Love and Double Digging

Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. "

Yesterday, my mom told me there is a new science in gardening. As a master gardener, my mom would know the "dirt". Her next door neighbor, a landscaper by trade, was explaining it to her. It used to be that you would dig out a site, double dig if you were serious, to get the soil all nice and fluffy soft before you would plant your garden. The new thought, that has been proven by science, is to just pull out the weeds, only dig a hole for your plant, then add compost all around after your plant is in the ground. In other words, instead of getting the plot perfect, just dig in and then add lots of the good stuff. The result is less weeds, healthy plants and a lot less work.

Our pastor is preaching a series on marriage. Today he correlated marriage to a garden. He talked about pulling out the weeds of selfishness, laziness, and fear, sowing the seeds of love, joy and peace, and bringing about good fruit by keeping in step with God. Instead of trying to manipulate my way into making everything perfect whether in my marriage or my garden, it seems the "new science" of gardening and the very old timeless words of scripture ring true: pull out the weeds, dig in deep, and add the good stuff.

Double digging a garden is really hard work. Can it be that there is an easier way that still produces great results? We have a lot of ground to plant at our new house, so I'll have ample opportunity to try it out. In the same way, can it be that loving Christ above all else, even my spouse, will help me to grow in love for him more than all the "double digging" work I've been trying to do on my own? (Yes, of course it will; you'd think I'd learn!) Loving Christ in some ways is so much simpler. So is mulching like crazy instead of digging several feet! But when weeds are covered by a thick layer of mulch, they can not grow. "When sin becomes bitter, marriage becomes sweet." When Sinners Say I Do by Dave Harvey

Galatians 5:13 "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A Big Week for Emily

"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;" Romans 10:9

Emily confessed Jesus as Lord this week, praying for forgiveness of sins! We were sitting in the kitchen and she just out of the blue started asking what it meant when people say "Jesus died on the cross". So we talked about sin and how it separates us from God. I got to share the gospel with her and pray with her. She was so excited to be a Christian! I was even more excited for her. I told her that we had the date Amy became a christian written down somewhere. Emily said, " I don't think she's a christian all the time; sometimes she's mean to me." Yikes! So right away I got to explain, in 5 year old words the difference between justification and sanctification.

She also recently learned to shoot the pink daisy BB gun. Every time she shouted, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" and then shot the gun. I'm pretty sure aiming was optional in her mind. It was all about the yelling.

Finally, it's been a year now since we took Emily off wheat. Since then we've discovered that she is extremely sensitive to gluten which is also in barley, rye and spelt. She may even have celiac disease. I don't know because we didn't have her tested. But when when we challenged her by adding wheat into her diet she had severe flare ups. Now we know that she is sensitive enough to have a reaction even from eating something that was processed on the same equipment as wheat. Going gluten free has been an adventure, but a fun one. And she is growing like never before.

So spiritually and physically, this has been a milestone week for her!

Meditations on a Sunday

Today our pastor continued a study on Marriage. It was the best talk on that subject I have ever heard. You can listen by clicking on the link here. I'm still processing what he said. Forty five minutes of grace filled truth can at times be a bit overwhelming in a good kind of way. I've read most of the books he recommended, so it's not that what he said was so new. But God used our pastor's presentation of God's Word to specifically bring more clarity to what God has been teaching me recently. Sometimes God uses different mediums to direct our thoughts all in the same direction. After church I spent a little time catching up on some other blogs that I read from time to time. Although not all dealt specifically with marriage, what I read just reinforced what I learned this morning. I commend them to you as worthwhile reading!

Practical Theology for Women
Girl Talk
Shepherd Press
CCEF

Haiti

"A semi-truck from Samaritan's Purse brought over 25,000 pounds of relief supplies to be flown to Haiti." - Brian and I graduated from high school together.

My car accident was on the same day that the earthquake hit Haiti. Seeing what has happened there brings things into perspective. I may be in pain, but I am alive. I may be really tired and overwhelmed because of the aftermath of an accident, but my family is intact with a roof over their head and (thanks to insurance) a rental car to drive even.

