Hey friends! I'm beginning  a short series on " The fam"! So that, as I share with you a bit about "life"you have a point of reference. They're my favorites and I'm super thankful to walk through life with them so it isn't a hardship I assure you.  Each one of them is a gift from God, that I am sharing with you. You will be able to catch an abbreviated version  of all of them on my " All about family" page. 

Blog Post Part One " The Fam!"
Abbey- She is the one who taught me how to mother. My firstborn, she helped me to see life outside of myself and by her presence stretched my heart so that it increased my capacity to love her and the ones who came after her. Her ability to love others and Jesus from the time she was tiny has constantly inspired me. 

I remember walking through Wal-mart when she was just 4 and she stopped me in my tracks telling me she NEEDED to go tell the people across the aisle about Jesus. Her desire to share Him with others pushed me outside my comfort zone and spurred me on to press into Him ,so I would share this passion and be able to steward this brave soul He had entrusted me with. Abbey began listening to the Lord early on. She started making jewelry from home when she was 10 to give to whomever the Lord laid on her heart. Before we knew it she was in multiple stores across the country and holding trunk shows. She played travel soccer, became a black belt in karate, participated in drama productions at the local college and finished high school at the age of 16. Her Daddy and I weren't ready for her to go off to college so when some family friends Jeremy and Adie Camp asked her to come out on the road and Nanny for them we decided this would be a perfect interim experience. Little did we know that the Lord had planned for her to meet the man that would one day be her husband years later. Life doesn't always go the way we want it to no matter how strong we desire it to, but our God promised He would NEVER leave us!

I have watched Abbey walk through the hardest season of her life these past two years. Hardships she did not ask for. 

She has experienced life as a single mother, and  watched her daddy ( her best friend and the strongest man she knew) battle brain cancer and gain His heavenly reward. Alan was the strongest man both in physique and of character and heart. He had been a rock for Abbey through all of her life and especially through hardships and now during his greatest battle I watched her be everything to her Daddy that He was to her. She was always there to rub his feet, pray over him, and at the end encourage him with every breath that he was doing even this, ( this dying process, this transition from Heaven to Earth) SO WELL!

Right before this battle at just the perfect moment Abbey  reconnected with someone she met while she was the Nanny for Jermey and Adie Camp,who became the love of her life Adam Cappa ( singer and recording artist). He was literally with us the night Alan was diagnosed in the ER, and he has been there ever since. The Lord knew!

Together they have made the sweetest little family. With the Lord as their “Everything” they travel,minister to people, love those around them and are the best Mommy and Daddy Ava Rose could possibly imagine! 

Their story is the embodiment of HOPE and what God’s redemption looks like.

                                                                                                         

Blog about the "Fam " Part 2: 
Nate is my second born and oldest son. When he was just a tiny boy the Lord laid two things on my heart. One, that he had a warriors spirit and two, that he felt things very deeply.

Last trip to Chicago for treatment with his Dad.

When he was just 10 days old he became very sick and was hospitalized with RSV. At that time it was very uncommon and it was the first time I actually heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart.  As a Mama of a new baby I was very scared and the doctor we were using was not accustomed to practicing at the hospital we were using. This was causing a bit of unrest, because the medicine he was prescribing was not one the staff there would have chosen. I still remember receiving a"random" phone call in the hospital room from a casual friend who had heard we were there. This person just happened to know about this medicine and had heard of its success. She was able to relieve any doubts I had in my mind at the time, and I knew that the Lord had gone before us. 
Nate was a fighter and he has been ever since. 
He challenged me daily with his strong opinions and independent spirit. He brought me to the end of myself again and again. He brought me to the perfect place, the throne of God. 

Wedding "sibling love."

