Family Life - Summer Recap

The months have flown by, and I decided it would be better to do a full summer Recep than try to catch up on the 4 months separately. May through August were full and held a great deal of activity individually and as a family, but I will let the pictures tell the story for themselves.  

In early May, Emma was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding in 
Tennessee and I went along to help with Caleb. While Emma was getting
her hair and makeup done the morning of the wedding, Caleb and I went for a walk.

James is quite a character!

We celebrated Joel's 14th birthday in May!

For Mother's Day, our church offers gifts to our mothers, and this
year I had the opportunity to make necklaces to be apart
of the gift options.

As we continued the process of cleaning out Grandma's house
in preparation to sell, we became well acquainted with U-Haul
as we transported items and furniture back home to put in storage. 

She is just the sweetest!

Grandma's garage, full and ready to be moved out.

It was such a sweet treasure to work with Mom the last few
weeks at Grandma's house.

While taking a load of items to donate, I stopped for an iced coffee.

Grandma's house sold within just a few days so the date was
set for July 1st to have the final load out.

The night before, we kids drove up to spend one last night at 
"Grandma's house".

We ate dinner together and watched a Roy Rogers movie. 

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In July, I stepped into the role of event coordinator for 
pro-life ministry, Speak for the Unborn's fundraiser! I had
never directed an event of this magnitude and it was a stressful
and wonderful learning experience with lots of time spent on the
computer, texting or calling, and note taking! Thankful as the Lord
expands my skill set.

In August, we hosted a baby shower for Katie, my cousin Matthew's
wife who is expecting their little boy in just a few days!

We went with a woodland theme...

In August, I was able to spend a few days with my friend, Emily 
and her family in Kansas. It was a huge blessing to have that time
with her, hashing over life, appreciating each other's friendship laughing
and taking in the Kansas scenery. 

So there it is, a photo recap of the last several months. They have been full, fast-paced and tiring, but Christ has filled and filled again. If I did not feel the need for help, my fleshly heart would not turn to Him as often as I do and I struggle being dependant enough as it is! He is so wonderful and I am thankful for how He is leading and guiding me...even though I understand very little of the paths that He is designing. I know, completely, unutterably, and truly, that I can trust Him. He will be glorified!

Leaning on Arm of Strength

“Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” Isaiah 27:5 

“O Lord, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee: be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in time of trouble.” Isaiah 33:2

Oh, dear sisters, commit to wait upon the Lord, to be strengthened by His mighty arm. He will not leave you desolate.

“Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.” Psalm 143:8

Take hold of the Arm of Strength each morning, knowing it is the way of life. The Arm of Strength will guide, lead, comfort, and teach you. It is your life.

Show me Thy lovingkindness, dear Lord, by continually revealing the Arm of Strength. All spiritual blessings are mind in thee, I claim the Arm of Strength as one of them.

“They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23

The Arm of Strength never has to be renewed, it is always at “full capacity”. It never faints, never grows heavy, and is never weary. How dear it is! It sustains and upholds in righteousness. It is ever present and always capable. It is always love.  

By Faith

I am a morning devotions gal, I prefer to start out my day with the Lord. There was one season where I transitioned to having my quiet time in the evenings before bed, but that only lasted a short while and I returned to having my time with Jesus first thing. I believe there is sweet power in giving the first part of the day to Jesus and I could not measure the power that opening His Word in the morning has had on my life. There have been times when the Lord has awakened me with a certain scripture text or principle on my mind. Those are precious moments from the Spirit. 

Recently, I awoke with “faith” in my mind. This train of thought led me to Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Then there is the heart cry of the confused disciples in Luke  17:5, “...Lord, Increase our faith.” So, how is faith increased as the disciples asked for? Taking the passage in Romans, faith is increased by hearing the Word of God, and by spending regular, disciplined time taking in the scriptures. It is sitting at His feet just as Mary did in Luke 10, choosing that “better part” and trusting in Christ from Whom the increase comes. 

