Discernment vs. Faith and some pictures

There is much going on in our house lately, and I must say that my favorite part of being home for the summer is the chance to reflect on what is happening and recharge my batteries by focusing on what matters and not what is necessary.

Adam and I talked yesterday about the line between discernment and faith. Some people, probably legitimate believers, believe that making wise choices is contrary to having faith, and this sparked some discussion in our home. These people would have had me quit teaching when Charlotte was born because I felt strongly convicted to stay home, even though there was no possible way for our family to financially stay afloat in that situation. The position Adam and I had worked our family into needed to be undone before the decision for me to stay home would be wise. However, the undoing of that situation, which is the season we are in now, will ensure that I will probably be able to stay home for a more permanent period of time than if we had simply "gone on faith" back in 2008, and I know that the Lord will be exalted in that longer period of time more than just a year or two that Charlotte will not really remember. Those same people would have said Adam and I had no faith that the Lord would provide. I, however I may have fought him the spring after Charlotte was born, see my husband's wisdom in his choices and decisions, and I see that discernment/wisdom and faith go together like prayer and God's sovereignty. None of us would say that since God is sovereign, our prayers are meaningless. On the contrary, Scripture says that God delights in the prayers of His people, and we are commanded to pray throughout God's Word. The same thing can be said of faith and medication; trusting the Lord to heal every ailment is foolish when He has provided the wisdom, technology, medication and means for us to obtain them. Charlotte's feet are a perfect example of this: prayer alone was not going to fix the obvious problem, but the wonderful Poncetti method, a persistent Dr. Shaw, casting, two surgeries and the discipline of her parents to obtain and enforce the proper braces, have all been blessings given to us by God so that her feet may be healed. When she is finished with all of her treatment, I am going to donate her braces so that children in third world countries can receive the same blessings. These things: discernment and faith, prayer and God's sovereignty and faith and medicine are not mutually exclusive. Be mindful not to slip into legalism either way you go.

Adam and I were blessed to have my parents come to visit us this weekend. They don't come nearly often enough, and they were delighted to see Charlotte walking around our house and church authoritatively. She, of course, loved the attention; we made a Lynchburg trip to Kohl's and Dickie's where she was spoiled beyond recognition. When her grandparents left on Sunday after coming with us to church (which was a true joy in itself!), they left us with a picnic table for her so that, as my father said, "she has a place where she can learn how to color." I put this table together yesterday afternoon, and when Charlotte came downstairs, she knew that it was hers. We taught her how to get in and out of it and helped set her up with toys and books to play with on it.

It looks like she's being bad in this picture, but she's actually in the middle of getting herself into the table.

Please continue to be in prayer about Adam's job. We still have not heard, and we're not even sure anyone really knows what's going on anywhere in the district. I pray that these last couple posts have been blessings to you.

Soli Deo Gloria.