The Only Thing
It is a little sobering to be standing at the end of yet another year. 2007 has come and gone, and we have never been more excited to start a new year!
Lauri, 24, is now engaged (as of Christmas Eve) to a wonderful man named Joseph Baker. Our parents could not ask for a better son-to-be, nor we a better brother-to-be (aside from Rob, that is :). Amy, 22, and her husband Rob are visiting us from Oregon and it has been so good to have our house even more full than usual! Guy, 21, has recently been accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary and we are so proud and happy to see him following his heart for God through ministry! I, Leah, am 19 and a junior at CSUEB (California State University, East Bay). I am majoring in Psychology and aspire to serve the Lord with my life through counseling others as He so wonderfully counsels me. My little brothers Stephen and Daniel, who are not so little anymore - as they have both outgrown me! - are attending Chabot Community College to complete their general education. As for the youngest ones: Seth, David, and Nicholas, they are still home schooled by an exceptional teacher and are happy as long as each keeps to his own toys :) And last but definitely not least are Dad and Mom. We as their nine children are forever grateful for the way they daily lay down their lives for us. Words are insufficient to express our appreciation.
I think this Christmas has been a little taste of heaven for all of us. No time and space to separate us. Just togetherness and close fellowship. For me, I have found my closest friends in family and my family in closest friends. And despite all differences, there is one thing that binds us together. It is the only one thing worth living for. It was strong enough to keep God nailed to a cross. It is deep enough to forgive every offense. Love is the only thing so strong and deep and great. And I have learned that to truly love is to truly live, even when it leads to death. It is to sacrifice without looking for a reward. It is to give without expecting anything in return. It is to be vulnerable, to invest our heart and soul, and to risk pain all in service to another. It is to be happy in his gladness. It is to bear his burdens. It is to count another as more important than ourselves, to put his needs and desires before our own, and to be more concerned about his gain than our losses. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," John 15:13.
This year, I have been humbled to find that this most godly characteristic I could possess is also the most impossible to develop in myself. Indeed, we have no power to truly love others without the strength of the One who has truly loved us. And to Him who has traded His mansion for a manger and His comfort for a cross, to Him belongs our greatest love and devotion. Love not merely because of His good gifts, but because He is good. And devotion beyond our prosperity or poverty. If you, as we, have been tested this year, it is by His grace that He is proving our love genuine. Surely love is truest when it is chosen over the most extreme temptations to hate. A blessing is best praise when it comes in cursing's stead. And life is greatest found where death is most readily accepted, hence the cross we are called to daily bear. "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me," Matthew 10:38. So in counting Him worthy enough to follow unto death, we are counted worthy enough to follow.
Looking back on this year may cause us to experience a roller coaster of emotions, but through it all we have found that one truth remains stable: God is Love. Dear friends, let us cling to this truth despite pain or pleasure, poverty or prosperity, and trials or triumphs in the years to come! Let us follow in His footprints of Love.
Lauri, 24, is now engaged (as of Christmas Eve) to a wonderful man named Joseph Baker. Our parents could not ask for a better son-to-be, nor we a better brother-to-be (aside from Rob, that is :). Amy, 22, and her husband Rob are visiting us from Oregon and it has been so good to have our house even more full than usual! Guy, 21, has recently been accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary and we are so proud and happy to see him following his heart for God through ministry! I, Leah, am 19 and a junior at CSUEB (California State University, East Bay). I am majoring in Psychology and aspire to serve the Lord with my life through counseling others as He so wonderfully counsels me. My little brothers Stephen and Daniel, who are not so little anymore - as they have both outgrown me! - are attending Chabot Community College to complete their general education. As for the youngest ones: Seth, David, and Nicholas, they are still home schooled by an exceptional teacher and are happy as long as each keeps to his own toys :) And last but definitely not least are Dad and Mom. We as their nine children are forever grateful for the way they daily lay down their lives for us. Words are insufficient to express our appreciation.
I think this Christmas has been a little taste of heaven for all of us. No time and space to separate us. Just togetherness and close fellowship. For me, I have found my closest friends in family and my family in closest friends. And despite all differences, there is one thing that binds us together. It is the only one thing worth living for. It was strong enough to keep God nailed to a cross. It is deep enough to forgive every offense. Love is the only thing so strong and deep and great. And I have learned that to truly love is to truly live, even when it leads to death. It is to sacrifice without looking for a reward. It is to give without expecting anything in return. It is to be vulnerable, to invest our heart and soul, and to risk pain all in service to another. It is to be happy in his gladness. It is to bear his burdens. It is to count another as more important than ourselves, to put his needs and desires before our own, and to be more concerned about his gain than our losses. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends," John 15:13.
This year, I have been humbled to find that this most godly characteristic I could possess is also the most impossible to develop in myself. Indeed, we have no power to truly love others without the strength of the One who has truly loved us. And to Him who has traded His mansion for a manger and His comfort for a cross, to Him belongs our greatest love and devotion. Love not merely because of His good gifts, but because He is good. And devotion beyond our prosperity or poverty. If you, as we, have been tested this year, it is by His grace that He is proving our love genuine. Surely love is truest when it is chosen over the most extreme temptations to hate. A blessing is best praise when it comes in cursing's stead. And life is greatest found where death is most readily accepted, hence the cross we are called to daily bear. "And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me," Matthew 10:38. So in counting Him worthy enough to follow unto death, we are counted worthy enough to follow.
Looking back on this year may cause us to experience a roller coaster of emotions, but through it all we have found that one truth remains stable: God is Love. Dear friends, let us cling to this truth despite pain or pleasure, poverty or prosperity, and trials or triumphs in the years to come! Let us follow in His footprints of Love.