Amy J. Bennett

Extraordinary Faith for Everyday Life

Weekend Recap

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Friday night did not go as planned. My mom decided last minute to have the kids overnight so Scott and I thought to hole up in our bedroom to watch the latest Big Bang Theory until AT LEAST 9 before we went to sleep (please feel the sarcasm). After spending a little time with the kids over at her house, going to see a neighbor’s horse and whatnot, we headed for home and Scott started to complain about his eyes really hurting. I noticed as we drove, our house not more than 8 minutes away, that his eyes were quickly swelling. By the time we got to the urgent care about 2 minutes from our house, we agreed he needed seen. I had seen this type of swelling one other time with my sister when we were in Wilmington one weekend and I did not want to see anymore eyes bulging. After a long wait, it was determined he was having a localized allergic reaction to something that had likely gotten on his hands when we were outside. All around his eyes were severely swollen, the doctor confirmed the whites of eyes were swollen and he was feeling it in the back of his nose and throat. He had to get a cortisone shot in his hip, get eye drops, Zyrtec and a cortisone pack to wean him off the cortisone over the week. Holy cow. We didn’t get home until 9 and with our Big Bang Theory plans shot and Scott’s inability to probably SEE the TV, we went right to sleep.

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Saturday Scott woke up without the swelling so he was off to work. The weather was gorgeous when I woke up. Something about the way the sun was shining, the sky was a magnificent blue and everything seemed to be positively glowing. The kids were gone so I went outside to enjoy the weather and trim the monkey grass. I’ve never been so proud of a mound of ornamental grass. My legs are still screaming at me this morning from all the squats though.

Saturday afternoon we had plans to go to a local spring festival but the kids just weren’t into it so we stayed around the house. I had work most of the afternoon anyway and into the evening. Lexi had a sleepover Saturday night so Emma and I finished out our evening watching Zookeeper. Not our favorite. I didn’t realize until the very end all the big names that were the voices of the animals. Cher, Adam Sandler and Sylvester Stallone to name a few. I can see why it was supposed to be big but it fell flat for us.

Sunday was an awesome morning at church. I’m telling you, that sermon was a little gift from above. If you’ve been paying attention lately, money and possessions have been on my mind during this season. He talked about how we swing from prosperity theology of thinking God needs to bless us so we can give to poverty theology where we feel guilt and want to give everything away. He suggested a “generosity theology” where we give richly but we live sufficiently and have joy in both. I highly suggest that if money is a struggle for you in the least that you give it a listen. Good, good stuff.

After Sunday dinner, the rest of Sunday was spent grocery shopping and around the house. We watched Mr. Popper’s Penguins (GREAT kids movie), baking bread (OH MY WORD, I made bread! As in, the kids have a PB&J in their lunchbox made with that bread), and just generally resting.

Overall a decent weekend for us. Hope yours was great!

On Dressing Up at Church

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These posts from Marla have weighed heavy on my mind since she posted because it’s something I’ve struggled with during recent years.

I’d highly recommend you reading them for yourself but she basically makes the case for dressing how YOU feel appropriate for church.  For her, that’s jeans.  For many of you reading, that’s your very best dress, skirt, heels.  For some of you, it’s jeans but you wear skirts because that’s just what your church does.  For me, I wear jeans (and some casual dresses) because I’m comfortable AND that’s what most of my church wears.

But I haven’t always been casual at church.  In fact, it’s only the past 3 years attending our new church did I even fathom wearing jeans on a Sunday morning.  I grew up in a Church of God church.  Church of God historically is very strict.  Very.  Women just did not wear pants.  I was in my very best dress every single Sunday.  I can remember my mom making me change when I wore anything not dressy enough, even as a 15 and 16 year old I had a dress, pantyhose and dress shoes on.  But so did everyone else.  It’s just the way church was. 

Then I got engaged and started attending church at Scott’s Southern Baptist church where we stayed for over 10 years.  Same thing.  Everyone dressed up.  It’s just the way church was.  And for the first time, I saw some some ugly things regarding dress.  And I don’t mean ugly dresses.  I mean ugly attitudes toward dress.  Now, before I say this, hear me when I say I’m not putting that church down.  That church is like family.  I’m serious.  In fact, many of them are literally family members.  But I did see some ugly things in regards to dress.  I know of people that were highly judged because they did not have a tie on when they were on stage.  People were looked down on when they wore shorts on a Sunday night.  You were definitely singled out if you weren’t in a dress or skirt Sunday morning.  No one would ever say anything to you directly, but the judgment was still there.  NOT by everyone.  Many could care less what you wore.  But some people did.  A lot. And some people didn’t really care much but dressy was just the acceptable standard.

