Thursday, December 27, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Santa Baby
We went down to Hillsboro Village last week to visit Saint Nick and it was a love/hate experience. As in Robbins loved it and Landry hated strongly disliked it. It was a great time though because they turn this cute little area into a Christmas village with street vendors, carolers and the big man himself. You bring Toys for Tots to see Santa so it's a win/win. Robbins told Santa he wanted a spaceship and Jake ship and that his sister wanted a dollhouse. A dollhouse? This was news to me...and Santa.
Cheesing it up. He knows the drill:)
I can almost hear her screaming, "help me mama!"
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wrestling
As usual, I was reading something today, that stirred me to post. I have found since my super intense post about my struggles and eye opening that people will ask me about it when I'm on the phone or in person; which is awesome and I am awed at how God is using this and allowing me to be a part of it.
An article I read today is all about how we romanticize our struggle with our faith but instead we (Christians) need to admit how hard surrendering really is. Trust me, the two words that sum up my year are surrender and grace. Like, only by God's grace am I able to surrender:) Again, I don't even begin to compare my life to someone who has lost a child, like the author below, but pain is relative and I think everyone can relate in some fashion to the message of surrender.
Article can be found here and I also posted below.
"I still remember holding him in my arms after he had passed away. He was 19 days old, and a birth defect was the malady that raged against the life of my son. I wrestled with God till the very end, even blowing into my son's lungs after he had died, praying for healing. Wrestling.
God used this situation with my son to bring me to the end of myself and turn me back to Him, and He did it in such a profound way. Though He allowed me to wrestle with Him, to complain to Him, to be angry at Him, He nonetheless had His way because His way is always best. I'm not suggesting God does this in every pain; sometimes He has other purposes. It is much too beyond us to understand the full breadth of the purposes and sovereignty of God.
But oftentimes—not always, but often—He uses the hurt in our lives to bring us back to Him, to put us in our proper place, so that we cling to Him in our weakness and He shines through.
Genesis 32:22-32 gives a strange account of our patriarch Jacob and his wrestling match with God through the night. The thing to note first and foremost in this story is that it is terrifying. Terrifying in the fact that the Lord became something wholly different than anything Jacob had known before. At this point, at least, we can see the Lord was not wrestling with Jacob to have a good time; the Lord was Jacob’s opponent.
God uses the hurt in our lives so that we cling to Him in our weakness and He shines through.
Throughout the course of Jacob’s life, we see him having multiple enemies—particularly in Laban. Jacob anticipated his older brother, Esau, as an enemy and was completely frightened by him.
But the Lord? God was no enemy to Jacob. One can make the argument that Jacob viewed God as simply friendly, almost a benign figure whom Jacob could manipulate or turn to his advantage when things got difficult. I wonder how many of us view God this same way?
The Lord is the great physician, the great healer of our souls. He's the provider, the resting place, our righteousness and our victory. He sent His only Son to die for us, and without a healthy fear of God, we can wrongly assume God is more for us than for Himself.
But God is more passionate for His glory than for ours. And, like Jacob, we often use God for our own gain in life and our own wants.
Now, in his wrestling with God, Jacob finally realized that God could not be used for his means. He discovered—quite suddenly—that the Lord is to be feared. Like Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, He is terrible and He is lovely.
Perhaps this incident proved in the life of Jacob a true understanding, for the first time, that God is God and that Jacob was simply a child of the Most High. Jacob is shown to be profoundly changed in his life from that moment on, so much that his name changed, too.
Before the wrestling match, life’s circumstances had reduced Jacob to helplessness. He needed God to intervene. The eleventh hour had arrived, and God had not delivered him. It was a crisis of faith, and Jacob was at his wits' end. I’m sure many of us have felt this way before, when all hope seems lost. Perhaps it comes after a great victory or a terrible event. Enter God into the mess of our lives.
We find in Genesis 32 that this Man wrestled with Jacob, not the other way around. We have to realize by this passage that the Lord was the instigator of the wrestling. Jacob no doubt was not in the right frame of mind to wrestle! James Montgomery Boice states:
“It is not that Jacob was seeking God so earnestly that when God, as it were, got close to him, he grappled with him and refused to let him go until he blessed him. It is true that Jacob later begged for a blessing. But at the beginning it is not Jacob who seeks God to wrestle with him; rather, it is God, who comes to wrestle with Jacob to bring him to a point of both physical and spiritual submission.”
The Lord is not a God to be manipulated but a God to be worshiped.
A.W. Pink writes:
“Jacob was not wrestling with this Man to obtain a blessing; instead, the Man was wrestling with Jacob to gain some object from him. As to what this object is the best of the commentators agree—it was to reduce Jacob to a sense of his nothingness, to cause him to see what a poor, helpless and worthless creature he was; it was to teach us through him that all important lesson that in recognized weakness lies our strength.”
