Fear Not

Hello, everyone!

I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy these days, and perhaps even enjoying some extra time with family. :)

I am 36 weeks along now, and feeling very big and very pregnant and very ready for this little guy to make his appearance soon. ;) I'm at the point now where I don't have much energy or ability to get things done, (at least not quickly!), so the days are dragging a bit. I'm anticipating the "dragginess" getting much worse in the coming days as our area implements more restrictions/quarantines! Oh, well...this will be an interesting time to look back on, right? ;) 

The year my husband was born was one of the worst flood years Missouri has ever seen, so lots of people remember that in association with the time around when he was born. I suppose in ten years or so I'll be telling "E" (baby's full name is classified until he's born) about how "When mommy was pregnant with you, there was ALL this craziness...!!" Haha! 

In all seriousness, it is a sobering wake up call to realize how fragile our economic system really is, how foolishly unprepared our generation is for any kind of actual crisis, and to catch a glimpse of where we would certainly be without the merciful hand of God on our nation.

Over the last few months, long before any of this virus chaos started showing up, God has been having to teach me over and over about fear. So often I fail and allow fear to influence decisions...sometimes I'll even catch myself doing it unconsciously, which is sad, because that means I've allowed it to become habit in some ways. :( I have really been working on this area, and praying that my faith would be increased. I wanted to share this poem with you all, in hopes that it will be an encouragement to you. It's not perfectly written, but expresses some of the thoughts I've been dealing with throughout this pregnancy journey. I hope it is a blessing!

Fear Not

"Fear not," Jesus tells me, His voice strong and clear.

"But Lord, I'm so anxious, there's so much to fear! How can I fret not when my world falls apart?

How can I have joy and sweet peace in my heart?"

"Fear not," Jesus tells me, "Be careful for naught!

You are safe in my arms, for your soul I have bought.

All this worry is sinful, your faith is so weak--

Child, only in me is the rest that you seek."

My thoughts wage a battle, my heart squeezes tight.

Faith and fear soon collide in a desperate fight.

Many voices are clamoring,

Some good, and some not--

My soul becomes weary in this battle of thought.

In all of this chaos and worry and stress,

I hear a sweet voice calling "Come, and be blessed!"

"Fear not," Jesus whispers, "Cast your cares upon me!

From your dread and anxiety come and be free.

You cannot control all the trials of life,

But you CAN choose to trust me in storms and in strife."

So I turn to my Saviour and seek His sweet face,

Knowing even in hardship He promises grace.

And though I don't know what tomorrow may hold,

I can choose to fear not, knowing He's in control.

Mykaela

I Will Give You Rest

Happy New Year, everyone!
Isn't it crazy that it's 2020 already? Somehow that number sounds so futuristic. ;) I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends! We had many different celebrations around Christmas time--since both Luke's family and mine live nearby now, it makes for a jam-packed schedule of spending time at different homes around the holidays. It was a ton of fun, though, and we are so thankful to have like minded family that we can fellowship freely with and not have to worry about angry dinner conversations or difficult choices on what to refuse participation in politely. I definitely don't take that for granted, because I know so many have to face things like that around the holidays!

Baby boy Orwig is doing very well, and likes to make his presence very known these days with lots and lots and LOTS of movement!! ;) He is such a crazy active little fellow...most especially at night when this Mama is trying to get some sleep. Ha! I'm 26 weeks along, so the third trimester is coming right up. In many ways it feels like this pregnancy is going very quickly, but other times (like when I am trying to get things done and feel like a three ton walrus) it seems like a very long time till he gets here. ;P I know the time will come before we know it, though!

This post is one that I've actually been wanting to write since before Christmas, but I keep putting it off because I keep studying more about the topic, and finding new verses that I love and want to include, and well...just don't be surprised if there happens to be a Part 2 to this post at some point in the future! :)

One of the biggest things God has been working on me about lately is the idea of rest. Both physical and spiritual. Physically, rest has become absolutely vital to me over the last few months, as some small difficulties with pregnancy have made it extremely hard for me to be the go-getter that I typically am/want to be. And quite honestly, as my body grows and changes with every day that goes by, physical rest is becoming even MORE important! :) Much more vital than physical rest, however, is spiritual rest. 