I look back on those days and marvel at the Lord's faithfulness. So many days I would fall to my knees by his bed at night, begging the Lord for wisdom and praying over him the godly attributes I wanted him to walk in. I felt like I had no clue what I was doing, but I knew God knew what HE was doing.
At about 13 years of age I was beginning to see glimmers of fruit being born. But let's face it, he was 13! The struggle was real! The Lord had a perfect plan though. He was planning on using a very difficult thing for Nate's good. We were on a family vacation for a week at the lake when a boating accident involving a tube caused Nate to break his leg terribly. I can still feel my heart pounding the way it was the moment my husband and I raced to the dock and saw Nate's ankle positioned at an odd angle pointing the complete opposite direction. It was a rough 45 minutes to the nearest emergency room followed by a 3.5 hr drive to Children's Hospital in Little Rock.
I watched my strong, fighting boy weep in pain over the next few weeks and fight for joy. We prayed and tried not to worry when the doctor didn't know if his leg would heal completely and watched Nate press into the Lord and find out He was real! 
Over the next few years Nate did heal completely with a big scar to remind him of the Lord's faithfulness. He played amazing football and even became a great kicker with that foot! He became completely sold out and devoted to Jesus.  He spent hours in his room with his guitar praising his Savior.
That experience and walking through this last year with his Daddy's battle with brain cancer, as well as a medical mission trip led Nate to choose to pursue medicine.

Medical mission trip.

The past couple of years the Word of God has become Nate's true daily bread. The Lord has risen him up as a protector of his family, a lover of those lost and wandering and a truth speaker and intense pursuer of all things good and pure.
He is a freshman in college. A former soccer player, black belt and football player. His work ethic learned at his Daddy's side is relentless but is balanced by how he loves nothing more than to be with his family! I praise God for the strength God has filled him with.

                       Uncle Nate with Ava.

When Rejoicing is a battle cry!

What is rejoicing?

How do we do it?

Why do we do it?

When does the Lord do it?

Why is it a command?

Webster defines “rejoice” as – to feel or show you are very happy about something.  Dictionary.com says , ” to be full of joy.” Vocabulary.com says, ” To rejoice is to be incredibly happy, or to express your happiness. If you just won millions in the lottery…

This is the verse that stopped me in my tracks beloved.

” Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired

of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.”( Phil. 3:1)

Wow! That kind of blew me away. Whatever happens? But Lord….

How is it possible to rejoice…whatever happens?

You tell us :

When we take refuge in you we can rejoice. ( Ps. 5:11)

When we are rescued we can rejoice.( Ps.13:5)

When injustice is avenged we can rejoice. ( Ps. 58:10)

We rejoice in your presence. (Ps.68:4)

We rejoice in your laws.(Ps. 119:14)

We rejoice in your word like one who discovers great treasure.( Psalm 119:162)

Your word even tells us how you rejoice over us when:

We commit ourselves to you like a bride to her groom. ( Isaiah 62:5)

You rejoice over us with joyful songs. You take delight in us and with your love calm our fears. ( Zeph. 3:17)

Paul said he would rejoice in the Lord even if his life was poured out as a liquid offering.(Phil. 3:1)

David said, ” I know , my God that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. ” ( 1 Chron.29:17)

All of these verses are TRUTH but I want to focus on two of them because I believe in them lies the key to unlocking the mystery of Why rejoicing…

In the Philippians passage , Paul told us to rejoice, whatever happens, in all things because it would safeguard our faith. In the Psalm 119 passage, we are told we ,” Rejoice in His word, like one who discovers great treasure! ”  Could that be the secret to rejoicing? The secret that safeguards our faith. If rejoicing means to be full of joy and incredibly happy as one who won the lottery,is this what makes it possible? The Lord tells us SO clearly that we can rejoice in His word like one who discovers great treasure because we ARE discovering great treasure. We are discovering that God in His infinite wisdom packed everything we need for life and godliness in this sacred book He left us! IT teaches us how to safeguard our faith, how to renew our minds, how to trust when all around us is shadows.

The Kingdom of God is not for the faint of heart. But take heart my beloved friends, He Has overcome! When our hearts feel the most faint. He renews our strength. We are able to mount up with wings like eagles, to run and NOT grow weary, to walk and NOT faint. 

( Praying before an appointment)

Our gracious Father knew that this life would be hard but also very precious. We would experience great joy and great sorrow. But in His loving kindness He created us with a deep need and desire for Him and then He equipped us with this “Treasure”. That would comfort us when we mourned, guide us when we were searching, strengthen us when we were weak. If we choose to rejoice in our sufferings , and rejoice in our blessings we would be strengthened and by that our faith would be safeguarded.

Sometimes rejoicing comes so easily. It is an overflow of a full heart! Life is good! His blessings abound! We see goodness all around us!

Then sometimes rejoicing is a choice. It is actually a battle cry. We are in the midst of great suffering. Our hearts KNOW that the Lord is good and yet we are in the middle of “hard”.  We declare it through tears and weeping.