We have friends who live in Florida and serve with Missionary Flights International. MFI has been giving air support to affiliated missionaries in Haiti, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic since 1964. Right now, they are the only non military air planes being allowed into Port-au -Prince. Brian and Terah's story and blog are here. If you are unsure of where to donate money, Missionary Flights International is doing a good work to get relief to Haiti and to share the gospel.

The Protection of The Lord and The Body of Christ

"19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! 20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city.22 I had said in my alarm, “I am cut off from your sight.”But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,all you who wait for the Lord!" Psalm 31:19-23



Earlier this week, I was broadsided on my way to Costco. I had just dropped Amy off at choir, and was headed down a street that had cross traffic. The young lady that hit me thought I had a stop sign, which I did not. God protected us. Emily was strapped in really well to her car seat. Sean always has me kneel on it to tug it really, really tight. She sometimes looks comical strapped in with her 5 point harness. She can hardly move! But yesterday, it was anything but comical. The other car hit right at her door and even though she got some bruises, she didn't receive any severe injury. Praise God!



Evan was on the opposite side and reading a book with his head down. He said he hit his head slightly and had a headache. I got tossed around the most. When I got out of the car, I realized that my neck and upper back were hurting. So we went off to the hospital to get it checked out and documented for insurance.



At this point I was ready to cry at the drop of a hat. I felt so overwhelmed and so pumped up with adrenaline. The ER was crowded and Amy needed to be picked up from choir in an hour. Evan was supposed to have his first leadership meeting of the year at Boy Scouts that night. I didn't know I was going to do. Sean was out of town. (Thankfully he's home today!) I called the one friend I had a number for at choir. Thankfully, she was at choir and of course, was more than willing to bring Amy to me at the ER. I sent a text to Evan's scout master (who happens to also be our pastor, two texts for one!) telling him we weren't going to make it to scouts because the ER was full. He was out of town too, but said he'd let the elders know to pray for us. In what seemed to me just a manner of minutes, in walk Kevin and Felicia (one of our elders and his wife)to the ER! I started to cry again.

Waiting in the hospital is never very fun. Waiting 3 hours without dinner and with 3 tired children is not something I would ever choose to do. Praise God, I did not have to do it alone. Kevin and Felicia stayed with us the whole time, keeping our spirits light, playing with Emily, and visiting with Amy while Evan, Emily and I went back to be seen by the doctors (finally!). I know Sean was relieved too, since he was so far away, to know that we weren't alone.

A Blessing

One of the first things people notice when they come over to our new house is what they hear. If you stand still outside, all you can hear are the birds. We are in a valley that muffles the noise of the world. It is one of the first things we noticed too. It was such a contrast to where we lived before. And it's one of the reasons we loved this house and property.

Today Al Mohler writes about noise and children. It's a very interesting article.

"Our culture now assumes noise and the constant availability of music, electronic chatter, and entertainment. In many homes, there is virtually no silence -- at least during waking hours. In some homes, family members live in isolated environments of independent sound, with iPods, televisions, radios, and any number of other technologies providing a customized experience of noise.

The life of the mind and the shaping of the soul require the ability to hear, recognize, and understand what would be lost in a cacophony of sound. "

Read the whole article here.

It reminded me again what a gift from God this house is for our family. We took the kids to see the movie UP (very good, by the way) and while the kids liked it, they had their hands over their ears almost the whole time. I didn't realize how sensitive they are to noise. It was so loud for them. However, I would rather it be a bit of a shock for them to be in a movie theater, than a shock for them to be outside, where all they could hear would be the birds.

In the article he makes a quote about the quietness needed for children to watch a lady bird crawl up a leaf. I laughed because just last week, Emily and her friends sat for 15 minutes watching a snail move. They were fascinated watching it leave a trail across the driveway.

We still have so much work to make this house our home. Boxes need to be unpacked, carpet needs to be replaced, toilets need to be installed, and pictures need to be hung. But I am glad to be reminded of another reason why this move and this house are a blessing.

Status Report

Sitting... For a moment to catch my breath and let my legs rest.