To be honest, I have failed at both types of rest quite often lately. Out of frustration with current physical limitations, I push myself too hard and wind up knocked over and hurting a lot more than is necessary. In a spirit of faithlessness, I refuse to trust God and His promises to me and become fretful and worried, living in doubt and fear and stressing out for no reason.

I've never really done the whole "Word of the Year" thing before...I know many friends who have really enjoyed it, but I had just never actually chosen ONE concept to focus on throughout the year. But at the beginning of this year, I realized that God had been speaking to me about this SO much, it was almost a given: my word of the year for 2020 is "Rest". 

This has been a lot of intro, I know, but I wanted to give some background into my study and how much it means to me before I just launched in. :) Here are a few things I have written down in my study journal over the last couple months. (Alliterated because I'm Baptist and that's just what we do, haha!! ;P)

1. The Preparation for Rest
"And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning." Exodus 16:23

God Himself instituted the practice of resting (specifically on the Sabbath) when He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Later, He set up this principle for His people to follow. However, God didn't expect or require them to simply drop everything and rest with no preparation or provision for the rest period. They were to make ready in order to be purposefully still and not work. However, this did NOT mean that all tasks were perfectly complete and nothing was left undone before they rested. They made specific preparations for the Sabbath, and when the day came, they rested. Whatever was left undone could simply wait until the next day. In our goal-oriented and perfectionist society today, we sometimes have a hard time resting while there are still tasks to be done. However, there will always be something to do, something to fill our time with. The decision lies with us to let some of that go and CHOOSE to purposefully rest.

2. The Purpose of Rest
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed. Exodus 23:12

God's plan for rest is that His children will be refreshed and uplifted. His thoughts toward us are of good, not evil, and His commandments to us are not grievous (burdensome or harsh). Rest is a "good and perfect gift" (James 1:17) from the hand of God, meant to bless, not harm. In 1 Chronicles 22:9 and 2 Chronicles 14:6, The Bible speaks of God giving someone rest as a gift or a blessing. When viewed correctly, rest is a valuable resource and should be treated as such.

3. The Placement of Rest
"And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee." 2 Chronicles 14:11

If you are familiar with this story, you'll know that Asa was facing terrible, overwhelming circumstances. As in, going up against a million man army with only half that many on his own side. And yet, in the midst of even that circumstance, he was able to find a place of rest in God.

You may have heard the statement made about joy that it is found in God and does not depend on surroundings or circumstances the way happiness can. Well, from God's Word, it seems to me that rest too can be found even in the middle of chaos, heartbreak, or trial...IF it is a rest based firmly upon God and His promises. It is a CHOICE, not a feeling or an emotion. True rest comes from seeking after God fervently and choosing to trust His Word. 

As I studied this out, it struck me how many things in our Christian lives are like this. Love? It's a choice and an action...though those warm feelings are sometimes there as well, they are a result of the good choices we make, not the other way around. Joy? Same thing. It's a decision we make to not allow our circumstances to dictate our attitude. It's finding our stability in God. Here's a verse that I found during this study that I thought was SO precious:

"And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about."

2 Chronicles 15:15

4. The Price of our Rest

"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." Isaiah 11:10

The ultimate place of rest is in heaven, in the very presence of God. This rest cannot be obtained without accepting the price that Jesus Christ paid for our redemption--His own blood. Not only can we not reach heaven without Christ, but even here on this earth we will never find true rest outside of a relationship with him. The world talks a lot about finding inner peace and tranquility, and yet their version of those things are shallow and transient at best if they are not based upon The One who is the true Prince of Peace.

5. The Procurement of Rest

"Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." Psalm 37:7

This point is similar to No. 3, but I couldn't figure out how to split these thoughts up exactly how I wanted, so two points it is. ;) Like many exercises of faith in our lives, the obtainment of God's rest takes commitment and a daily series of rest-producing choices. This verse in Psalm 37 speaks of waiting patiently for God (choice) and NOT fretting (yet again, a choice). I looked up the dictionary definition of "fret" and thought it was interesting:

Fret: (1) Be constantly or visibly worried or anxious. 

