I saw this on Pauline's facebook. I did not make so I take no credit for it. :)
Days 5-13
9 years ago
Showing posts with label faith and prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith and prayer. Show all posts
Jesus Paid It All
Jesus Paid It All
Words by Elvina M. Hall
Music by John T. Grape
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
This past weekend our church ordained two men in the pastor/elder role. Before that we had nobody officially filling this post (though these two men were doing so unofficially). It was mostly a recognition of what God has already been doing. We sang this hymn; I had never heard it before, but I love it. It's applicable to so many aspects of not only our church (we are very small!), but also day to day life. Though sometimes we feel what we are doing is little, if God is in it, it is much!
Little Is Much When God Is In It
Lyrics and Music by Kittie L. Suffield
In the harvest field now ripened
There’s a work for all to do;
Hark! the voice of God is calling
To the harvest calling you.
Refrain
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown—and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ Name.
In the mad rush of the broad way,
In the hurry and the strife,
Tell of Jesus’ love and mercy,
Give to them the Word of Life.
Refrain
Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.
Refrain
Are you laid aside from service,
Body worn from toil and care?
You can still be in the battle,
In the sacred place of prayer.
Refrain
When the conflict here is ended
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
“Welcome home, My child—well done!”
Refrain
This Hymn has been running through my mind all week. Thought I'd share it with you all. It was written by a missionary down in Peru.
Unto Jesus
Unto Jesus be all glory, let us worship and adore
Unto Jesus, our Messiah, let our words and voices soar
Precious Jesus, we are longing, just to worship at your feet
You are worthy, beyond measure, and your name to us is sweet
Unto Jesus be all glory, in your blood the Gospel's sealed
You were pierced for, our transgressions, by your stripes our wounds are healed
Dearest Jesus, precious Savior, at the cross you did atone
We were rebels, we were debtors, now we stand before your throne
Unto Jesus be all glory, as you live to intercede
Binding up the, brokenhearted, meeting every single need
Precious Jesus, our Good Shepherd, caring always for your sheep
You surround us, with your favor, all your promises to keep
Unto Jesus be all glory, Captain of might host
Soldiers in the, fiercest battles, fighting to the uttermost
War is raging, but You are reigning, by your wise and sovereign hand
Keep us holy, keep us faithful, to the word of Your command
They are now three.
Who would have thought three years would fly by this fast. I remember them like this.
And now, well they are like this.
What amazes me most about these past three years with them is not them, but how God has worked in them and through them. In them in literally answering prayers that their bodies would heal and grow. Through them in teaching me so many big and little lessons. The past two years I've posted about them on their birthday...this year (though it's a little late...) I feel led to post about the things God has done for them on their birthday. Part of this is for them, so that when they are older they see that God has been answering prayers about them for years and part for me, so that I don't forget the works of the Lord (I shall remember the deeds of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old." - Psalm 77:11).
- The Lord's kind mercy when we found out that we were carrying twins and that they had developed "perfectly". Especially important was that they were in separate sacks. We were so thankful to have a "low risk" set of identical twins.
- Boys you were almost born at 26 weeks, which would have been a much longer and harder road in the NICU. A friend and I were traveling along the North Shore and got rear ended. Though the accident was minor, it did cause contractions to start. Praise the Lord the labor stopped and we were able to go home that night with you two still growing inside me.
- Looking back, it was such a mercy of the Lord we went into labor. Though it was early, I was developing very high blood pressure, which could have been dangerous to both the babies and me.
- BP - The Lord gave you life! Literally. You did not breath for almost a minute and a half. Your Daddy stopped video taping because he did not know if you would make it. But you did and we cherished hearing your cry.
- LT and BP - the fact that you can hear is a mercy of the Lord. We were told that you would be deaf and have some sort of brain damage due to your high bilirubin levels. But today, though you don't always listen, you hear very well and talk all the time, and as far as we can tell have no brain damage.
- It is awesome to be able to tell others, especially nurses and doctors who treated you in the NICU, that you have no liver problems. They were all positive that you were going to have liver problems!
- From about 14-22 months old you both constantly struggled with viruses and infections. LT it landed you in the pediatric ward for a week once and both of you had several trips to the ER. Though not a pleasant experience, the Lord was so kind to us and you in keeping you from more serious infections and hospitalizations. We later discovered that you were considered immune deficient because your IGG levels were low.