Drinking...Raspberry Emergen-C. I'm loving this stuff. It's a great energy boost. And it makes drinking water easier.

Noting...How good God has been to us through this move. Sean "just happened" to take a two week vacation scheduled for the week after we move. My parents also "just happened" to take a vacation the week of our move. We didn't talk to each other about it, and didn't make any plans for going anywhere. Both my dad and Sean have a difficult time getting time off work with out planning well in advance.

Weighing...Whether I should go to bed and get some rest, or stay up and pack as much as possible. Because we have to leave the house for 3 days to fumigate (Yikes, we have termites!) I'm down to 6 real days (one of which is Easter) to pack up our house, attic, and garage. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Tired... From so much packing and lifting and moving boxes and furniture.

Thinking...We have too much stuff.

Wondering...If we will ever get all this stuff out of our house by the 13th!

Reading...The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs very slowly a page at a time.

Recently finished...Um... packing 10 boxes?! I have not gotten much reading done this year. The Bible and the book above have been all I've had time for so far.

Also wondering...How much formal school I'll need to do with Evan and Amy over the summer to catch them up.


Needing... To get back into my exercise routine with the bike. I'm looking forward to getting everything set up at our new house. The basement has a great room that we'll be able to set up as a gym.


Not liking...The way my hands are feeling. They've gotten cut up and dried out because of all the cardboard boxes.


Feeling silly...For "killing" my husbands stick shift car so many times. He's taken over the van to drop off boxes and pick up needed supplies to and from his way to work.


On that note...I think I'll go pack some more boxes!

*I stole the idea of the status report from Leslie who took it from Lisa. I thought it was a great way to fit a little blogging in.

Wish I Could Go!

Association of Biblical Counselors Invites You on a Quest for More
2009 conference features first-ever meeting of the minds

We live in a broken world. The evidence is everywhere—broken marriages, broken families, broken hearts, broken people. In response, more and more people in the Christian community are exploring biblical counseling. Yet this growing interest brings new questions and fresh discussions about what biblical counseling really looks like. The landscape of biblical counseling is changing, thanks in part to the work of organizations like the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC). For anyone interested in these exciting new developments, ABC is pleased to announce the 2009 conference to be held May 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas. The theme of this year’s event is “A Quest for More,” based on the book by keynote speaker Paul Tripp, one of the most dynamic speakers in biblical counseling today.

“I am overwhelmed with excitement over this year’s conference for several reasons,” says ABC President Jeremy Lelek. “On opening night, we are going to have four of the top scholars from various counseling ‘camps,’ including the American Association of Christian Counselors, Christian Counseling Educational Foundation, and the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, who will discuss emerging trends in biblical counseling as well as distinctions between the various schools of thought. This is a truly groundbreaking event!” Residents of Dallas/Ft. Worth who are not attending the conference may purchase tickets to this exciting Thursday night-only event. The weekend will also include a tribute to special guest Elisabeth Elliot for her pioneering work in South America and across the world.

Lelek emphasizes that this event is not just for licensed counselors. These sessions are for counselors, pastors, and laity. Hurting people and those struggling to overcome certain issues in their lives are encouraged to attend. The conference features over twenty-five elective sessions with topics ranging from marriage and sexual addiction to spiritual warfare and crisis intervention. A sampling of titles includes:

· Living a Pure Life in a Sexualized Culture: Overcoming Lust, Understanding Your Enemy, and Living a Life of Repentance
· Soul Care: Starting a Biblical Counseling Ministry in Your Local Church
· Learning to Think Like a Christian
· The God Empowered Wife (for women only)
· Biblical Counseling with Adult Victims of Childhood Trauma
· When Suffering People Need to Know “Why?”

In addition, conference attendees will encounter opportunities to discover reliable referral services, network with like-minded believers, receive nationally approved Continuing Education Units, and be encouraged in their own lives and counseling ministries.

For more information about the conference and the many training opportunities offered through ABC, visit http://www.christiancounseling.com/.

Moving On

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged much over the past month. Honestly, I didn't really know what to write about. Our camera is being finicky and won't let me download pictures to the computer, so I didn't even have that to share with you.

