Remember what it felt like - Living in the Moment ?

It came so easy when we were 8.....you didn't need to think through so many different "what if's"......you didn't have to tell yourself to "HAVE FAITH" that your parents would provide dinner everyday.....(faith that is real, seems to not have to be mustered up.)

My dad sacrificed so much of himself and his desires for new snowmobiles and etc....for us kids, and thinking about how I trusted him, without any kind of effort - to provide food for me, and school clothes, and that he could perhaps get me the bike I wanted SO bad for my birthday.
I didn't trust in the provision, I trusted in my DAD and his character.....easily.
(though I wouldn't have been able to articulate that back in the day....)

As I'm moving into a completely different phase of my life, I find myself fighting to remember that child-like faith, to trust only in God Himself.....in His Character as is revealed in His word .......I mean, think about the sacrificial love of the Father in Christ Jesus......umm...yeah, we can trust Him.
Just as the prodigal son trusted in the kindness and forgiveness of his father enough to even consider going home.
(to the father against whom he had sinned against; shaming the family name grievously)
The humble boldness to seek forgiveness........a whole other blog topic......sigh.

Time to find out more about the responsibilities in the family of God now that we are no longer babies in the faith................

Rejoice in Hope friends -
Jen2

Engagement Day Pictures are now on Picasa, thanks to Ted and Gina !!

See link under "photo albums" in the right hand column........

** Ted and Gina sold seperately.....together.

Marriage was God's Idea ~

The Lord has continually brought us back to reality...to the very reality that relationships are about Christ and His church. (selflessness, understanding, and grace and magnanomous forgiveness)

We have been in the process of being refined (painfully) over the last year.......
and both Brent and I have as our deepest hope - that we will be made to be more like Christ....we want to have HIS heart. Something prayed and earnestly desired, but agh....it is worked out through suffering........

Jesus didn't just tell us he loved us - he was whipped and beaten for our transgressions.
He didn't just buy us a dozen roses and put us on a pedestal, nor did he tell us 'how great we were" - he was crucified for his wretched sinful bride in order that we could be with him one day.

He suffered for his bride -
He loved her when she was MOST unlovely, and at a time when she was living as His ENEMY.

What love is this ???
"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Love in marriage is to reflect that of our Savior.....may God give us the strength and faith it takes to love like that.

Learning as we go ~

Brent and Jennifer (Berg) ~ Engagement Story

Not sure if I will be able to show everyone the DVD that our dear friend Ted had made for us of the actual engagement........(though you will see it at our wedding I think ! :)
(thanks Ted and Gina again......for everything you did......and for being so good at fibbing.....er in Gina's case - "subject changing")

Here's how it went down ~

Looking back….I should have picked up on things a bit better…….but was trying to guard my heart so that I wouldn’t be let down if he didn’t propose this past weekend…….I wasn’t thinking too much about any little thing like I was when a few friends and I were at Minnehaha the week before....…… I think that that little excursion helped me to get my mind on the here and now and just enjoy my time with Brent rather than stirring with expectations.

Brent and I went camping Friday night with Ted and Gina (who are engaged and set to be married in October this year- YEY!)
Don't worry though, it was wholesome.....guys on one side girls on the other....and we were all bundled up in many layers at night cuz it was SUPER chilly.

Brent brought his guitar and when I saw it I was excited to think that we were going to get to sing worship songs …….and thanked him for bringing it even………he said (without being any kind of shady) “yeah, I brought a bunch of worship songs too……..”

Friday night we all went on a walk and checked out the stars…..Brent and I stopped at this one spot and Ted and Gina felt like exploring a wee bit more ....... so they just kept walking on the trail ………it was beautiful out.......and would have been a good time to propose, now that I come to think of it…..hmm……but he had other plans.

So, Saturday we spent the day hiking and fishing – it was super restful and peaceful………..perfect weather beautiful views – just amazing. After all the fishing and sweating and such, we got back to the camp site and took showers..........then we all ate dinner together, Brent had taken out his guitar and was just playing random chords…...I asked him if he could play that song that I love so much, he fumbled around and said, “sorry hun, I can’t remember how it goes”…….
Ted and B were casually talking about weddings and whatnot, and Brent asked me what kind of rings are my style….and that he was planning on looking soon, but that he hadn't yet……and suggested that maybe I could show him some that I like.
SERIOUSLY – I was bummed…….I thought….”wait….I thought he would have BOUGHT it already……but ….?” B could tell I was bummed too......but I fought being too bummed and forced a smile and said that I would be happy with any kind of ring, as long as it's from him.

