God's Awesome Handiwork and Faithfulness

Psalm 139:13-16

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be."

  

 

I haven't made record of the faithfulness of God the past three months, and it would be wrong for me not to do that, because God has done so much more than I could ask or imagine in the birth of our firstborn son, Timothy Louis.

It was a long and hard delivery.  Contractions lasted on and off for a week prior to his birth, and then on Saturday morning around 8:00 a.m., July 18th, I started having regular contractions.  They were about five to ten minutes apart all day.  We finally went to the hospital about 2:00 in the morning on the 19th.  After the midwife broke my water, the contractions were unbearably painful until Timothy was born at 6:14 a.m. and after pushing for an hour.  I was exhausted from all the prior labor before we even went to the hospital, yet God gave me a strength I did not fathom possible.  And when I thought I could not handle one more contraction, God continued to give me strength to go through yet one more, and one more, and one more for several hours.  And when I thought I could not push one more time, God gave me strength to push again and again, and even increase my strength.  After Timothy was born, one would expect me to have some kind of shut down or breakdown.  But once again, God gave me supernatural power to deal with all the newness and demand of having a newborn, for the two days we were in the hospital, in spite of sleeplessness and trouble with breastfeeding.

After we got home from the hospital, God used my mom to take over to provide for our needs.  Her nursing care gave me the rest and meals I needed to recover--and it took all three weeks that she was here!  And after she left, God used the church to continue providing us with supplemental meals for nearly two months! This was a huge blessing to us, as cooking has been a great effort in all the adjustment of parenting and exhausting nights.

Timothy is two and a half months old, and God is providing in many ways--every single hour and day--and enabling me to mother this little boy in spite of my physical limitations.  When I have felt at the end of my rope in exhaustion, God has always providentially worked so that Timothy would have a restful day so that I could sleep and recover.  God has also given Michael much grace in the adjustment of fatherhood and the extra house chores he has taken on since Timothy's birth.  And God has given Timothy a contented disposition most of the time so that it does not require as much energy to care for him.

There is so much more I could say, such as how God has materially provided for us and our son through the generous, ongoing gifts people have given us and the many hours of time people have spent helping us prepare for Timothy's birth and then helping us care for him afterward.

I just praise my Father in heaven for doing the impossible and giving us a child that we thought we could not have or would not have the strength to care for.  And as the temptations of worry and doubt buffet me regarding how I will have the energy needed to educate and discipline him, I daily preach to myself God's commands and His promises ("Cast your cares on the Lord..."; "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding..."; "Do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough worries of its own..."; "Consider the birds of the field: They do not sow or reap or store away in barns yet your heavenly father feeds them..."; "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well"; etc.).  And then I recount all the ways God has provided for us in His gracious faithfulness.  Will He let us down just because it seems to get harder and more demanding?  Is His provision limited?  Is the power He provides impotent?  "Oh you of little faith, why do you doubt?"

Finally, I want to praise God for the unspeakable blessing of making us part of His covenant family and for blessing our son by placing him in a family and church in which he will be raised under the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In acknowledgment of Timothy's discipleship in Jesus, we are having him baptized on Sunday, October 25th at 9:30 a.m.  Everyone is welcome to witness this covenant before God and man that Timothy will be held accountable before God of the gift of light he receives and that if one day, he repents of his sin and looks to Jesus Christ for his cleansing, the symbol of the cleansing water of baptism will become for him a reality.  And if he does not embrace this grace of which he is taught, the water will be to him a symbol of God's wrath, even as the water was to those outside the Ark of Noah (1 Peter 3:18-22).  To this end, we pray that God gives him a tender heart toward the Word and redeems him for the Kingdom of Heaven at a young age.  Please pray with us!  There is no greater hope or desire that we have as Timothy's parents!

If you are not in the area and would like to witness this special service, you may see it on Ustream live with no commercials via Roku (type in keyword "Preakness" in a search) or go to:

http://preaknessvalleyurc.org/live-stream/

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

We are praising God for another year of blessings and mercies far above what we deserve, except in Jesus Christ, our Savior, of whose birth we celebrate.  This is a year of babies, as Michael’s sister Betsy and husband Bryon had their second child, Abigail, on December 29, 2013!  Rachel’s brother Daniel and wife Katherine had their firstborn son, Landon, in February.  Michael’s brother Dave and wife Rachel are expecting their second child, and we are expecting our first child in July!

