I was able to get out of the house the other day, and as I was driving home Carrie Underwood's version of, "How Great Thou Art" came on the radio. As the years have gone by, this hymn most consistently brings me to tears. I absolutely love the line that says, "And when I think of God his son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the cross MY burden gladly baring, He bled and died to take away MY sin." Even at I sit here and write, the song is playing and I am practically bawling. There are definitely a flow of tears. Christ gladly carried my burdens, and He took away my sin! How can I not just weep with thanksgiving?
This morning I read a verse in a different version than what I'm used to. It really stunned me: "When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, GOD MADE YOU ALIVE WITH CHRIST, and he forgave ALL our sins. He CANCELED the debt, which listed all the rules we fail to follow. He took away that record with its rules and NAILED it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14 Christ took all the rules I think in my head I'm "supposed" to follow and nailed them to the cross. He gave me freedom from rules! So often I live by rules, without meaning to, and end up once again trying to earn God's favor. But that's a waste! Because God LOVES me, and made me ALIVE with Christ. He forgave all my sin. All. Heading into this Easter weekend, the depth of what Christ has done is hitting me in a new way.
I can truly sing the end of the amazing hymn and mean it. "When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation, and lead me HOME, what JOY shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow with humble adoration and then proclaim, 'My GOD HOW GREAT THOU ART!" There will be no shame, no guilt, no fear, no cruelty. Just freedom, and joy in my heart because I'll finally be home with my loving Savior Jesus Christ.
Happy Easter friends! I'm already celebrating!
A little of this and that
Thank you so so so much to those of you who have been asking about our job situation, and most importantly for praying for us! There are some things we wanted to share, and especially wanted to ask you to PRAY for. We absolutely need prayer!
MALTA
God has opened up the door for us to head to Malta to work with teenagers of some European and Asian missionaries next month. Please pray as Chuck studies and prepares to teach several sessions. Pray for us to make quick connections with the students as we only have 1 week to build relationships with them. We also need prayer for the health of Baby Dubbe and me. I have been sick since the beginning, and feel pretty awful about 80% of the time. We are at 15 weeks now- all glory and praise to God! I'm very nervous about traveling so far away feeling this lousy, and I'm also nervous that if anything happened with the baby we would be very far away from our doctors.
JOB STUFF
Thankfully God has provided Chuck with some phone interviews recently. Currently there are about four churches Chuck has talked with, or that we are waiting to hear back from. One in TN (Chuck was especially excited about this interview, and very encouraged.), two in VA Beach (please Lord, please!!), and one in North Jersey. Chuck will be done at RBC, and we will be out of our house by the end of May - only 10 weeks away. Please pray God makes it completely clear where He wants us to serve and live. We really need help, and we know God is our only source for answers.
Again, thank you very much for praying! We will make sure to update you again as God continues to lead.
 |
| Us with some of our teens in Croatia last summer. It was beautiful, but blazing hot that day! |
"Marriage Isn't Sexy"
Tonight Heidi and I went out for a little Target shopping as I needed to pick up a wedding shower gift. Chuck and I had attempted to buy a gift earlier in the day, but got so frustrated that Target had NOTHING off the registry they claimed to have, we gave up and went home. I needed a girl friend reinforcement. Sure enough, when she and I got to searching for something off the registry, she pointed me straight to the correct item I was looking for. The trick was, what the registry claimed the item was called, it was not in fact called that. She looked up the tiny sku number, and voila! We found the item. In like 30 seconds. I was kinda more ticked at Target for making it so complicated. My poor man had just about passed out from boredom and irritation following me around Target, going back and forth to a million different aisles looking for the correct name. It's not the name people, it's the SKU.
This little narrative actually fits nicely in with my next discovery. Heidi has created a website about marriage with a goal to write a book. She is collecting anonymous (or not) stories about marriage. We all have those quirky, goofy, funny moments when we look at our spouse and think, "This is not what I daydreamed about since I was 5 years old." She showed me her website tonight on my phone as we were sitting at Applebee's. I was laughing so hard, and crying at some of the stories people had shared.
Heidi would love to hear your stories, too. Here is her website, whether you'd like to be entertained, or preferably if you'd like to contribute a little something. I think you'll have a good time. I know my husband will have a plethora of things to share. Poor guy, I still wonder why he chose me?!
http://www.marriageisntsexy.com/index.php
This little narrative actually fits nicely in with my next discovery. Heidi has created a website about marriage with a goal to write a book. She is collecting anonymous (or not) stories about marriage. We all have those quirky, goofy, funny moments when we look at our spouse and think, "This is not what I daydreamed about since I was 5 years old." She showed me her website tonight on my phone as we were sitting at Applebee's. I was laughing so hard, and crying at some of the stories people had shared.
