Fini.

Well, it's official... I'M GRADUATED!!!

It has been quite a journey! Thank you to everyone who came to graduation, sent cards, gifts, or supported in prayer and encouragement!

This season of life is officially closed. On to the next! (Which is what?!)

Natasha

Interesting Week

Tasha told me to blog a couple of days ago, which I neglected to do in all the week's activity. I'll get to Saturday and Sunday nights in a moment. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were all days in which I left at 9:00 a.m. and got home long after 9:00 p.m. every day. There were only two days "in the office" this week, so I scrambled. This is also the second Music Festival week, so I'm doing a lot of accompanying. Add Matt's birthday to the mix, and you've got a lot going on. And I'm sleeping well as a result - so good!

Saturday: Tasha's brother Joel was in West Side Story, so we drove up to see the family and the show. What Tasha didn't know is that her sister and family flew up to surprise her for her graduation (this coming weekend). They came a week early so they could also catch the show. I was in the loop so that we could get us in the right place at the right time. After a fairly decent argument over switching the date of our trip from Friday (planned for me before I knew about Melissa) to Saturday (an awful day for me, but now I knew about Melissa), we began to plan. (Fortunately, Tasha's grandmother, who also knew about the surprise, convinced the family to plan our family night for Saturday, regardless of our original Friday plans.) I couldn't convince Tasha to pack anything because she wanted to come back home for church. After exhausting all of my plans, I prayed, "Lord, you know she's going to want to stay. You need to handle this." He did. Less than ten minutes after that prayer, Tasha called me in to the room and said, "You know, I think I should pack for the week in case I choose to stay with the family." Good thing!

Sunday: I got home at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning after the show (in which Joel was GREAT!). I got up early, went to the church, and had a fairly normal Sunday. I arrived home that night at about 9:30 p.m., put all my things on the table, and received a phone message from Tasha. I thought, "Okay, I'll take out the recycling so I don't forget, come back in, and call Tasha back." Grabbing the recycling that was still in the house, I headed for the garage to retrieve the rest. Out of habit, I reached behind me and locked the door. As soon as the door shut I thought, "I just locked that." I checked, and sure enough I locked myself out of the house. I checked every window and was chagrined to discover my thoroughness in locking the house down for added security (we're sitting). There wasn't ANY way to sneak in. Neither was there any spare tool or implement in the garage small enough to pick a lock. I grabbed a crowbar at one point, ready to break in at any cost. Instead, I walked down to the Mini-Mart to call a locksmith (now about 10:45 p.m.). No one would come. He told me to break a window, and he'd come fix it in the morning. That call ended quickly. I started walking back home to the crowbar when it hit me: Micah and Jody would be awake! I walked up the hill to their house (with the wind in my face!) and crashed on their couch till the morning. Eventually, a man 40 minutes from my home came to let me in. I was in by 9:30 a.m., showered, and rushed out the door to accompany at 10:00 a.m. Guess how high my blood pressure was?

Recipe Inactivty.

I just responded to two comments on our last post referencing the inactivity on our recipe blog as of late. I thought I'd write a short post about it.

Lynn and I have a recipe blog. We have never been very active at posting new recipes on this blog; but our activity has apparently decreased even more as of late. The reason is this:

Lynn and I (moreso the "I") are out of sorts in our current kitchen. We are still house sitting because, as we've already mentioned, we bought a house but don't close until the end of June. The house we are sitting is lovely, but I find it especially difficult adjusting to someone else's kitchen, kitchen tools, and recipe books. I've never actually looked in her recipe books, though we don't have ours either...

Also, Lynn and I are conserving as much of our budget as possible due to house expenses. Therefore, most of our creative meals involve canned tuna in one form or another... We've actually really enjoyed it and are perfectly willing to post about our cheap, creative, canned tuna meals. (Lynn made one out of the very random ingredients in our kitchen one day that tasted delicious but looked like something too gross to write on this blog...)

