As the weather warms I am quickly reminded of how soon summer will be fully under way. My how time flies. I’m sure a few months from now we’ll all be reflecting how fast the summer flew by! But before it does get away from us here are 3 things I would strongly encourage you to do this summer that cost little to nothing: (more…)
Last week, I shared with you the pending doom that the weather had in mind for my wedding day! If you missed it, check it out here. Through an entire community joining together in planning the wedding as well as praying for the wedding, the heavy storm missed us. It was then that a decision had been made. Our orignal plan was to be married on this beautiful dock on a small pond with everyone surrounding us, with our back-up option being married underneath the tent. The decision was made to have the ceremony on the deck and we didn’t look back from there.
From that point on, it was complete bliss. There was a light rain as Autumn and I said our vows, and it was just perfect. The entire day my bride had not complained about the weather on our wedding day and we made the best of it. We were told by a number of people that has soon as we kissed on the dock, the rain stopped 
I of course didn’t even notice, because the rain had become such a perfect part of our day.
If I could summarize a verse leading up to our ceremony it would be:
‘Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ’
- Philippians 2:14-15
Though the storm was looming heavy the week before, on our wedding day we had the sunset that we had prayed for! No matter the situation you find yourself in, get through it without the grumbling and discontent! You have no idea that impact that it will have on you or those around you.
The radar an hour before my wedding
I don’t know about you, but in your life there are always going to be words to different songs that seem to stick even though it’s been years since you have heard it. One of those songs for me over the years that I have randomly listened to/made a lot of jokes to is a song by Alanis Morrissette simply entitled ‘Ironic’. It is basically a clever song with lines based on ironic situations that any particular person would face any given day. There is the beginning line of the chorus from that song that has always stuck in my head. It starts ‘It’s like Rain on your Wedding Day’…………
April 21, 2012 will forever go down as my special day! I waited 29 years to spend my life with the one that the Lord had prepared for me, and I wasn’t going to let anything rain on my ‘parade’ (pun intended). At the beginning of the week we received word that not only was it suppose to rain….yes….on my wedding day, but it was going to be an all out storm. A few powerful words that were included in the forecast were: Thunder, Lightening, High Winds, Flooding, Squall, Hail, Tornadoes…etc. Yep, you get the picture. Still I trusted that the Lord was not only the Lord of my wife and I but also the weather so I held out hope it would pass over. You might be wondering: why all the fuss with rain if your wedding is inside? That was a problem that we were potentially facing, we had an outdoor wedding/reception with an tent as our rain back up. Needless to say the forecast made our rain back up look rather silly.
On the eve of my wedding I spent a wonderful time with the guys that would be standing with me the next day. We sat on the beach and watched as a storm was rolling in from the gulf and thunder and lightening was all over the place. It was such an incredible evening filled with great wisdom, great stories and a great display of the Lord’s power. As we parted ways for the evening a huge storm hit and I was praying the storm would pass through the night and we would have nothing to worry about the next morning. Though I was praying for the storm to pass over, I was also praying for the Lord to choose the weather that he seemed fit best for my wife and I. It’s a great prayer to pray, but when your praying over weather for your outdoor wedding and peace of mind for those putting it on….it’s an extremely difficult pray to prayer. Still, I felt that the Lord had it covered.
On the morning of my wedding the weather was beautiful! But the meteorologists were forecasting that the afternoon and evening were going to basically be fireworks as the sky would be lighting up with incredible storms. That is not something that was pleasant to hear for myself or my wife to be. We had hopes to have our ceremony outside, followed by the reception underneath the tent that would protect us from the rain. But as made my way to the farm we were having our celebration at, it seemed like the storm could go either way. If you look back at the picture you can see what we were facing in terms of weather. And as I was driving to the farm I was watching as the rain started to hit the windshield of the car, but I held out hope still. It was only 2:30 pm and I had a pictures with ushers and groomsman at 2:45. Although the storm had hit us, and looked as if it would pound us for hours….I still held out hope. Although my wish was to get married outside and not underneath a tent, at the end of the day I would be married to my beautiful bride!
