The Good List 1-22-14

10. Indi's hoodie. We put it on him right before the first play-off game, which the Patriots won more convincingly than we expected them to. (Surely it was the hoodie, right?) I guess not. It didn't work in the championship game. Oh well. Still cute.

9. Using zucchini strips in place of pasta. I couldn't find a spaghetti squash at the grocery store last week (my typical pasta alternative), so I did this instead. I think I liked it even better.

8. This crazy amazing rubber band gun. I will own it some day. Oh yes. It will be mine.

7. Winter. Yeah, it's stupid cold today. Not saying I love negative 11 degrees. I don't. I'm staying inside as much as possible today and drinking much more coffee than I normally would. But without winter, there would be none of this. So yeah. Winter.

 

6. Gracie's neverending creativity with her Legos. She is always building something. Always. I love that.

5. Gracie's recent Young Scholars project. They had to build structures from nothing but raw spaghetti noodles and marshmallows and see how strong they could make them. Grace's team won tallest structure and strongest structure (they loaded it up to 15 ounces before it collapsed). Pretty fun!

4. Macy got most of her mid-term grades back yesterday. All A's so far. So proud of the way she handled that new experience.
3. This beautiful, precious tribute video created by Anne's son, Mark for her memorial service last week. He is a treasure. She is a treasure. This is a treasure. It's perfect.
2. Jared's next book, The Storytelling God releases next month. Always exciting to see how God might use these offerings. (And I'm totally diggin' the cover.)

1. A GOOD NEWS follow-up yesterday to some scary news about my Dad last week. So grateful for God's answer to those prayers.

An "Open Share" Regarding Anne Miserocchi

Yesterday we celebrated the beautiful life of Anne--her life here on earth through which she blessed so many, but even moreso her current life in glory. OH, TO BE WITH HER IN GLORY! I can't wait!

The service was perfect. Sweet and special, appropriately sad and reflective, but equally joyful and hopeful. And just like I know Anne would have wanted, she was honored, but Christ was honored even more. 

As with many memorial services, there was an open share time, and as with most memorial services, I did not share anything. Not because I didn't have anything to share, but because I can almost guarantee a microphone in my hand yesterday would have pretty much immediately transformed me into a puddle on the floor. No one really needs to see that. So to those who attended the service: you're welcome. :-)

But this is what I would have said if I thought I could have done so articulately (or even just in understandable English):

I could write a whole book of the many ways and reasons I love Anne. It's amazing how strongly and securely God knit our hearts together. She felt like home to me literally before I even moved to Vermont. That all by itself is a whole long story of blessing upon blessing. But my favorite thing about that precious lady is this:

Anne had a way of making me feel like I was the most amazing person she had ever met. BUT. (This is a big but, so don't miss it.....) She somehow did so in such a way that made it clear it had nothing at all to do with me and everything to do with Christ in me. Brilliant. Because: the end result of this is that she encouraged me to pursue Christ without ever telling me that's what I should be doing. She was all of grace and none of law. All encouragement; no guilt. All love; no demands. Her expectations of *me* were low, but she wanted more for me than what I could muster on my own. She wanted me to know Christ, to pursue Him, to chase after Him and let him transform and sanctify and redeem me. She wanted these things for me because she loved me. She knew that apart from Christ, I am nothing, but that the power of Christ in me is everything. What a rare and extraordinary friendship! Zero pressure. Infinite grace. Rock solid truth. Everyone needs a friend like that.

I can only imagine the times Anne in all her wisdom might have quietly shaken her head at much less wise me (although I like to imagine she did it with a smile on her face.) But she never told me about any of those times. Instead, she just found ways to continually point me to Christ and teach me daily how to focus more on Him. 

So in summary, this is what I want to share about Anne--  I love Christ more and better, deeper and stronger, more authentically, sincerely and intensely because of her. And I can't think of any better compliment than that.