One of our favorite benefits to house sitting thus far has been the George Foreman Grill! I don't know what we're going to do without it when we move!! We highly recommend it!

Anyway, we'll be sure to post more recipes, though they may be interesting, within the next little while!

(Natasha)

Repetition.

I read the most amazing thing the other day about repetition. It wasn't really about repetition; it was actually about joy. It is found in John Ortberg's book, "The Life You've Always Wanted".

Ortberg quotes G.K. Chesterton in regard to children and there innate ability to do the same thing over and over again with the same amount of enthusiasm:

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, 'Do it again'; and the grown up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never gotten tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, but our Father is younger than we."

Isn't it refreshing to remember that God is the most joyful being in all creation!? Can't you just picture Him exulting in the sun's glory every morning? Many of us would sit and describe how the universe moves and how the earth circulates around the sun, thus causing the impression that the sun rises and falls, when in reality, the earth is just spinning on its orbit... God set things in motion and now it moves on its own.

Truth be told, we can find just as much joy and creativity in the Lord by studying science. I have great respect for those who worship through such scientific research and study. But I also love being a child! When I wake in the morning, I love it when God says, "Good morning, my child!! It's about time you woke up! See, I have risen the sun again today! Today, all creation sings praise to My Name! Today, the Son is glorified once more because His mercies are new again today!! Today, the wind of My Spirit will blow to and fro and no one will know where it is going or where it will stop. Are you ready to come on another adventure with me today, My child? An adventure into the wonders and mysteries of God?"

There are so many facets to my God; but I think His joy is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, though, it may be the one characteristic that goes most easily unseen...

God show us Your boundless joy and the truth of Your Word that says, "the joy of the Lord is my strength"!!

(Natasha)

PMS

Okay, we're in a fun coffee shop in town right now having a spontaneous date. We're sitting on the couch by a real fireplace made faux for safety codes. A pew is across the coffee table from us. That's right, a pew. Who said pews are irrelevant? They're totally here in one of the coolest spots in the province. (Seriously - the place has a reputation.) We came here for Maple Tea, which, of course, the "other" cafe has. (There are two of these in town.) Bleh. So, I went with coffee and honey. Tash is having honey and ginger.

Is this the most boring post you've read in awhile? Likely. There's little content. The last time we did a "little content" post, we received more comments than ever. What does that say about us? Or about you? :)

Happy Easter!!!

Good morning and Happy Easter everyone!!!
The most amazing thing happened this morning... Our early church service was canceled on Easter Sunday due to the huge snow snowstorm we received last night!!! Many of you may be in a similar boat; but isn't it just absurd?!

Anyway, snow or no snow, service or no service, hallelujah! Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed!

With love,
Lynn & Natasha


(Easter morning 2007 out our front window - good thing we don't get mail today!)

(We woke up to the sound of birds who will not be bathing and neighbors who will not be driving.)

Politeness.

There are many unique characteristics of our little town, Truro. Lynn and I are discovering them more and more as we become accustomed to the culture and traditions here. Though I would love to tell you about the many unique tree sculptures, or the interesting history and religious traditions of the town, I will save those for another day. Today, I'm going to talk about "politeness".

What is politeness? It refers to the mannerly behaviors of a community, in healthy relation to one another. Though my perspective is limited, I have observed this to be a very high value in the town of Truro. Being historically part of a "Bible Belt" area, it has strong roots in religious traditions (there I go talking about it...). Over the years, however, as our pagan nation has grown and developed, the town has evolved in its pagan culture. Thus, we live in a pagan community rooted in religious values and traditions. The result is politeness.

Here is an example of the complex pagan/religious culture of Truro:
Driving along, one will undoubtedly come to a four-way stop intersection. These are very common in Truro. Often, when coming upon these intersections, one will encounter some other Truronian in opposing root. Being a very polite community, whoever arrives to a complete stop first, graciously waves the other to go ahead first as if to say, "No, please, go ahead." The other, however, will respond likewise, "No please, you go ahead." After several of these interchanges, eventually one does move forward.

