• I have seen his face

    There is a story often attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson of a ship caught in a dreadful storm off a rocky coast. The hurricane winds, driving rain, and heaving waves threatened to drive the ship and its passengers into destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man pulled himself up the slippery stairs of the ship’s hold to the deck, fearful of what he’d see. The ship tossed steeply; creaking and cracking pierced the steady whoosh of the angry sea. The moonlight in the heavy rain did not allow much vision, but the sailor held fast and gazed across the deck to the wheel of the ship. There he saw the pilot at his post gripping the wheel strongly, and bit by bit steering the ship out to sea. The pilot spotted the terrified spy and gave him a smirk. Impressed, the passenger returned to the hold and sounded the news: “I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled at me. All is well.”

    – Gospel Wakefulness, Jared Wilson p. 161 (at least that’s what it says on my Kindle App)

  • Change & What Is Unchanging

    Baby girl turned 5 months old yesterday!
     
    A few days ago, Jeff was working on the computer and suddenly turned to me and said, “Sweetheart, these past three years have flown by.” They really have- these past five months especially. One of the women in a small group I’m attending has a 10 week old, and I can hardly remember when our daughter was that small or in the newborn stage.
     
    If you ever want to see a miracle happen in front of your eyes, keep track of the way a baby develops. Not only has baby girl more than doubled her weight since birth, it’s mind blowing to see the changes that have happened from week to week as she’s reached different milestones. She went from not being able to focus her eyes or control her arms to knowing how to look at an object, grab it, and shove it into her mouth before mommy or daddy can take it away. From sleeping and crying all day to learning how to play, laugh, and respond to our voices. Each day is a joy and gift from God. I love seeing Jeff be a daddy, playing, singing, praying, reading the Bible with her. I love being a mommy.
     
    A lot has changed these last five months. I can’t just run out the door with my wallet, phone, and keys in my jacket pocket. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since the second night we came home from the hospital when my mom took care of baby girl for the night. We’ve definitely gotten stronger- my arms are probably bigger as I’ve been weight training, lifting 7 lb 11 oz to, we’re guessing, now at least around 17 lb, all day. And Jeff and I are now in the “young parents” category. Along with that, Jeff began working full-time in two churches as the English pastor.
     
    There is much I have learned. I’ve learned how to remove a dirty onesie without taking off all the winter layers of clothing (accomplished today at church by the grace of God!) I’ve learned how to simultaneously feed a baby and type with one hand (which I’m doing right now). I am learning how to be a wife, a mom, and how to be both at the same time. Jeff and I are learning to prayerfully plan and talk to one another in how to deal with issues of time pertaining to ministry and family life. I am learning to set healthy boundaries but not be selfishly demanding, to be honest about my needs but not to live just in order to protect myself.
     
    Yet with all that has changed and all I am learning, some things have remained the same. Either the day before or the very day that I went into labor, I made a list of what would not change after my daughter was born. People say that having a child changes everything. With all the excitement of finally meeting our baby girl, the uncertainties that came with her arrival, and a future that looked completely different than anything I’d experienced up until then, it was necessary for me to remind myself of what was firm and sure. Among other things, I reflected on how God’s steadfast love, my need for him, and the truth of his Word would not change.
     
    It is still a battle to trust and place my hope in God. While before it was an issue of control and learning to trust God with what I should do after I graduated or who I would marry, now it’s trusting God to help us to raise our daughter and trusting God to lead my husband when he makes decisions for our family. I still need to remind myself that life and death are in his hands, just as I did during my pregnancy, when I am tempted to worry about worst-case scenarios. I still need like-minded sisters around me to encourage me and carry burdens with; admitting my weariness and need for help before others keeps me humble before God and in the position to receive grace. I am still called to be a part of what God is doing in this world and made to live for his glory. He is still gracious to me when I fall into self-centeredness and I still need forgiveness as the selfish desires of my old self are exposed in new life circumstances. I am still being conformed into the image of Christ day by day by the work of the Holy Spirit. He has not given up on me and his purposes in my life.
     
