Do good; He will keep you strong

My Role and God's Love

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. . . . But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith (Galations 6:9-10).

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. . . . There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4: 7-11; 18-19).

glories of plodding

I love Crossway Church. Below is a photo my dad took at the baptism this afternoon. Because of the weather we were in the stuffy and humid barn, but at least it emphasized a sense of unity and made for a good picture! Baptisms often seem to surprise me with how meaningful they are. I was impacted particularly with several "kids" (teens) being baptized that I've known for their whole lives. Our families have grown up together, and I still often think of them as 6 year olds running around and making lots of noise. It's wonderfully encouraging to see and hear of what God has done and is doing in their hearts and lives.

Then this evening I spent some time with a large group of young adults from church who came over to our place. I love these people. I love how they are engaging transition and are supporting one another through prayer and fellowship. Young Adults/Sola feels like it keeps getting younger and younger (to me!), but the reality is that young people are maturing in Christ. And that is wonderful to witness.

Events like these remind me of the worth of being rooted in one place and living life together with (relatively) the same people for years and years. We are building and growing together in Christ for the long haul. As I step into another week, I thank God for a bit of refreshment in my local church, and I ask him for the grace I need to be a plodding visionary in the days ahead.

Always Preparing, Always Content

I would really like to be a wife, mother, and homemaker. In this season of my life, I have very little time for homemaking (cooking, cleaning, organizing house, etc.). I want my desire to grow for the role of a wife and mother. However, I do not want it to be fueled by a discontentment in my current season whatsoever, because I know that same discontentment will be waiting for me again right after the thrill of being a new wife or mother wears off and the mundane and seemingly insignificant tasks of those roles take over. So really, although I have almost naught time for cooking, cleaning, and being at home right now (and it aches my heart often, especially to be so removed from time with my family), there are so many ways that this season is preparing me for the next - casting cares on God, denying and dying to myself to serve others, finding my satisfaction in God alone, learning to manage time, etc..

Any season I ever am in has the same goal of preparation, not a preparation for the next season to come in my life, but for when my earthly life is done and I meet my Savior face to face. So, even though I really have a longing to build into my own family someday - supporting and encouraging my husband and nurturing the next generation in the fear of the Lord and peace of the gospel - the goal of all of that is to glorify Christ and enjoy Him forever. And guess what? I can do that right now! And I can build into the family of Christ, support and encourage others, and nurture the next generation in the fear of the Lord and peace of the gospel RIGHT NOW. I have the same goals whatever season of life I am in, even if my roles take on different shapes and sizes.

This entry is blatantly shocking and an embarrassing admission for a woman in today's world. It somehow seems so vulnerable. But it is good, and I must not be ashamed of what God has proclaimed good. I must embrace and proclaim whatever God has chosen to use to exalt Himself, including a radical and humbling view of womanhood in today's culture.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10)

photo: Burano, Italy 2007

Clarity of Thought

On Wednesday at work, several thoughts were bumping around my mind. I grabbed my note pad and pen and jotted down some thoughts. I am re-writing them in this post, like a second draft. I also added some thoughts at the end.

The season that I am in right now is similar to stepping out into spring after enduring the winter, although I also did seek to glean from the bleaker season and knew that God ordained it for good. I am having more clarity in my thoughts. I'm seeking specific opportunities to encourage others through writing. Where I was lacking and being grieved by my lack of sharpness in fellowship, God has taken me in my weakness and is now continually springing up, in and around me, His good fruit. Where writing was once unappealing to me (probably for a few years now), God has grown my delight in recounting His work through words. And I believe He is starting to revive along with that a more steady desire to study His Word - a desire and longing rather than simply a feeling of obligation and sort of dry/blind faith.

As I have exercised encouragement through writing, and sometimes verbal communication, I have received much unsolicited encouragement myself. I am seeing more of how living in fellowship is a main means by which God desires to extend grace.

This post really should be read alongside of one of my original posts explaining the reason I started journaling and writing this blog. God has done so much in the past few months in this area.

I am so thankful for how He is granting me the grace to discern my thoughts, and I am starting to see that flow into discernment in my heart. I want to grow to be sensitive to the Spirit's leading in what are His priorities for my time and pursuits. I am a limited person, and I need to learn to embrace living within what God has made clear for me, and have peace about letting other things go, even good and desirable things. Often a good question for me is, "Am I sowing to the Spirit, or to my flesh in this?" (Galations 6:8)

God is so faithful.

photo: Baltic Sea (in Germany) 2007