We ended up taking the pictures with my guys with umbrellas! I don’t think you will see more creative wedding umbrella pictures if I do say so myself. After the photo shoot, we jumped back into different cars and waited out the rain. Even though the rain was bearing on us, I was determined to make the best no matter the outcome. The biggest blessing though was not only did I have this mindset about my wedding day, but so did my bride. It’s one thing for the groom to remain calm in dire situations, but the bride showed her true character through her response to the weather. We both wanted to get married on the dock of the pond which was our initial plan, but we both wanted to get married more. Though we were separated before the wedding our prayers were the same that we wanted the Lord to be apart of our day no matter what the weather was………
This perspective I must confess is not easy to come by. There are days in life when you want everything to go perfect…..one of those being your wedding day. Still, what we deem as perfect….might not be what the Lord deems. We want things to go our way and we want the Lord show us how they are going to go ahead of time. A lot of the time that is not how He works. In 2nd Samuel 10:12 it says
‘Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him’
This prayer, this battle cry first came to me as I was listening to John Piper’s book ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’. It comes from a story of a King who was seeking the Lord’s will on how to best protect his kingdom. He prayed over and over again, but never felt like he received a direct answer from the Lord. Finally, he turned to his brother and told him to go and defend one side of the kingdom and that he would defend the other side and said ‘may the Lord do what seems good to him’. That simple prayer and courage in that story has helped me numerous times over the past 4 months. But none more than my wedding day! After praying that prayer over and over again I literally had no idea how the Lord would respond, but I began to be okay with whichever way he showed up. Either way, whether it rained or not I would be married!
I would encourage you to dig deeper into that story and be bold to pray that prayer when you face circumstances that are anything but easy. Have faith in the Lord that the Lord will show up! Tune in next week and I will share what ended up happening with the weather!
- BWang
www.findwaldo.com
I grew up loving the “Where’s Waldo” books. My siblings had a different approach to these books than I did. If they couldn’t find Waldo right away they would turn to the next page and hope it was easier. That wasn’t how my little brain worked. I wouldn’t turn the page until I found Waldo and all the other items I was suppose to find. I looked and looked, sometimes it would literally take me an hour or 2 to get all the way through a new book. But the joy I found when I completed a book without giving up was so worth it. Knowing I found things my siblings were not willing to be patient looking for was so rewarding. The more I think about it Waldo has a good theology lesson for us.
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:12-13
If we were to be honest with ourselves today, how much of our heart is really seeking after God? Is it possible we feel distant from God because our heart is constantly seeking other things? Could it be that we feel God is ignoring us because we are so willing to turn the page or move on to other things when we don’t immediately hear His voice? I want to encourage all of you today. Call upon Him, seek Him. Don’t give up, because as Waldo taught me-it is so worth the search and perseverance!
Everyday you have a choice. There will be problems that arise, and your choice is in how you will deal with them. It ‘s fascinating how problems big or small ruin your entire day, thus hurting your chances of spreading joy to those around you.
One day I got a coffee table from Ikea. It was a great price, and I was excited about putting it together. I gathered all the tools that were needed to help put masterpiece take form. I spread out the instructions, grabbed a hammer and power drill, and got to work. As I scanned the table piece, there were no pre-drilled holes, thus confirming I needed to make my own. The drill I had chosen did not seem to do the trick, so I ran downstairs to grab a different drill that was more adequate for the job on hand. As I placed the Phillips head on the screw, and turned it on….the battery died. At this point, I started to get a little heated. This 20 minute job had already turned into 40. It was then I decided to grab a regular screwdriver and provide the power myself. That was when I realized the screws had been stripped while being forced with the power drill, thus the screws would not budge. As all patience was, and this silly coffee table had stolen any sign of joy in my life, I took a break. (more…)
Our God is an Awesome God! Check this out:
Copyright 2012. Magnifying the Universe by Number Sleuth.