    When I said the “this is going to change everything” line to Jeff right before baby girl was born, he said to me “no, the gospel changes everything.” It is a comfort thus to me that in the midst of all that I still need to learn and all that is ahead, the biggest decision of my life has already been made, the biggest change has already happened, and that day-by-day I am just living in and out of these eternal unseen realities by the grace of God, who alone does not change.

  • Happy 30th!

    Happy 30th birthday to my husband, daughter’s daddy, and best friend!
    I am so thankful for this man of God in my life. It has been an amazing privilege to be his wife and helper with a front row seat to see him grow as a God-worshipper, husband, daddy, and pastor.
    Hun, I can’t believe that when we first met, you were only 21! =) Thank you for taking care of me through the years, for your servant-leadership in our family and for leading us in love. Baby girl is blessed to have you as a daddy and I pray that when she grows up, she will marry someone like you. I love you!

  • Conviction and Freedom from Guilt

    Thank you so much for those of you who have responded in some way to my last post! I wanted to share with you a resource that God has used to speak clarity powerfully into the struggles I had written about. Since the last time I posted, I have experienced a great measure of freedom partly in due to this sermon as well as through speaking with Jeff.

    John Piper gave a message titled “The Relationship Between Diversified Domestic Ministries and Frontier Missions” that I recommend to whoever is thinking about these issues. (Please give it a listen or at least read through the transcript!) Hearing about our individual callings in perspective of what God is doing globally and also having the diversity of calling affirmed as from God has been freeing for me. Since being encouraged by this message to be fully persuaded of my own calling so that I am not subject to guilt and defensiveness, I am no longer feeling condemned when I hear from people with different convictions, but can actually rejoice with and be passionate with others! I am also reminded to be humble and less quick to judge others with different types of ministries that are still Biblical.
    Here are a few excerpts from the transcript:
    5 principles from Romans 14:
    1. There will always be diversity in the church, even diversity of conviction about what the will of the Lord is for some areas of behavior.
    2. Many of these differences we should not distinguish as good and evil. Sin is what does not come from faith. But our varying perspectives and varying degrees of faith, give rise to differing choice which may both honor Christ as acceptable choices.
    3. Therefore, we must not despise or condemn our brothers and sisters, but trust their Master and ours to deal with his servants wisely.
    4. We should all seek to be fully persuaded in the convictions we follow so that we are not immobilized by indecision or plagued with a guilty conscience.
    5. We should do all we do for the honor of Christ and with a heart full of thanksgiving to him.
    Applying these points to our lives:
    1. Affirm and rejoice in diversity. It is here to stay, and we must get beyond our defensiveness.
    2. Don’t distinguish differences of this kind by saying one is good and another is evil.
    3. Don’t despise or condemn someone because he doesn’t feel called to your ministry or mission. Try to see how your mutual callings complement each other in Christ’s overall purposes.
    4. Be fully persuaded in your own mind. Pray, study, know yourself. Settle it before God that this is your ministry for now and relax and put aside the need to defend yourself or criticize others. God accepts a wide range of choices as obedience when we have humbled ourselves and sought his will in Scripture and stepped out decisively for him.
    5. Do all you do from faith for the honor of Christ with a heart full of thanksgiving for his infinite grace.
    About our individual callings:
    “Now let me close by applying all this to your individual life. For all our similarity we are a very diverse group of people in the church. There are followers and leaders, emotional and stoical, organized and unorganized, thrifty and lavish, intelligent and unintelligent, readers and non-readers, planners and drifters, curious and uninterested, expressive and non-verbal, people-oriented and task-oriented, contemplatives and activists, serious and humorous, dignified and casual, etc. We are very diverse.Add to this that God usually calls us each to the ministry that suits us best so that we can feel satisfied in it. This means that our involvements in domestic ministries and frontier missions are going to be tremendously diverse. And my prayer and goal is that we see the interrelatedness of these so clearly that we will all feel free to do what God is calling us to do without guilt or defensiveness.”

    Click here for the full text.

  • Purpose?

