It wasn't Buckingham Palace, BUT...

it was a royal wedding.

  "The Kiss"

A prince and his duchess

All under one king, the King of kings!

Five Minute Friday :: If I knew I could, I would...

Today I'm linking up with Lisa-jo's blog, The Gypsy Mama, with the five-minute writing prompt 

If I knew I could, I would...


Go


If i knew I could, I would have it all together all the time. My house would be perfect, my children well-mannered and respectful always, I would meet every need of my husband unwaveringly. I would manage my time perfectly for writing and other service projects. I would love perfectly.


Yet, this I can't. 


When I try, really try, I look around me and I see a home that I can keep clean for less than 10 minutes. I see tired children grumbling and bickering. I see that I am forgetful of many of my husbands needs. I see that I struggle to find time to write and allow my priorities to shift out of order often. I see that I miss the boat often on loving well.


But I don't have to. 


When I accept my now as a gift, I see a home that is lived in. I see teachable moments with my children who are constantly learning and growing. I see that I have a lifetime to learn how to love and better meet the needs of this man of mine. I see a man who loves me unconditionally. I see a God who is working it all out in spite of me. 


By grace, it is He in me who can. And I probably wouldn't have it any other way.


Stop.

He Has Risen!

"Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”


How joyful I am that Jesus has risen from the dead and is alive today. There is no other hope for eternity, but through Him; no other savior, but Him. He is ALIVE!

I'm linking up with Internet Cafe Devotions for Word Filled Wednesday!

{Photo source}

Eric Ludy - The Gospel

Please, please watch this powerful short film...and be blessed!

Five Minute Friday :: Hard Love

Five minute writing prompt on:

Hard Love

Go.

Why do people suffer? The good people. The godly people.

I heard recently that to deny our suffering or assume we can escape it somehow, through enough prayer or goodness or avoidance, is to deny the very passion of Christ.

Christ took the cup, not because he wanted the suffering. He did it out of obedience. "Not my will, but yours." After he was brutally beaten beyond our comprehension, he carried his cross then died on it. This was the ultimate act of love. It was through that drinking of the cup and embracing the suffering that life came for all of us.

So, too, we must embrace our suffering and pain. For only through our surrender to the cross, carrying our own cross and dying to our self can we experience true life as God intended. Life to the full.

Think about it. When we try to escape pain, it follows us. When we embrace it, walk through it (the hardest thing we may ever have to do), there is healing. There is joy. There is life again.

I'll admit, I don't want it. But it is a part of this life. Look in the mirror. Look around you. It's there. It's there in the eyes of the person you refuse to look in the eye.

It's a hard life. It's hard to follow Christ's example of the ultimate sacrifice. But, life - love - was never meant to be easy.

Stop.

I need to add a few extra thoughts. Although, this is what I came up with in five minutes, this is a big topic and an important piece to this "Hard Love" is that God provides the way through it. It's He who can in and through us. We don't have to walk through any of this hard life alone. We can't do it on our own. He makes the impossible possible.

Please take a moment and watch this short film by Eric Ludy...the epitome of Hard Love. You WILL be blessed by it!

I'm linking up with the Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday. It's your turn!

As of Late :: April

Lately, I've been wrestling with keeping my priorities in order.

Lately, I've recognized how God most abundantly blesses all that I put my hands in when I honor His time with my day.

Lately, I've had the privilege of coordinating a speaking event, When God Writes Your Love Story, with Eric and Leslie Ludy.

Lately, I've had the privilege of conversing with Eric and Leslie Ludy and hearing, not just their heart on surrendering the pen of our lives to God, but their heart on rescuing the orphans and protecting those weaker than us.

Lately, my desire has grown stronger and passion deeper.

Lately, I've recognized how I have a tendency to withdraw from God's presence and take a comfortable back seat when His glory seems too much.

Lately, I've recognized that the too much boils down to fear, doubt and pride.

Lately, I have been encouraged by 2 Chronicles 20 - to take your position, stand firm, and watch Him deliver you.

Lately, I have seen His deliverance.

Lately, my children find the dirt pile just beyond our yard and I attempt to see the big world through the eyes of my newly turned one-year-old daughter.

