Aromas!

The Lord has been recently speaking to my heart quite frequently about the aroma of our house. I do not mean if it smells good due to a candle or after mopping the floors with Pinesol (which I truly enjoy both of the fragrances), but instead if our house is smelling sweet to our Lord and to those who enter into it. The verse which comes to mind is 2 Corinthians 2:15, which states: "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." So often, we allow our circumstances, bad attitudes, stresses of life to destroy the aroma of our home. I find myself having to stop on a daily basis and ask the Lord to refresh the aroma of our home. We want to exhibit the sweet smelling aroma of Christ to all who enter into our home and to the other family members who share our home. We pray that our home will be a sanctuary where the Lord will draw people to Himself, for this reason we must stay focused on keeping Him as the fragrance of our lives and our home. To this end, we are very excited about this coming week, because the Lord has graciously allowed us to have three different opportunities where we will be opening up our home to others. We covet your prayers for each of these times.

We thank you for your continued prayers. We continue to be reminded of the Lord's faithfulness in answering our prayers. Some prayers are answered very quickly and some we are still waiting on responses, but He continues to remind us that it is all in His perfect timing. I continue to be amazed by how He chooses to use us to share His love and message with others. I feel so inadequate and undeserving when I think of my sinfulness, and yet He continues to give me opportunities to share His message with others. It always excites me when He uses my struggles to teach other people His truth and faithfulness. He chose to use my weakness this morning to hopefully draw someone closer to His kingdom. As Grace and I were walking back from taking the boys to school, I was praying and asking the Lord to guide and direct our steps and asking Him to forgive me of a sin which He had shown me. Later in the morning, I was on the internet when I had a friend who lives in another European country begin a skype conversation with me. I was so thankful to the Lord that I was able to share with her some Truth that the Lord had just reminded me of this past weekend and then later in the conversation I was also able to share more of the Gospel with her. I praise the Lord that He used me to share with her what He had just taught me. I continue to be amazed by His perfect timing.

This past weekend, He gently reminded me that He knows the plans that He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). He spoke to me after the third word, that's all He needed to say and then we stayed at that place in Scripture for a while. Life can be very uncertain at times, but He reminded me that He is still the One in control and that His plans will be established. In the midst of these uncertainties (language school for Chris, Michele's birth, etc) I can still find peace because He is the peace giver. He did not give me peace this weekend by giving me an answer to all of my questions, instead He gave me His peace by simply reminding me that He knows His plans for me. This may seem completely obvious to you, but I needed to be reminded of this truth once again. May we continue to be hopeful and patient in Him!