    Taken from my journal on Saturday (slightly modified)…
    I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
    Psalm 57:2

    I watched a short video online today about three unreached people groups in the Himalayas. The need is staggering and my heart was gripped to see images of beautiful people, made in the image of God, who had no access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a moving introduction to an evangelist from Asia who did not have to cross as many cultural barriers to reach the unreached people groups. Statistics were displayed about the disparity of Christian workers among reached vs. unreached peoples. And I was hit again by a familiar guilt at not being nor wanting to be a foreign missionary as a knot formed in my stomach.

    I have struggled with this feeling in these past few years, and God has spoken to it at various times. Still, I am hindered by these feelings of guilt that do not compel me to action and involvement in global missions, but cause me to avoid messages, videos, etc. addressing the need and call to foreign missions. It is not that I think it unimportant. On the contrary, my heart knows the need, the call, the “how can they call upon the one whom they have no believed in??” and if I think deeply enough upon in, I am moved to tears by the enormity of the need and the lostness of those who were made in order to bring God glory. It is not that I do not feel “called” by God to “go” (I don’t think one needs a specific “call” in order to go). But my heart does not desire to go.

    Part of it is that I don’t believe that Jeff and my gifts are geared toward long-term foreign missions work. We have served in ministries (in the states and overseas on multiple short-term trips) and it seems as if we have been more effective working in the local church, counseling and discipling believers. This is where we have been fruitful by the grace of God. This is what I enjoy doing and find, I believe, God-given delight in. The convictions I have about foreign missions are real, but they are different than the convictions I have about the local church, the need for sound doctrine in the church, Biblical counseling and discipling, and the need for Gospel-centered families that live out their faith and open their homes to younger believers, missionaries, and non-believers to the glory of God. The conviction about the latter is different because of the strong desire I have to be a direct part in it. I would love to be involved in foreign missions through giving, sending, and praying. But honestly, in my heart I think I feel these are cop-out ways that are due to my unwillingness to suffer for the glory of God. I had this kind of attitude in pride towards other people in the past when talking about missions and I need to repent of it. It was built upon a false understanding of spirituality, living for God’s glory, worship, calling, etc. But because of this compulsion that I had that was based upon an incomplete understanding of these things, I find myself now not even living out what I would like to as a sender. I am too busy trying to cover up guilt and condemnation by avoiding taking an active part in missions at all.

    Can I be all out a part of God’s global work while here in New York? Am I being disobedient to stay when God hasn’t given a clear call to stay? Am I disqualifying myself from being able to encourage people toward the mission field when I myself am not going and I can’t say “Well, the only reason I’m not going is because God ‘made’ me stay”? If I can’t encourage people toward the missions field, will whatever ministry I serve in end up being insular and uninvolved in God’s global purpose and the needs of millions of unreached? These are the questions in my heart. My mind says, yes, I can be a part of God’s global work here. No, I’m not being disobedient. No, I am not disqualified and I do not motivate people toward missions in and of itself, but they will go if God calls when I encourage them towards worshipping God and following him with wholehearted pursuit. My heart still needs to be reminded of the truth though when I feel accused. I want to be free from this guilt and be passionately be involved in global missions the way God has called me to be.

    After watching that video clip, I read Psalm 57 and verse 2 comforted me. In the midst of being pursued by enemies, David cries out to God for deliverance. While crying to God to save him, he confidently asserts that God will fulfill his purpose for him. In the same way, God is able to save me. He can deliver me from the accusations of the evil one, based on falsehood and twisting of God’s truth. He can also save me from the the temptation to live a life founded on comfort, self-centeredness, and self-preservation (the things I fear I would live for if I don’t become a missionary). He will fulfill his purpose for me. Thank you, Lord.

    I think that much of my guilt about missions is because in the past, I was operating with an understanding God’s calling and purpose that wasn’t completely Biblical. Some of the main problems were issues of the sacred-secular divide, emphasis on personally fulfilling the Great Commission vs. it being a charge to the whole church and in the context of worship, and measuring fruitfulness with goals related to tangible numbers of people converted (or discipled so they could evangelize so there would be more converts).