Looking up “faith” in Strong’s Concordance, I gained a beautiful definition and keener insight into meditation. Faith- "persuasion, moral conviction of the truthfulness of God, reliance upon God for salvation, assurance, belief”. Is that not beautiful? Moral conviction of the truthfulness of God, assurance that what He has said is true and it will come to pass because He has said it and He is God. My “treasure hunt” then led me to a loved and one of my most well-referenced passages, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” 

Think how this is all intertwined. I desire increased faith, assurance, and deep conviction as to the truthfulness of God. I want this for a strong and sure foundation to stand on in the trials and pain of life. That comes about by hearing the Word of God, by intimate, consistent, and intentional time abiding with the Savior, the Giver of faith. With the increase of trust in the character of God, I use that moral conviction to cast down the imaginations and lies about the character of God that Satan hurls at me in an attempt to dissuade me from my assurance and thus weaken my faith. Faith is intricate, but how beautiful it is!

The longer I walk with Jesus, the more time I spend abiding with Him, and in His Word, the Lord keeps His promise and increases my faith. When the tempests swirl, my assurance stands firm because I know Him, I have been with Him, I have proven Him and His promises and I pull from the “bank” of His past faithfulness in my human weakness and need for assurance. What a gracious Father! He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust, and instead of asking us to just blindly walk on in this faith journey, He gives us opportunities to try His promises, to test His Word, if you will, and then the next temptation, the next grief that He allows, we can harken back to what we know about His character from His Word, but also what we have experienced for ourselves. People talk about blind faith. I do not have blind faith. Far from it! I have experienced God, I have witnessed His working in my heart, in my life! He allows my faith, His faith in me (Galatians 2:20) to grow and increase with each passing day as I seek Him, place my trust in what He has said, and allow the Spirit to produce that moral conviction of the truthfulness of God in my heart.

“For I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12

Book Review- Secure in the Everlasting Arms

One of my all-time favorite authors is Elisabeth Elliot. I was introduced to her writings back in the fall of 2015 while hunting through our church library shelves. I pulled Mrs. Elliot's book, "Passion and Purity" (I highly recommend this book, but would advise it for those 18+ and it to be run through your mother due to the frankness in some of the chapters) from the bookcase. I was in a season where some distinct, plain, Biblical guidance was helpful in dealing with thoughts regarding a young man I had met earlier that year, and the book looked interesting, so I carried it home. I almost inhaled it! I returned the church's copy and obtained my own and proceeded to begin collecting other books by Mrs. Elliot. While I do not agree with everything that Elisabeth Elliot held to (what author except the Divine Author will you ever?), I have again and again been encouraged, strengthened, and blessed by her writings. 

As I look back over the shelf of my collection, "Secure in the Everlasting Arms" stands out. "Secure in the Everlasting Arms" is broken down into 7 sections with titles such as "Finding Contentment", "Joy and Sorrow", "Missionary Stories", "Marriage, Courtship, and Singleness", and "Do the Next Thing".  Most chapters are 2-4 pages long, making it an easy read to progress through, even if you only have a few minutes to snatch up the book. There has been more than one moment when I needed encouragement in a specific area and opened "Secure in the Everlasting Arms" at random. In His kindness, the Lord has directed my eyes to the exact place where I received help and comfort.

"God's all-encompassing love has become the theme of Elisabeth Elliot's long life. For thirteen years she opened her daily radio program, Gateway to Joy, with her signature words, "Underneath are the everlasting arms," and now she offers this new collection of her reflections about the security we can find in God's love." (from the back cover)

Mrs. Elliot passed away in 2015, but the legacy that she has left us by her faith-filled example and many books continues to bless and encourage. 

Summer Devotional - Daily Grace

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work...being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." 2 Corinthians 9:8.11

In this passage, the words "all, every, and every thing", are all the same Greek word and one of the definitions is "daily". I loved that!

"And God is able to make daily grace about toward you; that ye, always having daily sufficiency in all things, may about to daily good work...being enriched daily to daily bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." 

The beauty of this greatly comforted and encouraged my heart. Daily grace, daily sufficiency, good works being daily given strength for, and daily being enriched by His grace. 

Rest in it today, girls. Revel in it. It is beautiful and it is enough. The Arm of Strength is available and longing to be your sufficiency and guide as you press forward to the good works He has for you today. 

