true peace. We so desperately want to find this kind of peace here on earth so we try to look for an earthly silver lining in difficult situations. Sometimes there is a silver lining (I am not a complete Debbie Downer, regardless of what some of you might be thinking). Sometimes God turns things around and chooses to display His power in that situation. And we should praise HIM for that. But sometimes there is no "earthly" silver lining. Sometimes things are just bad and difficult and hard. And we have to understand that that is really how it is.  There is not always another job waiting at the end of the first one. There is not always a change in the people that we so desperately need to change. There is not always good medical news on the other side of a bad diagnosis. Although He will still glorify Himself in the hard things, there is not always that silver lining on this side of Heaven to place our hope in. Sometimes, our Pollyanna attitudes just don't do the trick.


And you know why I can say all of this without feeling like the slightest bit of a Debbie Downer? Because it is TRUE. It's TRUTH. God tells us that we will face trials and tribulations on earth. And so we expect them. We do not pretend like they are easy. We do not pretend like we're not questioning God's plan. And we do not place our hope in false promises or even in the "good" things we have on earth.


But we do place our hope in HIM. We remember that He has overcome the world. The whole freakin' world.


And sometimes, like at 1:08 pm, we find such PEACE in that truth, that we are overcome with tears of joy.


Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -James 1:2

2011 Reflections

I don't often reflect on years as a whole. Something about looking back at an entire year is a little overwhelming to me, but since years seem to fly by as we get older, I have spent the past week or so doing some "yearly reflecting." It actually takes me to time to reflect ("reflect" is such a earthy/counseling/yoga word, I know, but I'm using it). 

I don't think I instantly remember things like most people. Like when someone asks me how our weekend was, I am usually totally unprepared to answer that because it takes me like 5 minutes to remember what we did. 

But... If I'm being totally honest about this year (and you know I will be!), our circumstances in 2011 have been pretty challenging. I feel like I was constantly asking for prayer, and probably could have asked for prayer for like twice the things I did. Sometimes it was small but frustrating things, other times it was big and devastating things. We cried, we got mad, we laughed, we prayed, we talked, and we dealt with everything the best we knew how. I've alluded to this before, but I'll do it again because I feel it even more now at the end of the year...

This suffering has been different. 

Not different like we enjoy it, but different like God has given us His perspective and peace in the midst of it. He has taught us how to just be sad, how to just be angry, how to just cry out to Him, stomp our feet and tell Him how unfair we think life is sometimes. I feel like I can be honest before God like I didn't used to know how to do, and there is freedom in that.

The trials that 2011 have brought have not taken away our joy because our joy is not based in our circumstances. Our joy is not based in our children or in our families or in our homes or our cars or our money or our friends. Our joy is found in Him. And since He does not change, our joy is unwavering.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not saying I always feel joyful. We don't skip through fields of daisies holding hands and thanking the Lord for these amazing trials. We cry and we get mad and we ask questions. (And I still let "the thing that is not the thing" take over in me!) At times I want to run away from God when things get hard instead of running to Him. But then I remember the overwhelming peace and understanding I gain from spending time with Him. There is just no shortcut to true peace and understanding.

So yes, underneath the tears and the anger there is a "peace that surpasses all understanding." (Philippians 4:7) I understand that verse more deeply than I used to. How can we have peace when our circumstances are unbearable? Exactly... that is the question of all questions.. it surpasses all understanding. It's from HIM and not of ourselves, so of course it surpasses all understanding. It makes no sense to our finite minds, and that is what makes it beautiful.

Also please don't get me wrong again... in 2011 we have been BLESSED. Blessed beyond belief. I will probably sound trite and repetitive if I try to list all the ways we are blessed, but we know we are and we don't forget that. I'm grateful the Lord has taught me to realize that being blessed and facing trials are not mutually exclusive. Like I said, I actually had to sit down and think about 2011 to realize that we had faced a lot of difficult things. 

