The Wonder of It All....

****i wrote this post last night at midnight......so all this happened yesterday!***love you

Today one of my BBF's...Laura.....returned to the states after being in the Himalayan region for 1 1/2 years. Her parents, sister with her two children, Amy and I all met up at DFW airport to greet her back to the states!

This is baby Ethan....he was born after Laura moved away and today was the day they met for the first time..........his only concern that he shared with me was, "will she like me, Caroline?"

Now Grant also had some concerns. He was still in diapers when she moved. So his question was...."will she remember me?"

Then he remember what a great aunt she is and let his excitement to hug her show all over his face.

Sara and I started to sweat due to our nerves going all over the place. The excitement was building and it about put me over the edge!



we waited and waited....so many people getting of her plane but WHERE WAS SHE??????

Then we saw that precious face as she came through the revolving door.......tears running down the face and some of her joy being complete in that very moment.........

and she did want any girl, that has been gone for a very long time, does ...........

she walked right into the arms of her mom.

both crying and relieved to be face to face again. They hugged for a very long time.

she then turned to hug Dad, sister and then meet baby Ethan for the first time!......still crying of course!

and they instantly bonded with kisses..sigh...i love this picture!

then it was MY TURN..........inside my heart was screaming GET OVER HER GIRL BEFORE I SWEAT MYSELF TO DEATH AND NEVER GET TO HUG YOU.

she must have read my mind and took off toward me.....hahahhaha

and the old friends were back together again........

happiness was had by all.........

a thousand hugs exchanged......

AND OF COURSE A HUGE, LOUD SCREAM OF EXCITEMENT TO SEE THE BEAUTIFUL RING!!!!!!!!!!

Family pic minus Sara's Mike....who was working in the air...he is a pilot!

Amy did not get off work till right before so when she showed up we had another time of reunion

and hugs

now we are complete again!.....even if Laura is moving to Norman, OK

soon.....we won't get sad yet!

Then it was time to go and of course we were still talking 90 to nothing about that ring!!!!

Laura's one request for her first dinner in the USA was Chick-fil-A hahahahhahah the girl loves, loves, LOVES Chick-fil-A.......one year she even put on a blow-up cow suit to get a free meal hahahahhahaha.

Here she is in all her glory!

"What to pick.....what to pick".........

"oh my goodness i love this chicken!"

more bonding time...........we sat and talked forever....as if time had never passed. That's why good friends are good. You just pick up right where you left off. Side note.......we all meet at church in sunday school.....just a plug for Sunday School!!!!! ha!

We talked wedding stuff with excitement and we will be having a wedding November 14, 2009 for this couple.......and trust me when I say that the praise and worship time during the service will be ALL about God writing this love story! He alone knows what is BEST for us! And he alone brought these two together a million miles away! Praise Him!

So let me share a little something with you. I can remember having several conversation with Laura as she was beginning to sense God calling her to leave and go serve in another country. One of which was near and dear to my ever -planning-ahead friend........2 years away means she returns at 28 and is behind in the world of marriage. Makes me laugh now. Not only is she not behind...she is getting married first out of us girls! ha!

And that my friends is what we call a wonder. You know, long before Daniel even let on that he liked Laura he was praying for her and the relationship....I'm talking months! The wonder of it all is that Laura put aside her time line to go and serve a people that do not know God. She sold her car, gave up having showers regularly, gave up friends and family because the sacrifice was worth following God around the world.........and out of her obedience came a gift that just so happened to be a desire of her heart.

"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no once can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare".

Psalm 40:5

This idea of wonder came to me during my bible study this morning. Oh it was a great morning.....dark and rainy and by the time I sat down to study I was on my 3rd cup of coffee and beyond excited to learn.....minus the shaky hands I had to sit on ha!

The Holy Spirit began to work in me as I was reading about being fishers of men...not just fish. The wonder of walking on the water, throwing your nets out one more time and pulling in more than enough fish, and being able to walk with Jesus just struck me in a clear way.

What a wonder I kept thinking.

Then He spoke......"what if you have lost your wonder? what happens in life that you stop being in Awe of Me and what I do? How do you let yourself get so numb to the things of Me that you no longer are moved by My mercy or compelled to praise Me for My goodness?"

Excellent questions God. Again I just kept repeating them. Father then took me to Psalms 136:4 and if you know me at all...you know that I can memorize scripture but find it extremely hard to give the exact address. So Father bringing this scripture to my mind with the address was a WONDER in itself!

