Unwrapping Tuesday: New Friends, Same Tastes!

I love this idea of "Unwrapping Tuesdays" by giving thanks and appreciating the small things in life! We have noticed many differences in the two weeks we've been here, especially dealing with food we can and can't get. And in the land of tea, I have really missed coffee. Well, let me clarify - many people drink coffee here, but alas the truth comes out. I am not a true coffee connoisseur - I really enjoy the flavored creamer I drink with my coffee (I know, I know - if you could see me my head would be down in disgrace.) And I have to admit, I have scoured every grocery store we've been in to see if they have it!
Last week, I had the privilege of meeting a young mom and her two adorable girls. Her bubbly personality and friendliness immediately endeared me to her. I was also so relived to meet anyone my age with children that carried with it even the hint of a possibility of friendship! However, I knew true friendship may indeed be a reality when she told me the two things she always asks her parents to bring back from the states when the visit! Are you ready:
Canned Pumpkin (what is fall without this?) and Flavored Creamer!
I couldn't believe it - a girl after my own heart! The two things I love (and miss!)from home! I could have jumped up and hugged her right then while declaring my loyalty and undying friendship forever!
Praise the Lord for shared tastes and new friends in the making! It made me realize the Lord knows even our favorite tastes! What a reminder of His great love and personal attention to us!

Judging

Do you have a problem with judging?

This morning I was reading Sarah Young's thoughts for today in her devotional Jesus Calling. Here's what she said:
" Give your mind a break from its habitual judging. You form judgments about this situation, that situation, this person, that person, yourself, even the weather - as if judging were your main function in life. But I created you first and foremost to know Me and to live in rich communication with Me. When you become preoccupied with passing judgment, you usurp My role...Rather than evaluating My ways with you, accept them thankfully. The intimacy I offer you is not an invitation to act as if you were My equal."
I'll admit my first thought, "Oh good, I'm not struggling with judging people, at least not this week. This is a nice thought and one for me to remember for the future, but not really relevant right now." Upon further reflection, however, I started to think of how often I make judgments on my circumstances. In essence, I place judgment on God for what He has chosen to do in my life, which is the same as making myself an equal with God. That is a grave mistake and a sin.
- What kind of clay says to the potter, "Why did you make me this way?" How absurd coming from something as useless as a lump of clay. (Rom. 9:20-21)
- What kind of sheep says to the shepherd, "No, I think we should go this way instead." What does a dumb sheep know over the shepherd?
- What kind of subject dares tell a king what to do or how he's wrong. That's grounds for imprisonment or beheading.
- And what creation tries to inform the Creator of what He should have done with it. Without the power and design of the Creator, it wouldn't exist.

Do you see the absurdity? Have you, like me, found yourself passing judgments upon what God has brought into your life, rather than accepting it thankfully and worshiping Him for it? For He alone is the "blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15) I wonder how much richer our walk with the Lord would be if we lived foremost for knowing God more deeply (John 17:3)and worried less about judging?

Fears and flight

Hello from Sunderland, England! We made it! Despite my lack of presence online, we did arrive a little over a week ago and are beginning to adjust to life (more to add to that later).
My two anxieties over flying were:
a.) If our luggage was too heavy or awkward shaped - I had visions of having to throw out clothes and other items at the airport in front of a line of angry, impatient people and in front of the loved ones who came to see us off!
b.) Tanner would not cooperate on the flight leaving two exhausted, frazzled parents and several hundred irate passengers.

Thankfully, the Lord was gracious to us on both accounts. All of our luggage was accepted, including our 7 1/2 foot Christmas tree (yes, we were definitely "those" people - but hey we're moving here! And we got an unbeatable deal on it!) And Tanner did considerably well for his first flight. He watched lots of movies (Praise the Lord for Veggie Tales and individual screens on the airbuses packed with cartoons). He cried some, but the plane was so loud, I don't think he bothered many people, and to be honest, I didn't care when the time came! I figured it was a relatively short time in the grand scheme of life, the airplane was really loud, and I would never see these people again!
On a sweet note, when we arrived in Dusseldorf, Germany it was so special to see Tanner and this little boy (I think he was Russian) play together. They played chase, and matchbox cars, and even watched some Veggie Tales together. It's amazing how play can span cultures and languages (not that Tanner has much of a language right now, except his own), but neither one cared!

