Good Friday

Many of us treat Good Friday as we would any other day. We get so busy that we forget the importance of this day. What's worse is that many of us live our whole lives in the same way. We go about our daily lives forgetting the importance of each and every day. The Word tells us that each day we're given is a gift from above. What if we really lived with that in mind?

We all know what happened on Good Friday. Jesus was crucified and died for our sins so we can live eternally with Him. Often, we hear that and treat it as if someone just said, "Vegetables are good for you." We know the truth and have heard it so much, we grow numb to it.

Think back to what it was like for the disciples or Jesus' close friends and family on Good Friday. Think about the hopelessness and despair they were feeling between Friday through Sunday morning. Their reason for living, their hope died that dark day. Then on Sunday morning, some friends and Jesus' mother went to the tomb to mourn the death of their friend and son. But the tomb was empty, and Jesus was alive! Their sadness and mourning quickly turned to joy and gladness when they found out that Jesus had risen from the dead. I know from that moment on, they had hope again.

So many people live their whole lives as if the only time they were alive was between Good Friday and Easter Sunday (before finding out Jesus rose from the dead). But we don't have to live in hopelessness and despair because...

"God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His son and forgave our sins." (Ephesians 1:5-7)

We are free! God chose us, despite our shortcomings and issues. He chose to sent Jesus to die a horrible death so we can live in freedom! We don't have to focus on all our problems. God can take away fear, rejection, hopelessness, worry, depression, etc. So let's live out our lives with grateful hearts to a God who gave it all for us! We have no reason to live in darkness anymore, for Jesus came to give us light. Have a Good Friday and a Happy Easter!

Fruit

Hi everyone! It's been a while (sorry about that). Since the last time I've posted anything, a lot has happened, but the biggest change is that we moved. No, not back to the south, but just down the road to a different house. But we love it! Pictures of the new place to come soon!

But on another note, Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a couple days behind, but it's better late than never. We had a wonderful time visiting with friends, cooking incredible food, doing Black Friday shopping, and decorating the house for Christmas.

We had a game night on Tuesday.

We had a little bit of fun.

We played Cranium...

...and a new game where we put pillows on our heads to look like an Egyptian Pharaoh.

I'm sure you all had wonderful food over the weekend. Turkey is the primary food in the Thanksgiving meal, but at least to me, it's the sides that make the meal go from good to amazing, like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, green beans, pumpkin pie, etc. I was reading a verse about fruit, which made me think of the holidays since sweets are so prevalent in holiday baking...

"When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father." -John 15:8

Plants are designed with a purpose in mind. God sends the rain and sunshine to make crops grow and constantly nurtures every plant so it can blossom and produce fruit. When a pumpkin vine bears much fruit, God is glorified. He made it all happen, so He is glorified when a plant fulfills its purpose. We are also designed with a purpose in mind. When we bear much fruit (i.e. have a relationship with Him and act on our faith), God is glorified. If we're not producing fruit in our lives, then we're not where we should be with God. But what's so awesome is that He will help you get there! God meets you where you are. So ask God for help, and He'll come to you.

Psalm 102

A lot has happened since I have last posted anything on here, but I only have one thing on my heart. The devastation occurring throughout the south, particularly Alabama, has been constantly on my heart and mind. Since I haven't seen the destruction with my own eyes, it feels unreal. I've only seen photos and videos, but what I've seen is unrecognizable to me. I can only imagine what it feels like to have lived through the tornados. I'm so grateful that my loved ones are safe and okay with minimal damage. I'm also grateful that God protected our house in Alabama. The tornado was about a mile away from the house, and our house was a few feet of being flooded. I am praying for those who did lose all they had. The only way they'll survive and truly live again is by the grace of God. I can't wait for the day when God rebuilds the cities and people's lives!

Psalm 102 is such a comfort to anyone overwhelmed with troubles. When I was reading it the other day, anytime I saw Jerusalem, I would replace it with Tuscaloosa. This psalm was written with you in mind.

Lord, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
² Don’t turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down to listen,
and answer me quickly when I call to you.
³ For my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
⁴ My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
⁵ Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like an owl in the desert,
like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
⁷ I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
⁸ My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
⁹ I eat ashes for food.
My tears run down into my drink
¹⁰ because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
¹¹ My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
I am withering away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
Your fame will endure to every generation.
¹³ You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
¹⁴ For your people love every stone in her walls
and cherish even the dust in her streets.
¹⁵ Then the nations will tremble before the Lord.
The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem.
He will appear in his glory.
¹⁷ He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
He will not reject their pleas.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for future generations,
so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord.
¹⁹ Tell them the Lord looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked down to earth from heaven
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.
²¹ And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion,
his praises in Jerusalem,
²² when multitudes gather together
and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.