Anyhow, shortly after that, Ted had a great idea to bring our chairs out to the scenic overlook where he and Gina had walked to the night before……..and for Brent to bring his guitar for worship out there.
Needless to say, I was pumped….worship Jesus in the wilderness??!!!! DUDE !

We walked down there, peaced out and B was calm as ever….no red flags or anything.
Ted, being Ted…..brought a video camera to take ‘stock’ footage of the scenery (which Rock TV often uses) and still….I didn’t think anything of it…..because it was Ted.


We got there, and set up our chairs and Ted took some footage of the scenery and then put the camera on a tripod……facing B and I …….I didn’t notice for a wee bit, but then asked him if it was on and he said “No..it’s off……” all casual-like.



We sang some great songs, and my heart was just resting and loving Jesus………..taking in God’s creation and his majesty…….and I wanted to pray……..so I said so.
Brent looked at Ted, then moved to the edge of his seat and said, “well, actually I have a song for you”
He started playing his guitar and I knew right away that it was my favorite song

“Bring it on Home to me”
He sang it really well.........and I felt like we were all alone in the world.
What are the lyrics you ask?

“You got someone here wants to make it alright

Someone who loves you more than life, right here.

You got willing arms that'll hold you tight

A hand to lead you on through the night, right here.

I know your heart can get all tangled up inside

But don't you keep it to yourself.

When your long day is over

And you can barely drag your feet

The weight of the world is on your shoulders

I know what you need, Bring it on home to me

You know I know you like the back of my hand

But did you know I'm gonna do all that I can right here

I'm gonna lie with you till you fall asleep

When the morning comes I'm still gonna be right here (yes I am)

So take your worries and just drop them at the door

Baby leave it all behind.

Baby let me be your safe harbor, Don't let the water come and carry you away

[Chorus]

You got someone here wants to make it alright

Someone who loves you more than life, right here”

As he was singing (and after he finished) he looked at me with such a sweetness in his eyes;
Then he reached down into his guitar case and pulled out a little white box and came over in front of me and got down on one knee and told me he loved me…..and asked

“Will you marry me?”

I didn’t even see the ring to know what it looked like, and I’m not sure if I even answered him right way………….my heart was melted so fast and I was bawling so hard--- I just wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him weeping for joy.
We got a few more pictures taken and walked back to camp……..Ted and Gina gave us a gift of “his and her” camping mugs.....and a patch from the state park where we got engaged.

This verse hit me as I fell asleep that night praising the Lord that I get to experience God's steadfast love through our relationship.

Though tried and tested as by fire, It never failed....

There is no explanation other than that it seems to be the steadfast love of the Lord poured into our hearts by our Heavenly Father.....we love the gift of each other, but we love the giver more than life itself.

To Christ Alone be the glory in His church, His bride....beloved, redeemed, not to be forsaken. We love you Father.

Prov 13:12
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

The Adventures of Brent and Jennifer

~ Continued ~

Love suffers long and is kind;

Love does not envy;

Love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Saturday evening, June 9th we became officially engaged........with the most incredible proposal........it couldn't have been better.

(sorry about the fragmented sentences.....I'm still in a state of blessed shock and thanksgiving to our God)

I will post the "how it went down" in the near future, but I have much work to do here at the bank.

To our dear friends who have consistently given us encouraging counsel ~

We thank God for you.

Marriage is like a Motorcycle Ride ..................

Just a random thought as I drove into work this morning.....that the same need to trust when tempted to fret happens when you're subject to another - in marriage or when you put your life in someone else's hands via - riding on the back of a motorcycle. :)
It's about trusting the God of the husband first, but also, the husband himself in his God-given leadership role.

So here's what I got - my heart's hope is to be a blessing to him and to enjoy the time myself
I'm thinking that as women, we need to:

* Trust his judgement because he has a clear view of the road and believe that he's going to do his best to avoid potholes. ~ Yet remembering that it is ultimately in the Lord providence if we do hit a pothole, lest I grumble in hitting rough terrain. The opposite of trust is fretting.
The husband will be blessed when the wife is resting in the Lord through all circumstances.