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." Lamentations 322-23

Family Life - March & April

I should post about March and April before it is time to publish May and June! The last several months have been full of much activity, travel, and work. In mid-March, I began a 10-week, online course in Biblical Counseling, I continued traveling frequently to my grandmother's to progress the cleaning out, Emma, Stephen and the kids came for a visit early in April, and we began working on preparing our home for a remodel, and more. 

They were full months and there were times when I was quite overwhelmed with the needs at hand, but as I think back on them, I trust God's timing. He did not put any pressure upon me that His grace did not accompany. If I had decided to hold off taking the online course when I did (God's fingerprints were all over the decision), I would certainly not have taken it until next year, if at all, and I would have missed all that the Lord had for me and taught me in it. It was taxing, working through lectures and assignments alongside the many other pressing needs of the weeks, but it called forth a need in me to call out to the Helper, my Strength, and Guide. 

So, whatever it is that you are facing today, dear sisters, whatever hurdles He has lovingly placed in front of you, remember that they are too big for you and that God does give us more than we can handle, but you have a Father, Who will carry you and offers help. The hurdles are not to daunt us or cause us to doubt, but they are encouragements to cast ourselves upon the Lord, remember what we know to be true about His character, and rest our faith in that. I love the quote by Charles Spurgeon, "I have learned to kiss the wave that slams me into the Rock of Ages." Be encouraged, be upheld by Him.

One of the many joys of spring is the chance to get more walks in 
on the farm.

All of us girls enjoyed carrying Caleb around while Emma,
Stephen and the boys were visiting. Auntie life is a blast!

It was precious to see how much James loves being with Dad.

Snapping a picture with Caden before he headed back to college
for the spring semester.

Puss-Puss gifted(?) us with 6 kittens!. 

The Skelton family are faithful cattle customers, but also some
very dear family friends. It is always a happy day when they
come to the farm. The rest of the family was off in separate 
places, but we snapped a quick picture with Denise. 

For Mom's birthday, we took off to the park for whiffle ball and
volleyball.

Taking a load of cleaned and sorted house items to our storage container. 

Guess How Much I Love You?

 

    Little children's books can be such treasures, can't they? So many baby books are full of sweet innocence and pure happiness. I have several titles that I would be happy to add to my collection of "hopefully needed someday", but there is one that stands out strongly. "Guess How Much I Love You" is a delightful baby book. Big Nut Brown Hare is putting Little Nut Brown Hare to bed and junior asks a childlike question, "Guess how much I love you?". Big Nut Brown Hare responds that there is no way he could guess the correct answer to that and then Little Nut Brown Hare, instead of going on to bed, begins a series of attempts from Little Nut Brown Hare to show the size of his love for his father. However, Big Nut Brown Hair always can outdo him. 

    Recently, I was struggling through a moment of feeling discouraged. I think it was related to feeling single. I was walking back to our girl's room for few moments of (hopefully) undisturbed quiet and as I headed down the hallway in that direction, the sweet voice of love covered my heart with these words, "Guess how much I love you". If I was not already on the verge of crying, I certainly was then. Tears filled my eyes as the comfort of the Holy Spirit's question spread a soothing balm over my hurting heart. 

    I could not guess. It would be impossible. No measurement is even close to being able to describe or compare to the love that God has for me...for you. John 15:13 says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." No man has love like Jesus has loved. No one can or will ever be able to come near comparing to the depth of that love. Earthly love is precious. I anticipate the man and marriage the Lord will bless me with. I pray for the children that the Lord may, in His kindness, entrust to me. I am grateful for the friendships I am gifted with and sharpened by. In all areas of earthly relationships though, they are simple, beautiful, pictures of Himself. They are pieces of His character, Who He is; they are representations of His love. And just like Little Nut Brown Hare, I can, and should, attempt to show my Heavenly Father just how much I love Him, but I will always fall short of the purity of His love for me, He will always outdo me, and for that I am thankful.

    "Guess how much I love you?" has become a sort of anthem for me lately. It is my reminder that I am covered with a love that cannot ever fail and is better than any love that this earth filled with broken people can offer.  

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:33-35, 37-39