Monthly Archives: January 2012

EA Update #7

Posted in About Us by

Well friends, It’s finally time for an update on our embryo adoption process (to follow our process so far, check out the “EA Updates” list at the bottom of the blog).

While there are still pieces of information that remain confidential, here’s what we can tell you. We’ve met with our doctor and have our first prescription. I will begin taking those meds in mid-February and then have a protocol set up to continue with different hormones in preparation to transfer two embryos around late March/early April!!! We really need your prayers for our babies as we move forward in the next several months. Obviously our hearts are for them to have the best shot at life they possibly can.

Here’s how you can be praying:

  • Safety for our embryos throughout this whole process
  • Success with meds preparing my body for the transfer
  • Both embryos to survive the thaw
  • Both embryos to implant and continue to grow and develop (healthy pregnancy)
  • Wisdom and discernment for our doctors & nurses
  • Peace for our hearts and Jesus to reign over our emotions (read more on that process here)

We can’t tell you how much it means to know that we have friends and family faithfully praying for favor for these sweet little babies of ours. God is good no matter what, and we are thankful that He has brought us through this process because it has brought us closer to Him. We love you guys!

Come back tomorrow for a WaCkY WeDnEsDaY $5 Starbucks gift card give-away!

Men and Marriage

Posted in Mars Hill Monday by

Yesterday at Mars Hill, we listened to sermon #3 in the Real Marriage series. It is entitled, “Men and Marriage.”

As a man, Jason felt challenged to be in covenantal relationship with Jesus and me, to be masculine like Jesus by being both tough and tender and to take responsibility. As a woman, I felt loved by God’s heart for men, and consequently for women as the men were challenged to love, provide, protect, and love their wives as Christ loved the church. A great sermon for everyone!

Watch or listen here.

Here’s the description from marshill.com:

Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. Every covenant—including the new covenant of salvation—has a head, who is ultimately responsible for the covenant. The husband is the covenant head of a marriage; he is responsible for his marriage, his wife, and his kids. Similarly, Christ took that which was not his fault—our sin—and he made it his responsibility on the cross. He is our covenant head.

James 1:9-11

Posted in Study Series Sunday by

This is a short one, and post #6 in our study of James. If you need to catch up, click on the “Current Study Series: James” link at the top of the page to read the first five posts in the series. And check back next Saturday and Sunday as we look at James 1:12 & Trial and James 1:13-15 & Temptation. I hope you’re enjoying the series! I am really being challenged.

Here’s the next section from Chapter 1.

“Let the lowly brother boast in his exultation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” (James 1:9-11)

How amazing that themes that were written about in 40-45 A.D. are still so applicable today. James’ main point was that either state, lowly or rich, can detract from and cause conflict in one’s relationship with the Lord. Matthew 6:24 says, “You cannot serve both God and money.” James is helping us see that some of the greatest trials and temptations the Christian can and will face will be related to money. James challenges the lowly to boast in God (richness in relationship) and the rich in his humility (dependence on God regardless of finances).

Here’s a chart I made based on Barclay’s commentary of this verse. I call it Poor vs. Rich:

James puts it all in perspective—life is short. We will pass away like a flower of the grass. This is a theme we see throughout Scripture:

The question really is, whether we have it or lack it, is money an idol? Is it something we worship more than God?

“To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with Him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.” (Isaiah 40:18-19)

James 1:5-8

Posted in Study Series Saturday by

Do you ever question God’s goodness? Do you lack wisdom? Do you have doubts?

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8, ESV)

We’ve got some battles going on here in this verse. That’s timely. Cause I’ve got some battles going on in my soul.

Faith vs. Doubt (Unbelief)

Receiving vs. Not Receiving

Wise vs. Unstable (Uncertain)

Let’s define a few things according to Barclay.

wisdom: “a God-given and God-centered discernment regarding the practical issues in life”

faith: ”“a settled trust and confidence in God, based on His character and promises as revealed in Scripture”

doubt: “vacillating between trusting God and trusting the world or one’s own natural abilities”

James 1:5-8 says that God generously gives wisdom to all without reproach. Therefore, if I lack wisdom, I ought to ask God and I’ll get it. But when I ask I am to have faith and not doubt. If I doubt I am unstable (wave tossed by the wind), double-minded (dipsuchos-someone with two souls, two minds, an internal CIVIL WAR), and I will not receive ANYTHING from the Lord.

If I doubt God’s goodness I dishonor Him. Essentially, I am unsure whether God is good or does good.

Friends, I’ve been struggling with doubt. That’s my confession. Without the lens of Scripture, I don’t know that I’d call it a struggle with doubt, but as I studied this verse, I realized that’s exactly what’s going on here. My doubt is related to this embryo transfer. As Jason and I approach the transfer in the next few months (more of a specific update on Tuesday), reality is sinking in. It’s been a long journey and we are FINALLY moving towards actually doing the transfer.

