Sunday, March 30, 2008

7x7

Okay, it's called 7x7. My friend Michelle tagged me so I am supposed to answer these things and tag seven other people.

Michelle, I just want to say I am doing this because I love you. But I am not doing anything else till you fix your blog:) Do a blogspot blog so it will be EASY to post pics and stuff. I am sure you can figure out how to add more pages.

7 things I'd like to do before I die:

1. Go back to Jamaica with Jeremy- where we had our honeymoon
2. Memorize the Word- at least a lot of the new testament books.
3. Figure out LOST, the show
4. See my children come to know the Lord and serve him with all their heart and soul
5. See those in my family who aren't saved come to know Jesus
6. Re-learn how to play the piano, I have a beautiful baby grand:)
7. Go on a medical mission trip

7 things I can't do well:

1. math
2. control my anger
3. keep a schedule
4. read a book- it takes me forever to finish one
5. be patient
6. use coupons at the store- I always forget!
7. communicate with Jeremy on a consistent basis what is going on-we're working on that:)

7 Favorite Movies:

Now I don't watch many, so we'll see..
1. The Sound of Music (I know technically not a movie, but...)
2. Annie (same applies)
3. Sweet Home Alabama



7 Things I say often:

1. "You may not"
2. "Say please"
3. "What just happened"
4. "Please forgive me"
5. "I love you"
6. "Hey, how are you?"
7. "Reilly, come"

7 things I'd like in a husband/like about my husband

1. He is such a servant to me and the girls
2. Very giving to others
3. Diligent
4. Has a passion for the gospel
5. Loves our children with all his heart
6. Loves his wife as Christ loved the church
7. A great builder:)

7 books and authors
this should be interesting

1. The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
2. The commentary on Esther and Ruth by Iain Duguid
3. Heaven at Home by Ginger Plowman
4. Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman
5. Sacred Marriage by I can't remember
6. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
7. Mrs. C.H. Spurgeon by Ray

7 People I tag:

1. Erika Dahl
2. Marge Sweigart
3. Meghann Hasty
4. Eileen Blackburn, maybe she'll post again??
5. Dana Tweed
6. Jess Moore
7. Shawnda Kovacs

It's All About You....

See post below:)
Cherie and Li Gi:) Their last night at our care group:(
Becky and I with our girls-Riley and Gracie on the day of their dedication
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It's All About You....

Wow! What a morning we had! Today was send-off Sunday at our church. We are sending off our first ever church plant. The new church is called Grace Community Church. They are planting in Mooresville/Kannapolis.
It was a bittersweet morning. Here we are worshipping our Savior with songs like "I surrender All" and "Jesus Lover of My Soul" which talks about it being all about Jesus- It's all about you Jesus, and all this is for you, for your glory and your fame, it's not about me, as if you should do things my way, you alone are God and I surrender to your ways. We were singing these knowing that our dear friends-160 of our church family! were singing them with us for the last time. It was heartwrenching. Jeremy and I were sitting behind our friends Brian and Becky (bad idea:), they are going on the plant. It was so hard to sing these knowing they wouldn't be sitting there next week. And Becky was wiping tears the whole time, so of course you know I couldn't handle that:) The Holy Spirit was working, you could feel His presence and His pleasure for the sacrifices we are all making to see His gospel go forward.
Our church is the dearest place on earth to Jeremy and I. It is the body of Christ. It's where we grow and learn together. It's where we learn to change and celebrate what God is doing. It's where we have deep deep friendships. It's where we come each week to give glory to God for all He is doing in and around us. We simply can't live without it. So, today was hard.
BUT it was sweet as well. Like I said, the gospel is going forth! That is why our church and sovereign grace ministries exists! To plant churches and further the gospel. There is no greater joy, nothing is more important! So we send our friends with great delight and hope for what God is going to do in Mooresville and Kannapolis. Our friendships won't be the same but they will remain. But it's all about God anyway, right?
Above there are pictures of Becky and Cherie. The two friends I am closest with that are going. There are many more families going that I will miss and have laid a great foundation at Crossway, that we have so benefitted from. Thank you to ALL of you!
Becky, was one of my first friends at Crossway. We met at care group and they (she and Brian) soon became our care group leaders. They were faithful to pour into Jeremy and I and we spent A LOT of time together. She was the one who declared "you are pregnant" when I became pregnant with Gracie and couldn't read the sticks! The really taught us so much about marriage and parenting. I am forever grateful for them. The past couple of years we haven't gotten to see them as much, but Oh they have left such an imprint on our hearts.
Cherie is a dear friend that I have been getting together with over the past 2 and 1/2 years. She was my Titus 2 mentor (older women train the younger women...) and my new care group leader. She has poured into me as well in so many ways. She has been faithful to get together with me every month to care for my soul. It has been so much fun! We laugh a lot. She calls me Li Gi. So if you ever hear that, you will know where it came from:)


