Monday, July 5, 2010

Remembering what He had done

Shawn and I were listening to a sermon yesterday that referenced the sad state of Israel just one generation after they had taken possession of the Promised Land:

"After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to his own inheritance. The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals."

As we listened to this, we reflected on how easy it is for us to forget the great, and even miraculous, things God has done in our lives. Therefore, we must be diligent to remember these things, to write them down if necessary, so that we can one day tell our children what God has done for us. This is one reason why I like to keep a blog - to chronicle the awesome deeds of God in our lives.

Reflecting on this topic, we are filled with gratitude to our Lord for his faithfulness to us these past 2 years. It was just 2 years ago that we packed all my belonging and our wedding gifts into an SUV and made the 4 day journey from Texas to Calgary - with just enough to live on for a few weeks ("few" maybe stretching it, it was more like 1 or 2!). God provided work for Shawn that first summer, and I was blessed with a summer to give full-time service to my husband and our new home. What a blessing to have that time as new bride. I'm convinced it helped to lay a wonderful foundation for our marriage, and it was a wonderful opportunity for me to see the beautiful fruit of devoting full-time attention to the home. Then there was the amazingness (not a real word, I know) of my permanent residency coming in in record time (4 months) so that I could work (outside the home for pay) and Shawn could go back to school. Withing weeks of this news, God provided the perfect job for me, withing walking distance from our house, that would provide more than enough for Shawn and I to live on and pay for school. 2 years later Shawn finished his degree with zero student loans to go with it, and 5 weeks after graduating, he was selected out of 30 - 40 candidates for a job as District Manager at St. John's Music.

And aside from the wonderful physical provision of these past 2 years, the spiritual ones far outweigh the former. Shawn and I have grown in many ways - mostly in our treasuring more of Christ and His precious gospel and seeing our dire need for Him day by day. We are so grateful for the provision of a wonderful church and a church family who spur us on to want to know and treasure Christ more and more. We are grateful for the spiritual nourishment that we receive there, seeing that God's Word is sufficient for all of life.

Thank you God for all you give, but mostly for giving yourself to us each day. May you always be our pearl of greatest worth.

1 comment:

Jess said...

It has been wonderful to watch the Lord grow you these last couple of years! It is truley a joy to know you and pray for you! I love you sweet friend and look forward to rejoicing with you over the Lord's continued provision and blessing in the years to come!

Love,
Jess