Author: Carolyn

I am a Christian, a sinner saved by God's amazing grace. Much like my life, my blog is a work in progress. The main objective I have for this blog is to "proclaim the praises" of the One who called me out of darkness and into His marvelous light! (1 Peter 2:9)

Spring Break

Carolyn

My husband gets 2 weeks for his spring break and the children and I get 1 week. The weeks never overlap, so the kids and I usually just end up going to Memphis. This year, though, we had been to Memphis earlier in March for my cousin’s wedding, so we just stayed home this year for spring break.

Here are a few pictures from our time in Memphis. My beautiful cousin and her handsome husband:

My husband with some of my other cousins:


Our family:


The trees were in bloom in Memphis, so that was pretty to see signs of spring, this at the zoo:


We were about one of only 10 people at the zoo. The weather was in the 50s, and that kept people away, I guess. It seemed really warm to us after spending the winter in Chicago.


We’ve enjoyed this week of rest at home during spring break. Each child spent a day with Grammy. We went into the city one day to meet my husband, go the “The Bean,” and have dinner at Giordano’s. We’re thankful to have had a slow week to just spend time together!

Slow Down

Carolyn

One of the messages of this past year for me has been to “slow down.” I can’t remember how it exactly started, but I believe it was a song:

Teach me to number my days
and count every moment before it slips away
take in all the colors before they fade to gray
I don’t want to miss even just a second more of this

It happens in a blink, it happens in a flash,
It happens in the time it took to look back,
I try to hold on tight, but there’s no stopping time,
What is it I’ve done with my life?
It happens in a blink.

Slow down, slow down, before today becomes our yesterday.
Slow down, slow down, before you turn around and it’s too late.

I remember the words “slow down” speaking so clearly to me. If I’d leave work and have something on my mind, I’d hear the song and realize I needed to let it go and focus on what was in front of me at home.

I was dropping my son off at his piano lessons one afternoon, and as I was walking across the street, I looked up at the store window that sells tea and such, and there in the window were the large words, “SLOW DOWN.” They weren’t there the next week; they were there though the day I needed to see them.

During our pastor’s sermon a week or two ago, I caught it when he clearly mentioned “Slow Down.” I remembered again the message this year that I had kept wanting to overlook. Because sometimes, slowing down means letting go of things we feel better at or things we enjoy doing in order to do the things that don’t come as easy (training children!). But it’s what my children need, and it’s what I need.

I don’t know that I’ve done a great job of assessing what it looks like for me to slow down, but as the year has gone on, it seems to be happening. This week has been our spring break, and I’ve enjoyed the days with my children, doing things we haven’t done together in quite some time, focusing on them, not just being physically present with them, but being there in the moment with them.

One thing I haven’t been able to get off my mind this week: a family we knew from our time in Virginia who were in our Sunday school class lost their son, a freshman at University of VA, in a tragic fall at the university Sunday night. They are now missionaries in Ireland, but the dad was in Charlottesville that weekend. He went to church with his son, they spent the afternoon together, went to dinner and a show with grandparents, and ended the evening around 10 when they dropped off the son at the dorms. His last words to his dad were, “I love you, dad.” Apparently, he went out then with some friends, and less than an hour and a half later, he was dead from a tragic fall. This same family lost another grandson in a drowning accident 2-3 years ago. I have been praying for them all week and trusting this is not in vain, that God knew the days ordained for this young man, and that He has good and perfect purposes. I am praying for their comfort, for his two brothers, for his precious parents and grandparents, that they are able to see even now some of the reasons and ways God is glorified in something that from man’s perspective is so harsh and tragic.

As my son played trick after trick on me today for April Fool’s Day (seems 12-year old boys especially enjoy things like short sheeting the bed, putting salt on toothbrushes, pretending to splash you with water, and such), I was reminded to just enjoy him and enjoy his joy in the fun.

I am excited about the days ahead and learning more what it means to “slow down” and finding the outcomes of what this means for our family.

**UPDATE**

I just finished this blog post and had to take my husband’s car to get a headlight replaced. As I walked to the porch to get my shoes, I found them with shaving cream in them! The jokes continue, and I try to remain glad!

On the way back home, we drove past this sign in a yard and it seemed timely:

Idols

Carolyn

We heard a portion of a Tim Keller sermon at a church seminar this last Sunday, and he talked about our idols, which can be our identity, security, power, etc. Keller said that an idol is a false, pseudo-salvific treasure, and that every treasure other than God enslaves us. Those idols demand that we do anything to get them. But Jesus is the One treasure who died to purchase us. This makes Him our ultimate treasure when we understand that we are His ultimate treasure.