Anne, you are an unforgettable treasure to me. You have shaped my life in ways I'm certain you didn't even realize, and I am forever grateful. I seriously cannot wait to party with you in the NEW HEAVENS and NEW EARTH when Habakkuk 2:14 finally comes to life and we are swept up in it for all eternity. OH, make it so, Lord! Make it so.

The Servant in Battle

From The Valley of Vision:

The Servant in Battle

O Lord,

I bless thee that the issue of the battle
between thyself and Satan
has never been uncertain,
and will end in victory.
Calvary broke the dragon's head,
and I contend with a vanquished foe,
who with all his subtlety and strength
has already been overcome.
When I feel the serpent at my heel,
may I remember him whose heel was bruised,
but who, when bruised, broke the devil's head.

My soul with inward joy extols
the mighty conqueror.

Heal me of any wounds received
in the great conflict;
if I have gathered defilement,
if my faith has suffered damage,
if my hope is less than bright,
if my love is not fervent,
if some creature-comfort occupies my heart,
if my soul sinks under pressure of the fight.

O thou whose every promise is balm,
every touch life,
draw near to thy weary warrior,
refresh me, that I may rise again
to wage the strife,
and never tire until my enemy is trodden down.

Give me such fellowship with thee
that I may defy Satan,
unbelief, the flesh, the world,
with delight that comes not from a creature,
and which a creature cannot mar.

Give me a draught of the eternal fountain
that lieth in thy immutable, everlasting love
and decree.

Then shall my hand never weaken,
my feet never stumble,
my sword never rest,
my shield never rust,
my helmet never shatter,
my breastplate never fall,
as my strength rests in the power
of thy might.

The Good List 1-15-14

10. Patriots are going to the finals! Good times.
9. How to Train Your Dragon 2 coming soon! Can't wait! The first one was one of my all-time favorites. Also: I want a pet dragon who can fly me through the air. :-)



8. The matching hat and scarf Macy made me for Christmas. Talented and resourceful, that one.

7. We get a long weekend this weekend. Macy is off Friday, and both girls are off Monday. This never makes me sad.
6. SheReadsTruth--a website my friend Lore tipped me to a few weeks ago. Helps me start every day with the right focus and perspective. Check it out, ladies.
5. Frozen. Super sweet and fun movie, and the soundtrack is boss. Love it! One of our favorite family "dates" in awhile.
4. My very own copy of The Valley of Vision that Jared put in my Christmas stocking. I love it.
3. Indi. This little dude is my shadow the whole time I'm home, and I love it. He's the sweetest dog ever.

2. Macy is having her first experience with mid-terms this week. She is handling it with great poise and responsibility. I'm so proud of her.
1. In just a few days, we will celebrate the life of this brilliant, beautiful lady. There will be sadness for sure. But I'm grateful that there will also be rejoicing as we celebrate the story of her life here on earth and even moreso her new ETERNAL life of experiencing the GLORY of Christ in every single moment from now on. Every second filled with his glory. Think of that. Oh man. I miss you so much, Anne, but this I know: you are not sad to have left. I'm grateful for that.

Tidbits

The biblical story of salvation assaults our worship of success at every point. ~Tim Keller

Are your prayers weak, scrambled, inconsistent, self-centered? Of course they are. . . . [BUT if you are in Christ] the Father hears the perfectly worded, properly believing, and flawlessly theologically correct prayers of his beloved Son when you pray. We can freely pour out our heart to our Father knowing that our dear Savior will purify and transform our words into petitions that please him. . . . Go tell your Father about everything that's in your heart, and don't be afraid. The Lord Jesus is mediating for us all. ~Elyse Fitzpatrick

The child, in danger of the fire, just clings to the fireman, and trusts to him alone. She raises no question about the strength of his limbs to carry her, or the zeal of his heart to rescue her; but she clings. The heat is terrible, the smoke is blinding, but she clings; and her deliverer quickly bears her to safety. In the same childlike confidence cling to Jesus, who can and will bear you out of danger from the flames of sin. ~Charles Spurgeon