(2) To gradually wear away by rubbing or gnawing.

Fretting both violates a clear command of Scripture (Be careful for nothing...Phillipians 4:6), but also wears away and gnaws at my strength, joy, and hope in God.

I feel like so many times we SAY we want God's rest and peace, and yet the moment by moment choices we make contradict that desire completely. (And I'm as guilty of this as anyone.) One of the biggest things I've noticed in myself is that I hardly ever give myself a CHANCE to actually rest and be still! Every free or quiet moment is squelched by me trying to fill my time up constantly, many times with useless things like scrolling my phone for the twentieth time that day or doing some other frivolous activity instead of taking a moment to just be still. 

Sometimes all it takes to find that rest we crave is to remind ourselves of the goodness and bounty of God.  "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling." Psalm 116:7-8

Other times, rest can only come through chastisement and repentance/restoration. (As in the case of unrest being due to our own sin or disobedience). "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance." Psalm 94:12-14

I realize this post may seem a little incoherent, but like I said, I have just kept discovering more and more things in God's Word about rest and being still, and it's been really hard to narrow it down enough for a blog post. ;) Let me wrap up with a few more verses I found that I think sum up all these ideas quite well.

"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16a

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

"I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope." Psalm 16:8-9

 "For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:" Isaiah 30:15a

This year, I want to choose to rest in The Lord, no matter the circumstance or situation that I face. How about you?

Mykaela

Four Things Marriage Has Taught Me About My Relationship With Christ

Hello, All!
Today's post is one that I've actually been considering for some time, but haven't been able to get my thoughts collected clearly enough to write a blog post about it. (Not that this is going to be miraculously coherent now that I'm actually writing it, mind you--I'm not sure I'm capable of such a thing. ;) Still, I shall do my best. 

As most of you are aware, Luke and I have been married for just over a year now, and I can honestly say that I am incredibly blessed to have him for my husband, life partner, and best friend. Marriage has been so different in many ways than I imagined it...different as in FAR better than I ever thought! I'm not saying we've had a perfect marriage with zero problems or difficulties, but I can say that these have been few and far between; mostly because he is so good about patiently dealing with issues when they come along, and putting up with me and my flaws incredibly well. ;)

Over this very new season of life, God has used marriage to teach me some valuable lessons that I believe can apply to anyone, married or not. I hope that these things will be a blessing to those who read it, no matter what stage of life you are currently in! :) Without further ado, here are four things God has been teaching me through our marriage thus far.

1. The importance of serving God with the right motives.
One thing that has struck me lately is the fact that motives do matter. If you are doing the right thing for the wrong reasons or with the wrong attitude, then how much good are you really doing? In 1 Corinthians 13, it talks about all the "good works" that you can do that become nothing without the motive being that of charity. 

Applying this with marriage...I have realized clearly that when I serve my husband out of the deep love and respect that I hold for him both as a man, and as the man in specific that God has placed in my life to lead and protect me, it is so much more fulfilling and full of joy! Tasks can become a blessing and a pleasure, whereas if I'm performing them merely out of duty, they have the potential to become routine or tedious. I believe service to God is the same way--when my heart attitude towards the acts of service are not right, I can very quickly slip into the mindset of either pride ("My church should be thankful they have me") or self pity ("No one recognizes how much I do around here"). None of which is truly pleasing to God. How convicting!

