I Go Back To This Quote So Often

"Only God completes His to-do list. We are not God. We are finite creatures with serious limitations. Therefore we need to humble ourselves by accepting our limitations and draw upon God’s strength to simply do what we can." - C.J. Mahaney

(More helpful stuff for your busy season here...)

Some Friends Here

In this picture post, you will see Jameson's first visit to the Butts' home (since his exodus from the womb, that is), the Menikoff family (dear friends who will soon be moving... so we're trying to soak up as much time with them as we can), Tim and Maegan (our engaged friends who are so smiley and fun) and Kevin, Chris and me at Trav's wedding (friends from high school who also currently reside in the 'Ville).

Bert and Ernie

If you'll look closely, you'll notice that Ernie has a new friend. A little girl from school brought me a cupcake with a little yellow duck that looked like a good Rubber Ducky for Ernie. We know it's cheesy, but it's funny to us.

Anyhow, they are both growing really well! (Maybe it's because I have a cheater stick thing that I poke in that tells me if they are dry or not... a guaranteed green thumb.)

How Beautiful!!

I don't have a lot of time for thoughtful posts these days. My brain is pretty fried by Friday anyhow. However, a very old song was a great encouragement last night as I popped in some old cds and worked on my dishes, drained from another busy work week. Great encouragement surprised me through this song.
(Not having a dishwasher can sometimes prove to be a good thing... as it provides some much-needed time to think, reflect, etc. :P)

I won't copy the whole song, but here are some lines that stuck out:
(At the bottom, I will list a few thoughts that came to mind while reflecting on those verses.)

How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin
and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgive
and never despise.
How beautiful
how beautiful

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

And as He laid down His life
we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died:
willing to pay the price
willing to pay the price.

How beautiful the radiant Bride
who waits for her Groom
with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives
so that others may live.
How beautiful
how beautiful

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news
and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve

the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful
how beautiful

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

1. I thought of my sweet friends, Kevin and Becky Peek, whose feet are beautiful as they prepare to bring the sound of good news overseas!
2. I thought of local laborers, who share the love of the King at homeless shelters, coffee shops, in gyms after playing Basketball, over the phone with family members, etc.
3. I thought of Christ, who chose to forgive me, taking on all my sin. Surely, I can and must forgive others who sin against me... He has forgiven me so much! And surely, I should live my life in humble gratefulness.
4. I thought of Christians I know, at my current church, in my life, in my past... beautiful pictures of the Body of Christ... with its many parts working together as one.
5. This is not our home! Oh... how beautiful to partake in the privilege of a sure hope... that our Groom is coming again for His Bride!! May His Church be found waiting, eager and with humble hearts, serving hands and beautiful feet.
How Beautiful is the Body of Christ!

Just thought I'd share... everyone needs a pick-me-up TRUTH on Fridays!!

That Happy Meeting Place

I first heard this song on Sandra MacCracken's CD (The Builder and the Architect). You can hear this whole song by going to that website. I don't know who wrote the original hymn, but I will try to find out. The words came to mind this week and provided renewed encouragement to carve out time with the Lord. Oh "how precious are the lessons" learned there! My "drooping soul He cheers"! I hope this encourages you today!

In the Secret of His Presence

In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus’ side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go,
To the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, ’neath the shadow of His wing
There is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;
And my Savior rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet:
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet,
What He says when thus we meet.

Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs and fears;
Oh, how patiently He listens! and my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false Friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see,
Of the sins which He must see.

Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;
And whene’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
You must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face,
Of the Master in your face.

For You Are Holy!

One more thing for the day...
Dustin got lots of free goodies at the conference. One thing he received was a Song Sampler from Sovereign Grace Music.

There is a song on there with kids from this album. We sing "For You Are Holy" at our church quite often, and it's one of my favorites. This version, including children's voices, is precious indeed. It brought me to tears on the way to school.

My class listened to it with me this morning, as we have been studying God's attributes this year. Check it out! I think you can listen to it on the website I mentioned above. You can also get it here.

Too Weird!

So, I knew Dustin and I were really tired.
He's been at Together for the Gospel this week, so he's kept some late hours. We were both really tired last night after I had to come up to school for a program.
But you would have thought we would have felt an earthquake! Nope. Slept right through it!
I feel left out... all of my co-teachers are talking about the earthquake that happened at 5:30 or so this morning. We had been sleeping in, and we didn't feel a thing. So, it's not that exciting, but WOW. It was a 5.4 on the Richter scale.

Read about it here.

I have been apart of several tornados in my day, but never an earthquake.
Now, I'm guessing my kids will be talking about this non-stop for the first hour of the day. Interesting indeed!

Introducing...

...the cutest little neighbor baby boy (Lydia being the cutest little neighbor baby girl) around. Well, I've already introduced him. But he's really growing, he's really cute and he's incredibly smart. I mean, he already has his own website. Wow!

Happy Monday!