These exchanges are quite common, and frankly, irritating when traveling through town. Lynn and I have often thought, "This is getting dangerous!" The other day, I arrived to a complete stop at one of these four way intersections at (what appeared to me to be) the same time as three other cars, each at another stop. No one moved ahead right away, so I thought, "Okay, I'll go." I moved forward into my left turn (blinker clearly on!), when the car opposite me began moving straight ahead (as in directly i to me). I stopped and nodded apologietically while the other moved on through. I then continued my turn only to find that the car I was coming up alongside at my left was giving me "the finger" and swearing at me! I thought, "This is absurd!"

The poor man in the car is NOT an accurate reflection of our friendly fellow Truronians. However, it seemed so ironic to me. Somehow, the value of politeness in town was not upheld by me moving ahead first. Then, however, it was appropriate to cuss? ...interesting.

So what do you think of politeness?

(Natasha)

I Have It Good

I'm sure you can pardon the slangy title for such a sweet post. It just wouldn't do for me to go to bed tonight without letting you know how good I have it.

We left church today and drove over to our house to see whether the "SOLD" sign went up yet. (As far as we know, we met our end of the conditions on Friday.) As we were leaving for our drive, Natasha let me know she had been scheming and invited me out on a spontaneous date. She had obviously put a lot of thought into it because she had planned a movie (knew where it was playing and the times) and a relaxed afternoon in the city. We saw our house and left immediately on our date. We walked around a little, dreamed about the house a lot, talked about Jesus the whole ride down, had Quiznos and Starbucks, watched "Amazing Grace" (not bad at all), and loved each other.

It's been a hectic several weeks. I know several wives and husbands who would not reward such a busy time with a sweet, lovely, spontaneous date. Among the many reasons I am blessed, one of the most significant is my wife, who selflessly allowed me to run amok for three weeks and still thought to plan a day just for the two of us - exactly what I (or, I suspect, we) needed. She should teach "wife" seminars. :)

Another update.

Lynn and I are currently experiencing an extremely busy season in Truro! A few of the things we're involved in this week are:

• There are the regular Palm Sunday and Easter preparations that any worship pastor must undertake.
  
• Lynn and I are also involved in Cantabile Choir, as we've mentioned. We have a large concert, joined with the First United Church, this Saturday night.
• After Lynn's accompanying "debut" with Contabile (mentioned in a previous post), word quickly spread throughout the town of his accompanying skills. He is now accompanying for many vocal students in the Music Festival, taking place this weak. (I am also observing as many classes as possible since I will possibly be taking over someone's vocal studio in the Fall.)
• Last, but not least, we are trying to meet the last conditions for our house! I am meeting with the house inspector today to go through the house. The end is in sight!

We are so enjoying these various events, and the connections we've been able to make in the community; but we're also adjusting to the high demand of time and energy!

(Personal update - Natasha)
In the midst of all our recent activities, I stubbornly began wrestling again with questions like, "What is my role?" God has been so good to me, and I walk into new ministering opportunities every day; but still my heart grew weary last week and I felt discouraged. I said to the Lord, "I know I am to be content in You, but how long, O Lord! Must I still wait when it feels so strongly like the time is now!!!??"

Within two days I received an email and had a phone call from two loving friends (Ang and Liz). They so encouraged me. My heart was once again grounded in my faith and trust as a child of God.

The next afternoon, within a span of two hours, I was called on to officiate a funeral this Friday, I was asked to preach at our home church May 6th, and asked to preach at a fellow Baptist church in Halifax. I also still have two women's conferences coming up for which I've been invited as worship leader and guest soloist. Also, I recently taught a session in Lynn's worship workshop where I "released" so much of what the Spirit had deposited in my heart. It was rather powerful and broke into a powerful prayer session. One of our church leaders who was there immediately began planning a women's conference at our home church since we have "our own Beth Moore right here" she said :)

I share this because I am overwhelmed by my God. He loves me so much!!! There is no pride in what I do because it is not me who does it! My rest and freedom comes in that I cannot take the credit or the blame for anything I do in His name. Yet, He allows me to walk in the power and strength of His Spirit. He promised me that if I delight myself in Him and rest in His nature, if I "commit my [way] unto the Lord, than He will bring it to pass" (Psalm 37). It is quite something to watch the promises of God unfold before my eyes, things that he had whispered into my heart as a small child...

