God is still God. And God is still good...

Sweet Husband is so thoughtful to send me
encouraging articles to read or videos to watch
sometimes funny and sometimes not...
but, always thought provoking and
always good for my soul.

This is a video he sent me today.
He saw it on Tim Challies blog.

Be encouraged and be reminded
that as believers
we do not grieve as those who do who have no hope.
(1 Thessalonians 4:13)


A Story | Tears of Hope from Adam Kring on Vimeo.

go ahead. try to resist...

Will you be my valentine?

fish got to swim. birds got to fly...

Yesterday, my friends, was a special day.

Fifty-one years ago (shhhh!) a little bundle of boy
was born in Fort Sanders Presbyterian Hospital
to Mike and Janice Simmons.

Twenty-eight years ago that little bundle of boy
became my Sweet Husband.

Now... with four children, three children-in-law,
one grandchild and two grandchildren-to-be...
he is Sweet Husband, Dad, Poppa, G-Pop...

But, he has no sweeter name than
Child of God.

It would be impossible for me
to put into words how much Sweet Husband
means to me and how thankful I am
that God ordained our marriage.

But, here are a few things that are especially precious to me...

1) He is desperate for God
2) He desires to love Jesus more and more
3) He loves me and cares about my soul...
desiring that I would love Jesus more and more, too
4) He loves our children...all seven of them
5) He thinks being a grandfather is the biggest "kick"
6) He speaks encouraging words to me...
even when they are hard to hear
7) He affirms and encourages my giftings
8) He loves the church
9) He encourages our children to love the church
10) He sings and melts me...
better than Josh Groban or Michael Buble any day
11) He makes me laugh...a lot
12) He still makes Levis look mighty fine
13) He fought the battle against baldness and won...
by shaving his head
14) He works hard and loves the kids he serves
15) He builds wonderful fires on wintry nights
16) He gets giddy over Cracker Barrel's "Sunrise Sampler"
17) He still holds my hand...his always comfortingly warm
18) He still calls me...his voice calms and soothes me
19) He still comes home...it's like being given a present everyday
20) He consents to at least one game of Scrabble every year

"Fish got to swim...birds got to fly...
I've got to love one man 'til I die.
Can't help lovin' dat man of mine!"
(from the song written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein)

  

momma chimp. she broke my heart...

I watched this video on "22 Words" today...
sad.  Very, very sad...

a good song. a great reminder...

We sang this song in worship this morning.
I was reminded of God's preeminence
and sovereignty over all...even his enemies...
among whom I once was counted.

"LORD OF ALL"
by Kristian Stanfill


Wonder and awe surround you, Lord
Glory and fire light your way
Day after day the heavens proclaim
the beauty of the holy One


We will respond with joy in our song
Your enemies rise...your enemies fall...
your fire consumes them all


There is none so high and holy
King of Kings, the one and only
You are adored
You are the Lord of all


Mysteries unknown are known to you
All wisdom is yours to reveal
You hold in your hand the days of all men
All life and breath are yours to give


We adore You.  We adore You.
Lord of all the earth.


Lord, we love You.  Lord, we love You.
Let our hearts be pure, oh Lord.


Give it a listen...

ask and you shall receive. a hot water bottle and a dolly...

I came across a video this morning
of Dr. Helen Roseveare (aka Mama Luka)
upon following a link from one of my
favorite blogs, "Rebecca Writes".

If you're not familiar with Dr. Helen Roseveare,
you need to be.

She was a missionary in The Congo
during the 50's through the early 70's.
Her faith in God, her love for Jesus,
her love for The Congo people,
her joy in counting all things loss
for the sake of gaining Christ...
are amazing testimonies to the grace of God
and the redeeming love of Jesus.

Dr. Roseveare has lived Philippians 3:10-11
to a degree that many of us will never experience.

In October 1964, while in Congo,
she was beaten, raped and taken hostage
by a group of Simba rebels.
Feeling forsaken by God, she tells of praying
and asking God why the rebels were doing this to her...
and she felt God answering her that
the rebels were not attacking her, but Him,
and that she was experiencing the fellowship of Christ's suffering.
As God answered her, she describes a feeling of being washed over
by a flood of peace and comfort that she had never known.
She was released by the rebels in early 1965.

As for this video...
I was struck by the magnitude of faith
demonstrated in the prayer of the child
in the story Dr. Roseveare shares.

Oh, to have the humble faith of a child...
to believe that nothing is too hard for God,
not even a hot water bottle and a dolly.

After you watch this video,
I would suggest you head on over to
Desiring God's website where you can listen
to Dr. Roseveare's message she gave
during the 2007 National Conference.

It would be a fabulous way to spend an hour of your life.


Mama Luka Comes Home from CTA on Vimeo.

submission. yep, submission...

This is one of the best articles on submission
I've read in a long time.


Thank you, Loren (one of my beautiful daughters-in-law),
for sending it to me!

Written by Tim Challies on his blog...here's a taste...

follow the link and read the entire article. Definitely worth your time!

Whose Wife Are You?

• Tim Challies
• 01/19/11
• 14

On November 11 I bookmarked 2 blog articles. Bookmarks usually last about 24 hours before they get a) archived b) used in A La Carte or c) erased. But these ones are still sitting there. Several times I have gone back to read the articles and each time I’ve wanted to think about them a little bit more. There is nothing in them that is earthshaking to me. And yet the way they are phrased has given me a lot of food for thought (just ask Aileen if you doubt me).

The first article I read was by Amy Scott and it was titled simply “Be You.” In her article she references another, one titled “Just Whose Wife Am I Anyway?” They both deal with a common them: submission. In particular, they deal with the biblical command that a wife submit to her husband. Those are fighting words in many parts of the Christian world, not to mention outside of the Christian world. I won’t allow that to distract me here.

Both women write about their own struggles with what submission really looks like in a godly marriage. And as I read their thoughts, here is what struck me: We spend a lot of time talking in general about how men and women complement one another—generic men and generic women. This complementarity is obvious from a physical standpoint, but also from many others. But I wonder if we spend far too little time talking about how this husband and this wife complement one another. When we move beyond the generalities of gender roles, we find that the specifics may look very, very different from one couple to another. Within the Bible’s general guidelines, there are many ways to work out the details. 

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To read the rest of the article go here. (you'll have to scroll down the page a bit...but, don't give up...I promise it's there!) 

After you've read the article come back and share your thoughts.  I'd love to hear from you!