So Is God's Correction To Me...A Sign That He Loves Me...

I check the blog...
Five months passed...
Five months & one day.

How do the days trickle by & the months pass so quickly? 

Happy April! 🌷

A few weeks back I told both MaKayla & Mal that the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day was for the outdated blog to be updated. That's it. That's all. Nothing else. And if you're visiting for the first time in awhile, you can tell that they jumped right on my request. Working together... Side-by-side... And after a few long days... It was done & I was thrilled. ♥ Fresh pictures. Unnecessary components removed. A new music play list. The previous one kept throwing errors & playing advertisements which was something that drove me loony so, after much research, we decided it was worth a small monthly expense to create our own list of sounds that we regularly listen to here at home & make it available to you in yours. :) If only I could provide flickering candlelight as well... :) We'd like you to try it & let us know what you think... Unlike the one before, you will need to click the play button in order for it to produce sound rather than it automatically playing. As well, if you desire to listen from your phone, you will need to download a Spotify app.

It's hard to compile life's happenings over the past five months... So many happenings. So much learning. Innumerable experiences & a plethora of lessons. In it all & through it all God keeps teaching & correcting & guiding & strengthening... Grace upon grace. ♥ Daily instruction laced with His continual, unconditional presence. For such, my heart is inexplicably grateful.

I will share that after much prayer & consideration, the Lord repetitively showed me & faithfully confirmed in my heart that He wanted my word for the year of 2017 to be...

HUMILITY.

As I look back on the last post that I put together before such a lapse, I find that the word He so specifically placed on my heart, mirrors the very thing He was preparing to instill within me. Preparation. Preparation without me even fully realizing.

As I continue on, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month, I see God affording me opportunities to learn a new depth of a virtue I only remotely understood & minutely grasped. Sure, I knew what it was & what it meant, but knowing what it is & means is quite different than applying it & living it out. One is an idea, the other becomes a reality. One is considering, the other owning. One is entertaining, the other being intentional. Not giving self the option to dismiss, suppress or ignore. God seeing the truth & rawness of our hearts seems as a double-edged sword... The discomfort of correction yet the freedom that comes when that which needed correcting is clearly seen for what it is... That which was contaminating is as dross being skimmed.

Initial discomfort superseded by freedom.

Truly, I'm just incredibly thankful that God loves me to the degree that He corrects me & invests in refining my being in order that I can be more of a reflection of Christ. He reveals & discloses to my heart those things that impede me from being salt & light to others... Those areas of life that I fall short in bringing Him glory whether that be my countenance, my responses, my attitude. Just like a parent to child, so is God's correction to me...a sign that He loves me & desires something better. ♥ Never see correction from God as negative or unloving or shameful... Absolutely the opposite of all three...

Correction shows:
♥ Favor
♥ Care
♥ Affirmation

It shows that He has something more...
It reveals that what I am lacking, He wants to provide.

It shows that He has wisdom...
It reveals that where I am ignorant, He has the means to tutor.

It shows that He is Lord...
It reveals that when I am stubborn, He summons submission.

I wonder why we always correlate correction with an adversary...

He is not my enemy...He is my Savior.

And not just mine, but yours as well... ♥

My intention now that things are up-to-date with the playlist functioning properly, is to do more blogging here & less on Facebook. Short, simple things there...more in-depth sharings here. :)

Life is well for us...busy, but well. Kyle is working much overtime & Mal has been diligent beyond explanation with her studies. I see so much change in both of their hearts as what both of them once dreaded & abhorred, they both have learned to appreciate & find purpose in. ♥ Blessing upon blessing. ♥

Due to God extending an opportunity, Dillon & MaKayla have recently relocated. It's further from us however Kyle & I see so much purpose in what God asked & instructed them to do & for a parent, seeing your children take uncertain steps of faith as a means to obey, there is truly no greater reality. We still see them regularly & FaceTime daily & have even spent a night with them. Such a blessing they are to our lives...

~Never a dull moment...

~Ever.

~Learning the Keurig...

~Latte goodness...

~Enjoying coffee together...♥

(Mal was present but was currently getting around for church when all of these were snapped...)

I'm super excited to be back "home" in my blog & am eager to share with you, not only the happenings of our lives, but most importantly the goodness & grace of Christ.

Much love...