A Great Coincidence (but not really)

Tonight Derek and I are rejoicing because of a wonderful way that the Lord has provided for us - and in perfect timing too!  I love it when God works out coincidences (but not really coincidences) for us!

First, the back-story:

This Fall, I've been working through the book of Leviticus, but recently I've veered away from that book and sought out reassurance from Paul's writings as I struggle to trust God to provide for us.  This morning for my personal devotions I decided to return to Leviticus, however, and I found that I had left off at chapter 25.

Leviticus 25 describes the instructions God gave the Israelites regarding the Sabbath year and year of Jubilee.  Every seventh year, the Israelites were to abstain from planting or harvesting on their fields, and give the fields a sabbath rest.  Also, every fiftieth year, land was to be returned to its original owner, and slaves would be freed.  All of this, it struck me, would take a definite dose of confidence in God to provide.  But God answers this response in verse 18-21,

Follow My decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.  Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety.  You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?"  I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.

So God acknowledged that the human temptation would be to worry that if we plan a year when we don't work the land, we will starve.  And here's the part that I never noticed before...  He didn't just tell them not to worry.  He explained that He would provide three-fold during their harvest on the sixth year, so that before that year of rest, they would already have what they needed to walk forward confident in God's provision.

So I was reading this and thinking about my own struggle to trust God for His provision during the coming months as Derek and I have relinquished our primary incomes and will be moving into full-time support raising.  And I asked myself, "has God done for us, what He promised to do for the Israelites in their season of increased dependence?"  And the answer I came to is, yes, He has.  Not only has God provided enough financial partners for us already to meet the basic needs we will have over the next several months, but He has also provided us with some investments which we can liquidate if we need to - and some of which we were thinking we'd go ahead and take out in the next couple of days.  God has provided ahead of time.

But then another thought jumped into my mind.  The car.  Wouldn't it be awesome, I thought, if God also arranged for us to get a really great return from our car insurance company for our vehicle that was totaled at the end of October?  That would sure be some nice extra padding in the bank!  (Explanation: the claim was still outstanding, so while we were pretty sure we would get something back for the car at some point, there seemed to be little progress to that effect in the past month and a half) 

Ok, now fast forward to this afternoon when Derek got a call from none other than our insurance agency!!  It turns out that in the next few days we will receive a check for way more than we ever thought we'd get for the car.  In fact, we're getting almost what we paid for it five and a half years (and 70,000 miles) ago.  No need to liquidate investments now.  No cause to worry.  Praise the Lord! 

Praise the Lord Who provides for His people!
Praise the Lord Who always has perfect timing!
Praise the Lord Who can even speak through crazy weird books like Leviticus!  :)

Thankful!

We found out recently that one of our donors works for a company who will match their employee's charitable giving at 100%!  We are encouraged and thankful for awesome friends who not only support us and pray for us, but look for ways to help even more.  Also, how incredible that businesses do this sort of thing?  Praise the Lord!

Racing in the Kitchen

There are several doors in the kitchen that we try to keep Finn out of - the closet door, the refrigerator door, and the dishwasher door.  Finn has figured out that we have to open all of these from time to time, however, and that when we do, he has to act fast if he wants to get inside before we can close them again.  So tonight I was putting things on the table for dinner while Finn was playing on the floor in the kitchen and every time I opened one of those doors, Finn would drop what he was doing and make a dash for it.  Even if he was behind me I could hear his breathing begin to race and his little hands slapping against the tile floor as he raced toward whatever it was in attempt to stake his claim to it before I could get it shut.  It was absolutely hilarious.  He doesn't get upset if I pulled him away, but he tried again and again and again. 

Family Mentorship

I think that after a Christian couple is married, but before they start a family, they should spend a few days - or maybe a week - shadowing a family who they would like to emulate in their approach to living for God as a family.  Derek and I were so blessed to have the opportunity to do this and it was SO helpful and encouraging.  The family we spent time with was not perfect (obviously) but as a result we got to see not only how they prioritized activities and interactions as a family and with others, but how they confronted sin as a family. It helped us make decisions early on that I hope will lead to some of the same results we saw in this precious family.