Jeremy and I did not decide to go on the plant because we feel deeply called to stay at Crossway. We want to serve there and continue the work God began 17 years ago when our church was planted. We are in faith! God is going to do great things at Crossway and at Grace!
IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU JESUS! And one day we will ALL be together to worship again for ETERNITY!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

My Savior


Alas and did my Savior bleed

And did my Sovereign die

Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done He groaned upon that tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree.


My God, why would You shed your blood, so pure and undefiled

To make a sinful one like me, Your chosen precious child?


Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut His glories in,

When Christ, the mighty Maker died for man the creature's sin;

Thius might I hide my blushing face while His dear cross appears,

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness and melt my eyes to tears.


My God why would you shed Your blood, so pure and undefiled,

To make a sinful one like me, Your chosen, precious child?



Oh Lord, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Hallelujah! HE IS RISEN!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday

Good morning friends and family! Hope you all are well and pondering our Savior on this Good Friday. It's so beautiful outside here today. I can't help but think about what it must have been like on Good Friday so many years ago. It grieves my heart to look outside right now and picture my Savior hanging on the cross for my sins. Suffering in unimaginable pain and humility. Indeed my heart is heavy. It was MY sins that held him there. Yes, He could have stopped the torture at any moment. But He didn't. He chose the cross to die for me, so that I could have communion with God for eternity. Unbelieveable!
As Easter is upon us, I also think more and more about those who are dear to me that don't know the Lord. Many of them would claim to be a Christian. But they don't have a personal relationship with the Lord. They aren't seeking Him for how to live and change and grow. My heart is heavy for them too. Do they know that we will spend eternity somewhere-either heaven or hell? Do they know that Christ died for them too? Some of them do and they have rejected God still. Oh I pray for all today who can't experience Good Friday as a believer.
Jesus, thank you for the Cross!! Thank you for bearing my blame there.



What are you doing with your family this weekend to celebrate what Christ has done for us? I would love to hear. I have been talking to Gracie about the gospel alot this week and about Easter. We will do the Resurrection Eggs on Sunday morning and I think there is a recipe for bread that you make the night before and on Sunday morning it is risen. Need to find the recipe.
I just saw a cookie recipe on The Metro Moms blog. Check it out. It's really neat too.


Blessings to you all on this Good Friday!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Living in the Grip of Relentless Grace

What do you think about when you read that title? I just finished a commentary with that title, written by Iain Duguid. It's about the lives of Isacc and Jacob. I wish I could just quote the whole book here, but I can't so you should buy it. I used it in my devotions as I studied different parts of Genesis.
The book and of course the Bible point me to the fact that God uses wretches like me to do amazing things. Isaac and Jacob were conniving, dishonest men who manipulated their way through life. Jacob stole Esau's blessing, and wandered around for years when God had specifically told him where he should settle down (Bethel), just to name a few things. YET, he is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel!
Here is what Mr Duguid says.. "The doctrine of election is a difficult one for many people. They struggle with the justice of the idea that God chooses some for salvation and passes over others. Some people, therefore, have argued that it is a matter of God's foreknowledge. God knows in advance which people are going to choose him, and therefore he responds by choosing them. The Bible, however, is clear. God's love for his chosen people existed long before their birth, all the way back to the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4-5). God does not love us because he foresaw we would love him. Rather, we love God because he loved us from the first (1 John 4:10). In this way, our salvation is seen to rest on God's mercy and not on anything in us (Romans 9:16)."
"We should also notice, however, that Jacob is not chosen because, in contrast to Esau, he is such a wonderful person. Jacob shows himself to be a scheming, conniving, calculating little rat, especially during the first part of his life. Nonetheless, because God's choice rests upon him out of his sovereign mercy, God is going to work on Jacob, reshaping him, purifying him into a son he can use. Neither Jacob nor Esau deserves God's grace in his life, but God's sovereign mercy rests upon Jacob for his blessing, and so his grace begins the transforming work in his heart."
WOW! God did not choose me based on my merit! Thank goodness for that. I'd surely be sitting in hell. Thank you Lord for continuing to work on me, to reshape me and purify me!

