A Husband Like You

All day I have been celebrating in my heart the 64 years of marriage my grandparents celebrate today. It's days like today that make living overseas more difficult than the average day. However, it's people like my grandparents and parents that make living overseas the very place I know I should be. The testimony of their lives, their faithfulness to the Lord, and their love and care and discipleship of my heart are a large part of why I am even here today. Even through separation is hard, I know they are glad I'm here and not there with them! They want me to be where the Lord has called us.

As I celebrated this marker of 64 years, thinking on the goodness of the Lord, his faithful watch care and protection, his abundant provision, his constant leading and guidance, his ever presence with them, I thought too on the hardships that are being journeyed through. Old age isn't easy! I thought on the faithful love my grandparents have, of the way they gently care each day for one another. It made me ask, "Will I make it that long? Do I have what it takes to stay faithful?"

Today was the first day I compared my grandpa to my husband. Although Walt would never even attempt to feign genius (Grandpa cannot claim that), the two men are well read and always reading further. The two of them are extremely humble. They both love those who are yet in God's kingdom, so much they would lay down their lives for them. Both Grandpa and Walt are incredibly thankful people. I have been married only 11 years now but I can't remember a time when Walt complained. But for both of them it isn't just the absence of complaints, it is the presence of thanksgiving. Both are ready, in every season, to give thanks to the Lord because both have an unwavering belief in the goodness of the Father.

As I thought further, I realized this same trait of thankfulness lies in the heart of my dad too, always having us pause to thank the Lord or to recognize his goodness, even in the midst of incredibly trying times. As God continues to refine our family we still see  Grandpa always leading us back to thanksgiving, so does my Dad, and so does Walt! As we walk difficult days with sickness, heartbreak, separations, and unexpected "speed bumps", all three of these men in my life continue to bring us repeatedly to that foundational truth: God is good, therefore we praise him.

So although I may evaluate my faith and the state of my heart and honestly ask the question, "Will I still be giving thanks at 64 years?" I look at the husband God has given me and praise God for the godly traits in him that I have watched in my Dad and in my Grandpa and I am THANKFUL for his faith and his unwavering belief in the goodness of our Father.

Today I celebrate my Grandparents. Today I celebrate my parents. Today I celebrate my husband.

Today we celebrate the goodness of God!

Grandpa, I never realized I got what I always wanted: a husband like you!
Grandma, maybe one day I'll be the wife you are!

Happy 64th!!! I love you both deeply!

m

I will... Will you?

"I will have many stories for you when we meet."

Was our young friend mis-speaking, referring of the adventures he had encountered in the recent trip to Africa?
Or rather is he a young theologian, anticipating what William Carey had preached years before, "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God."

God's grace is matchless, mysterious, life giving and hope bringing reality for those who are in Christ.  Because of God's past grace, we look to the future and can say like this 13 year old, "I WILL have many stories..." Knowing that the grace of God will continue to be at work in us, we will have stories of God's victory in our life. Believing that God's grace is abounding in the lives of people around us, we can expect to have many stories of his powerful work in others.  God's matchless grace leaves us filled with hope and expectation. Even as we walk through valleys of deep darkness, we have stories of God's grace, presence, provision and love. As we walk beside waters of quiet rest, we have stories of his grace filling us and feeding and sustaining us. Evidences of the work of God are all around us, we just need the eyes to see him at work and have a heart that is expecting him to work as we attempt to follow him whole-heartedly.

I will have many stories for you, next time we meet. Why? Because my God doesn't change like everyone and everything else does. Why? Because God has good plans and a future. Why? Because by his grace, I can see his grace and give him praise for he is good. I most definitely WILL have stories the next time we meet because I am eagerly looking for God at work and am expectant of answered prayer.

What is your expectation for next time we meet? Will you have stories?


on the look out for evidences of his grace,

m

Blame or Credit

As I rolled out the soft dough my mind flew to my mom. She's the one who first taught me what a good cinnamon roll tastes like and then taught me to make it just like she did. Mom's cinnamon rolls are what greeted us EVERY time my sister and I were picked up from the airport from boarding school. It didn't matter the day or the time of our arrival, we knew that once we climbed in the car and settled, she would pull them out and together we would share their freshness and sweetness. After 8 weeks at boarding, this was a welcomed tradition. Not only had we been eating boarding food for the past 2 months but just being together and sharing something in common had a way of drawing our hearts together, making us thankful to be together once again. How many sweet trips we had from the airport home.