Michael has transitioned into two different jobs this year, first a contract that lasted about nine months and then a full-time position at Picatinny Arsenal as of November.

Rachel continues editing from home and just finished up a semester of weekly tutoring for the home-school group Classical Conversations.  She is now focusing on prepping for an addition to the family!  Please rejoice with us as we celebrate the goodness of our God this season.

Here are some great spring memories!

Paul is now 2 years old!

We got to meet Daniel's new son Landon!

 

We enjoyed Easter with Mom Adamus' family...

...and met baby Abigail!

And of course we enjoyed her brother Ricky :)

  

Here are some great fall memories!

The first time Michael and I went camping...Thanks to Mary & Caleb who brought the tent! :)

A week later, Mom & Dad came to visit, and we visited the Ringwood State Park botanical gardens.

...and picnicked at the Ringwood Lake.

Michael and I got to visit a historic site in Morristown, NJ, where General George Washington camped his army one winter of the Revolutionary War.

We had a blast at Angie's bouncy birthday party!

We loved the Thanksgiving reunion with the Wesner family!!

 Thank you, Lord, for another special year of love.

Joy Through Tears?

I was looking at the Facebook feed tonight, and since it is Mother’s Day, it was inevitably full of related comments.  Two comments, one right after the other, were polar opposites.  One was by a grieving mother who had had a second miscarriage after a recent previous one.  One was a rejoicing woman who had been barren and just brought home this week two siblings for adoption.  My first thought was, “Why does God give to some and take away from others?”  Both serve Him, both love Him, both wait on Him.  The two had a Mother’s Day like the contrasts of night and day.  And there are those like me caught in the middle, not exactly bereaved but having no one in her nest and telling herself that she is a mother to the world—though any barren woman knows that is a weak consolation.

So what do we say to all these different women today?  I did a word search in the Bible on rejoicing, joy, and delight and found that people found joy in the Lord in a great variety of circumstances—some found joy in people and some in God’s material blessings, including children, but these were least the focus of Scripture, and the material blessings were not separated from God Himself, such that joy in the blessings carried over into joy in God who gave them.  But beyond the material blessings, the unchanging, steady joy frequently described in Scripture was found in God Himself, in God’s unchanging law, in God’s love, in God’s attributes, in God’s justice, in God’s deliverance, etc. This joy was not only associated with prosperity, as we see in Job, for he said, “Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One” (Job 6:10).  Whether in weeping or feasting, may our joy always be found in the unshakeable desire to honor our all-wise and good God.  Who can know the mind of the LORD in individual circumstances?  But whatever else His purpose, I do know that God uses the joy of the new mother to praise His goodness, the longing of the barren woman to praise His sufficiency, and the grief of the bereaved mother to praise His comfort.  For when we don’t deny Him in pain, He proves to be our all in all, and when we don’t forget Him in prosperity, He proves Himself more glorious than the earthly blessings.  Happy-in-God Mother’s Day.

Merry Christmas 2013!

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech 9:9).

Those who love God’s laws and justice continue to be dismayed at the ever-increasing injustice that reigns in our land.  But instead of growing fearful and anxious, we have been called to look to Christ the solid rock on which we stand.  He is our King who reigns over all, He who is God and took on flesh to live the just and righteous life we could not and die the death we deserve, in order to set up a Kingdom that has no end, a perfect Kingdom for which He will return to bring consummation!  This is our hope, and in this hope we live every day and every year, looking to our Lord to guide our steps in the way He would have us proclaim that Kingdom as we make it our aim to please Him.

Though in many ways, we have continued in this year without much change—living in the same house, attending the same church, working in many of the same ministries—we have also seen many blessings that are different from last year. To best narrate these blessings, I will use pictures.

In October, we celebrated our nephew Paul’s first birthday.  We have greatly enjoyed watching him develop from a helpless infant to a high-energy toddler who can practically run from place to place.

