Psalm 5

"O Lord, in the morning you hear my

voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for

you and watch."

~Psalm 5:3~

When we bring sacrifice in the morning (prayer) we can't forget to watch. What will He do?

"O Lord, in the morning you hear my

voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for

you and watch."

Have a lovely Friday.

1 Corinthians

But in fact Christ has been raise from the dead,

the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.

But each in his own order:

Christ the firstfruits,

then at His comming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end,

when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying

every rule and

every authority

and power.

For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is Death.

~1 Corinthians 15:20-26~

Death is about to be destroyed, folks.

Start rejoicing.

He is coming soon.

Hailing the New Year

It's 2011 folks.

A LOT is going to happen this year. I feel like for the last, well, I guess 17 years I have at least sort of know what life is going to be like for me in the coming year. This year is different, God is doing some crazy things in the lives of my family.

This post is really more of a journal than anything but in this year I plan to:

*Graduate from highschool.* Oh. My. Word. In some ways I am so ready and in other ways it seems surreal and terrifying.

*Go somewhere away from my hometown to work over the summer.* (I love my town--love it. But the college I plan to attend is in the same town I've grown up in, so I need to get away in the summers.)

*Start college.* ahhhhhhhhhhh.

*Begin attending a new church.* Okay, this is the biggy. And the real reason I started this post. I have talked a little about the church we are currently attending. My pastor and worhship leader and several others had had this vision of planting a church together for many years. Four years ago, they planted a daughter church out of my old church, and our family was one of several who left the old church to be a part of the new one. It was difficult for me at first, but after a few months I was happier than I'd ever been in my life, had more and better friends than I'd ever had in my life, had a totally new understanding and appreciation for worship, was learning more about the Word than I ever had in my life, and was entirely surrounded by wonderful, wise, missions-minded, people. And its been fantastic. The ways in which my family has grown and the Lord has enirched our lives are truly mind boggling.

Before the church began God called our congregation to be peculiar in that, instead of growing and building a huge building, to plant other churches. We just never anticipated it to be this soon. We probably have about 300 or 400 members, and the Lord has made a way for us to fufill the vision He called us to. He has provided us with a second location as well as the most amazing pastor for the plant. It's time.

My pastor was speaking yesterday about how much harder it is to do missions when we are comfortable and content. And boy, are we content. Everyone of us is mourning what we are losing, because we are so happy. I literally don't think there was a dry eye at church yesterday. But he went on to explain how perfect it was that God had chosen this time for us, just after advent, because the incarnation of Christ truly is the Lord going on mission. Christ left home- a perfect home. He left fellowship and communion- a perfect communion with the Trinity. He was content, but He came. For us. That we might be like Him.

He also explained that missions work is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions will come to an end, when the trumpet sounds mission work will be over. But Worship is eternal. We go on mission to make worshipers. Just as Christ did.

I have never been a part of a body, school, church or otherwise where the entire aim was missional. Literally everything about the philosophy and identity of the church is centered around spreading the gospel. Bringing darkness to light. Advancing the kingdom. Because we aren't stopping with one church plant. Now there are two churches who are intent on planting churches as soon as God provides the opportunity. Its a multiplication concept. Its a world vision concept, because the first two churches will be in suburbia in the Bible belt. But the next will hopefully be in the inner city. And then maybe in a muslim community. And maybe all over our state. And our country. And maybe in Ethiopia.

I know church planting isn't a new concept- The Lord is stirring this same vision in many churches across the globe today- maybe in your own. But it isn't new. The concept of church planting goes back to the early churches in the new testament. I'm just zealous about it because I'm watching the Lord's promises come to life. Its painful. Its hard. And it is the work of the Lord.

"I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

~Matthew 16:18~

I am really going to miss this place.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Christmas

The Christmas Eve service was as wonderful as anticipated-- I have never had more respect for our pastor as he managed to deliver a powerful message in the midst of pretty much non-stop child-wailing. I honestly think somebody or other's baby was crying all night. But it was still lovely. Afterwords we came home andddddddddd...

Made Christmas cookies! My wonderful Mother made me that apron- it was my 'open on Christmas Eve' gift.

Sisters.

Festive yumminess.