Our current church accepts any sort of dress.  There are some folks who still wear dresses but not often.  Most people are in jeans or a casual skirt.  All the men wear jeans, even the lead pastor.  Only a few men have jackets.  Kids are mostly in casual wear.  Some girls have casual dresses, but not Sunday dresses.  My girls wear jeans most Sundays unless it’s a holiday and then we’ll dress up.  Scott hasn’t worn a suit, dress pants or dress shoes since we’ve started there.

And FOR ME, I feel so much more free.  Before I was SO CONCERNED with what I was wearing.  Clothes were almost 90% of what I was thinking of on Sunday mornings, more than any other day of the week.  I had to have the just right outfit, the just-right shoes. I had to make sure my makeup and hair were just right.  And then I’d spend all morning pulling at my skirt, tugging at my pantyhose, comparing myself to everyone else dressed up.  Church was like the Super Bowl for fashion every week.  On the other hand, I didn’t care what anyone else wore.  I honestly could have cared less if someone walked in with shorts.  The concern was all inward and how I looked and stacked up.  Was I any better than the folks looking down on people for not wearing a tie?  I doubt it.

Now?  I get dressed like I would every other morning.  Sure, I care about what I look like.  I make sure I’m modest and respectful and am not dressed like a slob but I’m not thinking about what everyone else thinks.  Because no one is dressed up and no one cares. My feet don’t hurt when I’m standing to worship. I’m not worried about tugging a skirt or shirt. And best of all, I don’t spend time seeing how I stack up to everyone else. I still worship the same.  I still concentrate the same.  In fact, at times, I’m less distracted by looking at everyone.  Furthermore, the one time I remember being distracted is by someone wearing a dress.

Hear me, I’m NOT bashing folks that dress up.   I dressed up for 30 years of my life and ALL of the rest of my family and many close friends dress up Sunday morning.  But what I am saying is now that I don’t, I’ve realized that dressing up on Sunday brought some ugly things out of me at times and I think it does for a lot of other people too (but not everyone!).

And here’s my most important observation: I think it can create a false sense of I-have-everything-together and enforces people acting and dressing one way on Sunday and then another during the week.  You are polite and nice and worship in your nice clothes but then you walk out of the door, not only do your clothes change but also your attitude and actions do too.  

I’m not looking down on anyone for dressing up or dressing down.  You have to do what you feel comfortable with.  But what I would ask is, are you TOO preoccupied with what you’re wearing on Sunday morning and furthermore what OTHER people are wearing on Sunday morning (comparing or judging)?  I can honestly say I was and I’m not sure I even saw how much I was until I wasn’t.   Sunday mornings have very little thought to what I wear and NO thought to what anyone else is going wear OR what they’re going to think about what I wear.  I’m wholly concentrated on worship and the sermon and reconnecting with like-minded believers.  And I think that’s just how it ought to be.

American Idol Top 12

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Phillip – I seriously cannot help but smile when this guy is on stage. He picked the perfect song and it was just so natural and fun to watch. Well done!

Jessica – Last week was definitely better. This one didn’t quite show as much control and I think there was a little screeching/yelling going on. And yes, those pants are amazing.

Heejun – Oh, Heejun. That is one of my favorite love songs ever and I really, really want to like it but it’s so pitchy. The ending got better but overall, just not the night for you.

Elise – I was surprised how much I lived this song for her. That raspy part of her voice I love really shined through. Good to see her positive tonight!

Deandre – At first I looked at Scott and said He’s not singing that right. But by the end I thought he had a handle on it better and really, I still believe he has a beautiful voice. He just looked like someone was beating that song out of him for most of it.

Shannon – Oh boy. Breathing was not the issue with this. She should have worked on the notes first. Ouch. Some of those hurt. How did the judges not hear that?

Colton – Daughtry! Great advice to sing something people know. I had no idea what this song was but I kind of felt like I may be listening to an original Colton song. (ah! I typed that before JLo said that!) I really liked it.

Erika – Hated parts of that arrangement but otherwise that’s the most I’ve ever liked Erika.

Jermaine – Aw I actually liked his song.

