Fall is upon us again, I feel like so much has changed in just a year.
I remember flying to Montana last year to spend part of October there. I interviewed at the hospital for a job, looked into colleges, and thought I’d be married by now.
Thank the Lord for not allowing that to happen.
This year, I’m wrapping up my summer at the farm and easing into the fall with my dear friends and family. I have been blessed with new friends in the Catlett family and must say that I surrender all of my relationships, including mine with Caleb, to Christ.
I had the chance to go on ministry with Caleb and his family this weekend, to Nebraska. What a lovely small town with such kind people. It was such a good trip, in that the Lord really challenged me to surrender my entire life to him – AGAIN. Yes, I’ve done this before, but truly living for Christ involves surrender time and time again. The Lord sacrificed his life for me, and through Liz, he taught me that he wants us to sacrifice our relationships with earthly things/beings for him. This is such a small price to pay for what He did for us on the cross. I am finally beginning to understand that all the Lord wants from me is willingness. He may not always ask us to do radical things for him, because he does know our true hearts desires, but he wants us to be willing to do radical things for him.
Some of the things I’m in the process of surrendering are my relationships with my family: I know that the Lord sees my heart for my family and the genuine love I have for them. He knows I want to be near them, He knows I want my grandchildren to spend time with my parents, He knows all of these things – but am I willing to surrender them for His calling? A calling of higher purpose? The truth is, I am, and have found that because I trust that the Lord knows my heart and wouldn’t call me to ever completely leave my family I can surrender them to him.
He wants me to surrender my identity in my career. I struggle to continue finiding my identity in Him and the person he created me to be, aside from what I do at my job.
He wants me to surrender my heart and trust Him and those who love me. I often times have tricked myself into thinking that I have surrendered my heart and all of a sudden its like - Wow! I am not trusting anyone - even Christ.
What is God calling you to be willing to surrender or sacrifice for him right now?
You can visit the ministry of Caleb’s familys’ website at:
http://www.cat-logs.com/mark4/index.shtml
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Summer time and the livin’ is not so easy…..
Working on the farm this summer has been so rewarding, but I must admit that its been very energy-depleting as well. I knew it would be, its just that when I signed up for the job I didn’t know Caleb and now things with us are pretty serious.
Since the last lengthy entry I have met a wonderful man, Caleb Dean Catlett, and we have been little lovebirds for the past three months. We believe that God brought us together, using his darling little niece, Hope Christiana. We’ve begun to do pre-marital counseling with plans to get married in the future. My oh my, is the Lord ever so good. Caleb and his family call me Lainey and they have taken me in as one of their own. They are a Christ-serving, genuine, and caring family who are great examples of what its like to live a life completely devoted to Christ. I am blessed to have their wisdom and influence in my life.
My family adores Caleb and admires the type of man he is. He fits in so well with my family and has genuine love for me. I have never been treated like such a treasure before He came into my life. We are both so grateful that the Lord brought us together and continue to pray for His will and blessings for our relationship. We thirst to grow in Him together.
Having introduced you to the man in my life, you can understand now why the farm is not something I enjoy devoting all my extra time to. I still seek, each day, the joy and blessings that God has for me at the farm. I love being outside and working in the field. I have also gotten very familiar with the phenomenon of the sunburn during my work on the farm. Yesterday, mom and Emily came out to the farm and we picked blackberries, currants, and carrots. The spinach was something I picked in the morning. All of the produce that the farm sells in their little store is all hand picked, by myself, the Dr. who owns the farm with her husband (Claudia), and two of their other workers (Maricella and Angelica). I have loved getting to know them, and it’s been fun working on my Spanish with Maricella and Angelica.
Pictures to come soon......
Since the last lengthy entry I have met a wonderful man, Caleb Dean Catlett, and we have been little lovebirds for the past three months. We believe that God brought us together, using his darling little niece, Hope Christiana. We’ve begun to do pre-marital counseling with plans to get married in the future. My oh my, is the Lord ever so good. Caleb and his family call me Lainey and they have taken me in as one of their own. They are a Christ-serving, genuine, and caring family who are great examples of what its like to live a life completely devoted to Christ. I am blessed to have their wisdom and influence in my life.
My family adores Caleb and admires the type of man he is. He fits in so well with my family and has genuine love for me. I have never been treated like such a treasure before He came into my life. We are both so grateful that the Lord brought us together and continue to pray for His will and blessings for our relationship. We thirst to grow in Him together.
Having introduced you to the man in my life, you can understand now why the farm is not something I enjoy devoting all my extra time to. I still seek, each day, the joy and blessings that God has for me at the farm. I love being outside and working in the field. I have also gotten very familiar with the phenomenon of the sunburn during my work on the farm. Yesterday, mom and Emily came out to the farm and we picked blackberries, currants, and carrots. The spinach was something I picked in the morning. All of the produce that the farm sells in their little store is all hand picked, by myself, the Dr. who owns the farm with her husband (Claudia), and two of their other workers (Maricella and Angelica). I have loved getting to know them, and it’s been fun working on my Spanish with Maricella and Angelica.
Pictures to come soon......
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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