By Faith We Let Them Go

"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." John 17:24

O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom in all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightiest be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is through Jesus' prevailing prayer - "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." It is THAT which bears them on eagle's wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and his people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say, 'Father, I will that thy saints be with me where I am;' Christ says, 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." Thus the disciple is at a cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from his throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?" Oh, I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but thine be done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life, if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the opposite direction - "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." Lord, thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go. Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, March 22, Evening 

I must admit, I have never thought of death this way. I have never thought of intentionally praying against Jesus will. I often say, Jesus, not my will but yours. But do I really mean it. What if His will for me means death of a loved one ( I know this one to be true), death of me (or just my way of doing things, I am thinking literal death might be easier!). 

As I prepare food tonight for a dear family who has lost their mom, wife, daughter, sister, my heart is grieved. This devotion brings much comfort. Why? I KNOW that her death was Jesus will. I know we often throw around words and sayings, "God is sovereign." "He is in control." I know this all to be true. I trust that, I cling to that but I have never thought of it this way. That I could possibly be praying against what Jesus is praying. That is scary stuff. I would never want to do that but I know that I do. Often, it seems. What Jesus wants for us is so often not what we want for us. My prayer life will definitely change, I will not only only ask that His will be done. But ask for the Spirit to show me what Jesus wants and is praying in each situation. 

It is his love for us, the love that longs for us to be with him in heaven that is calling us home, not some mean God up there trying to ruin our lives. It is his love for this world that causes Him to wait for to bring us all home. He is waiting so that others may come to know Him. I know in theory that God loves me, but to realize that He longs to be with me, that He prays to the Father for me to be with Him. How cool is that. Let that really sink in. I think sometimes, we forget how great is love is, how intimate it is. How much He longs for us to be with Him. How many times a day do I blow Him off, when I am too busy to spend time with Him. 

Oh Lord, forgive me for my lack of understanding. Thank you for showing my how deep and how wide your love is for me. Forgive me when I think your plans are not for me but against me. Oh Lord, that I would live this life in light of eternity, knowing one day we will see You face to face and this life here will seem like a vapor. So, by faith, I let go the love ones who are with you in heaven! 

Weekend Getaway

Brad and the band were up in Vail, Colorado to lead worship for a church there and the wives all decided that we would go up for a night and stay with the guys. Now, I am far from family and getting away one night takes lots of work and coordination. It has hard to get someone to watch your kids for the night. Most of my friends have kids of their own and really don't need my two adding to their family. 

But, I knew it was important to take time away with just us and not the kids so I persevered and decided to pay someone to watch the kids for the night. I have found sometimes it is just easier to pay someone to watch your kids.  You know, no guilt while you are gone if someone else is watching your kids. It is hard for me to ask people to help! 

Anyway, I left for Vail and the baby sitter was going to come to my house and get the kids a little later. Well, have you ever heard the saying, we make plans and God laughs. I think of that saying often because it seems like the harder I plan the more they unravel. 

My babysitter was coming in from out of town and didn't make it around the time she thought and so I was in a mess. I know, my life seems to be one mess after another. 

I got on my phone and made some calls and my second family out here - our neighbors, have a wonderful daughter that my kids love (so do I, even more so now, if possible) and she took the kids for the night. It all worked out and we got our nice night together. 

I wonder why it is so hard for husbands and wives to get away together. Why does something always "come up." I forgot to tell you that that morning I almost didn't go because of weather but it cleared up and I could drive through it. 

So, back to my question? I really honestly feel like Satan has it out for Christian marriages and he is not going to make it easy to celebrate or even enjoy your marriage. He is going to do what he can to interrupt our plans. 