Skylar – She sounded alright I guess but I didn’t like that arrangement much. I spent more time trying to remember what it ought to sound like than enjoying it.

Joshua – Yes, sir! That is the Joshua I fell in love with. That was amazing!

Hollie – No doubt she is amazing.

Favorites: Joshua stole the night for me

In trouble: Deandre or Heejun 🙁

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Psalm 112 – Wealth and Fear

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A verse in Psalm 112 was brought to my attention yesterday about my fear of the unknown in regards to the adoption.  I read the whole Psalm though and have been mulling it over ever since.  We all know I like formulas and lists and I couldn’t help make a few out of this psalm.  Psalm 112 describes believers and the blessings they have.  I saw two categories of descriptions.  The first is a list descriptions of those who fear the Lord:

  • Find great delight in his commands
  • Gracious
  • Compassionate
  • Righteous
  • Generous
  • Lend freely
  • Conduct affairs with justice
  • Freely scatter gifts to the poor

And the second grouping of descriptions are ways in which these believers are blessed:

  • Children will be mighty
  • Wealth and riches in their houses
  • Righteousness endures
  • Good will come
  • Never shaken
  • Remembered forever
  • No fear
  • Secure hearts
  • Lifted high in honor
  • Wicked will be vexed

 

Although I was reading this in regard to my fear, the benefit of wealth caught my attention as I was talking to my mom recently about how we all have our different journeys and have many different experiences regarding finances.  Do these verses guarantee riches if you are believer?  I don’t think so.  There is a commentary on this Psalm I read that has stuck with me in regard to the wealth and riches:

They shall be blessed with outward prosperity as far as is good for them: Wealth and riches shall be in the upright man’s house, not in his heart…He shall have wealth and riches, and yet shall keep up his religion, and in a prosperous condition shall still hold fast his integrity, which many, who kept it in the storm, throw off and let go in the sunshine. Then worldly prosperity is a blessing when it does not make men cool in their piety, but they still persevere in that; and when this endures in the family, and goes along with the wealth and riches, and the heirs of the father’s estate inherit his virtues too, that is a happy family indeed.

I also love how this commentary said it:

Temporal blessings follow the service of God, exceptions occurring only as they are seen by God to be inconsistent with those spiritual blessings which are better.

A previous pastor of mine would always say, “God gives you what you need, when you need it.”  I think this wholly applies to this situation.  If having wealth and riches would lead you astray from God, is it really a blessing?   No.  Wealth is then a weight.  But can it be a blessing if our hearts are still bent toward God?  Yes!  If our hearts are bent toward God, then we see those actions from the first list…generosity, lending freely, scattering gifts to the poor.  It’s a beautiful cycle, really.  Again, that doesn’t guarantee wealth, but it is a case for wealth.

In either case, I cannot make it about the wealth or even about the lack of fear in my earthly circumstances.  It’s solely about fearing and loving the Lord.  I have to trust out of that, he will give me what I need when I need it.  Furthermore, our eternal reward when all the rest of this fades away is what matters most.

Challenge for today: does your life reflect the qualities of those who fear the Lord?

Adoption Approval

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bigstockphoto_stack_of_papers_1196666 Although I announced on Facebook and Twitter, I couldn’t let another blog post be written until I said here that  we got final approvals on the adoption.  I emailed yesterday just to get an update and the DSS worker said that the home study had been turned in, approved and the only thing lacking was a letter out to us.  We haven’t gotten the letter but I confirmed that all approvals were complete. 

Our paperwork is done.

My first reaction was just happiness.  I honestly couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. This is really happening.  But I won’t lie, I’m scared to death.  I think Scott is too.  As you can imagine, it’s just one big question mark on how this is all going to turn out.  So many variables play into this we cannot even begin to guess on which to worry about.  It’s just like standing in front of a pitch black cave.  No idea if there’s gold or a bear awaiting you.  No idea if you should run in glee or run the opposite direction to save your life.  I’ve said it many times but I’ll say it again that this is a complete God thing.  I believe with my whole being that if God brings us to it, He’ll bring us through it.  That doesn’t mean easy that just means He’ll know what to do in the hard parts.

So I get really scared and then I go see little fellas like this one and a lot of the fear goes away.  Sure, there are still a lot of unknowns but he isn’t unknown.  Something about seeing a face does something different to the story, doesn’t it?