However, we accepted an offer on our house today! Lord willing, everything will go through with the house we've put an offer on, and we'll be moving mid April. Our realtor expects there to be some delays since the banks are so inundated with loan applications these days. So we'll see, but God is opening doors for this move in many ways.

When I can figure out my camera, I'll post pictures.

What I Discovered Today

I really don't feel so good after I eat chocolate cake. When I spend an hour cycling like a mad woman at the gym, however, I feel terrific. But, I like chocolate cake much more than I like exercise. And I make excuses why I need to eat cake, and excuses why I don't need to exercise!!!

Anchored In Christ

"I have cast my anchor in the port of peace, knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands." The Valley of Vision

This morning our church had their Fall Women's Brunch. The theme was "Anchored in Christ". They chose this theme months ago, before the happenings on wall street, and before the election heated up. What a timely message! Our hope is not in money saved, or whether or not the candidate we want to win gets elected, but in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I don't normally talk politics here on this blog (or much elsewhere), but Leslie has done a great job blogging about the election and the candidates. I highly recommend her site. While I never will get heated and passionate about politics, I agree with her, and she has enough passion for the two of us! I think John Pipers words, especially toward the end of the video clip, express how I feel about next Tuesday. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to upload video, but you can see it here.)

On the way home from the tea, Evan excitedly shared something he read in his science book. Every second, over 4 million tons of the Sun are converted into energy. I can not even begin to grasp how huge our sun must be. Then to think how our sun is but one star out of billions in our galaxy, and our galaxy is but one of billions in the universe. It hit me again, how our God is so powerful and awesome, more than able to move the hearts of men and direct a nation how He wills. Then heavens truly do declare the glory of God. Psalm 19:1

Rejoicing Today

The Lord was not willing for the night time construction to end. It looks like we have many more weeks of this. So we will write a few more letters, then trust our good and loving God. I was encouraged by reading 1st Peter this morning.

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;

but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."

1 Peter 4:12,13, & 19

A Rough Start

The week before we started school back in August, God really convicted me of my joyless attitude. I was hit with the realization that it would be more important for me to model cheerfulness and contentment to my kids when our schedule is knocked off balance than to "fight" to keep things in line.

I think there is a great value in schedules and it is worth putting time and effort into planning. So I'm not saying that these things aren't important. However, for me, I tend to place too much importance and more significantly, I tend to look for validation in how tightly we stuck to the schedule. Did I get (and my kids manage to do) everything I had planned for the day? I am so tempted to derive my worth based on what we accomplished.


God has shown me in the past, through good teaching mostly, that interruptions from outside are not to be seen as irritations, but as "divine appointments". So I am, through God's grace, mostly able to be cheerful when the disruption is from someone or something outside my family. But when the disruption is from my kids acting grumpy, lazy, distracted or my husband needing me to tend to something that I didn't plan for that day, my sin nature shines right through. And it isn't pretty.


So guess what God saw fit to send to us the night before our first day of school?

This from 4am to midnight. See that fence. That's our backyard. I edited out Amy's bedroom window, but it's right behind the fence.

Beep beep, scrape, CACHUNG, BOOM! Repeat. All night long. This does not make for happy children who are able to focus and stay on task.

We found out that the construction project they are doing on the road behind our house is in "emergency mode" and they have a nighttime permit to work 4am to midnight. Sean wrote several very eloquent letters to city council, the mayor and the head of the construction company. They modified their work from 5am to 11pm. This was something that God was allowing for our good and His glory.

It has put this area of showing grace to my kids in the forefront of my mind. Since we've been living with this noise for 4 weeks now, I have a constant reminder to choose to show cheerfulness and give grace. I haven't always done what I should do or want to do. Driving out sin is hard work. But God is good and He has helped me to grow in this area that I have struggled in for such a long time.

Last week, we escaped the heat and the noise and took the kids to the beach.

And Lord willing, tonight is the last night they have a permit to work at night!

Guest Blogging

Today I am guest blogging over at my good friend Jessica's blog. She is doing a series on the challenges of motherhood. You can read what I have written here.

