baptized

It's been a long time coming, but I finally made the decision to be baptized at our outdoor service this year. I'm not sure why it took me 28 years to do, but I'm thankful the Lord continued to patiently wait on me and continue to encourage me in the the things that He has for me. So, among friends and family, I testified to exactly what God has done so far with this life He has blessed me with:

"My name is Kristen and I want to be baptized today because I want to be obedient to what the Lord has placed on my heart and being baptized is one of those things.

Throughout my childhood, I was raised to know Jesus. I remember as a little girl at church saying "Yes! I want to have Jesus in my heart!" I didn't fully know what that meant at age 5, but I did know that God loved me and that was a start. My parents raised me in a Christian home. We went to church every Sunday. We helped out at a homeless mens shelter, went away on weekend church retreats, and mission trips. Looking back, I could not be more thankful for this firm foundation.  I can clearly see the way this foundation saved me from the heartache I saw in others because they didn't know Jesus. It saved me from some bad decisions and things that I would have certainly regretted later.

That's not to say I was perfect and in fact I wasn't. I made my fair share of poor decisions and selfish choices; but, at the age of 19, I decided that enough was enough. At the end of my freshman year of college, I remember making that very conscious decision to make my faith my own. I decided that I would be a Christian and follow Christ because I believed it, because I wanted to, because it was truth. I made that decision because I knew that Christ had died and lived for me. I didn't believe because I had to or because someone told me to, but because it was really, truly what I believed.

Since then, the greatest gift the Lord has given me is a true, unwavering belief in who he is. He has given me an unshakable faith and has proved faithful. That has played out over the last 9 years as my relationship with the Father is ever changing as he reveals who he is to me; however, one thing that never changes is the way he faithfully walks beside me in this life. Throughout times of heartache and pain and through times of joy and blessing, Jesus is my constant. He is my comfort, strength and joy and I am blessed a thousand times over to be his daughter.

And, the Lord is not done with me yet. He continues to work on my heart, my motives, and my life. He uses people from this body (Providence), my family, my friends, my husband, and my son to show me how much grace I receive and how much he loves me. I trust and believe that until the day I am called home to heaven, he will continue to do a good work in me. Like it says in Philippians 1:6- being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

 *** Something really important and special for me was that my earthly father could baptize me in the name of my heavenly father. What an incredible blessing you are and have been on my life Dad. I love you!

So there you have it. My testimony. The day was unpredictable weather wise and so we gave our testimonies (there were 9 of us baptized on Sunday!!!) in a pavilion and then were baptized in the Brandywine. I'm so glad that I did it. So glad I can share with you exactly what God has done and is doing in my life!

The heavens declare the glory of God,

       and the skies announce what his hands have made. 

Day after day they tell the story;

       night after night they tell it again.

Psalm 19:1-2

 

 

Adoption

I feel like I have been surrounded by it. Seeing the way that God's people are living out the gospel and caring for the widows and orphans. It's such a beautiful picture. Amazing to see the way the Lord touches peoples hearts to love children that were unloved. There have been a number of friends at our church who have adopted or are in the process. A few weeks ago, I asked you to participate in the giveaway for our friends Ryan and Katie who are adopting from the Congo. Right now, other friends of ours are in China with their little girl Emery Lin. Angie and Clint have been praying for their little girl and waiting and hoping and praying some more for the last 3 years. As of Monday, their prayers have been answered. If you want to read more you can click here or look for "the weldons" under our friends tab.

I also follow a blog called the lettered cottage. It's a design blog, but they are also in the process of adopting. Today they had a guest post from a family who adopted two of the sweetest little kids from Africa. I watched their coming home video and cried. What a beautiful amazing homecoming!



Home At Last from dan owens on Vimeo.


Adoption is such an amazing wonderful life changing thing. I'm thankful to be able to see so many children welcomed into loving families. It's a great Thursday.

sometimes there just aren't enough rocks...

I've been feeling like that this past week. Really just struggling with the loss of Luke and just how unfair and terrible it feels. I've been searching the scriptures for comfort, for answers. I know that my words are nothing more than nice words, but that scripture can bring comfort and life and joy back to Sara and Keith. I find that the Psalms bring so much comfort and peace. Psalm 40 in particular is my prayer for them:

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned and heard my cry. 
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand. 
He put a new song in my mouth, 
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord. 


I am praying with confidence, knowing that the Lord will pull them out of their hurt and despair, He will be their solid ground to stand on, and eventually He will give them joy in their hearts. I know that the Lord uses his people to tell the message of his love and redemption, and I believe that He will do that through the faith of Sara and Keith. Please continue to pray for healing in their hearts, peace with unanswed questions, and comfort for each moment.

Remembering Luke

Sara Thomas is one of my best friends. Her and I have shared life together the last four years. It was an instant friendship based on our love for Jesus and teaching high school kids. We work together in the same department, teach the same course, share materials and lunches and rides to school.  There have been plenty of weekend grad classes, morning coffee runs and shopping trips. We've been there with each other for her wedding and the birth of both of our boys. And on Tuesday, I was with my dear friend when her baby boy went to heaven.

There aren't any words to describe the grief and pain that I feel for my sweet friend. I can't pretend to even understand how she's feeling. The only thing I do know and cling to is a sovereign, faithful God. God didn't create us to experience death, death is here because of sin. No wonder it doesn't make sense and is seemingly impossible to deal with. I know that Christ is mourning with Sara and Keith. In all of this, I am 100% sure that the Lord will stand by Sara and Keith and give them what they need to make it through the next hours, weeks, and months. Pray with me for Sara, Keith and their families. Pray for peace and comfort and for the reminder that there is hope because Jesus not only lived this life and understands our hurts, but also because he died and took on our sins for the redemption of mankind.