Daddy makin' breakfast, which was delicious!

Joseph and Michael looking at Mez's new coloring book.

Julia inherited LG's bike for Christmas, she was SO excited.

Five Stockings. (which had already been emptied by the time I took the picture).

I got this awesome candle lantern... and felt fierce in the morning snow with it... mwahaha.

As well as a sewing machine! I have been blessed this year by several women endeavoring to teach me how to sew (let me tell you, not an easy undertaking, precision is not really my thing), in particular the girl who I wrote about a couple posts ago. I am so excited to have my own machine! So far I've made a headband and a book mark...okay, don't jude, I'm learning!

Michael LOVES dinosaurs. And he LOVES coloring. This book made his Christmas.

Awkward angle- but on Christmas day the snow flakes that fell were so amazing. They weren't just normal balls of fluff-- I mean, we don't get much snow, but I've only seen it like this once or twice ever, every little flake was so intricate and deltailed. The perfect little crystals were orderly and unique, and tiiiiny! It was a beautiful reminder of the craftsmanship and love of the our Creator and definitely one of my favorite gifts of the day. It was also the first white Christmas I have ever seen!

Lela Grace age 11.

Cheesy smile.

You can kind of see the detail of the snowflakes more here. Seriously, it was breathtaking. (I am a teensy proud of this picture, I am NOT a photographer, but I like the way it turned out. 'Course, I had a pretty awesome subject to capture:)

Merry Christmas! Have a blessed Epiphany Season as Christmas draws to a close on the sixth.

"For God so loved the COSMOS that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

~John 3:16~

The lowly walk backwards

I have always found it strange that in Scripture, those seeking the Lord travel west, while eastward travel symbolizes rebellion (Nimrod towards Shinar). Yet, we are called to look to the east for the coming of the Son with the dawn.

"And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory."

~Ezekiel 43:2~

How can this work?

But, is it not a great tradition that before royalty, the lowly walk backwards?

King's Mountain Camp

My school begins each year with a week of camp. Every student and many of the teachers come. Its tradition. Its rare. Its powerful. Its wonderful. The Senior class leads the camp, surprising the students with the theme of the week and preparing all of the activities. Since 6th grade I've watched the incredible leadership of the upperclassmen and this past week was such an amazing culmination of the 7 year long journey as my classmates and I finally lead the student body at King's Mountain Camp.
This is the huddle of returning alumni praying over the senior class on the last night as we signed the honor code.

The Seniors then prayed over each class indiviually as they were called up to sign. I pretty much cried the whole time, especial while praying over Joseph's and then Lela Grace's classes.

This is my class. 16 girls and 7 guys. Goodness I love them. We look kind of crazy b/c we had all just gotten out of our Cowboy and Indian costumes (hence the face paint).

We traditionally kick off the week with a flour war. Call us crazy. You'll be right. I still have flour in my hair. :)

The entire student body grades 5-12 after the flour and water balloon war. They are absolutely disgusting and I don't think there is a group of people I love more anywhere.

I learned so much this week. God has really been healing my heart and its been incredible.

The summer between my sophomore and junior year I visited New Hope Uganda (my friend Elle went with me, she is up there in the blue v neck and the 2 long brown braids). While there I went into some missionaries' house. I can't really describe it, but their ministry and situation was/is almost exactly what I have dreamed of and hope for. I only met the mother of the family for about an hour but I told her that I was basically looking at what I hoped to live one day and it as so encouraging yada yada yada.

She didn't let me ramble very long. She stopped me and looked me in the eye and asked me how old I was. When I told her I was 16 she exhorted me to live where I was. To not get to caught up in what I hoped for one day, but to cherish the time now. The entire interchange took maybe 5 minutes, and I've never seen or heard from her again. But her wisdom stuck with me. She was right.

See, for several years I had let my future calling define me almost completely. I talked and talked about how I would go to Africa one day and about what my life was going to look like.
Here is the thing: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water that yeilds its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." ~Psalm 1:1-3~ I believe that I am just as called to be in this school, in this place, in this time as I am to adopt children, or be a mother, or minister in Africa, or anything else. I believe that my calling as a daughter, as student, a sister, and a member of my church are in one sense more important at this time than the more impressive or more specific callings for the future, because only the Lord knows the number of my days.

