Talk to me, Abba.

Just when you think no one notices, Jesus will whisper, "I value you. I see you. You are not alone." In weariness, I softly say, "Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy." It is Christ who brings the healing. It is Christ who sings over us. The grace of Christ renders us undone. It renders us whole. When we step out of that, we see our true selves. We remember that even what we give to Him has come from His own hand. We are desperate like a deer panting for the water. 

Sustain me, Lord. 

Intentional Parenting

This book, obviously, is about being intentional in our parenting. I liked it for the most part because it reminded to to step out of reacting to the chaos that is having three small children and just enjoy them.  ..to delight in them. Parenting is not one of those, "we'll it's fine for them" or "we turned out okay doing it" kinds of jobs. We live on mission. The great thing about books like these is that it is a simple reminder to that calling and what a joy it can be to serve the Lord in it when we are preparing ourselves for it. 

I enjoyed all the chapters except the angry Facebook rant. It seems to be the cool thing to do to bash social media right now. I think that things are what you make them. We had the same problems in my day and I learned to type on a typewriter, not the touch pad on my iPhone. I think we must set appropriate boundaries and teach our kids how to navigate things instead of blaming them for our issues. 

I have read dozens of parenting books and gleaned something specific from each one. I have not picked anything up and thought I would use it as a guide book for the rest of my parenting days. I have a guide book for that. There are sentences, however, notions that we take away with us. They shape the landscape of our parenting. They minister to our weary heart. In someone else's story, we find that we are not alone in this. This path has been traversed before. God is not calling us to be a perfect parent. We have one of those. God is calling us to administer grace to our children and for ourselves. 

Great and encouraging read.

This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Talk to me, Abba.

Sweet Jesus, I need you to sustain me in this season. I turn to you and cry out to you in Your great mercy. Hear my prayer, Abba. Heal the sick. Tender our hearts. Come with your Holy Spirit. We long for You and Your goodness towards us. We hunger for your peace. Your joy is our delight. Come swiftly to meet us. Rain down Your Spirit on us. We turn to You. You are all we need. Jesus, you're beautiful. 

This Is How the Other Half Live.

Order this print to support Gomer's House. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/150634923/god-clothes-the-wild-grass

I was wondering what I was going to blog about and then I remembered that we have countertops! Well, well, aren't we the fancy ones. I mean, I just want to spill something and wipe it up for fun. It actually hasn't set in yet. I keep going into the room and being surprised at how much it looks like a real room. 

So, y'all remember me telling you a few weeks ago that I had the money but I did not have the peace to order the counter tops. Five days later, a man walks up to my husband at BSF, where he leads worship, and strikes up a conversation about the music. Then, the man asked if they wouldn't happen to be in need of countertops because that is what he did. Divine appointment. 

A few weeks later, Peter shows up to install our countertop. I honestly couldn't believe it. Even when this huge truck shows up. 

This is the first piece that went on. I just stared and stared at it. Giddy couldn't even describe the feeling that overcame Denbigh and I. We might as well have been going to our first junior high dance.

It was weird because we didn't do anything to help these guys out. This is the first thing that has happened in out house that we didn't work on ourselves. We paid someone else to do it. Denbigh looked at me and said, "So this is how the other half live." Quite the glamorous life, indeed.

Look at that, friends. That's living at it's finest.

Here they are. Pray showers of blessings on these lovely guys who installed our countertop. Then, pray blessings for all the people who bought art work out of my Etsy shop. 

The sign on the wall says, "Your heavenly Father feeds them."

Y'all. This is real. It is not some sort of renovator's mirage. It is real life. 

Here is my man putting the faucet back in. We had to wait a day to use it so he benevolently took me out to eat.

Then look at these colors doing a fabulous dance of complimenting each other. Four years with no countertop. Four years on my culinary mission field. Now, I can clean this surface. Honestly, I had a little cry about it. This woman cried over a counter top. You know how it is when you go a long time without something and then, without a shadow of a doubt, you know God gave it to you. I had always had a countertop in my previous life and never thought anything of it. Jesus gave me this one and I'm enamored.

