What our life has been like...Part 1

I must say that I was surprised to receive so many comments on my last post, thank you all so much!

The Lord has been so good to us, He is faithful in all things just as He promises in His word. Patrick lost his job about a month before our wedding and has not been able to find a good steady job since, yet the Lord is our provider and He has never failed us. Time and again we have wondered how He would provide for our next need only to see His hand move in a mighty way. Our dear Heavenly Father is taking us through a trial of faith that we might be more conformed to the image of His son, Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing to know that whatever He takes us through it is that we might be more like Him for His glory, this is the joy of our journey.

 O to be like Thee! blessed Redeemer;
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
  Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

O to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand'ring sinners to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save.

Our Lord has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us, we are His children and the sheep of His pasture, He cares, oh so tenderly He cares for His own. When I have times of doubt the Lord points me back to Matthew chapter six. What comfort is to be found in those precious words of our Lord Jesus!

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek;) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matt. 6:31-33)

We took a trip up to Wisconsin in June to get my dog Abby and some of my things as well as visit with the family. 

 It was wonderful to see everyone again!

We brought back tomato and pepper plants that I had started back in April, which we were able to plant along with beans and a few other things. It was a smaller garden, but a great blessing. It is so much fun to work the soil and care for the plants, then later to harvest and can. This time was especially fun as I worked alongside my husband! 

 We had to harvest the tomatoes while they were yet green because of caterpillars attacking them.

There are no words to explain the blessing and joy of having a godly, loving husband! When I think back over all the years that I prayed for him, hoping that he existed, I can see so clearly now how the Lord was answering those prayers. I used to think that maybe I was asking too much when I told the Lord what kind of a man I wanted for my husband. I thought maybe I would have to settle for less than what I prayed for, then after more prayer I realized that I did not want to marry a man who was not what I was asking for. So I began to think that I would never get married, since it seemed impossible that such a wonderful, godly young man existed. Please allow me to tell you that the Lord answered far above what I could ask or think! Patrick is so much more than what I asked for, daily I am brought before the Lord with thanksgiving for creating me for such a wonderful man!

Wedding

Wow, it has been a long time since I have updated my blog! It seems hard to believe that Patrick and I have been married for almost six months now! We are joyfully looking forward to the arrival of our little one who is due March 10^th! I am guessing that I have lost most of my readers, but I will go ahead and write a few posts to update everyone on what our life has been like up to this point. The Lord has greatly blessed me with a wonderful, godly young man as my husband. I never imagined that such a sweet and kind, compassionate man even existed, much less that I would be his privileged help meet. I am so very thankful to the Lord for teaching me to wait for the right man, the man for whom I was created. I cannot describe the joy it is to serve the Lord by serving my husband! Yes, there are difficult times and yes, we must deny our selves, but what a wonderful thing it is to know that God is using it to conform us more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

We were married May 29^th 2010 in a beautiful outdoors setting in Ohio. The Lord blessed us with many people who poured themselves into helping set up, prepare the food and numberless other things. One friend made all of my bouquets (except for the bridal as that was real). Friends and family traveled from all over to bless us with their presence, it was a joyful time of celebration of what the Lord has done. Our ceremony was different than the traditional since we wanted it to be a symbol of that great day when Christ will come for His bride. We asked our preacher, Cal, to preach the gospel clearly and to explain to everyone gathered why we did things the way we did. The processional of Bridesmaids/Groomsmen Ring bearers and Flower girls walked to the tune “I Come to The Garden” .  Then, before Patrick made his appearance, both my parents walked me down to the tune of “Be Thou My Vision” , my Dad removed my veil and my Mom and I sang “Be Thou My Vision”. Then the bagpipes started up and everyone turned to a balcony from which Patrick and both his parents descended. Our parents greeted one another, then all but my Father stepped away. We stood on either side of him and he held our hands as he spoke some words of wisdom to us and told everyone how thankful he was to be entrusting his daughter to this man. Then he placed our hands together, the first time we had ever held hands, oh what joy!!! Cal then preached and we said our vows which we had written ourselves, exchanged rings, then gave to each other our first kiss. What a blessing it was to have saved that for my husband and to know that he saved his for me! 

 After pictures we had a time of fellowship, visiting and eating. We were so blessed by the people who came to show us their love. The Lord is good!!!

Here are some pictures: 

 

My Patrick :)

 What a joy to be his bride!

 Patrick and his parents

 My dear Momma and I

My dear Daddy and I

 My flower girls and I

 The girls :)

 The guys :)

Kristofer my nephew was also a ring bearer, but was unable to make it to the pictures.

 Bride and parents

 Groom and parents

 Family greetings

 Holding hands for the first time!!!

 Exchanging rings

 First kiss!!!!

Mr. and Mrs.! 

Bubbles!

 

Cutting the beautiful cake that my new mother-in-love made

 

 The wedding party with parents

Happily married!

