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bless your heart

We Don’t Get to Choose Our Ministry

October 25, 2015 by amanda 14 Comments

If you’ll wander with me down memory lane a bit, I’d like to introduce you to the 16-year-old-me. Of course, it goes without saying that I was younger then (and thinner), and it was a really exciting time of my life. I was “on fire” for the things of the Lord, I was disciplining myself spiritually and physically, and, as a side note, I knew how to parent everybody else’s kids (I wish the me-now could figure out where the me-then got all her answers…!). I was about to graduate high school, and I couldn’t wait to see what God had in store.

I wanted to peer excitedly just over the horizon to peek into what God was going to do with my budding talents and abilities. But I sure would have been surprised and confused had the 16-year-old-me been able to glimpse the calling that God was placing on my life.

The 16-year-old-me would never have pictured the path the Lord would direct for me in my twenties and now in my thirties. My twenties were hard years spiritually, full of questioning and frustration. My idea of how I would serve God and what that would look like was crumbling. I didn’t know I’d be such a mess, and I didn’t know that God was not going to use me in the ways I had thought that He would….

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Filed Under: Biblical womanhood, comfort, encouragement, and suffering

Making Sense of Romans 8:28 | the testimony of a bereaved mother

October 5, 2015 by amanda 11 Comments

What a privilege and blessing it is for me to offer to you these words of truth and life by one of my dearest friends, Daphne McKibben. On March 16, 2013, Daphne unexpectedly lost her almost 19-year-old son, Larry. Daphne shares hope and encouragement with us through her honesty in struggling with Romans 8:28, and she also introduces to you two ministries that are precious to her as a bereaved mother. I am praying with full confidence that God will use her words to comfort and strengthen your hearts. ♥ .. amanda
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
…

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Filed Under: comfort, encouragement, and suffering, infertility and pregnancy loss

Unworthy to Worship

August 31, 2015 by amanda 10 Comments

Recently I was standing beside my newborn daughter’s crib, cradling her in my arms and rocking her back and forth. I was trying to soothe her down for a little nap, and I was suddenly so overcome with glad emotion that God had made this barren woman a mother….again.

As I swayed gently with her in the dim light, I began to sing softly to my Heavenly Father, filled with joy and marvel at this precious pink bundle that He had given to me.

I was singing and humming and began to be caught up in worshiping the Lord:

“Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, worthy is the Lamb who was slain!
Highest praises, honor and glory, be unto Your name…be unto Your name..”

Before I could finish these words, I stopped singing.

How many days had it been since I had read my Bible? I hadn’t made it to church yet since the baby was born. I was wearing pajama pants and a shirt covered in spit up….from yesterday, I think. I had been wrestling with those crazy postpartum hormones (and losing), and I’d lost it (again) with my husband and my preschooler.

Until I could get myself together a bit more and find the wherewithal in this season of newborn-fog to spend time confessing my sins, and until I could get back into the scripture and spend time in prayer, I had no business worshiping before the throne of the Lord God Almighty. I was in no way worthy to echo the words of that song that the throng of heaven cries out in worship before Him who is seated on the throne (Revelation 4:8-11).

I would have to pay penance for my stumbling and sin. Some time would have to elapse before I could freely and unashamedly approach the Father in worship and praise. I would have to come to the Lord as a slave rather than as a son, for I had lost the privilege to enter His presence with emotion, affection, boldness, and joy….

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Filed Under: Biblical womanhood, comfort, encouragement, and suffering, knowing Christ, motherhood

The Eternal Incarnation of Immanuel

December 23, 2014 by amanda 4 Comments

Conceived in the womb of a young Jewish girl, the Word becomes flesh. As the cells of our Creator divide and multiply, the very Author of life empties Himself, taking on human form, soon to be born in the likeness of men.

Not considering equality with God something to be grasped, the Word of God is pushed forth from the womb, assuming forever the role of God-Man. This Image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15) has forever left His pre-incarnate state, eternally to exist as the man, Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

For several months, the wonder of the incarnation has baffled me. I have been a Christian for more than two decades now, and yet I somehow never grasped until recently the sacrifice of Christ in His eternal incarnation. The Son of God did not exist in eternity past as a man. Rather, he took on flesh when the Holy Spirit gave conception within the womb of a poor Jewish virgin, and His incarnation and its permanence have everything to do with our eternal salvation and security in Him….

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Filed Under: Christmas, knowing Christ

When Bad Things Happen to Good People

November 11, 2014 by amanda 6 Comments

“As [Jesus] passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3

Why do bad things happen to good people? There are times that I’ve caught myself buying into the mentality that good things happen to good people, and that bad things happen when we’re bad.

It’s like karma for Christians.…

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Filed Under: comfort, encouragement, and suffering

Six Truths for Barren Women

October 30, 2014 by amanda 2 Comments

My husband and I have been through the ups and downs of infertility and pregnancy loss for 8 years. Since beginning this very difficult journey, God has blessed us with a beautiful, healthy 2-year-old boy, as well as two children that I miscarried and that wait for us in heaven with the Lord.

Through times of depression and grief, anger and sadness, heartbreak and pain, God has not only abounded to us in comfort, but He has also increased our hope in Him, our joy in His promises, our faith in His word, and our love for the Savior….

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Filed Under: Additional Guest Posts, guest posts, infertility and pregnancy loss

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