The New Stay-at-Home Mom on the Block

With the arrival of our second beautiful son, Sebastian Paul, we have decided the Lord is calling me to be at home with the kids.  This is such a blessing for me, as it is something that has always been a desire of mine. Someone reminded me of this verse recently and it brought tears to my eyes:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4  

He has truly given me the desire of my heart!  To be the one to be with my boys all day every day is a dream come true.  I know this will not always be easy, but I feel that it is so worth it to be the one to teach them, kiss their boo-boos, play with Play-doh (Johnny Laine's current favorite pass time), rock to sleep, and love on them all day.  

Life with a newborn can be draining, and finding time to spend with my bigger little guy is not the easiest thing to do.  But my prayer right now is that I will be grateful for this season God has blessed me with.  This is where he has me for right now.  So I can begrudgingly and with a bad attitude rock a fussy baby and nurse him for the fourth or fifth time during the night.  I can be frustrated with JL's active personality, running around the house everywhere he goes (literally y'all - he runs EVERYWHERE he goes!).  Or I can do these things with joy in my heart, even though they can be draining.  I will only have this time once.  May I choose to be grateful for all the Lord has blessed me with and see it as an opportunity for him to work in my heart and life.  

Grace and peace,

Kelli

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

"O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-14

As I sit here watching my belly contortion into interesting shapes, I can't help but wonder so many things.  What does he look like?  What color is his hair?  Will he even have hair?  What will Johnny Laine think of him?  What will his personality be like?  So many questions that I don't have the answers to yet.  But I am amazed at the truth that the Lord, creator of all things, is the one who formed this tiny baby inside my womb.

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."  Psalm 139:13-14

This is true for my sweet Sebastian.  The Lord has formed him and he already knows him.  He knows everything there is to ever know about this tiny boy - every bump and bruise that will ever be, every joyous smile, every tear that will run down his cheek.  He knows what his relationship with Johnny Laine will be, what kind of mischief they will get into together, the joy they together will bring Johnny and me.  He knows how little Sebastian, tiny as he is, will be used to sanctify me, to draw me closer to Himself.

And this passage is true for all of us.  The Lord formed us and he knows everything there is to know about us.  He already knows what today will bring for you - whatever challenges or joys that may be.  He has planned it all before you were even born.  So if today brings you joy - praise him!  If today brings you peace - rejoice in him!  If today brings you grief, sadness, frustration, or leads you to question the very meaning of your existence - first praise him.  Then look to the Creator of you, the one who knit you together in your mother's womb, and know that he planned this day and this moment for you before you came to be.  Rest in the knowledge of his Word, that he is hemming you in, behind and before and he is laying his hand upon you.  Praise him, for YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made!  

Grace and peace,
Kelli

Jesus' Betrayers

"Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.  He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd."  Luke 22:3-6

This morning, as I'm reflecting on the days leading up to Jesus' death, I prayed that the Lord would open my eyes to see these passages that I've read and heard countless times in a new light.  He always humbles me and reminds me that his Word is "living and breathing."

In reading this particular passage, it really stuns me.  Judas was one of the disciples of Christ.  There were only twelve men called to be Jesus' disciples; they were special, they were his closest friends.  They did life with him, day in and day out.  They saw countless miracles of his, and more than anyone else, they knew him for who he really was: humble, loving, compassionate, serving, God's son.  And yet, Judas agrees to betray Jesus.  And not only that, he thinks of how he can do it "in the absence of a crowd."  He doesn't want others to know he is the one who betrays Jesus to his death.

This begs the question, Can we say we follow Jesus and not truly know him?  Does simply going to church on Sunday and on special occasions make us a follower of Jesus?  Or do we betray him just like Judas does by saying we are followers of Christ and yet living as we wish during the week and in secret?

This struck me this morning.  It makes me question, how do I betray Jesus?  Sin is a betrayal of him.  We like to think that if we don't commit the "major" sins (murder, adultery, theft) that we are okay.  At least I know I do.  But the sins of the heart are no different in God's eyes.  Pride, envy, judging others in our hearts. I would say that these are even more dangerous because we can easily pretend they aren't there.  We can put on a mask and let others think we are "good" people, and yet all of these are lurking beneath the surface. Being aware of our own sin is critical if we desire to follow Christ as he would call us to.  I'm sure Judas thought he was a "good" person.  After all, he was called a disciple of Christ!!  I'm sure he justified what he was doing in some way, just as we justify the sins of our hearts.

As we prepare for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, let us take a look into our own hearts.  What is truly inside our hearts?  Do we desire to follow God with our whole lives?  Let us ask him to reveal our true selves, who we really are.  It is only when we open our eyes to who we really are and the sins that fill our heart that we can experience his love, forgiveness, compassion, and his death and resurrection.  He wants to take over our lives and lead us along the perfect paths and plans he has for us.  And it begins with us realizing and owning our own betrayal of him.

Grace and peace,
Kelli

This is such an appropriate song - "Grace and Peace" by Sovereign Grace Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwAWd0sx_6k


Grace and peace, oh how can this be
For lawbreakers and thieves
For the worthless, the least
You have said, that our judgment is death
For all eternity
Without hope, without rest
Oh, what an amazing mystery
What an amazing mystery
That Your grace has come to me

Grace and peace, oh how can this be
The matchless King of all
Paid the blood price for me
Slaughtered lamb, what atonement You bring!
The vilest sinner's heart
Can be cleansed, can be free
Oh, what an amazing mystery
What an amazing mystery
That Your grace has come to me

Grace and peace, oh how can this be
Let songs of gratefulness
Ever rise, never cease
Loved by God and called as a saint
My heart is satisfied
In the riches of Christ
Oh, what an amazing mystery
What an amazing mystery
That Your grace has come to me

Oh, what an amazing love I see
What an amazing love I see
That Your grace has come to me
Oh, what an amazing love I see
What an amazing love I see
That Your grace has come to me

Time with God

So the past months, reading the Bible and spending time with the Lord has gotten put on a back burner.  This is not a good idea, as feasting on His Word is so important.  As the new year is beginning, I really desire to make a better effort to be in the Word and to spend time with Him.  But as I am making this commitment, I have to ask myself, "Why?"  Why do we spend time with the Lord? 

