Forever For His Glory

A week and a half ago, I received an anonymous letter in the mail with instructions that it was not to be opened until October 19th - my brother's wedding day. Needless to say, my curiosity was at it's peak. Who is it from?! I've always loved the idea of anonymous letters, and I couldn't wait to see what was inside! The morning of the wedding dawned bright and beautiful, and I hastened to open the card. Inside, I discovered something I was not expecting: a love letter. Literally, my heart skipped a beat. Have you ever opened a letter, not knowing who it was from, and read, "Dearest ____, I have loved you with an everlasting love"? My heart went a piter-patter, and rightly so. Because the card was from God. The entire card was verses expressing God's love, concern, and how He cares for me. It was signed "Abba". Love letters have always been something that have intrigued me, but I've never thought of receiving an actual...

I have found it: the best feeling in the world is knowing you are wanted. I don’t think there is anything that gives me more warm, happy fuzzies than that. But let me back up. June 24th-28th, I was teaching at a pre-school CYIA Good News club in Quinlan. On the 2nd to last day of club, I came down with a fever during club. By the time I got home, I piled under 4 blankets and took a nap. Naturally, the sickness made it so that I was not able to make it to the last day of club, which I was very disappointed about. We had an awesome group of 9 or so kids, and I was really looking forward to spending the last day with them. 3, 4 and 5 year old's are so cute, and I had formed a bond with several of the kids. Fast forward to last Tuesday, almost 2 weeks later, and I was finally able to ask the other two girls in my group how the last day of club went. “Oh, it was great. And they all really missed you!” “Yeah, Jaden asked where you were almost as soon as we got into th...

Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 Back in August, one of my friends was trying to explain to some of my other friends why I am quiet sometimes, and he described me in a way I hadn't thought of, and seemed out of place. He said I was “ independent” . Well, I’m afraid to inform you, but the first thought that came to mind after hearing that was, I am not! His comment bothered me for a while after that. I wrote in my journal the next week after thinking more about it, “ I hope that the independence that I have is the freedom in Christ type. Where I am only following what God says, therefore I’m viewed as independent because I’m not following the crowd. Something to think about.... ” Unfortunately, after thinking more about it (9 months is quite a while), I am afraid I have come to the conclusion that that is not the main type of independence I have. I do have freedom in Christ, and I have been raised to not fear s...

In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 These verses and I have gone back and forth a lot. Most of the time, I read a verse and it quite simply states what to do, so I do it. This one was a little harder... For one, people have different ideas about what “modest” is. Some say you have to wear skirts all the time, others say loose-fitting jeans are okay. Some only wear loose blouses, while others wear more form fitting. And back and forth it goes. I was getting quite exasperated as I tried to figure out “modesty”; and that is just the first part of the verse! There is a lot more to it.... “…with propriety and moderation...” Our ‘76 American Heritage Dictionary lists “propriety” as “ the quality of being proper; appropriateness. Conformity to prevailing custom...

A couple Sundays ago during communion, I realized a parallel that I had not seen before. During communion, we remember Christ's death on the cross and His blood shed for our sins and His body broken for us. All of this was done out of His extravagant love for us, who became the church. Also known as the Bride of Christ. As I thought about us being the Bride of Christ (and how the Bible describes a wife), this verse struck me:  The wife does not have authority over her own body.... 1 Corinthians 7:4 Now transfer that over to us as the bride of Christ.... Are you seeing what I'm seeing? I've been thinking about/studying/listening lately about how much Christ owns us, or should own us, I should say. He is the only one worthy of our focus. It is one of those topics that as a Christian, you know;  Christ gave His all for us, we owe Him a debt we can never repay, i.e. He wants our life. Yet, that is not the way we live. ...