Thy Will Be Done

There will be no disappointments if my will is buried in God's.

Elisabeth Elliot

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:38-40

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Proverbs 19:21

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Philippians 2:12-16

  

Beautiful, Holy Wives

"Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 

2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 

3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 

4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 

5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,".

1 Peter 3:1-5

"A Christian woman does not put her hope in her husband, or in getting a husband.  She does not put her hope in her looks or her intelligence or her creativity.  She puts her hope in the promises of God.  She is described in Proverbs 31:25: 'Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.'  She laughs at everything the future could bring because she hopes in God. 

She looks away from troubles and miseries and obstacles of life that seem to make the future bleak, and she focuses her attention on the sovereign power and love of God who rules in heaven and does on earth whatever he pleases (Psalm 115:3).  She knows her Bible, and she knows her theology of the sovereignty of God, and she knows his promise that he will be with her and will help her and strengthen her no matter what.  This is the deep, unshakable root of Christian womanhood.  And Peter makes it explicit in verse 5.  He is not talking about just any women.  He is talking about women with unshakable biblical roots in the sovereign goodness of God---holy women who hope in God."

John Piper, This Momentary Marriage

The Beautiful Faith of Fearless Submission, pgs. 96-97 

The Constraints of Godly Love

A system of fixed values and relations [hold] us apart, each holding the other in reverence for the Owner.  His we [are] , all the rights [are] His, all the perogatives to give or to withhold according to the pattern of His will, which remain... as yet a mystery to us.   

Elisabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

Christina Rossetti beautifully expresses the constraints of godly love...

Trust me, I have not earned your dear rebuke, ---

I love, as you would have me, God the most;

Would lose not Him, but you, must one be lost, 

Nor with Lot's wife cast back a faithless look, 

Unready to forego what I forsook;

This say I, having counted up the cost,

This, though I be the feeblest of God's host, 

The sorriest sheep Christ shepherds with His crook. 

Yet while I love my God the most, I deem

That I can never love you over-much;

I love Him more, so let me love you too;

Yea, as I apprehend it, love is such

I cannot love you if I love not Him, 

I cannot love Him, if I love not you. 

Kitties 'R Us

                  

Happy Belated Birthday, John

John,

You're 15 all of a sudden; Happy belated Birthday!!

It doesn't seem that long ago that we were living out the story of your birth.  

Today that story is a memory.  You've grown and matured soo quickly.  

As I recollect your birth and infancy, I wish it could have lasted a little longer.  

I remember the overwhelming peace God gave me very early that morn as I prepared to go into the hospital to have my labor induced.  I didn't want to be induced, but we'd placed our trust and care in the hands of a team of doctors whose best interest was you and I.  They believed you were big, even at nine days before your due date.  

Katherine's birth was induced also for the same reason, four days early, and she was weighed at birth to be 9 lbs, 8 ounces.  Thankfully, all went well with my delivery of her, and they wanted nothing less than that for you.  

So, I walked into the hospital and met the receptionist who took us to my delivery room.  

Everything went as planned and as smoothly as anticipated, except for the weather!!!  

It was a very dark and cloudy, dreary and stormy day.  

However, the Lord gave me a comforting perspective in my quiet time that morning about the impending storm from the 29th psalm, which read...

Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

² Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
³ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.
⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
⁵ The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
⁶ He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.
⁷ The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.
⁸ The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
⁹ The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
¹⁰ The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.
¹¹ The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Soo, obviously, being the simple minded person I am, the phrase that stuck out in my mind that morning was "the God of glory thundereth:...", while the sky above us wanted to break open at any moment, and it wasn't long before it did.  

Since you were born during a thunder storm, all I could recite from that chapter to myself during my labor was "the God of glory thundereth....".  Thankfully you came quickly, and you weighed 8 lbs and 13 ounces.  Whew!  What a joy it was to hold you, finally!  You were such a handsome baby!!  

For a few days, I called you Johnnie Thunder, being that the beginning of your life symbolized God's glory.  I didn't want to forget your glorious entrance into the world.  However, I soon learned that there had been a rock 'n roll/punk star named the same, so I quickly decided I didn't want your nickname to be confused with someone else's sad life story.   

I loved every day of that precious fleeting season following your birth; every day was full!  It was the most precious of joyous seasons for me, and if I could go back, I've said, I'd hold you all a little longer and tighter, and take more pictures.  

This picture was taken the day we came home from the hospital... 

  

I sure didn't want you to be my last!

You were such a happy baby, as your siblings were.  Yet, the Lord knew you were the caboose!  

John, Thank you for being such a sensitive and fun-loving son.  You are soo funny and light-hearted.  I love that about your dad, and I love that about you as well.

I pray throughout your life you will be a blessing to everyone you come in to contact with.  

Please hold closely the truth of God's word, and when you find circumstances are challenging, lean hard into His word that will not return void.   

I love you, and thank the LORD for you, our son, God's gracious gift! 

All, O Beloved, in Thee

Hath not each heart a passion and a dream?

Each some companionship for ever sweet?

And each in saddest skies some silver gleam,

And each some passing joy, too fair and fleet?

And each a staff and stay, though frail it prove,

And each a face he fain would ever see?

And what have I? 
An endless Heaven of love,

A rapture, and a glory, and a calm;

A life that is an everlasting Psalm,

All, O Beloved, in Thee.

Gerhard Ter Steegen

“Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God 
 is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.”
Isaiah 12:2, ESV