My mom has taught me so much. As I followed her way of making cinnamon rolls my mind rolled over the many things I have to thank my mom for. Her cinnamon rolls are some of Thomas' favorite. I make them, but really they are mom's. I make mom's scones too. This treat is another one I can blame on my mom. Devotions and bible memory at the breakfast table, my mom. Sleep, exercise, or water will cure most maladies, I firmly believe! Loud worship music is necessary when cleaning (do things get clean without it?). Reading lunches (if you don't know what this is you are sorely missing out). Books are always worth it. Read aloud. Cross stitch. Welcome the outcast/oddball.  etc… The list goes on and on. 

I haven't done a very thorough job of thanking my parents over the years. But the reality is that most of the good in my life is all to their credit (blame). Sometimes when hard stuff creeps up in our lives we like to find a fall guy. Too often it's our family that is to blame. But how often to we stop think about some of the graces that are ours because of the families we have been given. I know my past is close to perfect compared to so many and for that I am so thankful. Regardless, I don't give thanks often enough for the heritage that is mine. I am so amazed at God's grace and provision for me in my parents and siblings.

So as I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen that I had made (something else my mom taught me) I couldn't help but be thankful for all the amazing good that is mine because of God's grace through my mom.

Thanks Mom!

m

"Haves" and "Have Nots"

"Papperay, " the musical call comes from beyond our outer gate.
"Can I have 10 rupees, mom? I will pay you back!" (famous last words but that is another blog post).
Thomas hurried out the gate, running after the young man carrying a bag of pappery, a deep fried treat sprinkled with spicy masala, 10 cents of deliciousness.
I can't help but smile to myself as I hear him talking to neighbors and friends in broken Urdu.

"The grass is always greener on the other side," comes to mind as I watch him happily devour one of Pakistans many deep fried snacks, thinking in my mind of all the wonderful things he gets to experience here, "No, the grass is so much greener on my side!"

Or is it?

Being content where God has me is so crucial to our ability to live and love this place and these people. The list of "haves" is so much longer than the "have-nots."But that doesn't mean I don't have to fight sometimes missing the things we no longer have since we live here.
The main "have-not" that creeps in and sometimes clouds my ability to see the "haves" is just the opportunities that I know Thomas would have if he was back in States. The list writes itself with such speed in my mind that my fingers couldn't type fast enough to keep up (embarrassing to confess but true!).
But what do we have here instead of those things?
And is it what we have now that replaces what we have chosen to let go?
Or is trying to minimize the loss and replace it with a new list of "have's" the very foundation of the folly of my thinking?
I could list off to you the things we have that perhaps you don't.  But that isn't what gives our life here value or meaning or makes the sacrifice less.

Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13,

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Here we see the secret to conquering that quiet besetting sin that deceitfully creeps up within our hearts, catching us off guard: discontentment rooted in unbelief. It rears it's ugly head when we compare our lives with others, when we focus on what is seen, when we trust our wisdom, and when we walk in unbelief. Paul shows us that when we believe the promise that God will supply all our needs and walk in thankfulness, rejoicing in the Lord, trusting his goodness and love for us, we will say with Paul, "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." Being content displays trust in the Father's perfect provision. Not only that, Paul states, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." This implies that when walking in faith, trusting his provision, we can face whatever circumstance he gives to us, believing it is of the Father's good pleasure that we walk through it. 

So, where ever you are, whatever you have/don't have, remember to believe his goodness and unmeasurable love towards you. Look at that unavoidable inconvenience he has brought to you, or the trying relationship you are in, or the  unexpected grief or pain you are experiencing in light of the knowledge that 

"my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen."

With God's help we too can walk as Paul did and as Christ did, trusting the almighty Father, being content in every circumstance, giving thanks to the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, for the glory of God forever!!!

Learning to be content as I learn to trust him in every circumstance, 

m

Photo Essay: Turtles

Enjoy the photo journey of baby turtles hatching on Hawk's Bay Beach:

It usually begins with hawks, dogs and crows announcing the turtles arrival.


They begin to dig their way out. Slowly...