Keller’s talk has had me thinking more about my “idols.” I like to think I don’t have any, that maybe I’ve struggled with things in the past, but I’ve progressed to the point that those things are done away with! Ha! I really think that they may be something that will regularly creep up upon us and that we will have to deal with over and over again in our lives. But as we learn more about who God is and as He becomes our all, we might move more quickly past those struggles as we speak His truth and refuse to wallow there in them.

I looked up the word “idol” (yes, dictionary.com!) and a couple of the definitions struck me:

  • a mere image or semblance of something, visible but without substance, as a phantom
  • a figment of the mind; fantasy.

I’ve been pondering James 1:17 the last couple of weeks, about there being no variation or shifting shadow with our heavenly Father. I’ve also been pondering Romans 12:2 about being transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we can prove the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Both those verses make me think of something solid, unchanging, perfect, good — just the opposite of an idol that has no substance, is a figment of the mind, a phantom!

One other thing I’ve been wondering about: do you think idols are born out of our losses and wounds? Where we have been hurt or feel a wound, we seek to fill it with something. And when it’s not God, it is an idol, something that can’t ever fill that need or void, but can give the image that it does. We rob ourselves of all God can do to fill those places and free us when we seek other things to do so.

I’ve been personally struggling this week with one of those old losses that resulted in an empty place that God has more than filled. But lies often come to tell me something false, and I need to go back to square one all over again. Praise Him that He is more than faithful to expose those false ways of thinking and place me again on a firm foundation.

Psalm 95:6-7
“Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.”

The Lord is My Shepherd

Carolyn

Each new year, I try to choose a theme to reflect on for the coming year. In 2009, it was “the fear of the Lord.” In 2010, it was “God is Light.” I am always amazed at how much comes up during the year when focusing on a theme like this and how every time it comes up, I see something from a different angle.

Until this week, I hadn’t finalized my theme for 2011, though I had considered a “Shepherd” theme. In early December, I was praying through Psalm 23 one morning and read John 10:7-18 about Jesus being our good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep, knows His sheep and they know Him, and knows His Father. There is One Shepherd, and His sheep hear His voice.

On December 26, I wrote in my journal that I was considering this “Shepherd” theme for 2011. I read I Peter 2:25 and Ezekial 34 and thought about God as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.

Well, the year got started and I had not formalized anything more on my theme, sort of jumping right into the new year. But my heart this week had been very restless and unsettled. I needed peace. I needed my mind to be calm and controlled by the Spirit. I went to work Wednesday, feeling tired and needy. I asked the Lord to give me a Word from Him because of my restlessness.

I went to chapel (at the school where I work) for the first time in a while. The chaplain to my surprise spoke on Psalm 23. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

I loved those words of refreshment, restoration, reminding me of the confidence I have in Him that He is worthy of all my trust. He leads me in the right path. I have no need with Him.

I felt led to read Psalm 100 before I left the sanctuary. I did not remember that it also speaks of our Shepherd: “Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”

Finally, I ended in Ecclesiastes 12:11-14, finding that the words of the wise are given by one Shepherd. I am to fear God and keep His commands.

I’m so thankful for our faithful God who reveals Himself to us through His Word. I now have my theme firmly in place for 2011: the Lord is my Shepherd. I’m looking forward to seeing more how He leads and guides this sheep in the coming year!

A Couple of Quotes

Carolyn

I’m just posting some quotes that I’ve liked this week.

The first one my friend wrote about in our school newsletter, but I thought it was nice for this time of year:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

“Advent creates people, new people. We too are supposed to become new people in Advent. Look up, you whose gaze is fixed on this earth, who are spellbound by the little events and changes on the face of the earth. Look up to these words, you who have turned away from heaven disappointed. Look up, you whose eyes are heavy with tears and who are crying over the fact that the earth has gracelessly torn us away. Look up, you who, burdened with guilt, cannot lift your eyes. Look up, your redemption is drawing near. Something different from what you see daily will happen. Just be aware, be watchful, wait just another short moment. Wait and something quite new will break over you. God will come.”

I’ve also been reading in F. B. Meyer’s book The Secret of Guidance. I liked many of his quotes, but here is one I particularly liked:

“If you do not know what to do, stand still until you do. And when the time comes for action, circumstances, like glowworms, will sparkle along your path. You will become so sure that you are right, when God’s three witnesses [the Word, the Spirit, and circumstances] concur, that you could not be surer though an angel beckoned you on. The circumstances of our daily life are to us an infallible indication of God’s will when they concur with the inward promptings of the Spirit and with the Word of God.”

I suppose those quotes don’t even seem to be connected, but I just liked them both, each a reminder to look to Him and to wait on Him. When I wait uncertain of what to do, I can trust God will reveal to me perfectly the steps to take. And look up — keeping my eyes heavenward — when I’m tired and busy this season. I don’t want to miss either the beauty of the season or the beautiful things He does.