Without Regret

Oh no! It's been a long time since I've updated. Sorry about that, I'm trying to figure out how to schedule this into my week more regularly. So, what has happened since last I wrote? I can't remember exactly. Well, I'm sure we spent lots of time at Gateway House of Prayer, worshipping God, interceding for His will to be made manifest on earth, and resting in the presence of the Lord. Mmmmm. Sounds good huh? Yeah, we do that a lot of our evenings. I'm sure we did some weekly reads of The Hobbit and our marriage book. We had home group in our apartment for the first time. A little snug, but fun nonetheless. And, I did some searching for baked oatmeal recipes for breakfast this weekend.

We also had a lot of fun at the intern retreat this weekend. We had the chance to go a little north to this

amazing cabin with the current interns at Gateway. It was fun, refreshing, inspiring, and relaxing. 

 Here's Jake doing some art at the kids table of course.

 woodpecker

The whole crew in the rain.

The weekend's focus was living a life without regret. The leadership's goal was to give practical tools to help us have a focused life, while also showing us Biblical examples of why it's the way God intended for us to live. Jake and I have been trying to do this for the past year or so. Every Sunday we sit down and schedule out our week, trying to make sure the most important things get put in first, while putting in the extras if there's leftover time. This weekend we realized how much more focus and attention we need to give to what we feel God created us to do. We started asking ourselves, "What steps are we taking now to direct us to the place we want to be later." Our time is the most valuable thing we can give to God because we can never get it back. We have this one life to love and honor Him with everything we have and that takes focus and attention. Jake and I have purposed to be good stewards of this life so that we may stand before God in the end without regrets. We're both grateful for this reminder to live intentionally and circumspectly.

Fort Paurus

So I'm finally starting to get over the little bug I got last week. I'm almost completely rid of symptoms, except a scratchy voice which fooled my dear friend Noelle today when she called and thought a man had answered the phone. :) 

When I'm sick I just want people to take care of me. In fact, I usually think about how nice it would be to have my mom tuck me in and give me a good book to read and some juice to drink and check on me every once in a while. Yeah, I probably need to grow up a little bit in that area. Jake does a great job of taking care of me when I'm sick. Seriously, he amazes me with his selflessness. One night he told me to go lay down in the bedroom and to not come out until I heard music playing. Feeling a little suspicious, I anxiously waited for whatever surprise he had up his sleeve. When I heard the build up of music getting louder, I recognized it right away as the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. When I stepped into our living room I found this:

He put together this awesome fort to curl up under while we read the Hobbit together. It was delightful. I cozied up with a blanket and admired all the unique patterns and textiles we had all around us. I have a wonderful husband.

Vapor

Today, my heart burned for communion with God. Literally, I felt this longing and aching inside of me to spend time with the Lord. Over the next couple hours I felt painfully aware of how short our life is on this earth. A vapor. A breath. Like the flowers of the field. We are here today, gone tomorrow. It's like a minute, a moment, a chance. I'm not promised tomorrow and who knows when the day will be when I meet my Maker. It's a sobering thought, but one that I don't think enough. "The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." 1 Peter 4:7. Keeping your sights set on the end, not in a dismal depressing way, but in a victorious sojourner way, calls for a sober-mindedness and self-control. Everything around us calls our attention on only what you can see and touch and understand. The common worldview is summed up in focusing on yourself and your pursuit of happiness. Here! Now! Success! Riches! Popularity! Indulgence! But we are called to be pilgrims, strangers, sojourners, aliens. We are passing through. This is not where we belong and we all know that to be true deep on the inside. When this is my understanding and my frame of reference for this life, I seem extreme to the people around me. I seem odd and like I don't fit in. I must practice Ephesians 5:15-16 - "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." I desperately need to buy back the seconds, the minutes, the hours, and the days I wasted on worthless things. To live wisely, to walk circumspectly (vigilant, guarded, watchful, prudent). Being aware of the consequences of my every decision, my every step. What is my vision for this life then? To love God with all of my heart, with all of my soul, with all of my mind, and with all of my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is my success, accomplishing those two things. This is my ten year plan, this is my career, this is how I 'waste' my time, this is my divine calling. I was made for it and I am most alive when these are a reality in my life. Jon Thurlow was singing this on the webstream and it seemed to fit perfectly with what I was thinking and feeling.

I want to be tender

I want to be sensitive to You

To all that you are Jesus, and all that You do

So let Your glory have a higher place in my heart

Let Your beauty have a higher place in my heart

Let Your majesty have a higher place in my heart, oh Jesus!!

Because I don't want You to be a familiar stranger to me

Lord I want the fullness of knowing You in intimacy

I've got a moment to decide

I've got less than a minute to move You with one glance of my eye

Life is a vapor fading fast and in less than a moment it will pass

and it will be remembered like a dream in the night

We will remember love! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter remembering and celebrating the victory Jesus has accomplished over sin and death! Yes!! Jesus is risen. He has done it! I am made free! We have been redeemed!

Showtime

This weekend Jake had the opportunity to paint a movie theater theme in someone's basement. I was able to come for the final touches and take some photos. He is so talented! The client loved it so much that he wants Jake to come back and do more and he said he would make sure to drop Jake's info to some of his friends!

Jake pointed out to me that I have a tendency to mix really serious thoughts with very lighthearted ones all in the same blog post. Maybe it would make more sense to do two separate entries, so for now I'll hold off on some of the things going on inside of me. I have a 4 day weekend to look forward to but sadly I just came down with a cold. A laid back weekend sounds like a good plan to me. Happy Thursday!