I happened to see this on Hollie’s blog. As I decided to stay up and have some “me” time while everyone is in bed, my “me” time has turned into “Audrey” time. If you are familiar with the christian group “Selah”, you know who Todd Smith is. He and his wife have an amazing tory of faith and praise in the eye of death. Please, for the love of all that is good, set some time aside, and go to Angie’s site. Read from the beginning. You will feel hurt you have never felt for another person, as well as a respect and admiration for them beyond expectations. Here is a link to the very first post in the story of Audrey. After you read the post, go to the end of the page and click “newer post”.
This is an encouraging post from Abraham Piper, son of John Piper. He and his wife lost their baby 6 months ago. The way he, his wife, and their entire family responded in faith to God’s promise of hope should encourage us to rethink how faithful we are to God in the trying times.
This is a good song by Phillips Craig and Dean. The video is neat that this person put to the song. It lists the names of God. The song talks about the power of God’s name. No matter what good things you do in life, if it isn’t for God’s glory and to show him, it’s to show yourself.
I’m kinda getting tired of people putting all these songs to the Passion. I wish people would just let it speak for itself. That being said, I did like theuse of it in this video. When you came to Christ, you placed your trust in him. Do you still? When your finances dwindle, do you still put your trust in him alone? When your job, or your spouse’s job is on the line, do you still put your trust in Him alone? When the diagnosis comes back positive, do you still put your trust in Him alone? How about when you’re lifted up as a hero, do you still put your trust in him alone? Do your kids know it’s Christ who gives you strength, or do they see their mommy or daddy as a superhero? I think it’s something to really dig into ourselves and find out. There’s two videos on here that I think dig into my ego, hopefully they do the same for you.
Some of you have heard of Beth’s mom’s recent spat with possible Ovarian Cancer. They had found a huge mass on her ovary a few weeks ago. Beth’s grandma told her mom a few days before the exploratory surgery that she had Catholics, Methodists,and Baptists praying for her, so she was pretty much covered. We chuckled at it, but it was great to see how many people were praying for her. After the surgery this past week, I told Beth the Pentecostals must have been praying to(again as humor). When the doctors went in they were expecting to remove both ovaries and possibly a kidney, as there seemed to be something on one of them as well. Praise God, because he made it quite a bit easier and showed up with his power. The doctors found no trace of this mass on her ovary. There was no sign of tumors anywhere, and they dug around quite a bit to find it. We’re very excited at what God has done.
Monday, November 5, is the one-year mark of when Beth and I lost our little girl a couple weeks after conception. We miss her today still, but we know she’s in good hands. These are two songs that help me when I think of her. I know Beth loved “Glory Baby” before we were married. I remember her telling me how sad it made her to think of the loss the couple who wrote the song had. “I hope that never happens to me.” There’s one line in the song that gets me each time. When I think of our loss and the pain it brought. This line reminds me it’s ok. “Heaven is your home, and it’s all you’l ever know…” My daughter will never experience hurt, sadness, disappointment, and the list goes on. All she will ever know is the perfect life intended for her at Christ’s feet.
As I said in a recent post, Starfield is one of my new favorite Christian artists. Their song, “Unashamed”, pounds me when I hear it. The song pierces me the whole way through.
I have not much
To offer You
Not near what You deserve
But still I come
Because Your cross
Has placed in me my worthOh, Christ my King
Of sympathy
Whose wounds secure my peace
Your grace extends
To call me friend
Your mercy sets me freeAnd I know I’m weak
I know I’m unworthy
To call upon Your name
But because of grace
Because of Your mercy
I stand here unashamedI can’t explain
This kind of love
I’m humbled and amazed
That You’d come down
From heavens heights
And greet me face to face
Lately I’ve had plenty of time to listen to the CD player in my car on the way to and from work. I’ve been able to take advantage of this and listen to a bunch of podcasts during my commute. It’s really helped me focus on a lot of things and understand some books and their authors better. My next few posts will be about those podcasts and what I’ve learned from them.
One series I’ve been working through for the past few days is the audio from the 2004 Desiring God conference at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. John Piper is the teaching and writing pastor at the church. Some of his books include Desiring God, Don’t Waste Your Life, Life As a Vapor, What Jesus Demands of the World, and others. His books are hard to read, as he puts a lot of bigger words and illustrations in them.
The theme of the ‘04 conference was “Sex and the Supremacy of Christ”. You may recognize the title. He has a book out by the same title. The book is actually a summary of the messages preached at the conference. Speakers included Ben Patterson, Cj Mahaney, Piper, Mark Dever, and Al Mohler. At one point Piper used the illustration comparing God to the Sun. The sun is the center of the universe. It holds the planets in orbit. Every planet is placed perfectly in the universe in relstion to the sun. This is a picture of how we should view God in our lives. We need to make him the center of us. He has placed us with a perfect plan perfectly where we are. He orders all, and nothing is out his plan. What I learne i that I need to make him the center o my life, which I haven’t done.
This one is very difficult for me. This is the one that Jesus just had to keep for himself. Baby #3 stretched Beth and I and really caused some breakthroughs in our lives. I realized through some circumstances and events that I have searched my whole life for someone to comfort me. I always relied on the people in my life when it was God I needed. Beth had a hard time a few weeks ago as her orignal due date passed. A lot of emotions flared. It is so different to lose an unborn baby. I can’t describe the feelings we had. Two songs come to mind for this girl we lost. The first is by Mark Harris. It’s called “Wish you were here.” The video is below, although he doesn’t have one released. This is the best one I could find. She is growing in Christ’s arms wishing we were there to see everything she is.
The second song is very personal. I wrote it a couple weeks after finding out Beth was pregnant with #4. I shared it with her and am posting it here now. Please be respectful of it. I don’t know why I said that, but this is very personal.
God’s Arms
In our arms we hoped to hold you, safe from all harm.
With our eyes we hoped to see you grow up and behold
The future that awaited you filled with hopes and dreams.
We wanted to kiss you and show you our love
And teach you the love of our God up above.
But God’s plans were greater than we can ever dream.
He planned your life perfectly,
Though too short it seemed.
For although I could hold you for moments at a time
His arms are greater, much greater than mine.
Now in my dreams I long to know you as the blessing you are.
As I wait for that glorious day, when your face I’ll behold.
And when the future that awaited us is finally revealed
I’ll run to you and hold you and fully understand
Of how the point of it all was hidden in His hands.
Because…
Oh how I wish I could hold you for moments at least,