As his Word says, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe me, than you would see the glory of God!" (John 11:40)

Thanks!

Lynn and I are so excited about our new home (it feels like home already, even though we have a long ways to go before we're actually living there!). Thank you so much all of you who have celebrated with us by posting your encouraging comments. We really hope you get to see the inside, whether in person or by photo. It is soooo awesome :)

Natasha

Expect the Unexpected

The image to your right is the exterior to what we hope will be our home. Yes, it is very soon after so many other things have happened for us. If nothing else, we're being reminded that the Lord's schedule is very different than ours. The story you're about to read should have been expected, considering who the Lord is, who our realtor is, and who we have become.

Natasha and I have been looking for a permanent home here since November. We were blessed with a house-sitting opportunity, but we knew the Lord would have to open some other door relatively soon, since we can only be here through the summer. We've looked in more homes than we can remember, and we've consistently felt that our realtor needs to be involved in the whole process.

Our realtor is not only good at her job, but she is in love with the Lord. She has been praying with us constantly since we met for a smooth transition to the town and this particular ministry. She definitely walks in the Spirit.

Not long ago, Natasha felt strongly that our realtor was going to find our home. One week ago today, she (the realtor) called me at the church to say there was a hot new listing that many of the realtors seemed to love. It's in a nice area of the community and gorgeous inside. There was already a list of people to see the home. After some consultation (i.e. Natasha saying, "We need to see this NOW!"), we went to the house that day. If we ever felt a strong sense of "This is it!" since we were married, it was that afternoon. Less than 36 hours later, our offer was accepted and we began meeting conditions for the purchase of this, the Lord's home.

This was decidedly not my timing. The night we saw the home, before our second look, I spent a lot of time praying. I kept telling the Lord that too much was happening too fast. I kept getting silence. When I finally asked the Lord if He agreed with me, He said, "I am with you. What's too fast for that?" We went back the next morning, and I've never felt that kind of peace.

Now we're praying to the Lord, believing Him that this sense of peace was the revelation of His will for us. We're close to meeting the conditions, after which we will close on the house later this summer. We received a very encouraging e-mail from our realtor, who is now a dear friend and sister in Christ, reminding us that this isn't our property to begin with. This is the Lord's, and He will see to it that He uses it for His glory, His kingdom, and His ministry. While this is an exciting time, we invite you to believe with us in Jesus' name that the next two weeks will progress smoothly and that people will find restoration, healing, encouragement, challenge, peace, etc., in our/the Lord's home. We are in awe of what He is doing around us and how He is revealing more of His character through it all. We are humbled to know Him more through these intensely packed weeks. Thanks for your prayer.

(FYI, the house has a front and back deck, a great yard, lots of landscaping, three bedrooms, one and half bathrooms, a laundry room, utility room, sauna (used for storage by the current inhabitants), storage, family/small groups room in walk-out basement with propane woodstove, living room with propane fireplace, dining room, big kitchen, breakfast nook, mudroom, more storage than I expected in a relatively old home, a shed, a fence around the back yard, a double-wide driveway, and a location just on the edge of town to satisfy my desire to be near civilization and Natasha's desire to be in the country. Yes, it's quite perfect.)

The Wind.

A few weeks ago I had a prophetic dream.

We lived in a white house in Truro (though the area is not particularly significant). There were people upstairs in a "den-like" room watching TV and laughing together. I recognized some but not all.