I think there is such value to watching how the gospel affects the day-in day-out interactions of family life that can not be seen through simply observing other families in public settings, or for limited time spans (like going to their house for dinner).  When you live with a family, you see the bed-time routine, the wake-up routine, how discipline happens, how the family interacts with neighbors and other acquaintances, how the adults find time to worship individually, and how the family worships together.  You find out about sacrifices that are made for the sake of prioritizing things that are important to the family, and you find out what everyone in the family really thinks about it.

I think in ages past, before the days of vehicles and telephones, peoples lives just naturally intersected like this a lot more, but in today's busy society, we mostly see how other families operate when they are operating under an in public set of rules that differs from those that define their daily lives at home.  We form conclusions about other families based on what we see in public and never pick up on integral choices the family has made which lead to the outcomes we see and want (or don't want, as the case may be).

It's easy to form a set of ideals in your mind for how family life should go, but applying those ideals to the craziness of your own life can be an incredibly difficult task--especially after your multiple years and children into establishing your family's norms.  I think shadowing a gospel-driven family would help.  Obviously there are no perfect families and obviously this host family would need to be gracious enough to not only welcome you and your spouse into their family, but commit to a level of transparency before you during your visit.  As with any mentorship or discipling relationship, a deep level of humility would be required for both parties, but that's what we're called to anyway, right?

Fall Family Fun

Finn's first hiking trip was a blast!

Playing outside while dad rakes leaves.

Playing in leaves necessitates a bath.  Finn loves baths.

And thanks to our friend, Sarah Hawk, for these wonderful family photos!

The Battle in My Mind

Where does the battle of Ephesians 6 (that is not against flesh and blood) take place?  I think it takes place in my mind. 

Today I was reading Show Them Jesus by Jack Klumpenhower, and I was encouraged by his reminder on page 80 of the importance and significance of the armor of God, which we are commanded to put on -

·      Truth:  I must cling to facts that I absolutely know are true.  I allow myself to believe so many things that are not true (she doesn't like me, he doesn't understand me, I'm not making any difference, this choice will make life very difficult, etc.), but if I "put on" truth, and cling to that which is absolutely true, it will enable me to stand against the Devil's schemes.

·      Righteousness:  "Only Jesus gives the perfect righteousness I can't earn."  I am valuable only because of the righteousness Christ has earned for me.  Others may or may not value me for that reason, but their opinion does not affect my righteousness and my place in Christ.

·      Peace:  "Jesus has made peace with God by dying for my sins".  Ephesians 6:14 refers to "the gospel of peace."  Peace that I can put on is that peace which is between me and God, and it is not something I can accomplish.  It is offered as a gift resulting from Christ's work on the cross.  When I accept this peace, I will be ready for what God allows to come my way ("readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.")

·      Faith:  "Faith in Jesus will never fail me.  There's nothing better that I can put my faith in" (perfect planning and foresight, a large amount of savings in the bank, wonderful family members who always come through for me, etc.).  The evil one will send things my way that I can only get through successfully if I take up faith in God.

·      Salvation:  I must believe that Jesus has rescued me from sin.  I can no longer be controlled by any sin and I have no need to shoulder any guilt due to sin.  Jesus has already dealt with those things and I am saved from them.

·      Word of God: This goes back to the belt of truth.  The word of God is true, and I can stake my life on it.  "I can be sure that everything the Bible says is true and good for me."  "No power on earth is a match for the powerful word of God."  I must preach it to myself and use it actively against all evil that I encounter (including evil in my own mind like fear, doubt, worry, pride, selfishness, etc.)  The word of God is the fighting weapon that the Spirit of God Himself uses, and it is available for my use as well.

