To My Husband

Dearest Husband,

Today is your birthday.  An ordinary birthday.  No milestone.  You’re young, but no spring break college guy with ignorance ruling your brain and other organs.

I’ve been married to you less than three years.  I’ll be honest, when we said, “I do,” I thought that was when the short countdown had started that would tick off the seconds until you would stop being as awesome as I hoped you were.

You’ve done the opposite.

You’ve shown me what Christ’s love really is.  Even when I’m feeling as though I am at my worst, you remind me that you love the snot out of me.  That you think the world of me.  And that you love me no matter how horrible and slow and emotionally wrecked I may be.

You’ve shown me what a best friend really is.  My whole life, I searched for best friends who would accept me and be themselves around me as well.  You are that person.  You accept all versions of me: smart, ditsy, polished, grungy, creative, boring, goofy, serious, organized, flaky, grumpy, friendly.

I tell you these things all the time.  I love that about our marriage.  We can give one another what may feel like corny compliments.  But those compliments help us to trust one another even more, since we both struggle to accept ourselves in our imperfections.

Even at your worst, you impress me.  I’d say that you’re better than me when you’re at your worst. But you’d hate that I say that, denying it fervently.  I am continually impressed at how you carefully, diligently, and lovingly join with me to handle conflicts, problems, and concerns.  You’re the best teammate ever.  And I trust you.

So, on this day, an ordinary birthday, I look forward to spending many more birthdays with you.  Traveling with you.  Attempting spontaneity with you.  Seeking Christ with you.  Laughing with you.  Crying with you.  Dancing in the kitchen with you. Making decisions with you.  

Happy birthday,

Your Cute Wife

10 Things that make me happy

Happiness and joy are two different things. I’m a major supporter of that.
But still, some things bring me great happiness.
1. A freshly sharpened pencil
2. My husband’s cologne
3. When a troubled student has a good day or moment in class
4. Shooting in manual mode like a rock star
5. When I can wear jeans to work (borderlines on joy)
6. Sleeping in
7. Traveling
8. Learning
9. Cute tennis shoes
10. Warm covers in winter

Things that give me joy:
1. Jesus
2. God’s providence
3. My husband’s example of God’s love
4. God’s beautiful canvas: the sky, in particular
5. Seeing students grow throughout the school year and even after moving on from high school
6. Persistence paying off
7. The deep and simple Truth of God
8. Capturing joy in my camera lens
9. Working together
10. Delicious food

Joyfully,

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Sliding.

It’s been cold in central Ohio over the past few days.  Before that, it was t-shirt weather.  A little tease from Mother Nature.

To clarify: by cold, I mean sub-zero windchill.  I mean a -11 windchill.  That’s cold, folks.

On my way to work the other day, the rain from the previous evening had frozen to the roads.  I was fine for most of the drive; on one of the last roads, though, I noticed the Jeep in front of me start to slide.  I was thinking, “I’m in a Camry! What am I going to do!?”

I left off the gas and hovered over the brake as I slowed down.  As I slowly started to put the brake on, I slid on the ice by a fire hydrant.  My front tires slid to the right, tapping the entrance curb and stopping gently.

No big deal.

But it got me thinking.  Sliding on ice is kind of like trusting in God. Sometimes.

I didn’t plan on going to the far right of my lane.  I would have preferred to have absolute control of my automobile.  But things ended up okay.

I don’t plan to miss the mark.  I would prefer to have absolute control of every aspect of my life.  But, with Jesus, everything ends better than okay.

I have a lot on my heart this week.  I must bring these thoughts and cares to Jesus.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
-Psalm 37.5

Lord, let this be my mantra.  Help me to trust you–to trust that You will take me where You can serve others through me best.  Give me a heart to honor You always with my actions, thoughts, and words toward others.  
 

RejoicingRebecca

Fearing God? But I love Him!

Yesterday, I had an epiphany.

The Hunk and I have a decorative tile in our bathroom on which we can write with a dry erase marker.  Sometimes we write silly things to one another; but recently we started writing sweet notes to each other.  I was thoughtfully putting together a short, sweet note in my head when it happened.

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve read about the fear of the Lord in God’s word.  Growing up, everyone in the church talked about fearing the Lord. I didn’t understand.

Why would I fear Him? I love Him! Why would I be afraid when I know He’ll take care of me?

I mean… this doesn’t make any sense.  Doesn’t fear mean, like, being afraid?  How can being afraid of someone yield good results–good relationship?

Proverbs talks about this a lot.  A. Lot.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. –Proverbs 14.27

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short. –Proverbs 10.27

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. –Proverbs 1.7

In the context of these verses, this concept made no sense to me.

Until yesterday afternoon, that is.

In the midst of mentally writing the note, I decided that I’d tell The Hunk that he’s God-fearing.  And then it hit me.  A God-fearing person puts God above him/herself.  This means that the person intentionally yields to God’s laws and expectations for our lives.  This doesn’t mean the person is perfect.  Um, zero of us are.

In light of this epiphany, a lot of other verses make sense.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. –Proverbs 8.13

When God’s grace, law, and love are superior in our lives, we hate all evil.  We’d hate pride and arrogance.  We’d hate it when people sin and speak in favor of evil.

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. –Proverbs 15.33

When we trust God above the world, we value the wisdom in His word.  And we realize our place in this world is not to be its God, but to worship God and live rightly.

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life –Proverbs 22.4

When combined with humility, fearing the Lord is so valuable in the Christian life.  When we fear God, we have much fuller and richer lives in Christ.

This is not to say that fearing the Lord is easy.  I’d so much rather be my own boss.  I’d rather decide what is moral.  I’d rather decide when I’ll give my money away and I’d rather love myself more than others.  And I’d like for people to think I am the reason I am great when I am great.  And I’d love to blame others when I make mistakes.  It would be awesome.  Except, it wouldn’t solve anything.

When I yield to God, life is better in the long run.

When I let God be the boss, better decisions are made.

When I follow God’s morals, I am safer, more secure, and, well, not in jail.

When I give of my money to my church or those in need, I am glad to worship God with what He has given me.

When I love others, they are happy and I know that God has used me.

When I realize that God is the source of all my blessings, skills, and joy, I can go to Him to refill me and heal me when I am inept or a miserable failure.

And when I make mistakes, I can go to Jesus for forgiveness, healing, and direction.

Fearing God solves problems.

How do you know you fear the Lord?

RejoicingRebecca

 

Hidden Treasure: 16/52 (Let’s Do 52)

Alright.  I think I can get back in the groove now.  After the technical interruption, I’ve totally been off kilter.  I’m vowing to get back in the groove.

So, while my computer was down, I was still snapping pictures.

I caught this fabulous image that I think totally captures the essence of what The Hunk strives to do for The Kingdom.

In this picture, The Hunk is watching Ray as he preaches on campus.  The Hunk is a part of a major discipleship endeavors for Christ.  He helps to train others to preach The Gospel–both on a platform and off.

Truly, truly, The Hunk is able to water the seeds in these students so they might grow and share with others the Christ in them.  This allows the hidden treasures to grow and bloom in The Kingdom.

How do you hope to impact the world for Christ?

Matthew 13.44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

In Christ,