    In God’s sovereignty, I listened to a talk given by Carolyn Mahaney today on”being busy at home” today after wresting with lingering guilt. I have been listening to her series on Titus 2 and SGM messages on Biblical womanhood. I am also reading her book, Feminine Appeal. These resources, plus reflecting on the examples of godly women in my life, have been so helpful, liberating, and challenging at the same time. I have always said that my desire was to be a wife and a mom, serving within that context in ministering to people. If I don’t have to be a missionary to please God and live for his Kingdom, I still want to live purposefully and understand my calling in life Biblically- passionately and to his glory. Please pray for me as I continue to wrestle with and learn about what God has called me to in this season as a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mom, and a member of the local church.

  • 37 weeks

    Today, baby girl is officially full-term! 37 weeks felt so far away during the first trimester, and now I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t look like I was carrying a big watermelon everywhere.

    I’ve been wanting to blog about some of the things I’ve learned and experienced throughout the pregnancy, but haven’t been able to organize my thoughts. Still, I figure that with a baby coming any day now, I should at least jot down a few things or I’ll never do it!
    Life & Death Are In His Hands
    From the moment I found out that I was possibly pregnant and onward, it has been a journey of learning to trust that God is good. In the first trimester, I was plagued with so many fears about the possibility of losing the baby, knowing that having a child is not something that is promised or guaranteed to us by God. When it comes down to my own life, sometimes it’s easy to believe that I am in control. But with the pregnancy came an acute sense of how wrong that is. There was and is nothing that I can do to absolutely guarantee the health and well-being of the baby growing inside of me. Through all this, God has reminded me that life and death are in his hands alone. The amount of time he grants Jeff and I the privilege of being parents (whether only to a child in-utero or for the rest of our lives) is how long I will have to trust him with our baby’s life.
    I listened to a podcast last week about parenting and one thing that struck me was one of the counselors saying that there is freedom in knowing that the two biggest things in our children’s lives- their eternal salvation and ultimate physical safety- are things that are outside of the realm of our own control. Only in surrender to God and trust in his goodness, in asking that God would use our baby girl’s life to bring glory to him- however long and in whatever condition that may be- is my heart finding true rest.
    Trophies of Grace
    The other fear that has often unexpectedly overwhelmed me, is the idea of me, a sinful person, still on the road of sanctification, being both a wife and a mom. I have felt moved and touched that God would choose to entrust a child to us, but I have also felt a deep sense of inadequacy. How can I be a mom? How can I be a godly mom? A few months ago when I was feeling overwhelmed and caught up in myself, the Holy Spirit reminded me of 2 Corinthians 12:9 and the sufficiency of God’s grace in my weakness. The point of marriage or parenthood is not to showcase my own righteousness, parenting methods, ability, greatness, and glory. It is to be a display of the glorious splendor of God’s abounding grace. Instead of dwelling on my own inadequacy, I have been called to humbly look to God, fall on his grace, and seek for all glory to go to him.
    I want our family to be trophies of God’s grace. I want people to look at us and be amazed at how gracious and powerful God is that he would be able to work in and through broken and weak vessels. Please pray this for us.
    Blessings of community
    Jeff and I have seen so much of God’s provision through the generosity of people around us. Hand-me-downs (in really good condition!), baby shower gifts, etc. have made it so that we have hardly had to purchase anything on our own. Our daughter has been tremendously blessed- and she’s not even born yet! A few weeks ago, the church had a surprise baby shower for us and I was blown away by the love shown to our family. I am so excited that our baby girl is being brought into such a loving community of believers.
    Two things we are praying…
    And that we’d appreciate your prayers for…
    • That our daughter would come to know Jesus early on in life and live for him.
    • For her physical health and safety come delivery day!

  • One Year Ago

    =)


  • Not Going At It Alone

    Third year of college, Janice (best friend & apartmentmate) and I had the same class together that we always procrastinated for. The discussion section was in the morning and there’d be assignments due then. We normally finished those assignments and printed them out with just enough time to rush to class, but if we were late even 2 minutes, points would be taken off our section grade. One time, we cut it too close and had way less time than it normally took to get to class (for you Cornellians: 10+ minutes to get from our apt in Collegetown to our classroom on the 2nd floor/back of Kennedy Hall). I remember us trying to rush to class (uphill all the way btw!) and me stopping running just a quarter of the way through (again, for Cornellians, by the time I was the Engineering Quad, I was done. Haha.) I really don’t like running and was/am out of shape. And so [cue dramatic movie music] I stop running and start waving Janice to go ahead, saying “Janice!! Go on! Go on without me!” Janice, being the good friend that she is, was like “No! Come on! Let’s keep going!!” We made it to our section in RECORD time, no joke, and didn’t lose any points! Yay!

