Thirst

It's a strange morning around here.  My poor husband has been sick all night.  My girls for some reason are ALL sleeping in this morning which means right now it is 8:26 and I'm sitting here all alone.  With my Earl Grey tea.

These moments are rare.  Yesterday I was contemplating how my time with the Lord lately has gotten shuffled into the mix of life.  That's not completely a bad thing.  I love reading the Word with my babies on my lap.  I really love praying while washing the dishes and wiping messy faces.  However I know that at times I need to set aside time just for me to meet with my Savior. 

Yesterday I was reading in Psalm 63.  It begins, "O God, You are my God; I shall seek you earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

I began thinking, why don' I feel like I'm thirsting after God?  As my life gets set in cruise control and I'm rolling along, why don't I feel myself yearning for the Lord?

I reminded myself of my poor little water bottle sitting on the kitchen ledge.

It spends most of it's day there.  I refill it almost every morning, knowing that I need to drink at least three of them to consume a healthy intake of water.  But I am terrible about drinking water.  TERRIBLE!  I just don't feel thirsty.  Even of these hot days.  I don't feel thirsty.

As a result I get major head aches,  my skin is dry and cracking,  my energy is low.  It effects my body in more ways than I'll ever know.  I need water.  I will never be living life to the fullest until my body can function the way it is supposed to; quenched and refreshed.

Just because I don't feel a thirst for God, doesn't mean my soul isn't desperate for Him.  Just because I "feel fine" bouncing through life doesn't mean my spirit is parched.  All it means is that I've grown accustomed to going through life with a constant "head ache", with a dry and cracking spirit.  I've forgotten what it's like to be overflowing with the Spirit of God living in me.  To live each moment completely satisfied with His goodness and grace. 

Today I'm praying that the Lord will open my eyes.  That I will see how desperate I really am.  That I will thirst for Him.  Because He is the only one who truly satisfies!

Freedom

       Our family has attended the same church our entire married lives.  David has gone there since he moved to the area when he was three.  My family attended there before I was born, until my dad started a small church in our home town, then when that church closed we went back to our home church.  The body of believers there truly are family and we are tremendously blessed to be able to worship together with them.  Both of our families attend there, as well as my grandparents which makes four generations often in one pew.

I could go on forever about things I love about our church, like how the beautiful women who used to babysit me and even my dad now get to hold and be a part of my children's lives, but the thing that I am most thankful for these days is the heart of our pastor and his commitment to preach the word of God. 

He has been teaching through Galatians these last few weeks and it has been challenging me daily as I think over what he has been drawing out.  Mostly, the whole concept of  freedom.

Over and over we have been encouraged to watch out for the two enemies of freedom.  Legalism and Lawlessness.

Galatians 5:1~  It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:13b~ only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

I think these hit home especially hard for me as I can see them both regularly creeping up in my life.  Legalism is a direct affront to the grace of God.  Galatians 2:21~....if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly".  There is absolutely nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous before the Holy God.  Any attempt to do so makes us guilty of attempting to water down the all sufficient sacrifice of Christ.  How I dress, speak, eat, live does not make me any more worthy of salvation then anyone else. 

But then we swing to lawlessness.  We see it all the time.  We see it because we DO it!  Because I am free in Christ, does that mean I can do anything I want?  Listen to whatever music I choose, watch that tv show I know promotes sinfulness, dress in whatever fashion I choose?  I guess that depends on your view of freedom.

Galatians 2:20~ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

The truth is, there is no "free zone".  Anytime we choose to live how "we want to live" because "we're free to do whatever we want", we choose to be slaves to sin.  When I choose to live for Christ, my choices reflect my love for Him.  I choose to dress, speak and live in a certain way, not because I'm bound by law, but because I'm in love with my Savior and I can't bear breaking His heart.  How I wish that was true of me every moment of every day!

Obviously these play a role in our big, life changing decisions, but how do we allow them to shape our every day lives?  First of all, it looks VERY different for different people.  It shows up in little areas we not have even considered.  I found that the main reason I was holding onto not getting my ears pierced was some warped sense of legalism and pride, something I wanted no part of.    Focus on looking at your own life. 

