Words on a Page

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks.  God has been so good to us.  Tyler got the job in St. Louis and so we're moving up there in the next couple of weeks.  I was really worried about telling my boss that I was leaving (they really do need me, or at least someone in my position), so I gave them a couple of names.  I think that calmed their fears a little bit.  We got someone to sublease our apartment, and all that's left is to enjoy Christmas with our families and pack up our little 1-bedroom apartment and make the 3 hour trek to St. Louis.  Oh, and we have to find a place to live.  That's a minor detail. :]


We're going up tomorrow after I get off work and going to hunt for a place to live all day on Saturday.  I'm hoping that God will lead us to the place He has for us. I keep seeing His hand in all of this, so I know this is His plan for our lives.  For pete's sake, we got someone to sublease in less than a week...


There are more details to this story than I'm letting on, but we don't actually know all of them yet.  We're praying that God just leads us in this adventure of our lives.  It really is going to be an adventure.


It's bittersweet saying goodbye to Springfield.  Springfield has been my home for the past 5 years.  I've come to love this little city.  Missouri State has been my home as well.  This week, Tyler and I both said goodbye to Missouri State.  It is time to close this chapter of our lives.  I never thought it would be this soon, but I've come to realize that God has plans for us outside of Springfield.  It's sad to leave because this is what we've known the last several years.  


It's scary to move to a place where we know very few people.  It's stressful to pack up our lives as we're trying to celebrate a Life that came to this world to save us, that we might have this opportunity to serve Him in a city we never thought we would.  It's sad to leave our friends here, knowing we could possibly never see some of them again.  However, it's exciting to see that God is working in our lives.  It's exciting to see that God has a plan for us: a hope and a future.  It's exciting to think of the new church we're going to find to serve in, and the new friends that we're going to meet, and the new jobs we're going to start (or find, in my case).  


We have a whole new city that we get to shine Christ's light in.  I pray that He will use us for the length of time we are there, and that we will always follow after Him.

The Season of Giving

I am so excited to share this Christmas season with my husband!  Christmas really is the best time of year.  We get to celebrate the birth of our Savior and spend time with loved ones.  This year is special for Tyler and I because we get to establish our own traditions.  We are our own "family" and get to make the decisions for us, much like our parents did when they started their family.


One thing my parents always told my brothers and I was that this is the season of giving.  We are to give our gifts with a happy heart.  I might not have understood this when I was 3 or 4, but the older I get, the more excited I am to give my family their Christmas presents.


Tyler and I want to start our own traditions, and why not start now?  We don't have to wait until we have kids, we can start now.  One thing I'm really excited about is our decision to adopt a child for Christmas.  There are tons of people that are not as fortunate as we are, even being in college.  We both know that we've been blessed, and that as Christians, we need to give back.


We've adopted a little boy, age 2, and he needs a coat.  He also wants some dinosaur toys.  How easy is that?  He doesn't have a long, detailed list like some of us might.  I thought we could definitely handle his wish list, and we could also buy him some extras.


I can definitely see this becoming a tradition in our family.  It's humbling to buy gifts for people you don't know, especially when they don't have a long list.  It makes us realize that we don't need anything.  God has blessed us with everything we need.  It puts our wants into perspective.


I pray that this little boy will grow up to one day know Christ and the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  God has been good to us, and it's our turn to show that love to others.

God is Able

**This was a post that never got published from November 22.


God must be teaching me a lesson.  I believe that the theme of this semester has been "God is able."  I started the semester with the women's Bible study at Northside.  We did the video series and workbook called "Faithful Abundant True," that was co-written with Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore.  Oh how wonderful!! 


Beth used to be my favorite Bible study series author, but Priscilla has sure given her a run for her money.  She was fantastic in this book. The verses that she focused on in her sections were:

Ephesians 3:30-21

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

God is able.  He is able to do everything we ask for.  He is able to do immeasurably more than what we ask for or even imagine.  How amazing is that?  

He must still be teaching me this lesson because on Sunday night, I got to go to the Hillsong concert with Tyler.  He bought me concert tickets for my birthday, and I was really excited because I've wanted to see them since about 7th grade.  Anyway, the tour name was "God is Able."  Imagine that.  It's really funny sometimes how God ties everything in together to make some sort of sense.  

I know that God is able.  It's my business to know that He can, it's His business to decide if He will.  This semester is all about trusting Him, especially right now.

Count Your Blessings

Tyler and I got to go to Lamar for approximately 24 hours this weekend.  It was nice to have the entire family home and sitting around the living room.  While we were there, my mom had us play the "I am thankful game."  We generally play this at Thanksgiving, and we probably will play it again.  I was the last one to say what I was thankful for, and I couldn't stop rambling off things.  I'm extremely blessed and thankful, so I thought I'd share.

• I'm so thankful that God provides.  We aren't making the "big bucks," but we do have a roof over our head, food on the table, and a bed to keep us warm.

• I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a wife to my best friend.  I'm so thankful I don't have to send him home at night, and we can be goofy together all we want.

• I'm thankful for my dad who isn't afraid to tell me what I need to hear instead of what I want to hear, and he always gives me Godly advice when I need it.

• I'm thankful for my mom who is always there when I need to talk. I can trust her with anything, and I know she will always give me Godly advice, as well.

