ABIDE. This five letter word has been a running theme in our lives since before Seth and I were married. As most running themes do, it has left it's shimmering trail on our hearts through every major decision we have made. The first revelation of "abiding" came six months after we were married. We were spending the summer in Lake City working for David and Rosie at the Inn at the Lake (little did we know this town would be a much bigger part of our future). Our goal for that summer was to pray together to seek out what the Lord's will was for the next phase of our lives. One evening, we were having our devotional time together and we came across the Oswald Chamber's chapter for the day- June 14th. Here is an excerpt:
"Abide in Me..." John 15:4
"Our Lord's inner abiding was pure and unblemished. He was at home with God wherever His body was. He never chose His own circumstances, but was meek, submitting to His Father's plans and directions for Him. Just think of how amazingly relaxed our Lord's life was! But we tend to keep God at a fever pitch in our lives. We have none of the serenity of the life which is 'hidden with Christ in God' (Colossians 3:3) ..."Make the determination to abide in Jesus wherever you are now or wherever you may be placed in the future."
Wow! After reading that chapter several times out loud, we came to the conclusion that God's ultimate will for us isn't found in a certain place, job, degree, or relationship. His utmost desire and calling on our life is to ABIDE IN HIM. How freeing that concept is! As humans we love to complicate our lives and then we whine about how complicated our lives are. God's original design for mankind was to live naked and carefree in a perfect garden with all the time in the world to spend with Him. Since the fall, we have a bit more on our plate to do just to survive, but His plan for our lives still remains. "The chief end of man is to know God and make Him known." How can we possibly know Him without spending time with Him? We trick ourselves into believing that if only we can do something for God, memorize enough verses, go to enough potlucks, serve on enough committees, share the gospel with enough people... we can be in right standing with Him and therefore figure out the higher purpose of our lives. All of these things are good things, but if they become ultimate and begin to take the place of our relationship with our Father they take His place and can become idols.
In Matthew 11:28-30 our Lord said "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
I praise the Lord for His competence. All the work that needs to be done for my salvation and eternal rest has already been done, through the blood of Jesus Christ. All I must do is accept it and abide.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Friday, November 9, 2007
Unmerited, Absolutely Overwhelming Blessing
The last week of October was an incredibly tough week.
We learned that there is a very ugly side of ministry and were looking it right in the face. We also truly learned that no matter how hard we struggle, how much we are persecuted, how how much we are disliked by enemies of Christianity... there is nothing that compares to the glory we will share with Christ when our days on earth are through. Romans 8:17
Though we were discouraged, our relationship with each other only grew stonger, as did our reliance on the Lord as our ONLY hope and ONLY comfort. I began to get excited that there was turmoil because it means something is being stirred up... "for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" 1 Cor 1:18
On top of all that encouragement, the Lord had something even more affirming in store for us at the Youth Convention in St. Louis. By Sunday afternoon, we were relishing in our weekend. The entire experience had been perfect, down to the smallest detail: the weather, our rental car, our hotel (right by the arch), the food, the people we met, the teaching, our time together... I had even metioned that absolutely NOTHING could make this weekend any better! haha!
One of the seminars we chose to attend was about middle school ministry. This particular seminar's teacher was Mark Oestreicher (Marko). He is the president of Youth Specialties, the organization that puts this conference together. Afterwards, we had a few questions for Marko concerning our particular middle school ministry. To clarify our question we explained our very unique situation of employment by 5 different churches- each from a different denomintation. I don't think Marko even heard our question! He was so ecstatic and intrigued by our situation. He asked for our contact info to hear more.
We received a call from him a couple hours later. He wanted to make sure we would be attending the general session that evening because he had a book he wanted to give us. We said yes, and were very excited to share more about what the Lord has done here in Lake City. At the session, the worship band finished and right before the speaker was supposed to go up, Marko came onstage and asked for Seth and Crystal Dady. !!! We were in shock! Reaching center stage, my main concern was keeping my knees from shaking too badly! There we stood, in front of 3500+ other youth workers, most of whom had been doing this for years and years, sharing the miraculous story of what the Lord has done in tiny Middle of Nowhere, Colorado. Right after Seth listed the 5 different denomintations involved, applause erupted from all around us! The Lord was SOOOO glorified in that place for the work He has done and the people in Lake City who were obedient to His call.
