Today, our garage revealed my heart...

It's amazing how God will use any and all things to show us the ugliness and sin in our hearts. Today it was the garage. I went out first thing this morning to throw a load of laundry in the washer and could barely get there because of all the "stuff" that was in the way...the remains of our trip to Costco that had not been put away yet, an overflowing recycling bin, Christmas bins that had not been put back in there spot, balls and other sports equipment and lots of snow stuff. You would think our garage hadn't been cleaned out in months...but I can tell you that it was organized just a couple of weeks ago, and I was the one who did it.

Immediately, my heart began to well up with frustration and anger...frustration over having such a messy garage, especially in light of moving and needing room to put lots of boxes; and anger that, once again, I felt like all I do is clean up something for it to get messed up or dirty again; make a meal only for it to be eaten and I have to do it all over again the next day; wash clothes, fold them, and then do it again with the exact same pair of jeans two days later! Instead of taking my thoughts captive, I fed them with self-pity and self justification.

I got my hair cut today and I am thankful for the time in the chair...the hairdresser and I chatted comfortably...but I also had a lot of time to think...think about the sin going on in my own heart and the foolishness of my anger. I was looking at my garage this morning as a mess that should not be there...as a job that I should never have had to tackle again this soon and that determined my joy...or lack thereof. I was seeing things through natural, sinful eyes that removed God from the equation...a very dangerous thing to do.

God should be the center of every situation, every mess, every plan and every decision. If I had been wearing my "eternal glasses" this morning my outlook would have been completely different. I would have recognized that messy garage coming to me from the hands of God for my good and His glory. It was an opportunity to glorify Him...just as all of life is. It was another opportunity to remind myself that this day was made by the Lord and I was to rejoice and be glad in it.

I missed it.

Prayerfully, sharing this with you will keep you from missing it too, whatever circumstance the Lord has you in.


***While I was in the garage with my hubby, my dear boys were busy making flags. Flags that represent their national heritage. But, greater still, the smiles on their faces and the picture that I took represents the heritage the Lord has given them...before the foundation of the world He planned that Micah, Samuel, Titus and Caleb would be brothers! It's a beautiful, amazing thing!

Grace's Christmas Recital

One month later Grace was up on the stage again. The tears came yesterday instead of today and she was really hoping that mom would give in and tell her she didn't have to play today. Nope...not this mom!:) I did pray with her and encourage her to "preach to herself" and to take her thoughts captive and think of Bible verses:

"Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you."

"The joy of the Lord is my strength."

"I can do all things through Christ Who gives me strength."

"When I am weak, then I am strong (in the strength of the Lord)."

"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you."

Anyway, she was doing much better today although, as she waited for her turn to play (she played 6th) I could see the color keeping rising in her face in a nice blotchy pattern. My dear daughter is so precious...she is sensitive yet strong and she blessed my heart yet again this afternoon.

One of her dearest friends, Haley, also takes lessons from the same piano teacher and we enjoyed her performance and her precious families company as we sat in the audience together. The rest of the Pichura clan has to watch Grace on video like you do...it seems that a cold has taken hold of our house and knocked a few of the gang down, including Dad!

Here is sweet Grace playing for the glory of God. May we faithfully come to the Lord joyful in the work He has done on our behalf and triumphant that the victory has already been won! Praise the Lord!

God's Gift of Christmas

A few days ago, I had asked my hubby if he had any books at work that specifically looked at the Christmas story. The Incarnation. I knew that in the midst of all that was and is going on...it would be very easy to lose sight of the true celebration this month. The greatest gift I could ever receive. The coming of the One Who sealed my adoption and made a way for me to be apart of the family of God and have a forever home. The One Who took my sin upon Himself and, in return gave me His righteousness. I can barely grasp the awesome weight of all that His death conquered and I look forward to an eternity of having those beautiful truths revealed!

