A City Life For Me

I’ve been doing the Doorposts Busy Mama Bible Study in Psalm 22 this month.  Once again, life with little kiddos (and a week of sickness) has put me farther behind than I like.  But today I studying the concept in verse 1 that Jesus was forsaken by God.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be God’s chosen Son, bearing the sin and guilt of the entire world, and on top of it to have your Father look away – to forsake you – as you paid the penalty for sin?  I cannot fathom it. I read from Spurgeon’s Treasury of David on the idea of forsaking.  I was struck with this thought… “This was the startling cry of Golgotha: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani . The Jews mocked, but the angels adored when Jesus cried this exceeding bitter cry. “First, our Lord's faith beams forth and deserves our reverent imitation; he keeps his hold upon his God with both hands and cries twice… He knows the Lord to be the all sufficient support and succour of his spirit, and therefore...

Someone said to me recently that from my blog posts it seems as if deputation is a big vacation.  I usually just post the sunny side of things, so as not to be a complainer.  The truth is that, like anything, there are very hard moments in deputation.  When I choose to focus on the good parts (and writing a blog post helps me to do that), I can easier choose to be joyfully despite the challenging moments in all of this “fun” travel. I had a long post written with some of the challenges that I face on each trip.  I thought maybe I should be “real” and transparent.  I thought it might help my praying friends to pray better.  But after sitting on it for a while, I scrapped the post.  I don’t think it would be productive for me to dwell on those challenging things.  I dwell on them enough as it is.  I am learning that “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” means even those dissatisfied, complaining thoughts.  There is a ...

I’ve had this written in the flyleaf of my Bible since high school graduation.  I never would have guessed that 13 years later, God would have led me to serve alongside my husband in the largest city of our country, and one of the most influential cities in the world.  But here I am, and New York City has become home.  God has been so good along each step of the way.

I found a Motherhood quote subway art on Pinterest the other day.  I really liked the quote, but it wasn’t a good enough image file to print full sheet.  So I decided to recreate it.  And I thought I would offer it as a free printable. To print, click the image to view it full size.  Then right click on the image and save it to your desktop (or another location which you will remember).  Now you have the .jpg image which you can print.  If you choose to use this on your own blog, please link back here. 8x10: 5x7:

Our pastor made this statement: The Spirit of God without the Word of God is delusion . The Word of God without the Spirit of God is deadness . But the Spirit of God with the Word of God is dynamic . Happy weekend, and have a blessed day tomorrow as you worship the Lord at your church!

On New Year’s Day we invited our friends Donny & Erika Meader to come over.  They live in Connecticut, about 2.5 hours away.  Because of the snow storm they decided to ride the train to NYC.  I saw the Meader’s in July just after their son Kevin was born.  Ben hasn’t seen them since January 2010. We also invited Jon & Kiernan Bickel over.  Jon & Kiernan attend our church, but they also went to school with us and the Meaders.  We had a good time visiting, catching up, eating Brooklyn pizza, and playing games.  It’s such a blessing to have good Christian friends who share your beliefs, who are “on the same page”, and that live close by too! Michaiah Bickel is almost two.  While the adults were playing games, he was busy burying Kevin Meader in all of the stuffed animals he could find! Baby Kevin didn’t mind a bit – he lvoed the attention!  Don’t you just want to pinch his chubby cheeks?  He’s cute! Elaine ...

“The more I think of and pray about the state of religion in this country, and all over the world, the deeper my conviction becomes that the low state of the spiritual life of Christians is due to the fact that they do not realize that the aim and object of conversion is to bring the soul even here on earth to a daily fellowship with the Father in heaven. “When once this truth has been accepted, the believer will perceive how indispensable it is to the spiritual life of a Christian to take time each day with God’s Word, and in prayer to wait upon God for His presence and love to be revealed.” ~Andrew Murray I was reminded of the words of the second verse of Like a River Glorious by Francis Ridley Havergal: Hidden in the hollow Of His blessed hand, Never foe can follow Never traitor stand. Not a surge of worry, Not a shade of care, Not a blast of hurry Touch the spirit there. Chorus: Stayed upon Jehovah Hearts are fully bl...

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9   Last night at church the entire service ministered to my heart.  I wanted to share the highlights with you.  We started out by singing “God Makes No Mistakes” and “Rejoice in the Lord.”  The words, which I have known for many years, were new and fresh in light of my Gramps’ death.  I was reassured once again that this was part of God’s plan, and it is best. Pastor’s message was from 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul has a thorn in the flesh.  The word for “thorn” in the original language meant a stake – like being impaled on a wooden stake.  It represents extreme painfulness. There are three reasons that God allows pain in our lives.  Pain is meant to accomplish God’s purpose in and through us.  While every...

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28   Yesterday Pastor Bickel taught from Romans 8:28 in the afternoon Bible Study at Bethel Baptist Fellowship .  He gave four truths to encourage us, as long as two conditions are met.  The conditions are to love God (be in a right relationship with Him), and be called according to His purpose (where my plan gives way to God’s plan).  When those two things are true, “All seeming adverse circumstances can be viewed as advantageous.” Four Truths to Encourage You: God’s plan is beneficial - “good” God’s plan is active - “work” God’s plan is inclusive - “all” God’s plan is harmonious - “together” I was reminded of one of my favorite songs, “In All Things God Works for Our Good” by Lloyd Larson.  The lyrics go like this: In the lush verdant valleys where we walk sure and strong, or the rugged terrain unsafe and long; ...

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” Romans 1:16  “Unemployed.”  That has a sort of lovely ring to it.  Okay, maybe not.  How about “retired”? Today was Ben’s last day as an employee of Terminix.  While we are rejoicing to finally be done with pest control (at least for now), it also means that we are officially unemployed.  The company has not been a joy to work for, but Ben will miss the people.  I was invited to a surprise BBQ put on by the guys at the office today. Everyone had chipped in for hamburgers, hotdogs, and the works.  Guys who are no longer with the company or working out of this office stopped by to say “goodbye” and “good luck” to Ben.  It meant a lot to him!  Of course, in typical guy style, no one had remembered to check the propane on the grill, so mid-way through cooking they had to go buy another bottle!   The former secre...

During my devotions this morning I was reminded of this quote by Charles Spurgeon.  I thought I had published it here before, but I had to go digging through my documents to find it. He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature, and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it.” ~Charles Spurgeon Have a blessed day!

If I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow  my remembrance of that sin to color my thinking and feed my suspicions, then I know nothing of Calvary love . ~Amy Carmichael, missionary to India

One of my favorite quotes: Every morning lean thine arms awhile upon the windowsill of heaven and gaze upon thy Lord. Then, with the vision in thy heart, turn strong to meet thy day. Anonymous Have a wonderful day!

Recently we heard Jerry Sivnksty preach, and he made this statement: "Every facet of my life is to be governed by faith." It's something we all know, but we're not so great at living it. I love the word facet . It's very descriptive. It's something to think about!