How God Used A Drought and An Umbrella

There was a severe drought some years ago in the northern part of England. The situation became so severe that if it would not rain within a week, the crops would be totally lost. Due to this urgent need, it was decided to have a special prayer service for rain in one of the local churches.

As the minister of this congregation was approaching the church, he saw a little girl ahead of him carrying an umbrella. He caught up with the girl and asked her, “My little girl, why are you carrying an umbrella to church on such a hot day?”

Turning and looking into his face, the girl answered, “We are going to ask God to send rain today. I want to be ready.”

The minister testified in his sermon that the faith of this girl put him to shame.

From “How God Used a Drought and an Umbrella” by Joel R. Beeke and Diana Kleyn

It was Indeed a "Happy 4th of July"!

We had a great time celebrating our freedom as a nation all day yesterday! We started off the day by going to the parade in downtown Woodstock. Um, I love "small town USA"!! We loved being with our friends and watching the kids scoop up candy and wave at the people going by! After the parade, we took our stacks of Chick-fil-a coupons and enjoyed lunch - we had 13 little girls and 1 little guy in our bunch. That's a lot of kiddos!! And they all did super!! After naps, we headed over to the Gralniks. It was a great afternoon and evening talking with friends, listening to kids run in and out and playing together, laughing over Yahtzee, and of course, grilling out! We missed the fireworks because of the rain, so Reagan is hoping her Daddy will set some off tonight!

How grateful I am for our freedom as a nation, but I think hubby said it best on Sunday morning when he was able to encourage the church with this the day before the 4th...

"Tomorrow we will be celebrating our freedom as a nation. And it is a freedom worth celebrating. We are free to be here this morning with nothing to hide and worship God. But what we are celebrating here this morning is even more worthy of celebration. We are free from sin! Christ has paid the price for our sin once and for all. We are not only free today to meet together in this nation, but we are free to come before a Holy God. We are free to commune with him and praise him.

Romans 6:6-14, 22-23 "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace...But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us worship God this morning with the worship and rejoicing that comes from the knowledge that we have been set free!"

The Best Day of the Week

My favorite day of the week for many years now has been Sunday. I love Sunday mornings. I love going to church to worship Jesus with some of the dearest people I know. I love listening to the messages and being fed by the Word of God. This past Sunday Steve left early to get ready to play for worship (which was absolutely, positively wonderful and refreshing!) and the girls and I got off to a bit of a rocky start. Two were whining (well, if you add me, that's 3) and we were running behind. Of course no one was out of bed or eager to get dressed or do their chores. In a moment I just thought "This is what the enemy would love to do. He loves to come in a destroy and distract. But God is bigger than him. And He is so much bigger than my own sin." So, the girls and I sat down and prayed and read through and talked about Proverbs 3. We thanked God that not only is His mercy new every morning, but it was new for that moment!

Matt Rawlings from the Greenville church came to serve our church and speak while Aaron is on vacation with his sweet family. God, in His kindness, used him to remind me of His nearness and His care for us. He didn't need too, nor did He have too, but through the message on Sunday I was so encouraged that the Lord does indeed hear our prayers. I really do believe that, but it was just one of those moments where I was overwhelmed by His kindness and my hope was built even more!

Matt spoke on Proverbs 3 (what I've been reading with the girls) and Jeremiah 32:17. The verse that I wrote about earlier in the week that has been such an encouragement to me. I sat there thinking, "Seriously, out of all the passages, all the verses, this pastor could preach on, he's using Jeremiah 32:17. I've never heard a pastor preach from that Scripture!"

Here are a couple of questions/thoughts from the message on Sunday:

* What do I do when I am tempted to doubt? Where do I run? Do I wake up proclaiming trust in God? Do I believe He will sustain us? Where am I attempting to trust my abilities?

* What is trust? It is an active reliance on God and who He is!

* Who do we trust? We trust in the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God - if we doubt any of these areas, we are not trusting God.

* We can trust God not because of our experiences, but because of who He is.

OH, and then if that weren't already enough, toward the end of the message he referenced Hebrews 11. Yep. Sunday was super.

Please take the time to listen to this message. It will encourage you and remind you that God is indeed all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving!

The Law and The Gospel

"The law of God shows us what God commands (which, of course, is good) but the law does not possess the power to enable us to do what it says. You could put it this way: the law guides but it does not give. The law shows us what a sanctified life looks like, but it does not have sanctifying power. It's the gospel (what Jesus has done) that alone can give God-honoring animation to our obedience. The power to obey, in other words, comes from being moved and motivated by the completed work of Jesus for us. So, while the law directs us, only the Gospel can drive us." - Tullian Tchividjian

Truth.

