Healer

I love it when God weaves all things together to teach us a lesson. Last Sunday our pastor talked about miracles and used C.S. Lewis’ book Miracles to illustrate a point. Here is an excerpt from his book:

“I contend that in all [Jesus'] miracles alike the incarnate God does suddenly and locally something that God has done or will do in general…The earliest of these was the conversion of water into wine  at the wedding feast in Cana. This miracle proclaims that the God of all wine is present….Every year, as a part of the Natural order, God makes wine. He does so by creating a vegetable organism that can turn water, soil, and sunlight into juice which will, under proper conditions, become wine. Thus, in a certain sense, He constantly turns water into wine, for wine, like all drinks, is but water modified. Once, and in one year only, God, now incarnate, short circuits the process: makes wine in a moment: uses earthware jars instead of vegetable fibers to hold the water. But uses them to do what He is doing. The Miracle consists in the short cut; but the event to which it leads is the usual one.”

To sum up God short circuits the process that would have occurred naturally to accomplish His will. This week we went and saw my husbands doctor who looked at his eye and told us that it was a “miracle” how it healed. The Lord short circuited the the scarring and brought about healing and restoration instead. I know that we  live in a fallen world that is full of sickness and pain and we don’t deserve healing but in His grace we asked and He gave.

Now is the challenging part, I must remember what He has done for us, for me. Its easy to move on to the next worry or concern but my hope is to be thankful, to share, to think about it, and to grow.

when it rains

It has been pouring at our house this last month. First we got hit with an ugly cold that has lasted three weeks, who gets sick in August?! Then it turned into a double eye infection for Lily with a lasting cough, the ugly kind where people look at you weird when you are out in public. A week later Art came home from work with an eye infection that went from bad to worse in twenty-four hours. His eye infection turned into an ulcer which has decided to attach itself onto his cornea (the worst place possible). We have been to four different doctors and was finally passed onto a specialist in Seattle who told us that it doesn’t look good. We have to wait it out to see how badly it scars and if it does than he will most likely need a cornea transplant. Right now he is putting eye drops in his eye every hour and every two hours throughout the night. We are tired, very tired and trying to take one day and one doctor visit at a time without playing through the “what ifs” in our heads. We are praying for complete healing with no scarring and for patience (have I mentioned we have been stuck in this house for three weeks!). This is strengthening our faith and we are looking to the One who can heal completely. I will keep you posted.

question of the day

While watching my 5 year old sweet neighbor boy today he asked me:

Henry: Does God have a belly button?

Me: …. I don’t know?

good friday

See from his head, his hands, his feet,

Sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,

That were an offering far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, all.

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Luke 23:44-46

uh oh

Well darn it I sort of forgot about my blog for the past few days. So I guess I better catch up on the twelve days that are missing. I think to save a little time I will just make a list and get back to it tomorrow.

Day 6: I am thankful for my neighborhood. I love all the kids running and playing in our alley and watching them grow from year to year. I am super excited about the future pool of babysitters that will be available soon too!

Day 7: I am thankful for a good cup of coffee. This is the first time in my life that I look forward to a cup of coffee in the morning. I think its more the smell and ritual that I like then the beverage itself.

Day 8: I am thankful for my friend Julie. She lives behind me and is just a smidge older and very much wiser then I am. She has so much wonderful advice and encouragement on being a mom from schedules to discipline to recipes and places to shop. I don’t think I will ever be able to move from my house because of her. Whenever I have a question or an issue I know that she is willing to help. Its always so wonderful to have someone checking in on me, especially when my husband is working.

Day 9: I am thankful for my new garden box in my backyard. I have always wanted a garden and this is the year I get to try my hand at planting and growing veggies. I look forward to working the land while Lily plays in the backyard.

Day 10: I am thankful for my family. I love that they love my daughter so much and think that every little thing she does is wonderful too. I am looking forward to the holidays when we can spend time with everyone. I’m excited for Lily to spend time with my little brother. He is in high school and is hoping to teach her some annoying behavior but really she just loves all the attention he gives her.

