Tag: Eternity

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There’s No Place Like Home

Dear Sister

I’ve been thinking recently of what “home” means. It can be a place of shelter; a place to rest your head at night. It also can be a feeling of safety and belonging. I think this is why it is people who make a house feel like a home. Leaving home has taught me that.

I don’t call one place home. When I visit my childhood home, I miss my roommates and life in Florida. When I’m in Florida, I miss my family back on the west coast. I’m homesick for both yet neither are my home. It’s a very puzzling feeling. This longing for “home” and permanence is the pilgrim’s plight. We are not made for this world; we are made for something eternal. This world is not our home; it is only a shadow of things to come.

“For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:14).

You can also feel homesick for a person. Visiting places is great, but it is people that make leaving difficult. When I was little, I was terrible at saying goodbyes. So much in fact I would hide in the closet and refuse to come out. If I didn’t say goodbye, I thought then no one would leave. But of course, that’s not how it works. The hardest goodbye I had to make was at my mother’s death. Heaven didn’t become real to me until I lost someone.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19-21).

Places change and people come and go, but that’s the beauty of it. The joys and sorrows of this world make us long for the next. We get a taste of heaven in the here and now, which then points us to the feast that awaits us. Eternity is going to be one big family reunion, but nothing will compare to seeing our Savior face to face!

I’ve moved three times now, once across the country and twice locally. Each time it’s a reminder to put my trust in the Lord. It’s stressful not knowing where you are going to live or with whom, but each time the Lord provides no matter how much I worry. Each move is a gift, with the opportunity to create a sense of home, a little picture of eternity. So enjoy where God has planted you and the people you are with. Trust in the Lord, He will bring us safely home.

In Christ,

Karlie

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I Shall Yet Praise Him…

My Dearest Sister,

You know those days where you wish you could just start over? Well, it’s been one of those days. I’ll spare you the gritty details, but let’s just say it involved a stressed husband, a screaming baby, and a long list of errands to run with said screaming baby. The headache I woke up with got worse as the day wore on and our apartment seemed to get messier before my eyes. The last thing I felt like doing in the midst of my frustration and tiredness was praising the Lord. Yet as I reflect back on my day, the words of Psalm 43:5 come to mind: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”

As my life seems to get busier and full of more responsibilities, I am learning that just because I am stressed or burdened, praising the Lord should still be a priority. In fact, it happens to be the very purpose for which we were intended. Psalm 148 tells us that all creation from the heights of the heavens to the depths of the sea are designed to praise God. Remember the story where Jesus was entering Jerusalem riding on the donkey? He told the disgruntled Pharisees that if His disciples were to stop proclaiming Him as Lord and King, the rocks would immediately cry out His praises. If the stones of the earth are intended to worship God, then how much more the man who was made in His own image?

It is important to remember sister, that not only were we created to proclaim God’s praises, but we do so because He is worthy of them. As Psalm 145:3 says “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.” It goes on to list all the many reasons why He deserves our praise, from the wonderful works He has done among us (vs. 4-6), to His unfailing goodness, grace, and compassion (vs. 7-9). The Lord is mighty (v. 11), He keeps his promises (v. 13), and He lifts up those who fall (v. 14). Our magnificent Father provides for us (v. 15), is righteous and loving in all His ways (v. 17), and watches over and protects us (v. 20).

Of all these reasons to proclaim God’s greatness, let’s not forget the one that allows us to know Him in the first place: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14). When sin entered the world through the fall of man, it became a barrier between us and our most perfect Creator. However, in His infinite wisdom, God provided a way for us to be united with Him once again. By sending His precious, sinless Son to take the consequences of our iniquity, He provided a way of salvation from spiritual death and an eternity separated from Him. What could be more deserving of our endless praise than that?

If my attitude had been one of praise today, even though my soul felt cast down, my day would have turned out very differently. Times of frustration would have been opportunities to grow. My son’s inconsolable crying would have been a time to show compassion and love, just like the compassion and love God has shown me. The long list of things to do would have been a chance to thank Him for the family He has given me to clean up after and care for. Praising God through each and every hiccup of my day would have turned my focus from myself and my problems to Him and His glory. And that’s the whole point of praise, really. It’s turning our attention to the One who has created us in His wisdom, redeemed us in His love, and sustains us in His strength. For that, He is most worthy of our praise each and every day, from now until eternity.

“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” – Psalm 145:1-3

In His love, ~ Lauren

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No More Lonely Charades

Dear sister,

I have oftentimes felt lonely during certain seasons of my life. I have felt like I couldn’t be my true self because I was convinced that those I most wanted to be accepted by would reject me. This view of others was not a biblical one; it was not even a realistic one! It was only a fear that I allowed to be developed within my own heart.

In the summer of 2010, I spent two months away from home at a summer training program in Pigeon Forge, TN. I was with a group of like-minded believers from schools all over the southeast. There were lots of new faces and I felt lost among them. I felt like they wouldn’t accept me because I was raised differently, went to a different kind of church, and wasn’t as cool and comfortable around new people as others seemed to be. At that time, I was shy and very much NOT comfortable in my own skin. Now add to that an already introverted personality and you’ve got the recipe for feelings of loneliness.

I feared rejection and feared letting these new people into my life. As a result I tried wearing a mask that showed I was cool and confident, secure in Christ and ready for any adventure. It worked for a while, but by the end of the first six weeks (and , were only eight) I was weary of the charade.

In Genesis 2:18, God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Up until this point, everything that God had made he had declared good but it was not good that Adam had no companion. So God brought the creatures to Adam to have him name them but “there was not found a helper fit for him.” (Gen. 2:20) As humans, we need more than just a dog or a cat to keep loneliness at bay; we need to be experiencing intimate relationships with other human beings.

That summer was a breakthrough for me in that the Lord became my confidence and Christ became my identity. I no longer had to fear what people thought of me because I knew I was accepted by Christ—and isn’t that all that really matters when you have eternity in view?

Dear sister, if you are struggling with loneliness, take these truths to heart. You are accepted by the King and He loves you intimately. He loves you so much that He gave up His only Son for you so that He could claim you as His own. You are 100% secure in Christ and you cannot be lost. Never let fear of rejection or feelings of inadequacy triumph over this truly amazing love that Christ has for you. He will not give you up.

Under His wing,

Kayla