In Days of Trials: Day 3

If you haven't heard of the book Beside Still Waters, I would recommend it to you. It's a collection of sermon excerpts from Charles Haddon Spurgeon, specifically on comfort for believers in Christ. We named our firstborn, Haddon, after this pastor.
Below is my favorite sermon from this book:

I Know Their Sorrows (Exodus 3:7)

"If you are in the dark, if your spirits are sunk in gloom, do not despair, for the Lord Jesus was there. If you have fallen into misery, do not give up, because the Father's well-beloved passed through denser darkness. Believing soul, if you are in the dark you are in the Kings cellars, where the well refined wines on the lees are stored (Isaiah 25:6). You are in the Lord's pavilion, and you may speak with Him.

Yes Lord, in hours of gloom,
When shadows fill my room
When pain breathes forth it's groans
Then thou art near.

If you are under a cloud, seek your Lord,. Stand still in your deep sorrow and say, 'Dear Lord, the preacher tells me that your cross once stood in darkness like this. Oh, Jesus, hear me!'

He will respond. The Lord will look out of the pillar of cloud and shed a light on you. He is no stranger to heartbreak. 'I know their sorrows,' said the Lord to Moses (Exodus 3:7). Trust him, and he will cause his light to shine on you. Lean on Him, and he will bring you out of the gloomy wilderness and into the land of rest. May God help you lean on Him."

I still cling to the truth that Jesus has passed through denser darkness, and that I am in his cellars on days of sorrow. In sadness we get to know the man of sorrows (Jesus), in a way that we can't when all is going well.

"He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief..."
Isaiah 53:3

In Days of Trials: Day 2

When we are in the middle of hard trials, we almost always make our circumstance huge, and make God small. But I think one way to fix your eyes on hope in God is to remember his greatness, read about how big he is, see what he has to say about himself.

As I think back to two years ago and what it felt like to have a suddenly empty womb and grieving with empty arms, I recall God taking me straight to Psalm 33. It was the chapter God used so that I wouldn't be swallowed up by despair. It was here God showed me he loves righteousness, his plans are firm, his love is steadfast, his word is upright, he is my help and his eyes are towards me. He showed me his loving control of all things when it seemed all things were now out of control.
This description of God and call to praise him made my circumstance appear as just a small part of God's big redeeming plan for this world, because it is.

Psalm 33:1-22

"Shout for joy in the Lord , O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord .

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord ; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord  brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord , the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

The Lord  looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.
The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord ; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord , be upon us, even as we hope in you."

In Days of Trials: Day 1

Seasons of hardship come and go throughout our whole lives. No one escapes difficulty, some just may experience it in a heavier form than others.

So if we can't escape it, how do we prepare for it? Do you feel like real trials can only come after living many years? That's how I felt, I had no idea that God had plans to teach me more about his goodness and mercy through taking my baby when I was only twenty-three.

This month marks my son Haddon's second year with Jesus. I'd like to meditate this month on the real hope I have in Jesus in the midst of something that's still so heavy to me. I thought I'd share what I find with you.

Today I'd like to start with Ephesians 1:7-10, this is our hope and its the one firm, unchanging truth we have in a world where nothing is sure.

Ephesians 1:7-10

"In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

If you know Jesus, then your hope isn't placed in your circumstance. You have hope that you are no longer an enemy of God, and not only are you not an enemy, but you are "lavished with the riches of his grace". The richness of his grace towards you who trust in Jesus is never ending because he's purchased us by his blood. Our identity has now been made under Jesus, not in our circumstance.

6 and 7 months...soon to be 8

Let's all just try to understand how its possible that our little E will be 8 months in 4 days. It's unreal how much he's changed in the last couple months. I need time to slow up a bit.

I'll just begin with the big one: he says DADA!! It makes us fall a part every time. His dad is truly his favorite person in the entire world...and I'm ok with that (i mean, i do feed you and clean poop through the day but whatever) there's nothing sweeter than to watch our baby just fall over laughing at his daddy.

He sits perfectly (ok, to the ladies at church who watched him fall like 3 times a few weeks ago...I know). He loves just sitting on a blanket with a bucket of toys. It blows my mind when I watch him pick up a toy, then when he's done he'll reach all by himself for a new one in his basket. What?!!

He loves clapping. This makes everything funny. We have to stop, clap and cheer for many things: the tv, the dogs, bath time, books, poopy diapers, visitors, anything.

He's eating a lot of foods. His favorite is sweet potatoes by far, which is fine with me I'll bake some for me too! He also loves pumpkin, acorn squash, apples, avocados and pears. It's been really fun and messy.

For some reason, nothing captures his attention like his little sign language video...he is filled with happiness as I walk towards our DVD player and he claps as I push play. His friend Nathan has let him borrow a little bouncer in the shape of a car that he watches it in, so we like to think of it as his baby drive-in movie.

Our home is full of lots of baby laughter that I remember just longing for this time last year.

Smitten Kitchen

Perhaps many of you have heard of Smitten Kitchen, but I wanted to share a link to her blog. This girl is funny, creative and all pictures of her food are stunning. She posts recipes that are outside of the box in her teeny NY kitchen. Even with recipes I don't have the ingredients for I still read through them, laughing at her witty humor.

http://smittenkitchen.com/

Our Christmas baby

I haven't updated on Ernie Brooks' months since 5 months. He's in his 7 month now...oops. Well, that will still have to wait. It's been busy busy busy. I will say though, he's a whole different boy than a couple months ago, so just hang tight because that update is coming soon.

In the meantime, feast your eyes on some photos of our little one from Christmas day. 

 

Praying through Psalm 51

Pretty regularly I have an issue of not knowing how to pray for those I love who aren't walking with God. I'm distracted with thoughts, or I'll say a few things that I really desire for them and then I'm unsure what else I could be bringing to God about it. I'd like to spend a good amount of time pleading with God for mercy towards them and converse with him about how to trust him when I'm unable to be the one to renew their heart.

God has led me through Psalm 51 to pray someone I love deeply. Praying through Psalm 51 makes you cry out for God to show mercy, to help them delight in truth, to blot out their iniquity, it shows you to plead with God to not hide his face from them or remove his Holy Spirit. It reminds you that if God extends his mercy they can be whiter than snow. It helps you to remember to pray that they wouldn't look to any good work to either please God or to be made right with him. Psalm 51 reminds us that we are completely dependent upon God to save them, to see their sin against him and only him, and God alone shows them that there is no real or lasting joy outside of walking with Him.

It may bring a few tears as well.

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Merry merry merry

I love having boys

My son is has entered the crazy, grabbing, hollering, messy (MESSY), hungry 100 percent boy stage...and I am so ready for it. I'm ready to have crazy, running all over the house days when he is few months older. Even getting in the car is so humorous: Ernie is slipping down my hip, my diaper bag has fallen to my elbow, and im still trying to hold it all as i attempt to get the dog into his crate. I think: i look so funny, and this is all totally what i dreamed about doing since i was a little girl.
I love the wrestling matches we have when he would rather suck his toes and bring his feet to his face than get his diaper changed. I love when I'm trying to feed him his rice cereal but he's busy wiping it on his face and clothes. I love when he gets up from nap time and he laughs and wants to pet his dogs. I love that he has recently started to "eat" my face and I pretend he's a mom eating monster and he thinks it's so funny. All this comes from the sweet kindness of God.