Just had to share

Happy Monday to all!! Just had to share this great pic of my sis and her boyfriend. Ya'll look adorable together! Blessings to you both!!

Bar None...Bar Done

Phew!! We finally made it!! After months of grueling study, R. has finished the last day of the Bar Examination. Overall R. has felt pretty confident about the whole thing and is ready to more on from here! AMEN!!

I'm so proud of my sweetheart and all his hard work! YOU ROCK, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to all of you who prayed for him this week! We appreciate it so very much!!! We'll let you know when we hear the final results...but don't hold your breath 'cause they're not expected until November...sigh.

By the way, yesterday was our eighth month-a-versary! Marriage is superb and I married the sweetest man in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Down, Two To Go

Thank you to all of you who are praying for R.! He's done with the first day, which is a half day, of the exam and although ready for a nap, feeling pretty confident about everything. He said he was able to readily recall all that he has studied! Praise the Lord!!! Please continue to pray for the next couple of full days!!!
Richest blessings to all!

The Big Week!!!!

This is the week of the Bar Exam!!! Please keep R. in prayer as he sits for this exam. He has worked so very diligently! Please pray he is able to recall all those facts he has learned and be able to write them in a timely and concise manner.

Way to go, R.!!!!!!!! You're my hero, sweetheart!

From the Journals of Jim Elliot

I sought song inside
but found a heart of brick unused to singing,
and the words came very slow. It seemed as if the gentle
pressure of the Father's finger
had caused a slight crevasse midst all the hardness,
and there, down deep, there bubbled up a quiet spring.
But still no song,
just risings which never reached above the surface.
And though there was no singing, somehow there was a
harmony not often heard among clattering temporalities.
LOVE was the keynote of the deep spring's song.
A major key that lent fullness to the pool.
Peace and joy chimed softly,
and other little recesses opened in the hardness,
and gentleness, born of the fractures of sorrow,
flowed unhindered to fill the rising pool.
And as the music played, the brick dissolved,
and my soul was happy, though there were still no words.

An update on Hudson

Thank you so much to all who have been praying for little Hudson and his surgery. He came through surgery fine and seems to be recovering well. Doctors removed a tumor the size of a potato, but were unable to remove all of it. The tumor is cancerous, though a treatment plan has not yet been determined. The Lord is working, though, and His work is good. Thanks for praying! Please continue!!!!

Tomorrow Hudson turns 1 year old........

Compared to........

At the ladies' Bible study I attend, our instructor said today that it is important that we don't compare ourselves with other people. She told us that we are all unique and come with our own struggles and short-comings and stories. This hit home with me because I find myself frequently comparing myself to others. If I'm feeling down and critical of myself, than I look at others and how their attitude is so much better or they're better wives or Christians or friends. Then in those times when I'm feeling pretty confident, or even when I'm excited about something the Lord is doing in my life, I tend to look at others and think how I'm better at doing something or have a better outlook or marriage or walk with the Lord. Neither is helpful at all.

If only I would remember that we all have something to offer to each other. We bring with us the life lessons and experiences we have known that we can share. Even those who are less intelligent or socially adapted have something to offer. The Bible says that a little child shall lead. How often I forget this and think that I'm better because I'm smart or outgoing. And in those times when I feel like I'm a hopelessly messed up case, even then I also have something to offer and something to share.

There is much to be learned in this walk of faith. Every time I think I've grasped hold of truth in an area, I become aware of how little I do know and understand and follow. Yet, even then God loves me and His patience is beyond my ability to comprehend. In this moment I'm so thankful for Christ and the grace He gives. With His help, perhaps one day I will learn to extend that grace to others and to myself.

At the end of said rope

A week from tomorrow R. takes the Bar Exam, the study of which has consumed both of us for the past three months. To be honest, it kinda feels like those three months were stolen from us. I just want my husband back; without the stress, without the strict time constraints. I feel selfish to be complaining about what I'm dealing with, knowing that he is working so very hard. But, I'm realizing how much I am affected by what he's going through.

