2 weeks to go!

 

Baby Girl is almost here! It's been an extremely hard pregnancy and now, we are being pressured to have her by 39 weeks or they'll give us a repeat C-Section. Praying hard and Waiting on the Lord. May He have His way and be Glorified. We can't wait to hold her in our arms.

True Joy

Are you frustrated? Utterly discouraged because of how life is going? What did you expect? Did you believe the lie that life was all about you and your desires? ?Yes nowadays we are taught to indulge, be "ourselves" 

(whatever that means) seek pleasure at all cost but is that really what life is all about? Is it really pleasurable to live in such a manner or does living this way just rob us of joy? Being sinful, indulging in what seems pleasurable to us and seeking to fulfill our own desires only leads to sin and sin to death. So how are we to live then? The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it simply 

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? 

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

So What is the point of life? How are we to live you ask? Scripture tells us that we ought to live for the glory of God. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31) Instead of seeing all things through the lenses of whether or not whatever we are thinking about doing will be pleasurable for us, we ought to ask instead whether whatever we're considering doing pleases the Lord and will bring Him the most Glory. 

Life is hard, we live in a fallen world. We are constantly met with disappointments. We cannot live for the "pleasures" in  this life. Things in this life are fleeting and passing away. We must set our gaze on Christ and the things above. When we are self absorbed not only are we in sin but we rob ourselves of joy.

R.C. Sproul wrote a book Titled Can I Have Joy in My Life? in it he writes: "The enticement of sin is that we think it will make us happy. We think it will give us joy and personal fulfillment. But it merely gives us guilt, which undermines and destroys authentic joy."

This book has really helped me in my walk. It was extremely difficult for me to transition from living for my own pleasures to living for the Lord and finding my Joy in Him. The Lord has used this book to put everything in perspective for me and teach me to imitate Christ and lay down my life for others not to mention live to do the Will of my Father in heaven rather than doing my own will and whatever I perceive will bring me joy in this life.

Download for Free HERE

Tips for New Parents from Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar

I just bumped into this on the TLC Website.

10. Parenting brings some of the greatest joys in life, but it will also keep you on your knees in prayer.

9. Keep dating each other, even after you have children. The stronger your marriage is, the closer your family will be.

8. Don't be a perfectionist, military drill sergeant to your children. Praise your children ten times more than you correct them.

7. Your children will learn more from what you do than what you say! Lead by example.

6. Realize each one of us makes mistakes everyday and we must be willing to quickly humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness and make things right.

5. Hold everyone lovingly accountable. Gently respond when anyone speaks with sharp words, harshness or anger and make them aware of their tone.

4. Don't be self-centered or put others down. Concentrate on talking with a soft tone and showing acts of kindness to each other.

3. Turn off the computer, TV, and video games and spend time together as a family looking for opportunities to invest in the lives of others in need.

2. You will never regret spending too much time together. Make fun memories; enjoy the time you have with your children because they grow up fast!

1. True success will come as you love God and treat others as you would like to be treated.

Bible Study Tools

"Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;" 1 Timothy 4:7

Do you have questions about marriage?

Do you want to understand what the gospel is?

Do you have questions about God's Character?

DesiringGod.org is a wonderful website that can help you understand the bible better

Here's a little video for some more information on what you will find on the site

November 6, 2012

3 Months! ^_^

A Crazy Ride

Dropped my laptop on the bare ground in all of my pride last night, but praise the Lord it is still working. In other news Azariah Aideen Samuels is here. Born July 30th in an emergency C Section. Baby is healthy, Marie is fine but in a lot of pain. Please pray for her. I haven't really slept since Sunday...don't think things will change anytime soon. Praying for greater grace :). Wow...I'm a father. Sooo weirrrrddddd!!! The rescue mission begins...May the Lord be merciful to this wretched sinner :)

I'm Amazed at the Lord's ability to take my callousness toward the Church and make me appreciate it beyond measure. He has done this by stripping away members of mines and my wife's real family and allowing the church to take their place. Though this grieves my inner man and requires much wisdom to maneuver through backlash and anger on their part, I am glad that God is sovereign over my sins and ABLE to provide for my wife and I because we are His children. I am also exceedingly amazed that God took this spoiled brat who lived for himself and made him lead, provide for and sacrifice for this lovely lady of mines, and this child. I am not my own nor am I myself these days. Christ literally lives through me. I am simply along for this ride of glory. May God continue to glorify Himself in the shattering of my self. I'm really tired, really stressed, but God is good. In my "apostle Paul" voice, I am the LEAST likely candidate to be a father and husband and those who truly know me can attest to this and give God His due glory.

I must be honest though, since my wife and I started looking at new places to live I've been pretty despondent about life and towards life. In God's sovereignty this has carried over to now and I don't feel much anxiety now that we have moved out of my mom's place and given birth to Aidenn. I thought for sure I would pass out and die when my baby came because it's such a huge change in my life. Everything just feels surreal though, no panic, no anxiety, no psychosis. It's weird though, I don't know how to think of the baby. It's like he's me, but he's not me at all. He came from me, but he is not me. I think it's best described in the analogy of how God created us. We were made in His image, but we are not Him, and He is not us. I want to think that he has the same thoughts as me and the same personality, but he doesn't. He is his own person. When I think like that, I think I begin to think properly though I feel sort of disconnected from him at that point. But I say "properly" because he is not "mines." I am his steward. I am his father but ultimately he belongs to the Lord as do all people who are created by God. Indeed all people are created by God, but not all are His children. Aidenn is my child though, so I will treat him as such and love him as such by the grace God gives me. 

-Tyrell

Answering Tough Questions

Great advice on how to go about answering the many questions our little ones ask.

This was extremely helpful!