Please encourage me as you can to not run in either incorrect direction, but to joyfully rest in the grace of God and to live a life of love.  I'll try and encourage the same in you!

Our Bible Time

Bible time is very simple here for us.  We all gather around the wood stove, read a psalm, each pray for our day and work on our new verse.  We add a new verse each week.

It has been so refreshing to get back into our verses!  After being so slack about reviewing for awhile, we are reviewing several past verses as well as delving into some brand new ones.

We are still using our chart system, although we started fresh ones and Havilah has her own now!  Here are my sweeties sharing some of their favorites.

After this, we move to the table where I read a chapter from where we are in the Bible.  Tomorrow we are starting in Job which I'm excited about.  The girls then draw their own picture of what was just read.  Not only does this reinforce their listening skills it also throws in some art!

There are many days where it seems easier to just jump into school and "get to Bible later", but it never pays off.  Beginning our days in the Word, listening to it and hiding it our hearts is priceless!

That I might not sin against You

Scripture is an amazing thing. What an blessed treasure it is to hold God's Word in our hands and read it with our own eyes. What an incredible thing to have the answers in life! Yet I know that I too often waste so much of my time, thoughts and energy on things that have no value instead of grasping onto that which offers me real life.

One of the greatest blessings of motherhood has been the ability to teach the Bible to my children. We started working on memory verses with Lydia as soon as she could utter some words. Back when Bethany was still a bald little thing she would walk around saying over and over, "Children OBEY!". I'm fully convinced that the greatest good I can do in my children's lives is to instill a love for the Lord and His word in their hearts.

We  have now started memory charts ( I'm a huge chart/list person!) where the girls can see and track their progress. They are nothing fancy. In fact they are rather beat up (thanks to a little sister's drawing, licking, pulling etc.).

While I'm convinced this is good for my girls, I've been amazed at the challenge it's brought to my own life! These "simple" verses that we've chosen to help shape our daughters are just as powerful in convicting me!

Psalm 103:8~ The Lord is compassionate and gracious; slow to anger, abounding in love.

 

Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Yup. I need serious work done in all of those areas of my life.

 

Colossians 3:23~ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men.

 

Whatever you do. Whatever you do. Whatever you do. Even washing dishes, or folding laundry, or changing diapers, or, or, or.... I find it so much easier to remind my children of this one then to truly carry it out myself.

 

James 4:17~ Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it sins.

 

This is one we just don't like to think about. It makes me uncomfortable at least! But that's a good thing. I have no desire to be comfortable. Just as I want to challenge my girls and make them powerful for the Lord, that's the desire for my life as well. Instead of trying to avoid thinking about "the good I know I ought to do", maybe I should just do it and stop sinning!

 

You moms (and dads I suppose!), I urge you; Start memorizing scripture with your children. Let it soak into you. If you need inspiration, read through Psalm 119 and beg for King David's heart for the Word. Your children are more than capable. In fact, they are amazing at it! And I promise you, it will reap much fruit. Not only in their lives, but yours as well!

Don't Be Deceived!!!

James 1 :16-17~ Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.


I LOVE the second part of this verse. I think about it all the time. It helps keep me focused on praising the Lord for all that He has done. But I think the first portion is so crucial! "Don't be deceived!". James knew how easy it is for us to get distracted with life and to not realize or think about our "good and perfect gifts". Or even worse, we in our pride somehow believe that we have achieved or somehow deserve these blessings in our lives.

I know that I fall into the trap of being deceived very often. In an attempt to focus my thoughts on praising my Father of the heavenly lights for the good gifts that come from HIM, I'm going to begin a week of thankfulness, spending some time thinking about some specific things I am truly grateful for. This will by no means be an exhaustive list, or listed from greatest to least. Just a small smattering.

And when I say I'm thankful, know that it is not just a general feeling. It is an act of worshipping my gracious Father and truly saying "thank you" to Him!

