Posted by: Kerstyn on: August 25, 2009
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on.”
Matthew 7:26, MSG
I guess it really doesn’t get much more straight forward than that. God’s word isn’t something we fit into our lives. It’s something that we fit ourselves into. We’re not supposed to be working things around, seeing where we can “make God work” in the life that we already have. Technically speaking, when we discover the love of Jesus (or, when He discovers us), we’re supposed to drop everything from our old lives and follow Him. In today’s world, that just doesn’t seems logical. Since there’s no physical Jesus to “follow,” quitting our jobs and selling our possessions seems a little unreasonable. I certainly haven’t done it.
However, I think that what God is looking for today is a willingness to do just that. Since there is no longer a man for us to literally follow from place to place, we need to have it set in our minds that we will follow the Holy Spirit anywhere it leads us. Whether it leads us to give a homeless man $100 when we feel like we don’t have even have enough money for ourselves, or quit our jobs and become missionaries in Alaska, or just write “God bless you” on the check at a restaurant, we need to have a solid, unflappable willingness to do what the Holy Spirit moves us to do, when it moves us to do it. Anything, anywhere, and at any cost. Because only God knows the true cost, as well as the ripple effect caused by the largest or tiniest act of obedience.
God is so awesome.
“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.”
Matthew 6:22, MSG
Posted by: Kerstyn on: July 24, 2009
Psalm 32, NIV & Message
Our Redeemer surely does live, and His word is alive.
1. Blessed is He whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
(Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be–you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean.)
2. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
(Count yourself lucky–God holds nothing against you, and you’re holding nothing back from Him.)
3. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
(When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans.)
4. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah.
(The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.)
5. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”–and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
(Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.” Suddenly the pressure was gone–my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared.)
6. Therefore let everyone who is goly pray to You while You may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
(These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we’ll be on high ground, untouched.)
7. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
(God’s my island hideaway, keepds danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck.)
8. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
(Let me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight.)
9. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.
(Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.)
10. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him.
(God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around.)
11. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
(Celebrate God. Sing together–everyone! All you honest hearts, raise the roof!)
Posted by: Kerstyn on: July 18, 2009
This is what the Lord says: “You say about this place, ‘It is a desolate waste, without men or animals.’ Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more the sound of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, ‘Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; His love endures forever.’” Jeremiah 33:10-11 (NIV)
The Lord will build us back up from our brokenness, and we will become a good, inhabitable place. A place full of the sounds of joy and gladness, because He is good and will not leave us in our distress. His plans are to prosper us (Jere. 29:11) and to bring us back from captivity (Jere. 29:14). He desires to change who we are, to bring us back to be in His presence. He wants us to be our best.
Posted by: Kerstyn on: July 10, 2009
So, Isaiah. Pretty much an amazing book. I decided (out of nowhere) today that I was going to read Isaiah 63. When I opened it up, the chapter was entitled “God’s Day of Vengeance and Redemption.” I read through it, but eventually my eyes wandered over to a particular verse on the next page, in chapter 65. Ay may zinggg.
Isaiah 65:8 says “This is what the Lord says;
‘As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
and men say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there is yet some good in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
I will not destroy them all.’ “
Pastor talks a lot about God holding back His wrath for the good of His people, in patience, to give them a little longer to try to “seek and save the lost.” Well, here it is. I’ve never read it anywhere in the Bible more plainly than that (although it seems like I’m going to get completely off track in a moment, bear with me. I’m not, probably). God knows what we need. He knows our wants and desires, and more importantly, He knows our hearts. He has no trouble deciphering who among His people truly love and live for Him, and who only pay Him lip service. He knows the difference between those who strive toward perfection and those who strive to see just how much they can get away with and still be considered a “child of God.”
However, it’s not enough for God to know that. We need to know the depths of our own hearts, and we need to have our eyes open enough to perceive the hearts of others. The Bible tells us not to be “ignorant of the times,” and I think that this includes not being ignorant of the people around us. It is, after all, people that are accountable for the status of the times, whether those times be good or bad. Believers and unbelievers alike are ignoring God’s law, or not taking it as seriously as they should be, myself included. Eventually, God’s not going to take it anymore. That’s another point Pastor hits on a lot. God’s not going to turn a blind eye to our repetitive sins forever. He’s holding back now, but because He can’t be a liar, eventually He’s going to have to deal with our sins the way His word declares He will.
This, I think, is where we can do something. It’s where the story of Luke 11 comes into play. God knows the hearts of all men, true, but like I mentioned before, I think that it’s our duty not to be blind to the hearts of men and the situations we’re in as well. In a broad view, I’m sure what we look like on Earth is a bunch of old, sour, useless grapes. That’s the big picture. We need to be aware of the status of the world, and we need to make a fuss about it. Like the man in Luke 11, we need to be continuously knocking on God’s door loud enough to wake the neighbors in the middle of the night. We need to remind God, like Isaiah 65:8 says, that there are still good grapes in the bunch. Not because He needs reminding, but because we need to prove that we care. We need to know that God wants to see us active. Just as water becomes stagnant and disgusting if it sits in one place for too long, we will eventually become those sour grapes if we think we can get by being good, but silent.
In other words, we need to wake up. We need to dance around a bit, to raise our hands as well as our voices and cry unto God together, “God! We know things are crap down here, but we’re still juicy grapes! We yet have some good in us. Don’t destroy Your people; give us just a little longer to use what gifts You’ve given us, and to mean it. Give us another chance to spread the good-grapeyness we’ve held onto.” God wants to see us crying out for His people.