I know there are always trials around us. I know we live in a fallen world where there is pain and suffering and sadness and sickness. The last few months in particular, it seems like a lot of that has been very near. We've been near to families dealing with death, rebellion, barrenness, heartache, sickness and pain. I don't think there has ever been a time in my life where the Lord has given me such a burden, and such a hope for others. And not just a "Just believe in Jesus and it will be okay" (said with a big cheesy smile), but a "I've been able to look back and see God's faithfulness and I truly believe He is who He says He is and His Word is true and He will remain faithful through every circumstance."

The beginning of the year the Lord lead me to two places in His Word and I have been camped out there for the most part this year. One is Romans 8:28 - "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." The other is Hebrews 11 which recounts the faithfulness of God. On many days I have had to cry out to God to really and truly make my heart believe Romans 8:28, for when I just see the pain someone is walking through, it can be hard to remember that not only is it for God's glory (that would be enough), but it is also for the good of those who love Him. And I must stand on the solid rock of His Truth!

There is another verse of Truth that I think on regularly right now, too. It is Jeremiah 32:17 "Ah, Lord God! It is You who made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You." What hope I find in that Truth! When I find myself struggling with the same sin, or am talking to someone dear to me who is having to make decisions that seem unbearable, I can remember that God can do anything at any moment. He can change a heart of stone (He changed mine!). He can heal a sick and broken body. He can give the barren woman children! He can open hearts to believe and trust in Him! He can give those in the midst of tragedy peace and a heart that runs to Him, not from Him! And if we are alive in Christ, an eternity awaits us where we will be in the presence of the Most Holy and there will be no more sin, no more suffering, no more tears!!

It's Been a Decade...

and there is no other place that I would rather be than in his arms!

A little over 10 years ago I said "I do" to my man. At the time we had no idea what was in store for us on this adventure called marriage. We had no idea the joys and trials we would experience. We had no clue we would move so many times, have so many different jobs, have three beautiful girls, move out of state, buy a fixer-upper home, and so much more. We didn't know we would miscarry our first child or be apart for weeks at a time because of the way God chose to bring provision into our home for a season. We didn't know we would have different people live with us for seasons or that we would save money for a big 10 year get away by selling records! We didn't know that 10 years later we would actually love each other more than the day we were married. I didn't think it was possible. But it is. I love Steve. I regularly stand amazed, that God, in His great grace and providence, has allowed me to be this man's helper. I'm amazed that he would have even wanted to marry me, and not only that, but has stayed with me and loved me and continues to learn to pursue me and most of all that He loves the Lord. He is a man I respect and admire. He is the one who sees me at my best and my worst and loves me even at my unloveliest! He challenges me to do hard things and he makes me laugh everyday.

We are so grateful that we were able to get away for the longest amount of time we've ever been away to celebrate the goodness of God in our lives last month. We enjoyed each other and made memories in one of the most beautiful places we've ever been too. (I already put pictures under May of our trip to Hawaii!)

I can't wait to see what the next 10 years, and the next, and the next hold. I'm sure there will be much joy, many trials, many blessings, much laughter and tears. More memories and Lord willing, a lot of change and growth for our family. Hopefully we will set an example for our girls that makes marriage appealing, but most of all that our relationship will point them to the Gospel and goodness of our Savior, for without Him, we would not be able to have this testimony thus far!

March...April...May...June...Where is the Time Going?

This year is zooming by and I wish I could record day by day the funny sayings that the girls say, the ways they are growing and changing, the progress on our house, the many memories we are making, but I blink and another day goes by. I actually began the first sentence of this particular post three days ago, but quickly was interrupted by a little girl who wanted me to read "Charlie Cheese 1, 2, 3". It was only her and I here at the house, which is extremely rare, so I wasn't about to miss a few moments with just her and her little stack of books and Little People. Then, by the time I sat down again, I looked at the clock just to realize it was time to begin dinner. So, that's where the days go, and ever so quickly. It's quiet time and coffee, breakfast and dishes, getting dressed and reading, play-doh and grocery stores, swim lessons and VBS, time to work through conflicts with the littles, yard work, house projects, remembering to water my two living plants, tickle times, lunches, dinners, laundry and more dishes, exercising, snuggle time, game playing, prayers and lights out. Then going back in for a last peek at exhausted little girls who are snuggled up with their blankies - one in particular still talking in her sleep!

So, here's a few pictures from the last few months that show some of what we've been up too!

March

Steve took Reagan and Sydney camping in our woods!
Finally warm enough to go to the park!

Sweet sisters!
Mud - from head to toe!
This is what it looks like when you get to girls together to make two freezers full of meals and someone bursts the water line in your front yard!

We had some dear friends over for some good food and friendly competition!
The little stinker (the one in the pink) and our family morning out fishing.

Everything looks so peaceful, right!?! This was the trip when I tangled three poles, Sydney dropped her pole in the water, Steve slipped in the water going after the pole, he ran over his new tackle box, and we didn't get a single bite...all in under an hour!!

We began redoing the kitchen!!
Steve had his first meet!

Too cute!
Worship time in the kitchen to some Daryl Evans!
More kitchen remodeling!

April

May

June