Mama

Finn's first word is officially, "Mama!"  I'm so proud.  :)  It melts my heart.

As it happens, he's also figured out that Mom can't resist coming to him when he calls her name at night.

Living Sacrifices

In Sunday School today, Matt was teaching from Romans 12:1, which says:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

While thinking about how we are living sacrifices, I was reminded of the things I've been learning in Leviticus, and of the things that I blogged about here regarding the commissioning of the priests, and it struck me that the symbolism of the tongues of fire which rested over the believers on the day of Pentecost went further than just to show that God dwelt in them now as He had dwelt in the tabernacle and the temple.  It also showed that they themselves were the sacrifices!

When God was commissioning the priests in the first tabernacle (Leviticus 9), they were instructed to offer several different offerings, and then God's glory appeared to all of the people, bringing fire fire out of the Holy place to where the alter was in front of the whole assembly, and burnt up the offering they had presented.  Then, when Solomon's temple was being dedicated (2 Chronicles 7:1-3), the same thing happened, God sent fire from heaven to burn up the offering they had presented to Him.  Then, at pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell His people, He sent fire to rest over each believer, because now, THEY were the offerings presented to God.  In the past, the people worshiped God through offering sacrifices at the altar, but now we worship, as Romans 12:1 says, through offering our very bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, and He confirmed His acceptance of our offering when He chose to dwell in us, just like He confirmed His acceptance of the tabernacle and the temple by choosing to dwell in them.

I LOVE how beautifully the imagery that God laid out in the Old Testament ties in with the reality of the gospel today!  I also love how the Spirit is using both my personal study of Leviticus and the things I learn in Sunday School to give me a bigger, clearer picture of Him. 

Praising God for His Work Through Our Friends

Tonight my heart is full of gratitude and aw for how God has worked, not only in my life, but in the lives of my peers.  Last weekend we went on a short support raising trip to Tennessee, and despite the fact that we got in a car accident which left us bruised, sore, and without a vehicle, we came back (in a rental car) thanking God not only for His protection, but for the glimpses of Himself that He has showed us in the lives of our friends.  In fact, this was the very conversation we were having as we drove down highway 27 on Saturday morning when that car pulled out in front of us.

I am so, so encouraged by the way that God is working through my college friends. 

Just 6 years ago we were all living in dorm rooms, attending class, and eating together in the cafeteria.  Yet since then our college friends have served the Lord in Bolivia, China, Kenya, Mexico, North Africa, South Korea, Spain, and Suriname. 

In the states they have ministered in the name of Christ to high school and elementary students from broken homes, the urban poor, and financially struggling families from all walks of life. 

They have worked to train and equip high school and college students to be servant leaders in the name of Jesus.

In local churches they are leading worship, teaching children and youth, leading adult small groups, serving on outreach teams, and planting new churches.

Many have started families and are waging war against the enemy through passing their faith along to the next generation, equipping them to be true worshipers of the King, and all of this before a world of watching neighbors, co-workers, and daily acquaintances.

Several friends have shared incredible visions that God has given them for taking the gospel to unreached people groups around the world, ministering to children in China with special needs, serving overseas on a Mercy Ship, reaching out to backpackers in Mexico, and working to expand education options for home school parents around the world.

On top of all of this, so many of them are supporting the work of foreign missions by supporting us in our mission to Peru.

How incredibly blessed and humbled we are to witness the advance of the kingdom through our dear friends.  Yes, the world is a dark and scary place, and evil sometimes seems to rule the day, but today our Lord has testified to our hearts as He did in John 16:33, "Take heart, I have overcome the world!"

Failed Passport Photo Attempts

Must have eyes open
Must be looking at the camera
Must not include any part of another person
Must not be smiling
Must not be moving
Must have white background

Apparently the flash is funny.

Escape!

OK, Mom, this is getting old.

Stop flashing that thing in my eyes!

New day.  Fresh start.

Can I have the camera?