1. My husband

I just have to start here. I was thinking about this all night last night as I couldn't sleep very well. I know that I talk about him all of the time. I'm sure that you've all heard our story (if not just wait until June!). We met when I was three years old. I was madly in love with him when I was thirteen. We finally married soon after I turned eighteen. Looking back, I don't even know why I was "so sure" that he was the man for me. But I am 100% convinced that he is.

My husband is an amazing man. I could write more than you'd ever care to read so right now I will share my favorite thing about him. He is a man who not only loves the Lord with His all of his heart, but also wholeheartedly takes God at His word. The Word of God is what he guides his life by, and because of that I can trust him and give him my complete respect. You single ladies who may be reading this, hold out for this kind of man. What more can you ask for, than someone who desires to conform to the Lord's will. Everything else you could want falls under that heading. Honesty, gentleness, hard-working, joy, humility, patience, amazing love all come with a heart to please the Lord.

I am very thankful for my husband!

Coming up in March....

I can't believe it's March already!!! With the baby and the wedding, it feels like these first two months of 2010 have absolutely flown by!

March always feels extra long to me. It's not quite spring. You can't quite plant a garden or all the flowers I've dreamt of all winter long. We're all itching for a change and yet patience is required for at least another month.

I thought I would just take a minute to think of some of the things I'm looking forward to in March.

A very special meeting~ This week my brother-in-law is bringing home my future sister-in-law for us to meet!!! I'm so excited!!!! (More details to follow!)

Walking,walking,walking~ I'm participating in a "500 miles in 2010" walking challenge with my MOMYS friends. I love it! Lest you have grand thoughts of me treading gallantly out in the wind and rain, let me set you straight. I walk in my living room. I have a "Walk Away the Pounds" video that I actually enjoy. Feel free to laugh and poke fun, but hey! I've walked 103 miles so far this year! That feels pretty good!

Pain~ While walking has felt really good and has provided me with great energy and endurance, I've been chomping at the bit to get started on something that will more aggressively attack my left over baby fluff. Now that I'm at the 6 week mark, I'm starting on the "30 Day Shred". (Note~ attire and language is not very family friendly!) I just started it today and believe me, there will be much pain this month!

Great joy~ Everyday is such a blessing. My girls are growing up faster than I can believe, and every day molds them with more joy, grace and beauty than the day before. My husband is as always, the man of my dreams. God seems to have gifted him with the amazing ability of learning how to love his crazy wife better each day! God is so faithfully providing and caring for us, revealing Himself to us and drawing us closer to each other. Yes, whatever March brings, I know it will bring great joy!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Overwhelmed

How am I this morning? Completely overwhelmed. I've been sick for the past three days. Nothing too serious. Just the headache, sinus congestion, sore throat and stomach ache that makes you wish you lived under your down comforter! I feel like my house is falling apart, due to the fact of Mommy wishing she was under a down comforter for three days. Oh, also we have no money. That's sort of what happens when there is hardly any construction work for months!

That is not even a glimpse into why I feel overwhelmed though. In the last 24 hours I have had two of the best dates imaginable. The first was with my amazingly incredible husband. Even with things being a little tight right now, he arranged for our girls to spend the night at Grammy's house and whisked me away to spend some time with him. I haven't had a chance to say it yet today, so let me just get it out there. I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!! I realized the other day that I have been in love with him for over ten years. But never have I loved him more than I do now. I could write a book describing all the amazing things about him. Every day I am blown away by how blessed I am to be married to such a mighty man of God. We are lovers and best friends and I am so thankful to be experiencing how awesome God's design for marriage is.

We had so much fun talking about past, present and a future full of joy and excitement. It was wonderful having that time to just be together. It was a fabulous date.

David had to leave early this morning for his men's group that he meets with, so I was enjoying sleeping in with my precious Ella babe and no one else in the house. That's when I got the invitation for my second date.

Gently and tenderly I felt called from my bed to the chair down by the fire to spend some uninterrupted time with my first love. Jesus. It was beautiful. He is beautiful. And Good. And Awesome. And Faithful. I could go on forever, but thankfully there is a book written about how amazing He is.

