i love...

that you wait to catch my eye from across the room and wink at me. 

to be honest, it still makes my heart melt.

photo: niki taylor

Disney on Ice

Stella's big Christmas gift was tickets to Disney on Ice. She waited patiently for 2 months (mostly b/c she didn't know what to expect) and enjoyed the show so much! She got her picture taken w/ her "twin" and loved the skating, music and princesses. Ruby got to enjoy the show too. Daddy was a good sport, as always, but is looking forward to throwing rough and tough boy stuff into the princess mix in 6 more weeks!

"It's great to be at Curves! How may I help you?"

Those words rolled from my tongue pretty consistently for the first 3 years of living in MI. God provided a fun job for me that I really enjoyed managing a few different Curves workout facilities in our area.  

I was taken back to those good old days at Curves with a recent post of Noel Piper's. I couldn't help but think how cool it would be to work in the Curves where she attends and the many 1/2 hours we could fill talking about missions, biographies, Bethlehem, women's ministry, and the list could go on and on (not that I would have much to contribute, but I would enjoy firing tons of questions and listening to her responses!).


But then, my mind wandered back to a wonderful pastor's wife I did follow around the circuit for many 1/2 hours back when I was a new wife -  and seminary wife - at that. She had 2 small girls and she and her husband were in the first year of an exciting church plant in the area. She was venturing into home schooling her oldest daughter at that time as well.


We seemed to click right away. I loved talking with her about ministry and their seminary years and couldn't help but feel an instant bond between the way she and her husband did things and the way Matt and I were endeavoring to do things in our young marriage. 


I remember those conversations so fondly and the way they served me so well then and even still, and think of what a privilege it was to know Kim Brown then and even more so to have her as MY pastor's wife now. I love you, Kim!

qualities of true love

love seems to be the theme of several recent posts. we are still going thru the qualities of love from the month of february but are winding down our study. we've used some transcripts of john macarthur's "qualities of true love" series and they have been excellent as we try to define and seek ways to apply this great virtue.


today was especially convicting. 1 cor 13:7a, "love bears all things." defined, it means, "...Love, out of regard, respect, and honest concern for the real value of another person, will do everything it can to cover up and suppress the sin of that person. Genuine love is reluctant to drag a scandal in front of anyone. So when Paul says that love 'bears all things' he's not talking about enduring a trial, he's talking about covering the ugliness in someone else's life." and then macarthur uses the cross reference of 1 Peter 4:8b--"...love covers a multitude of sins" and describes it as "love being a big huge blanket that runs around throwing itself over people's faults...not exposing them."

and where does this bring us, but again to the foot of the cross where redeeming love not only covered our sin but took it away. the latter is something we obviously can't do for others...but what if i, with God's help, lovingly and graciously covered over another person's sin and ugliness in his/her life instead of replaying it in my mind and exposing it to others? wouldn't this go a long way in leading that person to the One who won't just cover it, but can take his/her sin away for good?

one way dr. custer has influenced my parenting

i hear myself telling the girls over and over something i learned in ethics class in college. dr. custer was teaching on the christian ethic of love from 1 corinthians 13 and said, "we must remember people are more important than things." i hear that instruction replaying in my mind nearly every time i tell stella to love her sister more than she loves a neat room...and ruby to love her sister more than she loves her toys....and myself to love my kids and the opportunities i have to serve them and teach them more than i love peace and quiet and time to think my own thoughts and do my own thing. 


"and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love." (1 corinthians 13.13)

so happy for them to be working together peacefully to clean-up. we'll keep working on it, but i wasn't sure how soon i would see it again so i had to snap a picture of it!

Oh the Precious Blood!

One of my favorite answers Matt gave at the ordination council last week followed a series of questions he was asked about if there was anything special about Christ's blood. Finally someone said, "Well then how do you explain 1 Peter 1:19 when the writer calls Jesus' blood 'precious'?" Matt answered, "Because of the amazing work His death accomplished." Amen! Even still I can't think through that answer without tearing up. My redemption was costly and indeed that is why His blood is precious.


Following are some pictures from the council. We are still praising God for His grace that has brought us to this point!

2 Timothy 2:1, 2

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 

On July 18, Matt, Lord willing, will become the 3rd generation of those called "Pastor Owen". We are hopeful that all 3 will be able to be in attendance. We're so thankful for Dad who was Matt's pastor for a few decades and my pastor for a few years. He truly is a blameless man.

Our wonderful Pastor, Ken, who is an example in every way of what it means to be a shepherd of God's flock.

The following passage was read as the council convened:

1 Timothy 3:1-7

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

The Council

"My job is to keep him in the pulpit." - Bethan Lloyd-Jones

(HT: graceforeverygoodworkandword)