Our first married Christmas together was absolutely wonderful!!! Thanks to all for the warm wishes for us. We enjoyed some new traditions for Joaquim and made some of our own. We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day with my family and then the whole family on Christmas Day, which was very nice. Lots of good food (Dad's homemade pizza! and cookies!) and laughter...and of course presents. Joaquim has been enjoying our Wii for a few solid days. And I got maybe too excited about my Cuisinart panini maker/grill/griddle. Mmmm!
One of my favorite parts to the holiday was the Christmas Eve service on Thursday. It was a beautiful evening and the message really touched me.
"Emmanuel: God with us". The whole focus of the evening was how God is present in and involved with our lives. ...or at least that's what I got out of it. At the end, a few people came onstage and shared how God has provided for them or comforted them or cared for them. Then as the band sang, people started popping up throughout the auditorium, holding signs saying "All will be well...God with us". As the music built and hundreds of people stood to their feet with the signs overhead, I was so moved and suddenly it was like God was tapping my shoulder saying "hey, pay attention...this is for YOU. All will be well. I am with you."
That is such a comforting message: All will be well. It will! No matter what circumstances are facing you down right now (and sometimes approaching a whole new year is daunting...) it will all work out. Not because of positive thoughts or karmic justice, but the sole fact that God is with you.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Marching in the tops of the balsam trees
In 2 Samuel 5, David "inquired of the Lord", as he did often, if he should go attach the Philistines and if the Lord would give him a victory. God's response was so awesome, I just had to share it here... He told David that yes, He would go before Him and defeat the Philistines for him, and gave directions as to when David should go out and fight against them. His 'cue' would be when David heard the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees.
"As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." 2 Samuel 5:24
Can you imagine? They must have been in a forested area, it could have been hard to know exactly where the other army was, and maybe David's victory depended completely on God because He would have no chance otherwise. So he probably informed his army to just sit tight until they heart marching in the treetops. What would that marching be? God's army marching through above them to fight a battle that was just part of a war still raging today? And you have to wonder if at least a few people thought David was totally nuts...or maybe they all just had great faith in God as their deliverer and defender, because they had seen Him prove Himself to them time after time.
God may not make treetops rustle with the sound of boots barreling through very often these days, but He still does make a way for us. Yesterday I was reading my Bible in the morning and I was feeling apprehensive about what else the future could hold. So I just asked God to remind me of his promised plans for us, before I opened His word. I noticed a highlighted page as I flipped through to find where I'd left off, and took a detour into Isaiah. There I saw Isaiah 45:2. "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron." I clung to this verse during the spring of 2007, when I was graduating from Taylor and wondering how the heck God was going to do everything I sensed He was telling me He would. I was thinking about visas to Brazil, dating Joaquim (we hadn't started yet...) and then an international wedding (yes I had high hopes even before dating him!) and...you know...there were LOTS of barriers when I looked at things. So God gave me this verse and very clearly told me that yes, there are barriers. But He is bigger and stronger than they are.
Now this verse encouraged me again, because it seems obstacles never cease. There will always be something that I think we won't make it through, or somewhere we will never arrive. Oh, me of little faith! Thank the Lord for reminding me... what just happened this Monday? Joaquim got his green card in record time, we are married, we are exactly where we're supposed to be.
And how did we get here? Well, there must have been some balsam trees rustling somewhere...
"As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." 2 Samuel 5:24
Can you imagine? They must have been in a forested area, it could have been hard to know exactly where the other army was, and maybe David's victory depended completely on God because He would have no chance otherwise. So he probably informed his army to just sit tight until they heart marching in the treetops. What would that marching be? God's army marching through above them to fight a battle that was just part of a war still raging today? And you have to wonder if at least a few people thought David was totally nuts...or maybe they all just had great faith in God as their deliverer and defender, because they had seen Him prove Himself to them time after time.
God may not make treetops rustle with the sound of boots barreling through very often these days, but He still does make a way for us. Yesterday I was reading my Bible in the morning and I was feeling apprehensive about what else the future could hold. So I just asked God to remind me of his promised plans for us, before I opened His word. I noticed a highlighted page as I flipped through to find where I'd left off, and took a detour into Isaiah. There I saw Isaiah 45:2. "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron." I clung to this verse during the spring of 2007, when I was graduating from Taylor and wondering how the heck God was going to do everything I sensed He was telling me He would. I was thinking about visas to Brazil, dating Joaquim (we hadn't started yet...) and then an international wedding (yes I had high hopes even before dating him!) and...you know...there were LOTS of barriers when I looked at things. So God gave me this verse and very clearly told me that yes, there are barriers. But He is bigger and stronger than they are.
Now this verse encouraged me again, because it seems obstacles never cease. There will always be something that I think we won't make it through, or somewhere we will never arrive. Oh, me of little faith! Thank the Lord for reminding me... what just happened this Monday? Joaquim got his green card in record time, we are married, we are exactly where we're supposed to be.