How precious it is to be held in the arms of our Savior. Why would I ever want to be anywhere else? To know that He loves me more perfectly and beautifully than I could ever imagine. To know that everything I love or care about belongs to Him and is completely in His control. How could I worry about a house or food or clothes, when my Father who loves me has unlimited resources and absolute wisdom as to what is best for us? How could I complain about anything when I taste and see everyday how good He is to me. He gave His own life to purchase me, wash me and make me righteous. He has blessed me more than I could ever describe. Never have I lacked anything and always I am basking in the overflow of His provision.

Yes, this morning I am completely overwhelmed. And I hope I stay this way every day of my life!

A glimpse into my heart

I've prayed for quite a few weeks about if I should write this post or not. To be honest, I'm a little nervous. I pray that you will be gracious to me as I attempt to share my heart and that you will take this as what it is, merely "This is where the Lord has led us" not, " This is what I think you should do."

35 days until our little one arrives. I am so thrilled! For those of you who don't want to do the math this will make four children in 56 months (a little over four and a half years). The comments are already starting (okay they started a couple of children ago!) and I don't see them slowing any time soon. I'm honestly very tired of giving wishy-washy answers as to what our "plan" is, so here I go to try and give you all the complete version. I don't attempt this very often so count yourself fortunate!

To start out with, you need to know a little of what I believe. I believe in a God who is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Always Present, Incomprehensible, Eternal, Faithful, Good, Just, Merciful, Gracious, Loving, Holy and Sovereign. I believe that He created everything, that He knew me and all His plans for my life before I was ever born. I believe that He has complete control over nature, that He healed incurable diseases, that He raised the dead to life and that He Himself defeated death.

I also believe that the Bible is the written word of God and that it reveals to us who He is. That it is true, and that we can believe what it tells us all of the time.

So anyway, that's where I'm coming from. I jotted down a few scriptures that help form the way that I think. If you want the references, please let me know and I would be happy to give them to you. These are scattered from throughout the Bible and hopefully I won't lose you! ( Italics are mine!)

"I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her...", "for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household...", "The Lord did for for Sarah what He promised . Sarah became pregnant.", "The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.", "...He opened her womb...", " Am I in the place of God who has kept you from having children?", " God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant...", " He listened to her and opened her womb.", "The Lord enabled her to conceive...", "The Lord had closed her womb.", "The Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived.", " May the Lord give you children...", "And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; She conceived.".

And here were the mothers responses,
"God has granted me another child...", "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him.", " The Lord has done this for me.", " It is because the Lord has seen my misery.", "Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, He gave me this one.", " God has vindicated me,", "God has taken away my disgrace.", "God has rewarded me,", "God has presented me with a precious gift.".

Many people ( and I'm one of them!) say that they want the Lord to direct their lives. Where they live, work, minister. They want to trust the Lord and what He has planned for them because face it, we know that His plans are better than our plans. We want that in all areas of our life. It's not always easy, but that is our desire.

So here it is for you all to see; We have decided that we would rather have Him plan how many children we should have and when they should come rather than do it ourselves, very simply because we truly believe that He can do a much better job of it than we can. We don't believe that babies are just something that happen if not protected against. Like all of the above mentioned women and situations, we believe that God chooses and is in complete control over every womb that is opened or closed. We've heard the arguments and all of the reasons why we are very foolish, but thus far we are not convinced. We are witnesses every day of the awesome plans of God. Nothing in the world could convince me that I could have planned my family any better than what He has given me.

"Easy for you to say. You have three sweet little girls. Wait until you have six, eight or ten. Or even (heaven forbid!) BOYS!". Let me just say this now, if ever you hear that we have changed our minds, I hope that you will demand a pretty good explanation from us. Not to say that the Lord will never lead us another way, but that's exactly what it would have to be. It cracks me up when people ask, "So you plan on having like 20 kids?!". My answer is no. I plan on having three little girls today, with a precious new little one coming in 5 weeks. I'm completely excited about what the Lord has planned for our future and only feel anxious when I focus on my strength and abilities and not His. But how could I hope to get through any portion of this life with just my strength?

