22-25 Weeks

I was asked to post the latest pictures of the growing baby belly. So, here you have it folks.

Reflections

I did not get very inspired to write a new post this year, so I am reposting my post from last year. I just want everyone to know what I think about over this weekend and this time of year. It isn't about bunnies and Easter egg hunts for me. Rather, I think about God and the greatest gift I have ever received--GRACE! As a Christian, I will be reflecting on Jesus' death and God's gift of grace. Then on Sunday, I get to celebrate the hope I have because of grace. Here is what I wrote last year:

"I have been thinking about what it means to be a Christian and receive God's grace. I thought it would be a prefect time to share them with others, because this weekend is Good Friday and Resurrection Day. I want to share the message of what God's promise of salvation, hope, and grace means to me. Throughout this past year, I have been involved in a Bible Study with some other women in my church. We are going through the book of Genesis and I have realized that this is an amazing book in the Bible--probably one of my favorites. Through the Bible Study I am again reminded that God shows his mercy and grace to even the least of us. Think about some of the characters in the book of Genesis. One example is Jacob. Jacob was a con artist, but yet God uses him in the big picture of salvation and extends his promise of grace to him as well. (Side note: you all should read the book "Peculiar Treasures" by Frederick Buechner which drives this point home. It is one of my favorites, because it reminds me that God can even use me, a sinner, to redeem Creation and show people God's grace. I own it, so if you want to borrow it you may!)

Let's move on. Christians all over the world will be celebrating Good Friday. I think it probably seems weird to non-Christians that we would celebrate the death of Jesus. But, his death brought salvation to the world. God promises this salvation already in Genesis 3, when he says to Adam, Eve and the serpent that "he [Eve's offspring/Jesus] will crush your [Satan] head and you [Satan] will strike his [Jesus] heel." (Genesis 3:15b). Wow! God has a plan to save his creation from the very beginning. God is good all the time! He promises this again in Genesis 15. Genesis 15 is one of my favorite Bible stories, which may seem weird. Genesis 15 is quite bloody, but after learning the context and what this story really means it became one of my favorites. (Here is a link to the passage: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2015&version=31) I had a wonderful Bible teacher in high school who taught us a lot about Hebrew culture and drove the meaning home to me. I have been thinking a lot about this story since we are celebrating Good Friday. In Abram's culture when someone made a covenant, they often would seal it with a blood path. They would take animals and cut them in half and lay them across from another. Thus, the blood would pool and there would be a blood path. Each party in the covenant would walk through the blood, thus saying if he broke his part of the covenant it was punishable with death. Now, in Genesis 15 the parties consisted of Abram (mankind) and God. But, Abram never walked through the path, rather God walked through it TWICE!! This means, that God would take Abram's (or mankind's) place if he broke the covenant. God knew we couldn't keep the covenant and instead of punishing us to death, he promised to take our place. Hence, Jesus came to this earth and died for us. He took our place on the cross to forgive our sins and offer us salvation. Because of this Romans 8 is true: nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord." God is good all the time!

Now, Christians celebrate Good Friday to remember what God has done for us. He suffers with us. Isn't this good to remember in this day and age. There is so much suffering in this world, but God knows what it is to suffer. He experienced the ultimate suffering on the cross. So, yes we are celebrating his death today. It is a sad event, so we also lament that he suffers and we can lament for the suffering in this world. But, we also must remember that there is hope. The cross is not the end of the story. God is good all the time! On Sunday we will celebrate Resurrection Day. Jesus may have died on Good Friday for us, but he rose again in 3 days! So on Good Friday when I remember the death and suffering of my Savior, I will also remember that there is new life in Christ and HOPE for all those suffering. God is good all the time! (Side note: To really understand what this means you may want to read Romans 6:1-14. Verse 14 is especially meaningful to me because of grace. It states this: "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under GRACE" Our salvation is a gift of grace from God through his son Jesus Christ).