Day 11: I am thankful for Bible Study Fellowship. I love having a bible study that gets me into God’s word daily and challenges me to think and grow in my faith. This year we are studying the book of John and I love it.

Day 12: I am thankful for my wonderful dog Eva. She has been the best companion I could ask for. I like how necrotic she is along with being anxious and lazy, what a combination!

Day 13: I am thankful for my health. It has been a week filled with loss of life which has caused me to stop and be thankful for the working, healthy body I have.

Day 14: I am thankful for the up coming holidays. I LOVE the holidays. That was something my husband had to get used to. They are a big deal to me and its not ok to cut any corners. I am so excited that this is going to be baby’s first thanksgiving and christmas!

Day 15: I am thankful for my blog. For a while there I was planning on dumping my blog. I think it overwhelmed me to think about writing stuff that people would actually read. I want to be more honest with my thoughts and feelings so I am spending some time trying to figure out how to become a better writer. More to come on this.

Day 16: I am thankful for my girlfriends. I feel very blessed to have so many dear and wonderful friends. I love thinking about all the people that I have in my life and how great they all are for different reasons. I wish I had the time to write them out and list out there wonderful qualities and characteristics.

Day 17: I am thankful for Trader Joes. I know thats a shallow one but I am. I love all of their produce, cheese and wine selection. It is always a treat to go shopping there alone and scan the aisles for all the random products that I never really need but always want to buy. I also really like the little consignment store next door to it that always has the best little things to buy.

So now that I am all caught up my hope is to stay on top of the the next couple of weeks as I count down closer to Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading this, hope it didn’t bore you to tears. What are you thankful for today?

day 5

I love and am so thankful for all the friends Lily has in her life right now. We know so many families with babies. Its fun to think about them growing up together and maybe even falling in love one day (we aren’t so against arranged marriages anymore ). Here is a picture of Lily and Will playing at our house. Aren’t they cute! I hope they grow to be best buds!

day 4

Today I am thankful for my wonderful little house. Sometimes I dream about moving into a big home with lots of rooms and places to put stuff and kids and then on days like today I’m thankful that I only have a few rooms to clean and I can hear my daughter playing in her room while I make breakfast for my husband. We bought this house four years ago and it’s really starting to feel like our own now. I love thinking about the families that have lived here since the depression. The kids that were raised under this roof. I also like to think about the families that will come after us and I hope they love it as much as we do.

day 3

I am thankful for the body of believers that I am apart of at Christ Church Bellingham. We are a new church plant here in Bellingham. Its been a beautiful journey watching it unfold and now take root in our community. Here is a excerpt from our mission statement:

The Gospel of grace is the story of God’s persistence to commune with us over a meal, that is, God’s persistence to be hospitable. But since we have estranged ourselves from his table, He – of his own initiative – has come to eat at our table. God became a man in Jesus Christ and shared meals with prostitutes and tax collectors, fed 5000 hungry followers, and called himself the bread of heaven. Jesus’ goal in all this was to bring us back to God’s table and God’s family. Jesus was taking strangers and making them family.

I love being apart of something from the beginning and watching God mold and change it for His glory.

(http://www.christchurchbellingham.org)

day 2

I’m thankful for my job working for my mom at The Top Stitch. I would love to work at her actual store but its in Spokane and we will probably not be moving that direction anytime soon. Currently I do administrative assistant work along with website and online store maintenance. Its a great job for this season of my life. A few hours a day from home.

I’m also thankful that I am learning to sew and create fun things with my machine. My mom has wanted me to learn to sew for a long time and its been just recently that I have had any desire to learn. I am one spoiled girl with lots of fabrics, books and patterns at my fingertips and now I’m finally using them.

Day 1

I am thankful for my husband:

He loves his dog. More then I think is healthy.

He has type A tendencies when we travel.

He is silly and fun to be around.

He is the best daddy!

I am thankful for my best friend. We met nine years ago and have been friends ever since. Art is an amazing best friend to have. You can always count on him to be there, I have never met anyone so loyal. I love his sense of humor, his care for his family and friends and his fierce devotion to his daughter. I’m so very thankful for this man in my life!