* Trust where he's taking me, because sometimes I have no idea. To be thankful - that we take detours to enjoy the view :) Take it all in, it is from the hand of the Sovereign God who loves us both.

* Hang on tight. After all, he left his mother and father for this. :) Gen 2:24

* Even when after a time of riding my back gets tired, or I get a bit chilly.......resisting the temptation to complain with a heart to encourage.
(The after affect of complaining will be far worse than any momentary uncomfortableness.)

Prov 21:19
"It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman"
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All this is just helping me soak up these verses ~
Hab 3:17-19
"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places."

Rest in this, knowing that He who keeps your heart beating watches over you, he gives you faith to sustain you in all trials and persecutions.
Ps 121:1-4
"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. "

Selah.

(of course, this is all just a bunch of letters clumped into words on a blog page, unless God shows up and lights up the heart with joy and grace to believe it)

Recent "Ah- HA" moment

I tell you what.....relationships are............... sanctifying. (duh)

God meets (me) us in completely different ways and we can see more little tid-bits about the gospel that just makes the heart want to burst - because it is SO beautiful.

The most recent thing brought to light in my thinking was about a wife's role with her husband.....what is that supposed to look like ? How is she supposed to relate to him as her head, her shepherd.............and I wonder the most about the amazingly depicted picture of "relationship" in the Holy TRINITY.

The pondering ~

Looking back to Genesis 2:20, when God gave us the reason for his creation of the female, she was created to be Adam's helper. "The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him."

John 14:26
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was the Helper that he was providing for us, and that the role of the Helper was to remind us of God's word....... (which is really......the only way to fight against sin in our own hearts and WIN)

And if you put that understanding of the word helper into the Genesis text---and think about the fall of creation........
Eve was created to be Adam's Helper, and out of love for him she was to remind him of
WHAT GOD HAS SAID. ie.."You are not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."
(she should have been seeking HIS eternal good, his right relationship with the Father should have been her heart's priority)

But, because she didn't do that - all of creation groans, and every generation of mankind feels the consequences.

The calling of a wife seems to be much higher than just merely doing the laundry or tending babies. Our life is to be about the word of GOD, so that our own hearts will bear the lamb-like, dove-like temperament of the Lord Jesus as we remind our husbands of what our Great God has said....for the sake of his hope and joy in the Lord, and that God's attributes would be manifested to the world.

God's promises. His commands. His encouragement. His warnings. For the sake of the soul of the one who leads us ladies.....keep your eyes on Jesus and your nose in his word.

Brought to you by the number 7, the letter A, and God's Mercy,
Jen2

The Centrality of LOVE in salvation.

It's so odd how God gives joy to believers. When we lose our lives, we gain life. wha???
When we lay down the desire to be honored and adored, and spend time wondering how to bless others, and how we might make Jesus known among those who've heard his name but never seen His heart in actions........surpisingly - JOY happens.

Edwards' take on the most commonly used text at make-believer weddings, is just amazing.
1 Cor 13:1
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. "
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I had heard it said when I first was saved that "you can put the word Jesus in place of the word "love" in this text."
And while that would be fully true..........Christ is more described as the wisdom and knowledge of God in the scriptures........and the Holy Spirit seems to be the Love of God in the bible.

That love is the Holy Spirit. So we can have all kinds of "knowledge" and even a kind of faith.......but if we have not Love (the Holy Spirit) it profits us nothing......which makes sense, if you think about it - because
Mark 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?"
What good is knowledge if you do not have salvation !!!?
What good is being able to speak in tongues if you have not love for your brother as EVIDENCE that you are born of God???!!!

It profits us nothing.

Being born of the spirit is a mysterious thing........but the scripture tells us that one born of God will have corresponding fruit....ie..love to God and to others that is supernatural.
And since Love never ends.......it is eternal...it is GOD himself ruling in the soul of a believer that their actions are the affects of the Headship of the Living God in our lives.

1 John 4:8
"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 4:16
"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."

God didn't mince words, he said love for our brothers and sisters is great evidence that we are abiding in Him, we are His children, and have recieved the Holy Spirit.

Gal 5:22
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, against such things there is no law."

Romans 13:8
"Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."

Romans 13:10
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

Gal 5:14
"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Peaced out, broken and empty vessel that needs the Lord to fill me up with love for His people............
what a joyful place to be,

Love from Above and in truth ~
Jen2