And, consequently, I am REALLY struggling with my emotions. And I wasn’t prepared for this. It hit me all of a sudden on Thursday after our doctor’s appointment. On one hand I am excited out of my mind that we might possibly be pregnant in the next few months and have children in the next year. Our desire to be parents is so strong, and the thought brings us great joy and excitement. On the other hand, we understand that this simply may not work. We know that there is a chance that the embryos might not survive the thaw. We know that they may not implant. We know that this may not work and a year from now we could be in the same position we are in right now. No children. So I’ve been struggling with what to do with my emotions. They are polar opposites. Sheer joy and sheer fear. How excited do I “let myself” get? How grounded do I “try to keep myself?”

So I took the struggle to feet of Jesus and opened up His Word.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Kate, you lack wisdom to know how to handle your emotions. Ask God to give you wisdom (a God-given and God-centered discernment regarding the practical issues in life). He gives generously without reproach. He will give you the wisdom you need to know how to handle your emotions.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”

Ask in faith, Kate. Have a “settled trust and confidence in God, based on His character and promises as revealed in Scripture.” Remember the character and promise of God. Remember that He gives generously. Remember that He never calculates the gift. As Barclay says, “There is a kind of giver who gives only with a view of getting more than is given; such people give only to gratify their vanity and their sense of power by putting recipients under obligation which they will never be allowed to forget; they give and then continually calculate the value of the gift that they have given.” God is not this type of giver.

“For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Doubt. “Vacillating between trusting God and trusting the world or one’s own natural abilities.” Trying to control or manage or harness my emotions “myself” is doubting God. It’s dishonoring God. It’s indicating that I am unsure whether God is good or whether or not He does good. The one who doubts is a like a cork in the waves—now near the shore, now far away. The asker is to ask without doubts. The asker is to be sure of the power of God to give. And the asker is to be sure of the DESIRE of God to give.

Kate, this is an issue of faith and trust.

Do I trust God or do I distrust Him?

I have two options:

Option A: Have faith, receive wisdom, know how to proceed.

Option B: Doubt, receive nothing, be uncertain and unstable as I try and figure it out myself.

So how do I live this out practically? How do I take this Scripture and walk it through the next few months as we move towards this embryo transfer?

Ready? Here it is. Know God. If I know Him, I know He is absolutely generous, and If I know Him, I believe Him.

“When we ask, we must remember the absolute generosity of God and see to it that we ask believing that we shall receive what God knows is good and right for us to have.” (Barclay)

Notice it does not say we will receive what we think is good and right for us to have. No, we will receive what God knows is good and right for us to have.

I have peace with that. So I will seek to KNOW GOD, so that I might ask in faith, remembering His character and nature as a giver. And I will trust that He will grant us the wisdom to walk through this next season of life. The end.

Paul Tripp Parenting Conference-Ahhh-mazing

Posted in Fun Finds Friday by

So for my birthday weekend (two weekends ago), Jason and I went to see Dr. Paul David Tripp at Mars Hill Bellevue for his Parenting Conference.

Life changing. Eye opening. Incredibly transformational. The best conference I’ve ever attended. 

It was all about getting to your child’s heart—not using your power to just change behavior.

He’s got a ton of incredible books and DVD’s, and he travels all over the world doing these conferences. Whether you are a parent, a someday parent, a grandparent, or a family member with children that you have or will have relationships with, this might be some of the best biblical parenting tools you will ever encounter.

Here’s the summary of the parenting seminar on his website:

Parenting is more than using your power to get children to behave in certain ways. Parenting is all about the exposure and change of the child’s heart. When the heart of a child changes the behavioral change that is needed will last. Learn how to be an instrument of heart changing grace in the little moments of life that God will give you with your children. Paul Tripp will begin with giving you a picture for God’s design for the family. Because if you don’t understand the family; you will never understand parenting. Then, Paul will help you to understand the life transforming and agenda setting things that the Bible says about the heart. Then, he will apply the principles about the family and the heart to the three primary stages of parenting. In each stage Paul will give you the key issue of focus and practical steps for achieving what is important, at that particular stage of the child’s’ growth and spiritual development. Paul will also help you to identify those places where you are in the way of what God is calling you to do rather than being part of it by helping you to locate your own heart issues. This is a great conference for parents raising children from age toddler through teen.

I laughed, I cried. It was practical and powerful. We were really blessed and challenged. Check it out! Here are some links!!!

Paul Tripp Ministries Home Page

Getting to the Heart of Parenting (Summary, Testimonies, and Video)

Event Schedule

Getting to the Heart of Parenting DVD (Entire conference that we saw-$39.95-CD is $24.95)

Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands (Getting to the heart in ministry-Quite possibly the best book I have ever read)

You can also follow Dr. Tripp on Twitter @PaulTripp. Hope you’ll check it out!

And check back tomorrow and Sunday for the next installment of our study of James!