Grain, New Wine, Olive Oil...and Lice???
Posted by Candace
I know, I know...very odd title for a blog post. Bet you won't ever find another one like it, but it will all make sense if you make it to the end (at least it will make more sense than it does now).
Emily tells us that we are about 2 weeks out from our travel approval. That approval means we can officially book our trip, so it won't be long now.
In the meantime, God is digging deep in me, preparing me for our daughter. He has promised that she will be bringing much joy with her and I am excited to begin this new chapter in our lives. We are having to press through difficulties and I now see what I was warned of in the beginning. The enemy hates adoptions and he does not let them take place without a fight. For some it is financial problems or problems with vehicles or jobs. For us, among other things, it has been lice. Yes, you heard me correctly. We were invaded with the little creatures...all of us but my bald husband. After much, and at times loud, discussion, David shaved Jordan and Nathan's heads to make sure there was no chance of reinfestation. I jokingly commented that he had probably planted the lice, because he had been begging the boys to follow his "baldness" lead. He offered to shave mine and sadly, as freaked out as I was, I almost let him, but my hair dresser came to the rescue. She sweetly came over (after she emphatically told me NOT to shave my head) and cut my hair and picked it clean of the little boogers.
As weird as this may sound, I think I heard God say that the lice were a blessing in disguise. As crazy as that sounds...and believe me, after about 20 loads of laundry, vacumming, spraying, bagging, and picking, it sounds pretty crazy... I began to think about how quickly the enemy can infiltrate our minds with lies and wrong thoughts and how believing those thoughts causes them to multiply. Pretty soon we are infested with lies, just as my hair was infested with lice. When we begin to confront this infestation, it is overwhelming and requires patience. It also requires the right tools. I tried to use a comb to pull lice out of Jordan's hair, but it didn't do a thing. When I used the metal lice comb, it started to pull everything out. The Word of God is like a "lie comb". It exposes and eradicates every lie of the devil, but sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes we have to be persistent and radical if we want to see real, true change in our lives. We must not give up, because as soon as we do, a reinfestation will occur. Right now, not only am I consistently checking my hair for lice, I am just as often checking my mind for lies of the enemy. I want to eradicate every single one!
This morning, my devotional led me to Joel 2 where I read this Scripture. "Look, I am about to send you grain, new wine, and olive oil. You will be satiated with them, and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations." Don't ask me why, but this passage spoke to my deep into my spirit. In Biblical times, grain, new wine, and oil were signs of abundance and prosperity. When they showed up, the famine was over and it was time to celebrate. But in order to get from famine to grain, wheat must be threshed. In order to get from famine to new wine, grapes must be crushed. In order to get from famine to olive oil, olives must be pressed. Threshed, crushed, and pressed...it's what we must go through if we really want our lives to reflect the abundance of Christ. Sure, we can accept Christ as Savior and then hide from anything hard and live mediocre lives with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom...and I would know, because I have. Or we can walk forward with Christ one moment at a time, going through the threshing, the crushing, and the pressing to the other side where abundance overtakes us. Anyone who truly follows Christ will go through this process, some of us thick skulled ones more than once. Why? Because in order to do anything great for the Kingdom, in order to really follow Christ, we must know that we know that we know that our very life depends on Him. We must lean on Christ the solid Rock and nothing else. We must wake up desperate for Him and we must go to bed thankful that He showed up and led us through the day. The path that He has for us requires this kind of total trust and dependency...the kind that only comes in days when we have to run to Him for survival. We say that we want to trust God fully, but are we willing to walk in the days that are required to learn trust? Are we willing to sometimes take steps that feel like walking off a cliff, but are actually walking right into His arms? Are we willing to stand out from the world, be labeled "fanatic", and be misunderstood? If we are, the rewards are great.
So there is alot of threshing, crushing, pressing, and lie eradicating going on over here. It sounds easier than it is, but it's gonna be worth it. On the other side, there is grain, new wine, oil, and freedom from lies... and that is what keeps me going on most days. And even in the middle of going through the hard stuff, the Savior speaks loudly, bringing hope and peace, cheering us on. God is with us... He is here...right now.
If this is the oddest post that you have ever read, I totally understand... :) What a mom Kate is blessed with! lol.