God's Grace and Fear

"So often we ignore the awesome displays of God’s faithfulness to people in trials and instead imagine ourselves in their situation, minus the grace of God. We would do well to heed Elisabeth Elliot’s wise reminder that there is no grace for our imaginations. The next time we observe someone going through a trial, let’s turn off our imaginations and instead fix our gaze on the marvelous, abundant, overwhelming and timely grace of God—the same grace that will be available to us when we actually need it."

Taken from Girl Talk. To read the whole (little) article, go here.

The "Christmas" Spirit

Our pastor is getting ready to go on sabbatical next month. Since he finished preaching on Hosea, he wanted to spend a couple of weeks helping us as a congregation to press on in love while he is gone. (I'll link the sermon when it gets posted.)

This morning, I was reading "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer. It fit so wonderfully with what Pastor John Marc was saying.

Packer was talking about the incarnation and how Christ became poor for our sakes. How He laid aside His glory, voluntarily restrained His power, accepted hardship, ill-treatment, malice and misunderstanding so that we could have hope of peace with God.

"It is the most wonderful message that the world has ever heard, or will hear.

We talk glibly of the "Christmas spirit," rarely meaning more by this than sentimental jollity on a family basis. But what we have said makes it clear that the phrase should in fact carry a tremendous weight of meaning. It ought to mean the reproducing in human lives of the temper of him who for our sakes became poor at the first Christmas. And the Christmas spirit itself ought to be the mark of every Christian all the year round. ......

The Christmas spirit does not shine out in the Christian snob. For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor-spending and being spent-to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others-and not just their own friends-in whatever way there seems need.

There are not as many who show this spirit as there should be. If God in mercy revives us, one of the things he will do will be to work more of this spirit in our hearts and lives. If we desire spiritual quickening for ourselves individually, one step we should take is to seek to cultivate this spirit." (Knowing God by J.I. Packer page 63-64)

Finally A Chance to Blog...About a Servant's Heart

Life has been very busy, stressful, and hard for us lately. Last month Sean was gone for three weeks and the fourth he had to work overtime. I think we saw him for three days. That's why my mom came for a week! I am so thankful for my parents who love Jesus and love us.

Right now, my older kids are in the kitchen and I am not allowed to come in. I think they cleaned up. I know they are baking something. Sean said he heard the dishwasher and went to go check. There were a total of 5 dishes in it! Too funny!

I was going to write that they are such great kids, but then I realized that the truth is they are little sinners. (And don't I know it!) And God is so great. Just this morning, we were talking about serving. Last night our family had the opportunity to serve at church and watch 16 kids. We had 7 older kids from the church (including ours) who helped out. Sometimes the kids were very thoughtful and helpful while at other times they were pretty self-focused and really just wanted to go out and play. Our own kids flip-flopped between the two. But overall, the night went well.

This morning I talked to our kids about having a servant's heart. They knew that last night was a lot of kids, and they could see how helpful it was when the older ones helped out. They understood it was tougher when the older ones were just looking out for themselves. We had a great talk and then ran off to our day's activities.

So it is such a joy to see God work in their hearts to help them to decide to do something to bless and serve our family! And I am relieved since the kitchen was a mess and I still have baking to do for a baby shower tomorrow.

... They let me in, and they are making lemon bars! Maybe I won't even have to bake tonight! (But I LOVE to bake, so I probably will.) =)

*Sean's note* Yes, they managed to get five dishes in the dishwasher before they started it. Very funny to find another fifty on the counter that didn't make it in! And another yes, they were supposed to be lemon bars. But there were no lemons or lemon juice! So they substituted oranges, tangerines, and any other citrus fruit they could find in the kitchen. It should be pretty interesting when its comes out. *

Guess I'm baking after all!

Check This Out!

Our pastor has a new blog! Check it out here.

How God Provided an Opportunity to Know Him More

* I am getting ready to give a testimony at our ladies tea next week. This is the talk I'm working on. If you're going to the tea, and don't want to read my story first, skip this post! Otherwise if you have any suggestions I would welcome the feedback.

