Year Three.

Nate and I have been married for 3 years today. It seems cliche to say every year how I can't believe we've been married this long, but it's true. So I'll risk the cheesiness of it.

I honestly can't tell y'all how awesome my husband is. He is loving, and strong, and sexy, and well... becoming more perceptive =)

Sometimes I think back to our wedding day and I think, "Did we even know each other??" There are sooo many more things that I know and love and appreciate about Nate now that I didn't see before we were married.

On thing that has jumped out to me this year is how well Nate serves me. He selflessly serves me so well. I had some pretty low points this year and I can' t count the number of loads of laundry he did, or dishes he washed, or even suppers he cooked. Sometimes I get embarrassed that my husband truly did step into my perceived roles this year, but I know in my heart that it was exactly what I needed. I never heard him complain about caring for me.

Basically, my husband is awesome.

Lovely.

Is it too redundant to say that I love the word, lovely? 

If I were from England, I would never stop using this word...but somehow I don't think it's as socially acceptable to overuse this word if you're not British. Not sure if that's accurate or not, but if I'm not going to eat crumpets I probably can't say, 'lovely' 69 times a day. 

Anyway...although I love this word, it's definitely not a word that I would use to describe myself. Many of you know that I've struggled for a long long time with body image (you can read more about that here). Lovely implies a beauty that I normally don't attribute to myself. 

love·ly

   [luhv-lee]  Show IPA adjective, love·li·er,love·li·est, noun, plural love·lies, adverb

adjective

1.

charmingly or exquisitely beautiful: a lovely flower.

2.

having a beauty that appeals to the heart or mind as well asto the eye, as a person or a face.

3.

delightful; highly pleasing: to have a lovely time.

Sidenote: On my wedding day God gave me a gift that was so much more than a sexy husband. He helped me to feel pretty. He took away the anxiety that I feel when people look at me. He gave me a sense that I was beautiful, and for the first time in my entire life I actually believed I was. It was magical, and I will always remember the freedom I experienced that day.

Now back to lovely....

I'm reading this book:

It's AWESOME. In the first story of creation, the book spoke the most profound truth to me...

"And they were lovely because HE loved them." 

I am lovely. I have beauty. Not because I'm tan, or fit, or look awesome in a bikini. Not because I have straight teeth or perfect hair or big boobs. 

I am lovely because God loved me. 

Let that soak deep in your heart. Let it shout back at you as you look in the mirror. Let it hold you steady while you the waves of comparison threaten to crash down on you. Let it mold and shape your perception of not only yourself, but those around you.

We are lovely because we are loved. 

The End.

Hey Christian Girl...

If you have seen the "Hey Girl" pictures on Facebook with Ryan Gosling, you will for sure love this. If you haven't seen them, go to Pinterest right now and laugh your heart out....then come back here and laugh some more.

Just a little humor about the Christian culture...

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I always feel it's a good practice to learn to laugh at yourself. And let's be real, as Christians, we have a lot to laugh about =)

If you liked these, head over to Hey Christian Girl and have a wonderfully, humorous day!

The Man Behind the Pulpit

My Dad's a pastor. Yes, meaning I am that dreaded 'Pastor's Kid' (where social awkwardness is an art form)

There are a lot of things that I hated about my dad's job when I was younger. I hated that he couldn't be at every single one of my basketball games. I hated how his schedule was so fluid. I just didn't like it. Period.

But here's what I've learned as I am becoming super wise: Being a pastor isn't my Dad's job. He IS a Pastor, deep in the core of his character.

He is a care-er of people, in his congregation and in the gymnasium at the YMCA. He is a compeller of hearts, whether it be from behind the pulpit, or sitting on the couch in our living room. My dad is that guy who will help you grow in your faith and reroof your house at the same time. He can share with you a hard truth about your life in the form of a farm story. He has a million favorite hymns and sings them all. A LOT.

