Adjustments

In my first year of Bible College, a dear friend of mine was giving our “dorm devotions” and passed out to each girl a small slip of paper. It said something along the lines of: “I steadfastly refuse to gratify the devil by being discouraged.”

Lately that simpleprinciple has been floating around in my head and I am truly grateful for the reminder. While being a newlywed is amazing and I wouldn't trade the life God has given me for anything in this world, it also has been a new test of faith. The only option to defeat discouragement is trust. And trusting...it's kind of hard. Trusting God to provide, to sustain, and to give me the patience I need to deal with situations is a daily battle. Giving over to discouragement and worry only succeeds in giving the devil (and my flesh) the victory and rejecting the peace and blessing that comes from believing God.

Getting married is an adjustment. Moving 1700 miles away from all that is familiar is an even bigger adjustment. In the process of being adapted to these things, I frequently find myself frustrated. By being frustrated, I am trying to do these things in my own power and this powerless self can truly do nothing aside from Him. In turn, my frustration and discouragement is then only frustrating my husband and as you can imagine, it is nothing but disaster and tears...lots of tears.

But God is faithful! And every day I seek Him, He gives me a reason to praise Him all the more. Something as simple as a text from a friend, sunshine amidst the winter drear, or my husband discovering a place with cannoli not too far away are enough to brighten my spirits. Every good and perfect gift is from above and the breath in my lungs and the start of a new day are plenteous reason to proclaim “To God be the glory!”

After all, without Him, I can do nothing. Without His light, I have no light to shine. Without His grace, I have no reason to sing. He has blessed me tremendously and I cannot even being to thank Him enough. The Bible instructs to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. If I hand him frustration, worry, and discouragement, He gives me back peace, comfort, and joy. The Saviour can do that for you too!

Perhaps today, we should be steadfast in refusing to gratify the devil by being discouraged. Instead, allow the peace of God that passeth all understanding to fulfill us completely.

Blessings!

The moon on our way to church last Sunday evening.

Just a couple of wedding pictures...because I can!

                                          

Adventures: Married!

Four weeks. I have been officially a “Mrs.” for one month. Saturday, December the eighth, this nervous girl walked down the aisle to become a married woman and I have loved every single second since then.

It truly has been an adventure already. After our honeymoon in a perfect little cottage on a lake, we trekked across five states over three days and twenty-four hours of driving in a borrowed truck hauling my entire life and car. Don't even ask about our search for a Starbucks in a congested little college town at rush hour. The important part was that my dear husband managed to maneuver our truck-trailer-car through streets far too narrow and full of traffic and no one died. We miraculously made it back to the highway with relief and without coffee. Oh, and Elk Horn, Iowa? The term “middle-of-nowhere” now holds the picture of a tiny town with a windmill, sketchy hotel, and lots and lots of nothing surrounding it.

It was my first Christmas and New Year's away from home. I do miss my family, friends, and the familiarity of the Eastern lifestyle. It's exciting, though, to wake up to blue Wyoming skies and the sun glittering on the mountain snow. Everything is sort of wild and rugged here and already I am increasingly fond of the mountains. Seeing bald eagles perched on fence posts, groups of buffalo and cattle on the hills, and being able to cuddle up inside a cozy apartment we can call our own are all just little pieces of my new life with my best friend.

Russell? Well, he is the finisher of every half-full drink around the house. I set my tea down intending to finish it later only to find it is his duty in life to make sure no drink goes to waste. He is tortuously ticklish (don't tell him I told you), never gives up on anything, and he is teaching me to like bologna. While he plans everything three steps ahead, he is still open to God's leading and taking little leaps of faith. Every single day I am learning something new about him and from him and every single day I thank the Lord for putting him in my life. Most days I cannot wrap my mind around how incredibly good God's plan is and how insanely blessed I am to have Russell.

It will doubtless take a lifetime and a half to discover all there is to know about my husband. It is amazing to think how much more there is to learn about God. Just when you think you know Him, His character exceeds expectation. He changes not, and yet, His thoughts and ways are unfathomable to the human mind. How precious a marriage relationship is when it is filtered through an on-going relationship with the Heavenly Father. It is constantly learning and growing. How grateful I am to have a God who molds me to Him.

Thank you to all my dear friends and family who have shared in my adventures and who read about this new chapter in my life. Your love and support have not gone unnoticed!

Dear Christian Leaders

Dear Christian leaders,

This is a letter to the spiritual authority of today from the leaders of tomorrow. It is a plea of young adults to the college professors, youth pastors, mentors, and authority figures in Christian schools, churches, and colleges.

We want you to know that we are trying.
Many times hopeful, zealous young people have been dampened by lifeless rules and harsh condemnation. Rules are good and necessary, we understand that. But our Jesus, you see, He taught that rules were never to outweigh love. We want to be guided by you. Not through demerits, warnings, or threats - empty or otherwise, but rather, through the Word of God, through the example you've been called to be. Teach us to love righteousness by being righteous. Encourage us to be holy by portraying holiness. Educate us in the Word by being in the Word.

Bible college and Christian school is not boot camp. It is a training ground for future pastors, missionaries, and Christian servants. No one applies for a Christian school expecting to be belittled, yelled at, and treated poorly. We are saved by the same blood you are and loved by the same Saviour. It's so very hard for us to respect someone who treats us as ignorant, unworthy, unwanted children but most of the time...we really do try.

Now, we understand we make mistakes. We break rules and make stupid choices and sometimes we need to accept consequences. There's no justification for wrong doings but remember there is always glory in mercy.

A Christian education should not begin with a burning desire to serve God and end with a heavy heart laced with bitterness, discouragement, and lack of useful knowledge. Instead, it should give us an incentive to do even more for Christ than we ever intended.

We ask that you teach us how to share the Word through our speech, actions, and lives. Show us how to live as Jesus lived and how to love people as He loved. Those are the things we so desperately long to see in you. Oh, and please, please, please, don't attempt to teach us these through a textbook while seated on an ivory tower you have built for yourself.

We are (sometimes) smarter than you give us credit for. Just as you see clearly our flaws, we see yours too. Please, don't get upset with us for staying up after "lights out" when you sit in the pews with a sour face and refuse to sing the hymns during worship service.

One more small thing, we hate this urge to somehow prove you wrong because you have assumed we know nothing. Could you consider, just once, accepting that maybe, just maybe, we have something to teach you too?

We are grateful for your sacrifice and this isn't a rant, but rather, some thoughts to share. After all, we may someday be in your position and will need the same reminders.

Keep pressing on for Christ.

Sincerely,

The Christian Leaders of Tomorrow

P.S. - This has just been heavy on my heart for a very long time. Hopefully no offense is taken by the rather directness of this post and it is in no way meant to be disrespectful. It is meant to only be an encouragement.

"Only holy Christians are useful Christians; and the preaching of Christ’s truth must be backed up by the consistent living of Christ’s followers if it is to have its due effect upon the hearts and lives of the ungodly." - C.H.Spurgeon