How God Provided an Opportunity to Know Him More

About three years ago, when I was pregnant with our third child, Emily, I spent 6 months
on complete bed rest. We knew that was going to happen when God put it on our hearts to have a third child. But we were ready. Evan and Amy were now old enough to help out. We were home-schooling so they just brought their school books to the couch for me to help them. We hired a housecleaner. And we had a wonderful and loving church family and extended family for support. Even though the church was big, we were involved in smaller groups for accountability and care. Several of the women sincerely wanted to help. And I was counting on them being there!

Everything seemed great. ….But God was going to show me that I put too much hope and dependence on men and not enough on Him.


When I was 12 weeks pregnant, I needed to have my cervix stitched closed to keep Emily “in” for the next six months. The night that I went into the hospital for this procedure the group of ladies who were my closest friends, that I had met with regularly for prayer and accountability, had a major fight and split. Unfortunately, this affected how they related to me. Also the church we had been going to for the past 10 years had been in the process of some major changes as well. The Sunday School group that we had been a part of since we were married had been disbanded a year before. Most of our friends were in that group and while we thought we still had close ties with many of the people there, logistically, we didn’t see many of them very often.


So, at a time when I was counting on friends for support, God allowed for me to lose most of them. During the 6 months of bed rest, very few friends called me or came to visit.


During that time, Sean, in addition to working full time, mostly nights, making meals, and doing laundry, was building a 960 sq. feet addition on to our house. This kept him busy without much time or energy to sit and “visit” with me!


As I cried out to God during this lonely time, He helped me to trust Him rather than other people. But I still didn’t quite get it.


After Emily was born, I thought that I would be able to jump right back into the life that I had before. I could go to church now, with a cute baby, the addition was just about finished, and Sean went back to the day shift.


However, God again had other plans. He didn’t take me through the “valley” he had chosen for me, to come up again the same person. It was at this time that Sean and I both felt that the changes at church reached a point that we could no longer stay there. We actually came to Cornerstone the first time when Emily was just a few months old, but it would be over a year later that God would lead us back to call this church our home. (And I’m so glad he did!)


So now, I was church “homeless” for the first time in my life! During the search for a new church, I was very lonely. Many Sundays I would take Emily in her stroller for long one and two hour walks where I could cry and talk to God. God was helping me to wrestle with some bigger ideas about Himself (otherwise known as Theology). I also had quite a bit of time to read. Between bedrest, not having a church family, and sitting down to nurse, I had a lot of time to read! I started reading books by men and women who where passionate about God and His glory. One day I read this,


“God created us to live with a single passion to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of Him in every part of our lives”. -John Piper “Don’t Waste Your Life” (emphasis mine)


This stumped me, because as ugly as it sounded, if I was truthful with my self, I thought I would be happy if people made “much of me.” This was a new thought, that I would be happy if I made “much of God.”


And as I started learning more about the sovereignty of God, I realized that God could have brought friends into my life if it was His will and what was best for me. As I learned more about who God is and what He is like, I began to experience that He alone was enough whether He brought me friends or not. I became more satisfied in Him. And I realized that I was no longer so lonely or unhappy. God had brought me joy, not from friends, but in knowing and loving Him.


Looking back I can see how I misused the gift of friendship. I put more trust in the gift, than in the giver of that good gift, God Himself. So, now as God is bringing friends back into my life, I have a different perspective. Rather than loving people because I want to make sure that they love me back, or to make sure that they don’t reject me (or I lose their friendship), I can love people out of a thankful heart, out of love for Christ.


I am actually thankful that God took away my friends for a time, because He gave me something more, a deeper knowledge of Himself.

“And now come, broken, to the cross,
Where Christ embraced all human loss,
And let us bow before the throne
Of God, who gives and takes his own,
And promises – whatever toll
He takes – to satisfy our soul.
Come, learn the lesson of the rod:
The treasure that we have in God.
He is not poor nor much enticed
Who loses everything but Christ.”

-John Piper from “The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God"

John Piper Is Coming To The Central Coast

Get all the details here. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.