Many have asked what the next steps are.  From now, we are available to be matched.  They have a group of DSS folks that sit down in a conference room with available parents and available children and basically duke it out to figure out who should be presented to whom.  If we are chosen as a candidate, we will be brought in and presented with all of the child’s information that is known.  If we proceed, we get to have an in-office visit with him.  If that goes well, we will have some in-home visits.  If that goes well, we will have an extended stay at our house which will ultimately move to full adoption process if it goes well.  At any time before the adoption is final, we can “give him back”.  It sounds insensitive but they do want to ensure that the child is placed in the right home. 

The amount of time before we are matched is unknown.  It could be as little as two months and up to years.  I’ll admit it makes all the unknowns even more unknown.  Do we plan Christmas with another child or will the kids be in middle school before all this goes down?  We don’t know and the bottom line is we can’t plan.

If you aren’t already, can you please pray for us?  I’m not feeling anxious in the least as far as anxious to have this part over with.  I’m at complete peace with the timing.  It’s after we are placed that I’m a little fearful of.  But please do pray for timing, a God-ordained match so much that it’s clear that it’s a God thing, and also please pray for Emma and Lexi.  Lexi has been having a hard time with the concept lately and I just want to be able to handle that correctly.  I’m fine with her not being ok with it if that makes sense.  It might be part of her testimony that she’s not ok with it.  I just want to respond accordingly so God gets done what He wants done.  And finally, do pray for me and Scott that we have the patience, selflessness, love and wisdom we need through the rest of this process.

Thank you all so much for your support already, I’m so glad to have you along on the journey.

Weekend Recap

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Friday night was a tad unusual for us.  First off, I need to tell you about dinner.  I fixed spaghetti but this time I used quinoa noodles. Both girls had seconds and Scott declared it the best spaghetti I’d ever made.  For local folks, I got them right off the shelves at Harris Teeter.  I love that their tag line is “You’ll never go back to ‘plain’ noodles again.”  It’s all true.  We won’t.

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So after our delicious spaghetti, I got the kids off to Scott’s parents’ for the night but Scott had been at the chiropractor’s office since lunch time. He had agreed to trade out some work but realized quickly that he bit off a bit more than he could chew.  So after I took the girls, I headed to the office with him and helped him clean.  He had taken down a wall so there was dry wall dust everywhere.  I had my Dyson and I have to say it was a tad weird to vacuum the elevator in the same building where I used to take my kids to the pediatrician.  You know those moments where you go in one place when it’s being used for what you’re used to and then you go when it’s closed, everything seems eerie?  Like maybe the church sanctuary when all the lights are shut off?  It was that kind of weird.  Like, I used to carry my baby in this elevator when she was 3 months old to get shots in the office on the 2nd floor and now she’s 9 staying with her grandparents and I’m vacuuming it at 9:30 on a Friday night.  Just weird.  ANYWAY.

Saturday morning Scott and I decided to get some errands done.  I somehow managed to get him to go to Hobby Lobby with me.  I bought some candles that have timers on them for my new sconces in my bedroom.  They come on at whatever time you turn them on and then stay on for five hours.  I love walking into the bedroom after the day and seeing them on.  

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After that, we went to a local farmer’s market to get some dirt for my new raised beds Scott built for me.  Yes, we are actually doing this.  I will have a victory dance the first time I eat a vegetable from my garden.  In fact, I may not eat it.  I might just set it on a shelf like a prize. Just kidding. I’m going to eat it.  Actually, I may have to sell it to pay for all the wood and dirt.

Saturday evening we headed out for some Mexican.  It was the first time we’d eaten out in nearly 2 weeks and I admit it felt a little like I was cheating on my kitchen.  I was disappointed to find out they put flour in their refried beans.  What’s a Mexican trip without refried beans and rice?  Well, a taco and a lot of chips and salsa it turns out.  It was still yummy and it was nice to get a break from cooking.

Sunday was church, dinner at Scott’s parents’, an afternoon at my parents’ and a whole lot of grocery shopping. I’m telling you, the grocery bill hurt this week.  It was kind of ok the first week, uncomfortable the second and third but this fourth week of spending hundreds of dollars on groceries is downright painful.  I keep telling myself it’s almost like medication.  It’s healing our bodies and preventing who knows what.  But still.  It hurts.

