I am cuteness defined. Check out my thunder thighs!
Yes, sister has been having more fun with stickers!
Me and Pam's beautiful flowers!
Fun with the cousins - Mishayla and Christian!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
More Pics
I am cuteness defined. Check out my thunder thighs! Yes, sister has been having more fun with stickers!
The Futility of "Protecting God's Reputation" by pretending to be perfect (by Molly)
In the past I’ve thought a lot about the verse "Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." We can be still and not do any work and God will still be exalted. We don’t have to "work" to keep up God’s reputation. He loves to use us – but He doesn’t need us because He is self-sufficient. I’ve been realizing how prideful it is to think that God needs us or that we are somehow going to damage His image if we allow anyone to see our imperfections. I get the mindset that I’d better appear like I’m doing well, whether I am or not or I’ll damage God’s reputation. Yet this is a wrong thought pattern.
I was reading in I Samuel the other day, about how the Israelites were excited because the ark of God came into the camp. They gave a great shout, the Philistines heard it and were scared – because of God. So they said to each other "We’d better fight hard" because of the ark of God. They fought hard and defeated the Israelites. On one hand you wonder - "God, Your reputation was on the line – won’t the Israelites loss make you look bad? Even if they weren’t obeying You, it seems like letting them lose damaged Your reputation with the Philistines." The Philistines obviously thought that they won by their hard fighting. Yet if you read about what happened next after they took the ark, you can see that God took care of Himself and his ark. The Philistines died and broke out into boils and had all sorts of troubles. And they knew it was because of God. After a while they worked as fast as they could to get rid of the ark – because they realized the Power behind it. And, God cared more about His children the Israelites than about His reputation. He wanted to teach them something through the loss because He loved them.
It made me think about how often my justification for appearing "good" to others is because I don’t want to damage God’s reputation. Really however, my brokenness and vulnerability before others actually helps to glorify Him. If I show others how, though I sin, He forgives and changes me – then He does get glory. This is the message of true redemption. I don’t have to appear perfect. He can get just as much (if not more) glory through my sinfulness as through my goodness. Thank You Jesus!!!
I was reading in I Samuel the other day, about how the Israelites were excited because the ark of God came into the camp. They gave a great shout, the Philistines heard it and were scared – because of God. So they said to each other "We’d better fight hard" because of the ark of God. They fought hard and defeated the Israelites. On one hand you wonder - "God, Your reputation was on the line – won’t the Israelites loss make you look bad? Even if they weren’t obeying You, it seems like letting them lose damaged Your reputation with the Philistines." The Philistines obviously thought that they won by their hard fighting. Yet if you read about what happened next after they took the ark, you can see that God took care of Himself and his ark. The Philistines died and broke out into boils and had all sorts of troubles. And they knew it was because of God. After a while they worked as fast as they could to get rid of the ark – because they realized the Power behind it. And, God cared more about His children the Israelites than about His reputation. He wanted to teach them something through the loss because He loved them.
It made me think about how often my justification for appearing "good" to others is because I don’t want to damage God’s reputation. Really however, my brokenness and vulnerability before others actually helps to glorify Him. If I show others how, though I sin, He forgives and changes me – then He does get glory. This is the message of true redemption. I don’t have to appear perfect. He can get just as much (if not more) glory through my sinfulness as through my goodness. Thank You Jesus!!!
Utah Trip
Todd's Grandfather Verl passed away recently and Todd was able to go be with him, and his step-grandmother Rosa at the time of his death. While we are very sorry about his passing, Todd was glad to be able to be there, to spend his last hours with him, and pray with him. A few weeks later we were able to go to Utah as a family to visit Rosa and to spend some time sightseeing at Bryce and Zion Canyon with her. Here are a few pictures from our trip.
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