REALity

With so many sad things happening in the World, it is easy to be sad. Right now, the Lord is reminding me that these things "are a shadow of the things that (are) to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." (Col 2:17)




So, while we can only see what is right in front of us - allow the Holy Spirit to remind you that there is another reality where there is no more pain or brokeness, and where all these sad things fit into the Lord's sovereign plan. Focus on that REALity today.

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Jesus Christ." Ephesians 2:6

Wedding!

I just saw a magazine Ben and I are in - so fun! It makes me remember how perfect and BLESSED our wedding day was:)

Alabama Weddings : Booksamillion.com (Magazine)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have heard it said that reading the Bible is like reading God's love letter to us ... so wouldn't it make sense that the verses are just like valentine cards?! Happy Valentine's Day!

Just passing through

I woke up this morning - realizing the full magnitude of the day: my sister is having her first baby today, my aunt just had her baby, Ben's mom just got out of surgery, he and I are traveling this afternoon, and of all things - it is my 29th birthday, TODAY. We just have lots of things happening right now - life is just packed with transitions and changes, TODAY!

As I am soaking this all in, praying for this child, and trying to relax with my coffee - my wise aunt dixie emailed me, and I just can't help but share:

"Travel well, Travel safely, Travel- realizing that is a picture of what we do with life --- we're just traveling through."

This reminds me of the Israelites; traveling for YEARS - can you even imagine the amount of change that happened over, say, 29 years of their life?! And, every single day of their journey the Lord went ahead of them and provided for them. What an amazing picture of the way He is moving ahead of us, ushering us into new seasons of life, and taking care of us the whole way. Amazing. Hold tight to Jesus today - He is the only constant in our journey through this world:)

My aunt Dixie says, "Life is all about learning to recover." In my devotion a few days ago, Beth Moore wrote "Christ gave us the ministry of reconciliation." Both of these phrases insinuate constant action: learnING and ministry. Both phrases assume a constant need for recovery and reconciliation. Both writers know the brokenness of this world we live in - both have experienced deep pain and heartache and both have been redeemed and reconciled to God the Father through His deep love and mercy for us, given through Jesus Christ.

With a little time off of work to ponder the miracle of (in the words of my five year old nephew) "The maker of us coming to live with us" - KNOW that "the maker of us" came to redeem the brokenness and loss of the past year or years. He came so that our sorrow may be turned into gladness. He came so that we may live for eternity with our heavenly Father. Praise Him!

This year, allow God to continue His good work of reconciliation and recovery in your heart - and then go into a hurting and broken world to help others learn to recover and be reconciled with God, and with each other - through Christ's love and mercy constantly covering and redeeming.

..."while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:13-14

I just made some note cards to help me memorize the first 8 verses of Proverbs 3 - I thought I would share. I don't know about you - but I need it in my soul today:)

Yesterday my sweet husband took me on a date to the HIGH museum of art in Atlanta! So sweet and fun! It also marked the one year anniversary of when we started dating last year - and one of our first dates was to the HIGH - can you tell which picture is from this year or last?!

There were a few "give-aways" - like the current exhibition with Andy Warhol prints in the one from this year, and if you can read the dates on the stickers! Anyways - it was awesome! The current exhibit is titled, "From Picasso to Warhol" - basically - a road to abstraction. It included 14 artists including:

Giorgio de Chirico (which Ben was particularly interested in!)

Jackson Pollock (I am always especially drawn to the energy of his extreme process - driven pieces - Ben thought they were pretty ridiculous!)

Warhol, of course:)

Alexander Calder (I am teaching first grade about them right now!):

Constantin Brancusi:

Henry Matisse!!!!! SOOO COOL!!!

Of course, Picasso:

Ben got a little frustrated with the taking of the pictures!

I thought it was so cool they let you - I don't think I have ever been to a museum where you were not only allowed to take pictures - but encouraged to do so! They had an "app" you could download to your phone - and then when you took pictures of the art, your phone would tell you about the piece! Crazy! Pretty amazing what technology can do today!

There were also works from: Mondrian, Duchamp (this was THE most interesting to try to explain to Ben- ha!), Miro, Leger, Bourgeois, Jasper Johns, and Romare Bearden! For more info: http://www.high.org/

It was pretty awesome to see all these works together. Our one big criticism was that there wasn't a clear path through the exhibit - we doubled back several times to find certain things we wanted to see and then once we were out - realized we had missed the whole Calder room! Altogether - we would both highly recommend going to see the exhibit - just make sure to check off all the artists you are suppose to see before leaving!