Yesterday morning I cracked and hurt R's feelings in the process. Why did I do that? Why now, when the long dark tunnel finally has the glimmer of daylight? Needless to say, I'm more than a little disappointed with myself. I've been trying so hard to be strong and be an encourager to him. Sigh. Thankfully today is a new day and R. has forgiven me.

Please keep us both in prayer as we wrap up the studies and the waiting. Pray that I won't hold resentment in my heart about lost time. And most importantly, please pray R. nails the exam to the wall and for his confidence and continued perseverance as he finishes.

Hudson Taylor

Hudson Taylor was the first missionary to the interior of China and founder of the China Inland Mission. He learned to trust the Lord for everything and paved a path for others to come share the Gospel in China.

Today another by the name of Hudson Taylor is in need of prayer. Little Hudson is less than a year old and awaiting surgery for a cancerous tumor at the base of his spine. Please pray for him and his family.

Never a dull moment

So, when God says relating to others is like iron sharpening iron, I wonder if the code phrase for that is 'customer service'. People are unbelievable sometimes and it's amazing how many are worried that someone else got it easier than them! "Well so and so came in and they only had to...blah, blah, blah, blah."

I mentioned to a co-worker that sometimes I think the perfect job would be one that didn't involve customer service. She said that she has found that serving customers sharpens her, like iron sharpening iron. Well, it's never dull, I'll say that!

Then I think about myself when I'm in the role of the customer. Do I annoy and/or frustrate those who are waiting on me? Do I ask the same question that the last 50 people have asked and it's way old? Do I present an attitude that tells that person I know better how to do their job? Hmmmmmm....I think I need to be a little more patient 'cause I'm pretty sure I've done the very things that bother me. What's new, though?!? Smile.

15 Days

In 15 days R. will sit for the Bar Exam. He has been so very diligent to study, putting in 10 or 12 hours every day. I'm soooooooooo proud of him. Please keep him in prayer the next couple weeks as the 3-day exam approaches. Please pray he'll finish strong and pass with flying colors!!
You're almost there, Baby!!!!

Merciful Struggle.....

R. and I have been taking a break from church the past few weeks; taking time to heal. We had a really bad experience a few months ago involving false doctrine. We felt betrayed by the whole ordeal and the wounds aren't totally healed. As a result we're finding it hard to move on and trust again. So we're taking some time for that.

Recently I talked to a friend about our experience and she told me that I need to ask the Lord why I've had so many negative and hurtful church experiences. I don't think I've ever really contemplated that it might have a purpose. It happened and that was that. But, I've started to ask God to show me what He wants to teach me through it.

This passage from Psalms ministered to me and opened up an avenue of contemplation about the 'why' of it all. "I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight." Psalm 119:75-77

What if God allowed, or let's say even caused, these hurts and disappointments and betrayals? And if so, why would He allow or cause these things? Perhaps these struggles are necessary to drive me to God. Maybe if life was absent these struggles I would live my life without Him, thinking I don't need Him.

In his book 'The Journey of Desire', John Eldredge writes, "living apart from God comes naturally. God must take away the heaven we create, or it will become our hell....I realized that the real issue is this: I haven't wanted to be an eternal person. I've wanted to find life here somehow." I think this is true of me as well. I have an expectation for present happiness and satisfaction. Possibly this is the way I have approached church also. Maybe I'm looking to have a need met through church that only God can meet through Himself. Thus I'm crushed when those needs are left unmet.

There's much more to learn, I'm sure, but it's a start. Please pray the Lord will heal those wounded places in me. In the coming weeks we plan to begin the search for a church to call our own. Quite honestly I'm petrified to start again. I fear more hurt and disappointment, yet I know that I need to belong with a body of believers.

Anticipating the Unknown

R. received a GLOWING recommendation today from one of his professors for a job opening. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work. I find myself wondering what the next step is for us. Where R. will get a job, where we'll be living, if we'll remain here or move on somewhere else. The anticipation of...it...is kind of overwhelming at times, and yet there's the deep abiding peace that God knows and will open the right door for us. It's an exciting time! Now more than any other time in my life, the thought of all that will happen between now and this time next year is HUGE. Life is an adventure! Yahoo!