Lately, I realize how small I am and how big He is.

***
Today I am linking up for first time at Critty Joy blog for As of Late. What is going on with you as of late?

WWW~Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Our little angel just turned one over the weekend. God sure knew what He was doing when He formed this one. What a sweet gift she is. Happy Birthday sweet Madeline!

I'm linking up for Word Filled Wednesday over at Internet Cafe Devotions and for Scripture and a Snapshot at Katie Loyd Photography.

Five Minute Friday: On Distance

I'm linking up today over at Lisa-jo's for Five Minute Friday, with the writing prompt:

On Distance

Go

Present convenience or eternal significance. Which will we choose?

My two-and-a-half year old son, the other day, makes a mad dash from his dad and me. He sprints off like the speed of lightening. As we approach, he skids to the nearest chair, throws himself to the floor, buries his head in the carpet, and submerges one arm under the chair. We chuckle to ourselves. We see him. Yet, somehow he believes his escape is successful. Since he doesn't see us, we must not be able to see him.

I just started a study on Jonah, by Priscilla Shirer. Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh. Instead he turns and heads 2000 miles in the opposite direction. He thinks he is safe in the boat - unseen. God sees.

Jonah did finally obey God, as my son eventually exposed himself, and his obedience had eternal significance.

I wonder what each of our Nineveh's are? How far will we run to escape what we fear God may be asking us to do? What may be pushing us out of our comfort zones. What may be inconveniencing us. Will we fully expose ourselves for the work He intends to use us for - not for our present convenience but, for the eternal significance?

Stop

{photo source}

Resting in His comfort

She flexes her body, pulls away and cries tears of frustration and discourse. I hold her. I pull her close. She arches her back and throws her head nearly into whiplash. She carries on in her lengthy way of communication. I whisper, "shh...it's okay." Ever so gently, I whisper.

I long for her to rest in my comfort.

The will of her stubborn, nearly 12 month-old, heart and weary mind push comfort far from her. She must come to a place of exhaustion. She must recognize she has no place to go, but to give in to the arms that are embracing her.

I long for her to loosen her grip and curl into my arms. To lay her head on my shoulder, nuzzle her face into my neck, eyelids too heavy to keep open.

I long for her surrender.

Finally, too tired to fight - the fight costing her all of her energy - she surrenders. She relaxes her body into mine and finds rest in the comfort of my arms.

Shortly after, she awakens with the brightest eyes and happiest disposition. She doesn't regret her rest. She doesn't remember her angst. She knows she is in the best of hands. She knows she is loved beyond measure.

She delights in her innocence.

A little later in the day a four-and-a-half year old, high with emotion and volume, screams at her brother over a blanket he is wrapped up in while watching a short afternoon program. I go to her and I offer her a chair in a different room with a couple of devotional books - to offer a moment of rest - to allow her time to calm down.

"No way, Pose!" She screams.

I know full well that the sooner she surrenders to my will and obeys, the sooner she will feel at rest and be able to join in on the afternoon program. I know that if she resists me, she will miss out on so much more than either of us had intended.

She senses my calm. She knows I will not back down. She surrenders.

When she returns, her disposition is peaceful. She is willing to go into her room and find a different blanket. She sits and watches the rest of the program.

From the time these children are born, they have to learn to surrender their will to the loving arms and discipline of their parents. As they grow, in much the same way, they must learn to surrender their will to the loving arms and discipline of their Heavenly Father. We must.


In our surrender, there is peace.

In our surrender, there is rest.

Are you feeling a little whiplashed? Can you hear yourself demanding, as you consider what surrendering might cost you, "No way, Pose (Jose)! Do you realize that He knows full well that choosing your will over His will for you will cost you so much more than you ever intended?

Will you surrender?

Will you find your rest in His comfort?

Today?
***


Join me and link up for Word Filled Wednesday over at Internet Cafe Devotions and at Holy Experience for Walking With Him Wednesdays!

If you met me... {5 minute friday}

I'm linking up with Lisa-jo for 5 minute Friday! The writing prompt is

if you met me...