When he's not singing hymns, which is a rarity, he has time to be a normal person spors-lover. Sports has always connected my Dad and I. Between the watching, the arguing, and the playing, we spend quite a bit of time around them. My reward when I was little was to stay up and watch the first half of the Monday Night Football game with him and my mom. He NEVER let me win at any sport we ever played. There was no mercy in our games. I will forever remember the first day I beat him in a basketball game. It was almost a rite of passage. We still play ball together. He actually still thinks he can beat me =)

- He's the kind of guy that will call you up just to tell you a new corny joke.
- He loves the unlovable in people...and snacks (Fig Newtons, for real??).
- He calls me 'girly' and 'Meg-a-lou'.
- He tells me how proud he is of me.
- He loves my husband.
- He is the most ornery person I know, second only to his father.
- He still picks me off my feet when he hugs me and kisses me on the cheek.
- His face lights up when he laughs his big booming laugh.
- It never fails that when he sees cows out in a pasture, he cups his hands over his mouth and 'Moos' to them.
- He is the KING of breakfast foods. He makes the best sausage gravy in the world.
- He makes it known to everyone how much he loves my mom - usually in the most awkward way he can conjure up in his mind.
- His body is literally a wonderland: He can clap his fingers against the palms of his hands, blow air through his eyeballs, and play music by knocking on the top of his head.
- He can't jump and yet somehow he's the best offensive-rebounder I know.

And yet in all this, my favorite fact about my dad comes back to his occupation. Because I didn't have to see a different man at the church, with his congregation, or behind the pulpit every week: I got to watch my daddy, who was the same on Sunday mornings as he was on Friday nights. And that makes him incredibly unique and AWESOME.

He IS a Pastor. Nothing different, no false pretenses or fakeness. Just a farm boy who loves Jesus, and loves people.

Just Dad.




Linking with Life of Meg, Lowercase Letters, Finding Beauty in the Ordinary, Bits of Splendor, Life Lately 

Thinking on God's Face.

Our mental images of God can be so funny sometimes. You know that when you picture God you see something like the old wrinkly man, in a white robe, with a long white beard, wearing Jesus sandals. We've all done it. That is, unless you've recently watched Bruce Almighty lately, then you may be picturing Morgan Freeman.

Source: google.co.uk via Jo on Pinterest

While I'm fairly certain, aka 100% positive, that God doesn't physically look like anything we can imagine, this week I was challenged to think about God's face.

You would think that this lesson would sink into my thick skull, but when I picture God looking down on me, I've always imagined the look on his face to be one of disappointment. I had this picture of him with his hand framing his forehead, just shaking his head and saying, "Oh, Megan, Megan, Megan, why can't you ever get this right?" or "Good night, how long will it take you to grow in this area?" or "Are we rreeaallyyy back here again?"

I imagine Him a frustrated, almost exasperated father who is just biting the bit for me to get my act together.

And yet, I know this isn't true. I may not know God's physical features, but I can say for certain that I know the look on his face when he sees me.

OVERJOYED.

God is overjoyed when He looks at me. Because, the truth of the gospel is that He is DEEPLY satisfied with me.

I am united with Jesus, and logically, I know that God isn't disappointed with Jesus. He says that he is 'well pleased' with His son. When God looks at me, he sees Jesus. And God is pleased with me because he is pleased with Jesus.

I can do no more to increase God's satisfaction with me than I can do to....well, I can't think of anything completely impossible right now, but you get my point.

Overjoyed. Let that sink in. How different would our lives look if we really believed that we a) saw God's satisfaction as our only necessity and b) knew there is no way to diminish said satisfaction??

Mine would look very different for sure. I imagine freedom would be a good descriptor.

Happy Wednesday, peeps.

Give me some babies

Not literally. But how can anyone not get "the itch" when around these ah-dorable kids all day??

Caroline has probably the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Her ivory skin is to DIE for and she has such a sweet and curious temperament.