Lynn and I went to a store. It was an athletic store and one of my close cousins was there. We were in a large, open, white room with rows of sneakers on the walls. There seemed to be an adjacent room with something else going on. The clerk was working behind the desk when suddenly a huge wind storm swept into the town bringing destruction. Lynn and I stood holding each other in the midst of crazy wind. I was frightened but we were quiet and at peace. (I just now realized that none of the sneakers moved from their places on the wall. We were abiding in the refuge and protection of God.) The clerk was now standing in the middle of the room facing the door. She was amazed, even mesmerized by the sight. The wind swept in through the door and carried the clerk away. Lynn and I moved into a back closet as the noise got louder and the wind stronger. We held tightly to one another. I did not see what happened to my cousin; but I knew she was fulfilling the important role God had for her. It just led her in a different direction.
(Signifying a vast move of the Holy Spirit)

The wind subsided and debris lied everywhere. Houses and buildings were destroyed. The friends watching TV in our home had disappeared.

Suddenly, a lot of time had passed. The dream shifted to an area I do not know with people I did not know. It focused on two particular women living in a home, one younger and one elderly. They wore long, dark robes that covered their bodies and their heads. This signified hard work, grief, and trial.
(This signifies persecution)

The younger woman seemed to work hard outside of the home; but the elderly woman seemed particularly hidden. She was set apart as though she had her own hidden "wing" in their home. (The home was large, but desolate, colorless, and run down). One day, the younger woman came in to the elderly woman's "wing" and saw a young man (young adult age). He was sitting at a school desk and grinning from ear to ear. He was full of color and life; he was glowing! The younger woman was shocked because she had not realized that he was there. The dream ends focused on the young man as though one cannot keep his eyes off of him. He is so radiant in God!

Who is this man? Is he another deliverer for the people of God to be raised up after persecution? or Is he somehow the Christ, coming again to deliver His people for all eternity?


Today I came across another prophecy concerning this "wind storm" over the Maritimes (and beyond). There have been many. It's by Larry Randolph from Dec 6/06:

Larry Randolph was speaking in the Oshawa just a few weeks back and shared the following:

He had a vision of Jesus standing off the east coast of Canada in the Atlantic Ocean. Jesus bent over and blew a great wind, the wind of the Holy Spirit. It created a huge wave that headed to the east of Canada, & from there it went down along the eastern seaboard of North America.

Living Vicarious.

Drake Emmerson (with Mom - my sister, Melissa Emmerson)
*born Christmas Eve 2006
*soon to be three months old















Destiny (~1 yr & 10 months) and Drake (~3 months)

We love our niece and nephew!!!

Overwhelmed!

Well, Lynn and I have had quite a week.

I'm not even sure I can count all the exciting or devastating things that have happened in the last week or so, but they have all led up to a physical and emotional breakdown for me today :). I wish I could learn to catch these dives into the pit of exhaustion before they come; I have yet to master it. Thankfully, though, by the grace of God and the encouragement of my husband, I am much quicker at recovering and getting back to my normal self.

We will have an update soon that explains some of the week's events.


Those who go down to the see in ships, who do business on great waters, they sea the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end...

Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven.

Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, and praise Him in the company of the elders.

Psalm 107: 23-32

(Natasha)

Our new car!

Before...















...and after!

Update.

Lynn and I have been experiencing the joys of a busy life in ministry! Here a few key points of interest:

1a. The fourth pastor has officially joined the IBC staff. Kaj Binderup is retiring from the ministry to Truro to be near kids and grandkids. So, as all good retiring ministers do, he has joined the IBC staff as part-time visitation/seniors pastor. We are just getting to know him, but are quickly becoming infatuated :).

1b. His wife Joan is my new favorite person on the whole earth! She's blunt, spunky, hysterical, and cute :). She and I will be ministering together in May at the women's retreat for our Baptist Association (sort of like a district). I will be leading worship and teaching on worship, while Joan is the guest speaker. I greatly look forward to this ministry opportunity!