    Great story, yeah? Haha. I was reminded of it this week because I’ve been reading Hebrews. Two days ago, as I read Hebrews 13 about running with endurance, not being discouraged as God disciplines us, etc., the call to persevere and endure in faith through suffering weighed heavily on me as I read. For some reason, as I read it just felt so…impossible. Of course, I know it’s impossible to heed the call to persevere in faith without Jesus Christ, our great high priest. He is the one that makes following him possible. But, as I read it, it still felt so heavy, almost an impossible burden.

    A few hours later, I got a phone call from a sister in Christ who I don’t get to see or interact with often, but is like a kindred spirit to me. She was just driving and thought to call, and as we caught up, I was so encouraged. In her honest sharing, I saw the reality of the struggles and trials she was going through, but at the same time, as she shared, I felt like my soul was being refreshed. It was refreshing not because of her honesty in and of itself, but how in it, I could see her heart’s desire to trust and see God in it all. Not in a forced “yeah, yeah, God is still in control I know…” or “oh, I’m TOTALLY fine and everything is great because it will be okay in the end!” way, but in a way that flowed genuinely and naturally from the heart of a daughter of God- the way that quiet strength and faith shines forth in weakness. As we finished talking and started praying together, the Holy Spirit showed me what I’d been missing as I’d read through Hebrews.

     

    I was reading Hebrews as if it was only written to me and as if I were living the Christian life alone. Of course, I know it wasn’t originally and only written for me, but I had forgotten that it was written to a community of believers and that I was also called to live in community. All of a sudden, so many of the exhortations in Hebrews started hitting me at a heart level:

    Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. (Hebrews 3:12-14)

    Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)

    See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. (Hebrews 12:15-16)

    It’s so natural for me to read Scripture and think about life or the Christian walk from an individualistic point of view, but I’m so thankful that the reality is, I’m not called to walk alone. I am running this race with my husband, with my family, with other brothers and sisters in Christ. With this thought, the feeling of the burden in following and enduring has lifted up, and I look forward to pressing on and exhorting others to continue on as well. Though still imperfect and in the middle of our own sanctification, we encourage one another to keep looking to Jesus when it feels like it’s impossible to do so on our own. My heart fills with joy at this truth. What a great privilege and what a great calling.

  • Happy Mommy’s Day!

    Happy Mommy’s Day to the greatest woman I know!

    Congratulations for raising three amazing children! (Haha.. kidding. I made that joke to her earlier already.)

    Thankful for this silly…

     
    beautiful…
     
    woman of God…
     
    who has raised the three of us in the fear and love of God. She’s loved unconditionally and without thanks (and continues to do so now, though hopefully now less thanklessly.) She serves and doesn’t keep count. She is one of the bravest people I know, fearing God and not man. She speaks and holds onto the truth of God with conviction and firmness. She has modeled to me what it means to love others. She loves God and loves us. Jesus is her life.
    I want to be like her when I grow up! =)

  • The Sign Of Jonah

    I love it when God’s truth breaks through to new ground in my heart.

    Two Sundays ago, Jeff spoke on Matthew 11:38-48, where the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign, he calls them wicked and evil, and says that no sign will be given to them except the “sign of Jonah”. Jeff spoke about Jesus’ reaction to the Pharisees and about having the right heart before God when we ask him to show himself. Even though Jesus seemingly denied the Pharisees what they were asking for, he really didn’t. He answered them, pointing to the sure sign of his death and resurrection.

    The part of the message that hit me the most was how as Christians, we may be tempted to live from “sign to sign” in our own lives of what God did/does, but the one that our faith needs to be rooted on is the sign of his death and resurrection. God used that message to answer a prayer that I had been praying for a long time: for God to correct my twisted view about him, especially in relation to his will.

