True words, no matter how soft, can often be offensive. I had that experience while on retreat recently with some women from my church. One of my fellow retreaters, remind me oh so very gentley how important it is to remember that the Father delights in me (in all of us actually) and that I should not feel condemned by my sin. These incredibly true and powerful words are at the very heart of the gospel message. And yet when they were shared with me, my pride was set off and I began to feel the need to explain that of course I don't feel condemned, I just feel the need to confess my sin, I KNOW better than to feel condemned. I could even cite Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ..."
It took me the rest of day to receive God's grace that was extended to me through a sister in Christ. And as I began to see through my own pride I felt reminded of how important the gospel is for us all! For believers and non believers or unbelievers or anyone really the gospel is life! I need the gospel spoken to me each day, many times a day in fact! And I especially need it when feeling convicted of my sin. In fact it is the gospel message that leads me from conviction and confession to restoration with God rather than condemnation. Because the gospel is this...that "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were sinners, Christ died for us."
Friday, October 19, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Salvation Stories
Today I had a great conversation with Silas about the gospel. I wanted to have a way to remember our conversation so after I put all the kiddos down for a nap, I ran to my computer and jotted down a record of what we discussed. It was such a fun thing to do and I am so grateful that the idea popped into my head! As I began writing, the story turned into more of a letter written from me to him. I could picture him reading it one day when he is older and I am sure that I will want to read again and again too! I created a special folder called "Salvation Stories" on my computer and within I made a special folder just for Silas. I saved it with the date and now its tucked away for our family to enjoy for years to come! I plan to write more letters like this to Silas and to each of my other kids as well. I am confident that they Lord will use this to continue to bless our family! And I pray that he finds a way to bless yours as well!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Luke James Carroll
We welcomed this little guy into our family on July 18th, 2012!
He is almost 3 months old now and its taken me until now to get some time away to share his birth story here on the blog! Better a little late than never, right?! He is precious and delightful, smiley and sweet! We certainly all feel in love with him right away!
Each night the week of LJ's birth, I was kept up late with regular contractions. We even went to the hospital twice thinking that it was finally the real deal! But on Wednesday the 18th, he let us know for certain that he was ready to make his debut! I went to bed early while Sean hosted our weekly bible study with some young adults from our church in the basement. Shortly before the bible study ended some regular contraction began again. By this time I was pretty used to my body throwing me for a loop but I could also tell that this time there was something different. These contractions came on hard and fast. We made the call and headed over to the hospital as soon as we had some one at the house to watch the other sleeping cherubs!
There isn't much to say about labor at the hospital this time around because Luke was out of my belly and in my arms about 45 minutes after we arrived! And of course, it was love at first sight!
If you've read around on our blog, you will know that name meanings are pretty important to us. Luke's name represents the ability that light has to chase away and overcome darkness. "And Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me, will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." John 8:12
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