Baby Steps

I have always been more of a New Testament reader; however, over the past couple of years, I have tried to dig into the Old Testament. Recently, I read the book of Ruth. Ruth finds herself in a really awful position because her husband has died, and in those days this meant being poor and destitute for the rest of your life…unless you marry your late husband's brother. Yes, that sounds very weird to me, tooJ. You know Ruth had to feel sad and hopeless, but she just kept living and obeying God day by day. This serves as such a reminder to me that as Christians we don't have to think too far down the road. We just have to say "yes" to God in this moment, this day, this week, this year. Jesus says in Luke 16:10, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." We cannot control the future, but we are held accountable for whether or not we are obedient in the present. This means doing the right thing in the small/every day. In my life this can be me saying, “At this moment, I will choose to have a gentle tone with my kids. At this moment, I will not say negative things about others. At this moment, I will forgive. At this moment, I will spend time with my kids instead of cleaning. At this moment, I will give into my alarm clock and get up to have time with Jesus instead of sleeping. In this moment, I will put someone else’s interests above my own. At this moment, I will not be easily offended.” I think people are afraid to make a commitment to Christ because they feel like they can never measure up. Obeying God in the small adds up to obeying him in the big, and it makes living the Christian life a lot less overwhelming and daunting.

Here are some pictures our sweet peas on Easter.

Our Trip to Charleston

I am married to a great man named Benjy, and we have two children. Karson, our daughter is five and a half, and Connor, our son, just turned three on Thursday. Words can truly not explain how blessed I am to have these three in my life. Over Karson's Spring Break (she is in kindergarten) we went to Charleston. Below are some pictures. Looking back through the pictures reminds me of how much fun our kids always seem to have...like they have no worries in the world. I think it is because they know their Mommy and Daddy will constantly be there to protect them. We, too, can live that way. We have a God who holds the future and will bring us through any situation...working each event for his glory and our good, yet we so often worry and forfeit the peace Jesus paid dearly to give us. In our Wednesday night Bible Study at church, we are reading What Women Fear by Angie Smith (great book by the way). She wrote about a very sad time of her life in which the adults were crying, yet the kids were in the pool playing and having a blast. I assume they knew the adults were feeling enough sadness for everyone, so they might as well have some fun:). I want to live my life in such a way that I rejoice always...making the most out of every minute and allowing God to do the "worrying" for me. Jesus says in Luke 18:17, "Truly, I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." So, let's do as our children do...jump in the pool and leave the worrying to an extremely capable God.

 

 

 

 

Saying, "Yes."

I am feeling Jesus leading me to start a blog. I don't know exactly why yet. I am excited about the idea of it and will try to post when I feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is actually a really great day to start the blog because our precious little boy, Connor, turned three years old!  
Today, God has reminded me to seek him first in sticky situations. He should be the one I turn to before venting my feelings aloud. It is so funny how my "feelings" often change after I have been on my knees. This reminds me of the amazing verses in Proverbs 3:5-6 that say, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." You know, he really does give us the peace he promises to give if we only lay it all at his feet.