2. Lynn conquered his first major event at IBC a couple of weeks ago. It was our 117th Anniversary service!! :) The whole day was filled with music from our choir and guest choirs, mostly from the black-Canadian churches in our area. It was awesome. A little crazy, too; but awesome :).

3. Non-ministry related - by tomorrow evening, Lynn and I will be driving a brand new Corolla! We are very thankful to our dear old car who has done so well these past three years and protected us from any serious danger... But there is a season for everything and the season of our '95, teal, Grand Prix has come to an end. God has come through once again. Isn't it the craziest thing to go from a 12 year old car to an brand new one!? Praise the Lord!

4. A quote from last week:
Lynn: "You are the most patient wife on the face of the earth."
Natasha: "Was that sarcasm?"
Lynn: "No, just blatant lying."

Have wonderful day dear friends!
Natasha

One Chance

This won't be long.

The regular accompanist for Cantabile (a community choir in town) felt sick tonight and was unable to attend. The conductor came in and announced that he had no conductor, so he would have to try and play. Once his coat was off and he stood in front of the choir, I asked, "Do you want someone to play?" Much to my great surprise and delight, he said, "Yes."

I can only thank the Lord for such a great opportunity. His mercies are so precious and unique that He even allows me to enjoy opportunities like this. It was probably one chance, but I'm thankful many times over!

Faith.

I'm delighted to tell all of you that Lynn and I have a new car and a new home!

Okay... We don't actually have them yet...

Today I have renewed faith in the God who owns a thousand cattle on a thousand hills. Who is our God anyway? Did I forget that He's the God who doesn't just love me, but SO loves me!? that He doesn't do just abundantly more, but exceedingly abundantly more than I could ever think or imagine!? He doesn't even reprimand me for making foolish decisions with our money. But as he did with the prodigal, He places a ring on my finger and a robe around me, and throws an expensive party on my behalf - because He loves me! What Father doesn't delight in giving good gifts to His children?

As I was sharing and praying with a dear friend who is like a spiritual mother to me, I was reminded of my little faith and how that grieves our Father's heart. We talked about how we often assume God's heart is broken over our sin and weaknesses; when in reality, He has always known about those things. Don't you think sometimes He thinks, "But I already knew about that. It's okay!"

I think what really breaks the Father's heart is when we don't believe in Him. When we get stuck focusing on those sins or weaknesses and forget that we are more than conquerers in Christ Jesus our Lord! His desire for us to be holy goes so much further than our sins and weaknesses... In Isaiah 43, He says, "I have chosen you that you might know me and believe me and understand that I am He." In that chapter, God is speaking to th Israelites while they are in sin and He's saying, "Stop focusing on the past and pondering the things you've done wrong! Put Me into remembrance and realize that I am your Creator and I have redeemed you!!!" (Natasha's paraphrase, with some exact wording).

I am so guilty of sometimes forgetting just who it is exactly that I am serving. God's heart is for me to know Him and believe Him and understand just how big and full of love He really is! That truth really has nothing to do with a car or a house; but I do have renewed faith in the Lord's provision. He is a good God of abundant blessings and I intend to hold Him to it!

Second Post of the Day

You can read the other post below, but I need to follow through with my intent to fill you in on Isaiah. Basically, the passage hit me like a bolt out of the blue last week. I was meditating on Scripture, hoping to find the right one to communicate God's heart to the church. Isaiah 54:11-55:5 wouldn't be found on its own in many scholarly works, but it is a passage that discusses God's endowment. We in North America are generally interested in endowments or anything that sounds like a promise for our good. Often, our interests are shallow; we tend to think God's endowment rests in money, health, prosperity, and the like.

To read the passage, one might think that we had it right all along. After all, God promises to rebuild His people's lives with many precious stones (54:11-12) and to endow them with splendor (55:5). He promises children with connections to God and wisdom (54:13). There are also connections to nations, a new generation that the people do not yet know (55:3-4). There's even the promise that God's people will no longer have to fear the people around them (54:14-17) and the reminder that spending one's labor on foreign connections and delicacies (as Judah was doing at the time of the prophecy) is futile. It sounds like prosperity, success, money, and future to me.

