Self Righteousness and Pride...Yuck!*

Before we moved into my parents house (which has been such a blessing...but thats a whole other blog post) we used to listen to Mark Driscoll the Pastor of  Mars Hill Church. Every morning we would play a message while we got ready for work. We haven't been listening to them as much because we've been busy playing mommy and daddy and the routine of living on our own has changed a little since we moved into my parents. The other morning, Shelden turned on a message...oh man was I in for working on my heart before the day even started. Pastor Mark was talking about righteousness and works righteousness and truth righteousness. He is a passionate speaker that hits relevant issues and doesn't care if he offends people with the truth of the gospel. I like the way he preaches because he unveils the Word for what it really is saying. This day and age we are so consumed with being careful about everyones "rights" and what we can and can't say. Because of this the American church has forgotten that the Word God gave us is offensive to this world.
Anyways...Pastor Mark was talks about the story Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14. He talks about how we spend too much time comparing ourselves to others instead of to Jesus. He talked about those who see themselves better than others. And my heart dropped as I am guilty of looking at others and feeling better about myself. Pastor Mark talks about how God gives us compassion for others yet we turn it around and have contempt on people, it might be for a specific group of people. I am guilty of doing that very thing...and I hate it. I look down on certain people because I have judged them before knowing who they truly are. Pastor Mark pointed out two verses on how God feels about me bringing him this unrighteousness. Isaiah 64:6 talks about how it is like a dirty feminie rags and Philippians 3:8 says its like animal dung. Works righteousness is me thinking that my doing good and being in a leadership position is giving God a pretty wrapped up box but when he opens it gets a pile of nasty rags and literally crap. He isn't pleased with that, that doesn't smell good to Him, He doesn't want to be near that. ouch....that seriously breaks my heart that I actually think I am better than someone else. No one is better than another. We have all sinned and fallen short....but there is hope. I can only please God by allowing Jesus to work through me. Jesus' blood covers me....God sees me through Jesus.
Then to nail it in...Pastor Rob talked about pride this morning. He covered pretty much the same thing as Pastor Mark did in his message. Self righteousness (works righteousness)  which is the same as pride because they both put me first...is detestable to the Lord. James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Ummm...I do not want to be in oppostion of God. I like how Pastor Rob put it this morning, "When I can only feel good about myself when I am feeling good about myself, then I am a captive to feeling good about myself, and the only hope for me is to always...feel good about myself!" Here is the big idea: ITS NOT ABOUT ME!!!

Sometimes it seems like I am so far off from being anywhere near acceptable to God. There is always something to work on and an attitude to adjust, but that is what makes God so amazing. He has poured out his grace on me...I do not have to be perfect, Jesus is perfect and that is how God sees me, through Jesus. I am acceptable through Christ.

Days off*

I love having days off with my husband and baby! :) With Shelden's new fulltime job and me going back to work, we do not have the weekends to hangout with each other. We only have one day off together so we try to make the most of it. We went to Olive Garden for lunch, and headed up to SLO. The weather was beautiful!!! It's been quite the learning experience taking Micah with us everywhere we go (in a good way!). We've been learning what his capacity level is and how long he can be out and about before getting exhausted. We got to sit outside on the grass by the old Mission in SLO. Micah was satisfied and just hanging out with us as we enjoyed the nice weather. It was relaxing to kickback and talk about life with my man. We talked about how blessed we are in our lives. We have it so good and we agreed that we do not want to loose our perspective on how good our lives are. We both are employed, we have a healthy little boy, my parents are allowing us to stay with them so we can save for a house, Micah has grandparents from both sides that are involved in his life (which is really rare these days), we get to serve in an amazing church that loves people and puts God first, we have great friends, and the list goes on and on and on! I am so thankful for where we are at. Hearing about all these horrible things that are happening in the world today does break my heart but it also reminds me about how blessed I am and how I should not be complaining about something as dumb as not wanting to get up for work in the morning. Thank you God for pouring out on our lives!