- This past fall the Lord heard the prayers of the saints on your behalf asking for your bodies to be shielded from illness. Amazingly you only got sick twice total this entire flu season. We stand amazed at this fact, though it may seem small to some. We were expecting a year of constant infections and trips to the doctor.
- It was a mercy on us and a huge answer to prayer this past spring when your IGG levels got into the normal range, meaning you are no longer immune deficient. This happened much quicker then I think anybody expected and we thank the Lord for it.
My boys, we are so thankful to the Lord for what He has done and how He has answered the prayers of many saints who love you both so much. I know I've probably forgotten some of the many ways He has worked specifically in you two, but I hope one day, you will look back on this and see what great mercy God has bestowed on you two and humbly bow your knees before Him. Your Daddy and I are so grateful for you two and pray for you both, that you'd grow into godly young men who love and serve the Lord.
Words
This past weekend my wonderful husband had to go away from Friday afternoon till after the boys went down on Sunday evening. To say I was a little apprehensive about this time is an understatement. How could I handle two toddlers by myself in the ninth month of my pregnancy? Silly me, shouldn't have worried. God had planned this time and He was going to use it. Was it hard? Yes! But, Saturday night when I was getting ready to go to bed, I started thinking about the words that we use in our house. In the Bible it says we will be accountable for every single word we say, which includes words to our kids. I think sometimes we (I) forget that they are able to understand a LOT and the words we use when speaking to them are important. It's not just about teaching them what not to do, but explaining to them why not and what to do. They are definitely at the age of understanding these things and it really convicted me to just sit back and think about what I am saying and what I am not saying. Am I sharing the Gospel with them every chance I get? Am I directing them to God? Or just teaching them right from wrong? I know God is able to work in spite of me and the mistakes that I make (which I praise Him for), but I also want Him to work through me and help me to raise our children in a way that glorifies Him.
The Conversion of Phebe Bartlet
A short, but very encouraging read for all of those who have children or are ministring to children.
http://www.calltoworship.org/calltoworship/testimony/phebe.html
Answered Prayer
I am so glad that God both hears and answers our prayers. A few weeks ago I wrote about how I realized that I was not believing God that He could and would heal the boys of their constant bouts of pneumonia and ear infections. Well today we got word from the doctor that their immune system is now at a normal level! God answered our prayers. We still have one more round of blood work to double check everything and as long as that's normal, we are in the clear! Praise the Lord!
Prayer Request
***UPDATE***
Sadly, Pequena has died. Please pray for those who cared for her as well as the other children at the center as Erin explains to them why she is not returning.
****
Some of you who follow our blog have been blessed (as we have) by knowing Courtney. For those of you who don't know about her, she was one of our favorite nurses in the NICU and has kept in touch with us since we were discharged.
Courtney with LT back in August 2008
In the fall of 2008 she was able to go visit a good friend of hers ministering in Mozambique. Because of this we began to follow Erin's blog. Erin works at a children's center caring for sick children under the age of 5. Many of the children come in severely malnourished and sometimes suffer from HIV as well as other complications. This past year has been especially hard on her as 2 of the young ones have died. Yesterday, another baby got very sick. You can read all about what is going on over there here (http://www.emptyhandedbutalive.blogspot.com/). Please lift her up in prayer as she goes about the Lord's work over there.
Resting in Christ
Yesterday we heard a very encouraging sermon on Matthew 11 verses 28 -30:
"Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and
you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light."
The man preaching yesterday had several good points, but one has been stuck in my mind. In the past I often pictured a ox being yoked up to plow the field and I never could figure out how this scripture illustrates the point that Jesus' yoke is light. But yesterday I realized my error. You don't yoke up one ox, but two. In this case, we as Christians, are yoked up with Jesus and He makes our burden light. He leads us and guides us and all we have to do is follow close to him. He takes the brunt of our burdens, He makes our yoke light. This is wonderful news to the Christian, but not to those who aren't because there is a catch: we are all yoked to something. For Christians, it is to Christ our Savior. For those who do not believe it is to devil or the world. As Christians our yoke is easy, but to those who don't believe life is hard and with no hope. But in these verses there is hope for He tells all who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him! What a wonderful Gospel this is that we get to share!
Snow...
From our time in MN...the picture is from the driveway at my parents house. They had an amazing amount of snow...it was almost as tall as me!
The boys had a love/hate relationship with the snow. They had a blast at first, but as soon as they realized it was cold, they wanted inside. It was pretty cute to watch!
