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)

Whiter Than Snow

Carolyn


I’ve been thinking a lot lately (the last month or so) about this “whiter than snow” imagery that I shared about in the last post.

It started with a “service project” our school did in early December for the refugees that take ESL classes at our church where our school also meets. The church had a Christmas program for them, and our students were able to sing hymns and recite Scripture, followed by a gospel presentation from the pastor and a time of fellowship, food, gifts, and distribution of New Testaments. I left my work to run over and take some pictures, but while I was standing there watching this amazing program, my heart was convicted, “This is not a photo op for service.”

Our school is very service oriented with a Vision to see the students propelled to a life of service for Christ. Of course, we want this to flow out of a relationship with Christ and a grateful heart to Him for what He has done for us, extending it to others. It’s not service for service’s sake. And we are dependent on His Spirit for this, as in all things. So the conviction to my heart was, “this isn’t simply a service project that you need to be photographing… this is gospel transformation happening!” I was so moved by the whole program, seeing this large room, packed with refugee students, and seeing the simplicity of the gospel and how God is working in all our hearts.

A teacher came over and asked me to run back to the office for something. I normally would take an inside route following a tunnel underground to get to the other building, but I ran out a back way, found myself in the kitchen, with the only door leading to outside. I figured I could handle the cold for a few minutes, so I stepped outside only to find myself in the first snowfall of the year. It was beautiful and timely, and the verse that came to my mind was from Isaiah 1: “come, let us reason together, though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow….”

This theme ran through my December, even as I looked for a gift to send a friend. Amazon popped up a book by an author I like (Paul Tripp) entitled “Whiter than Snow.” At our New Year’s Eve prayer and praise time, our friend read from Isaiah 51 during the confession time of prayer. As he read, “purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow,” those words again hit my heart: “whiter than snow.”

What an amazing thing that Jesus has done for us that we can be whiter than snow! He cleanses us from all our sin through His sacrifice on the cross, and we gain everything through our faith in Him.

At church this morning, I opened up the program to see that during communion and the “distribution of the cup,” a soloist would be singing a song entitled Whiter Than Snow. One more reminder through the beautiful words of this song of what we have in Christ and a beautiful prayer:

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Refrain

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain,
Apply Thine own blood and extract ev’ry stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Refrain

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Refrain

Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait,
Come now, and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst “No,”
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Refrain

The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
O glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

Refrain

Whiter than snow. Thank you, Jesus.

Happy New Year 2010!

Carolyn

We enjoyed bringing in the new year in a new way. We were invited by friends to a prayer and praise night in their home from 9 p.m. -12 midnight to begin the year with praise, thanksgiving, prayer, worship, and song. It was a wonderful way to reflect on 2009 and consider 2010.

I particularly liked the image of “white as snow” from Psalm 51 and Isaiah 1: “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” and “Though their sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”


With all the beautiful snow that has fallen this year already, it left a beautiful impression in my mind. To be whiter than snow! So thankful for Jesus’ blood that washes us and cleanses us from all our sin.

Here are a few pictures of some things we’ve enjoyed these last couple of weeks during our Christmas break.

Making a gingerbread house
Watching some football
Cooking with KKChristmas Eve after church

Ice Skating

Sledding

Riding up the sledding hill

Ready to go again!

I pray the coming year is one of great blessing and joy for you and your families!

Merry Christmas!

Carolyn

Merry Christmas! It’s been a busy month of preparations which reached its conclusion today with a great day with our extended families. We’ve had a lot of fun and had the true “white Christmas” with beautiful snow everywhere! The children and their cousins presented us with the Christmas story, and we’ve all had fun opening presents. But we know…

“It’s not in the snow that may or may not fall,
and it’s not in the gifts beneath the tree.
It’s in the love heaven gave,
the night our Savior came,
and that same love can still be found wherever you are.
’cause Christmas is all in the heart,
and the joy can still be found,
wherever you are,
’cause Christmas is all, it’s all in the heart.”
(Steven Curtis Chapman)

I pray your heart knows the Love of the Savior today, wherever you are. And I praise our Savior that He is Immanuel, God with Us (Matthew 1:23), right wherever we are.

Luke 2:11: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Merry Christmas!

A Week of Thanksgiving

Carolyn

With this being Thanksgiving week, I thought I would try each day this week to share specific things for which I’m thankful.

One thing that jumps to mind after this past week is that I’m thankful for our school. We had Grandparents’ Day on Friday, and part of the program was giving the history of the school.

As I listened to the stories again, I recalled the 8 months of Saturday morning prayer together as families before the school started, committing this all to God. It was amazing to reflect on how what was started in living rooms has now moved into a school, now in its 4th year, with 82 students and a Vision to propel students for a life of service to Christ.

As the students came in and sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” my heart was indeed full of thoughts of His faithfulness to us in this endeavor. This is His work, and He has done it. We are blessed to have watched it unfold before our eyes and truly thankful for His provision.

Should Life Be Fair?

Carolyn

Though I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian, my thoughts have been directed lately to thoughts of “fairness.” It seems from birth, we are inclined to feel that all things should be “fair.” Isn’t it the familiar cry of a child: “That’s not fair!” The cookie has to be perfectly broken in two, for certainly no one can have more than the other.

We have an innate sense about what we deserve, how things should be, how we should be treated, what is right and wrong, what is fair and unfair. But is our expectation of fairness realistic? More importantly, is it a biblical expectation?

I’ve been faced with that this year — situations that at first glance don’t seem “fair” in the lives of all 4 in my family. But what if that were our expectation? Unfair things will happen all throughout our lives, over and over again. What if we accepted these kinds of circumstances as the norm and expected them, entrusting ourselves to God who knows best?

And what if instead of fighting to make these unfair wrongs right, we fought to display God’s glory and bring His ways into the situation. What if we truly returned evil with a blessing, prayed for those who hurt us, forgave, demonstrated faithfulness and commitment to other people, poured out the love of God to those who hurt us?

What if we gave God’s Word and ways a chance? What if our responses became so adapted to His ways that we didn’t even feel the unfairness anymore, just the beauty of responding in a way that honors God.

Look at Hagar. She was treated harshly by Sarah (Genesis 16), and yet God showed compassion on Hagar and blessed her, while still telling her to return and submit to Sarah.

Look at Joseph. He was sold by his brothers into slavery, then later imprisoned for something he did not do (when Potiphar’s wife lied about him.) But God was with Joseph, and God used the evil to bring good (food for his people during the famine).

Do these things sound fair? Yet God was sovereign over them, ordaining them for His good purposes, and He was with Hagar and Joseph in the midst of the wrong. He blessed them and used these things. What if they had resisted or fought for their rights or demanded better treatment, if that were even possible?

What if Jesus had refused to be mistreated? What if He had demanded His rights? He of all people could have. But in His great love for us, He suffered. He gave us a different picture for how to handle mistreatment. The love He gave us, He is asking us to give it to others.

We live in a broken world of sin, and we know this current world and life can’t offer us what we are looking for. We long for the perfection and fairness that is not ours on this earth, and we are longing for the place where all will indeed be right and fair and perfect. Christ offers us that for which we long. He is the one Who came to redeem us and change us, and He has a place for those who know Him in heaven one day. He alone satisfies.

Even as I write this, I know it is not complete theologically. I know there are circumstances where we need to act, need to confront, and need to stand up for something. But I wonder how many situations we perceive to be that way that could just as easily be overlooked as we allow God to take our hurts and help us.

So I write as I wrestle. I write without full knowledge, but I write with thankfulness for what God is teaching me and revealing to me about Himself as I struggle through these things.