• I'm thankful for both of my parents for teaching me how to live for Jesus. They have also taught me the sacredness of marriage.  It's a blessing to look to them for wisdom and advice.  I'm also thankful for the unconditional love they give me.

• I'm thankful for my brothers, especially now that we're all becoming friends.  I'm blessed to live in the same town as them and be able to invite them over for supper.  Without a doubt, they will always put a smile on my face.

• I'm thankful for our church family.  It's been a blessing to be part of a small group and Bible study.  Knowing people care is such a great feeling.

• I'm thankful that God has a plan for our lives.  Even when we don't know what the future holds, God does.  He has promised us a hope and a future.

• I'm thankful for the peace that God has given me about our future.  I've never known such peace, but He has given it to me now.  It's an incredible feeling.

• I'm so very thankful for the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross.  He died for you and me, so that we may live with Him forever.  What an amazing gift!!

I'm incredibly blessed.  There's really not enough room to share everything that I'm thankful for, but I thought I would share what was on my heart.  I hope that you, too, are finding things to be thankful about, not only in this season, but every day of life.

I've Never Known Such Peace

I had quite an amazing weekend (last weekend) that I just can't stop thinking about.  I went to a women's retreat put on by my home church that was held at Maranatha Retreat Center in Everton, MO.  The retreat was set upon a book called, Apples of Gold.  The book was written based on Titus 2:3-5:


"...Train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, chaste, domestic, kind, and submissive to their husband, that the word of God may not be discredited." (RSV)


I really like how the NIV say the verses as well:


"Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the word of God."


My heart is full from the love that I have for my husband and for my Savior.  I'm so thankful for a God who continually washes me white as snow.  I've been feeling a little guilty and convicted because to some extent I've been neglecting my husband. School has had the best of me, but that is no excuse. God doesn't want that.  So instead of dwelling on the fact that I've been failing, I've decided to accept God's forgiveness instead.  


See, I've been learning in my quiet time that we need to forgive ourselves when God has already forgiven us.  Not being able to forgive ourselves is from Satan, because he wants us to dwell on our sin.  When you forgive yourself, you're liberated.  It's so freeing!


The retreat was a liberating weekend.  It was a weekend that I realized that I am peaceful.  I'm at peace with not going back to school.  I'm at peace with school currently.  I'm at peace with wherever Tyler takes a job.  Most of all, I'm at peace with God.  What an amazing feeling. 


We focused on six main topics, and there's a couple that I've just really learned a lot from.  


1.  Kindness:  the biggest thing I've learned from doing this particular lesson in the book and listening to our speaker is this:

If we desire to be like Christ, we must ask Him to develop kindness in us.

This is sooooo true.  Kindness is a choice.  It's an every day decision that we must make.  We have the choice whether to retaliate after someone was rude to us.  We have the choice whether to be nice to our husbands or kids after they just made us mad.  It's a choice.  

Don't let someone else determine your attitude.

2.  Loving Your Husband:  this one has shown me that I need to work on this.  God must be the MOST important relationship in your life.  Everything you do hinges on this relationship--the decisions you make, the reactions you have to circumstances, the way you relate to others, your sense of joy and peace.  

Everything in life is affected by my relationship with God.  When that relationship isn't right, then nothing is right.  Specifically, the issues of self-worth, loneliness, strength in hard times, freedom from fear, and joy are resolved only by a right relationship with the Lord.  What great news!  God can bring me through all of those trials.  I don't have to suffer alone, but I also must know that my husband cannot make those situations go away for me.  It's totally from a right relationship with God.

Love is a choice of actions.  It's not just an emotion.  We have to love through our actions.  That is something that I'm working on.  Another thing that I'm working on is putting my husband's needs before my own, which can be hard because today we have the attitude of "me."  But God calls me to put his needs before mine.  I want to be Tyler's number one cheerleader.  I want him to feel like I'm his cheerleader.

These are just a few examples of what I've been working on this week.  It's been a really great week, despite the fact that I've gone to school and work.  I've been less stressed, and have really been seeking God.  I have been at peace.


God is also teaching Tyler and I to trust Him as a couple.  See, Tyler graduates in December and is currently looking for a job.  It's a tough job market out there.  He's applied for several and just hasn't heard back from them.  Last week, a company called him and told him they thought he'd be a good fit for them and encouraged him to fill out an application.  We talked about if for a few days, and on Monday, they called again asking why he hadn't submitted his application.  He went ahead and filled it out and shortly after, they contacted him asking him when he could interview.


This job wasn't a first pick for him.  It's been an emotional struggle to even apply for this job.  However, we see that God has been opening doors.  We continue to pray everyday asking if this is where we need to be, and if it is, that God will just make it blatantly obvious to us.  Our attitudes have changed toward the possibility, and we're slowly seeing that God has a hand in all of this.  Of course He does!


Last night in my quiet time, one of the verses I read was this:

"The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him."  

Psalm 37:23

I think we both needed a little encouragement, and this is how God encourages us.  We are going to continue to pray and ask God to lead us.  Ultimately, we want to be where He wants us.  If it's in Timbuktu, then we will move there.  If it's in Springfield, then here will we stay. Wherever we are, our priority is to serve God with all that we are.

God provides.  He really does, and we're seeing that He doesn't necessarily provide in a way that we may want.  God knows the best for us.  He knows the plans for us:  to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).