And how did we get here? Well, there must have been some balsam trees rustling somewhere...
Monday, December 14, 2009
Humbled and Awed
I haven't written lately because I just haven't had the time to contemplate, and I quickly tired of talking about food...because I have been too busy to look for new and exciting recipes. That sure happened fast, didn't it?
Well, lots of things are moving quickly! Green cards are supposed to take 6-9 months to process...but Joaquim received his in the mail today after less than 3 months! Are you jaw-dropped-to-the-floor surprised? Yea, we were too! It wasn't really supposed to come until April or so...and here it is! Merry Christmas!
So, what does this mean? Well, it means that God is at work and this is for a reason. It doesn't mean we're hopping on a plane, because we are realizing we have a lot to stabilize here first...and that will take some time. You can be praying for us at this stage - the only next step we currently have is just that Joaquim is looking high and low for a job. Once that gets taken care of we will be able to plan a bit better for the future, but we're not quite there yet.
Our attitude is really one of amazement, as you could guess from the title of this post. We are just blown away by how smoothly this process has gone until now, and don't want to do anything to mess it up! God's hands are just all over this situation and we're taking every step before Him. He has been very clear about closing some doors as far as jobs go for Joaquim, and that has been interesting...it seems as though everything he has been really close to sealing the deal on, just wasn't good enough to the opportunity fizzled for no apparent reason. I guess that is just me being optimistic that it could only have been God saying "just hold on..." We know there is a really good plan here, but we are still in the dark!
Financially, God has been providing our every single need and blessing us here and there with babysitting jobs and things like a $700 dollar discount on getting the catalytic converter replaced on our car. He is so good, but He is just not letting us plan ahead! I've got to admit it's getting a liiiiittle frustrating. :) I know that in our hearts we plan our ways but God directs our steps. We are doing our best to ask for His guidance in every step and He has been faithful to give it. We know He will continue doing that.
Right now, we are praying about when our first trip to Brazil will be, and how that will go logistically. It will be a quick visit...but even those are expensive! Joaquim is looking into some options for classes at Harper, to potentially lead into further education and training to be a pastor...which would obviously be incredible. It feels as though God is just stirring up the waters, and it is AMAZING to think that Joaquim now has nearly every legal right here in the US that I do...all except voting. He can officially own property and he is eligible for any kind of school and would not be considered an "international student" with all the crazy paperwork involved. Recalling our attempts at planning his studies here a year and a half ago, and how many hurdles we faced, it seems nearly too good to be true that none of that would apply right now. This is just so good...what in the world is next? Stay tuned...
Well, lots of things are moving quickly! Green cards are supposed to take 6-9 months to process...but Joaquim received his in the mail today after less than 3 months! Are you jaw-dropped-to-the-floor surprised? Yea, we were too! It wasn't really supposed to come until April or so...and here it is! Merry Christmas!
So, what does this mean? Well, it means that God is at work and this is for a reason. It doesn't mean we're hopping on a plane, because we are realizing we have a lot to stabilize here first...and that will take some time. You can be praying for us at this stage - the only next step we currently have is just that Joaquim is looking high and low for a job. Once that gets taken care of we will be able to plan a bit better for the future, but we're not quite there yet.
Our attitude is really one of amazement, as you could guess from the title of this post. We are just blown away by how smoothly this process has gone until now, and don't want to do anything to mess it up! God's hands are just all over this situation and we're taking every step before Him. He has been very clear about closing some doors as far as jobs go for Joaquim, and that has been interesting...it seems as though everything he has been really close to sealing the deal on, just wasn't good enough to the opportunity fizzled for no apparent reason. I guess that is just me being optimistic that it could only have been God saying "just hold on..." We know there is a really good plan here, but we are still in the dark!
Financially, God has been providing our every single need and blessing us here and there with babysitting jobs and things like a $700 dollar discount on getting the catalytic converter replaced on our car. He is so good, but He is just not letting us plan ahead! I've got to admit it's getting a liiiiittle frustrating. :) I know that in our hearts we plan our ways but God directs our steps. We are doing our best to ask for His guidance in every step and He has been faithful to give it. We know He will continue doing that.
Right now, we are praying about when our first trip to Brazil will be, and how that will go logistically. It will be a quick visit...but even those are expensive! Joaquim is looking into some options for classes at Harper, to potentially lead into further education and training to be a pastor...which would obviously be incredible. It feels as though God is just stirring up the waters, and it is AMAZING to think that Joaquim now has nearly every legal right here in the US that I do...all except voting. He can officially own property and he is eligible for any kind of school and would not be considered an "international student" with all the crazy paperwork involved. Recalling our attempts at planning his studies here a year and a half ago, and how many hurdles we faced, it seems nearly too good to be true that none of that would apply right now. This is just so good...what in the world is next? Stay tuned...
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