²³ He broke my strength in midlife,
cutting short my days.
²⁴ But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
don’t take my life while I am so young!
²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
and discard them.
²⁷ But you are always the same;
you will live forever.
²⁸ The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children’s children
will thrive in your presence.”

In the first part of this psalm, the writer is pouring out his heart to God. He's telling God all of his problems. I can picture him down on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, crying out for help. I love how verse 27 begins. It begins with the simple word "but." Even though all of this destruction happened, God is still God. He is still worthy of all our praise. He is always the same. I love the last line, "We will live in security." We can't be secure in our circumstances, but we should be secure because of God's character.

I'm believing in this psalm. God

Joy in Trials

"Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. " James 1:2-3

There's a lot going on with me personally. I'm not going to go too much in depth since they involve others, but I will share some struggles and things on my heart. My grandparents almost died this week (not even due to their particular illnesses), and along with that I'm dealing with some anger at family members. I'm struggling with the job search. It intimidates, frustrates, and discourages me. And I'm having a tough time being joyful at this particular time.

Yesterday, everything hit me at the same time. I tend to avoid emotions until I explode. I didn't explode, but I did end up having to deal with everything at the same time. I got on Facebook and saw a quote from a local pastor, Judah Smith, "First things first...Focus FIRST on God's love for you, not your love for Him. 1 John 4:19" That was just what I needed to hear, so I decided that I needed to listen to worship music.

God put everything in perspective for me. He consistently does that. While listening to music, a Father by Hillsong was playing, and a few verses really stuck out to me,

"You restore the broken hearted

You bring freedom to the captive

For one and all

Forever this means love"

God is so kind. Even when I'm not kind or faithful, He is consistently kind and faithful. He was showing me His love when I was being anything from loving. He's done so much for me, so how can I not be joyful?

You can't say that God doesn't know what He is doing. I'm studying the book of James, the guy who told us to be joyful whenever we experience trials. It's not a coincidence that I read and studied this verse today.

"Trials don't get to steal from followers of Christ unless we hand over the goods (Beth Moore)." How many times have we handed over our goods and completely given up? If we give up and surrender to satan, we end up building up his kingdom. But the testing of our faith produces endurance or perseverance. Perseverance means nerving oneself, like a person determined to stay on her feet, holding tight to Jesus, while storm wings try to toss her like a rubber duck on a swelling sea (Beth Moore). I want to persevere, not surrender and hand over my goods.

Perseverance must finish its work in us, so we will be perfect, lacking nothing. (v4)

"If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5

James brings up another thing, wisdom, we may lack that we need to become "perfect." We need wisdom to know what to do with knowledge. Verse 5 says all you need to do is ASK GOD FOR WISDOM. It's that simple, but read verses 6-8.

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do." James 1:6-8

I definitely don't want to be characterized as unstable or double-minded, but when I'm doubting and not living by faith, that's exactly what I am--unstable and double-minded. Being double-minded means living for both God and the world. But we're called to live only for God. If I speak things but don't really believe them, I'm being double-minded. If I claim to be for God and speak perverse words, then I'm being double-minded. It comes down to faith: Do we really believe what we say we believe? We must go to God with confidence that we've already received it, and be grateful in advance for what you know you will receive. That's faith, and that's living for God. Doubt robs us of wisdom, but also other priceless provisions. "Faith receives more than it asks. Doubt loses more than it disbelieved (Beth Moore)." There's a lot at stake!

If we are double-minded, we are also unstable. I love the comfort of this verse:

"He is your constant source of stability." Isaiah 33:6

[Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.]

1 Kings 18:21

Instead of Baal, insert whatever is taking place of God in that blank, perhaps the world.

I don't know if any of what I said made sense, but it does in my brain. I write this for encouragement for others and myself. Instead of letting satan rob me of my joy, I'm going to hold tight to God and only follow Him.

So what are you going to do with all you're going through?