You have all the grace you need for now. You don't have to worry about then. When then becomes now, you'll have all the grace you need. ~Paul David Tripp

Security is mostly a superstition. . . . Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. ~Helen Keller

Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him. ~Hudson Taylor

It is certainly my opinion that a book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then. ~C.S. Lewis

What is the curse of the law [Gal. 3:13]? It is the or-else-ness of the law: ‘Do this, or else.’ Christ took the or-else-ness of the law onto himself at the cross, so that there is no more or-else for anyone in Christ, as God looks upon us now. Or-else is gone forever from your relationship with God. ~Ray Ortlund

The gospel is not that God accepts you as you are. The gospel is that God accepts you as Christ is. ~Matt Smethurst

Even as we slog through the trials, persecutions, irritations, temptations, distractions, apathy, & just plain weariness of this world, the gospel points us to heaven where our King Jesus — the Lamb of God who was crucified in our place & raised gloriously from the dead — now sits interceding for us. Not only so, but it calls us forward to that final day when heaven will be filled with the roaring noise of millions upon millions of forgiven voices hailing him as crucified Savior and risen King. ~Greg Gilbert

The Good List 2013

Here are all of the #1 entries from my 2013 Good Lists. Bittersweet, but God was (and continues to be) good through it all. I had (and have) a tremendous life and so much to be thankful for.

1-2-13: Reflecting on 2012 and being struck by the thought that the theme seemed to be, "God is near." There were exciting and thrilling highs. There were painful and scary lows. Mostly there were lots of experiences somewhere in between. But through it all, God was near. And to be clear, he always has been. I know that. But last year I ran to him and reached for him and recognized him far more quickly than I have in the past. For that I am grateful. Praying for an even greater shaping of my heart in that direction during 2013.

1-9-13: John 1:16: "For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace."  So amazing.

1-23-13: TOTALLY surprising my Mom. She had no clue whatsoever we were showing up. (I had talked to her on the phone the night before.) She cried and cried and announced in a voice that made her seem like an 8-year-old at Disneyworld, "This is my best birthday ever!" Awesome to make her feel so loved when she spends her whole life making sure everyone else is loved. Precious memories.

1-30-13: My man is HOME. All is right with the world. :-D

2-6-13: Final proofs returned to publisher. Coming soon to a bookstore near you! So grateful. So, so grateful. 

2-13-13: My amazing sister Jody and her pure gold husband Jon for taking in this sweet baby and treating her as their very own. I'm so proud of them and so grateful to be an aunt again!

                 

2-20-13: Being married to a man who not only loves me but delights in me. I'm overwhelmed.

3-6-13: My friends Richard and Erin Scott. I could write a book. . . They are remarkable. BECAUSE OF CHRIST! (They would want me to say that. ;-) ) Richard has stage 4 brain cancer. It has been a difficult journey. By all medical predictions and expectations, he should be with Jesus by now. He had an MRI last Tuesday during which I'm pretty sure his doctors had pretty low expectations. REALLY GOOD news would have been his tumor hadn't grown at all. Guess what. It shrunk. God is so good (whether or not he continues to heal Richard--again, they would want me to say that.) So grateful for His hand on this family and the way it is bringing hope and joy even in suffering to an entire community!

3-13-13:  I'll be snuggling with these little monkeys in 2 DAYS!!!!! CAN. NOT. WAIT!

3-27-13: Jared and I are going to Disneyworld! Since we're making a trip to Orlando anyway for TGC, it seemed wasteful to be there and not visit Mickey. ;-) Macy and Grace gave us permission to go without them since it's only a couple days and Grandmom will be with them while we're gone. We honeymooned there, so it will be an experience rich with memories and overflowing with gratitude for what God has done in and through and for us through the years. Also, this will be our first opportunity to spend some extended time with our new sister-in-law, Danielle, who will be attending with Jared's brother (aka her husband :-D). LOTS to look forward to!