Well, we're back in place after a nice Spring Break. Going to Cincy was a good call... we really needed that trip. Thankful for it.

Dustin taught on Sunday night at church, and I thought it was really encouraging and great. Of course, as he says, I'm his "wiff" so, of course I say that - but I really thought he did great, not just because of my love for him. Our Gracious Lord creatively gifted Dustin with a down-to-earth-ness that is encouraging (so sincere) and a super-duper Mathematical brain (super logical) to express Biblical truths in such a clear, winsome way. It's a blessing to see him grow in knowledge and passion. He teaches me a lot at the dinner table. :) Now, I wonder how long it is before he sees this post (not a huge blog guy these days) and gets on to the "wiff" for me posting this. =) Praise the Lord for using His Word and speaking through instruments that should have been vessels of wrath, but instead were granted (bought with blood) sweet mercy and forgiveness. I love seeing God teach and grow him.

Almost done with my book. Almost done with a few other projects, too. Now that I'm back to work, I'm really hoping that I can finish those things that I started last week. We'll see!

Here is the book I referred to a few days ago...

...you should read it. Upon finishing tonight (hopefully), I plan to try to read a few classics. I want to branch out a bit in my reading for awhile. I missed out, somehow, on several GREAT books growing up. I'm starting with a girly goodie... Sense and Sensibility. Any other suggestions? Mindy? Sarah? Amy? Seriously? Send me a "You should have read this in high school or college... it was wonderful... every person should read this book before they die" classics list.

Cincy, Part 2

Last Spring Break, my hubby and I snagged a cheap (but nice!) hotel room on Priceline.com and headed to Cincinatti for a few days of relaxing and reading. Like most seminarians, he has plenty to do at this point in the semester, but the few days away provides a different venue for studying. And for me, it is so restful and I can return to teaching with new energy to carry me through until the end. The little getaway last year proved so beneficial that we made a repeat trip this year.

We have a different area and hotel, but we still used Priceline, and we are still chilling in Cincy. On Tuesday, we visited the new Creation Museum. It was really well done, and we both were encouraged by how faithful it was to the Bible and how the Gospel was faithfully shared. From what we can see, it seems very faithful to science as well... and kid-friendly, so families would really enjoy a visit. We highly recommend both Priceline.com and The Creation Museum. :)

Other than that, we have shared a yummy meal at Abeulo's, because we can never get too much real Mexican food when the occasion presents itself. We have also hit up Jungle Jim's (a wacky, huge International Market that has food from just about everywhere) and Ikea. Today was consumed largely in reading and relaxing. I am reading, "My Heart is in His Hands," a biography of Ann Judson written by Sharon James. VERY good. Dustin's reading all sorts of books and preparing for an upcoming Sunday night devotional he will give at our church.

If you know us... you know that we're also hoping to find a Panda Express or a Boba Tea place tonight. And we are out to do some clothes shopping we've had to put off for awhile now. Then, back to the hotel for more reading!

It's good to get away together and enjoy some time to do things and to not do things. :)

That's the update from the Butts!

Sinclair Ferguson on Sin and Grace

Checking in from conference day...

11 conferences down. Thank you, Lord!
Well... at this point of the day, I'm scraping off the rest of my lunch and just chilling for a few minutes.
Surfing online a little bit, I came across some wonderful words from one of my favorite preachers on another favorite preacher's website.



I have to start by saying I LOVE both of these men. Their desire for the Lord is contagious. CJ Mahaney is a huge inspiration in his JOY, and Sinclair's book, The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction, encouraged me greatly during about my sophomore year in college.



So... on that note, I do highly recommend to you CJ's latest interview with Sinclair over here at CJ's View From the Cheap Seats. It's good stuff.

For example:

I think the thing that I am trying to get at here is the correlation between my ability to grasp the grace, grace of grace and my grasping the sin, sin of sin (what Ralph Venning calls the “exceeding sinfulness of sin”). The sin is mine and therefore natural for me to see. It’s grace that isn’t natural to me and therefore difficult to see. Therefore I am going to struggle to bring the sin I am so familiar with to the grace I am unfamiliar with. And therefore I need to find ways given to me in Scripture of discovering the graciousness of God.

Go here for more.

Conference Day

It has become a tradition here at "Embrace Your Lot" to post on Conference Day.
Well... here I am, beginning my 4th Parent-Teacher Conference Day at Christian Academy. Again, I seriously ask for prayer for this day. I meet with 15 sets of parents today, basically back to back, with a few scattered breaks. My stomach is always in knots, and I'm "all out of words" by the end of the day. They take a lot of preparation, and you really need to be "on your game" to remember everything you need to say, speak the truth in love, remain upbeat, positive and professional, stay on schedule, etc. I come home and just stare at a wall for about an hour. :) Pray for wisdom, grace, stamina and anything else you can think of to pray. The Lord is always gracious, and I have always survived them so far, but prayers are invited for sure. Thanks, ya'll!