Because, miracle of miracles, it says He’ll listen.
“So will I do in behalf of my servants;
I will not destroy them all.”
Posted by: Kerstyn on: July 10, 2009
And, we’re hitched! I promise there will be an entry about the wedding and all it’s wonderful goodness soon, complete with pictures. But for right now, I give you (drumroll, please?) Isaiah 58:12
What an amazing calling. This is what it means to be a Christian.
NIV
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Message
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Posted by: Kerstyn on: June 6, 2009
…something borrowed, something blue.
Andrew has, time and again over the planning process, asked me what my “little girl” wedding plans included. At first, I couldn’t really think of any. Now, however, I’m starting to.
I think that having an outdoor ceremony was always in my brain, whether I realized it or not. Luckily, weather permitting, that’s going to work out!
Another thing I remembered over time was my desire to have “From This Moment On” by Shania Twain be my wedding song. I remember the day I decided that needed to happen. It was super long ago (and by that I mean sometime since 1998), and I was working with my Auntie Stacey for the day. This song came on and I swore to myself right then, in the car, that it would be my wedding song. I even took my future husband into account, telling myself that it would not matter what he thought, because that was simply the way it had to be. While I have since (praise God) changed my mind about the song, it’s still going to be included in the reception as our last offical dance of the evening. (:
Along with other things I’ve probably forgotten, the title/first line of this post was another one of the things I always knew that I wanted very much to include. Now here I am, fourteen days before the wedding (!!!), and I don’t have these four items! New could be any number of things; my dress, earrings, shoes, etc. Blue is my garter (which will NOT be tossed to the single men in the room, thank you very much).
Ooh, fun tidbit! “Wearing something blue dates back to biblical times when the color blue was considered to represent purity, faithfulness and fidelity.”
Something old, something borrowed. Pesky little things. What to do, what to do? I’d like to try and snag something from my mama for something borrowed, but what qualifies something as “old”? Like an antique, or younger than that? Can something old also be something borrowed, without counting as such? Hmm…
As I suppose this post probably screams, I’m not terribly stressed out about the wedding. So many things have fallen into place, and I trust that the ones that haven’t yet, will. Not that we’re leaving them unattended. But in a very short number of days, I will be Mrs. Andrew Desjardin, and that fact alone is going to take me flying through these next two weeks. (:
Posted by: Kerstyn on: June 4, 2009
Tada! (:
| Mama | A.Chrissy | Felicia | Stefanie | Pastor | Daddy | |||||
| Vava | Trey | Peter | Tommy | Lily | Laura | |||||
| Badean | Jace | Beth | Hailey | Melissa | Grama | |||||
| A.Liz | Paula | Amy | Abby | Elaine | Papa | |||||
| James | Alex | Cody | Lucy | Jim | L. Mom | |||||
| A.Jen | A.Mel | Kyle | Nick | Beth | L. Dad | |||||
| John | U.Steve | Nichole | Meredith | Emily | A.Jean | |||||
| Liz | Courtney | Zack | Jasmine | Casey | Joel | |||||
| Diane | Cody | Rachel | Shoe |
Posted by: Andrew on: May 31, 2009
We are on the home stretch. Just twenty days to go until the Big Day and I think just about everything is in order.
I’m probably missing a few items, but with Kerstyn away on vacation with her dad, you’re left with me. That last item on the list – seating – was probably the most painful for me. I had an odd number of family and friends. Some of which know or don’t know others. Some of which who do or do not get along. Some of which we didn’t want to torture by putting at the wrong table. It was a project and there was some stress to fit everyone, but we got there.
I only have my half of the room, which you can see after the cut to know where you’ll be in three weeks. These are final, so don’t bother complaining.
In other news, on Monday I am moving into, what will be my and Kerstyn’s frist home together. Later this week I will try to update about the new place with pictures and the like.
Take care everyone. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Kerstyn on: May 8, 2009
Upon going through some old entries in the ever-helpful wedding LiveJournal community I’ve been a member of for a few months, I found an entry I’d (somehow) forgotten about. A while back I found a beautiful piece online, Union by Robert Fulghum. I really felt as though it should be included somehow into our ceremony. I showed it to Andrew soon after, he really liked it as well. Only now did I realize that I never posted it here. So, here it is!
You have known each other from the first glance of acquaintance to this point of commitment. At some point, you decided to marry. From that moment of yes to this moment of yes, indeed, you have been making promises and agreements in an informal way. All those conversations that were held riding in a car or over a meal or during long walks – all those sentences that began with “When we’re married” and continued with “I will and you will and we will”- those late night talks that included “someday” and “somehow” and “maybe”- and all those promises that are unspoken matters of the heart. All these common things, and more, are the real process of a wedding. The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, and even teacher, for you have learned much from one another in these last few years. Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this- is my husband, this- is my wife.
Posted by: Kerstyn on: May 1, 2009
So the wedding shower was last week (4/25/09), and it was great! The moms/aunts/sister/best friend did an AMAZING job setting it up and pulling it off. We went back and forth for a while about inviting the women from church (since the shower was going to be in the back of the church) because we couldn’t invite them to the actual wedding, for money reasons. But we talked to most of them beforehand and they assured us that they definitely wanted to go to the shower even though they couldn’t be at the wedding.