I think "God is good" is a phrase that is used so much that we often forget what the words really mean. Something goes our way and we say, "Wow, God is good." Which is true. But sometimes we forget that if things don't go our way God is still good. His goodness doesn't change based on our circumstances. His character doesn't change based on our circumstances... but OURS does. Our character is molded and shaped by His hands (more so through trials, I believe). So maybe that is why He gives us trials to face. Maybe He wants us to come to the point where we realize our humanness, our sinfulness, our inability to "make it" on our own. And maybe, just maybe, we'll even learn this for real... even when we're going through the good times. After all, that is the message of the gospel.

So I go into 2012 praying for fun and laughter and time spent enjoying all of God's blessings, but also praying for joy in whatever comes our way...

I know there'll be days when life brings me pain

but if that's what it takes to praise you

Jesus, bring the rain.

-Mercy Me

Immanuel... God With Us

Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Advent means "coming." Christ is coming! During this Advent season we anxiously await his second coming while reflecting on His first coming. We have SO much to be thankful for! As Matt Chandler says, the tricky part is keeping our focus on the "Substance and not the shadows" during this Christmas season. Christ is the substance. He came already and will come again. He is our King. He is our God. He came as fully man and fully God. He is our High Priest. Our Savior. Our Counselor. Our All in All. He is the Holy One. He is the substance.

The gifts and the family time and the wonderful food and the shopping and the Christmas parties and the cookies and the crafts and the Christmas cards are the shadows. They are shadows of Him. They are meant to point us to Him and to draw us to our knees in worship of Him. They are good and they are fun and they are enjoyable, but they are not the ultimate Substance of this season. We know that only the Substance satisfies. If we focus on the true Substance of this season, that is Christ, we are not disappointed, we are not let down, and we rejoice in His beautiful news.

May you and yours be blessed by the presence of the true and everlasting Substance this Christmas season!

Immanuel... God with us!

(Check out this Advent Guide from The Village Church for more resources on how to focus on HIM this season: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/mediafiles/advent-guide.pdf)

Have I mentioned...

... how much I love this ministry? THANK YOU to everyone who makes it possible!

Tiny Prints, Oh Tiny Prints!

Oh Tiny Prints... you and I actually have a very special relationship, although you may not know it. I remember back in 2006 I was searching online for the perfect Christmas card. I just did a general Google search and happened to come across Tiny Prints. No offense, but at the time you were not nearly as big as you are now and I had never heard of you. I definitely liked what I saw though and was surprised I had never seen your cards before. I uploaded a picture of Jeff and I with sledgehammers in our very first home that was very under construction. The caption read, "Merry Christmas... from our "home" to yours." Ha... I know, I was pretty funny back in the day. If I were at home I would scan it in for all to see, but maybe in another post. :)

Anyway, this year I was looking through Tiny Prints web site and found LOTS of cute cards! I think I have like 20 saved in my favorites... how ever will I choose?

Of course, I always face the dilemma of how many pictures to use. My general rule is that if I have one picture I love then I will use it, but I usually can't decide and have to make Jeff decide for me. The more I look at something the less I can tell if I like it or not! Last year I didn't plan ahead so I just used several pictures on a collage.

If you know me, you know that I love color. I always have and I hope I always will. So naturally several of my favorite cards include some fun colors...

This one would be fun if I can find one great picture...

And these tri-fold cards are super cute...

And of course this one is totally my style...

I love that Tiny Prints has matching return address labels as well! They are super cute!

We always love to display our Christmas cards all over our french doors. I like to be able to see each and every one of them throughout the season and think they make a fun decoration. :)

I also have a scrapbook that I keep all our family's Christmas cards in. I love seeing the cards beginning with our first year of marriage and continuing with our growing family. I know the scrapbook will hold many years of memories (and actually, it already does!)

Thanks, Tiny Prints for having such cute, fun, and COLORFUL Christmas cards. I can't wait to get mine ordered!

I'm Going to Miss This...

Whenever Grace and I are out and about, I almost always have someone say, "Cherish these moments, it goes by so fast." Or... "I just sent my daughter off to high school last week, I feel like she was just that age." I remember people telling me the same thing about my wedding... "soak up and enjoy every minute! It goes by so fast!" I actually remember taking a moment at our reception and trying to "soak it up," whatever that really means. But I did it, gosh darn it!

