Leaving it All Behind. . .

There are three songs at the top of my list on my itunes "morning lifeline" playlist. You all know I am a huge fan of Kristian Stanfill. So, naturally one of those songs is The Stand, by Kristian Stanfill.  I absolutly love this. 

As I was driving home from running some errands tonight, I was listening to this song and thinking how incredibly grateful I am for my relationship with Jesus Christ and my eternal life through Him.

I am completely overwhelmed by God's grace and mercy. I'm humbled by the blessing's He continues to pour out on me despite my abundance of short-comings, countless mistakes and continued failures .  

God's love for us never ever fails. Never gives up. Never runs out. 

Even when we don't deserve it, He's right there waiting for us. 

{Talk about grace upon grace} 

I believe that's why this song is such an intimate song for me.

I love the chorus:

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

When we moved up to Columbia we immediately got plugged in to Newspring Church. I could feel God at work in my life big time but I still felt like I wasn't giving Him my all. Somewhere between our Mirror Mirror, Adam & Eve, and Weird series (that weird series rocked my world) I became so disgusted with my lackadaisical approach towards God's will and calling for my life. 

I was so ready to embrace what He wanted to do in and through me. 

One morning during a very early quiet time I decided to flip over to Philippians 3 where Paul is teaching about no confidence in the flesh. Read the whole chapter here.

This is the verse that pierced my heart:

 "¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"

Ahhh!! I love these words from Paul.

He's admitting that No, he doesn't have it all together but he knows he is reaching for something better in Christ.

He's shouting, Forget your past! Forget your abundance of short-comings, countless mistakes and continued failures! Keep running toward Christ and the great things the Lord has for you!

Don't. look. back.

{Stay focused on the prize}

I'm right there with you Paul. I have not obtained these things but one thing is true- I am leaving it all behind. I'm not looking back. I am running toward Christ. 

{I'll stand My soul Lord to You surrendered All I am is Yours}

Happy first day of Kindergarten, Ellie Kate!

"This is my first day of kindergarten. I'm so excited because my mommy is home-schooling me"

-Ellie Kate

"We are going to learn and have so much fun and be silly!"- Ellie Kate

                                              {Ellie Kate's Notebook}                                                                           

"This is Queen Esther, She trusted God, and cared for other's. She was very courageous and beautiful."- Ellie Kate 

 

"Can I practice writing on your board, mommy?."- Ellie Kate

{B is for Bumble Bee}

{D is for Daddy}

"Thank you for home schooling me mommy. You were right, this is so much fun!"- Ellie Kate

Bold Prayers.

"Normal people play it safe, weird people risk it all"

Four points for taking risks:

1. Desperation is the catalyst for great faith.
2. Sometimes we don't see God move until we move.
3. Our job is to obey. God is in charge of the results.
4. The greater the risk. The better the story.
-Clayton King

You know when you're sitting in church and the pastor says "what is God asking you to do?"
Well a few months ago I was sitting in church and after an awesome sermon on 2 kings in our 'weird' series at church, Clayton King asked, "What risk is God asking you to take?"
Immediately, the holy spirit placed something on my heart. *GULP*
No joke, this is what played out in my mind for a minute: What?! Haha, thats funny God ( I think I may have even let out a little chuckle under my breath)...wait...OH geez this is for real. Okay Lord, If i'm going to do this you have some major work to do in preparing me over the next few months.
AND
Do I have to get the really weird one? I mean, can't I just go on a mission trip next year or something?
Holy spirit: "Yes, I want you to do that too."
Me: Oh. okay? Are you sure because um..nevermind. YES LORD.
So what is this other risk I've decided to take?
Well with the support of my husband and as an act of obedience to our Lord, we are going to home school! That's right home school.
Why? Because I have to be obedient to something my heavenly father has placed on my heart.
Why is it a risk? Well, because my daughter's education is now in my hands. That is a huge risk and responsibility!
What if I fail? And with all these health issues, what if I'm not physically able. Those were a couple of the questions I had during my relentless hours of prayer over this. But God reminded me countless times that He honors our obedience to Him and that through Him all things are possible. He also reminded me to be a *risk taker* A risk like this requires great faith. It will only make me more desperate for His hand in my life; and make me rely heavily on Him. Remember, desperation is the catalyst for great faith! 
I have to say, there was no doubt God's hand was in this. That Monday morning following Clayton King's sermon, things had already begun to fall into place. God is awesome like that!
I knew God was going to make this work. As I continued to seek His will in the minor details, everything continued to fall right into place. For every prayer over this, He answered it almost immediately.
It is amazing to see the Lord's faithfulness and hand in our lives as Stephen and I choose to be obedient.
Please pray for us as we continue in our obedience with home school. We know God is in charge of the results but we also know we are going to have to work hard!
I love this quote from the Circle maker by Mark Batterson- "Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you"
I want to please the Lord and not only do this job but do it well; because in the end, its all for HIM!

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

A Heart like Mary.

⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. Luke 2:41:45

Could you imagine being the Parents of the Son of God..and realizing that, after traveling for an entire day from the festival of Passover, you couldn't find him? 
Imagine walking a solid day through heat, mosquito's, steep hills and rough terrain.
And
I'm no bible scholar but I would guarantee the streets of Jerusalem were jam packed with people and livestock, during the festival so it probably created some heavy traffic through these areas which only made the trip more challenging.
From what I understand this trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem was a 3-3 1/2 day journey (64 miles) and that's just one way! 
Imagine getting 1/3 of the way home and having to turn around because you couldn't find the Son of God! 
I'm sure Mary was in sheer panic mode!

⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mothersaid to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Luke 2:46-48

I love that Mary reacts the way every mother would- After the panic wears off the anger sets in! She wants to know why he did that to them? Why didn't he tell them he was staying behind? Didn't he know they would be panicked and that they would be anxiously searching for him?

I love how Jesus responds.

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”^[f]50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Luke 2:49-50

Didn't Mary know that his relationship with his heavenly father was important. I love how he gently tells Mary that he was doing what God wanted him to do and that they must entrust him to his heavenly Father. 

⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:51-52

I also love how Mary responded to Jesus after this. It says she treasured these things in her heart. Which means she wondered about them and pondered them. Meaning she learned from her son, Jesus. 

I love how this translates to modern day parenting.

I was thinking about how Ellie Kate and Jude are growing so fast and someday they will become adults. My prayer for them is that they follow God's calling, seek Him, and listen to His voice. 
Although I, like Mary, may not always understand that calling I pray that I will not discourage them, but encourage them. 
I pray that like Mary, I will keep an open mind and heart to learn from the things that God is teaching them.
My prayer this morning is that I have a heart like Mary for my children.