 

 

In early fall, Michael and I got to take a trip—just the two of us—for the first time since our honeymoon.  It was a fairly local trip, and just a few days, but we loved every minute of it!  We went to see the Hershey Factory, bought too much chocolate, and then headed to Lancaster, PA.  There, we enjoyed an excellent production of “Noah” at the Sight and Sound Theater.  We also visited a replica of the Old

Testament Tabernacle, did some window shopping of quilts and other Amish market items, and ate some delicious Amish cooking!

Moving back in time, we received a visit from Rachel’s parents the week of her dad’s birthday, so we relished celebrating with him and enjoyed a couple days of nature outings in the surrounding countryside.

 

Immediately following a visit from Rachel’s siblings in early July, we found out that her brother Daniel’s wife was expecting her first child!  So Rachel celebrated by trying her hand at quilting.

In the spring, we had to give our dog Hezzy to another owner in PA, because he was too big and energetic for our house, but our dog is much happier now in an environment much more suitable to him (wide-open land, and, as you can see, a pond—and Hezzy loves swimming!).  We sure miss him, though!

 

In late spring, we visited Mike’s sister and family, including our nephew Ricky, just before they moved from Ithaca, NY (the land of gorges and waterfalls—gorgeous!) to Denver, CO for a permanent job.

Also in the spring, we celebrated the wedding of my cousin Heather and her husband Robert in Indianapolis, IN.

As you can tell, it’s been a very busy year!  As always, God has been faithful and good.  I trust He will continue to take care of us, even in the present unknown circumstances of job loss and needing much wisdom in the give and take of job searches.  We covet your prayers for God’s sustaining grace of patience and hope and peace and joy and trust and wisdom, as no job or a new job can put quite a different spin (for more or less stress) on life.

God is still our guide in the minutest details of life’s twists and turns, even as He was in the details of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection and all the prophecies He fulfilled perfectly.  We take comfort to rest in the arms of our all-sovereign God.

Merry Christmas in the peace our Savior brought through the joy of living for Him, knowing Him, and rejoicing in eternal hope!

With love,

Michael & Rachel

The True Joy of Christmas

Merry Christmas!  Besides Easter, this is my favorite time of year—colorful lights, beautiful choral music, good food, and warm family memories.  But if this is all there is to Christmas, it’s robbed of its glory. 

The lights of Christmas wrapped around trees and hanging on houses, the star and angel toppers on Christmas trees, and the candles that carolers hold all remind me of the glorious day when the radiant angels met a group of forgotten, stunned shepherds in Bethlehem, telling them of the birth of the one and only who would save His people from their sins.  These lights also remind us of the star that appeared for the Magi to guide them to the manger.  But our lights are but shadows of the glorious flood of brightness that filled the sky on that awesome Christmas night, and even that sky pales in comparison to the Light that the shining angels proclaimed—the Light of salvation that had been born into the world.

After Christmas Day, most people feel relieved.  The mad rush of shopping and feasting is over.  Normal life can begin again.  This truly is the irony of all in the Christmas season.  Though gift giving is supposed to be a picture of the ultimate gift God gave to mankind in Jesus Christ, His Son, it has been turned into a commercialized frenzy of materialism.  The ultimate Gift frees us from greed and gives us life unto eternal purposes.  The ultimate Gift enables us to know God Himself, giving us peace that passes all understanding.  As Mike and I drove home from church on Sunday morning where we had sung Christmas carols and heard afresh the story of the Savior’s birth, we passed a line of traffic jamming itself into the mall.  I had to marvel.  On the Lord’s Day, people were so wrapped up in shadows and types of Christmas gifts that they had no time to stop and ponder the Lord of Christmas on the day He has gifted for us to rest.

I pray that all of you have found the true joy of Christmas—the joy of knowing Christ Jesus who was born in order to die for the sins of His people and to rise again unto eternal life for all who believe in Him.

Help Me Oppose the Abortion Pill Mandate

Sign This Petition to Stop Obama Care's Abortion Pill Mandate

Our religious freedoms are being stripped from us at an alarming rate.  It's time for Christians to stop putting our heads in the sand and DO SOMETHING.  God help us!