When Love Takes You In

Some pics of recent happenings...this is a great picture taken at the Chance family reunion last September. We had a great time!

Ben and his new pup, Bella.

Santa visited the bank again this year.

I'm reading a book by Jennifer Rothschild, a blind singer, author, speaker, etc. who is "around" my age. Her story is amazing, but the thing I admire about her the most is her passion for the Word of God. She shares in her book, Lessons I Learned in the Light, an analogy about her dependency on a cane in her physical darkness as it relates to our dependence on the Word of God to light the way out of spiritual darkness. She went to visit an old friend who had been busy redecorating her house and had rearranged all of her furniture (a nightmare for a blind person). She normally could easily find her way around the house because she had been there so many times, but not this time. She was forced to use the cane. But, she says, "if I refused dependency, I would reject liberty."

"It's a good picture, I think, of how we relate to Scripture," she continues. "When we choose to be totally dependent on God's Word, it ushers in a freedom that we would never experience otherwise. When we rely on His wisdom and hold onto His precepts, we walk in freedom, not fear. When we fully lean on the promises in His Word, we find that we are freed from the wishing and worrying that so imprison us. The light of God's Word brings a brightness that allows us to dance. It makes clear that which could be fuzzy and dim."

"Let's face it, life changes. Things are not always as we remember them. Loss happens, people we love leave, our inner worlds can get rearranged due to emotional changes. Sometimes the shadows of heartache overwhelm us and we just want to quit. We want to navigate and enjoy the world, but the only way is through dependence on a higher source of wisdom. Pure, utter dependence on God's Word truly liberates us."

Good, huh? I needed that! I've been rehearsing Jeremiah 15:16 the past couple of days in anticipation of the New Year: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts." May His Words become even more precious to all of us in the coming year. Sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. More precious than gold, silver or pearls. That's what I want. Lord, teach me to love Your words more and more.

Anticipation

I'm so excited about our Christmas picture that the talented Shawn Bradshaw tweaked for us to use as the header for our site for now! He created what I saw in my head with the silhouette of Grace right there in the center of all of us. We are patiently awaiting her arrival...which may not be until this time next year. But...we serve an ontime God! And we know He has everything under His control.