Life is moving along pretty good down here. The Lord has been very gracious to us in helping us settle into life down here. Although none of our belongings from Hawaii have arrived yet, the Lord has provided us with all the necessities. It definitely serves as a confirmation that this is where we are supposed to be. I'm sure in the future we will have ups and downs, but for now, we are just excited to see what He will do out here!
Good...but confusing!
Well, before I even get into the title, we made it to our new home! We arrived here on Tuesday afternoon, got our apartment (a 3 month lease till we can find something bigger for our growing family!), and have been getting to know the people at the church here. It has been a real blessing getting to know them and we are super excited to see the Lord work out here! We don't know what He has in store for us, but we are waiting and praying He would work here.
Yesterday we finally got the results back of the genetic testing that they did on the boys about 5 weeks ago and everything is normal! Which is wonderful! We are so happy and excited. It's kinda confusing though because now the doctors are left trying to figure out what is/was wrong. Right now though, since the boys are doing great they are going to just let them be and not order any more testing!
Lastly, since I haven't posted a picture in a LONG time, here's one of my favorites from our time visiting my grandma in Minnesota. It was awesome to be able to spend some time with her before heading out on our way.
LT and Great-GrandmaA Call To All Christians
Someone sent this link to my husband and I. It is a very sobering reminder of our purpose out here and the hope that we have in Christ.
Clean
Have you ever noticed that you don't really realize how dirty things are until they have been cleaned? I was thinking about this the other day as I was cleaning my floor to ceiling slat (anyone whose ever been to Hawaii knows what I'm talking about..they are so hard to clean) windows in our room. You see, for a few days (alright, maybe more like a week) I've been putting off cleaning them. I mean, they weren't that dirty, or at least it didn't look that dirty. And that was the key, as I soon found out. Slat after slat, row after row, and many many paper towels later, it was really beginning to sink in how dirty it was. And that got me to thinking, isn't it the same way with our sin and God cleansing us from it? To us, at first, it doesn't seem that bad. Until we know Him. Until we see the severity and gravity of it all, and see His beauty and righteousness. And then, our sin becomes dirty, and we flee to the foot of the cross, where we can be cleansed.
And yes, my windows are now clean. Almost as clean as this:
Which if you are wondering is our once full to the brim (seriously, I was afraid to open it), now completely empty storage space. Which means we are completely moved into our new place! *HURRAH* However, no pictures to be posted until my husband can see it first hand. :)
A longer than usual post
These past few weeks have been insane. I have struggled to find a place to live and move into, get the boys healthy (AMEN for finding the right antibiotic), take two classes online, all the while doing it completely on my own. We have officially been in the apartment for almost two weeks now, and I can honestly say that while I grew in respect for single mothers during this past year, it has exponentially gone up these past few weeks. Because before these past few weeks, I was never really alone. In Missouri, I had Liz.
She loves the boys dearly and loved spending time with them. While in Minnesota I had my mom and dad, and all of our other relatives.
Out here, it's just me and the boys. And everything hit us, hard. We have had sick babies, a LOT. But normally, they'd sleep through the night. I have had to move (HI to MO to MN), but never alone (well sorta alone...thanks to WGBC for helping me get stuff out of the storage!), and I have never taken two accelerated classes (not that hard compared to Rose, just time consuming) while dealing with the aforementioned stuff. But, I was (and am not) ever totally alone, I've always had the Lord here with me. Thankfully, knew all of these things were in the Lord's hands (and His will), and therefore I was able to do it all. He gave me strength, He sustained me on tough days, and He comforted me when I was brought to tears (yes I cried. Seeing your baby moan in pain because of his ears, knowing that you can't give him any more meds for a few hours will do that to you). So, what's my point in all of this? Well, God is good. I know some of you who read this don't believe that and may even want to argue with me. I mean, how could a good God let my husband go to war and leave me with two sick babies? Though I don't always know why God does stuff, I can tell you this. Through this past year He has shown me more and more of my sinfulness, which has lead me to know more and more of His grace and love towards me. So, why would He let this past year happen? To let me know more of Him and His love, which is the greatest gift of all. I'd been thinking about this a lot this morning, and this passage came to mind.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-13How amazing is this? His love for us! That even though we once hated Him, He endured all (and still is enduring) so that one day He could save every last one of His children. At any point, He could have just wiped out all of creation and started over with a completely blank slate, but that was never His plan, and now He patiently waits for His to love Him. Amazing.
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