I hope this touches some people. Lately, I have been hurting for people who don't believe in God and what his gift of grace means for them. I want to leave you with the lyrics of one of my favorite songs:

My Savior, My God by Aaron Shust
I am not skilled to understand, what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know at his right hand, stands one who is my Savior. I take him at his word and deed, Christ died to save me: this I read and in my heart I find a need of Him to be my Savior. That He would leave his place on high and come for sinful man to die, You count it strange, so once did I, Before I knew my Savior.
My Savior Loves, My Savior Lives, My Savior's always there for me. My God He was, my God: He is, My God is always gonna be.
Yes, living dying: let me bring, my strength, my solace from this spring: That He who lives to be my king, once died to be my Savior.

God is Good All the Time!
Go in God's Grace, Peace, and Joy!"

Realtor or Social Worker?

Okay, so I made several changes to my major in college, but I finally settled on Social Work. I felt like it was my calling and where God was calling me to work and redeem his creation. But, as of yesterday I am thinking I may be wrong. Maybe God wants me to be a realtor. It really seems that Joel and I are great at selling houses. (Before I go on with the rest of this post--know now that I am being a bit sarcastic and still feel like I am in the right place as a social worker.)

First story, when Joel and I were first married we were going to live in my grandma's condo. It had been on the market for awhile and we needed something quite temporary--6 months. She had moved out and decided to let us stay there. However, we knew it wasn't going to be taken off the market. We weren't too stressed. After getting back from our honeymoon we moved in--for one week. Yes, we were only there for one week. I can remember quite distinctly that we were talking to Joel's mom on the phone and she said "So, did you hear from Julie's grandma that she sold the place and you have about 10 days to move." I was dumbfounded. How could this happen. I remember learning right then that Joel and I handle stress a little differently. He likes to sleep and I tend to dwell on it for a little longer and like to be comforted. Sometimes, I wish I were the one that could just sleep and feel better...but that's not how I am made. Stressful situations like not knowing where we would be living in 10 days keep me up at night and I like company on those nights and not company that comes in the form of a peaceful looking and sleeping husband. It's be nice if it kept him up too. But, alas I have gone of track and I really am just jealous of Joel. I still love him dearly. We figured out what to do the next day when I called my cousin to see if staying in their basement "apartment" was still an option. We lived with my cousins for 5 months. (Then two weeks with my parents and then off to Detroit for two years.)

Flash forward 4 years (actually the first story happened at the end of March in 2005, so almost exactly 4 years later). I told you in the last post about a house we were going to rent. It seemed perfect, maybe too good to be true. It had three bedrooms, it was nicely painted. I was going to have a nursery (I know this is way more for the parents than the baby--but I was excited.) We had one question about the lease and the husband was out of town so we were going to go over it with them this past weekend. We knew we would work the question out, so I was basically planning on signing the lease yesterday and faxing it to them today. They had told us they would not be taking the house of the market until we signed the lease, but they were willing to have us sign it early. So, we sign the lease early April, but it wouldn't really start until July. This way they could take the house of the market in April. We get a phone call from them yesterday only to find out that the house sold last week. So, all the work we did over spring break seems rather fruitless to me. My parents and brother were visiting...needless to say I was not very good company. (Fortunately, they are my family and totally understand.)

See why I think I may have missed my calling? Joel and I are great at selling other people's homes. I know we have 3 months to find something else. I even know that the sale isn't final and their is a slim chance we still could get the house. (But, I don't wish this for this couple...I totally understand that they would rather sell now given the economy than rent it.) I know that God will provide. But, knowing this does not diminish my disappointment or make my stress level go down instantly. I need a little time to process this before that happens. I told Joel that if it was just the two of us I may not have gotten as emotional. I admit I still would have cried, but maybe not as much. However, I am pregnant and hormones do not help an already disappointing situation. I am just thinking about "where am I going to be taking a baby home to in July?" I need to provide a safe home for this child and I probably won't even be able to look at anything out there again. I know my parents and Joel's parents have already offered to make trips out to Detroit to look at places for us and I trust them. But, it still isn't the same.

God will provide. I know that and I trust Him.

PS. I know one way that God provides is through other people, so if you know of anything in the Royal Oak area of Michigan please let us know! Also, your prayers for this are also very apperciated!