What it means to be a parent

This quote from Tedd Tripp's Shepherding a Child's Heart summarizes my beliefs about what it means to be a parent:

“You must regard parenting as one of your most important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling…There is nothing more important. You have only a brief season of life to invest yourself in this task. You have only one opportunity to do it. You cannot go back and do it over.

You live in a culture in which there are opportunities for you to do things unheard of in history. You are presented daily with scores of opportunities. There is more than you could ever do. [But] to do this job of parenting well, it must be a primary task. It is your primary calling.”

This would be my recommendation for anyone looking for a book on biblical parenting.

It is about Christ

What is the most important part of a wedding? In going into the planning of the wedding I knew the answer to this question. The answer is Christ, taking him out of the focus takes the entire significance out of the event.

I know that nonbelievers do not see Him as the most important part but I assumed that they saw the vows or the marriage as the most important. I am learning that this is not the case. What the wedding looks like, what food is served, how the food is served, etc., ad nausem. These are the things that are central in some people's minds. A wedding becomes all about appearances. This saddens me. I should add, this sentiment/this world view is not unique to unbelievers, there are professing Christians who feel the same way.

Before we even got engaged, Sean and I had discussed how important it was to us that his wedding and my wedding (no matter who we married) be as Christ-exalting as they could be. This remains the heart of our thinking as we now plan our wedding. There are nonbelievers in both of our families and we want to display the Truth of marriage in the best way we can. Even our wedding can be a testimony of God's grace, love and mercy. We want to step back from the world's belief that you must have the most expensive everything to have a good wedding. We want to be good stewards of the money God is loaning us, not only with regard to our wedding but also in our future together.

Now don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that a Christ-honoring wedding means being cheap. A wedding is a very important celebration, as is the reception. Jesus even saw fit to turn water into wine at the wedding in Cana, his first miraculous sign (see John 2). What I am saying is that every decision made and every penny spent should be done with the mindset of honoring and exalting Christ. That is what the heart of a marriage must be and a wedding is the beginning of a marriage. A marriage is a picture of Christ and the church so a wedding can be likened to the moment of salvation, the moment when the imperfect bride is joined to Christ forever. Celebrate this moment, praise Him, worship Him!

Calling all Minnesotans

August seems so very far away but in wedding timing it might as well be tomorrow. That is what I have learned this week. I am already behind the curve because we are getting married so soon(?) and I need to find a venue.

So, I am calling all Minnesotans, at least all my Minnesotan readers! Do you have a suggestion for a wonderful wedding venue? I would prefer it not be outdoor and we are on a shoe-string budget. The dates we prefer are the weekend of August 1st or the weekend of August 8th.

Don't be too shy to comment/share your opinion, I am desperate here! But if you are too shy, you could always say a prayer for me since we know that God is the one in control of these things! If you have my email, feel free to email also!

An engaging conversation (Pt. 2)

On Saturday (Feb. 21st), Sean and I celebrated Valentine's Day together. I realize Valentine's Day is Feb. 14th but Sean had postponed it as he was sick that week. I arrived at Sean's house at 6pm and all the lights were out. He had candles lit in the dining room and a table set for the two of us. He'd made dinner and it was waiting for us.

We ate dinner and when we'd finished, he started talking. He explained that these past nine months have been the happiest nine months of his life and he said the reason for that was because he started dating a wonderful woman named Claire and, "she came with a sidekick." He walked over to my side of the table, got down on one knee and asked, "Would you like to spend the rest of your life with me?" He pulled the most beautiful ring out of his pocket and I said, "Of course!"

The ring is beautiful but the most wonderful part of all of this is that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me! I am giving all the credit and thanks to God because we know that He is the reason we are together, He is the reason for everything. We will continue to pray that He remains the center of our lives as we take a new step in our journey!

"Love is from God..." 1 John 4:7

An engaging conversation (Pt. 1)

Last night, Sean and I had a very ENGAGING conversation! Yes, that means what you think it means... we are engaged!

More information to come!

this world

I am becoming increasingly disturbed by the things I see and hear at the U. Rampant immorality and obscurity.

I am so thankful that my hope is not in this world as I watch it crumble more and more each day. I am blessed to serve a God that saved me from (and continues every day to save me from) that life.

I can't help but wonder what the world will look like as my son grows up but I know that if he puts his faith in Christ, Christ will protect him too.

An unplanned writing leave

I know my dear readers are probably disappointed that I have not posted in 2 weeks. [Yes, I am pretending that my blog actually has a following, leave me to my delusions of grandeur.] I have been on an unplanned writing leave due to a week of illness for myself and my son. Spending a whole week being sick and taking care of a sick child puts a mother way behind in... well, everything else.

So this week I am trying to catch up. I probably won't be posting much but I have some great ideas rolling around in my head so keep checking in!