laid bare

I stole this from a friend's blog yesterday. It's her talking about Hebrews 4 and I loved it when I just read her explanation but when I read the scripture alongside her thoughts, it was mind-blowing...amazing how the Word of God can be revolutionary every time you read it...praise Him for that!

so, Hebrews 4:

"The writer opens up with a command to keep striving, to be diligent so that we will enter into the coming rest of God eternally. But then in v 12-13 he goes on to tell us how we go about doing that. All that came to my mind while reading these verses I have read like a billion times was, the Holy Spirit is like a skilled surgeon with the scalpel of the Holy Spirit. I think the writer is saying that we are diligent, alert, careful to enter into His rest by constantly laying ourselves out, wide open, under the care of the Holy Spirit. It all sounds so medical… He will pierce us, probe us, divide what is right from what is wrong, what is health from what is death, do biopsies on our motivations and thoughts, etc… We will basically be laid open and bare before God, completely seen and naked (v 13). Sounds pretty harsh and hard; we will see our weaknesses, our sins, all the places where our motives and thoughts are crooked and impure (v14)… OUCH. But then the writer who seems to know how uncomfortable and shameful and embarrassing that exposure process/ surgery of the Word will be, spends the next verses (v 15 and 16) comforting us, encouraging us to find hope, strength, confidence, health in the Great High Priest who stands in our stead as our substitute and now our faithful prayer warrior!

All this reminded me of one of my favorite parts of T.S. Eliot poem called Four Quartets.

The wounded surgeon plies the steel / that questions the distempered part / Beneath the bleeding hands we feel / the sharp compassion of the healer’s art / resolving the enigma of the fever chart."

I'm humbled and thankful that in a season where I feel like I am being "laid bare" before the Lord, I know that I am not alone but that I am loved and fought for by a sweet Savior who knows me better than I know myself..

I&O day 4 - super awesome fountain!

Choosing pictures from today is going to be super difficult because I took a million...the boys were precious today and we played in a fountain, which fyi, makes for an awesome photo shoot :) I'm sure gonna miss these sweet boys when I don't get to spend my days with them...good thing we live right down the road from each other!

I&O day 3 Aquarium Day!

these are all out of order but they're so fun! we had a blast at the Aquarium today! My favorite phrase of the day from Joshua was "what's dat urchin doin'?"...you had to be there :)

I&O day 2

Well, today didn't afford us very many pictures but the ones it did afford are super cute :) here's a sample..

I&O day 1

Also, some sweet pics from my day of adventure with 2 sweet little boys...John and Alison sat in meetings all day while we traversed Atlanta (albeit a small section) and had the time of our lives! :)

should such men as we fear?

Listen to the words of C.T. Studd, a wealthy Englishman who sold all he had to take the Gospel to China, then India, and then Sudan:

"Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time for waiting is past!...Should such men as we fear? Before the whole world, aye, before the sleepy, luke-warm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God,... and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thought; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ."

thanks to Emily for that quote. I needed to read that tonight.

an Atlanta adventure!

Yay for a week off! Today I took a short little flight to Atlanta to stay with some sweet friends for a week while they interview and orient to be missionaries in India! The flight was painless and I'm so used to changing flights or flying for hours that I was actually surprised when the plane landed and my journey was over! Alison picked me up at the airport and our adventure has officially commenced :) I'll have the boys, 2 and 10 months, from 8-5 or 6ish every day and we'll be having tons of adventures involving the park, some exercise, the aquarium, bass pro, the mall, the pool...and anything else we decide to get into! so excited! how could I not be excited when my job is to hang out with these precious little faces?

healed

well, the road was shorter than we thought it would be. Our little blue butterfly died early Saturday morning. We miss her dearly already and there just aren't words for how different the climate of our unit will be without her around. It's hard to lose her but it was time. Jesus wanted her and what a beautiful addition to His kingdom she is! She's breathing easy now, without oxygen, without bipap, without breathing treatments, without IV antibiotics, without struggle...we have all envisioned her taking deep, unlabored breaths, running for the first time ever, calling everybody "sweetie"...she's really been restored to what she was made for, worshipping and enjoying her Creator. She's healed in a far greater way than any of us ever could've imagined.