Does it make him love us any more than He already does?  No.

When we spend time with him does it mean he must bless us with a wonderful day, free of frustrations and full of great surprises?!  No, although I sometimes like to think it does.

Does spending time with him make us better than others?  No, for Romans 3:12 says, "All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (italics mine)

So why do we do it then?

Growing up, I really felt like if I didn't spend time with God, He wouldn't love me anymore.  I felt that by spending time with Him, I was upholding 'my end of the deal.'  But I now know that there is no 'my end of the deal.'  When Christ came and paid the price for our sins, God took away the law.  Are we required to make sacrifices and offerings as the Israelites were?  Can only priests meet with God (and only one time a year) as it was before Christ?  No!  We now have full access to God, and he doesn't require ANYTHING of us, except that we put our faith in Him.

"We cannot truly live without the Bible because true life comes to us through the Christ revealed across its pages."

Trent Hunter

I couldn't have said it better myself.  (And here is the link to his entire post: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/01/01/bible-eater-a-plan-for-feeding-on-christ-in-2012/ )

Grace and peace,

Kelli

God's grace, even in the Beginning

Genesis 3:22-24: "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever -' therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life." (ESV)

I am always amazed at how the Lord can take a scripture which I have read so many times and teach me something new. Upon reading these verses, I was confused as to why God did not want the man to eat of the tree of life. I thought it was possibly a punishment, just as pain in childbirth and having to work the ground for food are both punishments God gave to Adam and to Eve for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is far from a punishment, however!

Adam and Eve, as well as all of mankind, deserve to eat of the tree of life. After doing a little research, I found that upon eating from it, Adam and Eve would have lived forever - forever in their sin; forever apart from God. Never would they be able to commune with him in Heaven or on Earth. They would have forever been bound up by their sin and would never have been able to be free. But Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy!

Thank you Lord that you did not allow Adam and Eve to remain in the garden and eat of the tree of life. Even in the midst of our failure, you give us grace. What a loving God you are!

Grace and peace.
Kelli

Air Force One

So once again I have not been quite the studious blogger…forgive me! Life has been pretty busy, as I'm sure it is for many of you. One day things will slow down though! I really hate busy-ness and wish that wasn't the response I often give when asked "How are you?" but I could write a really long blog about that, and that's not what I want to write about tonight!

I wanted to write tonight about a beautiful image I got of what our wonderful Father did for us. I watched the movie "Air Force One" tonight - what a great movie! Very suspenseful and heroic…you should watch it! I won't go into the whole movie, but basically a group of terrorists hijack Air Force One and take all of the passengers hostage, including the president and his wife and daughter. There is a point when the chief hijacker has a gun held to the president's daughter's head and he tells the president if he meets his demands, he will release her. However, the demands are to release the ex-Russian president, which could mean thousands of people losing their lives in Russia…sound familiar?

I think I forget how hard it must have been for God to see his son going through this, and for Jesus to take what he took. I guess I know that they both knew that it would be over soon and he would rise again in three days. At the same time though, I know it's hard for parents to watch their children go through any type of pain, whether it be some sort of accident or surgery…so how hard to watch your child die an extremely painful death? And not only that, it was the plan and always was the plan. God chose for it to be this way and there was no other way to solve the problem of covering our sin. I can't understand it, but can only be so very thankful for it. Without his death we could not have eternal life, or true life on this earth for that matter.

I don't want to ruin the movie for you so I won't say what Mr. President decides…you'll have to watch it yourself! I hope this finds everyone super blessed!

Kel

Plans for the Temple(s)

Last night, we had our first Impact meeting of the semester, which is just a time where my friends and I get together and discuss the Word and how it applies to our lives. It was such an awesome meeting and impacted (no pun intended!) me so much. By the way, we meet on Tuesdays at 8:30 at different homes…let me know if you'd like to come and I'll let you know where we will be meeting!

Back to the meeting…we watched a skit online where one man portrayed God, and another a man. God was chiseling away the sin inside of the man and the things that didn't fit with His plan for the man's life. It was really a neat picture of what God does to our lives all of the time and how He wants to change us and mold us into His image. This morning, as I was reading the Word, I opened up to Ezekiel 40-42, which talks about how the temple of the Lord was to be built. As I read, I noticed how precise the instructions for the building were. He gives specific measurements and certain things that are to be carved into certain spots. It's very technical and as I read, I was really wondering, "And why did you want me to read this, Lord? I mean really, why is it even in the Bible? What can we gain from reading all of these technical measurements?" Well, I think if we would have been chatting online or via text, God would have sent, "LOL! Don't you get it?"

And then it hit me: Just like the physical structure of the temple in Israel, God has very precise, specific plans for what our bodies and hearts, His temple, are to look like. He wants to chisel away the things that don't belong and mold us into His image. He has a perfect plan for us and for our lives, and all we have to do to know this plan is to follow Him. Seek after Him with your heart!

I encourage you to open up His Word and see what He has for you. After all, the Bible is like the owner's manual for God's children. Isn't it peaceful to know that you don't have to go at this crazy thing called life alone?!

In Christ, Kel


This is the video we watched. It's about 9 minutes, but totally worth it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXut0HxncvY