Know what else hurts? The Monday morning after Daylight Savings Time switches.  Scott, the early riser, is at work today and I just could not make myself get up without any sunlight outside.  We got up 30 minutes late and rushed so we were only about 10 minutes behind regular schedule.  But ouch.  Not a great way to start a week.  Hope your weekend went well and your week is great!

How We’re Coping with Gluten-Free – Week 3

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We’re going on 3 weeks of our diet changes.  One thing I want to be clear is Lexi is not particpating fully in either of these.  While she eats some of the gluten-free products and I make all of our dinners GF and milk free, she still eats the regular bread, cereal, ice cream, etc.  And while Emma is milk-free, Scott and I are not.  So we drink regular milk, have GF products that have milk in them, etc.  So basically we’re managing 3 different diet needs.

But even that said, this week was SO MUCH better than last.  So much.  While I’m not 100% happy with what we ate (wish we could have had less red meat, less grains and more veggies), we ate and there was very little complaining.  I was tallying it up last night and I realized I had cooked every meal for ten days straight other than Sunday dinner at Scott’s parents’.  That’s a lot of meals in a row for me.  I’m sure it’s some sort of record.  And I have to say, this week I kind of liked it.  While our grocery bill has obviously gone up, our eating out category has drastically dropped and it feels good to know that while the meals aren’t perfect, it’s a lot better than fast food.  And ya’ll?  I like the meal planning.  It’s worked out great for us to either shop on Saturday or Sunday and buy for the whole week.

I thought I’d share some recipes and products that have absolutely saved us these past 3 weeks, broken down my meals.

Breakfast

Snacks

  • Lots of fruits for the girls when they’re at home.  Their favorites are bananas, apples, grapes and kiwi.
  • Zucchini bread
  • Banana bread
  • Smoothies with Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

I always have at least one of those breads made.  I alternate between the two and Emma eats that for snack after school.  I’m pretty sure she would eat the entire loaf if I let her.  I wish it didn’t have so much sugar in it but I’m just going with it for now.

Lunch

  • Rudi’s or Udi’s Gluten-free bread.  It’s not the best thing ever but Emma has been a trooper and eats her PB&J’s at school.
  • Vegan mayo.  I use this to make Emma some tuna salad for her.  Sometimes I put it on bread for lunch and sometimes she just eats it as a snack after school.
  • Glutino’s pretzels.  Both the girls love these.
  • Pre-packaged fruit.  I don’t know what it is but they hate eating fresh fruit at school.  Is it not cool?  I don’t know.  But the packaged fruit is the next best thing.
  • Applesauce packs

Dinner – main course

  • Steaks
  • Salsa chicken in the crock-pot.  Just put a few chicken breasts and a jar of salsa in.  Shred it towards the end.  You can either make tacos out of it, put it over rice or just eat it separate.
  • Spaghetti with alternate noodles.  We tried rice noodles last time and trying quiona noodles tonight.
  • Manwich.  We tried Rudi’s hamburger buns and they were horrible.  They soaked in all the juice and made it very dry.  We all ended up opening up the sandwich and eating the meat plain which was just fine.
  • Sweet potato chili.  This was delicious.  Scott’s parents and my sister all tried it and liked it.  Lexi wasn’t a fan and I think she hate some sort of leftover that night.
  • Amy’s gluten-free, dairy-free spinach pizza.  Emma will eat the spinach pizza but I buy Lexi and Amy’s small cheese pizza and just bake them together.
  • BBQ.  Put a boston butt in your crockpot all day with a little water, salt and pepper. Shred after you get it out.
  • Pot Roast.  I don’t like potatoes and carrots in mine so I just put a chuck roast in with one package of onion soup mix and 1/4 cup of water.  I even made the gravy with corn starch.

Dinner – sides

  • Baked potatoes.  Earth fare has non-dairy cheese and sour cream Emma uses while the rest of us use  regular.
  • Refried beans.  Emma didn’t like these but Scott and I loved them with the salsa chicken.
  • Any kind of Alexia potato fries. We’ve done both yukon gold and sweet potato.
  • Spinach.  Turns out we like spinach.  Lexi of course hated it but Emma asked for me to make it the next night.
  • Cauliflower mashed potatoes.  I made this with the roast and put the roast gravy on them.  No one knew it was cauliflower instead of potatoes.  Amazing.  It felt so good to get up from that meal and not feel too full.
  • I also use canned or frozen corn, green beans, carrots or peas as a side.