Heidi would love to hear your stories, too. Here is her website, whether you'd like to be entertained, or preferably if you'd like to contribute a little something. I think you'll have a good time. I know my husband will have a plethora of things to share. Poor guy, I still wonder why he chose me?!
http://www.marriageisntsexy.com/index.php
We're Moving...Somewhere
Many people have been asking if there are any job updates. No. Nothing. Not even a speck of a chance anywhere. We don't mind the question, but we never have an answer. And we probably won't have any answers until the very last possible second.
We did experience God in a cool way last night. It was His way of showing us that He has not forgotten our situation, and does have something up His sleeve for us. You see, we are officially moving out of our house. Our landlords met with us this week, and want to sell the house we're renting. Since our lease isn't up until July, they have offered to pay us to move out early. The earlier we move, the more they'll pay. We see this as a sign from God that He IS doing something, and He IS working. We don't know where we'll move to, or when. We obviously can't move into another rental since we might be leaving the area. It all depends on where God has a job for Chuck next. I'm thinking living in our car might work out OK for a bit.
This is kindof a cool thing, but also very stressful. Packing stinks, we just got to this house, and now we have to repack all over again. With no place to go. I wonder why God had us in this house for these months? It would have been much easier to have stayed in our apartment, but oh well. I'm not The One in control of my life, so why do I bother asking? Gah. I just have to say again I HATE packing. I really hate it. Also, I don't think moving somewhere new is fun or an adventure. I think it stinks. I was talking with a friend the other day who also has to move out of her rental house, and she is equally as annoyed. It's so, so, so good for the soul to have those friends who I can share my true feelings with, and I won't get a sermon from. I can say, "I hate packing. Moving stinks. Losing our job stinks." And she will say, "YES! It totally does!" Of course, I already know the sermon answers, and don't need them. Chuck and I strongly believe that God is here. He is with us. He will carry us. We get it. But the process still stinks.
I need to end on a happy note. I LOVE MY MAN! Here we are on Christmas day when I surprised him with the skydiving certificate I mentioned in another post. It makes me so happy to make him happy!
 |
| See my face? So happy! A huge, successful surprise! |
 |
| We're in love.... =) Also, I love my Aunt and Gram sitting behind us. Sweet memories. |
Puggle Love
It's officially a snow day here South of the Mason Dixon Line- in the month of March. Who would have thought? I'm pretty excited about the change of pace. The snow keeps coming down in HUGE beautiful flakes. We have nowhere to go, no place to be, and are quite happy about it. Plus, American Idol is on tonight and we can curl up, settle in, and enjoy the two-hour guy's night. Normally we'd be with our teen small group, but obviously that's not going to happen given the circumstances.
My baby girl LOVES the snow. I'm tempted to take her out and play, but then she'll come back in reeking like a wet dog. We just got her groomed recently, and don't want to pay for that again right now. Although I have to say, Pet Smart has a great deal for grooming. It's totally worth the $25 for them to wash, dry, brush, and make her fur smell nice. Plus they trim her nails (which takes us an eternity!), clean her ears, and make sure her skin is healthy. When we wash her at home, she still smells like a wet dog, and her fur gets all over us and anything else in the way. I don't know how Pet Smart does it, but she's so squeaky clean when we pick her up. I love it! When Chuck brought her home last time, Jovie came running in to see me wearing this:
I just laughed and laughed. She looked so cute I couldn't stand it. Plus whenever she wears clothes, or anything like clothes, she is really subdued. I wonder if she gets embarrassed? This girl certainly brightens my days, and brings so much fun to our home. My sweet widdle Wovie.
My baby girl LOVES the snow. I'm tempted to take her out and play, but then she'll come back in reeking like a wet dog. We just got her groomed recently, and don't want to pay for that again right now. Although I have to say, Pet Smart has a great deal for grooming. It's totally worth the $25 for them to wash, dry, brush, and make her fur smell nice. Plus they trim her nails (which takes us an eternity!), clean her ears, and make sure her skin is healthy. When we wash her at home, she still smells like a wet dog, and her fur gets all over us and anything else in the way. I don't know how Pet Smart does it, but she's so squeaky clean when we pick her up. I love it! When Chuck brought her home last time, Jovie came running in to see me wearing this:
I just laughed and laughed. She looked so cute I couldn't stand it. Plus whenever she wears clothes, or anything like clothes, she is really subdued. I wonder if she gets embarrassed? This girl certainly brightens my days, and brings so much fun to our home. My sweet widdle Wovie.