Go!

If you met me you would see my heart almost immediately. If you didn't see at least that, you'd think I was quiet, shy or a snob. If you met me I might be apt to stand back and observe the situation before I spoke. You would see a quiet confidence until the topic of something I am passionate about came up. Then, suddenly, you'd see lights beaming, waters gushing, and words flowing with conviction.

If you met me, you'd know that I am passionate about being a mom, more passionate about being a wife, and even more passionate about Jesus Christ. You would see that I don't have pretenses. Plenty of inhibitions. But, something within this quiet, reserved, inhibited person is bold, rock solid and cannot be moved. That is what you'd see if you met me...just an ordinary girl with something extraordinary about her.

Stop.

Now it's your turn! Click here to join in.

WWW - All things

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He gives us everything we need to live the holy lives we are called to live in this very day in age. Press on!
***
I'm linking up today over at Internet Cafe Devotions for Word Filled Wednesday. I hope you'll join in!

A surrendered pen {from a marriage and parent perspective}

Our community just had the privilege of having Eric and Leslie Ludy, best-selling authors of, When God Writes Your Love Story, here over the weekend to speak to adolescents and young adults on the topic of surrendering their love life over to God – the One who knows you better than you know yourself and, believe it or not, who cares more about this area of your life than you do.

For adolescents and young adults, it was a powerful message, challenging them to consider being faithful to their spouse - as though they exist (they do!) - before they ever meet them. A challenge to proceed in life as though their future spouse could see every decision they make. A powerful concept with a "beyond your dreams" romantic storyline, and so much more, encompassed this two-day event.

Nearly five hundred people shuffled through the doors Friday night to listen to Eric and Leslie’s hilarious, dynamic, and tell-it-to-you-straight speaking style. Although they targeted the single audience, much was to be gained for married couples, as well as, for parents.

{source}

There was much to be gleaned for marriages.

A God-centered relationship/marriage will always point each other to Christ. When the highest goal in our relationship is the others growth in their relationship with Christ, the focus then is taken off of ourselves and the self-serving conception of what our spouse can do for us. Christ meets every need we have so that we are free to love our spouse without expectation, primarily driven by our own unhealthy baggage.

In a God-centered marriage, a wife will look most beautiful and radiant to her husband when thriving in a relationship with Christ. (Personally speaking, this is the most attractive attribute to me in my husband...such strength and courage in the man that God has created him to be. It is incomparable.)  

When we look to Christ first, we stop looking to our spouse to meet all of the desires of our hearts, which Christ alone can fulfill.

Let the man be the man. He was created to be a warrior. That is, to risk his very life for his wife, family, and for what he believes. We, as wives, play a huge part in whether or not our men step up to that position. Let them lead.

A God-centered marriage grows more beautiful with time, as opposed to disillusioned over time.

In the good times and the bad, marriage is a glorious taste of heaven when the Author of romance holds the pen.~ Leslie Ludy

There was also much to be gleaned for parents.

As a parent, I am reminded to pray for my children’s spiritual lives and their future spouses continuously. This is an area I won’t have control over in their future and ultimately, God will, as they allow Him.

As a parent, I am reminded that I am laying the foundation for success in the area of love and relationships in my children’s lives.

As a parent, I am reminded that I am providing the training ground for who my children will become one day i.e. how does brother treat sister and mom – training ground for how he will treat his wife one day.

As a parent, I am reminded that what I teach now does make a difference. I am the most impressionable person in my children’s lives as a mother of preschoolers (0 – Kindergarten).

As a parent, I am reminded that my life and relationship with Jesus Christ will be the role-model for my children…not just my words.

As a parent, I am reminded that Rob and my marriage should point our children to Christ as they see that our marriage points each other to Christ.

Although the concentration for the weekend was the surrender of our love lives and targeted toward singles, the bigger picture and how it applies to all of us is in the surrender of every part of our lives to Christ.

Where ever we are – single or married; with child or childless – when we surrender the pen of every part of our lives to Christ, He will take our circumstance – right where we are – and create a magnificent story.

The event "core" team (minus two) with Eric and Leslie Ludy