I believe that more often than not, God calls us to BE something, rather than to DO something, and that the things we do are simply outworkings of who we are.

I so often let the things I do or the things I want to do define me. But if you think about it, God does not need our work. He doesn't need our most wonderful works. He doesn't. In fact, He doesn't even ask for them. What He asks for is us. Is me. My heart, my life, my dreams, my thoughts, my praise, my love, my all. I am primarily called to be His child, where I am planted. And the more I scramble to do 'stuff' the more wonderful opportunities I miss. I am so grateful for the words of wisdom spoken to me by the missionary in Uganda, because there are so many things I almost missed.

Look around where you are. God is doing something incredible in your midst. Is it possible to work out your calling even where you stand, instead of waiting for some moment when it will hit you like a bolt of lightning.

Lightning doesn't last long.

But the Word of the Lord stands forever.

And the funny thing is, the less we focus on doing, the more we see what God has done.

Matthew 11:25-30

"At that time Jesus declared, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Come to me, all who labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

And you will find rest for your souls.

May I?

May I rant for a minute? I promise to be concise and logical.

Yeah. Right.

Today, some friends of mine and I were talking at school. Our conversation got cut short or else I would have told them some of the things that I'm about to tell you. We started by talking about motherhood and how much we couldn't wait to have babies and be moms. That morphed to talking about giving birth and about how some people were afraid of the pain and discomfort involved with pregnancy and I, of course, said "Well they can adopt!" Surprisingly, even amongst my dear, dear friends, this proposal met with some hesitation.

"But, most people really want to have their own kids. You know, they really want their own. They don't want to just adopt them and not get to have their own."


Their own?

Friends, may we examine this phrase? (I know that I'm preaching to the choir here, and I of course wasn't surprised to meet this kind of doubt about adoption, but I was surprised to hear it from my very close friends, who, you know, come to my house, and, you know, hang about with Mez and TeeGee, and, you know, know what I'm passionate about.)

My own.

"Is Ephraim My dear son?

Is he My darling child?

For as often as I speak against him,

I do remember him still.

Therefore My heart yearns for him;

I will surely have mercy on him,

declares the Lord."

~Jeremiah 31:20~

In the old testament, Ephraim was often a foreshadowing of the church. A symbol of God's people of the New Covenant. These questions? They're rhetorical questions. "Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he My darling child?" Rhetorical questions drive the hearer to want to scream "Yes! Yes, of course!"

Do you hear the tender, fatherly affection?

Secondly:

"...and Mattan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations."

~Matthew 1:15b-16~

This is the genealogy of Jesus. The Lion of Judah. The root of Jesse. The one to sit on David's Throne. This is the child of Rahab and Salmon, and of Ruth and Boaz. This is the promised Messiah born in Bethlehem. This is the Christ.

"When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus."

~Matthew 1:24~

Jesus was not the biological son of Joseph. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. This we know.

SO. If Jesus was not really Joseph's own son, if his earthly adoption was not, in fact, a real or effectual thing, then we've been wrong all these years. It wasn't Jesus, it was his younger brother James who is the Messiah! James carried the blood line of Jesse and David.

But adoption is of the Lord. Established and exemplified by Him. Evident in the life and heritage of His own son. Jesus, was adopted.

To doubt that adoption makes a child YOUR OWN, is to doubt the promise of the Lord and your sonship (daughtership) to Him. We are adopted children of God, made heirs with Christ, who is the eldest of many brethren. Shall we doubt that we are God's dear sons and daughters, shall we doubt that we are His own darling children?

I have decided what my thesis for next year will be. I had already thought it out and had come up with eveything but the 3rd proof. Today, I've chosen a third proof. My thesis statement:

Adoption is the surest way to counteract abortion in a culture because it upholds the sanctity of life, speaks to the needs of the mother and the child, and is an effective way of grafting a new member of the family into the covenant family.

"But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of His own inheritance, as you are to this day."

~Deuteronomy 4:20~

Flash Flood

We've had one.

More like a flash monsoon, really.

This is our basement. Inside our house where we live. In about 2 inches of water.

3 inches. And, all in a matter of 2 minutes. Not exagerating.