Keep pouring your prayers on us! We are desperate for them.
Emily tells us that we are about 2 weeks out from our travel approval. That approval means we can officially book our trip, so it won't be long now.
In the meantime, God is digging deep in me, preparing me for our daughter. He has promised that she will be bringing much joy with her and I am excited to begin this new chapter in our lives. We are having to press through difficulties and I now see what I was warned of in the beginning. The enemy hates adoptions and he does not let them take place without a fight. For some it is financial problems or problems with vehicles or jobs. For us, among other things, it has been lice. Yes, you heard me correctly. We were invaded with the little creatures...all of us but my bald husband. After much, and at times loud, discussion, David shaved Jordan and Nathan's heads to make sure there was no chance of reinfestation. I jokingly commented that he had probably planted the lice, because he had been begging the boys to follow his "baldness" lead. He offered to shave mine and sadly, as freaked out as I was, I almost let him, but my hair dresser came to the rescue. She sweetly came over (after she emphatically told me NOT to shave my head) and cut my hair and picked it clean of the little boogers.
As weird as this may sound, I think I heard God say that the lice were a blessing in disguise. As crazy as that sounds...and believe me, after about 20 loads of laundry, vacumming, spraying, bagging, and picking, it sounds pretty crazy... I began to think about how quickly the enemy can infiltrate our minds with lies and wrong thoughts and how believing those thoughts causes them to multiply. Pretty soon we are infested with lies, just as my hair was infested with lice. When we begin to confront this infestation, it is overwhelming and requires patience. It also requires the right tools. I tried to use a comb to pull lice out of Jordan's hair, but it didn't do a thing. When I used the metal lice comb, it started to pull everything out. The Word of God is like a "lie comb". It exposes and eradicates every lie of the devil, but sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes we have to be persistent and radical if we want to see real, true change in our lives. We must not give up, because as soon as we do, a reinfestation will occur. Right now, not only am I consistently checking my hair for lice, I am just as often checking my mind for lies of the enemy. I want to eradicate every single one!
This morning, my devotional led me to Joel 2 where I read this Scripture. "Look, I am about to send you grain, new wine, and olive oil. You will be satiated with them, and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations." Don't ask me why, but this passage spoke to my deep into my spirit. In Biblical times, grain, new wine, and oil were signs of abundance and prosperity. When they showed up, the famine was over and it was time to celebrate. But in order to get from famine to grain, wheat must be threshed. In order to get from famine to new wine, grapes must be crushed. In order to get from famine to olive oil, olives must be pressed. Threshed, crushed, and pressed...it's what we must go through if we really want our lives to reflect the abundance of Christ. Sure, we can accept Christ as Savior and then hide from anything hard and live mediocre lives with one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom...and I would know, because I have. Or we can walk forward with Christ one moment at a time, going through the threshing, the crushing, and the pressing to the other side where abundance overtakes us. Anyone who truly follows Christ will go through this process, some of us thick skulled ones more than once. Why? Because in order to do anything great for the Kingdom, in order to really follow Christ, we must know that we know that we know that our very life depends on Him. We must lean on Christ the solid Rock and nothing else. We must wake up desperate for Him and we must go to bed thankful that He showed up and led us through the day. The path that He has for us requires this kind of total trust and dependency...the kind that only comes in days when we have to run to Him for survival. We say that we want to trust God fully, but are we willing to walk in the days that are required to learn trust? Are we willing to sometimes take steps that feel like walking off a cliff, but are actually walking right into His arms? Are we willing to stand out from the world, be labeled "fanatic", and be misunderstood? If we are, the rewards are great.
So there is alot of threshing, crushing, pressing, and lie eradicating going on over here. It sounds easier than it is, but it's gonna be worth it. On the other side, there is grain, new wine, oil, and freedom from lies... and that is what keeps me going on most days. And even in the middle of going through the hard stuff, the Savior speaks loudly, bringing hope and peace, cheering us on. God is with us... He is here...right now.
If this is the oddest post that you have ever read, I totally understand... :) What a mom Kate is blessed with! lol.
Keep pouring your prayers on us! We are desperate for them.
Awesome words :)
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