Here's another one.."God's purposes for man's ultimate good will stand; they cannot be frustrated by human failures. This is a tremendously important biblical principle: your sin, even while it may have real and lasting earthly consequences, cannot derail God's gracious purpose for your life!!"
And this, "We see that Jacob was not instantaneously transformed into a holy person by his encounter with God. In spite of God's promise of protection, when trouble seems to be looming, he will continue to try to scheme his way out of it. Old habits die hard. The road to sanctification for Jacob was long and gradual and ultimately incomplete in this life. So it is also with us. We are faced daily with the choice between trusting the promise or falling into habitual patterns of sin. How frequently in our experience sin wins out over faith in the promise! Doubtless, during those times of life, Jacob would have had to return frequently to Bethel in his mind and recall the reality of God's grace. So also we should frequently remind ourselves of the grace of God shown to us in the cross of Christ, especially when we have sinned. This is a spiritual journey upon which we have been given the Lord's Supper as a vital help. As Paul tells us, "Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of Christ not simply as the general answer to the sins of the world but also to ourselves as the particular answer to our sin. Our hunger to be reminded of grace should make us long to come to the Lord's table often and should make our experience of God's grace there deep and precious."
Amen!!!
This seems to be a theme that God has been continually pointing me to lately-that he has chosen me based on his rightousness alone and that he will accomplish his purposes through me. Through doing this study, life's circumstances, and the book we are reading in care group "The Big Picture," I have come to this conclusion. So I have decided to change my blog title to reflect that. Surely I do live in the Grip of Relentless Grace. Glory to God.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Sweet Moment

Yesterday I had one of the sweetest moments of my life to date:)
I was mopping the kitchen floor and Gracie and Tristen and were playing in the playroom. I was listening to my IPOD and one of my favorite songs came on "Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone," by none other than Chris Tomlin. So I was so taken by the song that I began worshipping in the kitchen. I am guessing I was singing rather loudly;) because when I opened my eyes there stood two little girls. I wish you could have seen the look on their faces. They were completely still. Then Gracie said, "Mommy, we want to worship with you." So I put the Tomlin CD in the stereo and we sang together. THEN I was able to share the gospel with them and explain why mommy was so moved by that song.
How incredibly KIND of God to redeem the mundane tasks and allow me to worship with the girls and share the gospel with them. He is with us even as we mop the floor. And how amazing that He lets me share the gospel with HIS children. I am humbled. May you be encouraged:)

Monday, March 17, 2008

Piper is 2!


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Piper is 2!

Yesterday was Piper's second birthday. I seriously cannot believe she is two.
Piper is well, she is quite a character. She is a ton of fun with loads of personality. A little sugar and alot of spice (yes, it's genetic). On the go all the time is our little one. As of late, it is her mission to see how many things she can possibly get into in one day:) I am constantly asking, "Where is Piper?"
She is so adorable to us. Her Papa (Jeremy's Dad) said he never thought anyone could melt his heart, but she does it. There is just something in the way she looks at you. With those big eyes and chubby cheeks. Just irresistable. A load of trouble but when I look at her, I just want to squeeze her:)
Her first words in the morning, "Where is Dwacie (Gracie)?" She can't get enough of her big sister. She greets her so cheerfully, every chance she gets.
Her passions still include food and baby dolls. Yet she has added Nanny and Papaw to the list. She asks to go see them everyday. LaLa and Tristen are a close second. Definitely our social child. Waves to everyone we meet and tells them bye 40 times.
Happy second Birthday Piper! We Love you TONS!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Piper's Party

Gracie, Piper and Uncle Jason
Papa Ron and Uncle Jason with Jeremy and the girls
Pin the tail on the pony
I got a new baby just like my sister's (maybe I won't be so tempted to
take hers now...)

We celebrated Piper's second birthday tonight with our family and her buddies. We had a little pony party since Piper loves horsies. It was a really special birthday, Jason ( Jeremy's brother) was here to celebrate with us:)
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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Little Happenings

So here is what the Gibsons have been up to this week.... I hope you find humor in the second part:)

First, we had a little Clean Sweep meets Divine Design over at my sister's house. Monday we cleaned out the closets and rooms to get ready for Baby Bella:) She is coming in a few weeks! Then we decorated and painted Tristen's new room and get the nursery ready for Bella. So that was our project on Tuesday. So now Tristen has a cute little green big girl room and Baby Bella has a crib and linens ready for her arrival:) Next week will be clothes sorting week. You know, being the fourth girl and all, there is ALOT of them to go through. While there is nothing divine about my decorating skills, I love the Clean Sweep part. So we have to enlist the help of Lisa for the decorating.

**************************************

Now for the two funny conversations I had this week...