 we noticed how small he looked compared to daddy's flip flop :)

The kicker today:
Shelden has to go to LA tomorrow for a class for his job. Usually when employees go to a class they get to take a nice BMW that they usually loan out to customers when they are getting work done on their cars. So we were excited that he got to take a really nice car...except for they did not have any BMW's available because they were all out on loan to customers. They told shelden he had to rent a car. Okay, that won't be too bad because he could still get a pretty nice ride to take to LA. Well....lo and behold what was awaiting him was a brand spankin' new Ford Fiesta! haha...talk about humility! Haha...we laughed the rest of the day about the good ol fiesta, its electric blue and the dashboard looks like optimus prime from transformers. We are still laughing about it as I am writing this. It's just funny that he went from a 7series BMW to a Ford Fiesta!

 7 series BMW

vs.

Ford Fiesta

haha...only some minor differences ;)

Dedicating Micah*

Today we got to dedicate our little baby. :) It makes my heart happy just thinking about it again! We invited our families to come and be a part of it and it was wonderful to see 3 1/2 rows filled up with people we love so much! The whole point in dedicating Micah to God is to publically say we will try our best to raise him up to be a man of integrity, who loves God with his whole heart. It brings a new level of accountability when you stand in front of your church and your family proclaiming to raise this baby up in the House of the Lord.
I am still in awe of the fact that we get to raise Micah and teach him about this God we love and serve. I can't wait to see the expression of wonder and excitement on his face when he understands the Bible stories we read to him. Or the day he truly understands what Jesus did for him. Micah is going to do extraordinary things for God, I believe it with all of my heart. I am raising a man who will go out to all the nations and tell the world about God's love. I need to remember this as tough times come,when he starts to grow up into those teenager years, or when he thinks I don't understand the things he is going through, or the first time he brings home a girl...yikes! God has Micah's whole life in his hands. And my heart is secure in knowing that the God of this universe is in control of my son's life.
We had a little taco party afterward to hangout and celebrate! It was a lot fun talking and catching up with family and friends. I am so grateful that my parents have been so generous in letting us use their house not only to celebrate, but for us to live in and raise our first child. They have been such a big help! I love that our child has both sets of grandparents deeply involved in his life. And I am thankful that they both love Jesus and will help raise Micah in a Christ centered atmosphere.
God has blessed us tremendously!

 with cousin Riley

 thanks auntie Holly for the toms!

 because who doesn't like a candy bar?

 we have leftovers for the rest of the week... :)

 he loves talking to amber...just a hello from her gets a huge smile and a conversation

zonked out after a long day of hanging out with everyone! :)

The Challenge*

A week ago I was still feeling not so great about my jeans and work clothes not fitting the way they used to. Obviously I have had quite a big change in my life that did wonders to my body!...I actually don't mind the stretch marks...they remind me of how amazing the whole process was of a little being forming inside of me and now he is out in this world and has changed our lives forever :) But I do not like not being able to button my workpants...and it makes me realize how small I was before. The perspective check is nice, realizing what my body really was like instead of what I thought it looked like in the mirror but honestly it is a little depressing not being able to button anything yet. I was talking to my wonderful and supportive husband about my discouragement. So he gave me a challenge: loose 10lbs in August. At first I was like ummm...that's not even healthy! But that was just my excuse to not try hard. He told me, shoot for 10lb, if you loose 8lbs, that's awesome or if you loose less that is awesome too! As long as I am trying my hardest and not giving up. I am kind of excited for the little challenge. I have it written on my calendar "Shelden's 10lb Challenge" I honestly don't care if I loose 10lbs. I won't be disapointed if I don't loose 10lbs...I just needed someone to tell me that I my body is worth me giving my 100%.  I was slowly loosing my motivation to workout but having a goal always helps me push to where I should be.
we will see what happens at the end of the month....
I am excited to get in the gym and be active...being healthy makes life more enjoyable! :)