I love hearing the wisdom of older sisters who are moms. I had the great privilege over the last couple of years to soak up the benefits of some very wise sisters' experiences. Though, until the Restore Conference last Feb, I looked at it more as information for the future. In a general session on parenting, the speaker, Dr. Liederbach, made an excellent point that has changed the way I reflect on parenting wisdom. Whether married, unmarried, parents or childless, all believers are to be living out Titus 2. We're to be submitting to the council and accountability of other believers while pouring into others as well. I've heard parenting described as the most important discipleship responsibility anyone can undertake. If parenting is discipleship, many of the aspects of discipleship should be applied to parenting. Likewise, aspects of Biblical, God-honoring parenting may also be applied to discipleship. The main point to his advice, therefore, was for those who did not have children not to tune out! The lessons of parenting in that session could be applied to discipleship-something every believer is responsible to do! Since then, I've had a new appreciation for the wisdom of parenting. Of course, I still do also appreciate it as helpful information for the future but with thankfulness that it may also be applied now!
This is an excerpt from a recent girltalk blog post on parenting/preaching the gospel to the littlest of disciples:
Monsters Under the Bed by Janelle Bradshaw
So how do we help our small children deal with middle-of-the night fears?
Dr. Russell Moore—himself a father of small children—recently offered this insightful answer:
“The kids know—they instinctively know—that they're living in a universe in which something's gone awry. It's not our job—as parents, or as Sunday school teachers—to disengage that. It's our job to come in and to provide an answer to that. Yeah, you're living in an enchanted world. Yeah, you're living in a haunted world. You're living in a world haunted by demonic powers. That's exactly right—what you deeply fear is indeed the case... Your worrying about the monster under the bed isn't unreasonable; there's a monster under the fabric of the cosmos. Instead, we give them a story that provides the only comfort that really is lasting comfort; it's a comfort that the enemies have been defeated."
I am going to add a few words to my middle of the night hugs and kisses routine. Yes, Caly-girl, we live in a scary world, but we don’t need to be afraid. The monster has been crushed. And the One who crushed him, He’s right here in this room.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Duttweiler!!
It's wedding season! This past weekend was the 2nd of three consecutive wedding weekends. This ceremony celebrated the union of a very sweet couple: Tom and Esther. We had some mutual friends at Clemson but I really got to know Tom through a small group here. I've had the blessing to spend time with Esther as well. This couple has been such a great encouragement to me of God's all-knowing power and grace. They truly exemplify what it means to whole-heartedly follow the Lord.
Their wedding was a sweet celebration of God ordaining two to become one. The bridal party entered the chapel to a song I'd never heard but very much enjoyed. Heres the lyrics:
Nichole Nordeman \ Every Season
Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer
And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn
And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter
And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring
Of course the event was packed with Tiger touches (and lots of Tiger friends!)
Here are a few pictures from the evening.
Their wedding was a sweet celebration of God ordaining two to become one. The bridal party entered the chapel to a song I'd never heard but very much enjoyed. Heres the lyrics:
Nichole Nordeman \ Every Season
Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer
And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn
And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter
And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me
Summer, autumn, winter, spring
Of course the event was packed with Tiger touches (and lots of Tiger friends!)
Here are a few pictures from the evening.
Groom's Cake: designed to look like the men's Clemson ring
Toasting glasses etched with Tiger Paws
The beautiful wedding cake!
Group pics with the TigerRag (and of course Cadence Count is a necessity for any Clemson gathering ;) )
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
My Cousin's Wedding!!!
Before my uncle retired from the military a few years ago, he and his family lived all over the country and the world. Unfortunately, that made family gatherings a bit more difficult. The brothers and grandparents, however, insisted that the cousins (and parents) have as much time together as possible. So, despite, at times, thousands of miles between us, the four cousins have grown up as more siblings. This close-knit family has been a tremendous blessing to my life.
Last weekend, I had the joy and privilege to serve my "big sister" as her Maid of Honor. She married a wonderful man and I'm so happy for them both! The families truly enjoyed meeting one another and the joining of the two families. I'm very much looking forward to what the Lord has planned for this sweet couple!
Here are a few pictures of the wedding festivities
Last weekend, I had the joy and privilege to serve my "big sister" as her Maid of Honor. She married a wonderful man and I'm so happy for them both! The families truly enjoyed meeting one another and the joining of the two families. I'm very much looking forward to what the Lord has planned for this sweet couple!