1. We were praying at breakfast that God would help us serve LaLa well.

Gracie- "Mommy, Baby Bella is coming soon right?"
Mom- "Yes she is, in a few weeks."
Gracie- "Yeah! How does she get out?"
Mom- hmmm, oh dear "Well, LaLa has to push her out. The Dr will come in and help LaLa
deliver Bella."
Gracie- "Yeeeahhh, it won't even hurt!"
Mom- "Oh no Gracie, it hurts a whole bunch!"

Of course I couldn't wait to tell LaLa this one... So we tell her and Abbie, my other sister who is home from college this week. Such a treat for us:)
LaLa "Gracie, if it doesn't hurt I'll give you a thousand dollars."
Ab- "If it does hurt will you give me the thousand?"



2. Jeremy calls home....
Jeremy- "Hey Babe, how is it going?"
Lindsay- "It's going well, how are you?"
Jeremy- "I am fine, Hey, is Kohl's having a sale?"
Lindsay- "Yeah, why?"
J- "Because I need some new black pants."
L- "why?"
J- "Because I bent down this morning and split mine. It's really bad."
L- Lots of laughter... knowing it had to be bad if he is asking for a new pair... "Okay. You know, you really should keep an extra pair of pants in your office."
J-"Well, this is only the second time this has happened."


HUH? How many times does it take honey? Like isn't one time enough to have you scared? Shows who's vain in our house!
He walked around the office with a jacket tied around his waist.
So he comes home and let me tell you, this is no little split people, it's from his waist all the way to the middle of your crotch kind of split. And it's not even on the seam!!!!


Hope you all are having a GREAT week!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

It's not plan B!!!!



This morning, Jeremy and I had the wonderful privilege of going to an adoption/foster care seminar at our church. Our friends, Jason and Shawnda Kovacs led the charge. They did an outstanding job of leading us through the scriptures to show us God's heart for orphans. James 1:27 "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, and the Father, is this:to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." PURE RELIGION is to care for orphans and widows. Have you ever thought that was what pure religion is???? I never have before.


As we unpacked the Word and saw God's heart for orphans, Jason shared this with us this quote by John Piper, "Adoption in God's mind was not PLAN B! He predestined us for adoption before the creation of the world. Plan A was not lots of children who never sin and never need to be redeemed. Plan A was creation, fall, redemption, adoption so that the full range of God's glory and mercy and grace could be known by his adopted children. Adoption was not second best. It was planned from the beginning. In our lives, there is something uniquely precious about having children by birth. That is not a good plan. There is also something different, but also uniquely precious, about adopting children. Each has its own uniqueness. Your choice to adopt children may be sequentially second. But does not have to be secondary. It can be as precious and significant as having children by birth. God is able to make adoption an A+ plan in our lives."


This spoke soooo much to me! I thought about adoption in this way for years, as plan B. I had infertility issues with Gracie and Piper and we felt that if we couldn't have our own we would definitely adopt. BUT now, I sing to a different tune. Praise God! There are several families in our church who have adopted children despite having biological ones. They are such examples to me, and seeing them live out the fact that adoption is not plan B has inspired me. We love the idea of adopting despite the fact that we have biological children. Because God has such a heart for them and so should we!! What an incredible way to demonstrate the gospel!!!


So are we adopting? I know you are thinking it;) Well, not right now. We will consider it when God lays it on our heart. For now we really wanted to know more about adoption and what other families have experienced. It was so moving to watch different friends of ours tell their stories and answer our questions. Our God is sooooo good. He is so faithful to the fatherless and those who care for them. We are definitely open and willing whenever the call comes.


To all of you who have a heart for adoption and foster care- THANK YOU!!!! The sacrifices are many, yet the rewards eternal. Thank you for demonstrating the Gospel in such a profound way.

Friday, March 7, 2008

Brusters

Tristen, Piper, Aunt Abbie and Gracie
Such a fun merry-go-round they have
Pipes eating her mint chocolate chip.


And Gracie doing the same


So we did make it to Bruster's for ice cream last Saturday. We had alot of fun! It became a family affair with Nanny, La La, Tristen and Abbie:) We ate lunch back on their picnic tables and about froze! It was really windy and colder than we thought. So we took our ice cream to Meemaw's house, she happens to live right there in Birkdale. So we were able to see her and my cousins Jess and Jenna and their hubbies too:) It was a great afternoon!
Oh and by the way, it was a HUGE scoop of ice cream in a nice waffle cone. Exactly what you would have gotten if you paid for it. And yes, I did wear my jammies too but I was behind the camera..
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