Talk to me, Abba.

Today, I am grateful for the reminder of the promises of the New Covenant. I am grieved in heart for people I love, but I can cling to God's promises for them in Christ. Even when people I love choose sin and separation, I can call on Christ on their behalf. I can ask Him to bring them to a place of redemption and grace, a place of honoring Christ. Jesus can do it. 

You do it, Abba. 

It is Finished by David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson has presented a work for those of us who are tired of being pulled down by the weight of our sin and wanting to find hope in Christ. The book addresses how we are to find freedom in the promises of the New Covenant. We can truly do nothing to aid in our independence from our sin. Even the desire to be free is a gift of Jesus.

I was wondering what David might have in store for us as I began reading this book. There are truly too many people giving bad opinions on our way out of sin. Truth is, there is one way out. There is one High Priest who grants us our redemption and our freedom. Anything we try to do in order to escape sin ourselves puts us in bondage to the Old Covenant. We are trying, like Uzziah, to be our own High Priest. 

More than anything, I found this book to be worshipful. It was page after page of reasons why only Christ could save us from our sin. With so many being engaged in casting off demons and trying to help Christ do His work, this is a beautiful and rare reminder that only Christ can accomplish these things. Only Christ can dispel the darkness. Only Christ can bring forth the light. We must but ask Him alone.

Read this book. Worship the Lord.

If That Don't Beat All.

Last week, we went to camp for 3 days to lead worship for Lutheran South Academy. While we were there, I had the sweet opportunity to do a photo shoot for Stephen and Christiana's adoption site. Say a little prayer for these love birds and their journey to adopt children. If you are interested in helping them, let me know. I will forward you their info. 

We took the long way home from our worship leading rendezvous and I snapped this photograph at Big Daddy's ranch. I wrote about this verse on Talk to me, Abba this week. You can purchase this print in my Etsy store and support Gomer's House. https://www.etsy.com/listing/130971116/wild-grass

Yaya, Lulu, Christiana and I spent about 2 hours tromping around finding dandelions to blow out into the world. It was such a delight. This is one of those memories from childhood that evokes joy. I hope my girls remember these special moments. The ministry of motherhood is beautiful.

You know, I think the main purpose in what we do isn't about a house at all, it is about people. It is something I have to tell myself every day. I would like to be done with this thing already, but it's constant need of work reminds me of my own need for the gospel. I think God just uses this place as a vehicle to get people here so that we can love on them for Him. Welcome to the construction zone, folks. God is here. Enjoy Him.

For a short twenty-four hour period last week, I was able to see my family for my birthday. It was such grace to my heart. Things aren't always the way we would have them be when we are growing up, but God can issue the grace for us to redeem those things in our adulthood. Though there was pain, abuse, and discord in the past, Jesus can give it life. I received a very special and personal gift from a member of my family that showed me that God had more than healed a relationship. He has given meaning and love that was never there before. Bless the Lord. If you want to see the gift, you'll have to stop by.

I had not had much encouragement growing up. No one really seemed to show much interest in what I was doing. Then, a few years ago, one of my parents gave me a beautiful art kit. I cried over that wooden box. I cried, not only because someone had taken an interest in me, but because God had granted enough healing to that person to do such a thing. He used me to bring about that healing. All of my own desires were constantly crucified and God left me with a heart of love and compassion. That love was returned to me. This is what is important. God is restoring us. He is molding us in the image of Christ and beautifying the world around us.

With all of that said, our countertop guy is coming. He will probably be here while you are reading this.  Could you just lose your mind with the fabulousness of this day! Do me a favor. If you are at home, in your car, wherever, turn up the worship music and thank Jesus with us. He has saw fit to give us a desire of our heart. Thank you, Abba.

From my dad's back door.

This room needs a remodel. SOS, people. Send help.

This is my table top today. Blessings to you all.

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