I love you Sara Thomas and I loved your little boy.

answered prayer

Tomorrow marks a week until the school year begins. I'll be honest --- I've been dreading it. Usually I am a little sad to see my lazy days of summer come to an end; however, this year I am really sad to see my maternity leave end. I have been blessed with 6 precious months at home with Everett. Days spent walking with Aunt Jules, laughing, changing dirty diapers, loving on Marley and Kai, hanging by the pool, drinking lots of coffee, cheering on dad at softball games, taking naps together, vacationing. The last 6 months have been an unbelievable blessing, perfectly perfect days spent with my sweet boy. Needless to say, I'm incredibly sad that my time at home with Everett will end next week. Despite lots of prayers and plans, I'm not able to stay at home with him. So, Aaron and I started searching for somewhere/someone to watch Everett. We looked at a number of daycares and talked to a few individual babysitters. In the end, we lined up a woman from Morgantown to watch him 4 days a week and my mother in law, Diane, once a week. The babysitter came highly recommended from a fellow teacher and so we were confident that she would do a good job watching Everett; however, neither of us was completely at peace. We continued to talk and pray about it- Aaron more diligently than I. I kept pushing the thought of Everett with someone else to the back of my mind, denying the fact that August 30th would get here whether I wanted it to or not. Aaron (unbeknownst to me) was continuing to pray that I would be able to stay at home with Everett or that if that wasn't possible that another opportunity would present itself. Thursday I called my friend Missy O'Malley. I had a dvd of hers that I needed to return. She just happened to be thinking about us and asked me what we were doing with Everett for childcare. And that was the beginning of our prayers being answered. We've been friends with the O'Malleys for years. They've got two fun little girls- Aubrey (4.5) and Leah (2.5). Missy runs children's ministry at church. They live near us in Honeybrook. They love Everett. And most importantly- they love Jesus. It was an instant relief, a weight off our shoulders knowing that my friend would watch my little boy, that he will learn about Jesus, that he will play with her sweet girls. It's funny the way the Lord works sometimes. The way his answers to prayer wouldn't always be mine, but that he has things worked out for us. How thankful I am for a praying husband, a willing friend, and a faithful god. Proverbs 16:9 - In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

Aubrey and Leah with 2 week old Everett

a bump in the road

This is a difficult post, and hard to come up with the words to write it. Usually, I stick to the happy and fun things going on in our life, but we've hit a bump in the road. Everett was born with a heart murmur. Many babies are, it's a common thing and usually goes away we were told. So, we didn't think anything of it until his two month appointment when the doctor showed some concern that she could still hear the murmur. We were scheduled for an echo (ultrasound) and an EKG and finally got the testing last Thursday. Test results came back and he was diagnosed with something called aortic valve stenosis. We didn't really get a good explanation, probably because I was in a fog after they told me my perfect little boy has a not so perfect heart. We spent the next 5 days frustrated and bitter at times and sad and just upset. Millions of questions filtered through my brain --- was it something I did or ate or didn't do when I was pregnant? Will Everett be able to live a normal life? be a regular little boy that digs in the dirt and runs around the playground? The questions were unending, but also knew that the Lord had things worked out. So we prayed. Family prayed, friends prayed, and we waited (anxiously) for clarity. We had an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist from CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) on Monday. We spent 2.5 hours there, having tests done and re-done and watching poor little Everett poked and prodded. In the end, we got a lot of clarity on what was going on with Everett's heart. He does in fact have mild aortic stenosis and they also found that his aorta right past the valve is twice the size it should be. While that sounds grim, it's not as bad as it could be. For now, Everett can be treated just like any other little boy his age. In fact, the doctor told us to pretend we didn't have the conversation (I think he could see the worry on our faces as he told us the diagnosis). We will have to go back to CHOP in September to have another echo and EKG done and will most likely need to have an MRI done on Everett before his first birthday. As long as his aorta does not enlarge any more, Everett will just be monitored. And while a lifetime of pediatric cardiologist appointments seems daunting, we are SO SO thankful that that is all that needs done for now. We don't know what the future holds for Everett and if he will get to run around on that playground or play sports if he wants to, but we do know that the Lord has amazing plans for him... and for that we are incredibly thankful.

(Psalm 139:13-14) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and WONDERFULLY made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us, no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. (Psalm 40:5)

It's a wonderful life...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Every year it seems like amidst all the gift buying-christmas partying-house decorating-christmas baking-movie watching bustle we forget the true reason for celebrating Christmas. This year Aaron and I really tried to focus on and remember what the birth of Christ means to us as children of God and what a tremendous sacrifice He made on our behalf. Our church, Providence, worked through something called "God in the Straw." It was an amazing study on Christ's birth and its' significance. Here is an excerpt:

"For many, Christmas is just a beautiful dream. It’s a world in which everyday reality goes a bit blurred. It’s nostalgic, cozy, and comforting. But real Christmas isn’t like that at all. It misses the point completely if all you see are decorated trees, carolers, and shiny presents. Christmas is not a reminder that the world really is a nice old place after all. It’s a reminder that the world is a shockingly bad old place where wickedness flourishes unchecked, where children are murdered, were civilized countries make a lot of money by selling weapons to uncivilized ones so they can blow each other apart. Christmas is God lighting a candle: and you don’t light a candle in a room that is already filled with sunlight. You light a candle in a room that’s so murky that the candle, when lit, reveals just how bad things really are. The Light shines in the darkness, as St John says, and the light did not overcome it."


While we love all that Christmas means to us through traditions and family, even more so, we love that it is symbolic of when Christ came to this world to free us. We pray that this year you would recognize along with us the need for Christians to be light in the dark places and to continue on the work of Christ.