Thursday, June 30, 2011

All Rolled into One

The last couple of weeks have been crazy and I have not had the time to write. Right now is not the best time, either, but there are just a couple of things I wanted to say!

1. Joel is the best husband ever. There are so many times when I realize I do not deserve God's gift of him to me. He is perfect for me and we compliment each other in ways only God knew we would need.

2. Jeremiah is growing up so fast! He is 9 months old and such a blessing. He has four teeth now, crawls like crazy, walks around everything he can and is starting to try to stand on his own. AND he goes on his first, I pray of many, mission trips tomorrow!

3. We are leaving for Pagosa Springs tomorrow. There is still so much I need to do. Like pack. I am excited to see what God has planned for us on this trip. Pray for us, the other adults and the 17 Jr. High students we are taking! (Follow our blog here!)

4. Ministry is exhausting, fun and brings unbelievable blessings! There are so many people who need ministering to all the time. So many people who are lost and hurting. It is amazing to serve as a family. Life is so much more than the simple, common activities we pour our time into day after day!!! I pray we never get tired of pouring our lives into people who need Jesus!

Friday, June 03, 2011

Raising Jeremiah: Illness

Jeremiah is sick for the first time. I am still not sure if it is truly sickness or if it is teething since his top gums are really swollen. Whatever it is he started out yesterday morning with a fever and has been very restless the last two nights.

When I was at the church yesterday, as Jeremiah's fever really increased, I was talking with dear Miss Bess. She was telling me about a sermon she was listening to recently. She said the pastor and his family had 5 little children in the house when he was first called to ministry. They were living on a very small income and did not have insurance for a while. He said they turned to prayer before medication and seeking God's healing before heading to the doctor. Their kids never suffered from anything serious and are all still alive.

My thoughts exactly! Why do we turn to medication, doctors and emergency rooms before asking the Lord to heal? I do not take medication right away, have not been to the doctor (besides having a baby!) in over 15 years and am a pretty healthy person. No, I am not anti-doctor or anti-medicine, but if we desire to be people who live by faith, why do we minimize the power of God? I know what you are thinking, because people tell me all the time, "isn't that putting God to the test?" I'll save that discussion for another day. Many times that statement is just a cop-out for unbelief. We want so desperately to be in control. (Which isn't the case even if you go to the doctor, just saying...)

Well, after leaving the church I stopped at the store to pick up a few things. I tried finding infant fever reducing medicine and every package said it was not for children under 2 years. Jeremiah was getting fussy so I decided to go home, medicine-less, and just let him nap. The fever was not that bad (102) and I decided to just let it run it's course. I asked Joel to stop at Walgreen's on his way home to see if they had infant drops. He arrived home, medicine-less too, because I had his wallet. Ooopppps.

I did not want to give him the medicine anyway!

At dinner we pray that God would heal Jeremiah. We acknowledge that we are not in control and He is. We humbly ask for Him to heal and restore. We ask for wisdom in how to comfort and treat. Then we wait. How simple is that?

Jeremiah did not miraculously get better. That could have happened and maybe another time it will. He still had a fever last night, threw up and was so restless we all got little sleep. He woke up with a reduced fever (Praise the Lord!), but has already thrown up. I continue to pray that he will get better and I am confident he will!

And, he's still pretty happy and playing with his toys, so I think he'll be fine.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Temporal Mindset Reset

The last week, while I have been sick, I have been struggling to keep sight of eternal things. When I get sick all I can usually think about is what I am feeling, what I am needing and what I want. I want to be comfortable, well fed, sleep when I want and be down right lazy.

Thank God for Joel who helps keep me balanced! He does such a great job encouraging me to focus on Jesus and not on these temporal bodily feelings. These times of physical weakness come for many reasons and one of them is to sanctify us. When we are weak we tend to excuse more sinful behaviors and... there is no excuse. The Bible says, "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." (Colossians 3) It does not list any exceptions.

The world is full of temporal things and we best not love them. Not our food, not our homes, not our clothes, not our country (I'll discuss that in a second). Those things are but a portion of God's grace He pours out on us. He could take them away in an instant.

I have also realized I am not a very patriotic person. I am grateful for my country. I pray for our leaders. I am grateful for soldiers. I am thankful for the freedom to worship. I just do not have the affection for America like many people have. Memorial Day, Independence Day, etc. are not that exciting for me beyond the extra day off and a chance to be with family.

Since Monday I have been asking God if my thinking is off and if I should love America like people say we should. As I pray about it I cannot get Philippians 3 out of my mind:

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

Raising Jeremiah: Playtime

Jeremiah is so much fun! He has been crawling for almost two months now and can seriously get around. He is pulling up on furniture, walls, people, toilets, beds and anything else that seems to work. He loves peek-a-boo and will initiate it. He has the cutest laugh, and the cutest forced laugh, you have ever heard. He loves to read books, walk in the grass, brush his two little teeth and explore new places.

And, boy, we love having him around!

Last week when I was drying the sheets over some chairs Joel made Jeremiah his first quality tent. He crawled around and through it for a good 30 minutes and played hide-and-seek with Joel. So. Much. Fun. I love watching them play and laugh together.