Soli Deo Gloria

I am an introvert. According to Myers/Briggs, an INTJ , to be exact:   Introverted Intuition with Thinking .   Oh my! This describes me to a "T."   As an introvert, I turn inward to think, feel, process and decipher situations and feelings.  I always seem to be on a quest for truth; wanting above all else, to get to the key issue in a circumstance.  And because of how God made me and because of His hand upon me, He has turned me to Him and His word, as well as other true sources of His general revelation, for answers to life's twists and turns.  As an introvert, I enjoy reading, journaling, and time alone - any contemplative activity to keep the peace within. Most of the pros and cons of my personality have been evident to me for a long time.  For pros, I am highly creative and visionary , perfectionistic and independent .  For cons, I am stubborn and unrealistic , critical and independent .  Yet thankfully, the Lord...

This blog post was featured this past month at "Happy Homemaker Me" http://www.happyhomemaker.me/2012/02/happy-thoughts.html As it turned out, on the evening of the day I wrote this piece, my water broke and we welcomed our third boy, Caedmon, into the world the next morning. At 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant with boy #3, I have been inundated with little things .  I have been washing newborn onesies, folding receiving blankets, putting tiny diapers away, and gathering supplies… feeling little kicks and hearing little pitter patters of heartbeats each week…. Little Things … All we do as mommies are little things :  cook meals, clean rooms, do loads of laundry, read short books, comb hair, kiss owies, apply Band-Aids, push swings, change diapers, fill sippy cups, play games, praise accomplishments, vacuum….this is our domain, this is our joy…. or is it …. Coming into motherhood in my mid-thirties, I struggle each day with my role as Woman.  Who am I?  My time i...

The moment I clicked "Publish Post" my phone rang.  Dear Hubby on the other end asked how I was doing, to which I promptly answered, "Sinful, Hopeless, in need of Christ."  I went a whole day after that feeling convicted, like a failure as a Christian, knowing that I, to refer to my own pen, would never "really want holiness."  I am a failure.  I am, dare I say?, a black-hearted sinner. As I chose, almost 24 hours later, to really confess this to my Savior, it hit me - The Gospel!  This is The Gospel!   Not that I would reach a holy state of my accord and effort, wanting with my whole heart to serve Him, " but [that] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses , made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurabl...

As I lay here with my son at 5:30 in the a.m., cuddling a wide-awake three-year-old back to sleep, my mind is flooded with friends' cyber comments and blogs about profound discoveries through their trials throughout the recent days and seasons of their lives.  I hearken back to one of my blog entries regarding how wimpy my generation is and think about how struck my friends and I are with the audacity of Suffering taking up residence in our homes. The many Facebook comments I read from other moms about the challenges of parenting, my Facebook comments about the challenges of parenting, other friends posting about profound trials and struggles, and even the many who admit they are surprised by God's sovereign plan in those trials, take me aback with shame for my generation's narcissistic outlook. Yet, the fact that God is not leaving us to our narcissism - that He is changing our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, exposing our hearts to true joy by wounding our spirit...

My five year-old came bounding into my bathroom Monday morning with a paper waving wildly in his hands, all the while exclaiming, "Mommy I typed out a Bible verse for you!  It's Philippians 4:1 and it is an important verse!"  I read it, while stroking his hair, amazed at his pastoral care for his mommy and after thanking him asked for tape so I could post it on my bathroom mirror.  I looked at it several times that day, reflecting on it's admonishment to stand firm in the Lord. Later that day, after harshly speaking to the boys about getting water all over the bathroom, he reminded of the verse on the mirror, saying, "Mom, remember Philippians 4:1, it will help you!  It says, 'my brothers' and you're my brother and everything will be ok."  Out of the mouth of babes.   Yes we are brothers in the Lord.  And yes, everything will be ok. How often are we taught that our believing children, husbands, parents, siblings, in-laws, etc., are primaril...

I am standing at the kitchen window looking into the backyard on a beautiful Saturday morning, admiring my 2 1/2 year old, Soren's, exploration with the water hose, when along comes the 5-year-old, desiring to exert his seniority, and I watch him try to knock over his brother, unprovoked.  I'm thinking - I don't want to interrupt my momentum in the kitchen to deal with this behavior.  I would be stopping all day dealing with behavior if I disciplined every little thing.  But, as God has been opening my eyes, little by little, not fast enough, to the ugliness of sin, I call Brennan inside and have him wait on his bed until I get to a stopping place and hopefully can instill in him that God is beautiful and sin is ugly.  What should we choose? I have become increasingly burdened since these children were thrust from my loins, that if I don't love God with all my heart, mind, and strength; if I don't seek Him with my whole heart; if I don't enjoy Him; if I don...

The water ran down my face and neck, making tracks in my makeup and dropping swiftly onto the carpet below.  The pastor said, "Christi Carter, I baptize you in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit."  Then he baptized my brothers with my parents at our sides.  A common element used everyday, for many necessities:  water. The bread is passed after the pastor says, "On the night He was betrayed, He took bread , gave thanks, and when He broke it said, 'This is My body, broken for you.  Take and eat; do this in remembrance of Me.'"  Then the pastor lifts the chalice and says, "In the same way, after supper, He took the cup and said, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink of it, in remembrance of Me.'"  Everyday elements.  Bread.  Fruit of the vine.  Whenever you eat and drink of it.  Remember Me.   (I Cor. 11:23-26) Brilliant!  We use water for many uses everyday.  We eat...