Fervent Friday

Today I want to share the lyrics to a song that have been in my head all week. I'm sure it has something to do with going to our adoption meeting last week and feeling a little anxious about all the big decisions looming ahead of us. It's a wonderful thing to know that I can trust completely in my Maker. The One who is in control of the HUGE things like gravity, placement of stars and nations, is also looking after little ol' me.

What a wondrous thought!

This is off the album "Come Weary Saints", put out by *Sovereign Grace Ministries. If you'd like to hear how it sounds, you can listen to a portion of it here.

*If you haven't looked into Sovereign Grace's ministry or their music - check it out! It's solid stuff.

"So I Will Trust You"
Almighty Maker, Universe Shaper
You put the stars into space
Yet You descneded, You have befriended
Those who have hated Your name, just like me

King of Glory, I know You love me
So I will trust You, yes I will trust You.
God Almighty, You have saved me,
So I will trust You, yes I will trust in You

Lord over nations, King of creation,
Heaven and earth bow to You.
I am Your child, I've been reconciled
With tender affection You drew me to You

King of Glory, I know You love me
So I will trust You, yes I will trust You.
God Almighty, You have saved me,
So I will trust You, yes I will trust in You

How could I not trust my King,
The One who has formed me and shaped me.
I will rejoice and will sing
For the One who has made me has saved me

King of Glory, I know You love me
So I will trust You, yes I will trust You.
God Almighty, You have saved me,
So I will trust You, yes I will trust in You

The thrill of the hunt

If there's one thing that gets my heart pumping, it's getting a good bargain. I often come home from shopping with my coupons only to exclaim to Joe, "Guess how much I spent on this?!", and then continue to wax on about what a great deal it was, or how I could use double coupons or whatever.

Yes, I'm a nerd. But hey! It saves us money!

Anywho...

With spring around the corner, my mind has turned to the thoughts of garage sales. I have fond memories of going garage sale-ing with my mom or grandparents through most of my childhood and adolescence. You never know what you'll find! In fact, some major household items in our home were bought at a garage sale (our kitchen table, chest freezer, etc).

In our area, the month of May is every garage-sale-lover's dream come true. 100 miles of garage sales...all on the same weekend! It is because of this amazing ritual that I rarely go bargain hunting throughout the summer. I can get it all done in one weekend! :)

And now on to the real point of this post...

In past years, whether I'm hosting a garage sale or going to one, I have always noticed the tables upon tables of baby clothes, booties and other accessories, not to mention like-new cribs, swings, walkers, toys, books, etc. etc.

And yesterday, I realized that this will be the first year I can actually look for some of that stuff.

*Insert face-splitting grin*

 I can't wait!

Fervent Friday

Starting today, each Friday I will be sharing the lyrics from a favorite song or hymn of mine. I've decided to name it "Fervent Friday". (I thought everyone's suggestions on facebook and here were great! I just ended up choosing something completely different. :) Hope you all understand!!)

fervent - adjective

1. having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent: a fervent admirer; a fervent plea 
2. hot, burning, glowing

I know that by the end of the week I am often worn out and looking forward to the weekend - to rest and relaxation! I often don't want to clean my house, read my Bible or start gathering the info for our taxes (yikes!) on that day just because I want to be lazy. However, our love for the Savior and desire to please Him should never fade or die, but should be intense, fiery, fervent. (Hence the title. :) )

Music often inspires me in a way that not much else can, and sometimes simple lyrics put to a beautiful tune can set my heart aright on a terrible day. So, to kick-off Friday, here's a hymn that I grew to love while in college. I remember singing it during our morning chapel time and it soon became a favorite during our periodic evening hymn-sings. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;
Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art,
And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King?
All, all thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind;
I see Thy cross there teach my heart to cling:
O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.


Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh;
Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,
To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh;
Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.


Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love,
One holy passion filling all my frame;
The baptism of the heav'n-descended Dove,
My heart an altar, and Thy love the flame.

Written by George Croly

"Red and Yellow, Black and White...

...they are precious in His sight - Jesus loves the little children of the world!"

Tonight, Joe and I went to an adoption meeting. It was so incredible, emotional, and inspiring I can hardly express it all here! The meeting was sponsored by Bethany Christian Services, an adoption agency we've become acquainted with through a family at our church.

I've been hesitant to talk about it much, only because there was some confusion about state-to-state issues for us, but it sounds like these will be able to be worked through. Yippy! Baby, here we come!