Did you know that the purpose of a battle cry during war was to express solidarity and intimidate the enemy?

We are about to step on Holy ground my friends!

This is where it gets exciting! His word is SO true!

Psalm 8:2 ”  From the mouths of children and infants you have brought forth praise to silence your enemy.”

We are in a BATTLE! But we are NOT alone! We stand with Christ and we stand together.

Praise from the mouths of  children and infants can silence the enemy! We are told to rejoice in ALL things to safeguard our faith. We can choose to do this! It is our choice to obey that command. With obedience comes so much blessing. Who will take up the battle cry with me dear ones? I need my mind to be renewed daily through His word,of His power for

” Those who HOPE.” I desire to shout the battle cry daily, ” REJOICE!”

REJOICE, in all things! The Lord is near to the broken hearted. A bruised reed He does not break. A smoldering candle he does not extinguish. Rather, He strengthens the weary. He is enough my friends. He is more than enough.  Whatever your battle, it is the same battle cry. I will cry it with you!

I leave you with this beautiful passage from David. I have lost count of how many times I have read it today. May His Spirit lift you up in His mighty strength as you rejoice!

” Yours, O Lord is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

Everything we have, has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.

O Lord , the God of our ancestors Abraham, Issac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes.”  ( I Chron. 29:11-18)

When strangers become family.

What joy for those whose strength comes from the Lord,

Who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

When they walk through the Valley of Weeping.

It will become a place of refreshing springs.

The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.

They will continue to grow stronger,

and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem. ( Psalm 84)

This past week I was privileged to make a quick trip to California. A beautiful place that I have never been.  I had some air miles Alan and I had been saving for an anniversary get away ” some day”.  Instead ,I used them to fly out with Abbey and Adam and help with Ava while they spoke at a high school and led worship at a church. It was a sweet place of refreshment. Not because we sat around a pool with a fruity drink in hand, but rather because I was blessed to see a different part of the body of Christ. ( even better) I met dear people who embraced us like family, who have been praying for us for a long time though they have never met us face to face. Who literally enveloped our hearts in such a sweet sincere love that we were no longer strangers but ” instant family” joined by God’s Spirit.

( Ava loves sound check, but mostly she loves being with her Mom and Dad.)

The Lord has been speaking to my heart  directing me to take certain steps. One of them being to be still and rest and he would begin connecting me to new parts of the body of Christ. This was a sweet confirmation to the beginning of that.

He has been reminding me that we are on a pilgrimage. A pilgrim – (from the Latin peregrinus) is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place.

What that means is that we are to remain moveable.  Our roots are not to grow down so deeply in anything ,but our Lord ; that they would tear; when we are pulled up and moved. This does not mean that we don’t invest where He has placed us right now. But, it does mean that we are ever listening to His voice. We are ready to go where He says go, to speak when He says speak or even to be silent when He says be silent. We should never be so mindful (worried) of what others think, or where we have grown comfortable that we cannot be obedient.

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him

Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness. ( Colossians 2:7)

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, ( Hope is what we hold tightly to, not things or places or even people.)

For God can be trusted to keep His promise.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  ( Heb.10)

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.

( Ava helping sing “You Sustain Me”, during sound check)

The Lord knew that we would need one another for this journey. He has not asked us to walk it alone but rather to encourage one another, to “motivate” one another to love and good works. He told us to ” hold tightly” to the HOPE we have in Christ. Every sojourner needs a good staff for those steep places, that seem so difficult to scale. What better staff to be able to pick up and plant in the next hard place than HOPE. We should be taking it with us everywhere we go. With every place we plant that staff, let it be a declaration that we are moving forward…with HOPE! Hope is what precedes us and hope is what pulls us into that place of advancing. Our hope in Christ!

Our Hope is in Christ that He renews our strength. That even when we walk through the darkest valley we will not have to be afraid because He lights a lamp for us. The Lord our God lights up the darkness!

I don’t know what your “Valley of Weeping” looks like but the Lord says, when you  set your mind on the pilgrimage, HE will be your strength, and that “valley” will become a place of refreshing springs! It will be clothed in blessings and YOU will become stronger!

This world is not our home my friends, we are on a journey to a holy city, AND, there can be joy and strength for the journey when we fix our eyes on Him and come alongside each other. May He bless you on your journey.