Bedroom sweet bedroom, why puddlest thou? Why be thou soakest, all mine belongings? Why bubblest, thou water, out of my floor?



I wish I had pictures of what outside looks like, maybe tomorrow. We usually live two doors down from a creek. Today we live 2 doors down from a raging river, which extends a foot deep into our neighbor's basement . We got soaked running around picking everything up off the floor, darting around the neighborhood checking on everybody, and digging a ditch.


You heard me. Digging a ditch. In the thunder storm. All day.



Most of the water was pouring into the basement for the part of our yard shaped vaguely like a bowl. So my wonderful father, who is absolutely amazing in a crisis, sees the situation, discovers the source of the problem and he and Joseph get our the shovels and start digging to direct the water away from our house, while Lela Grace kept the twins and mom and my grandparents and I tried to salvage our belongings which were floating out the door.



It was quite an adventure.



An adventure that really drove home to us the many ways that God blessed and provided for us.

An adventure that allowed us to get to know our neighbors in a whole new way.

An adventure that made memories (and chocolate chip cookies).

An adventure that renewed for us the power of the Lord


An adventure that reminded us of the promise.

"This is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant that is between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

~Genesis 9:12-16~

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."

~Luke 24:1-6a~

Happy Easter!

Sabbath rest

"The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the

tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment."

~Luke 23: 55-56~

2 Corinithians 4:16

For those of you who can't tell, that little tiny bit of ice is the very last of our igloo. Click on the "igloo" label on the side bar to see the whole igloo story. It's amazing how many lessons God hides in even the simplest things.

"So we do not loose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day."

~2 Corinthians 4:16~

ps. this is also the verse that I'm praying over my little reece's rainbow boy, Prayer.

A map

Sometimes, people ask: "So what are you going to do?"

And then you start to worry. You have big dreams, but they aren't very practical. You don't have a map.

And then, by God's grace, you remember: "In his heart a man plans his way, but the Lord ESTABLISHES his steps."

You rejoice, because you don't need a map to answer "What are you going to do?" because what your steps are established by the Lord. You only need to be able to answer: "Who are you going to be?" Because that is what matters anyway.

Psalm 43

"At Thy sacred altar bending, God, my God, my

boundless joy,

Harp and voice, in worship blending,

For Thy praise will I employ.

O my soul, why art thou grieveing?

What disquiets and dismays?

Hope in God;

His help recieving,

I shall yet my Savior praise."

(Text: Psalm 43, The Psalter, 1912; Music: Gregory Wilbur 2008, based on BLAENHAFREN, traditional Welsh melody. C2008 Greyfriars Press. Parish Presbyterian Church)

Isaiah 40:6-8

"A voice says, "Cry!"

And I said, "What shall I cry?"

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of

the feild.

The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

The grass wither, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand

forever."

~Isaiah 40:6-8~

Broken

Sometimes, I feel so helpless, so alone, thinking about those children around the world who truly are utterly broken and abandoned. I feel this weight, thinking that it all depends on me, wanting to scream for the church to stand up, to look around, to open their eyes. How can we keep sitting here comfortably? How is the plight of the one lonely, scared, hungry child not our focus all the time? How can we be so ready to get all worked up about the economic decline in our country, when most of us have never missed a meal in our lives? And how can one person make a difference for so many? How can I keep having hope?

Today, my hope is drained.

Today my heart is broken, my hands and feet are screaming to move, to work, to go.

I so rarely fall back to this place of desperation now, that I don't even know what to do about it.

It is so much easier to keep your head in the right place when you're actually on a mission trip or in a third world country, because your calling is right in front of your face all the time - and you are FORCED to be completely dependent on God's mercy.

But that is the problem, isn't it? I've lost hope, because I've ceased to depend upon Him. I feel like a failure because I've got it into my head that it is mine, my duty, my strength. But it isn't. It's not my way or my will or my strength or my hope or my love or my courage--- its His.

And He never fails.

And His plans are never thwarted.

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

~2 Corinthians 14:9~

His strength is made perfect in my weakness! How beautiful and relieving! Really, Lord? Your grace is sufficient for me? And not just for me, but for the whole world, every single last child? Blessed be your name!

"...for when I am weak, then I am strong."