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Lately
Just a little taste of how good life has been lately.
Mountains. A lovely path for walks. A new perspective on how beautiful His creation is.
Date nights with my love.
Pictures of this little booger always brighten my day.
We’re not in Kansas anymore!
Silly notes in my lunchbox from my handsome husband.
Reminders of Russia and letters from sweet, sweet friends.
Time to be together.
Vintage Pride & Prejudice. At long last!
And today has started off well. And will continue to be wonderful since I get to go shadow a physical therapist this afternoon (building up the hours and learning!) and then get to hang out with amazing friends and make some music.
Not to mention I’m just about to finally kick this cold. Hip Hip!
Already this morning, I’m thankful for:
A boost in the morning.
Enough said.
These two are such good company.
Truth. Eyewitnesses. Redemption and Grace. A new covenant. Christ, who fulfilled the law for those who trust in Him and call Him Lord. It is such a blessing to be able to wake up and read the promises and reminders of God’s love. Good stuff.
Well, we have made the move to Loveland and are in the process of unpacking and settling in. So far we are loving it – soaking it all in. The weather is excellent, the mountains are breathtaking, and the people are so incredibly friendly. We have been so blessed by the people of the church too – they have taken us in and fed us and welcomed us so very much. Here are just a few pictures to let you see:
Molly supervising.
We had so much help with the move. Dad and Eric came first thing in the morning to get us started and definitely got their work out. Bo and Susan Harris also stayed all day and helped pack up and move things and altogether help us with our sanity. What a blessing it is to have such wonderful family and friends to help you out when you need it.
She looks so innocent.... Sweet Rosie.
She’s cute but she sure was a hand-full when we were moving.
Molly wasn't too happy about it all.
Molly was a little nervous about it. She stayed on/by the truck the whole day to make sure she didn’t get left. Silly puppy. No way we would leave her behind.
Hard at work.
Angie Brandt stopped by just in time for Jared’s keyboard concert. Lucky girl.
Our First Home.
This was our first home. It was so hard to leave it. We had a wonderful landlord and amazing neighbors who loved on us and took an interest in our lives. So many sweet memories made in that year and a few months.
Us at Estes Park.
Colorado! Mom and Dad made the move with us and helped us drive the truck and our car the 1110 miles. No way we could have made it without them. We would probably still be somewhere in the middle of Kansas! We are both so thankful! We took a drive out to Estes Park while they were still here, which is about 30 minutes away. Beautiful country and wonderful company.
Rocky Mountains!
Wonder how they got the name?
Foxy.
We were headed downtown one afternoon and this guy was sitting on the sidewalk just hanging out. Naturally we had to stop and ooh and aah at it. What a beautiful creature.
New favorite tree.
This is at the entrance to the path behind our apartment complex. It is so big and majestic. It makes me want to take a picnic blanket and a book and spend my afternoons reading under it. Right next to it is the lake with a perfect view of the mountains.
Autumn.
I can’t believe it is already time for the leaves to be changing.. but there you have it!
The new dog walk.
This is our new walk with the pups. It’s right behind our apartment complex. Every time the mountains catch my eye, I have to do a double take. I wonder if people get used to the beauty of it? I sure hope not. I can’t believe we get to live so close to them.
Snow on the mountains!
We love that we are getting to experience this. It is such an adventure. We’re still unpacking and making the apartment our home but we will definitely be sharing some pictures when we’re done. We miss you all and appreciate your prayers as we try and find our place here. The city of Loveland and this whole area also needs your prayers. This area of the country has one of the highest suicide rates. Pray that people would find purpose and community but, most importantly, the joy that comes with knowing Christ.
God is good. And we are excited.
What is our response?
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[a] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[c] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
– Romans 10:6-10
Christians have a terrible habit of trying to pick who gets to go to Heaven. We also have a terrible habit of condemning those we think are going to Hell. But Paul’s words are clear to the Romans: That’s not our job.
You see, as humans, we have a propensity for weighting sins. We’ve become very good at it. We like to think that one sin is worse than another. And even as we quote our Sunday School teachers that, “All sins are equal in God’s eyes,” our hearts and actions betray this simple truth.
The terrible irony is that this self-righteous pride so common in the believer’s heart was enough to separate us from God. It was part of the cost of our salvation. We like to add up the accounts of our neighbors, while we blindly add stones to our own scale. We forget that the time for judgement has not arrived, yet.
Luckily we are under the new covenant of Grace, and not the Law. And it is such good news for the believer. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news stops. Believers. We are so busy guessing who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell, that we miss the whole point. No matter what anyone does… let me say it again for more emphasis… No matter what anyone does, if they declare with their mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in their heart that God raised them from the dead, they will be saved.
It’s so simple, but we’ve made it so complicated. We play these hypothetical games in our minds that say, “Well Sadam Hussein was a very bad man. Surely he wasn’t saved.” What if we see him in Heaven? What if he is right next to us singing praises to God? Does that thought make us cringe or rejoice?
I thank God that He has prepared a way for all men to call on Him and be saved by His infinite Grace. So when we see sin in this world let us not stop and celebrate our own coming inheritance, but extend the Grace that is efficient to cover every sin so that, someday, we may all celebrate together in the presence of God.