Tag Archives: God

To My Husband

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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,

wpid1702-cropped-rr-logo-full.png

 

What do I do?

Posted on by
Reply

I make a difference.
I could reply with a video.
But I won’t.
But it’s true.  All of it.
Definitely. Beautiful.
I could answer with Proverbs 31.
But I haven’t perfected that yet.

I dream of better and reach for it.
I hope for others to have happiness unending.
I push others to push themselves.
I snap…
pictures worth thousands of words.
I support my husband as he schools,
prepares preachings
leads leaders
counsels clients.
I forget to return phone calls
and I persist in classroom technological improvement.
I avoid awkward pauses.
I network.
I read.
I self-teach. I learn. I research.
I travel.
I find the impossible and make it plausible
even if the puzzle piece doesn’t seem to fit the space provided.
I love, teach, photographize.
I do too much, yet not enough.

Love,
wpid1702-cropped-rr-logo-full.png

My Favorite Quote

Posted on by
Reply

It may come to no surprise to you that my favorite quote comes from the Bible.

Jeremiah 42.10: “For if you stay in this land I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you.”

This verse randomly showed up in my life during a difficult time.  I was looking for guidance as I thought Jesus was telling me to make a change in my life that felt like He was ripping my heart out.  I told my friends, “This is what God wants me to do…”

They disagreed.

I trusted them.  They couldn’t possibly know what was going on in my heart.  The torture I was going through on both sides of the decision.

But, as it turns out, they were right.  I was so thankful for them in my life because I would have made a change that was not God’s will.  And that change would not put me where I am today.  At all.

Are you praying for direction? Does it feel like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place?  Don’t take the easy way out.  Stick with it.

In this verse, God was telling the children of Israel to stay where they were. They didn’t listen and ended up being defeated.

In your life, you may be praying about making a change in career, location, relationship status, or financial situations.  God may be telling you to do something you don’t want to do or perhaps telling you to do what you want to do.  Either way, the first step to making this decision is deciding which path to take is to consider your ministry.

Sounds crazy, right?

I thought so.

But, seriously.  Consider your current ministry.  If you’re considering a change, consider which path will put you in a better place to serve in a local church or to spread the Gospel.

After all, this life is all about spreading the Gospel so that everyone can learn that Jesus came to earth to live and then die for us as a sacrifice so we can be made justified and not die eternally.

With love,
cropped-rr-logo-full.png

 

A Turnover.

Posted on by
2

I love basketball.  Especially University of Kentucky men’s basketball. While I was never an all-star basketball player, I certainly love watching the game.

One of the most exciting or frustrating aspects of the game is surprise turnovers.  They happen near the basket, mid-court, as a team is throwing in, or at any given moment.  If in favor of my Cats, the moment is hands-down exciting.  Of course, if in favor of the opposition, the moment is disappointing, to say the least.  The key to resisting a turnover is to control the ball.

A turnover can be the start of a major change in the game–good for one team but bad for the other.

I can become very anxious at the possibility of a life change.  And control isn’t a sure bet to keep change from happening.  Nothing we can do will prevent all change.

And there we have it.  Our desire to control everything leads to anxiety over changes that we cannot control.

No matter what we’re facing, we can very easily fall into trap of anxiety.  We wonder what the next step will look like, what will happen, how difficult it will be, who we’ll be around, or how quickly this change will happen.

Let’s look at the capital-T Truth found in the Bible:

Psalm 37.5 says this: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”

Let’s break it down.  That’s right, phrase by phrase:

Commit your way…: Our way is our future, our past, our present, our path.  We must commit it.  To whom?
…to the Lord…: We must commit our way to God. To Jesus.  To the Holy Spirit.  And not to me.
…trust in Him…: Instead of trusting our path to ourselves–controlling everything ourselves–we need to remember to trust God. To trust Jesus.  To trust the Holy Spirit.
…and He will act…: He’s not going to do nothing.  He won’t leave us hanging.  He will act.  He will do something.

The next verse speaks of God as doing good things for those who commit their way to the Lord.

Lord,
Thank You for the many blessings and opportunities I have.  Help me to trust You.  To relinquish any anxiety to You.  To plan wisely, but to trust that You fill in the details perfectly and wonderfully.  Help me to remember the promise that You will work through me in wondrous and beautiful ways for Your purpose.  I long to serve You and not myself.  To grow in You first and foremost.  To be lost in You and not this world.
In Your name I pray continually…