I’ve been reading through Jerry Bridges “Pursuit of Holiness” and am convicted with every chapter I read. Bridges makes it clear that the reason we don’t grow in our relationship with Christ is because we don’t hate our sin enough. On page 28 he says “We need to cultivate in our hearts the same hatred of sin God has. Hatred of sin as sin, not just something disquieting or defeating to ourselves, but as displeasing to ourselves, lies at the root of all true holiness.” We tolerate our sin, justify it, and sometimes even condition ourselves to ignore it.
The truth is that if you are living in sin and continue to live in it, you don’t hate it. As a matter of fact you border line enjoy it. No one who hates anything continues to be around it or them. So I know that Jesus told us to love everyone, even our enemies, but there was also one thing Jesus wanted us to hate. That’s right Jesus wants us to hate our sin. OUr sin breaks His heart and the heart of the Father. So I invite you into this prayer with me today, a prayer should be repeated throughout our life.
“God against You and You alone have I sinned. Forgive me of my faults, even the ones I am too blind to see. I ask that You would break my heart by the very decisions I make that break yours.”
Are there ever times where you feel like you don’t belong? That you feel that you might be meant for something more? All the time I feel like I don’t belong. However, it helps that I have a daily reminder, being 6 ft 7 isn’t all that normal. I cannot go anywhere without people asking me how tall I am, or people gawking as I walk by them, or how it’s hard for me to fit in my own car. I use all of these fun circumstances to help remind me that I do not belong on this earth. I’m called to be here now, but eventually I know that Lord will take me up to be with him! And what a blessing it is that I can use my size to remind me that I am a stranger and alien on this earth! I realized that I was in fact true as I was reading through Hebrews 11,
‘All these people were
still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And
they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead,
they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for
them.’ – Hebrews 11:13-16
Reading through this section was comforting, because it confirmed in me that Earth was not home, and that I need to continue to seek after a ‘country of their (my) own’…I need to ‘long for a better country – a heavenly one’. Though I know what I should be longing for, reading this made me question what exactly it is I long for. It makes me think am I content with being on earth? Is it to the point where I don’t desire to be with the Lord just yet, because there might be a few things on this earth that I’m not ready to leave….
Is your walk with Christ so apparent to others that they might call you ‘Different’? That the way act is different then most people you know….that some might indeed call you aliens and strangers? I pray that you would strive to set yourself apart from your friends when it comes to your relationship with Jesus Christ! I’m not saying you get rid of your friends, but be that example to them! Have them question why you are different than everyone else!
I have my daily reminder in the small things that I run into on a daily basis! I’m reminded most during the Christmas season because for some reason I tower over a number of trees! Here’s a funny picture from a couple of Christmas’s ago that reminds me that I am indeed an ‘Alien and Stranger’ of this earth! (BW)
Lately I’ve been soaking myself in the Gospel of Luke, and stumbled across these verses in chapter 9, “John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.” This got me thinking, and convicted me. In my experience it seems that unless it is our idea, or our program, our ministry, or our efforts, we begin to criticize, judge, and even condemn. We become like John, right? Trying to stop the efforts of someone else who may be passionately chasing Jesus and desiring to advance His kingdom. What a powerful passage! If they are not against you, they are for YOU!
The inability so many have to understand this verse is a large reason we still see so much disunity amongst the Body. I recently read a tweet that said, “If God answered all your prayers, but through another ministry or person would you praise Him or become bitter?” Makes us examine our motives, our own desire to be known or recognized. Why else would we feel threatened? God is so much bigger than our ideas, aspirations, and desires. The reality I’ve come to is that He doesn’t need me, or you! Oh, that I would be forever grateful shall He choose to use me.
And for those of you that are living it out for Christ way to go! Way to be on the same team as the Apostle John. Way to encourage others who have similar dreams. Way to get yourself out of the way and make Jesus clearly seen.