Here are a few pictures of the wedding festivities
Monday, July 20, 2009
Bring the Rain
I can count a million times
People asking me how ICan praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes meCan circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in YouMaybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy daysIt's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh LordMy only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these timesSo I pray
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be daysWhen this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise YouJesus, bring the rain
loom above because you are much greater than
my pain you who made a way for me sufferingyour destiny so tell me whats a little rain
CHORUS(1): Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holyis the lord God almighty
is the lord God almightyI'm forever singing
CHORUS(2): everybody singing
Holy holy holyyou are holy
you are holy~Mercy Me
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Creativity Day
Last Saturday, I decided to find a fun activity that would allow me some time to slow down a bit after a busy couple of weeks. I had been looking for a paint-your-own-pottery studio as a possible girls' day activity. Turns out, the only one in the area is just a few minutes away! After spending most of the day working on my SummerLink scrapbook (it's almost done!!), I headed around the corner for my foray into pottery painting. Of course, I changed my design plan a few times...this included spending what felt like quite some time staring at my blank canvas of sorts--a completely different item than what I'd originally intended. But that's all part of the fun! Good thing I arrived 3 hrs before they closed. I almost used every bit of the time! It was very restful to put in my ipod headphones and watch the design come together. Pieces must be left for 5 days to be glazed and fired but I did take a picture before I turned over my plate.
The background is a lavender color and the wording is light blue. The darker spots should dry and even out. Its just water from some corrections and paint touch-ups. I plan to use the plate as a candle tray hopefully to enjoy during quiet times. It will be a reminder to my worry/ control-prone self to look to the Lord. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!
The background is a lavender color and the wording is light blue. The darker spots should dry and even out. Its just water from some corrections and paint touch-ups. I plan to use the plate as a candle tray hopefully to enjoy during quiet times. It will be a reminder to my worry/ control-prone self to look to the Lord. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Sister's Wisdom
Several of my friends are involved in summer missions; many of them overseas. This has brought about a challenge in my heart to be diligent in prayer for them. It has been a sweet time though as I've had the blessing to hear updates of answered prayer and God's faithfulness!
There is a team leaving for Peru at the end of this month. One of the girls recently posted an update on her blog which is so full of great wisdom! I wanted to share it:
Hello, I just wanted to shoot out a quick update as the trip is right around the corner. I’m so thankful to many of you who have been reminding me that you are praying for me and the Yagua people! I’m so excited to see and report how God uses those prayers!
Preparation has consisted of mostly checking little things off of a packing list. Since we’ll be spending at least a week continually traveling in the jungle, we have to plan to carry a week’s worth of food, a tent, pills to purify water, etc…Haha getting vaccinated for a few various diseases has also been intriguing The most exciting was ingesting pills for typhoid fever with the live bacteria inside. Many very random precautions had to be taken (such as refrigeration, empty stomach, and the temperature of the water with which they are swallowed) to insure the capsule remained intact and the bacteria was not released until reaching my small intestine where antibodies can be made effectively. Interesting huh?!
Not surprising, I can see how the Lord has been much more interested in spiritually preparation thus far this summer. Working at a restaurant as a server several nights a week has had an incredible impact on my heart. Never before have I had so many good friends of all races, ages, sexual orientations and lifestyles! These people are absolutely amazing, far more intelligent and talented than I. Many have a great sense of humor and I am continually blown away by their authentic care for me and for each other. Where does their joy come from? Yet I’m confronted with horrific sin and my heart is broken every night as I am surrounded by stories of drugs fixations, broken families, sexual promiscuity, alcohol addictions, etc….Instead of being appalled and completely disgusted, as is my normal response far too often, I am heart-broken. I see their longings, twisted and perverted by the devil, I see their hearts and they remind me so much of my own! The knowledge that I would be exactly as they, hungry, hurting and desperately grasping for fulfillment in the wrong places, apart from solely the grace of God, is such a sobering thought! Never have I felt such intense desire for people to stop giving themselves away to things that leave them hurt and empty when there is all- satisfying joy to be found! Never before have thoughts of hell brought tears to my eyes because I no longer have the ability to imagine hell as a mass populous of unbelievers but these eternally suffers now have all too vivid faces with clear voices and heart-wrenching stories.
How many days are spent so focused on my own ambitions and comfort that I am completely blind to the reality that there are lives at stake? How desperately this truth must sink into my heart that I may be ready always to jump on opportunities to give time and money and anything God’s entrusted me with to make His name known and understood. How desperately the Holy Spirit is needed to even know how to being to communicate the out of this world and unbelievable truths of the gospel.
It is my prayer that God would cultivate in all of us a heart for our neighbors, a sensitivity to their needs which will takes priority over being absorbed in our own. What a desire Christ has to use us as vessels of hope to those we brush shoulders with every day and how exciting is this most high calling that we can be used mightily to further His Kingdom!
“All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
There is a team leaving for Peru at the end of this month. One of the girls recently posted an update on her blog which is so full of great wisdom! I wanted to share it:
Hello, I just wanted to shoot out a quick update as the trip is right around the corner. I’m so thankful to many of you who have been reminding me that you are praying for me and the Yagua people! I’m so excited to see and report how God uses those prayers!
Preparation has consisted of mostly checking little things off of a packing list. Since we’ll be spending at least a week continually traveling in the jungle, we have to plan to carry a week’s worth of food, a tent, pills to purify water, etc…Haha getting vaccinated for a few various diseases has also been intriguing The most exciting was ingesting pills for typhoid fever with the live bacteria inside. Many very random precautions had to be taken (such as refrigeration, empty stomach, and the temperature of the water with which they are swallowed) to insure the capsule remained intact and the bacteria was not released until reaching my small intestine where antibodies can be made effectively. Interesting huh?!