4-3-13: Jesus is ALIVE!

4-17-13: The awesomeness that is giggling with 6 of my favorite little people on the planet, which Lilly sums up perfectly right here. I couldn't have "said" it better myself. :-D

4-24-13: Being struck by this thought as Jared and I waited for the bus to bring us to the airport to head for home-- Happiness is vacation. Joy is knowing that when vacation ends, I still get to do life with this guy. So blessed and grateful.

5-1-13: A sweet family picnic on a gorgeous day last weekend. These are some of my favorite moments in life. Thank you, Lord.

5-8-13: Baby Max, who was born a couple weeks ago weighing only 1.5 pounds, appears to be doing quite well! I love his Grandmother's words: "He is so fragile, yet complete." Indeed. Thank you, Lord! Please join me in praying for him as he continues on a long path to full health.

5-15-13: The sound of Macy and Grace working together on a project (currently a float for the Memorial Day Parade) and giggling at each other like a couple of crazy people. It's pretty much my favorite sound.

5-22-13: We have a contract on our house in Tennessee!!! I KNOW, RIGHT?!? Trying not to get our hopes up *too* high as we know there are still plenty steps in the process, any of which could cause the whole thing to fall through. But after a 4+ year journey, this feels like awfully big news. PRAY WITH US PLEASE!

5-29-13: We celebrated 12 YEARS of knowing and loving our sweet Macy yesterday. Can't believe how quickly time is passing. What a beautiful blessing she is to me!

6-5-13: Yesterday during Ladies' Bible Study, my friend Rita recited *almost the entire book of James from memory. I don't know how to describe how special that was.

*She recited all the way through the middle of Chapter 5 and is working on finishing the entire book, but yesterday was our last meeting before breaking for summer, so our leader asked her to go ahead and recite what she had and read the rest. It was pretty much awesome.

6-12-13: The rock solid testimonies of those who cling to Christ with all they have during the most difficult times in their lives. Grueling, painful, exhausting, frustrating, yet somehow also undergirded with steadfast confidence and eternal hope. Only by God's grace.

6-19-13: WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! I KNOW, RIGHT?!? Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU LORD!

6-26-13: On Saturday, I'll celebrate 17 years of marriage with this guy. By God's grace, I love him more every single day.

7-3-13: The striking reminder of redemption God gave me yesterday. Over dinner last night, Jared was telling me that earlier in the day, he had written about our miscarriage in the manuscript he was completing. He didn't even realize that yesterday was Angel's "birthday." It gave me chills to think about how God continues to use that experience for his glory and remind us of the many ways he redeems our brokenness. In the words of my sweet friend Hannah, "God doesn't waste a thing. He uses every bit of it." Indeed he does, and I'm so grateful.

7-17-13: Jared's recent mission trip to Honduras. Such a blessing for so many reasons. He traveled with 3 other men from our church. They met up with his Dad's church team there. They built a church, established a soccer field, provided meals and resources to families throughout a nearby shantytown and shared the Gospel with everyone who would hear. So grateful for this opportunity. Hoping to bring our whole family some day.

The MSCC team:

The whole team:

One of the recipients of Gracie's carefully selected puppies:

Pastor Jorge prays a blessing over the completed church building:

Food for the shantytown:

Thunder and Lightning indeed ;-) :

Brotherhood:

7-24-13: Looking forward to our annual church baptism event/picnic on Sunday.Last year, we saw 6 adults baptized, including 2 couples whose husbands baptized their own wives. That's a special kind of awesome to me. The year before that, Jared baptized our very own Gracie among others. This yearly event is easily one of my favorite things about being a pastor's wife (not that you have to be a pastor's wife to enjoy such things). The family of God grows! Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!

7-31-13: On Sunday, our church welcomed 9 new members and celebrated 5 baptisms. And then a former member of our church, John Blanch, who pastors his own church now, baptized several as well. Sad that I had to miss it to be home with a sick kiddo, but what an amazing day!