Learning to Wait on God for Marriage

As a young lady seeking to serve my Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord has shown me the joy and blessing of Biblical Woman-hood. Ever since I was very young, I have prayed for the man God would some day bring into my life for marriage and I prayed and still do, that we will have as many children as God will give us - twelve or more has been the number I put before Him. Growing up into a young lady I have struggled, as I am sure we all do, with the concept of waiting. What if he never comes, what will I do then? What if he comes when I am older, will my life have been wasted? Should I go to college and get a job while I wait? All these questions and more have swarmed through my head.

From what I have read from other godly young ladies, these are common to our kind. But what is the answer? What should we do as we wait? I know that this topic has been covered many times before, but I would like to share some of the things God has taught me.

First of all let me make mention that there are many godly woman out there who have gone to collage and others who feel they are led to go, or their fathers want them to go. Please know that I am not saying that is wrong. God leads each person differently to best get glory for Himself through their life. Each of us stands before God for what we do and do not do, we are the Lord's. With that said, I do believe that the model of woman in the Bible is that woman stay at home, as helpers for their parents and later helpmeets to their husbands. (Titus 2:5) (Gen. 3:16) etc.

"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33

These years of our lives are so precious! We have time right now to seek the Lord, to get to know our Savior and to seek to please Him. (1 Cor. 7:34)

We can learn to abide in Him, living with Christ daily. (John 15: )

We can learn to be a servant of Jesus. (Matt. 10:43-44)

At this time in our lives, our hearts are solely the Lord's. There is no competition for our love and devotion. We are His and He is ours. Here we learn to delight in His presence and to listen to His voice. We are fulfilled in Jesus and He is our life. No one is taking our attention away from our Redeemer, we are at His service to do as He pleases. This is a joyful place to be!

As young ladies at home under our Father's roof, we can be corner pillars polished like a palace! (Psa. 144:12) We are helpers to our Father and Mother, servants for the Lord. What a blessing it is to be quietly working for our family, our worth and work unseen by the world. Working only for the eyes of the One in whom we delight. No wonder the world scoffs at us! No wonder they ridicule and try to make us look stupid, lazy and weak. They cannot see what God sees! They cannot see the jewel He is creating in us, the rose that is forming beneath the surface! Sisters, we are God's and our work is for His eyes! Give no head to the world. They scoffed at Jesus, they called his life and death a waste and we are not greater than our Lord. (John 15:20)

As daughters keeping at home, we are giving glory to God. We are proclaiming by our actions that His way is best, that He is worthy to have our lives and that we can entrust Him with our very breath, it is not a waste when spent in His service. We can be confident that no matter how menial the task, if it is "as unto the Lord", it is no waste! (Col. 3:23-24)

"And he (Jesus) said unto them, 'Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'" Mark 16:15

Sisters, we can obey this command! Ask God to prepare you to give His glorious Gospel of peace. (Eph. 6: ) He is the One who can make you ready. Draw near to Him, seek His face, read His word and learn to love His gospel! Pray for the people that He will bring your way and ask for opportunities to share the gospel with them and pray for boldness. If I may add here, perhaps an often overlooked opportunity is your brothers and sisters? They are your first mission field and even the very smallest can be taught the Bible and through play many good things can be instilled in their small minds. We need to ask God to open our eyes to the opportunities we are missing. Finally trust that God is the one who will do the changing of hearts and minds, we are only to obey.

There are so many practical things we can do as daughters at home, one thing that has worked out for me to do, to help my family, is to grow much of the food we eat. For others it may be something different, seek God for the answer and ask your parents what you can do that would be the most helpful to them.

"What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in you spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6:19-20

"So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." Luke 17:10

Perhaps all this sounds simple, to my ears it does, but I think it ought to be simple. Pray, pray and pray for wisdom, we are bombarded on every side by the world. To them, life is complicated, they are trying to make sense of their lives outside of Christ. For us, our lives make sense and we have a very simple goal, to glorify God.


Here is a poem which has helped me greatly with the concept of waiting.

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate.

And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"WAIT? You say, 'wait,'" my indignant reply.
"Lord I need answers, I need to know why!
By faith I have asked and I'm claiming your word.
My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in a balance and YOU tell me to 'WAIT?'
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no', to which I resign.
And Lord, you promised that if we believe,
We need to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking! I need a reply!"

Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate,
As the Master replied once again, "You must wait."

So I slumped in my chair defeated and taunt
And grumbled to God, "So I'm waiting...for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign,
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun,
I could raise the dead, cause mountains to run.
All you seek I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want, but you wouldn't Know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to trust Me, just knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love,
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You'd know that I give and save (for a start)
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of My comfort late in the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask,
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.
You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, you dreams for that loved one overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in You!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know ME.
And though oft, My answer seems terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, 'WAIT'."

--Author Unknown


Let us abide in and delight in Christ!