"Rubber, Meet Road." Part 2

Does it ever seem like God is preaching a sermon series in your life??  Like He has a literal theme to the lessons and messages He is sending your way? 

This past weekend, I attended a church I had never been to before.  My plans to attend this particular church were even made last minute.  Yet it became clear as soon as the sermon started, that God meant for me to be there.

Overall, the preacher was not notably dynamic.  The sermon was not a piece of oratory art.  But the God Almighty spoke once again directly to my life's true dilemma and the Holy Spirit offered some exceptionally beautiful truth to my anxious heart. 

The incredibly necessary, but remarkably difficult sermon series God is preaching to me is simply titled "SURRENDER ALL"  That's it.  Surrender All.  He has been artfully weaving this theme into my life for months. Dadgummit.  

And let me tell you, I have sang this song many times, but to actually surrender all to God seems just about impossible.  There are many things I CAN surrender.  I will surrender our house and our cars. I am happy to surrender my career and my job.  I can surrender friendships. Future plans.  Even my marriage. On a good day, I may be able to surrender our finances.  I even feel like I could one day surrender most of myself.  But, as tears roll down my face, my babies are a different story.  Even though, I sure thought that I was surrendering them to Him....come to find out,  I'm not.  Not truly and unreservedly.  For some ignorant, foolish reason, my heart tells me my kids have to be under my wing.  Somehow, deep down, I feel like I am the one protecting them.  Providing for their needs.  Trust me- even as I type these words, I feel ashamed to admit this. 

I KNOW, in my head, and in my theology, that it is GOD, and ONLY GOD, that truly protects and provides for my children.  I BELIEVE that God loves them more than I do, and He holds them in His Mighty Hand.  But knowing and believing are very different than doing.  Having a belief and living in faith.  Not the same. 

For some crazy, irritating reason, God has chosen to use this trip to Uganda to introduce my rubber to the the road.  His road.  Do I really trust Him with my life?  Do I trust Him with my kids?  Can I surrender ALL to Him?

The verses from Sunday's message that warmed my soul were Isaiah 26:3-4
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal."

Right now, this extraordinary promise offers me a bright hope--that perfect peace is on the other side of trust and surrender.  I desire that perfect peace.  I need that perfect peace.  I know that God is faithful to give me the strength and courage to surrender all to Him.  Now it's time to live that out.  To surrender my most precious gifts, to choose His road and seek His peace.

Amen.

"Rubber, Meet Road." Part 1

As we get closer and closer to the BIG day, my heart and mind seem to be riding on a roller coaster of emotion.  How someone can be excited and overjoyed one day and then scared to death the next day all about the same trip, I do not know?!?  So, God and I continue to talk and work things out.   Tonight, He reminded me of something very simple, but very important.

At our 1st Wednesday service tonight, we were singing a worship song by Gungor, and the words are...

Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord
the earth is yours
THE EARTH IS YOURS

Simple words.  Incredible truth.  The earth....the WHOLE EARTH is HIS!  Somehow I think I have been forgetting this.  Almost subconsciously, I have been thinking that I was going to leave God here in America.  And then I would be in Uganda, by myself, defenseless, and left to chance and parasites. :) Isn't that stupid?  But it was so good to be reminded that the whole earth is God's...and that His sovereignty includes Jinja, Uganda. 

This is only one of the big truths that God has been really teaching me about....more to come. 

The Beginnings of Summer

Summertime.  Does this make word make the song "Summertime" by Will Smith start playing in your head??  It does mine! :)  We used to play that record (yes, record!) in the percussion room back in the day.  Wow.  Wasn't that just yesterday??  But on to the real reason for this entry...

IT IS SUMMER!!  I can't believe that the school year is already over.  It's cliche, but it really does go by faster and faster every year.  We started the summer off with lots of fun this past weekend.

 Last day of school picture...with teacher gifts in hand.

 Celebrating "School's Out" with Spoons yummy-ness and our Downs crew

  My sweet girl...we have red faces because we walked to Spoons from our house (~ 1.5 miles!)  I've decided this is a good way to eat our Spoons treats....earn those calories! :)

Ellie had her last soccer game on Saturday.   Each player got a new soccer ball as their "trophy"

 The Lady Rams! (totally weird name, right?!? :)

 and then they had a celebration and there was bounce house fun!!

 And we had our first summer picnic...

 proof...ugly proof...but proof we were there...and we ate sandwiches :)

 the ducks were trying to join us for dinner

 it was a beautiful evening

 my good lookin' boy

I am so happy that summer is here so that I can spend more time with all of these people! 

 I am so blessed!!!

So...

Well, I'm having a moment. 

I am forty-three days away from leaving Texas for Uganda.  (i am sitting here, with no real words to say after that statement....just a lot of feelings)

I just accepted an offer to teach a new course, at a new school, with a very new kind of student for me. 

This decision forced me to sign up my baby for a new preschool.... did I mention that it's my baby? 

My middle baby is only three months from starting kindergarten. In other words, our pure, sweet, uninterrupted time together is over and someone else will get most of her waking hours.  At least, that's how it feels.   

whoa.

For someone who isn't a big fan of change...who struggles with anxiety...and feels uncomfortable in new situations....this season feels pretty overwhelming. 



Thankfully, my God never gets overwhelmed.  And I love that I can rest in the fact that all of these changes and decisions were made under His consultation. 

So, it is to HIM that I should bring these worries, fears and emotions....not my blog. 

the end

May Mania

May has been FULL of so, so many blessings!  Full of family, friends and fun!!  There's been so much fun that we are exhausted!!  So we are counting down the days until June.  I am so excited to spend some time with all THREE of my babies, and just take it easy.  No sports.  No groups.  No plans.  Just time! 

Here are some pictures of some of our big fun this month:

 our awesome cheer section on Saturday!!

 

From super soccer player to beautiful ballerina :)

Stuffed zucchini (from our garden!!)  Delicious!

Procrastination in Pictures!!

I have 562 things I should be doing right now....but instead, I am posting pictures on the blog!!!!  What is wrong with me?  Tracy and I just talked about how our main coping skill is denial....and I'm pretty sure procrastination and denial are closely related!!

But I got some super cute pictures of the girls this morning when we were playing/gardening/watering in the back yard this morning.  Here are just a few....

 Some of Ellie's wildflowers from Pawpaw

 Adelyn hugging Maggie :)

 Just a swingin'....

 precious

 My pretty princess

He makes Beautiful Things

This song by Gungor touches my soul.  Not only is it one of Ellie's favorite songs in the whole world, it is one of mine too.  With Him, all things.....and all people can be made beautiful. 

All this pain
I wonder if I'll ever find my way
I wonder if my life could really change, at all

All this earth
Could all that is lost ever be found?
Could a garden come out from this ground, at all?

You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us

All around,
hope is springing up from this old ground
Out of chaos life is being found, in you

You make me new,
You are making me new
You make me new,
You are making me new...