    For a long time, I have struggled with a bit of a skewed view about God’s will. I know that in the end, all things will work out for God’s glory and my good- but my fear is not about the ends, it’s about the means. I know that sometimes God uses difficult things in life for these ends. That scares me. Somehow, then, I’ve developed over the years a view that what God wants for me is always the hard thing or the thing I don’t want. I basically project worst-case scenarios convince myself that they will happen, of course, for an ultimate good.

    Case in point: My first year in college. I felt that I needed God to humble and break me which led me immediately to think of the most difficult thing that could ever happen to me. For a while, I was seriously convinced that someone in my family was going to die that year. That’s probably the most extreme case. But then, there was also me being sure I’d end up single a lot longer or for life because of how much I wanted to get married. When Jeff and I started dating, I told him that I was surprised that I was dating so soon and he said “Yea, I thought it’d be at least not for a couple of months.” I had meant like, fifteen, twenty years or…never.

    My twisted mentality about God and his will causes me to be filled with feelings of anger, reluctance, and fear when thinking about my future. For example, thinking that God will “make me” go overseas on missions where/when I don’t want to. It also keeps me fearful of celebrating and looking forward to things, just in case it ends up being God’s will that something happens to stop it along the way. It makes me afraid to pray “God, your will be done. Do whatever brings you glory in my life,” even though I really do want to.

    I’ve always had fear about the future, so maybe it’s just my own anxiety and worries about the unknown that has shaped this view of God’s will for my life. Maybe it’s been shaped by hearing people saying variations of “Oooh, don’t say ‘never’ or else God’ll make you do it!” (a pet peeve of mine), or my own pessimism and fear of suffering. Maybe it’s because a lot of times I’ve seen how I’m stubborn in my own way and God, in his grace, denies me my will to give me what is much much better. At the heart of it though, is my view of who God is and specifically, who he is toward me.

    Hearing the message two Sundays ago though, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the wrong way that I had been thinking. I used to wonder- how do I look back, see God’s faithfulness and goodness to me, and still be so fearful and untrusting about the future? I realized through Jeff speaking about signs, that the foundation of my faith cannot be what he’s done for me apart from his death and resurrection. Plus, just because he’s been gracious, good, and gentle to me in my past life circumstances doesn’t guarantee anything explicitly about the future; in my mind, it can even make me more fearful, just waiting for something terrible to finally happen. What I need to trust is God and his character.

    During the message, when exhorted to look to the cross, I remembered afresh the Father’s love for me in giving up his Son and Jesus’ love for me in coming to walk this earth, not holding onto his glory but becoming a servant to suffer and die for me. He did all this while I wanted nothing to do with him. He loves me, and I know it not just because the Bible says “God loves you” but because He demonstrated it. The love that he showed, stirs up trust in my heart- I know, like know, through the cross that his affection, intentions, and will toward me are good and loving. He is not just working towards his glory and Christlikeness in my own life, but the way he brings that about is also good and loving because that is who he is. I cannot look to the cross, and then think about God as some cold, distant being who plans my life in a mechanical and “well, it’ll end up good in the end!” way. He loves me at all times, thus I trust that the ends that he plans are not just “good” in some abstract sense, but even the means ordained by him flow out of his eternal, unchanging, everlasting love. That’s why I’m not afraid even though an easy life is not promised to me. That’s why I will trust him even though I know there will be times things don’t make sense in my eyes.

    J.I. Packer defines providence as:

    The unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill, He upholds His creatures in ordered existence, guides and governs all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for His own glory.

    In overflowing bounty and goodwill. That is the way in which God ordains all things in my life. How do I know the way he looks at me and plans my life? Why do I trust him? Because…

    …God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

    He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?…Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:32, 35, 37-39)

    I once heard a sister overseas respond to her brother asking her “Why don’t you just be a nominal Christian? Don’t be so crazy about God.” She had faced real physical dangers as well as social persecution for her faith, still she shone with joy and trust in him. She responded by saying “I can’t. God’s love has scarred my heart.” My prayer is that I would be able to say the same.

    How marvelous! How wonderful!

    And my song shall ever be-

    How marvelous! How wonderful!

    Is my Savior’s love for me.