This is Tanner and his new friend. Sorry about only getting the backside - they moved too fast!


Here's Tanner at the airport, looking awake and happy! It's two in the morning US time!

A Time for Adventure and New Beginnings

I've probably mentioned the last several months have been a period of waiting and limbo, actually it may be more like the last several years, depending on how you look at it. Well, today is the day of new beginnings and new adventures...
and as exciting as that is, it's also scary. I'm not much of an adventure girl. I like the occasional "safe" adventure, you know the kind where you just follow the lead of someone else or the masses who have done it many time before. Embarking on new cultures, new ministry, new EVERYTHING terrifies me! But, I'm confident this is God's next step for us.
Right as I woke up this morning, God impressed on my heart a verse -
Matthew 7:11 - If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
My Father gives good gifts! This new adventure is not something to be feared or anxious about, because it is a good gift, the only kind He gives! And that is energizing! So bring on 3 airports, an overnight flight with a busy toddler, way too many bags, a new country, home, and ministry! This is a good gift to embrace!
Besides, ready or not here it comes today...

Sweet Moments

In the midst of temper tantrums, diapers, throwing toys, and constant movement, I'll admit it can be difficult to find pleasure in this stage of life. Most days I think we have hit "terrible two's" (my friends say "terrible threes" but the thought of that is too depressing this far out!) way too early!
But, this morning I was reminded to stop and "unwrap Tuesdays" by slowing down and appreciating the small things in life. Here's the moment for today:
I'm not sure if he's my child or maybe even more so, takes after my father, but my sweet toddler has a fetish with things being a certain way. For example, he will close any door that he sees open even if it means stopping eating to do so, he will pick up his toys without being told, and his cup must be in the cup holder of his tray. This morning my sweet boy, picked up my empty coffee cup to take a swig. Then he took off with it. The next thing we heard was dishes clanging (never a good sign!). John took off running, both of us sure he had just gotten into the cabinets and was destroying something. We clearly have high expectations of our child...
Instead, our cutie pie had stood on his tippy toes and dropped my mug in the sink, right where it needed to go. Thankfully nothing broke, and he was beaming with pride at being so helpful! I love this kid! Way to melt your momma's heart!
What are you savoring today?

Trust in the Lord

The "With All my Heart" title of this blog you probably figured out came from Prov. 3:5-6. It's a verse that's been on my mind a lot the past few months. It's at the bottom of the page, but for the sake of you having to scroll down, here it is:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."

"Trust in the Lord" I can't count the number of times I've heard those 4 words thrown out or that I've thrown out. It seems like such a simple command, and yet we struggle. Maybe we struggle trusting people in general, or maybe we are so conditioned to only relying on ourselves. When we learned this verse with the kids at church, our sign for "trust" was to pretend to do a trust fall. Now I do believe that's a picture of what it is to trust God completely, but my concept of trust falls was a bit skewed as an elementary camper.

At camp one year, our cabin's assignment was to trust fall from a log into the waiting arms of our cabin mates. Most of us weren't in fact too trusting of each other as was evidenced by our wary glances backward or our crazy crooked falls, but my friend Ashley was. She climbed onto the log eagerly and confidently turned around with her back to us. We waited with anticipation, arms raised, ready to demonstrate our faithfulness to her. I can see this in slow motion - she fell back, straight as a board, exactly as she was supposed to. We caught her gleefully, then the horror as she slipped right through our arms and hit her head on a stump. I promise it was an accident, and she is okay today!

Sometimes as I consider trust, my mind goes back to this picture. The reality is we were fallible and not completely trustworthy, but God is. He's faithful to all of His promises. If we have any doubt, we need to consider the cross that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He is perfect and cannot do anything that goes against His nature, which is good ALL the time. He isn't like my elementary cabin group who tried really hard, but just couldn't do it. He is God, and He promises that "All things work together for good to them that love Him and are called according to HIS PURPOSES."