To top it all off, Youth Specialties wanted to encourage us by giving us $4oo to their resources store, 2 free convention passes for next year(worth $600), a free rafting trip for our entire youth group next summer, 300 finger rockets (the kids LOVE them!), and a Narnia gift basket!! WOW! We have never been so speechless with gratitude. Afterwards we were able to talk to several other youth directors who were encouraged by our testimony. Many of them asked "How do you do it?" To which we responded "We don't!! We don't know what we're doing!" haha, I'm sure that was REAL encouraging. Honestly, we were reminded of God's incredible sovereignty in piecing all of this together and pulling us along on the most incredible, most rewarding adventure of our lives.
We learned that there is a very ugly side of ministry and were looking it right in the face. We also truly learned that no matter how hard we struggle, how much we are persecuted, how how much we are disliked by enemies of Christianity... there is nothing that compares to the glory we will share with Christ when our days on earth are through. Romans 8:17
Though we were discouraged, our relationship with each other only grew stonger, as did our reliance on the Lord as our ONLY hope and ONLY comfort. I began to get excited that there was turmoil because it means something is being stirred up... "for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" 1 Cor 1:18
On top of all that encouragement, the Lord had something even more affirming in store for us at the Youth Convention in St. Louis. By Sunday afternoon, we were relishing in our weekend. The entire experience had been perfect, down to the smallest detail: the weather, our rental car, our hotel (right by the arch), the food, the people we met, the teaching, our time together... I had even metioned that absolutely NOTHING could make this weekend any better! haha!
One of the seminars we chose to attend was about middle school ministry. This particular seminar's teacher was Mark Oestreicher (Marko). He is the president of Youth Specialties, the organization that puts this conference together. Afterwards, we had a few questions for Marko concerning our particular middle school ministry. To clarify our question we explained our very unique situation of employment by 5 different churches- each from a different denomintation. I don't think Marko even heard our question! He was so ecstatic and intrigued by our situation. He asked for our contact info to hear more.
We received a call from him a couple hours later. He wanted to make sure we would be attending the general session that evening because he had a book he wanted to give us. We said yes, and were very excited to share more about what the Lord has done here in Lake City. At the session, the worship band finished and right before the speaker was supposed to go up, Marko came onstage and asked for Seth and Crystal Dady. !!! We were in shock! Reaching center stage, my main concern was keeping my knees from shaking too badly! There we stood, in front of 3500+ other youth workers, most of whom had been doing this for years and years, sharing the miraculous story of what the Lord has done in tiny Middle of Nowhere, Colorado. Right after Seth listed the 5 different denomintations involved, applause erupted from all around us! The Lord was SOOOO glorified in that place for the work He has done and the people in Lake City who were obedient to His call.
To top it all off, Youth Specialties wanted to encourage us by giving us $4oo to their resources store, 2 free convention passes for next year(worth $600), a free rafting trip for our entire youth group next summer, 300 finger rockets (the kids LOVE them!), and a Narnia gift basket!! WOW! We have never been so speechless with gratitude. Afterwards we were able to talk to several other youth directors who were encouraged by our testimony. Many of them asked "How do you do it?" To which we responded "We don't!! We don't know what we're doing!" haha, I'm sure that was REAL encouraging. Honestly, we were reminded of God's incredible sovereignty in piecing all of this together and pulling us along on the most incredible, most rewarding adventure of our lives.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Our front yard...
8:00 am I feel a cold nose on my arm signaling me it's time to get up to go outside. After sleepily deciding who will take the anxious dogs out to tinkle, I try to find something warm to wear over my pjs and stumble out into the crisp Colorado morning. This is the scene I wake up to as I draw my first fresh breath of mountain air for the day.
After nine months of living here we still find ourselves captivated by the beauty designed especially for us by our Creator. I often find myself wondering about the garden of Eden. This fallen world we live in is flawed since the first bite of forbidden fruit and cursed by the One who set it all in motion. However, He still chose to reflect His glory in it. If His infinitely unfathomable glory can be reflected in such an imperfect world, how much more glorious will be the place He has perfected for us? How many different kinds of the most beautiful fragrant flowers is He cultivating for us in Heaven? What breathtaking colors will we behold in the heavenly sky? Can we even imagine the intense purity of the crystal sea? As you go about your daily life... the mundane busyness we create around us... stop to contemplate what you were really created for. If God, our Father, in His indescribable goodness gave us all of this in our fallen state, how much more will He reveal when we are resurrected with Him?
"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light f the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:1-5
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