Puzzle Piece June 26, 2008

We just got back from Charleston with some friends last night. It was just great to get away for a few days and hang out with our best friends, especially since we are about to move away from them…don’t even want to think about that right now, we’ve been best friends and inseperable since our freshmen year of high school! Charleston is beautiful and has so much history to offer (I am a huge history buff, especially American history!)

On Monday, we drove down to Savannah so I could finish up some paperwork and so our friends could see where we will be moving to. I am getting very anxious! It was kind of frustrating having to come back home to a place that I don’t feel is my home anymore! I also found out that my first day back to work is August 18. I would like to be moved and settled before I have to go back and things are just not progressing with our house. Justin also really needs to find a job, especially if we are going to have to pay rent and make a mortgage payment. I just keep telling myself that God sees the big picture and that this is just a puzzle piece.

It’s Not Always What’s on the Inside That Counts! June 20, 2008

Ever since we felt God calling us to go to Savannah, He has been working on several of my heart issues that are not pleasing to Him. I think He is breaking me and preparing me to go! But it’s not always what’s on the inside that counts…God is concerned with our outward appearance as well. I have truly been convicted this week of my weight and unhealthyness (is that a word?) God has told me that I am being disobedient by not offering Him my whole self…by over-indulging in food and by not being a good steward of one of His most important gifts…my body. We are told in the Bible…

 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have recieved from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I have definitely not been honoring God with my body. This is somewhat of a superficial issue…I am definitely not happy with the way I look, but more importantly it’s a health issue and a spiritual issue. I can not do this alone…over-eating and exercizing are a struggle for me, but I know that God who is begginning this work in my life will be faithful until its completion. 

Felt Like Home June 15, 2008

We attended Church at the Ridge this morning for the first time since Mother’s Day (we have been visiting around other church plants with our Canvas core group to get ideas!). It was so great to be back, we have definitely missed our church family there! It was so nice because it really didn’t even feel like we had been gone, we were just able to pick up with everyone where we had left off and everyone was so encouraging and uplifting about our future move to Savannah. It was definitely good to get the encouragement boost!

I truly feel that God used this season in our lives at Church at the Ridge to prepare us for our work with Canvas. It was definitely a step out of mine and Justin’s confort zones going there because we left the church that I had practically grown up in, where we got married, where Lily Grace first attended, to come to CATR where we didn’t know anyone. It was also hard because Justin and I have always attended traditional southern baptist churches that had church buildings and all you did was show up on Wednesdays and Sundays for choir practice, bible studies, and worhip, and then leave. There was no setting up, taking down, or serving really. Our journey there has been so amazing…our marriage has been strengthened and our family has been strengthened…we will always carry in our hearts the relationships and the inspiration that God blessed us with there. 

House For Sale!! June 12, 2008

Please spread the word…if you know of anyone looking for a smaller house for sale!! I have to start work on August 18, so I am getting very anxious because I would really like to be moved and settled before I have to go back to work. I know this is my plan, but I am desperately hoping and praying it is God’s as well:) We have someone looking at it right now who seemed very interested, so please pray!!

For Such a Time as This June 11, 2008

This song has been on my mind lately. If you don’t know it, the words were taken from Mordecai’s words to Esther in the Bible. Here are the words to the chorus:

For such a time as this
I was placed upon the earth
To hear the voice of God
And do His will
Whatever it is
For such a time as this
For now and all the days He gives
I am here, I am here
And I am His
For such a time as this

Every time I read the story of Esther, I am filled with awe and hope. God knew and could see the big picture of the Jews being delivered from persecution and placed people in positions to accomplish His plan even before they were in any danger. Esther could have met her own death had the king known she was jewish herself, but in spite of this, she was faithful to the Lord and He used her power and position to accomplish His plan.

While reading this story again (this is one I like to read over and over!), I thought about our Canvas core team. Each of us have our own “positions”, gifts, and talents and God has assembled us together even before our work has started in Savannah. Even though this is a great sense of frustration for us (having to wait!) it is all part of His plan. He is preparing us and working in our hearts so that when He is ready, we can make the transition and our work will begin in Savannah. I know that He is working in my heart, I have already written about some of it, but I think the main thing is patience. My prayer now is that I am ready and prepared for Him to use me…when He is ready, for such a time as this.

Attitude Adjustment June 9, 2008

      You would think that having the whole summer before me with no thoughts of work would just be unbearably exciting for me…and it is, the part of not having to go to work that is. Due to extremely high prices in gas, extreme heat, and us trying to save money for our upcoming move, we have been stuck in the house. The first week was great, but now we are all bored to death, and I am really starting to have a real selfish attitude about it. I am being really convicted right now about just being content where we are, with what we are doing, and what we have. I am fighting this whole-heartedly because the choleric temperament in me says that I need to be around people and doing something all the time. I am praying for contentment and that God would help me to find joy in the small things and not have to feel like every event in my life has to be a grand production.

      On a side note, if anyone has any creative ideas of things we can do that do not cost money or involve driving long distances, please let me know!

Rated PG June 5, 2008

      Well, I have been hoping and praying this day wouldn’t come but….Lily said a bad word. Her and Bo were playing and Bo was acting silly as usual. Well, finally she looked at Bo and said, “What the h*** are you doing?” Thank goodness I am reading Shepherding a Child’s Heart right now and had just read last night how to handle a situation similar to this! Neither Justin or I say this as well as none of our family and friends, so I can only guess that she picked it up from TV or a movie. I am only thankful that if it had to happen, it was at home and no one else was around! Guess I haven’t been doing as good of a job filtering what they are watching as I thought!

 

Heart for In-laws June 4, 2008

So, I decided to join the blog world. I love to write, and I love to spend time on the computer, so I figured this would kill two birds with one stone!

     I got to spend the day with my in-laws today. I have been convicted lately of my attitude toward them. For some reason, the in-laws relationship seems to be very difficult, for me and a number of my friends. In my case it just comes down to pure disobedience…God instructs us to honor our parents (in-laws included because they become parents when you join their family in marriage), and I haven’t been doing that. I could make excuses all day, but I think it boils down to stubborness and jealousy. I have always been a very independent person, and in having a choleric temperament, I would rather fall flat on my face then have anyone tell me what to do. I struggled with that with my own parents as well. The jealousy part is mostly towards Justin’s mom, Dee…I’m not jealous of her, but it is hard to see her being able to spend time with my kids and building a relationship with them, when I know that my own mom can’t.

     So now it is all on me, and since this is a heart issue I am praying for God to change my heart. Ted and Dee (Justin’s parents) have done so many wonderful things for us and have been nothing but supportive, and I have no reason to harbor any bitterness or resentment towards them. I am thankful for the way they raised Justin to love the Lord and because of this he is a wonderful husband and father. I am thankful for the way they have stood by me and accepted me into their family, in spite of how hard I have made it for them to do this. And, I am thankful for the way they love my children.