Jesus Saves

"(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God." Hebrews 7:19

So often, our lives as Christians can become filled with the law. We ought to read our Bibles more, we ought to be more intentional with discipling our children, we ought to be better Proverbs 31 women, we ought to evangelize more, we ought to give more, teach more, pray more, lead more, serve more, more, more, more. But the law made nothing perfect.

Even I can get bogged down by what more I think I ought to be doing. My self talk and thoughts can become so negative and I begin to lose sight of God's grace and sometimes even the truth of the gifts and talents He has given me. We get Justification and Sanctification a little mixed up.

One pastor once coined it as "Janctification." A cross-over happens and somehow we begin to "ought to" our way into being a 'good Christian' and good standings before God. The fact of the matter though, is that

Only Jesus saves, not our lists of "ought to's" or our good deeds. "The law says, >>do this<<, and it is never done. Grace says, >>believe in this<<, and everything is already done."

Jesus saves, and there is NOTHING we can do to make ourselves 'look good' before God because even our good works are like filthy rags because we are sinful human beings. Being justified is a done deal, nothing to work up to; we cannot become more justified.

Sanctification though, now that is something the Holy Spirit is working out in us day by day, a process that will never be completed until our days here on Earth are through. We are all slowly and sometimes painfully being shaped and molded to be more like Christ, but we must never lose sight of the FACT that as a sinner saved by grace, our position in Christ does not change based on our performance.

Movin' Movin' Movin'

Mobility...the delight of our 8 month old!

He has just begun the endeavor of swimming his way across our floors, discovering that he can get to things himself now....which means....INDEPENDENCE!

Now that our little man can get to whatever is within army crawling distance on the floor, it is now time to get things up off the floor and out of reach of his exploring hands. The evil dust bunnies or little crumbs that fall off of the table; the cord running from the lamp to the outlet and the hot doors to the gas fireplace. Uffda, who knew this world could be so excitingly dangerous?!?

It is such a joy to watch him become more aware of his surroundings lately. He turns to find out where the sound of the beeping watch came from or to listen to the church bells ringing outside every day at noon and six o'clock. He understands the difference between our things and his...which means that of course our things are much more interesting and cool to touch and put in his mouth. 

"Yummy, that phone tastes so good, I tell you what, who knew technology could taste to good!"

Our tough guy is cruising too! He loves to go back and forth along our coffee tables or couches and his delight is expressed in constant babbling of 'dada' and 'babababa.' (Dad definitely won that one) He will get so excited that he starts to bob up and down, groovin so much that he usually ends up bopping his mouth on the edge. But, as I said he's a tough guy, he doesn't even skip a beat, just keeps going. In fact, just after his tough encounter with the table, he'll lean his head down and give it a big ol' kiss as if to say, "sorry about that, I'll kiss your booboo!" What a character!

Children truly are a blessing from the Lord and it is such a pleasure to watch our little one grow and learn more about himself and the world around him. Next on the docket...walking! 

Bests

Sometimes I sit and ponder what my ideal life would look like, who it would look like, what I would and wouldn't do, what my home would look like, and the cute outfits I would wear. And so many times, the first thing that comes into my mind to get ideas from is facebook. I think of all the wonderful things that mom does, or the fun dates that couple always goes on, or the great cooking so-and-so accomplishes, or the beautiful home this family has put together, or the latest fashion statement outfit that a friend just posted a selfie of, or, or, or...... the list goes on and on and it can become so discouraging. Comparing myself to all the 'bests' that everyone else does.

I was recently talking on the phone with a friend who lives over a thousand miles away from me and we were talking about motherhood. We talked about the sweatpants we were wearing and the messy hair that got thrown up into a ponytail that day because there just wasn't time to spend half an hour curling it for the day because the kiddos were already up and needing breakfast. We talked about the dishes that were still sitting in the sink and the husband that didn't get encouraged that day like we had hoped to. We talked about being tired and how it is so easy to get discouraged by all the things that didn't get done that day, all the things we couldn't be that day. We talked about how we've both threatened to just quit facebook because we spend too much time looking at what everyone else is doing in the world.

And then we both realized that facebook, pinterest, etc. are just everyone's 'bests.' 