2. My responsibility to invest in my communication and relationship with The Lord.
A few weeks ago this thought really hit me...if I talked to Luke as often and as long as I talked to God, how would our relationship look? Wow. To rephrase, if I were to go days or weeks hardly talking to Luke at all (as I'm ashamed to say I've done with The Lord--short, unfocused prayer times, etc.) we would probably have a really terrible marriage. I know everyone talks about the importance of communication in marriage, so much so that it sounds cliche, but it's really incredibly true. The minute our loving and focused communication starts slipping, our closeness begins to suffer. The sad thing to me is that in the area of my relationship with God, a communication breach is always MY FAULT. Not His. Ever, in any way. God has given me His Word, and promised to speak to me through it. I have everything I need, and yet I fail Him and hinder a close, loving relationship by MY lack of communication. It would be as if Luke came home from work with loving words and arms open wide for me, and I turned my back and ignored him. I wouldn't dream of doing that to my sweet husband...yet how often do I neglect to draw near to my Lord because I "don't have the time"? 

3. How seriously I need to take sin.
When I hurt Luke, even in a small or seemingly insignificant way, it breaks my heart. I can't be content or happy until I have asked and received his forgiveness, and I know that things are reconciled between us. The feeling that I have caused a rift between us is something that I can hardly stand.

And yet, so often I tend to take a light view of "little" sins or offenses against God. I've really been convicted about this lately, because obviously I should be much more zealous about keeping a "clean slate" with God than I am even with my husband!

4. How much God loves me.
My husband loves me with such a selfless and unconditional love. He shows it every day through his words and actions--there has never been a time when I doubted that he loved me dearly. God has used Luke's love in my life to prove to me how much He Himself loves me. As much as I love and respect my husband, he is a sinner, as am I. And yet, if the love and care of a mere flawed human being can be so sweet and fulfilling to me, how much more the love of a perfect and unchanging God? To take this thought a step further...Luke has seen me at my worst and chosen to love me still. But though he knows me better than any other human on earth, even he cannot see my heart and the sin and folly it contains. God can, and His love for me is still perfect. That is amazing to think about! God knows all my deepest thoughts and imperfections, and keeps on loving me in spite of them. 

I hope that these thoughts were a blessing to you, whether you are in a relationship or not. They have been coming back to me over and over during the last few months, so I figured it was about time I tried to verbalize them. :) 

I'm sure once baby comes, I will have a whole new world of things God will want to teach me through that! For those wondering, the pregnancy is going well, and baby seems to be progressing as well as possible! :) I'll be 18 weeks on Tuesday, which means we will be able to find out the gender of our little one in about 2-3 weeks, depending on when I can get the scan before or after Thanksgiving. I'll be sharing on here once we find out!

Have a wonderful week! 
Mykaela

Wedding Pictures!

Hello, all!
It's been a bit of an adjustment for me, trying to remember to post on the blog, as it's been so long since it's been a regular habit! ;) My apologies on that. 

Since we just celebrated our 1 year anniversary on October 12, I decided to do a post with some of our wedding pictures. (Thank you for the suggestion, Grace! :) If you aren't a fan of wedding photos, no offense taken if you simply pass by this post. ;) Especially since I had a very hard time picking my favorites, and probably posted more than necessary. Oops. Oh well, I had fun reminiscing while I did it!!

We had my cousin, Kailyn, do our wedding pictures for us. She is from California and has a photography and videography business that she runs jointly with her fiance, Eric. She was gracious enough to come up to Washington for our wedding, and I honestly could NOT have been more thrilled with our wedding photos!! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves in a minute, but WOW...Luke and I were blown away with what a lovely job she did!

I'll go in sections throughout the wedding day, so it's easy to see how things flowed. The first thing that happened was that the groomsmen got ready at our church building and had their pictures taken, and then my girls and I showed up to trade places with them and start getting ready ourselves. Before the guys left, however, Luke and I did something very special that I am SO glad we did! Kailyn took me out behind the building to a little alcove and had me wait there while she went and got Luke. Then, so as not to have him see me, we held hands around the corner and prayed together. It was about 3 hours before our wedding, and this was our first time ever holding hands, so it was a really special moment!

Some handsome groom and groomsmen photos...