8-7-13: God keeps giving us new friends across the globe. Every time we travel, I'm blown away by the people we get to meet and partner with and learn from. (And yes, I know that isn't exactly a grammatically perfect sentence, but it would sound super pretentious and weird to say "with whom we get to partner" and "from whom we get to learn", don't you think? ;-)) 

8-28-13: A visit today with one of my favorite friends, Anne. She learned early yesterday morning that she has a rather large brain tumor behind her left eye. (Please note this is not the good part.) The *good news* is that it is operable, but because of where it is and how it is positioned, that is really about all they know about it at this point. She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Won't you please pray with me that it is COMPLETELY AND UNQUESTIONABLY BENIGN and that the doctors are able to remove every single cell that is any threat whatsoever to healthy brain function. (Side note: Rather than perform a biopsy, which, as you can imagine, is extremely invasive when the brain is involved, they are going straight to surgery to remove as much of the mass as possible. This is due to the fact that even if it is benign, it is large enough to be causing pressure and damage to healthy surrounding brain tissue.) 

Anne, my friend, I am praying and praying and PRAYING for you! And I'm bringing hugs again soon!

9-4-13: A visit with our friends the Scotts today. These are sweet, but incredibly difficult times with them. But God is good. Grateful for the gorgeous ways he continues to work in and through this precious family. Please continue to pray with us for Richard, his wife Erin and their children Miley and Judah.

9-11-13: Romans 5 and all that it means for those who are suffering.

9-18-13:  This. I love this. My friend Jesus. My friend Richard's friend Jesus. My friend Erin's friend Jesus. My friend Anne's friend Jesus. And my friends Jeff and Mark and Ally. My friend Kathryn's friend Jesus. 

9-25-13: Richard is with Jesus! We are sad, but he is not. Indeed he will never be sad again. Raised to walk in newness of life.

10-2-13: Seeing this on facebook this morning from one of our most treasured friends in all the world. Made me cry.

10-9-13: This is one of the best moments of joy I think I've ever seen. Beautiful Arabella. Daughter of our friends Heather and Joel. Gorgeousness.

10-16-13: The resounding, lavish, gleaming kindness of God in the midst of difficulty. Over and over again these last few months, waves of grace and mercy crash into me and press me to my Rock. (I LOVE that word picture from my friend Lore!) He is everything.

10-23-13: My friend Anne had her second brain surgery on Monday. Today I got to spend some time with her. We held hands, strolled around the hospital hallway (even climbed a few stairs during PT), had prolonged sweet conversation, and shared several hearty laughs. This felt like a miracle to me, and it was all kinds of awesome. Maybe even *every* kind.

11-6-13: After an incredibly difficult week, which included a THIRD brain surgery and several days of near-comatose condition, yesterday Anne was feeling strong enough to walk to the hospital chapel. This photo was taken by her son Mark. OH, my heart!!!

11-20-13: The outpouring of love and support for my friend Anne and her family that I continue to witness. So amazing. Prayers from all across the country (and even beyond), constant service, financial support, etc., etc., etc. When I send out requests for help, I get an almost immediate response each time, even when there are requests every day for several days in a row. I've already mentioned several times how much I adore this family, so I'll spare you another soliloquy, but I love them so much that even though all of these acts of love are for them, they feel like gifts to me as well. So grateful.

11-27-13: Packing every room of the Miserocchi home with prayer warriors on Sunday. This was gorgeousness.

12-4-13:  Anne is joyfully home. I miss her, but I'm so happy for her!

12-11-13: Meal planning for our epic WHOLE FAMILY after-Christmas getaway in Tennessee. My parents, all of my sisters, our boys and all of our kids. I'm already giggling just imagining the shenanigans.

12-18-13:  In just 10 days, all of the crazy people will be together in Tennessee for a huge Methvin family (after) Christmas week-long party. Good times. Can't wait!