Recently the Lord has really been showing me how selfish I am. It's crazy, really. But praise the Lord that I have Christ, in whom i'm fully known. The piece below is was written by Charles Spurgeon and was a great encouragement to me this morning.
"Looking unto Jesus."
- Hebrews 12:2
It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to
Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly
trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your
sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent
enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the
joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these
are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by
looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from
self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all."
Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is
Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is
not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ's
blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou
art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the
source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and
finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our
prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we
are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and
have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus.
" Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits,
his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in
the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him.
Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard
after him, and he will never fail thee.
"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name."
Hopefully i'll give yall a real blog soon. We haven't been able to spend much time on the internet as of late. Soon :)
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."
1 Cor. 13:12
Love you guys!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Hello
Hello friends.
I do realize it's been a while...my last real post was at 1 month of being married, wasn't it? and we are now close to hitting the 6th month mark. wowza. I actually have written several blogs (about 6) since those last few posts, but i tend to rabbit trail and never come to a conclusion in any of them, so i decided to spare you the pain of reading.
That said, our lives looking back in the last 4.5 months have been quite a whirlwind. I like to call that whirlwind Baseball Season. Practice or games every day (minus Sundays, thank you, DBU) for Brad, and me attending as many games as i can, and every other evening filled with either a rare date night with hubby, or a rare friend hangout. I cannot believe it's almost June. CANNOT BELIEVE IT.
I have to say, I am quite thankful baseball season is over. It ended Saturday, and I officially declared Sunday the "1st day of the rest of our lives". The end of one chapter, and the beginning of another. Bitter sweet, definitely, but we're thankful that the Lord has given us a call, and are just anxious to see where he takes us.
This week, we kind of feel weird. We leave for Riveria Maya, Mexico on Saturday, and feel like we're kind of on hold with everything until we get back. The next few days will be filled with errands, dinner with friends, and then we're off to the beach for a week! ohhh i cannot wait! Brad's been to Mexico, but I have not. In fact, i've never seen beaches like the ones we will see, so you can bet that i'll be taking a ton of pictures (and i will definitely post some on here).
When we get back, i'll try my best to give you more details of what's been going on in the last 4.5 months, and maybe i'll do a "10 things i've learned in 6 months of marriage" post.
Until then....
Love you all.
~Elise
I do realize it's been a while...my last real post was at 1 month of being married, wasn't it? and we are now close to hitting the 6th month mark. wowza. I actually have written several blogs (about 6) since those last few posts, but i tend to rabbit trail and never come to a conclusion in any of them, so i decided to spare you the pain of reading.
That said, our lives looking back in the last 4.5 months have been quite a whirlwind. I like to call that whirlwind Baseball Season. Practice or games every day (minus Sundays, thank you, DBU) for Brad, and me attending as many games as i can, and every other evening filled with either a rare date night with hubby, or a rare friend hangout. I cannot believe it's almost June. CANNOT BELIEVE IT.
I have to say, I am quite thankful baseball season is over. It ended Saturday, and I officially declared Sunday the "1st day of the rest of our lives". The end of one chapter, and the beginning of another. Bitter sweet, definitely, but we're thankful that the Lord has given us a call, and are just anxious to see where he takes us.
This week, we kind of feel weird. We leave for Riveria Maya, Mexico on Saturday, and feel like we're kind of on hold with everything until we get back. The next few days will be filled with errands, dinner with friends, and then we're off to the beach for a week! ohhh i cannot wait! Brad's been to Mexico, but I have not. In fact, i've never seen beaches like the ones we will see, so you can bet that i'll be taking a ton of pictures (and i will definitely post some on here).
When we get back, i'll try my best to give you more details of what's been going on in the last 4.5 months, and maybe i'll do a "10 things i've learned in 6 months of marriage" post.
Until then....
Love you all.
~Elise
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
On Missing the Company of Christ, and "Mornings and Evenings"
My friend Kimberly posted a blog this morning that includes a passage from "Mornings and Evenings" by C.H. Spurgeon. This was such an encouragement to me this morning because it seems to directly address my struggles as of late. I hope you take a look. And, if you don't read "Mornings and Evenings", I highly recommend that you do. You can recieve it as a daily email by subscribing here.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Hello
Well, Brad and I have been talking about blogging a little lately, so I just decided to go ahead and make us one. We cannot commit to blogging at any frequency, but I hope that on occasion we (yes, Brad too) can provide some incite on our struggles, thoughts, lessons, etc. in hopes that the Lord will use our words to move in the hearts of whomever might come across our blog.
For anyone who might stumble across this blog and have no idea who we are, we are Brad and Elise Welker. We are very much newlyweds, being that we were married about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I think one of the things that excited us most about getting married is simply that we finally have a companion to be by our side to do life with every single day. We love our friends and families deeply, and strive to love the God of the Bible, with His help, more every single day.
