Mary

I don't know if she is the best example given in the Bible, but I have always been impressed by the humility of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God." To this unbelievably and life-altering news, Mary replies, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."

I have always wondered whether she said this with trembling lips, or if she had full confidence and peace at that moment. I am inclined to believe the first - but nevertheless, it represents great faith and humility on her part. She was a young girl, engaged to be married. What a self-centered time that can be for a girl! In the midst of perhaps the happiest time of planning in her life, she is told that her life will never be the same. Granted, it was an esteeming position to be placed in by God. But probably not very esteeming in the eyes of those she lived near, and to her friends. It had the potential to ruin her relationship with Joseph, apart from the fact that God intervened. She could even have been stoned for the sin of fornication. Yet she accepts this message from the Lord with a resigned spirit, ready to fulfill God's will for her life.

I wish I approached the small "bumps" in the road that God places in my life with such faith and humility as Mary!

Question?

Who do you think within the scriptures displays the best visual of humility to God? And Why??
(This goes with out saying but nonetheless it must be said... Our Lord is the ultimate display of all things He has called us to.)

God is STILL good

So, I am a bit overdue with this email, since some of you already know of Evangeline's diagnosis. She does indeed have CF. It's a bit less of a shock than with Ada since we have an idea of how it will effect our lives, but still a "surprise." Nonetheless, God is STILL good. We confess it was not easy news to hear, but it makes Romans 8:28&9 something we cling to even more. When we first heard of Ada's diagnosis our pastor in Indiana sent us a beautiful letter with the lyrics of this hymn at the end which sums it up well.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way His wonders to perform;He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skillHe treasures up His bright designs And works His sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,But trust Him for His grace;Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,Unfolding every hour;The bud may have a bitter taste,But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain;God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.

God in His mercy has even given us a glimpse of how we (Markes and I, just think how He might plan to use this in our daughter's lives...) He is glorifying Himself in this event. We shared the news before our church in the form of a testimony and saw people who are not normally "open" people just come up to us in tears. I also used the opportunity to send a letter to my family in order that they might see how we have attempted to process the news in a biblical way. Some of my family has rationalized it, others played the odds (that Evie couldn't have it, after all it was only a 12% that we'd have 2 children ith CF), and others still hope in science for a cure (not that we don't pray to that end). None of these are dealing with the news in a way that acknowledges that our 2 daughters CAN have CF and God can STILL be good. Please pray that God would use this to draw our families to faith in Christ and recognition of their state before a Holy God.

Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness,Which You have stored up for those who fear You,Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men!

Pray also that we BE those who fear God.

in NEED of your prayer

Hi Ladies,

I am writing with a heavy heart. Our beautiful baby Evie is not gaining weight as fast as they'd like so, we've been going back and forth to the hospital alot lately. I am SO thankful that my in-laws are here so that I do not have to take Ada with me. It is tiring though but, I understand since she too could have Cystic Fibrosis that they want to be cautious and proactive. The thing is it isn't really urgent it's just b/c of the CF factor that they are having us do all this. The results of the newborn screen should be back this week. I write begging you for prayer as I am struggling to not be anxious and to trust God and His timing, and I am stumbling on my own. Please pray for grace for our family in this time. Also pray that whatever the results that our faith in God and His goodness not waiver. We have such an opportunity in this timie to witness to my unbeliving family and all the doctors and nurses pray that we adorn the Gospel in all we do, "so that in every way we will make the teaching of Christ our Saviour attractive." Titus 2:10

Baby Arrival

It was just hours ago when I asked everyone to give an update on the pregnancies.
Well I have an update.

Markes & Julia had a little girl.

Little Evangeline (ee-van-gel-een)

was born at 7:28 on July 5, 2006. She weighed 6 lbs, 2 oz. and was 18 inches long...

Praise God for His kindness and mercy to them though the whole process and at the gift of this precious little life.

Paused....

Someone asked me if Joined by Grace was dead... My answer was NO!! It is just paused.

I would love an update on our our soon to be Mamas (1st time & veteran) are doing.

We have recently heard from Markes... and No baby yet.. but day.. or week now. I always like to think 2 weeks pass the due date.. this helps the "LET'S SEE THIS BABY ALREADY" feelings. Although it didn't really work well on my last one.. I labored for about 3 weeks with her.

Well girls.. know we are praying for you, your delivery, your baby, your hubby, and for the transistion from 0 to 1 (Kris) & 1 to 2 (Steph & Julia).

Seeing Eye Dog

I have wanted to write this post for about 3 weeks now. Sorry it has taken me so long.

I think the seeing eye dog examples humility by restraining or laying aside his own natural, instinctive desires for the benefit of someone else. He is lowly. He serves. He is at someone else's beck and call. He obeys his master because his master is greater than He is. He obeys even when other dogs are running, jumping, playing catch or even barking. He doesn't whine or talk back or give his opinion or even stand up for his rights. He submits. He responds to His masters voice. He loves his master.

Babies

Maybe it's too obvious but, think of how helpless a little baby is when they are born. They rely on others for everything. In all of creation, human babies are dependent on other longer than any other creature. It's interesting especially since we are above all other creatures, given dominion over them and also are made in God's likeness unlike any other thing on earth, however our beginnings are quite humble. I think that's why the picture God uses of Him as our heavenly Father is SO cool, not only that He made us, but that He (the Creator of ALL things) deigns to LOVE us.

Only One King

Okay, this is the best example I could think of, which just goes to prove that my thoughts need to be more virtue-centered, but here it goes: Jason and I watched a show all about King Cobras that, thought I am not a snake fan, was amazing for a lot of reasons. It was very obvious to us that this creature, like all others, was designed and taught by God to be an example of His wisdom and creativity. But what I found "humble" about these snakes is this: when a King Cobra runs across another "king" in his territory, they both do a ritual to see who is "greater." We all know there can be only one king per kingdom, and these snakes realize that someone has got to go. They don't fight it out, but they do a very strange sort of dance together. It's sort of like a thumb war: whoever can pin the other to the ground is better. And as soon as that happens, the losing snake slithers off to find somewhere else to live. Now I know there's animals out there who just fight each other to the , but just a dance? No round two? No trying to buck the ritual? Nope. In essence, the snake says "I submit to you. You're better than me. You have the right to be King here and I don't." Imagine if we all were that simplistic every time we came across God!