That’s one of the main points we see in this wrestling with God. Weakness is broken into submission, and submission is where there is strength—submission to God’s leading and God’s control, realizing that there’s nothing stronger or more determinant that this.
The Lord of the universe, the One whose handiwork formed the heavens and starry host, is perfect in every way. He does no wrong. Regardless of how we see the circumstances played out, He does no wrong. Regardless if we are injured deeply, He does no wrong. He alone is the sovereign Lord, and He alone has His will done and accomplished.
God will always win the wrestling match; if we were smart, then the sooner we submit, the better.
In the upside-down Kingdom, where to be poor is to be rich, to mourn is to be comforted, we see the profound reality of the Gospel in Genesis’ account of a wrestling match. Having come into contact face to face with the Lord of hosts, with the ever patient and faithful One, we see at long last a broken and contrite spirit humbled to the core. We see a man dependent upon God, rather than dependent upon himself. We see in Jacob a picture of a man renewed by the power of God, now remade in His own image, finally surrendered to the will of God for his life. We see in no small measure great faith worked out.
It is beautiful to behold indeed; it is something we all must surrender to. To find our lives, we must lose them.
An article I read today is all about how we romanticize our struggle with our faith but instead we (Christians) need to admit how hard surrendering really is. Trust me, the two words that sum up my year are surrender and grace. Like, only by God's grace am I able to surrender:) Again, I don't even begin to compare my life to someone who has lost a child, like the author below, but pain is relative and I think everyone can relate in some fashion to the message of surrender.
Article can be found here and I also posted below.
"I still remember holding him in my arms after he had passed away. He was 19 days old, and a birth defect was the malady that raged against the life of my son. I wrestled with God till the very end, even blowing into my son's lungs after he had died, praying for healing. Wrestling.
God used this situation with my son to bring me to the end of myself and turn me back to Him, and He did it in such a profound way. Though He allowed me to wrestle with Him, to complain to Him, to be angry at Him, He nonetheless had His way because His way is always best. I'm not suggesting God does this in every pain; sometimes He has other purposes. It is much too beyond us to understand the full breadth of the purposes and sovereignty of God.
But oftentimes—not always, but often—He uses the hurt in our lives to bring us back to Him, to put us in our proper place, so that we cling to Him in our weakness and He shines through.
Genesis 32:22-32 gives a strange account of our patriarch Jacob and his wrestling match with God through the night. The thing to note first and foremost in this story is that it is terrifying. Terrifying in the fact that the Lord became something wholly different than anything Jacob had known before. At this point, at least, we can see the Lord was not wrestling with Jacob to have a good time; the Lord was Jacob’s opponent.
God uses the hurt in our lives so that we cling to Him in our weakness and He shines through.
Throughout the course of Jacob’s life, we see him having multiple enemies—particularly in Laban. Jacob anticipated his older brother, Esau, as an enemy and was completely frightened by him.
But the Lord? God was no enemy to Jacob. One can make the argument that Jacob viewed God as simply friendly, almost a benign figure whom Jacob could manipulate or turn to his advantage when things got difficult. I wonder how many of us view God this same way?
The Lord is the great physician, the great healer of our souls. He's the provider, the resting place, our righteousness and our victory. He sent His only Son to die for us, and without a healthy fear of God, we can wrongly assume God is more for us than for Himself.
But God is more passionate for His glory than for ours. And, like Jacob, we often use God for our own gain in life and our own wants.
Now, in his wrestling with God, Jacob finally realized that God could not be used for his means. He discovered—quite suddenly—that the Lord is to be feared. Like Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, He is terrible and He is lovely.
Perhaps this incident proved in the life of Jacob a true understanding, for the first time, that God is God and that Jacob was simply a child of the Most High. Jacob is shown to be profoundly changed in his life from that moment on, so much that his name changed, too.
Before the wrestling match, life’s circumstances had reduced Jacob to helplessness. He needed God to intervene. The eleventh hour had arrived, and God had not delivered him. It was a crisis of faith, and Jacob was at his wits' end. I’m sure many of us have felt this way before, when all hope seems lost. Perhaps it comes after a great victory or a terrible event. Enter God into the mess of our lives.
We find in Genesis 32 that this Man wrestled with Jacob, not the other way around. We have to realize by this passage that the Lord was the instigator of the wrestling. Jacob no doubt was not in the right frame of mind to wrestle! James Montgomery Boice states:
“It is not that Jacob was seeking God so earnestly that when God, as it were, got close to him, he grappled with him and refused to let him go until he blessed him. It is true that Jacob later begged for a blessing. But at the beginning it is not Jacob who seeks God to wrestle with him; rather, it is God, who comes to wrestle with Jacob to bring him to a point of both physical and spiritual submission.”
The Lord is not a God to be manipulated but a God to be worshiped.