Slowly…


Slowly…









The hole is deep and the climb arduous.


Sometimes just one appears.


Others bunch together, pushing through to the surface.
Sometimes two...


Sometimes three…


Once free from the sand, the crawl to the ocean begins.

It's a long, tiring trail for these little guys.

Footprints from camels in the sand feel like giant crevices.

 Off to life in the adventurous sea!!!

Till next time... 

thankful for turtles, 

m

inSIGNIFICANT

 The world says,
"know yourself"
"do something meaningful"
"achieve happiness"
"avoid pain"
"find peace"
"take"
"find your significance"


The hawks circled, dogs raced, crows cawed at a spot in the sand.
We ran to the rescue. We were just in time to watch 99 baby turtles crawl up out of the sand from a hole feet below the surface. Sometimes just one would poke his head through the sand, struggling to reach the top. Other times two or three would push through together.
Months earlier, in the middle of the night, a mother turtle had returned to her hatching place to lay her own nest of eggs.  Sometimes over 100 eggs lay under the sand about two feet down, waiting for the time when the tide is high and they hatch, crawling to the surface and straight into the ocean, swimming off until the day some of them will return once again to land to lay eggs.
These little baby turtles are completely helpless. Yet they have been given the instinct to climb to the surface, crawl to the shore and swim off, no one caring for them, no one teaching them. They are small, so very small. They are seemingly insignificant, seemingly unremarkable.
Yet God displays his intricate design and involvement in these little insignificant creatures lives. He grants them the air to reach the surface from feet below. He grants them the timing to typically hatch at high tide. He's given them the ability to immediately swim off into the ocean. They are carefully designed, yet seemingly insignificant.

"Find your significance."

When presented with creatures like baby turtles, I can't help but ponder my very own existence. I was made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If these baby turtles confirm the immense and intimate involvement of the Father in his creation, what about my life?  These creatures are without a personal relationship to the Father yet they have such careful design and beauty. How much more you and I?

For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;
my soul know it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,  

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

We too have been given by God the ability to live within his perfect design. We have been created for a significance found in Christ. Though we are also weak and relatively insignificant, yet we have a role in history. God has chosen to reveal himself and the gospel through weak, broken, and sinful children he has called to be his own.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:5-11

God's design gives meaning and significance to every life. Even on the most unremarkable of days, we should stop and remember that God's sovereign plan, his purposes, and his intricate design are being fulfilled. We have been saved, made righteous reconciled and called to this ministry of reconciliation.
In Christ we have purpose.
The Father has called us to "go and make disciples."
He has told us to "abide in me."
He has commanded us to, "deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow."
He has invited us to fellowship, communion, freedom, and eternal life.
God, in Christ, has given us significance.

God's Word says,
Know the Father.
Fulfill his meaning for your life.
At his right hand is pleasure.
Deny yourself.
Trust God, he is your peace.
Give generously without expecting to be paid in return.
Christ is your significance.


Sometimes it takes seeing something small to recognize just how small we are.
Sometimes it takes seeing something seemingly insignificant to realize how significant God really is.
Sometimes it takes acknowledging the Craftsman to recognize the meaning and purpose of the craft.
Sometimes, amidst the seemingly unremarkable, we are reminded what is truly remarkable: the gospel.

Let his design amaze you.
Let his design control you.
His design is perfect.

designed by God and for God,
m

My Favorite Place

We took a few days of rest at the beach only a couple hours away from our home here.
We are so blessed to have places like this right here, in country, to just be able to relax, get away from electricity, phones, internet etc.

As we were enjoying our time together with a friend, over a lunch of Thai curry, she asked Thomas where his favorite place to go was.
After a moment or two he answered, "Hyderabad and the Cockroach (the nickname for a restaurant up in Murree)."

This is the doing of our Father, that he has given my son a love for this country. He has experienced so many places and the blessings that each one affords, yet his heart is at home when he is here, right where God has called us to be.

I am so thankful to our Father for giving Thomas this love and contentment for right here. What a wonderful reminder to us to be happy right where God has placed us, not looking to somewhere else, or someone else's life, house, family, job, education, or experiences.  God knows what he is doing and he is working for our good always, that we might become more and more like Jesus.

"Happy are the children whose God is the LORD."

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 Andthe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4: 4-8

Thankful,
m