.Loved Relentlessly.

I absolutely loved this quote I read this morning from Oswald Chambers - To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth. This is generally say with a sigh of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation. May my expectation be more breathless, God! More completely reckless in that I am expecting, in every fiber of my being, good things from Your hands! -HK

And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. -Gen 2:9- Reading this passage this morning, I was struck with a question - if God did not want Adam and Eve to know the knowledge of good and evil, then why did He place the tree there? Why was it even an option for them to disobey Him? It would have made the world a much nicer place if "good" and "evil" had never been discovered, and everyone just walked around as nice little beings who didn't even know there was a choice other than "nice". Yet...if there had been no choice...if there was no option to know anything less than pure goodness...then human beings would have been mere puppets on a string, bound to love and trust the Lord simply out of our helpless ignorance. And what value is there in obedience, love and trust when the obey-er, love...

A few months ago Dan and I were having dinner with an amazing brother in the Lord. During our time together, I said to him, "I don't know why, but lately I just really want personal testimonies of God's provision. I've lived relatively comfortably all my life. I want to be a person who has those testimonies of how God provides." Our friend replied with a smile, "Be careful what you ask for..." And, I am seeing now that he was right in his warning. :) Dan and I moved to Tennessee with, what we thought, was a well laid-out plan. We had all of our ducks in a row, and knew - if not exactly - then approximately what the next year would hold. However, we have been met with many obstacles in the last two months. I won't name them all because that's not what this post is for... but suffice it to say that our so-thought well laid plans have turned out to be not so sturdy. In a series of events that we have no control over, "plans" have changed i...

It's been almost 2 weeks now since we moved into our little house on Jefferson Avenue. If one thing can be said, it is that there has never been a dull moment! Our first discovery, after not many days of living here, was that after the lights went out, our house became the hang-out for certain critters called Camel Crickets (or, Cave Crickets). If we came into the kitchen and turned on the lights, there were usually 5-10 of them, just chillin '. As seen here in this photo - they look like little hump-backed aliens. They make my skin absolutely crawl - and several times I succeeded in making Dan's heart skip a beat when I squealed at the sight of one. Google says that they jump toward you in an effort to intimidate you. Well...it works! Camel Cricket...ugh... However, my knight in shining armor has conquered the Camel Crickets by filling lots of cracks and crannies with foam. At least for the last 5 nights we have not seen a single one - praise the Lord! We have also found ...

There are so many days that the enemy comes in and, like the thief that he is, steals my joy. I think the easiest way for him to do that is to plant seeds of doubt in my mind, tempting me to doubt the goodness of God in my life, because I'm overwhelmed with some present situation. Lately has been one of those seasons for me. In a new (old) house, being transplanted away from our comfort zone of a big house, big group of friends, comfy church, comfy jobs - I feel like the enemy is just throwing doubt at us by the bucket-full. Why did you come here? Should you have moved? But I also believe that it's when God is going to move, that the enemy tries his hardest to put down, distract, or discourage the believer. Jesus was tempted before His ministry began. The enemy knows that if he's ever got a chance, it's before we begin to see the fruit of trusting and believing God. So for us, moments of doubt or discouragment are, in some odd way, confirming. If the enemy doesn't ...

Here I am, returned yet again to the blogging world, after a 4-month break. This time it was due to the non-cooperation of my sweet, old Dell laptop. She "deigned to cease to become" back in January, and so I was without a typing tool for a while. But now! A new computer for work and play! And that means...writing until my little heart's content. Our computer is not the only thing that is new around here... From my chair here at my desk in our home office, I see new paint...new carpet...new microwave...and somewhere a few feet away is a new toilet. As of last night we have started to live daily life in our not-so-new, built-in-1930, 1004 square foot house. Tiny, but oh-so-cozy. I have enjoyed my morning here more than I can say. The dreary day, mixed with dinner in the crockpot and coffee in my hand, has been delightful so far. After our recent 27 day roadtrip, as well as a week and a half of living with my parents (for which we are very thankful!) we are finally home . I...