And some photos from our prayer together, as well as a moment of incredibly overwhelming joy for me...after Luke walked around the corner, I ran to catch a glimpse of him before he got in the car to go to the park where our wedding was going to be. It suddenly hit me as I looked after him that this was it. This was the day that the long wait was over, and I was marrying my best friend. :')

My heart is pounding fast again just looking at these pictures. ;) Here are some from the getting ready process with my sweet bridesmaids--all powered by Starbucks, of course. ;P

I was so blessed to have some of my dearest friends by my side to celebrate this happy day! :) Here are some from our bride/bridesmaid shoot after we were all ready for the wedding. The area around our church building really provided some pretty cool backdrops!! :D

I was thrilled to find the dark orange door, since our wedding colors were a kind of dark rusty orange and dark teal. (Though in some of the photos they look black, the bridesmaids' dressed are actually teal).

Here are a few pics of the decorations at our outdoor ceremony...I was SO thankful for absolutely beautiful weather on our wedding day!! God was so good to give us that, since we really didn't have a Plan B if it had been rainy or bad weather. 

We actually just reserved a portion of a public park (for FREE, no less!) and it worked out perfectly!! There was a nice section that was more or less closed off with trees, and any passersby were very respectful and didn't disturb us at all. It was really nice, because a lot of the "real" venues we'd been looking at were wanting to charge us up to 2 grand....as it was, we ended up spending less than that on the ENTIRE wedding total, simply by being careful, using what we had or borrowing from friends, making nearly all our own food, and letting God's creation cover most of the decorations for us. ;) I was so happy we decided to go with an outdoor ceremony, because it really fit the "feel" that I was hoping for perfectly. :) 

Up next are some photos from the actual ceremony. We had my little brother Kebron as our ring bearer, and a little friend, Ruth, as our flower girl (though every time I call her that, she insists that "They were NOT flowers, they were LEAVES!!" ;P We had her toss real leaves of different fall colors instead of petals). Luke and I sang together, and opted for the threefold cord for our unity ceremony. 

We took a very non traditional approach to our first kiss, (which to this day I am SO glad we did!!!!!!). After the preacher pronounced us husband and wife, and introduced us as the new couple, Luke picked me up and carried me off down the aisle! :D We went across a small stream to a secluded area by the riverbank, and shared our first kiss in private with just the two of us. (We didn't even have our photographer there for this, we just wanted to have our first few moments as a married couple to ourselves. :) While this may not be for everyone, I personally didn't really like the idea of sharing that special first kiss in front of 150 people...even people I knew and loved! It just made it that much more memorable to have it be just the two of us. Besides, it's not like they missed anything--we kissed plenty more times at the reception! ;P

Our reception was tons of fun, and we shared so many sweet memories with our friends and loved ones who were able to join us. One of my favorite moments was the bouquet toss...and I LOVE the pictures Kailyn got of that!! :D

The goodbyes at the end of the reception were kind of a blur for me, honestly...it was very surreal to be actually taking leave of my family there at our wedding! (Our honeymoon was on our way back to Missouri where my new home would be). 

Ok, this post is getting way too long, but I have to add a few of my favorite pictures from our sunset couple photos in Leavenworth, WA. Leavenworth has some very dear memories for us from all throughout our relationship, so it was super special to be able to take our couple pictures there!! The scenery is so stunning, and by this time the lighting was absolutely perfect. This photo session was actually one of my very favorite memories from our wedding day. Kailyn did such a great job making us feel comfortable and letting the photos be real. 

That last picture series with the lamppost is SO special to me. :') My best friend Kimberly and I had taken pictures by that lamp back in 2016 when she came to visit me in person for the first time. Then when Luke and I were courting, we took a photo by the same lamppost...and then on our wedding day, we got those sweet shots. And my heart melts every time. ;) 

I know this was rather a lot of pictures, and I apologize...like I said, I will not be offended in the least if you happen to have just skimmed through, or just skipped this post altogether! I know a couple of my followers are planning weddings of their own in the semi-near future, so if there are any questions about anything, just let me know in the comments! :)  I found it super helpful when I was wedding planning to talk to gals that had recently been through the joys of doing it themselves, and get their tips and ideas. 

I hope anyone that's still with me at this point is having a great week, and that it will just keep getting better from here! :) Happy Fall!
Love,
Mykaela