Silence.. Or Lack Of

Silence... its what you've heard from me for over a month. But my life definitely hasn't been silent.
To start, we've been to camp.. which was fantastic - as usual. We've done various things with church, family, friends, and are more thankful for time we get to spend with friends and family every day. Life is such a gift, and so are all the people we encounter along our journey.

Along with life not being silent, I can tell you with much happiness that God hasn't been silent either. He is working amazing things personally, in other relationships, and in our marriage.

The video below is "One Thing Remains" by Jesus Culture. It doesn't need an intro from me, or an explanation. The message is simple.. give it a listen. Its just one of those songs that gets me every time.. and has done so especially these last few months.

Coming up tomorrow is my grandma's birthday. All the sleepovers, shopping, garage sales, swimming, parties, just hanging out, talking... and everything else she selflessly did -and still does- for us kids, means more than one can ever know. Thank you. I know she reads this so: Happy Birthday! I love you so much and can't wait to see you soon!

Whats coming up? The annual Church Ministries Conference, (hopefully) a couple retreats, and a few road trips. Maybe you'll hear about them :) If not.. sorry... life gets away from me sometimes. Through it all, though, know this: God is good. All the time. And whatever happens with us has already been ok'd by Him, so hey, what do we have to worry!

I'll be back in His time (because we know that our time schedules don't mean much ;) haha

Joy in Encouragement

God is so good! As I sit here on my day off relaxing, my heart is bursting with joy just reflecting of all the ways I've been blessed. Family, friends, churches, etc... the list could go on and on. This post will probably be stream of consciousness because of that.. just to warn you.. so hold on :)

A verse that has been running in circles around me the last few days is Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." My youth pastor spoke on Hebrews my junior year of high school, and ever since, I've had that verse stuck in my head. Not that its a bad thing ;)

But really, God has been faithful, He never fails. I had plans for my future, He had different plans... let me be the first to tell you this; His were far better :) I had plans for where I would settle down and start life; His plans were better. I had plans for so many things... and as His plan for my life spans out, I learn more every single day that His plans are far better than any of mine, and blessings flow like the endless water I drink everyday. Encouragement finds me at just the right time, every time. And even though my  human natures gives way to sin, doubt, worry, etc., He is always right there when I fall back into His arms knowing I've failed. Human nature is like that though, we fail. In our young adult group the other day, we were talking about the seven woes in Matthew 23 on The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. They were hypocrites (just like us..), bound by their works instead of faith. They were even called children of hell in the passage. We find our worth in the things we do too sometimes, but really our identity is in Christ Himself and we just can't accept that its enough. How foolish is that.. The God of the Universe created us, knows us, and sent His very own son to die for us, so we could live with Him in eternity. What more do we need to prove our worth? And yet we forget that. Anyway, the thing that got to me most about the passage is that these people were trying so hard to be like Christ that they were forgetting to just be with Him. Have you ever found yourself trying so hard to not do this, to do that, to say this, or to act a certain way because we know its right and godly, but its just so hard, and we fail... and we feel terrible. But, what we forgot, is to spend time with Christ in prayer, Bible reading, or just in quiet. Think about your friends, or people in general... don't they rub off? If you're around people for a long enough period of time, you start to be like them; mannerisms rub off, speech rubs off, thoughts rub off, and pretty soon you're in tune with each other. When we spend time with Christ, we start to be more and more like Him. My youth pastor used to say "when you stop reading the Bible, you stop thinking like Christ" and I believe that whole heartedly. If we would stop trying so hard to be like Him, and just be with Him, that's when His likeness will rub off. I'm not saying to stop trying to be like Christ altogether, but we often try too hard, and get discouraged as a result. Just remain in Him. Bask in Him. Love Him... Spend time with Him. He'll rub off on you.

Remain in Him.. John 15 tells us that if we remain in Him, and He in us, we bear fruit. Yes, its that simple. (Crying over the simplicity of things is ok to do, by the way.. :). That, along with the reminder to just be with Him are some of the most encouraging things I've heard lately. "Just be with Him" ..its encouraging to know that we don't have to rely on our works, isn't it? Just be with Him.

Ringing In The New Year!

Happy New Year from West Michigan!
Last night we went downtown to share in all the festivities. We didn't get there till 11pm (purposely) and started exploring. Shops had opened back up, there was a dj, there was a tent for hot cocoa and cider, and of course, the beer tent (luckily alcohol was only allowed in a certain area). It was fun to walk around and see so many people, and a little girl from AWANA popped up and said hi to us out of the crowd. We saw our neighbors, people from church, and a few friends from our Bible study. We didn't go far, just ducked in and out of shops for a while until about ten till. So we stood around and watched the ball drop and then the fireworks. By then we were exhausted so we just headed home the back way. It was the first time either of us had been to the ball drop here, and I don't think it'll be the last :) It was pretty neat.

As I'm sure you know, New Years Eve and day are a time when countless resolutions are made. I stopped doing resolutions years ago and started setting goals instead. Why? Because resolutions are forgotten, not kept, etc., and then we feel bad because we 'resolved' to do something and didn't... however, we've been trained to view goals as ongoing, so even when we miss out for a while we can pick up right where we were and keep going. So, it helps me to view them as goals.. because I know how my brain works :) haha. Anyway, here are just a few goals for this new year:

-Pick a word for the year to focus, learn and grow on: love.
-Do more devotions alone and as a couple.
-Make a 'menu' type list of groceries, and go shopping only once a week, with as many coupons as I can use! Normally I go for 'this or that' about three times a week.. and then I pick up something else, and.. I don't really need them, so I think that's where a lot of our money goes. I'm hoping to both save more money and learn to be even more frugal this year.
-Save receipts.

I try to not make a lot of goals, because then I feel far fetched, but I definitely like making a few. It never hurts to improve and try new things. Did you make any goals or resolutions this year? If so, please comment below and share, I'd love to hear them!

Have a blessed New Year everyone!