White As Snow

"Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." Isaiah 1:18 NLT

On Tuesday night, we were blessed with a beautiful snow shower. Unfortunately it melted throughout the night (weird Seattle weather--we woke up to rain). But I definitely enjoyed it while it lasted. The girls (what I call my two dogs) and I went outside late at night to play in the snow. Notice all the dog footprints. They had a blast out there!

As you can tell by Kona's beard, she had lots of fun in the snow. She was constantly eating it, as if she hadn't eaten in days!

Marlowe also had fun. She was eating the snow like it was going out of style as well (and I guess it did kind of go out of style); she just doesn't have a beard, so the snow doesn't stick to her.

Snow is so beautiful, and I don't think it's because I'm not used to it. It's beautiful for its stark white color. It covers up dirt and other stuff. Our yard mostly consists of dirt and pine needles, so when I walk outside, my shoes are always dirty. When it snows, I bring no dirt in the house.

Though our sins are like scarlet, God will make them as white as snow. When it snows, I'm reminded of what Jesus did for us on the cross. He took away all the dirt and grime from our lives and covered us with snow, His salvation for our lives.

Change

God has been teaching me a lot about change and how to adapt to it. God didn't intend for life to be lived comfortably. Jesus definitely didn't live a comfortable life, but thank God he didn't! If he lived a comfortable life, we would have no hope and no reason for living. I like comfort. I like coming home to my house, sitting on my couch, eating food I love, and spending time with people (and dogs) I love. But I want to do more with life than that. I want to have purpose, and just doing things I like to do day in and day out won't fulfill anyone.

This summer I was actively looking for a job, and nothing seemed to feel right. The school I worked at last year didn't work out. Fast forward a couple months, and I had an interview at another school system. Well, during this time we found out Chris's grandma had pancreatic cancer (beginning of July). It was stage 4 and really progressive. It was in her pancreas, lymph nodes, and liver when it was found. She died July 30th, the day of my interview. I didn't feel right going to the interview when I felt like Christopher needed support, but he and his family encouraged me to go, so I drove 3 hours from Montgomery to Decatur. The interview actually did go well, but can you say bad timing?! It seems like God closed every door for me in Huntsville, which I didn't understand for another week.

A week or so goes by and Christopher found out that his job will be ending in October. Boeing really worked hard for him though and found him some job openings in Huntsville and one in Seattle. We continually prayed and felt like God was leading us to Seattle. This was where we had to decide to listen to God or decide to live comfortably. It would have been so easy to say we're staying in Huntsville. We have a house, a church we love, amazing friends, and it's close to family and football.

After about a week of deliberation, Christopher accepted the Seattle job with Boeing. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the move and what's going to happen, but we're choosing to trust in the one who told us to go. He knew that Christopher would have his dream career at this time, working on commercial planes. He knew that we were leaving not only for career choices, but also to help others, particularly the 89% of people that aren't Christians. I heard Rick Warren say that in your later years, you'll regret the good you didn't do in life far more than the mistakes you made. We don't want to pass up an opportunity to show Christ's love to a city that doesn't see much of it. And I know things will be okay because we're doing what we're supposed to do. I admit that this has been very difficult. It's the toughest decision either of us have had to make. I've never really made any sacrifices to God, but now I'm sacrificing comfort for obedience. But amazingly, God has given me comfort throughout this time. I decided to study Paul's life, thinking it really wouldn't apply to me. I picked up a book I had but had never read called To Live Is Christ by Beth Moore. I couldn't have read it at a better time! God's timing is so perfect! There was a quote by Beth Moore that really spoke to me: "God will never take you anywhere he hasn't already prepared for your arrival."

God knew from the day that Christopher and I were born that we would end up obeying his call on our lives. Though we don't know what's going to happen, he's already prepared our arrival in Seattle. Now that is praiseworthy! Without our God we should fear to move; but when He tells us to go it would be dangerous to tarry (Charles Spurgeon). The only thing I should fear is God!

Matthew 6:28-30 is so comforting to hear. God is so good and so faithful. He is providing comfort throughout this transition already, and I know He will continue to do so. We're leaving the south for a time, but we'll be back plenty to visit. We will definitely miss everyone so much, but know that all of our family and friends are welcome to visit us anytime! We really appreciate all the prayers. Let us know how we can pray for you. You are such a blessing in our lives, and we are so grateful for every one of you!