Thank you for those of you who made it all the way through this novel! Again, this was written in no way to try and convince you of anything and especially not to make you feel guilty, but hopefully just to clearly communicate where the Lord has lead us. Please pray for us as we continue to seek His wisdom and to honor Him in all that we say and do. Blessings to you all!

Our love story

Since our anniversary is rapidly approaching, I thought that now might be a good time to fill some of you in on the details. (Warning!!! This story relies heavily on God's faithfulness and direction!)

David and I met when I was three years old and he was six. We attended the same church for a few months until my dad started a church in the little town we live in. Both of our families home school and so our moms hit it off really well and even did several classes together through the years. We also discovered that our dad's shared the same birthday and so for twenty years now we have been having a giant joint birthday party with both of our families called "The Daddy Dinner".

Growing up I wasn't very fond of the King boys. They were very much boys and weren't very sensitive or compassionate to younger girls! Many years passed, without having very much contact other than our "Daddy Dinners".

When I was thirteen we got involved in a home school band and choir and also joined Bridgeport youth group. David was also involved in these things. All of the sudden I found that I liked this guy. A lot. ( My youngest sister is thirteen now and it blows me away to think that I was her age when I fell in love with David!). We became very good friends. We were involved in so many mutual things that we ended seeing each other almost every day, and because his family had now moved to where I lived we (My sister and I and Him and his brothers) carpooled almost everywhere.

This went on for several years. We both really liked each other, and though we were very close friends we never shared how we felt about each other. Time felt like it dragged by. The summer after I turned sixteen David decided to go work in Alaska with his brother Jonathan for six months. I thought my heart was broken. That was such a horrible time. And yet God used it in amazing ways in both of our lives. A verse was written on my wall board all that summer and it stayed there until I got married.

Psalm 37: 4-7~ Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.

Finally he came home. I was so nervous that things would be totally change between us. It was a little awkward, but not too bad. He was leaving again in a month to go sell Christmas trees down is California for six weeks. The day that he was going to leave he asked my dad if he could talk to me, alone.

I'd better back up here and add another detail I left out. Because our families spent so much time together we had developed "The Rule". Even the youngest in our families knew what "the rule" was. The rule simply stated that no boy from one family and no girl from another could be alone together, just to keep a standard of being above reproach at all times. So for David to ask to talk to me alone was a big deal!

We went out to our barn where we each awkwardly sat on our own separate hay bales. There he told me that he liked me, that he had liked me for a long time and that he wanted to marry me. The problem he told me, was that he didn't know if God wanted him to marry me. We decided to take the time that he was away and any following time we may need to pray for a answer from the Lord before started any sort of relationship other than friendship.

That again was a very hard and yet very precious time praying and relying on the Lord for His direction. Finally he came home, but without an answer. So we continued praying. And praying. And praying. God always works when we least expect it! One evening while I was at a youth group event at the church David went to my parents, told them that God had given him an answer and asked if he could marry me. They had been watching this unfold for several years and were ready with their answer. Next David came to the church and asked if he could talk to me. We went into our church sanctuary where he told me that God had given him an answer and that it was a yes. That is such a precious memory to me. I remember sitting about two feet away from him on the pew and having him say that someday we would be getting married right there in that room. This all happened a month before my seventeenth birthday.

We entered into a precious "courtship" period, already committed to marriage, but getting to know each other (even after years of friendship!) and preparing for marriage. I can't say enough how thankful I am that God let us know that we were supposed to marry each other before we even started our relationship. It was an incredible time for us. We went with a team to Romania that summer ( my second trip) which gave us an extra special time to get to know each other.

By the end of that summer our parents and us all knew that it was time to start planning a wedding! We set the date for June 5, 2004 (06-05-04 pretty cool huh?) and got to work! That spring I turned eighteen, graduated from high school and got married a month later! I look at eighteen year-olds now and I am blown away! It wasn't that I was more mature or wise than most, but God had been preparing us every day of our lives, and this was His timing. I am so so so thankful. God is so good and does good and amazing things. I'm sorry that this is so long. If you made it all the way through, please be encouraged. Romans 8:28~ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.