A.W. Pink writes:
“Jacob was not wrestling with this Man to obtain a blessing; instead, the Man was wrestling with Jacob to gain some object from him. As to what this object is the best of the commentators agree—it was to reduce Jacob to a sense of his nothingness, to cause him to see what a poor, helpless and worthless creature he was; it was to teach us through him that all important lesson that in recognized weakness lies our strength.”
That’s one of the main points we see in this wrestling with God. Weakness is broken into submission, and submission is where there is strength—submission to God’s leading and God’s control, realizing that there’s nothing stronger or more determinant that this.
The Lord of the universe, the One whose handiwork formed the heavens and starry host, is perfect in every way. He does no wrong. Regardless of how we see the circumstances played out, He does no wrong. Regardless if we are injured deeply, He does no wrong. He alone is the sovereign Lord, and He alone has His will done and accomplished.
God will always win the wrestling match; if we were smart, then the sooner we submit, the better.
In the upside-down Kingdom, where to be poor is to be rich, to mourn is to be comforted, we see the profound reality of the Gospel in Genesis’ account of a wrestling match. Having come into contact face to face with the Lord of hosts, with the ever patient and faithful One, we see at long last a broken and contrite spirit humbled to the core. We see a man dependent upon God, rather than dependent upon himself. We see in Jacob a picture of a man renewed by the power of God, now remade in His own image, finally surrendered to the will of God for his life. We see in no small measure great faith worked out.
It is beautiful to behold indeed; it is something we all must surrender to. To find our lives, we must lose them.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Evie Grace Harrison
Christmas season always has mixed emotions in our group of friends and family. Our dear friends Alicia and Jonathan lost their little girl Evie Grace on December 9th, 2010. It was one of those calls that time just stood still when Hayley called. So many emotions ran through my mind; sadness, fear, anger at God, pain for my friends loss, and not even being able to comprehend what they were going through.Here we are two year later and it still seems impossible.
Alicia and Jonathan, through this entire situation exuded the most incredible grace, love and faith that I have ever seen. The best part has been that we still talk about her all the time and I love that Ramsey and Reese will always know their sisters who are in heaven. I know it's not always easy for them but I can honestly say their faith humbles me and I respect both of them so much. I charge each of us to hug our kids a little tighter, tell our significant others we love them, give thanks for everything/everyone in our lives, and focus on the real meaning this holiday season. I know for me, comfort comes from knowing this sweet family will be reunited one day. Join me in praying for them as we approach December 9th, prayers for peace and comfort and that God will continue to use them as He already has. Love you Leesh:)
Alicia and Jonathan, through this entire situation exuded the most incredible grace, love and faith that I have ever seen. The best part has been that we still talk about her all the time and I love that Ramsey and Reese will always know their sisters who are in heaven. I know it's not always easy for them but I can honestly say their faith humbles me and I respect both of them so much. I charge each of us to hug our kids a little tighter, tell our significant others we love them, give thanks for everything/everyone in our lives, and focus on the real meaning this holiday season. I know for me, comfort comes from knowing this sweet family will be reunited one day. Join me in praying for them as we approach December 9th, prayers for peace and comfort and that God will continue to use them as He already has. Love you Leesh:)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tis the Season
So I love love love Christmas but it is very much my nature to get bored with things so I always have to wait until December to decorate. So last weekend we spent some time decorating and had so much fun. I took lots more with my big camera for a later post but here is a peek at our fun last week.
My Pinterest wreath. I like it b/c I can remove the little bows and replace with different things at different holidays.
We had J.Ed's work Christmas party and it was really fun. A nice night out for the two of us after his two week trip.
I kept having to remind myself it was December 2nd. Notice the shorts and t-shirt.
This cracked me up, multi-purpose ladder.
Loving on Daddy
Snowflake has been popping up all over the place. Robbins is having a really good time with him and talks to him ALL day.
In an effort to remember who/what we are really celebrating, Snowflake brought Robbins my two favorite Christmas books that focus on Jesus, not just his birth but the fact the his birth brought about his death and ultimately is what we are celebrating.
I don't usually post work stuff but I did an event last night called Red Wine Dark Chocolate. We host our $2500_ donors and have a wine/chocolate tasting. It is really fun but the best part is the house we have it out is insane about Christmas. She literally has a Christmas room upstairs and a full catering kitchen stocked with entertaining supplies. It was like I died and went to party heaven. The funny part is she said this year is Simple Elegance b/c they are going to be out of town so she went low key. Her low key kicks my high keys a#%. It was really beautiful and so much fun.
Yes that is holiday toilet paper, I died.
Doing a little cooking and trying so hard not to touch snowflake.
I am headed to Chicago this weekend with the ladies in J.Ed's family. We always have the best time and J.Ed's dad is coming to see the kids. I love how much time we get to spend time with family this time of year. I have charged the guys with getting pics with Santa b/c we will miss the Bfast with Santa at the school. I feel like this a good joint task for them to accomplish but we shall see:)
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