hope
Redemption Story
I’m surrounded by His redemption story this week. I see it vividly in my own life and in living color in the Bible study I am doing right now.
His redemption brings JOY unspeakable, jaw-dropping amazement, and tear-filled eyes.
His redemption is meant for all, should we choose to take it. And I have chosen. I will never look back.
This week I will post my second entry on the Start Marriage Right website. It’s a risky entry as it is deeply personal. But my husband and I knew that when God walked us down the aisle our story would need to be shared. We know this is what God would have.
Our story is one of redemption with many incredible facets, some easy and some hard. And if there is anything we’ve learned over the years as He has written our redemption story and continues to do so, it is that sometimes it is pretty but most often it is the ugly turned into beauty that speaks loudest to the greatness, love and holiness of our Father.
And why would our story be any different than the epic accounts we read of in the Bible? Many of which I could recount here but one in particular that is of utmost timeliness and importance right now.
I’m studying the book of James right now and have one of the {I think} very best Bible study teachers ever. I know little about the man named James, at least until I started this study. And after just two sessions and one week of homework I am amazed. Utterly amazed.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, who once dismissed his brother as Messiah, became one of the pillars of the early church. James, who once mocked the Christ, played a significant role in establishing Christ’s church.
Redemption.
It’s ugly when families dispute and it is really ugly when it is in public for all to see. But God’s redemption plan takes the ugly of the ugliest and makes it stunningly beautiful.
Redemption.
I wonder, as we are surrounded by redemption stories in the Bible and in our own lives, why do we struggle to believe that His redemption is for us too? God is not a respecter of persons, which means He is not partial to anyone. Which means, redemption is for me and for you.
Will we keep our hearts and eyes open to see?
Read MoreWe Request Your Prayers
I sent this email to a bunch of our family members {and I apologize now to any I might have missed, my brain is a little foggy} and thought it best to share it here as well. We covet your prayers right now as we trust our faithful and loving God with our lives and our little Baby Z.
Hi Family :-)
I think many of you have heard already but Peter and I wanted to let you all know what’s going on with us and Baby Z and the detour we’ve had to take as we would appreciate all the prayers in the world right now. We were admitted to the hospital yesterday around noon as I was dilated 3 cm and having contractions. We spent the next 24 hours trying to subdue the contractions and prevent any more dilating.
I continued to dilate to 4 cm but praise God, they were able to keep me from dilating anymore and I am now officially stabilized. My doctors have determined that the best course of action is for me to remain in the hospital on bed rest until our little one arrives. There is no way to predict when the baby will come, we have to simply take each day at a time.
Thankfully, God has kept our little one happy and healthy. S/he is moving around quite a bit and has a super strong {and beautifully sounding} heartbeat. We just need my body to stop thinking it’s time for us to meet this little one face to face. I’m at 29 weeks and 2 days and we would like to be full term of course, but we’ll settle for 34/35 as that’s when the lungs are in best shape.
So we ask you all to please keep us in your prayers. As you may have already concluded, it is also tax season, not the ideal time for a child to be born to an accountant ;-) But truly, we are trusting God in all of this. We have such a peace and trust in His will and His perfect plan. We know He loves this baby even more than we do {thought I must admit it is quite hard for me to grasp that!} and will do what is best for us and for the little one inside of me.
Thank you for all your love and support. As you guys know, our faith brought us to the altar {after a bit of drama :-)} and as we have seen the power of prayer bring our lives together we know He will use prayer to bring us all through this.
Love you all!
Lindsey & Peter
Read MoreWaiting in Hope
I wrote an Open Letter to Matchmakers in this space this week and then later in the week read this blog post on (in)courage about the reality of how hard singleness can be. Both of these inspired me to write a little about my journey through singleness while dealing with the unrelenting desire to be married. I hope it encourages some of you.
I remember wondering if God was ever going to fulfill this longing in my heart. The desire had never really been so intense as it was when I started to follow hard after Him. Perhaps it was that my priorities were a little different before I chose Jesus, or perhaps I just wasn’t aware of this desire lying dormant waiting to be awakened. Maybe it had something to do with the emphasis the church puts on marriage (right or not is not the purpose of this post). No matter, it was so intense that it lead me to prematurely attempt a walk down the aisle.
Read the rest on The Block today.
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