Why do I think this? Because after we got through crises number 1 and had the kids taken care of. We woke up in Vail to snow, I mean lots of snow. Snow that was falling so hard you couldn't see in front of you. We knew that is was supposed to continue snowing and if we didn't get on the road fast, we would get stuck. (Then my kids would really be in a mess!) So, our day that we were going to spend in Vail just hanging out together turned into driving home at 10 miles an hour on snow, ice, and who knows what else. We couldn't see the car in front of us at times, we had hours of white-knuckled driving. Talk about stress. Now, most of you know that Brad and I are not big fans of the snow and neither of us like driving in it. Much less when the car in front of you is sliding around and hits a guard rail. Whew, we know how to take a short vacation together. 

So, to totally prove my point. Satan (and sin, it is not all his fault) is into messing up our lives and he sure doesn't want a Christian marriage to thrive and grow. I mean, God created marriage to be a picture of the church - why in the world would he want that to happen. So, what do we do? WE DON'T LET HIM WIN! 

We decide that we were making some good memories and we laugh about it later and enjoy the fact that we made it safely. It increased our prayer life. Nothing like driving when you can't see the road in front of you to get you praying. 

I told Brad this weather was going to turn me pentecostal. I was raising my hands, but only one at a time because I had one hand on the wheel (Jesus, take the wheel . . . Hee hee, I listened to that song too, I was taking it a bit more literal than intended, I think. )Anyway,  I wanted to be safe, while praying "Oh Loooord, please watch over this car. Oh Looord, protect us. Oh Loord!" I was claiming and yelling all kinds of things, this normally emotionally cool (unless angry) woman is not in habit of doing. I was stepping out in all kinds of stuff. So satan, you can take your ideas of ruining my weekend and stick it! The weekend didn't go as we planned but I know my God is control, even when I can't see five feet in front of me. 

Praise the Lord, I think I need me some praise banners! 

Psalm 124 "I lift my eyes to the hills (snowy mountains) - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot (or car) slip - he who watches over you will not slumber, indeed, he who watches over Israel (Brad and Kasey) will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun (snow) will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both (to Vail and home) now and forevermore."

"Quality Shoes"

I have just been informed that there is a song written in dedication to quality shoes. 

Check it out. Mark Knopfler has  a song titled "Quality Shoes" on his Ragpickers Dream album. 

I guess we aren't the only ones wanting some good, quality shoes!

He Comes By It Honestly!

Ok, I must admit that Drew's desire for "Good, Quality Shoes" is an inherited trait. After school yesterday we headed to Sports Authority (it is way cheaper than Dick's) to do some shoe shopping with Drew's money. Guess what, I found the best pair of Nike running shoes for him for $68. What a deal for good, quality running shoes! I kept trying to convince him that these were the shoes for him. He had $65 and I told him I would even pitch in the extra money for the difference. 

I learned yesterday that Drew is not the only one who has a problem spending other people's money. I was more than happy for him to purchase the $68 pair when he was using his OWN money. 

However, Drew was not so excited about the $68 pair - he said, they are cool looking but WAY too expensive. He settled on a less expensive pair and we left. 

Lesson learned for all of us. Buy shoes with your own money, you are much more responsible when it is your own cash you are spending! 

"I Just Don't Think $35 is Enough to get Good, Quality Shoes!"

These are the exact words I heard from my oldest son yesterday at the sporting good store. My oldest son, who in the last month has gotten 3 new pairs of shoes. Well, make that four. I found some Nike cleats on sale at Ross for $14.99 that I just had to get him. Other than that he had to have basketball shoes, football cleats, and just plain ole' regular tennis shoes. So you can imagine our disgust when he told us that he didn't think that "$35 was enough to get good, quality tennis shoes." It was hard not to beat him over the head with the horrible-quality shoe.

So we like good parents, left. We told him that if he wanted the $44 shoes than he could get them with his own money. Oh, and that he needed to get a job! 

So, this morning I told him that after school we could go shopping WITH HIS MONEY for some "GOOD QUALITY TENNIS SHOES." He said, "It's ok, we can get the cheaper pair, they are fine." 

Can you believe it? When it is his money, the shoes are fine. When it is our money, he needs some good, quality tennis shoes. 

Here's to good quality tennis shoes, for a mere $35.