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers." Philemon 1:4

-Christie

Lately

Dear Whoever Is Reading This,

Sorry I'm so delinquent on blog postings. I can't believe the summer is almost over! This summer has been productive and lazy at the Elm household. The laziness comes only from me. We've done much needed projects around the house this summer, and all I can think after they're done is, "Why didn't we do this earlier?" We've painted, bought and assembled patio furniture, placed boards in attic to create more storage, organized and decluttered the house. I feel like a new woman! I'll have to post pictures of the house soon, but I have no storage on my computer so it may not be for a while.

God has also taught me a lot this summer. I've read a lot of books, but the two that have really been helpful are "So Long, Insecurity..." by Beth Moore and "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan. Insecurity is something that either is always present or just crops up during our weakest moments, when we're most vulnerable. Insecurity has always had a grip on me, but in different forms. I used to be really insecure about my body image, then insecurity became circumstantial. When I was weak, I would become insecure about anything and everything. This book taught me that "I am clothed in strength and dignity, and I laugh without fear of the future. (Proverbs 31:25)" And I truly believe this about myself. A job doesn't change my worth; I am still clothed with strength and dignity. I did enjoy my summer because I laughed without fear of the future. Every person deserves to feel this way about themselves.

God also taught and inspired me through Francis Chan. The "Forgotten God" in his book is the Holy Spirit. I am guilty of frequently quenching the Holy Spirit. I'll feel Him leading me to do something or to not do something, and I'll ignore Him and do what I want to do. Think about how a butterfly becomes a new creation. It begins as a caterpillar, then one day, it takes a long nap and wakes up as a beautiful butterfly. It not only looks different, but it can fly and do new things. We should be the same when we become a Christian. We become a new creation, but too often, we don't look any different or act as if we can do anything new. When the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in us, we should look and act differently. God can do a whole lot more than we can on our own, and if God is in us, we have newfound strength and are a brand new creation. We shouldn't act like those who don't have the Holy Spirit inside of us. I haven't been acting any different than non Christians. I need to follow where the Spirit leads me. Things are changing a lot in our lives right now (which I'll talk about later), and I need to follow the Spirit more than ever. I now have love, joy and peace like I've never had before because I'm obeying. Though our circumstances aren't ideal, no one can take my joy away from me.

-Christie

Politics

So many people treated this election the way that the Jews treated the politics of Rome. The Jews were waiting for a King, a political leader, to deliver them. Instead they got Jesus, which is so much better. Jesus died because they were looking for the wrong things. It's amazing to me how closely this parallels with what is going on today. People think that America is going to crumble because of a president. That's what checks and balances are for. People have forgotten who is ultimately in charge--God. That's all that matters and all that ever will. So to all those who believe in God and think America may fall apart, I challenge you to believe God. Believe He is in control of America and the world, not any one person on this planet.

-Christie

Life is Busy. I miss Kona.

Today I have been thinking how drastically Christopher's and my life are going to change. In the next seven months, we will be married, graduated, and (hopefully) working. We will most likely be living in a new city, maybe in a new state making new friends. It's exciting but scary at the same time. I'm really not very scared because I am excited for change. I like being comfortable but I think it's time for a change. It makes it easier knowing that I won't be alone; Christopher (and Kona and maybe even another baby...by baby, I mean dog) will be with me. I know God will provide us with everything we need, whether it be money, shelter, food, etc. I'm really now worried about money because I'm pretty certain that we will both have jobs and will make plenty to survive. Even with the bad economy, teachers and engineers are always needed. 

I have been trying to live my life according to Isaiah 26:8--"Our desire is for Your name and renown." God is most glorified when He is able to show his great power and glory. If we have pride and are too busy talking about how great we are, then how can He show his glory? It's simple--we have to get rid of our pride and look to God who is able to do" immeasurably more than all we can ask for or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)." Even during football games, I pray that the team and/or fans that glorify God the most will win (Alabama fans, don't try to kill me for that). It's not that I want to lost the game, but I want God to win more. I want to make God's name famous, but to do that, I need to act more like Him. I try but am often not successful. I will strive to do this for the rest of my life, with the help of God, Christopher, and my friends and family. I will continue to pray that the journey that Christopher and I will be taking soon will allow us to make God famous, and I know that God will take care of that because He is in control. 

P.S. I miss Baby Kona! It's way too quiet here, and I have no one to walk or cuddle with at night...except my turtle, but that would be nasty.

-Christie