a place to dwell secure

I’m sick. Nothing big, just run of the mill stuff. Anyway, I thought I’d show you how God met me today in His Word. He meets me everyday with choicest food, then He sustains me as I talk with Him through the day. He satisfies my longings and speaks to the littleness of my life–He does it all through His Word. He’s a good God. I can trust Him. So can you.

Whenever I’m sick it reminds me that I’m going to die. That should be obvious, but sometimes I forget. So, the Lord said this to me, to increase my security and love for Him:

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling..” 1 Cor. 5:1,2

Also, we’ve been house hunting, which can be a bit consuming, and the Lord gave me this truth to uphold me and make me marvel at His utter Other-ness and Steadfastness. He is high in His ways!

“Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.” Ps. 102:25-28

Do you see what God did there? He brought two perfect Truths, right out of His mouth spoken to my mind and heart. He brought them to bear on my life. They dovetail perfectly. Day after day He does this, because that’s the kind of God He is.

Hear the Word of the Lord and praise Him, for He is our dwelling place forever!

Note: These passages come from Day 103 of the ESV Study Bible plan. I’m about a week behind, but the Lord knew exactly what I would read on this day, and according to Him, I’m right on track.

let me count the (40) ways

“How do I love thee? Let me count the (40) ways.” -William Shakespeare

photo credit: Heather Ford

On Tom’s 40th birthday it seemed fitting to do just that. I make no apologies for sappiness. If it bothers you, skip to the bottom, where you can add your part.

40 ways I love Tom, in no particular order, on this, his 40th birthday:

1) I love your dark hair.

2) I love that you truly believe my scrambled eggs to be superior to any other.

3) I love that you let the kids intrude on your Bible reading and make them apart of it.

4) I love that you have a need for speed that’s hard-wired.

5) I love your excitement over the most boring, repetitive meals. And how you model thankfulness for our kids toward the maker of those boring, repetitive meals.

6) I love your desire to redeem the time– to be productive and love people through serving them well with technology.

7) I love that you’ll take risks, but not stupidly so. You count the cost.

8) I love how you sacrificially carry the weight of being the provider for our family.

9) I love that you still take your (1980s) skateboard out for a ride in the driveway.

10) I love that you have great sense of style, but still double check with me.

11) I love that you like crispy bacon, not chewy.

12) I love that you’ll always share a bite of food off your plate. You’re not possessive of your food (like I can be).

13) I love that you lead our family to the Word most evenings and encourage and teach the kids.

14) I love that you wear funky socks.

15) I love that you have 5 guitars. And you need more.

16) I love that you’ll talk football strategy with me like I know what I’m talking about.

17) I love what a good dad of girls you are. They will never wonder whether their dad thinks they’re smart or beautiful or capable.

photo credit: Heather Ford

18) I love that I never have to wonder whether you think I’m smart or beautiful or capable.

19) I love that even though you have a good sense of style, you are first and foremost practical and down to earth.

20) I love that you love camping and hiking and can identify trees and plants and other outdoorsy stuff.

21) I love your keen eye of observation. The bugs and birds and everything else you notice enriches our lives.

22) I love that your passion and love for Jesus drive your worship and the music and notes flow from that, not the other way around.

23) I love that worship is your life, everyday. That you lead us in song and praise everyday by example. Sunday isn’t a show for you, it flows from every other day of the week.

24) I love that you take good advice. And you throw bad advice in the trash can.

25) I love that you embarrass us and yourself frequently enough to strip away any pretense we might have.

26) I love how you’ve grown in your confidence as a businessman in the last 9 years. You have an amazing ability to change and grow.

27) I love how you see potential in me and the kids that we may not see for ourselves. Possibilities are endless in your mind. You have vision for our family.

28) I love that you encourage me to serve others and use my giftings for the edification of the body, without complaining about what it costs you. Like me being gone the evening of your 40th bday to sing for the women’s conference.

29) I love that you want our children to excel in their education and you’ll listen to all their achievements with delight.

30) I love that you have guided us toward routine and schedules. Yet you still make room for my go-with-the-flow spontaneous bent.

31) I love that you are not guided by what’s familiar or comfortable, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

32) I love that you’ll let me talk politics at you. And you even dare to talk back.

33) I love that you value family and friendships. You sacrifice and follow-up and love and give and laugh and enjoy and take. Our relationships are richer because of you.

34) I love that you roll down the windows and yell when we drive through a tunnel.

35) I love your guitar playing skills. I love that you glorify God with spice and grit and clear tones.

36) I love that your life is a life of ministry of Jesus, the Word and the Gospel, even though it isn’t your job.

37) I love that you love having people in our home.

38) I love that you’ll watch The Lord of the Rings an infinite number of times with me. And that you’re watching Downton Abbey with me.

39) I love that your a great dad to our son. I love that he wants to be like you and you’re a man worth imitating.

photo credit: Heather Ford

40) I love that I’m already on #40 and I could have easily gone to 400.

This is such a small bit of thankfulness from me to you, dear. I love you mainly because you’re you. You’re made by God and you’re His child. And when we die, we will not marry or be given in marriage, but we will worship Him together forever. A continuation of what we’re doing now. I hope that when we’re seated around the throne, beholding His glory, that my seat will be by you, with our voices lifted to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

For the readers out there who know and love Tom, anything to add?

singing Hosanna at home with the least of these

Illness is no respecter of holy days. Vomit does not keep a calendar. If it did, I’d be at church on Palm Sunday, not home with a baby and bodily fluids.

Mommas everywhere know the nagging disappointment of missing church, again, because illness has taken captive a little person’s body under your care. It’s especially tough during the holidays. No watching your other children sing their little hearts out in choir. No hugs with friends with that extra tight squeeze to let  each other know you care. No joyous trumpets announcing the coming King. And no palm branches waving with loud Hosannas praising–Jesus.

The desire to be with the people of God, to worship Jesus among them, to receive the preaching of the Word like a fire hose for my thirsty soul–these are good desires. And God delights to give me these gifts for my good and welfare. They are necessary blessings, which he regularly grants and ordains. But they are not what God planned for my Palm Sunday.

This morning, my sanctuary had laundry strewn about from the previous evening’s emesis, an all too perky Christian radio station blaring, and consisted of myself and one pale-faced, somber, little one. Rather than hearing the sweet voices of the children’s loud, “Hosanna!” the Lord received the praise of a weak-voiced thirty-something, whose Hosanna rang with tears and wet hair and slippers.

Elisabeth Elliot said, “This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”

Can we mommas, at home with sick children, missing the preaching and fellowship of the body, say, “Amen!” to this? Do we believe that God withholds no good thing from us? That He is working this all out in a way that actually draws us deeper into Him and into greater satisfaction and peace? Do we trust that as we give good things to our sick babies at home because we love them that God the Father is giving us a fish, not a serpent, because He loves us all the more?

In the Sunday mornings at home, the Lord delights to give me bread, not a stone. He feeds me the bread by His Word. He ministers tenderly to my spirit by allowing me to fulfill His commands to the least of these: my sick, small, completely dependent and helpless baby. This child, for whom I would gladly give my life, I am privileged to sacrifice for on these mornings.

The Lord has poured out His wrath on His Son. His Son has sacrificed on my behalf. And it has been granted to me to lovingly care for my children with the strength of love by which Christ endured the cross. That is a powerful love.

So, mommas and daddies, and all those for whom God has ordained a time away from the presence of His people on Sunday or Saturday night, we can take heart in our loving Good Shepherd, who tends to us wherever we are—in our laundry-filled living rooms or rocking little babies, in our slippers or our Sunday clothes.

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will gather them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11