And that's just it, that's what facebook is, that's what pinterest is, what so much of our media is. We put our "bests" out there for everyone else to see. We often use it as a way to get praise for all the cool things we do, the awesome clothes we wear, the weird things we eat, the 'perfect' marriage that we have.....but is it reality? Is it an accurate picture of our lives, or just the top picks of the week?

You don't really see the full picture of the lives of those on facebook. You just see their 'bests.' It can be so easy to see those bests and compare our current state of sweatpants and messy ponytail to the recently posted selfie of the gal in her new yoga pants and seemingly perfect make-up who just got done running her morning 10k.

I am the first to admit too, though, that I often post my 'bests' on facebook because quite honestly, I would rather not reveal the picture of the dirty kitchen floor or the loads of laundry that haven't gotten folded yet.

All I'm saying is that

it isn't fair to compare ourselves to the small snippets 

of life that we see other people posting about

when we don't see the full picture.

Life's not supposed to be about comparison, it's about being a light, it's about Jesus. It's not about the clothes we wear or the cool things we do, it's about the righteousness we are clothed with because of the awesomeness done for us by Jesus on the cross. It's not about how perfect we try to make our lives look, it's about the truly perfect life that Christ lived for us because we couldn't.

Disclaimer: Just as a disclaimer, I am not trying to bash anyone with this post. I appreciate those of you who post real life stuff, who aren't just looking to get likes and comments on their post or picture. I am glad you are out there keeping it real. Please know that I am thankful for facebook and pinterest, etc. and the wonderful ways that we can stay connected with the ones we love and still share life though we may be hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

Habbakuk 3:19

Habakkuk 3:19
"The sovereign LORD is my source of strength.
He gives me the agility of a deer;
He helps me to negotiate the rugged terrain."

Verse 19 of this chapter really stuck out to me, seeing how confident Habakkuk is in God's ability to bring him through even the tough situations. It isn't a confidence that God will victoriously and painlessly solve all of his (and the nation's) issues, but it IS confidence that no matter the circumstance, come mountain high or valley low, God will be there to guide and strengthen him.

This verse came as a great comfort particularly during the hours leading up to our son J's birth. Painful contraction after painful contraction, my mind and body were being stretched beyond bounds they had ever experienced.

"The sovereign LORD is my source of strength...." Just make it through this contraction, just focus on this one contraction and we'll deal with the next one when it comes.

"He gives me the agility of a deer;..." this pain is crippling, Lord your grace is sufficient, help me to focus on You and to relax my mind and body.

"He helps me to negotiate the rugged terrain." No baby yet?!? As hard as I'm pushing, you'd think baby would have literally popped out by now! Seriously! This kicks butt. [no pun intended ;)] Keep climbing, keep climbing through, the summit is so near, you can almost see it.

God was and is good and our little boy was born healthy with eyes wide open, ready to take on the world. The summit was reached and we praised God for guiding us through. We beheld the beauty of parenthood as one views the endless mountains from the summit. The view almost takes your breath away, and then you pause and look back at how far you've come. The hike was hard, treacherous at times, but you made it.

Other times in our lives look like this as well.... the rugged terrain, the steep climb that seems unconquerable, slips and trips along the way that discourage us as we keep going, one foot in front of the other. God is there, right beside us, guiding us through the rugged terrain.

For some of us and in some seasons of life, that climb is long. Our life is like a mountain range with one mountain after another to climb. The climb is hard and sometimes the summit isn't even visible as trees and huge boulders prevent us from seeing the top. Sometimes we encounter what we think is the summit only to find it as a knoll not even half-way up the mountain.

"The sovereign LORD is my source of strength.
He gives me the agility of a deer;
He helps me to negotiate the rugged terrain."

At times, I ponder how He is giving me the agility of a deer, because quite frankly I don't feel flexible or able to traipse through the current situation, but He IS there, patiently guiding, giving me the strength I need for that situation. And then, when I...we get to the top, I look around and revel in the beauty. Then I glance back at how far I've...we've come. That's when I realize that no matter the circumstance, He DID provide the strength, agility, and discernment all along the way. He didn't just fly me to the top and save me from the climb. He didn't say, "O, we'll just skip this mountain, it's a big one." No, He steadily and patiently guides us up, step by step.