The next part of the verse is the one I've had to really grapple with - "Lean not on your own understanding"
"Yes, Lord I'll trust you, but only if I can figure out what You're going to do." I try to analyze the situation, prepare myself for the outcome, and know what to expect. Trust me I'm an OVER analyzer! What I'm trying to do is be in control and protect myself.

I cheered during my high school years - Yes, I know you probably made fun of cheerleaders. You can laugh if you desire.
Are you done?
I was a flyer, and during my sophomore year, my stunt group, still learning, dropped me a lot in the beginning. After a few times of being dropped, I began to try to analyze each stunt, and if I thought I was going to fall, I would get out of it myself. This is a problem. You teach girls to fall back in a cradle position if they are about to fall, because it makes you easier to catch. If you freak out or step out of the stunt, you are harder to catch and the faces of everyone trying to catch you are now in danger. I had to break myself of the habit for my safety and safety of my friends. In fear, I was attempting to establish control and protect myself.

When I withhold my absolute trust in the Lord, trying to analyze what God is doing, I'm trying to protect myself and be in control. The absurdity of that is why I would think I can do anything better than God. God is my ultimate Protector. My heart and mind are desperately wicked and deceitful Jeremiah says. They can't be trusted. God alone can be trusted, because He loves us as He demonstrated through Christ. David provides such a good example of hiding in the Lord and resting in His protection even when things seemed out of control.

We prayed hard yesterday we would hear about our visas. God's answer was "no" for the time. I don't know why and I'm not going to "lean on my own understanding" to try to figure it out! God has commanded me to "Trust in Him with all my heart." So I will...because I can!

What would you change?

My husband and I are waiting...and waiting...and waiting! This has been an interesting month thus far. We had planned on leaving for the United Kingdom on August 9th. We've shipped a crate, sold everything else, given away anything we didn't sell or crate, and packed up the rest for the plane. We moved out of our apartment the last day of July thinking we would flying out August 9th. But with other things, our plans are not always God's plans. The Visa process has taken A LOT longer than we had anticipated. But, it's been a good thing too - we've had extra time to spend with friends and family and extra time to really stop and evaluate.
This month also marks our 5 year anniversary - so with all of these changes I've been thinking: "What would I change about the last 5 years of my life?" I really do not have many regrets and I don't want to dwell on failures or should haves, but I do want to evaluate so I live differently in the next 5 years. Does that make sense?
So here's what I came up with:
1. I would have spent more time in the Word

- I would have taken more time to study and know God through His Word. Only through God's Word can I know Him, and only through knowledge of Him can I live more like Him. While I spent time reading, I didn't always dive in and study and make it my heart's desire - the consequences of which are doubting, worry, anxiety, stress, etc.
2. I would have loved my husband better
- This isn't to say I haven't loved him, I just would have demonstrated my love for him in more of my actions. I spent much of our first 5 years of marriage trying to manage all of my expectations of marriage - ones I had placed on me and my husband. When we first got married, I thought it would be relatively simple to love my husband. I soon learned that I am quite a selfish person, and love is more than a feeling but an action. I would have dropped the expectations and sought more each day to show my love for my hubby and focus on the positive.
3. I would have enjoyed the present more than looking back at the past and forward to the future.
- Maybe you don't do this, but I love to think of the past and then I'm anxious for the future. Think about our lives. We long to grow up when we're young (then I hit a spell at 11 where I grieved how grown up I'd become - I realize I'm WEIRD!). Then we're anxious to marry, then anxious to have kids, then anxious for them to grow up - we focus on what's next. At the same time, we long to go back to childhood, or college days, or days without children. I wish I had spent more time enjoying, embracing, and cherishing the present to the fullest instead of being anxious for the future trying to anticipate all that could come up and grieving the loss of the past.

So these are the things I would change if I could go back. It's been a great 5 years, and we have a unique opportunity to begin a new adventure in the UK. So more than what I would change, these are my goals for myself as we move!

How about you? What would you change about the last 5 years and/or how will you live differently in the next 5?