Lucy still hasn't decided whether she likes me or not. This is honestly one of the best smiles I've gotten out of her so far.  She's still figuring me out, but obviously it's not hard to figure out that she is just adorable. I'm hoping we'll be best friends by summer's end.

Maddie May stole my heart with her sweet smile. She's such a happy baby and gets me again with her big blue eyes (I'm sensing a theme here).

Buddy and Lucy. Always good for a fist bump. 

Samantha now wants to be called Joy, which I'm perfectly ok with. She can probably ride her bike faster than I can, and for sure faster than Nate =) She is quieter than her siblings but there's still hope for our budding friendship. 

Abby is basically my new best friend. Her favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast and she loves flying like a bird, as you can see here. 'Are you kiddin' me?' can often be heard from her sweet, naturally red lips, even when it make absolutely no sense in the context of conversation. She's a little crazy which, in my mind, make the most awesome little girls.

Yet, all that to say...this little troublemaker may be my favorite. Dave will streetfight you in a millisecond. He can plow many an unsuspecting adult right over with his brute toddler strength. He's always into some mischief and to catch him still enough to take his picture is a rarity.
Dave LOVES Nate, and every time I see them together it reminds me of when we have our own little street fighter. Because, Lord knows we will most definitely not have gentle and mild tempered boys.

These kids are my current obsession....in a non-creeper way. But don't worry Momma, the goalie is still in place. No babies in our near future =) But I'm excited for when that time comes.

Linking with Life of Meg, Lowercase Letters, Finding Beauty in the Ordinary, Bits of Splendor, Life Lately 

Righteousness Is A Big Word

And I ALWAYS misspell it. What is that 'e' doing in there anyways? Not sure that's really necessary.

I'm not gonna lie, these past few weeks have been hard. Awesome, and hard at the same time. Let's start with the awesome:

• I'm in Wildwood, New Jersey serving on a summer project with CRU. 
• My staff team is sooo sexy. We have such a good mix of wisdom (aka old people) and energy (aka me, who can't sit still to save my life). 
• We have 60 students here who are all passionate about serving Jesus and telling other people about him. They have been a refreshment to my soul. 
• Our staff kids are so stinkin' adorable that I now want to have like 10 million babies. Nate is not yet aware of my plan but I'm thinking he'll be all for it.
• Wildwood has a Boardwalk with a Funnel Cake stand. Enough said.

Now for the hard. Amongst all this awesomeness I feel like it's been such a struggle to connect with God. This has actually been a theme for the past couple of months. More than God, I don't really feel like I'm connecting with life. It is as if I'm standing still and people are in a blur of motion all around me. I'm stuck in this state of being- stagnate, unmoving, rooted in the weight of something I can't see. I'm unable to grasp ahold of any moving thing around me to pull me out of this sludge of my spirit.

Does that make sense? I don't even know if I understand it, honestly. 

And along with this 'spirit sludge' comes the shame of knowing that I could be doing so much more for Jesus. I could be loving him so much more intimately, pursuing Him with so much more of myself. I could BE more and yet, I'm not. I fight the shadow of His disappointment that I perceive to be covering me: smothering me. 

And then, peering into my sludge comes one of the most simple sayings holding one of the most profound truths.

I am made righteous by the righteousness of another.

If I didn't write another blog post, win another person to Christ, encourage one more person, if I did nothing of any importance, God would love me exactly the same as He does right now. My goodness, performance, activity energy etc. has no effect on my righteousness. THANK THE LORD. My 'right-ness' with God is based not on my goodness, or merit, but on that of Jesus. He has made me right with God. He has paved the way for me to enter God's presence. My righteousness is based on Him and therefore cannot be lessened, lost, or diminished in any way. 

God is soooo good. This sludge is slowly washing away to reveal the beauty of the gospel that I have ignored for so long. 

Please don't allow the sludge to keep you stuck in the darkness thinking you are responsible for the grace God gives you. Speak this truth to yourself DAILY. 

I for sure will be.