The 6th Month

"No matter how much time passes,

no matter what takes place in the interim,

there are some things we can never assign to oblivion,

memories we can never rub away."

~Haruki Murakami~

My mind continues to short circuit as it attempts to comprehend the sheer fact that our son is six months old.  

Our little guy has gone from this...

to this....

He has such joy and his smiles hold nothing back.

Oh, little one, may this joy you have never run dry. I pray that these moments will remain as memories burned in my mind for days and years to come.

I want to remember how you:

• crinkle your nose when you laugh, just like I do
• cross your feet at your ankles as you ride in the carseat or stroller or even as you play on the floor
• squeal with delight when you see daddy running down the hallway to come and give you a zerbert on your tummy
• calm down and listen intently as I sing "Amazing Grace" and then "May the Lord" to you before you head off to dream land at bedtime
• take your pacifier in and out of your mouth just for fun
• grasp onto my clothes with your chubby little hands and burrow your face in my shoulder when you get excited
• open your mouth as big as you possibly can and eagerly lean forward in anticipation of what mama will feed you on that spoon coming towards your mouth
• sleep on your hands during nap time and wake up with perfect little indentations of your fingers all over your face
• bat your arms up and down when you get excited

Oh, little one, I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, 

as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be.

God's Perfect Gift to Me

I just realized that I never posted this back in May, it was still sitting in my drafts...oops... but I wanted to post it despite it being so late because even so, I still daily celebrate the fact that I married this wonderful man!!

It was two years ago that we said "I do." We said I Do to loving each other through thick and thin, to bearing with one another in our silliness and stubborness, to encouraging one another as we walk through this life, to being Jesus to each other sharing the gift of unconditional love and sacrifice, to being a witness to their life. Someone once said, " We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet...I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things...all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

A good many things have been witnessed by us as we've walked through the last two years of marriage. :) We've seen each other laugh and cry. We've had evenings watching the sunset cuddle up together, and we've also had evening where we worked late into the night just to get things done. We've served the Lord side by side and loved doing so. We've done our best to live out the verses engraved on the insides of our wedding rings. On his, Ephesians 5:25 where Paul speaks to husbands, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her." On mine, Ruth 1:16-17 "...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates us."

I love this man I married because he is God's Perfect Gift to Me. None other would do, God chose him specifically for me and I am ever so thankful.

Nathan and I celebrated our 2 year Anniversary a month early because our Anniversary falls on THE day that we move into our new house in Pittsburgh. Our trip consisted of an overnight stay on a Bed & Breakfast passenger car train in WI, but no children allowed, so Josiah stayed home with Auntie Naomi and Uncle Isaac for his first 24 hours away from Mama (and Daddy). I am so blessed to know this man. He is God's Perfect Gift to me, truly, I do not know what I would do without him in my life! He is my #1 fan and greatest encourager. He leads me (us including Josiah) in the ways of the Lord and points us to Jesus daily. I love how he signs off his emails with "Only Jesus" as his signoff because it is so true of his life. God is so good.

Won't you stay awhile?

The sun sets behind the silhouette of the church steeple outside my kitchen window, painting broad strokes of soft pastels that gently welcome the stars into the night sky. I feel peace in the evening. Sitting outside and feeling the smooth, cool air on my skin while all of nature sings it's song into the night, brings a calm end to a busy day. So peaceful, so serene.This is me time, my time alone with God. Him and me, & me and Him.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Make time for the quiet moments when God whispers and the world is loud."? Won't you stay awhile? What would God have to say to you as you pause this evening to listen while nature sings it's lullaby? 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I love you.

I am for you.

I love watching you and revealing Myself to you throughout your day.

You matter.

You are not alone.

When there's not enough you to go around, I AM enough.

I rejoice over you.

I am watching out for you, your comings in and your goings out.

Seeing you laugh and enjoy life brings me joy.

You are my child.

I love you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And then....stillness. The serenity of sitting in the presence of God. Just you and He, & He and you.


I love you too Daddy, thank you.