Desserts

  • Chocolate Cookies
  • Earth fare Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies
  • Dairy Free ice cream.  You can get this in any store.  Just look for a yellow wrapping at the top.
  • Oatmeal raisin cookies.  These didn’t bake well for me but it still tasted good.
  • Peanut butter cookies

Miscellaneous

  • Smart butter is what I use for Emma on popcorn, potatoes, bread.  I actually really like it and use it too.
  • Dino’s BBQ sauce. I got this recommendation from Katie and it’s really fabulous if you like it both sweet and a little kick.  It was too hot for Emma and Lexi hated it but Scott and I loved it.
  • Agave nectar for sweetner in smoothies and coffee

So that’s what the last 10 days or so have looked like.

In really good news, Scott has seen no acid reflux at all.  Before, he would only see a few good days in a row before he’d need to take some medicine.  He did have one incident this week when he ate gluten by mistake and threw it all up that night.  The doctor said it was a normal reaction when you are cleansing yourself from gluten.  He also said it could be related to the bad fats they used to make it.  I think that speaks a lot to how his body must be changing because of the diet changes.

Emma has only had one stomach ache in the past week and it was one morning she woke up and I can’t say it wasn’t just because she was hungry.  She was fine as soon as she ate.  She also has been MUCH more regular.

As for me, I’ve lost another pound or two, I rarely get bloated and my skin is looking so much better.  Someone at work just saw me for the first time in a few weeks and immediately commented on my weight and skin.  That was a great confirmation for me.  I’m just enjoying having no cravings.  For at least a week now, I haven’t had ANY food after dinner.  We eat between 5 and 6 and sometimes don’t go to sleep until 10 or 11.  I think that’s huge.

Truth be told, I’m not sure we’ll go back to gluten.  This week really proved to me we could happily be gluten-free and I’m not impatiently counting down until our check-up at the end of the month.  Feels great!

He Seeks

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Since finishing the Bible a few weeks ago, I struggled to get back into a reading routine.  I have a stack of probably 20 books I’ve queued to read and yet I couldn’t jump into them.  But there’s this one book that has completely captured my attention and it was suggested by one of the ladies in our Bible in 90 Days accountability group.  The Promised One: Seeing Jesus in Genesis.

I love Genesis.  I’m almost certain it is one of my favorite books of the Bible.  Once you start seeing the Bible for the story it is, the connections to Jesus and the full circle moments are astounding.  For anyone that would say the Old Testament is unessential or antiquated I’d beg you to start reading.  The intricacies that God planned out are just beautiful. 

The Promised One’s first section was on the creation.  I was shocked to see the similarities between the creation story and Jesus.  Here are just a few:

Genesis Reference to Jesus
In the beginning God created. Jesus was the Word going out at creation and doing the work of creation
Ps. 33:6 and John 1:1-3
The Spirit of God hovered over the emptiness before creation The Spirit came upon Mary to conceive
Luke 1:34-35
And there was light Jesus is the great light
Isa 9:2 and John 8:12
Let us make man in our images, after our likeness Jesus is the exact representation of God
Col 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3

 

The connections goes on through Genesis 1.  I don’t want to list them all because I don’t want to spoil it.  It’s such a rush looking these up and seeing them. Really seeing them.  Of course I’d heard all of these in bits and pieces but to bring it all together like this is pretty amazing.

The one that really got me today was in the second section where we study the fall of man.

 

Genesis Reference to Jesus
“They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” Luke 19:10 says Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost

 

Let that sink in for a moment.  In the same way that God came looking for Adam and Eve in the garden, knowing they had done the one thing they weren’t supposed to, Jesus came into our world seeking us in our sin.  He seeks us in our sin.  Do you get that?  He’s not a God that pushes us by the wayside when we do something wrong.  He doesn’t leave us to figure it out on our own.  He seeks us.  Just like he said to Adam and Eve, he says “Where are you?” “What have you done?”  Not to condemn us but to bring forth a confession in order to redeem us and bring us back to Him.  Yes, I’ve heard this before but something stirred fresh inside me this morning when I thought again of his great love for me.

I don’t know why this just came to me, but Beth Moore’s sister has a powerful story of how God absolutely chased her down in the pit of alcoholism and redeemed her life.  Whether it’s an addiction or indifference, he’s still seeking.

So here’s my challenge for today.  Jesus is walking with you.  He wants to talk to you.  He’s seeking you out just as you are.  Answer him.