Or does it? What about the people to whom it was originally written? What about how the prophet addresses the people in 54:11? They are afflicted, wracked by storms, disconsolate. They were homeless, city-less, protection-less, military-less, family-less, and status-less. They were slaves. They were mocked, beaten, tortured, threatened, raped, and pillaged. For a good idea about the emotions of the people in Babylon, read Psalm 137. People with that outlook on life don't care about prosperity, success, money, and future. If they had money, their captors would spend it. If they had health, they would only endure torture longer. As for prosperity, the Hebrew ideal was that of shalom, a deep sense of inner well-being and infiltrating peace. (That's a whole other post or blog or something.)

God's promise in the original passage was that of security. The promise of rebuilding with precious stones was one to make the people feel secure that they would be rebuilt; they would again have a place of their own. The home would be strong (note use of words like "walls," "stones," "pinnacles" or "battlements," and "foundation") and beautiful (hence, the precious stones). They would also receive the security of a future. Not the kind of future provided by money or health, but the kind of future provided by children (the rebirth of a nation) who would know the Lord (unlike their ancestors whose inattention to God put them in exile) and a shalom peace. Finally, God would give them the security of stability. They would no longer fear any attacker. To prove it, God reminded them that He created the attackers, implying that He could take care of them. Even, "No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed."

We might think that's the point, but did you notice the build there? The security promises are all well and good, but why the build? Why the promises? Why the security? Look at 55:1-2, the climax. "Come." Yes, that's it. That's the point. "Come." God will rebuild the city, give them a future, and even fight for them just so that they could come. It didn't matter if someone was in Forbes magazine or if they were penniless; God's invitation echoes through the corridors of time. "Come." Spending money and labor on things that don't satisfy (for Judah it was treaties, foreign friends, foreign gods, etc.; for us, you name it - nothing satisfies but Jesus) is ridiculous. Come to the Lord, who requires absolutely no money. After all, He made provision for the cost to be paid. How much truer is that for us in the Last Days (New Testament era) who don't have to have that provision made annually in Jerusalem? God took care of that in Jesus and now invites us to come. He says something interesting in 55:2 "Pay attention to me. Listen to me so you can live" (or something like that). Come to Jesus and live. Think Chris Rice's "Untitled Hymn." Everything we receive is intended to inspire us to come to Jesus, to free us up to come to Jesus, to empower us to come to Jesus.

This is the message of Isaiah 54:11-55:5: Come to Jesus and live life to the full.

Ever changing...

I (Natasha) have have been meaning to post this for a while...

Lynn preached this past Sunday for the first time at IBC (Immanuel Baptist Church). It was incredible. It was another one of those experiences when I sit back in awe of the man I fall asleep beside every night.

Lynn is constantly growing and changing. But sometimes, I miss the change taking place. It's subtle and deep within him - not easily noticed on the outside. Suddenly, he'll say or do something that is totally different from something he would have said or done before! He thinks, "What? I've always been that way!" But I know the truth. The truth is that Lynn has mastered something that few people can claim. He keeps looking at Jesus; as he looks, he's slowly but surely being changed into His likeness.

Being the "godly" woman that I am (sarcasm noted), I sometimes wish Lynn would spend more time looking at himself :) - you know, when I want him to change something on demand :). My pushiness often encourages his stubbornness, and for a time he might refuse.

But in all his stubbornness, he keeps looking at Jesus. So before we both know it, it happened anyway!!! Isn't that amazing?

I've observed that usually the things I want Lynn to change about himself are areas that need to be strengthened in my own life. For example, I am much too often focused on the areas in myself that need to be changed rather than accepting them as part of my journey and just looking at Jesus. When we trust Him with our salvation (from justification to glorification), the changes will always occur. And instead of being done out of a fear of not being good enough or something like that, the changes will take place out of love and gratitude in response to His love and salvation.

I guess we are ever changing.