Okay...so back to the book!:) Bryan brought home a little blue book called, "God's Gift of Christmas" by John MacArthur. I cannot say enough good things about it. If you have it, read it before Christmas (it won't take you long)...if you don't, put it on your list of books to order! This will become a book I read yearly in December and pray that the truths found therein would be truths that I would meditate on all year long. The chapters focus on everything from the incarnation to the wise men to Mary and Elizabeth's relationship. It touched on everything and yet was not shallow in any way. Let me share with you a brief excerpt from one of the last chapters:

"The important issue of Christmas is not so much that Jesus came, but why He came. There was no salvation in His birth. Nor did the sinless way He lived His life have any redemptive force of its own. His example, flawless as it was, could not rescue us from our sins. Even His teaching, the greatest truth ever revealed, could not save us. There was a price to be paid for our sins. Someone had to die. Only Jesus could do that.....

Here's a side to the Christmas story that isn't often told. Those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant's head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling cloths, would one day be ripped open by a spear.

Jesus was born to die."

The excerpt from the book reminded me of a verse that I read last night in the book of Revelations. John was talking about believers and said in chapter 12 verse 11:

"And they have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."

We, too, were born to die...not for the sins of the world...but to die to self and sin (1 Peter 2:24) that Christ might reign supreme and that those around us might see Christ. We are simply clay jars...vessels that could have been used for honor or for dishonor...it was Christ who reached down, picked up the broken vessel of our lives, and put HIMSELF inside. And, somehow, though it seems almost unfathomable, He is on display in our lives!

"Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! I Cor. 9:15

A Wintery First!

The kids woke up to prayers answered...and the answer was yes!:) It was a very wet snow as it rained the rest of the day...but that didn't keep the kids from enjoying it. Mean old mom still made them do their school work first (thanks, Dad, for helping out too!)and Titus and Caleb continue to bless my heart with their love for each other and the way they always find plenty to do together while we homeschool. I couldn't help but take this picture of them playing the piano together! It was so fun to witness yet another "first" for Samuel and Caleb! Caleb informed us that it was too cold and he didn't want to go outside...but after the house emptied out and he realized that he was the only one left, he quickly changed his tune.They enjoyed their time in the snow and did their best to make something that resembled a "sledding hill". "He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'" Job 37:6

Santa....where does he fit in your Christmas?

Whether you "do" or you "don't" when it comes to Santa Claus at Christmas, I followed the links on "Girltalk Blog" and read a couple of great articles by Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile. Don't let the fact that you can't say his name fool you!:) He is a wise pastor from the Cayman Islands with lots of great things to share!

Santa seems to be one of those "traditions" passed down, but how many of us have actually spent much time thinking through just what we are celebrating at Christmas. Pastor Thabiti does a great job answering some tough questions as well as giving some great advice to us parents on how to handle the questions we (or our kids) might be asked at Christmastime!

Head over to "Girltalk" and take a few minutes to read!

Yesterday was tough...

My goal has always been to try to post something each day of the week. Most weekends that does not seem to happen. The routine and schedule is different and times seems to fly in a whole different way.

This week I have been silent...not because of a different routine or schedule or out of a lack of things to share, but because of an inability to share them. Even now I sit here searching for the right words to explain what took place yesterday morning knowing that I will not be able to explain it with my usual transparency and candor.

Bryan resigned from his Family Pastor position at Sun Valley Church yesterday morning. My heart pounds even as I write. It was not easy, how could it be? Church, for us, is not a place you go...it's what you are a part of and what becomes a part of you...it's a family. A family that is very dear to us. I was reminded yesterday of words that rang so true in my own heart in 1 Thess. 2:8:

"So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us."

Christ and His gospel are to be our lives, and because Bryan has been given the precious gift of serving full time proclaiming that truth within a local body, our lives become interwoven with others' lives who are passionate about Christ and these people become very dear to us.

So many of these brothers and sisters in Christ have been used by God in the most beautiful ways to encourage us and to spur us on to love and good deeds. Because of Christ, these relationships...though only a year and a half old at best, have felt life long. I am not "romanticizing" things, I truly am being honest! I think some of that sprang, for me, from the heart that God gave some of my precious lady friends to come alongside our adoption. Hearts were laid open, sharing took place, sweet fellowship was shared that went far beyond our adoption. I was humbled by the help, encouraged by their love, and blessed beyond measure by their servant's hearts. It's not so much what they did (though it was A LOT), but through all that, I got to know them and be known by them.

