Doctrine, Diligence, and Discipline

Yesterday at Southeastern Dr. Al Mohler from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY came and spoke at chapel. The title of his talk was "How Not to Raise a Pagan," and he looked at Deuteronomy 6. The three main points he pulled from the passage were doctrine, diligence, and discipline. It is important to be teaching our children doctrine, truths about God from His Word. We must be diligent in our teaching and make the most of every opportunity that we have. Verses 6-7 says "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." Clearly, diligence is important. Finally, discipline. We as parents need to teach our children what God's standards are so they know why they are receiving discipline. The talk was great, and if you have time I HIGHLY recommend listening to it! Just click here.

All of this echos what I desire to do for my daughter. I want to be a parent who is teaching my daughter about the Lord. Another point that Dr. Mohler made was that we are always teaching our children something. They are learning from us and from our example. We must be mindful of that fact, and also careful what we are teaching them. I want to teach my daughter to be a woman who trusts the Lord in times of difficulty, to be a lady of grace, and peace. I want Karis to be a lady who clings to the Gospel, so I must be a mommy who shows and teaches her the Gospel. What a responsibility! What a challenge! Only by God's grace will Blake and I be able to raise her and teach her. I pray that she will be a lady of the Lord!

"Hear, O Isreal; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Election Day

"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will." Proverbs 21:1.

This verse has given me much peace in the past weeks leading up to this election. It is so comforting to know that I serve a sovereign God who is in control of everything, even the hearts of sinful man. I trust that whichever way the election goes, God is not surprised. He knows, and I can trust Him. My pastor has done such a great job of relaying these truths to us in the past weeks, so my heart has been continually reminded of our great God. I am so thankful for the Word of God and that I can place my trust in the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ, and not in a political party or ideal. A former professor of mine here at Southeastern put it this way...
"Glad my citizenship's in heaven. While here I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it (not politics) is the power of God!"

So as I watch the results of the election roll in tonight, I am trusting my God, and placing my hope in Him. For He has the president of the United States in His hands.

On a lighter, cuter, note.....
This may be one of the cutest pictures of my sweet baby that has ever been taken. She accompanied Blake and I to the polls this morning as we did our voting. As we were leaving, we received our "I Voted" sticker, and so did Karis. Blake thought it was a good idea to put it on her head. It did make for a cute picture!

Reformation Day/Halloween

Last week was Karis' first Halloween. We also like to celebrate the fact that it is also the same day that the protestant reformation began. It was Oct. 31st, 1517 when Martin Luther took his 95 theses and nailed them to the door of a church in Germany, setting forth the reformation. "The righteous man shall live by faith." Romans 1:17. It was this verse that influenced Martin Luther to stand against a righteousness based on works, and cling only to righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. So....with that in mind, our Halloween costume was inspired by Mr. Luther!

Karis has Thesis written 93 times on her onsie, I am #94, and Blake is #95. Together, we make up Luther's 95 Theses. I love that Karis' first Halloween costume was theologically inspired! It was so much fun!


Now this is a pic of my poor little girl after I dressed her up in her "My first Halloween" Pumpkin outfit. I don't think she was too excited about it, but she was so cute! We went back out to our favorite spot, Target, and she was quite a hit with people there!

It was a fun Halloween season with our little Karis!