Not surprising, I can see how the Lord has been much more interested in spiritually preparation thus far this summer. Working at a restaurant as a server several nights a week has had an incredible impact on my heart. Never before have I had so many good friends of all races, ages, sexual orientations and lifestyles! These people are absolutely amazing, far more intelligent and talented than I. Many have a great sense of humor and I am continually blown away by their authentic care for me and for each other. Where does their joy come from? Yet I’m confronted with horrific sin and my heart is broken every night as I am surrounded by stories of drugs fixations, broken families, sexual promiscuity, alcohol addictions, etc….Instead of being appalled and completely disgusted, as is my normal response far too often, I am heart-broken. I see their longings, twisted and perverted by the devil, I see their hearts and they remind me so much of my own! The knowledge that I would be exactly as they, hungry, hurting and desperately grasping for fulfillment in the wrong places, apart from solely the grace of God, is such a sobering thought! Never have I felt such intense desire for people to stop giving themselves away to things that leave them hurt and empty when there is all- satisfying joy to be found! Never before have thoughts of hell brought tears to my eyes because I no longer have the ability to imagine hell as a mass populous of unbelievers but these eternally suffers now have all too vivid faces with clear voices and heart-wrenching stories.
How many days are spent so focused on my own ambitions and comfort that I am completely blind to the reality that there are lives at stake? How desperately this truth must sink into my heart that I may be ready always to jump on opportunities to give time and money and anything God’s entrusted me with to make His name known and understood. How desperately the Holy Spirit is needed to even know how to being to communicate the out of this world and unbelievable truths of the gospel.
It is my prayer that God would cultivate in all of us a heart for our neighbors, a sensitivity to their needs which will takes priority over being absorbed in our own. What a desire Christ has to use us as vessels of hope to those we brush shoulders with every day and how exciting is this most high calling that we can be used mightily to further His Kingdom!
“All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Quest For Joy
I have been meaning to visit a church that some friends of mine attend and about which I've heard so many wonderful things. I got an opportunity to do so today and wanted to share something I found printed in the bulletin:
Quest for Joy 15 statements in the search (from John Piper)
1. Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift
2. Realize that joy must be fought for relentlessly
3. Resolve to attack all known sin in your life.
4. Learn the secret of gutsy guilt- how to fight like a justified sinner.
5. Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see God for who he is.
6. Meditate on the Word of God day and night.
7. Pray earnestly and continually for open heart-eyes and an inclination for God.
8. Learn to preach to yourself rather than listen to yourself
9. Spend time with God-saturated people who help you see God and fight the fight.
10. Be patient in the night of God's seeming absence.
11. Get the rest and exercise, proper diet that your body was designed by God to have.
12. Make a proper use of God's revelation in nature.
13. Read great books about God and biographies of great saints.
14. do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others (witness and mercy).
15. Get a global vision for the cause of Christ and pour yourself out for the unreached.
This definitely spoke to my heart regarding some current struggles. I hope it is thought-provoking and encouraging for you as well.
I very much enjoyed my time of worship with a new body of believers. Not only was there a great message but I had the added treat to briefly visit with the Gainor's We met last summer as I interned under Gray for CPB (and unofficially under Brandy as she answered my MANY questions about being a wife and mother in their field --Thank you again, Brandy, for so graciously answering each question with such wonderful, Christ-centered wisdom and allowing me to learn from your incite!) Please be lifting them up as they prepare to be workers for the Father in India in the coming months!
Quest for Joy 15 statements in the search (from John Piper)
1. Realize that authentic joy in God is a gift
2. Realize that joy must be fought for relentlessly
3. Resolve to attack all known sin in your life.
4. Learn the secret of gutsy guilt- how to fight like a justified sinner.
5. Realize that the battle is primarily a fight to see God for who he is.
6. Meditate on the Word of God day and night.
7. Pray earnestly and continually for open heart-eyes and an inclination for God.
8. Learn to preach to yourself rather than listen to yourself
9. Spend time with God-saturated people who help you see God and fight the fight.
10. Be patient in the night of God's seeming absence.
11. Get the rest and exercise, proper diet that your body was designed by God to have.
12. Make a proper use of God's revelation in nature.
13. Read great books about God and biographies of great saints.
14. do the hard and loving thing for the sake of others (witness and mercy).
15. Get a global vision for the cause of Christ and pour yourself out for the unreached.
This definitely spoke to my heart regarding some current struggles. I hope it is thought-provoking and encouraging for you as well.
I very much enjoyed my time of worship with a new body of believers. Not only was there a great message but I had the added treat to briefly visit with the Gainor's We met last summer as I interned under Gray for CPB (and unofficially under Brandy as she answered my MANY questions about being a wife and mother in their field --Thank you again, Brandy, for so graciously answering each question with such wonderful, Christ-centered wisdom and allowing me to learn from your incite!) Please be lifting them up as they prepare to be workers for the Father in India in the coming months!
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