I think sometimes when we hear things like this we think they sound cliche and we don't really pay attention to them. I almost stop myself from saying similar things to other people because I feel like they've been said before. But there's a reason they are said so often... by every parent... ever.

It's because they are true.

And because when we look back, if we're totally honest, we probably realize that we didn't really cherish every moment. So we tell others to cherish every moment. Because we know that the tantrums in the grocery store are maddening at the time, but later we learn to value the time at the grocery store with our little buddies because there will be a day when they are grown up, in school, and we are at the grocery store by ourselves. I will miss my little grocery store buddy, tantrums and all.

I actually happen to be super sentimental. You may or may not believe me based on all the crazy mom-moments I like to share. But actually, sharing those crazy moments helps me to put them in perspective and realize it's not the end of the world when I have a bad day and want to pull out every hair on my head. I don't think cherishing your children's lives always means acting like everything is perfect. Because clearly, everything is not.

But some moments truly feel that way to me. Some moments just feel absolutely perfect.

I feel like it's the most simple moments that make me a little weepy. Sometimes I feel like I kind of remove myself from the room and am just taking a mental video of the moment... and then I cry like a baby. (Or just tear up a lot, ok, so I'm sentimental and I like to exaggerate a little).

A few weekends ago we were at the Gin in Belton (probably my favorite place in Central Texas) listening to live music. We had just eaten dinner and gone down to the river to feed some ducks. I think this was the first time Grace had fed ducks and it was actually kind of sentimental to me. I have lots of memories of feeding ducks when I was younger (one included my dad drop-kicking a goose that bit me on the shin)! Can't forget that one!

I don't know what it is, there is just something so sweet and simple about a little toddler feeding a duck. (Am I crazy or is this true?) I think I just love how exciting and new it is to her. I mean, it's a duck. But to her IT'S A DUCK!! I just love living life through the lens of a toddler.

After feeding ducks, we went up to listen to some live music. I love music. And dancing, if you don't already know. :) There weren't too many people there yet and Jeff and Grace were kind of dancing on the sidewalk while we ate our yogurt. (Ok, Grace was dancing and Jeff was kind of standing there like the "cool dad" that he is.) Then the sweet man played "Daughters" by John Mayer. Now, I am not a huge John Mayer fan, but I really like the way this man plays everything. And I'm like 95% sure he played it just for us. It was like they were in a movie with a soundtrack playing in the background. It was so sweet. The chorus goes like this...

"Fathers be good to your daughters

Daughters will love like you do

Girls become lovers who turn into mothers

So mothers be good to your daughters too"

Unfortunately I didn't get the best part on video, but I still think it's sweet. Even though they aren't dancing, they are just living life... picking plants, Grace running away from Daddy, Daddy disciplining, Grace screaming for ducks. Nothing gets me choked up more than daddies and daughters... especially Daddies and daughters to a soundtrack...

If you've been a mom more than .05 seconds, you know it goes by too fast, and you know you're going to miss this stage, whatever it might be. Our children will not always be fascinated by ducks, so let's cherish the moments that they are. You've also probably come to realize that this childhood thing is not really about the big vacations or the important milestones or the fancy birthday parties.

It's about feeding ducks and eating yogurt and dancing with your daddy.

Preach It, Girl

Ok... I didn't realize until recently that people were still unable to comment on this blog. So... I looked into our issues and the problem is officially fixed. Yay! Apparently the comment settings were only allowing registered users (whoever they are?) to comment. Ooops!

And what does the title of this post have to do with that? Nothing. I couldn't just post a boring administrative message about comments and end it there, so I thought I would include one of my new favorite videos of Grace. (I know, I don't really like her being out in the public domain of the world wide web, but it's just a video, right?) :)

This is her reading a new children's Bible we bought her. I think she maybe got my overly passionate/opinionated theological genes. Preach it, girl! The Spirit is movin' in you!