We heard information on both domestic (within the U.S.) and international (outside of the U.S., obviously) adoption. Aside from almost bursting into tears several times (I just can't believe we're actually going to be doing this!!), I felt both elated and terrified. (It's such a strange thought to think about possibly choosing your own child...) Joe and I are open to either kind of adoption....we just need to pick one and go with it.

Unfortunately, Joe and I suck at making decisions.

But our future family is at stake here -- so make a decision we will!! If you think of it, would you mind praying for us? Here are some specific prayer requests as we enter this new journey:

• Wisdom to know which form of adoption would be the best for us to pursue. There are so many pro's and con's to both types that it's a bit mind boggling! The decision is made even more difficult by the fact that we would love to do either and/or both kinds of adoption some day. So which one do we start with?
• Diligence on our part in filling out applications and forms and staying on top of things. I've felt terribly slothful lately, but I don't want to waste time as we enter this new phase, especially since we'll be doing a lot of waiting as it is.
• The birthmother and our future child. While we don't know whether our child is even conceived yet, we do want to pray that he/she is able to grow up healthy and is able to bond to us when we become their forever family. As well, we want to be in prayer for the birthmother (whether she is pregnant yet or not) that she would have the strength to do what's best for her child and that she might have someone to come alongside her to help her through this.

Thank you so much! I plan to update on our adoption status periodically, so you can be watching for more related posts!

Poll the Audience

I've been contemplating a weekly "scheduled" blog post. But I need some help. I can't decide what to call it! :) I'm hoping that having something scheduled each week will "force" me to post more regularly...but we'll see how that goes. Ha! :)

Anywho...my goal is to share some song lyrics at least once a week...either those that have touched my heart, some that have rich theology, or maybe just a few of my favorites. I might even get risky and try to post some music videos of some of them...but we'll see how ambitious I get. :)

So here are my ideas so far...but I'll admit, I don't really like any of them. They're all kinda cheesy. But if one of you particularly likes one, or even better, has a suggestion(!) then by all means, let me know in the comments!! Here goes:

Music-lover's Mondays
Tuneful Tuesdays/Thursdays
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (again for a Tuesday or Thursday)
Worshipful Wednesdays
Faithful Fridays
Forte Fridays
Fridays are for Fermatas

Happy brainstorming! :)

Doing what God wants

Tonight, Joe and I watched "Julie & Julia", a really sweet movie about Julia Child. At one point in the movie, Julia Child receives a letter from her sister, who has just found out that she's pregnant. Though Julia tries to stay strong, she breaks down into tears over the unfairness of it all as her husband holds her in his arms. She exclaims, "I'm so happy for her!" yet her body shakes with sobs.

I couldn't help but know exactly how that felt. In fact, as Joe glanced at me to make sure I was doing ok, I looked back at him and said, "I know how that feels. It sucks."

Have I mentioned that both of my sister-in-law's are pregnant?

Well, you can imagine that I reacted the exact same way as Julia did.

It has now been 2 1/2 years since we went off of birth control and began to actually try to have a family. One miscarriage later, we're still waiting. And though it's painful and "sucks", I don't expect the world to stop turning just because I can't have the baby I so desperately long for. People will continue to get pregnant. People will continue to have babies. Lots of them. And that's ok. This is where God has me, and it's His perfect plan for me.

Joe and I recently began reading the book "Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung. It has been challenging my perception of God's will, and reaffirming the fact that all of the things that have happened in the last year have had a purpose.

As Kevin talked about I Thessalonians 4:3 ("For this is the will of God, your sanctification."), I began to feel joy creep into my heart. Here's what he wrote:

"He [God] wants you to buy a house that will make you holy. If you marry, He wants you to get married so you can be holy. He wants you to have a job that will help you grow in holiness. Count on it: God's will is always your sanctification. He has set you and me apart that we would grow to be more like Christ." (emphasis mine)

What a relief! Though I've never thought of God as some sort of sadistic entity, seeking to cause me pain on a daily basis, I have at times wondered what in the world God is doing. Why is he preventing me from getting pregnant? What is the point of my unexplained infertility? Why is He allowing everyone else to get pregnant all around me? Why did he take away the one child I did get pregnant with? Why, why, why???

Because He longs to make me loving, pure, and humble like Christ. In a word, he wants me to be holy.

During the movie, a friend of mine called, wanting to make sure I was doing ok since she had heard about both of my SIL's being pregnant. She too is struggling with over a year's worth of infertility and all the different stages of grief that you go through. At one point in the conversation she commented, "Well, maybe we'll always be childless spinsters...but at least we'll be doing what God wants." I was struck by her faith in a dark time. I don't know that I could have honestly said that a year ago. But it's true - God's plan is so much better for us than our own.

And I'm eager to live it.