FEARFULLY WONDERFULLY MADE

FEARFULLY WONDERFULLY MADE

Today the quote; “time stands still for no man” has been reverberating through my heart.  I was wondering who was responsible for that quote and to the best of my research it would appear JFK said it.  Time certainly did not stand still for him, a life cut short.  Dan and I have shared a lot of life together so far and as of late I have been reminded of the wonder of life.  Sometimes we literally must stop our hurried selves and reflect on the wonder of life because it is conceived, born, lives and dies.   We cannot recapture yesterday, it is a memory that cannot be relived and time fades those memories as we endeavor to recapture the details of what happened in our yesterdays.  After all, was it not just yesterday I was having babies?

Currently we share five grandchildren and the fall of ’11 brought with it news that our youngest daughter was with child for the first time.  Monica has drawn me into her pregnancy in a very unique way.  Maybe it is because my twenty-nine year old baby (my youngest) is having a baby.  My other daughters were younger when they announced their first pregnancies and I think because Monica is older it has brought with it a much different sense in my heart or it may just be that she has always been my “deep thinker”.  From the time she was a toddler I knew one day she would do something that required very detailed thinking and skills.  She did not prove me wrong, her secular job demands extreme research into very minute’ details with total accuracy.  In fact there was a time when one of her jobs required 99.9% accuracy.  This part of her temperament that is detail orientated is incredibly in tune with the child growing in her womb.   Just as her secular job requires detailed research, one of her new projects is researching and discovering the creation of new life.   In fact many times I have had to warn her not to let it become a fear of; “what ifs”, in regards to her unborn child.  She has now overcome those fears of “what ifs” and is embracing the wonder of the life growing within her.  Monica purchased a fetal monitor and I have been able to hear my grandchild’s heartbeat, the sound of life beating within my daughter sends chills down my spine.  Images come in my mind of that tiny life, safe, secure, warm, innocent and comfortable.  This precious baby is listening to the mama’s heartbeat, hearing every breath she takes and feeling every move she makes.  My tiny grandchild knows his or her mother in a way I will never know her even though I bore her.  You see, this baby knows her internally-so close to every vital organ with the realization of what is keeping both of them alive.  Oh my, the wonder of life!  Just imagine a baby is with mama 24/7 for nine months, this baby is a constant companion, a connection to mother and baby that is only known by them.

Reflecting on this growing life, sheltered within my daughter’s womb brings a greater awareness of what the Lord said throughout scripture, about us and how He values life.  Only the Creator of Heaven and earth could make possible this miracle!  We are all an incredible miracle, why do we doubt that?

Psalms 139:13(NLT)
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Psalms 119:73(NLT)
You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands.

Job 10:11(NLT)
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together.

Isaiah 44:2(NLT)
The LORD who made you and helps you says: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, O dear Israel, my chosen one.


Isaiah 44:24(NLT)
This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer and Creator: “I am the LORD, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth?

Isaiah 49:5(NLT)
And now the LORD speaks— the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant, who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him. The LORD has honored me, and my God has given me strength.

Jeremiah 1:5(NLT)
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

Yesterday my daughter called me about a dream she had, I cannot say whether or not this dream is from the Lord but what I do know is the impression it left her was a miracle of truth.  Below is a glimpse of a portion of her dream:

In my dream I was holding my "newborn" baby girl in my arms.  She was talking to me.  I think I knew she was being touched by God because I knew newborns couldn't talk.  But it didn't scare me that she was talking to me, it was very peaceful.  She was telling me that she "knew" Jesus and I got the sense that she had been with Him or in the presence of God…..She may have told me something about me being her mother too. … I "think" I asked God in my dream about why she only talked for a short time and He told me He was using her to give me a message… What I got from this dream is my unborn/developing baby DOES know Jesus and our little nugget IS fearfully and wonderfully made.  Like our lil' nugget is with Jesus or in the presence of the Lord while in my womb. 

2/24/12

UPDATE!!

RICH & MONICA JUST FOUND OUT!!

GOD IS SO VERY GOOD!!

SUPER BOWL, the MARRIAGE RETREAT and VALENTINES DAY

SUPER BOWL, the MARRIAGE RETREAT and VALENTINES DAY

Another Super Bowl has come and gone, and before long preparation for Super Bowl 2013 will begin.  The athletes will spend countless hours training and preparing for this one day - a year “glory”.  The chosen city of New Orleans will also prepare for this money making day.  Did you know parking for Super Bowl 2012 cost $180.00 to $300.00 for one day!  This did not even include the cost of tickets, hotel and food. 

Records were broken at this year’s Super Bowl.  Here are some of those broken records:

• 111 million American TV viewers.
• Eli Manning completed 9 straight passes to start the game.
• Tom Brady completed 16 straight passes during a stretch of the game.

The claim to fame commercials kept TV viewers glued to their seats in efforts to determine which commercial would prove to be America’s favorite.

Dan was glued to the tube during the Super Bowl with little evidence that he was in the same house as I.  Truth be told; I did not even watch one minute of the Super Bowl.  I opted to watch the movie, “Marriage Retreat” on Netflix.  The couples as well as the counselors in this movie were comical and settle truths were laced throughout this movie, driving home the fact of the sad condition of marriages today. 

What do you suppose would happen to marriages in our country if as much effort was poured into marriage as is poured into the year leading up to Super Bowl.  What if Valentine’s Day was the cultivation of a yearlong pursuit of striving for excellence in marriage and “winning” with our spouse?  I guarantee the divorce rate of 50% would begin to drop. 

What is it about America that we spend so much time on extracurricular entertainment but leave little time for enhancing our marriage?  We even lend ourselves to serving great causes at our church or local mission, but what time have we reserved for serving and loving one another.  I believe all of us are guilty of giving leftovers to our spouse.

Before the Lord Jesus ascended into heaven He prayed for us.  As you reflect on this scripture taken out of John think about what message your marriage is giving to this lost world.  If there is one place where unity should be evident and the light of Jesus shine surely it should be in our marriage. …. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me.

John 17:20-26(NLT)
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 
I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 
Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. 
I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

A few days ago when I was reading the Bible I ran across a passage in Isaiah that just struck my heart and I began to think; how many of us have done this very thing in our marriage.

Isaiah 30:12-15(NLT)
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly - like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.  In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
    This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.  In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.

Most break downs in marriage are misunderstandings.  We fail to see the truth in the situation and are deceived, mostly because our own motives are self-centered.  We truly have bought into lies because we have not taken the time to resolve issues in a Godly fashion.

Valentine’s Day 2012 should be celebrated with more fanfare then the Super Bowl with the love of your life.  Choose to rediscover the “magic” of your first love and realize even with that intense magical love it could have never held you through the years had not the steadfast agape love (commitment love) been in place.  What is agape love? Agape love is non-partial in nature; it knows no end, as it exhibits the selfless spiritual character of Christ Jesus. Agape love cannot be destroyed or crushed, it endures forever.

All of us at one time or another need a fresh start, or a new resolution.  What better day then Valentines, as a couple to agree to make this year, a year of marriage intensity of oneness that would draw the world around you to Jesus.