All of that said---here's a little taste of this past Saturday:
We went to Ikea this weekend and got some stuff for the apt. Both of us, having always lived with other people and not being shoppers, pretty much hate buying home stuff because we just would rather spend our money another way. Also, the fact that we've always lived with other people put us in the position of having virtually nothing by which to stock our apartment...thus the need for shopping. Because of the immense kindness of our friends and family through wedding gift-cards and money, we actually have money to spend on that kind of stuff.
That said, we found ourselves at Ikea on Saturday....overwhelmed at the site of it, and uncertain that we would actually make it out alive. I actually really enjoy going to Ikea, especially when it's with someone else, and i know that i have no money to spend. In that situation, i don't get overwhelmed, but gather ideas for "future furnishing and decorating". Basically, i like it when i don't have to make actual decisions. This was not the case on Saturday...hence the hyperventilation on both our parts upon our entrance to the store.
I digress...
We have a huge list of stuff we'd like to have for our apartment, so that it will feel more like an actual home, rather than a few rooms with white walls. The problem with Ikea is that they have almost everything on our list, and multiple options of those things. As we began our trek we would see something we liked, ask the other, who would say "oh yeah", and write it down. Then we would see something we liked better than the last thing, write it down, and cross out the last thing. By the time we got to "The Marketplace", we had an entire shopping list filled with about 3 options of several things, most crossed out but still visible enough on the list to remain an option for purchase. Thankfully, our family had planned on going to see a movie at a time that didn't enable to actually purchase anything right then, so we both got a break to breathe, focus our attention on something else, and then go back...decisions made...with a purpose.
And we did: We utilized the shortcuts of the labyrinth that is Ikea, stared longingly at the Cafeteria as we passed it, made a few decorating decisions in "The Marketplace", picked up our end tables from the warehouse, and paid a lot less money at the register than we predicted. Overall, it was very successful, and we left Ikea with only minor mental and emotional wounds.
End tables and lamps put together, decorations hung. yesssss.
now we just have to go back w/ a truck to go get the dresser and bed frame we've picked out... :)
Now, if you've made it this far down the blog, i'm impressed. Hopefully posts in the future will have much more substance than this, but nevertheless, i have officially blogged for the first time in 9 months. Ashley, be proud :)
For anyone who might stumble across this blog and have no idea who we are, we are Brad and Elise Welker. We are very much newlyweds, being that we were married about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I think one of the things that excited us most about getting married is simply that we finally have a companion to be by our side to do life with every single day. We love our friends and families deeply, and strive to love the God of the Bible, with His help, more every single day.
All of that said---here's a little taste of this past Saturday:
We went to Ikea this weekend and got some stuff for the apt. Both of us, having always lived with other people and not being shoppers, pretty much hate buying home stuff because we just would rather spend our money another way. Also, the fact that we've always lived with other people put us in the position of having virtually nothing by which to stock our apartment...thus the need for shopping. Because of the immense kindness of our friends and family through wedding gift-cards and money, we actually have money to spend on that kind of stuff.
That said, we found ourselves at Ikea on Saturday....overwhelmed at the site of it, and uncertain that we would actually make it out alive. I actually really enjoy going to Ikea, especially when it's with someone else, and i know that i have no money to spend. In that situation, i don't get overwhelmed, but gather ideas for "future furnishing and decorating". Basically, i like it when i don't have to make actual decisions. This was not the case on Saturday...hence the hyperventilation on both our parts upon our entrance to the store.
I digress...
We have a huge list of stuff we'd like to have for our apartment, so that it will feel more like an actual home, rather than a few rooms with white walls. The problem with Ikea is that they have almost everything on our list, and multiple options of those things. As we began our trek we would see something we liked, ask the other, who would say "oh yeah", and write it down. Then we would see something we liked better than the last thing, write it down, and cross out the last thing. By the time we got to "The Marketplace", we had an entire shopping list filled with about 3 options of several things, most crossed out but still visible enough on the list to remain an option for purchase. Thankfully, our family had planned on going to see a movie at a time that didn't enable to actually purchase anything right then, so we both got a break to breathe, focus our attention on something else, and then go back...decisions made...with a purpose.
And we did: We utilized the shortcuts of the labyrinth that is Ikea, stared longingly at the Cafeteria as we passed it, made a few decorating decisions in "The Marketplace", picked up our end tables from the warehouse, and paid a lot less money at the register than we predicted. Overall, it was very successful, and we left Ikea with only minor mental and emotional wounds.
End tables and lamps put together, decorations hung. yesssss.
now we just have to go back w/ a truck to go get the dresser and bed frame we've picked out... :)
Now, if you've made it this far down the blog, i'm impressed. Hopefully posts in the future will have much more substance than this, but nevertheless, i have officially blogged for the first time in 9 months. Ashley, be proud :)
Love you all.
~Elise
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works" Hebrews 10:23-24
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