Psalms 136.4 says.......

"to HIM who ALONE does GREAT WONDERS,

His LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!"

Amen and amen. I said this verse over and over and over. Spent all day chewing on it and trying to understand what a wonder was. What it means to be "in wonder" of something. The definition is something we would all expect.....

One that arouses awe, astonishment, surprise, or admiration; a marvel: The emotion aroused by something awe-inspiring, astounding, or marvelous...........To have a feeling of surprise
An event inexplicable by the laws of nature; a miracle.

A miracle.

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,

miracles that cannot be counted".

Job 5.9

You want to know what my main thoughts have been about being in AWE or WONDER of God? The amount of energy we spend consuming ourselves with all the things He hasn't done. We read scriptures like "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added"........then we seek after what we want first and that we will seek Him totally when we have gotten what we asked for. You see, I think Laura and Dan are a great example for what God wanted to share tonight. They both had absolutely no idea what God would do with them over-seas. No idea. But they faced all sorts of fears and uncertainty and went trusting that GOD WOULD SUPPLY ALL THEIR NEEDS. Did Laura keep praying about the desires of her heart.................YES. Did she stay at home praying night and day over one request and never once getting out, serving others, yielding to God, or allowing Him to work through her............NO! She followed Christ and He honored that obedience. She stepped out on faith and choose to trust Him with everything. She kept moving forward!

You don't just get to be in the land and enjoy safe pastures people. To dwell in the land is going to require work. Your gonna have to trust....when you don't want to......your gonna have to do good...... when your fleshly desires want to bring you back into sinful strongholds. Yes God has plans for us and yes they can be to prosper us, but it then says that it comes after you work from seeking Him and really knowing Him.

That is the wonder! During the time of deep studying and very REAL conversations with God is when you will experience some of those blessings you are waiting on. It is when He begins to change you all around and upside down. When He puts our minds and thought on things above and not just on ourselves. When we start asking Him what we can do for Him and not just the things we want from Him. Because above all and at the end of the day.... we want what He wants....on earth as it is in heaven. Whatever brings Him the most Glory to Himself because He gives the best blessings.....

I think when we loose our wonder, about God, our joy evaporates and we are no longer life givers but joy stealer's. We become so self consumed with "THIS ONE THING THAT I NEED" that we miss out on the wonders of God along the journey. The wonders of God, the miracles of God are not just in that prayer request friend. That one request, if granted, will not fix everything. It is the journey to the request granted that bring about change, and joy, mercy, and true love for others. But sadly many do not gain joy during the journey and even steal it from anybody close that has it.....and when it is all said and done they are just as miserable as they began.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light".

1 Peter 2.9

So the question remains........have you lost your wonder? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ then you have been brought out of darkness and into His wonderful light.............and that alone should make you in Awe of who we serve. I guess the issue comes down to if you will choose to serve God, serve others, allow Him all access to your heart, study His word, and let Him teach you..................while you are still waiting on your heart's desire. Will you refuse to let your heart grow cold, mean, and negative even when the journey is taking too long? Will you still be able to look at the stars at night and raise your hands to heaven in praise? Will you let Him keep you soft and moldable even in your moments of pain?

Will you still stand in awe, before Him with thanksgiving, time and time again? Will you serve Him while you wait? Will you stop being consumed by what you need to do to get what you want and just sit with God? Will you trust that He knows best?

"I praise you because I am

fearfully

and

wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well".

Psalm 139.14

Oh Father your works are wonderful. Your love everlasting. Your miracles amazing and your wonders great. Let us be life givers so that all that come in contact with us leave with joy. Let us remember the past of blessings you have given us. Let us remember all the lessons You have taught us. I don't want to become numb to the things of YOU. I want to still rejoice when others rejoice and praise when others praise. Let us never become the followers of You that have so much anger and negativity oozing from them that people turn and run away. You knew me, you knew them before the foundation of the world.....and I stand in Awe of You. The wonder of it all is that this life is very short and I don't want to waste a second of it. You alone create miracles. You alone do wonders that can never be explained. That is the hope we have! You alone can change our tomorrows in the blink of an eye. So we wait on you......patiently, warmly, joyfully, and in total reverence because we belong to the Creator of wonders!

May my actions and attitudes bring you Glory and Honor and Praise. Amen