Some of that also sprang up through small groups and youth ministry as we developed relationships of depth. Through small group, God gave me a special relationship with a man who could better be called a "grandpa in Christ" and I will miss him dearly. In the past, I have been used to serving, not necessarily "being served" and we were humbled over and over with the ways people served us...and while everything in me wanted to encourage them right back, we were in a season where, most of the time, we could do nothing more than say "thank you" with a heart full of gratitude.

So, today it feels a little bit like a death. A death that is not without hope...but it is still sad and makes my heart hurt. In times like these, the sovereignty of God is painfully beautiful...but it is still beautiful! Our prayer is to echo the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 71:

"But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure."

God's salvation not only saved us from sin but continues to uphold us and sustain us all day long....and no matter how hard we try, we will never fully comprehend (measure) His saving power and work on this side of Heaven! These are the days of preaching to ourselves what we know to be true and humbly seeking the Lord. As we seek Him and "set the Lord always before us" (Psalm 16:8) we cannot lose hope...no, we will actually grow more and more joyful and full of praise, the Psalmist says.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Please pray that we would walk in the Spirit and not live out the desires of the flesh.

The 12th of January we will be headed up to British Columbia for a week (yep...that's in Canada!)and Bryan will candidate for a Family Pastor position there. We visited back in November and the elder board extended the position to him contingent on the congregational vote (which will take place on the 19th). We believe wholeheartedly that this is the direction the Lord is leading and we are truly excited. The whole "moving out of the country" will not be without it's challenges...but who ever said that following Jesus was supposed to be easy? Then again, to our natural mind, we struggle to grasp that the "narrow way" is the way of true blessing and eternal life, and is sweeter than we could even comprehend!!!

I know that there will be much more to say and to share in the weeks to come and I look forward to that...but, for now, there are tears and places in my heart that hurt. And that's okay. This is the season that God has given us, for our good and for His glory... and today is still the day that the Lord has made so I will rejoice and be glad in it...and it's also a day at my parents house!:) We thought it would be a good idea to come and visit my parents for a few days. Of course, we all LOVE to spend time with them, so there was no second guessing that plan!:) Right now, we are praying that God will send the snow the forecasters are projecting!:)

"No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he (Abraham) grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God; fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised." Romans 4:20-21

Things I learned today...

You can wear your bathrobe over your clothes and it really does feel like you are walking around with a blanket. It may not be below freezing in our house like it has been for the last several days outside....the lows have been 0 degrees and below!...but it sure doesn't feel warm either! :)

When you leave it to your kids to decorate their own cookie, they put WAY more sprinkles on it than you ever would!:)

I will no longer be making up the bunk beds anymore! Minus a little help with the fitted sheet Micah, Samuel, Grace and Faith put all the sheets and duvets on the bed after I washed them! Way to go kids!


When you are sending away for certified copies of your birth certificates and marriage certificates for your adoption dossier...just get a few more...it will be worth the money! I need them again in order to apply for the boys citizenship!

Titus has fully embraced our adoption and more! Today, he asked to speak to me "in private" and told me that he loves his Ethiopian brother, Caleb, and he is his best friend and he thanked me for adopting him!!!! It was precious!!!!
Then, tonight, he brought me money that he was going to put in his piggy bank and told me that he wanted the money to go towards our next adoption!:) No prompting, honest!:) Boy, did he bless my socks off today!

There is no greater joy than sharing the gospel with my kids...and it was extra special because it was Samuel who asked about going to heaven and not wanting to go to hell! And, he too, just warmed my heart by asking me for his Bible story Bible this morning so that he could do his Bible Study! He sits there and diligently copies words down on a piece of paper...precious!

Reading through the Bible is such a blessing. And today, I read a cool verse in Hosea 14:3, "In You the orphan finds mercy".

Friends who love Jesus are just beautiful...and friends who pray for you and give you Biblical words of encouragement are just priceless...and I was blessed to have some priceless moments today and some wonderful words to meditate on...THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence for my hope is from Him. Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us."
Psalm 62:5,8