Lessons From the Summer

I don't normally spend a lot of time writing my posts. I normally just share some cute pictures and a few words explaining them, but I have felt compelled lately to share some of my thoughts about this summer. I normally don't like to share a lot of personal details about my life - mainly because I can't imagine anyone would be all that interested. However, I do feel that it is important to say out loud things the Lord has shown me so that's what I'm going to attempt to do here. It has been one of the best summers I can remember in a long time for many different reasons.

Ben and I have grown in our relationship in new ways I think. We have had another major life change together with building and moving into the house. With every major life change, I think we learn more about each other, but also come together more as one. I'm still suprised by the blessing God has given me in my husband sometimes - that I could find someone who suits me so well and who loves me in such sweet and exciting ways! Not that either of us are perfect, but that there is someone who wants me to be happy and who is intimately concerned with me - how I feel, what I want, who I really am. I feel blessed, of course, but also really special that God created a person who has no blood relation to me, but could come together with me and have it just fit and feel right!! It's really incredible how God equips us to be a part of a union like that, ya know? I recently read some verses in Ecclesiastes that I don't remember reading before:
Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don't skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed. Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 (The Message)
I'm not exactly sure what Solomon is saying here and I'm not crazy about the death part (although it is a reality for us all), but I like the part about living large and enjoying the life God gave us to the fullest! "Relish life with the spouse you love" - that's really good. Sometimes I think we let ourselves get into a rut in our marriage b/c there are so many obligations that come along with a family, but God is all about taking pleasure in our pleasure. I want to glorify Him with my marriage and I think taking pleasure in my husband and helping him to be the man that God has called him to be is glorifying to God! This summer has been full of special times for us and I'm thrilled that I've gotten to experience more with Ben.

Also, Jack has been at an age this summer where it is just FUN, FUN, FUN!! Last summer was all a blur b/c nobody in our house was sleeping and there was lots of crying, but this summer, we got to enjoy so much more with him! It's been so great to be able to watch his personality grow and become more aware of everything around him. I've learned so much through him: the names of every train on the Island of Sodor; that sheetrock can look good as new no matter how big the hole if you have somebody who knows what they're doing; that sand can get stuck in EVERY orifice of a little boy's body after a day on the beach; that a sippy cup that has been perfectly acceptable 100 times before can suddenly become completely unacceptable to drink out of; that some children do NOT enjoy group games, songs, and activities and no amount of cajoling and threatening can make them participate; that running in place makes tv much more exciting; etc, etc. etc. Some of those lessons he's taught me were more fun than others, but it has all made me grow as a person and as a mom. More than that, I believe that God is teaching me more about His love through my relationship with my child than ever before. I know how much I love Jack - so much that sometimes I become fearful for no good reason. How much more does the Father love me? With a love more perfect than any I could ever conjure up for my child. I'm am amazed and captivated by this love!
This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters. 1 John3:16 (NCV)
Jesus is showing me more and more about his love through my love for my child. I'm so thankful that God is using the job of parenting that I love so much to teach me more about his perfect and sacrifical love for me!

I've also been able to spend time with our family and friends this summer and grow some new and special friendships! There just seems to have been time to cultivate some strong bonds with the people that I love. We were able to go on vacation with my parents and there have been countless trips with other friends. We've been able to reach out to people that go to our church that we didn't know that well and have been able to make some real connections there that have made life better and fuller. This summer has just seemed to have opportunities for me to spend more time with friends and to build something more than just superficial relationships. I believe I will be eternally grateful for Godly friendships and I know that God is using these people as tools in my life to draw me closer to Him.
Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12:10 (The Message)
I have learned that God can only use my friendships for good in my life if they are real and I put some effort into them. I've also learned that I get a lot of joy out of them when I work at them.

These are just a few of the areas that have made this season so speical to me. See what a fun summer it's been! So much going on and I'm sad to see it go. At the same time, I'm excited for a new season - full of great things that God has in store for me and my family (we're pretty excited for Alabama football around here too:)!

For some reason this summer, amidst all the good things, I have been more aware of a growing disinterest in the Lord from our culture as a whole and disbelief in Jesus and who He is and what He did for us all. Some of that has been through friends with different beliefs than me, but a lot of it just comes from the culture that we live in today. I have a lot of arguments that point to the exsistence of God and to the fact that Jesus was God and man, lived a sinless life, had a bodily resurrection, and through Him comes our salvation... I believe there are historical facts to back that up, and the Bible clearly maps that out for us, but I'm not a great scholar of religion by any means. There are many things that great scholars have said that make me say "YES! That's what it is!!" For instance,
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." C.S. Lewis

"I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most profitable explanation is that I was made for another world." C.S. Lewis

"There are some things that can be learned by the head, but... Christ crucified can only be learned by the heart." Charles Spurgeon

"We trust not because a god exists, but because this God exists." C.S. Lewis

"It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life. They have found a joy and a wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their soul. They have overcome the world. These people...are Christians... and I am one of them." St. Cyprian

I don't have a great quote of my own and I don't always have the answers to all the questions about God, but this is my best arguement: He is doing these things that I've written about in my life TODAY!! He is real to me today and He's working in my life to bring me good things and to make my life have a higher calling and purpose. It doesn't mean my life is always easy, but it does mean that God is with me and is a trustworthy Friend, a strong Tower, a Place of refuge, a loving Father, a great Provider and that He will supply all my needs. Even on bad days, I can have peace, joy, and hope because of who He is and what He has done for me! That's why the other arguments will never be able to do away with true followers of Jesus: we're not living on what someone else says or what some professor told us. This is something that is happening TO US in the present day and you can't convince someone that something's not real when they've experienced it for themselves! "A good question for an athiest is to serve him a fine dinner, & then ask if he believes there is a cook." for the benefit of clergy as seen in The Anglican Digest True followers of Jesus have tasted His fine feast and you can't tell us that He wasn't there to prepare it for us! I'm so thankful that nobody and nothing of this earth can seperate me from what I've found with God.

I just wanted to share what God's doing in my life right now and what he has done over the last few months. I'm just continually amazed that He wants to be my friend and that He calls me to a life that is full and exciting and more than I could ever ask or imagine!! I hope Christ has revealed something new and exciting to each of you as well!

I've been reading a lot of C.S. Lewis lately (as you have probably already deducted) and I read this recently and have decided to make it my motto for the fall.
How little people know that think holiness is dull... When one meets the real thing, it's irresistible.
I pray that the love of Christ will bring holiness into my life that will make Him irresistible to those I meet!