Dear Stupid Terrorist

Dear stupid terrorist,

This will be my one and only acknowledgement of you.

You probably think that you got away with something yesterday--that you sent the world into chaos. But you didn't. What your act of terrorism did, is to unite a people--to allow our nation to rise above their circumstance and truly help others.

Over and over, I keep hearing and seeing the words Mr. Rogers gave us--that in every bad situation, we should look for the heroes.  And we are.  And they are definitely present.  And we will continue to do this instead of focus on the destruction.  And we will see many whose acts of courage will far outshine and get more media coverage than your selfish little act will.

That's what Americans do.  Tragedies like this serve to help us forget our petty politics and band together.  They serve to remind us of how strong we are as a nation.  They remind us of how much we hate the evil in the world and will battle against it. 

So, just like Satan in the garden of Eden, you may be thinking you won--that evil prevailed.  But, we know that this IS NOT the end of the story.

Because at the end of the story, God WILL win the war and good will triumph over evil. 

The Grace and Mercy of the Father Displayed in a Husband

Husbands are a lot of things.

Most people don't think of grace and mercy when they think of their husbands, but I do. I'm good at law. If I'd have been alive in Jesus' day, I probably would have been a Pharisee.

But not my husband.

He would have never been with the men trying to stone the adulteress. He wouldn't have stoned Stephen. He wouldn't have beat the Jewish slaves to get them to make bricks faster.

He is the epitamy of grace. He shows mercy more than any other human I know. He's not a sissy and doesn't get walked on--which is what I typically think when I envision a grace-filled person.

He treats people as equals--even when society tells them they are not. Seeing him do this with a mechanic who spoke very little English a few weeks ago gave me chills. Not only did he treat him fairly, he shook his hand and looked him in the eye. He treated him with respect.

He does it to our children. While I threaten and always have a consequence ready, he asks and jokes and they do whatever they were asked while laughing (most of the time--they ARE kids).

He did it to me just today. Instead of yelling or getting angry over the fact that he had to drive down to Dallas to get my broken-down car (which looks like it was because of something I did) he just did it and joked with the girls about farts on the way home.  I would have made sure he knew how inconvenienced I was. I would have made him feel stupid.

But he never does that. Not with me. Not with our kids. And not with strangers.

He models grace and mercy. And through him, I get a glimpse of what a loving and good and kind Heavenly Father I have.

I Cried.

I cried today. Twice.

The first time, I was sitting in church and we were singing about how much He loves us--my favorite line used to be "if grace is an ocean, we're all sinking."  But today the line "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way that He loves me" moved me.

I'm good with regrets. Hindsight is 20/20 and I tend to live in the past and wallow in what I should have done better. So, even though I've heard those words many times before, they hit me today in light of our new house and what feels like a fresh start.

The 2nd time I cried was when we were at our new house and the girl next door came outside and we found out she was the exact same age as my Hope. I've been praying specifically for God to provide friends for both my girls, but with Hope starting middle school, I've been a bit worried about her. To see how excited she was and watch them chit-chat, brought tears to my eyes--which then made my mother-in-law tear up too (and made my husband laugh at me).  That God would care enough about my family to not only provide a friend, but to give us one right next door is amazing and I find myself crying again as I write this.

There were also 2 little girls from down the street who Caroline played with. They were younger but so sweet and happy that I couldn't help but smile in their presence. She went down the street to play in their yard for a while and I had no fear about letting her go. Words can't describe how I felt about being able to do that.

So, even with the nasty-smelling carpets and junk in the yard, Fairview Farms is already home. I know there will be challenges and the kids we met today may all turn out to be mean or weird, but, for tonight, I'm basking in the goodness of the way He loves me.

And looking at this picture of our house makes me giddy with delight in that!

Savor

Tonight is one of those nights I don't want to forget. 

One of those nights when the goodness of God is so huge and obvious to me.

One of those nights that I want to savor every second of, so that I remember it in darker times and it strengthens my faith.

One of those nights that I see pieces of His puzzle come together--even though the whole picture isn't done, I see a corner coming to completion.

I've seen him take selfish desires of mine and not only grant them, but purify my requests in the process. 

I've seen him answer prayers that I was scared to pray--just in case He said "No."

I've seen him draw people to Him in spite of the me getting in the way.

And I'm just gonna sit here and dwell in it for a while because it's good.

And I'm grateful. 

T Doesn't Know Jesus

One of the girls' friends--let's call him T--asked me today if I believed in heaven and if so, what did I think it would be like.  He's a 10 year old boy who doesn't have a clue who Jesus is.  When I asked him what he thought happened after people died, he said he just thought it went black. His parents think that, too, he said.

I shared the Gospel with him and he didn't know what sin was. He was interested but also distracted. And I kept thinking "Will his parents let him continue to play at our house when he tells them what we talked about?"  Will they think we are weird?  

Or, is he the reason we have lived in this house, on this street for 13 years?  God does things like that. He pursues the one. I believe He is pursuing T. 

T told me he believed in God. And he was really excited when he found out we went to church. I invited him to go with us on Sunday and gave him the church website so he could show his parents. And I told him Brian or I would talk to his parents later this week. 

How many more kids live on our street and in our neighborhoods who don't know Jesus?  Who don't realize that things don't just go black after you die. Who need to know that there's a God who loves them so much that He gave up his own son?  

I'm praying for T and his family. And I'm praying for me--that God would open my eyes to the many Ts who live around us and use me.  That He would pursue them and use any means necessary to bring them to Him.  And especially that T would know Him before we move. 

Do you know a T?

"In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish. ". Matthew 18:14