All Things For God's Glory

This past week, one of my dear friends went home to be with the Lord.  That's no small thing to say, though in "Christianese" sometimes we take that phrase for granted. Because of the resurrection, Helen is with the Lord now, and is anticipating a new body someday, to replace the old, worn out one that she left behind her on this earth.  Helen is basking in the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ right now, and we would not wish her back, except for our own selfish reasons, because we miss her. I'm going to miss her constant reminders that God is sovereign and in control, and her quiet walk with the Lord that impacted the lives of so many people, mine included. I'm so thankful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that because of it, we have hope that Helen is right now in the presence of the Lord, and that someday, I, too, will be in the presence of the Lord, and I will see her again.  But even more importantly, I will be rid of this old body a...

Adam and Ruth's sweet family! Norwex Raffle Basket - worth over $700.00! It's been a long time since I wrote anything on my blog.  It's been a very busy summer and fall. My sister and brother in law, Adam and Ruth Young, finally got to bring home their precious daughters from the DR Congo a few weeks ago!  They went through quite an ordeal getting them home, and the Lord blessed them with many answers to prayer in the form of many miracles along the way.  The girls don't speak English yet, so that's an additional learning process for all of them.  To see their story, go to  http://www.whatsmixing.com/ Of course, they've incurred many expenses along the way in this adoption process.  In order to help them pay for the final adoption expenses, Ruth is raffling off a Norwex basket.  (If you don't know what Norwex is, please go to  http://ruthyoung.norwex.biz/    I have a lot of Norwex, and I love it for cleaning the house ...

As I've been contemplating the gospel this week and how to live it out more biblically, I've been listening to some messages by John Piper that he preached in 1995 on the basis for the mission statement for their church. As I've listened to these, God is thrilling my soul again with how magnificent the gospel of Christ is and how practical it is in my daily life. I've paraphrased much of what he said, as well as written some of my own thoughts. His quotes are in quotation marks and I've used the Scriptures that he used.  Psalm 1:1-3 - "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers." "If we are people of the One Great Book, the very essence of the Bible flows from us! There are no weak people who...

Mother's Day always stirs up mixed emotions inside me - on the one hand, I'm so thankful for the wonderful children the Lord has given me, and I'm thankful for the work the Lord is doing in and through them.  But on the other hand, I sometimes look back and wish that I had believed and understood the gospel much sooner and that I had been able to apply it to my parenting when my children were small.  When I'm feeling this way, I must look to Truth and know that God is working all things together for my good, His glory, and to conform my children and me more to His image.  And when I remember Truth, it helps me to be cheerfully pressing forward to win the race that the Lord has now set before me, knowing that my children have the same Savior I do who will take all my sinfulness towards them and use it to make them more like Christ in some way.  What a Redeemer we serve! My role as mother has changed a lot in the past couple of years as our children are one by one la...