decking our halls

They used to call his dad "the mad mower"...by the look in his eye, it would appear aron has inherited that trait.
oh Christmas tree

Oh Christmas tree
how lovely
are thy branches
ejk

Hope Is Rising

For all of you who belong to MCC, here is the song Aron played today. We hope it continues to bring you peace and healing.

For everyone else, Aron wrote this song and played it today, and it speaks of the faithfulness of our God...even amidst our greatest failures. We have hope, not in our perfection, but in a God who loves his children relentlessly. A God takes what we have shattered and restores it to its intended glory.

Hope is Rising from Aron Kirk on Vimeo.

(verse 1)

You are there when I walk on the water.

You are there when I'm sinking in sin.

You are there when my heart hits the bottom,

And you lift me up again.

So quiet me with your love, with your love

In everything you are there and that's enough.

(chorus)

Jesus, you are the Bright and Morning Star

And Hope is rising in my heart.

In my darkest night I will lift my eyes,

And hope for dawn's first light to shine.

You are God in my joy on the mountain.

You are God in my valley full of pain.

You are God when I feel I'm forgotten.

And you sing to me again.

So quiet me with your love, with your love.

In everything you are God, in you I trust.

(chorus)

(bridge)

Hope is Rising.

I lift my eyes, and

On the horizon,

I see it coming.

Here it comes!

And the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

As we lift a song of praise in faith to the King of Kings!

Your love's greater than we can know.

Your grace even restores us now.

As we hope for the light of your love.

Shine on us!

(chorus)

(verse 1)

ejk

weekend recap

The weekend has been quite busy, but a good busy for sure. Aron has been planning/preparing for a passion night worship experience for weeks, and it finally came to fruition tonight (that's why you haven't heard much from him lately). After leading 2 services this morning and then leading and speaking for tonight's session...he is simply spent. He won't like me bragging on him, but I am so proud of the way he opens his heart and allows God to speak through his life. 

The next two days show no signs of slowing down, but we are sooooo looking forward to getting away for a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday & catching up on some much needed quality time.

peace

ejk

Rejoicing in the Harvest

I love the unique way autumn makes my heart come alive. Inviting smells, warm colors, soft light. The promise of the seed in spring now fully present in the fruit of the harvest.

What a treasure to stop our busy lives to consider the blessings of yet another year of life. Today I am thanking God for the breath that fills my lungs. He is truly my sustainer. 

We are attempting to teach Isabelle the high importance of the Thanksgiving holiday in our life - a time to truly thank God for his great love & his provision. 

We made a blessing turkey traced from her footprints and handprints, and each night at dinner we help her to think of something for which she is grateful, write it on her handprint, and paste in on the turkey as his "thankful feathers". Its small and silly, but we want to instill in her gratitude as an attitude for the rest of her life.

I am also thankful for this wildly idealistic man...with his heart to God and His head constantly wrapped around an idea or chiseling a melody...he truly amazes me. He has written a song this week that just blows my mind. I hope he gets to record it; it is quite possibly his best one yet.

rejoicing in the harvest

ejk

they are listening...

Sometimes it feels like you say the same things...over and over and over and over. Who am I kidding? You do as a parent, but take heart. Despite their absentmindedness and often erratic bahavior...they are listening.

Just now I said something about being afraid. Isabelle looked at me and said,

"But my daddy tells me, he tells me, 'The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.'"

She's barely 3 & quoted Exodus 14:14 verbatim.  

They are listening.

priceless

ejk

random moments

Aron & I walked into our dark bedroom this morning to find Isabelle as "Ray-Charles meets Preying Mantus" serenading her brother. Entirely cute & kinda scary!

And a few more moments from our week. I caught Judah giggling at the end.

Sweet Child of Mine from Aron Kirk on Vimeo.

ejk

Updates

I cannot thank those of you who have been praying for us enough. Indeed, through your conversations with God on our behalf, he is infusing us with strength, wisdom, and perspective after a week that left us feeling beat up.

This morning I read a verse in Genesis that God used to comfort me:

"Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward." Genesis 15:1

I can barely fathom this verse. But I knew God used this idea, which popped up right in the middle of my scheduled reading for this day, to remind me that he is my protector.

No matter what new adversity or trial that threatens us, my hope can rest in His strength.

And he is my very great reward. Beth Moore expands on this idea in her Inheritance bible study I recently did.  I cannot begin to comprehend the implications of this, but can you just imagine? All of almighty God - his very being - is our very great reward. (shiver...goosebumps..and cold chills).

And this verse from someone's post on facebook this morning:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:22-23

We are not consumed, and God is holding us, loving us, shielding us through adversity. Deepening our dependence on him, causing us to trust him, proving himself faithful.

I am humbled by his ways

ejk

ps. Aron accompanied me to my follow-up appt. @ Occupational Health for my exposure, and all of my source's lab work came back negative for bloodbourne pathogens (hiv, hepatitis b & c). This is awesome news! It was a huge sacrifice for Aron to come with me...it really crunched his schedule for the day & he had to miss eating lunch & reschedule a meeting, but he said he really wanted to be there for me in case of bad news. I felt very loved by this (for all you small groupies!).

3 months of judah (a few days early)

I told Aron tonight at dinner that I when I discovered we were expecting a boy, a piece of me was really scared. I couldn't imagine a more amazing man than Aron and inwardly wondered how a new boy would ever live up to the place his daddy holds in my heart. 

 Now I understand. He warms my heart in ways I couldn't have imagined, and his unique little soul brings a new, fresh joy to our family. I couldn't imagine our life without him - such a breathtaking, bubbly gift our Father has given us. His smiles and coos have nestled right in to our collective heart, and mom, dad, and sister alike adore our boy.

I closed our conversation about Judah tonight by telling Aron that Judah could do nothing more in all his life, and I would love him so entirely to the core of his little soul. But if he grows to be half the man his daddy is, an amazing man he will be.

grateful

ejk

let me just tell you

In reference to my previous post...let me just tell you

 

The message God has given to Aron for next Sunday night (Nov 22 @ 6pm) is just what I needed to hear. He just walked through what is on his heart, and oh, oh, oh...God is so wise and loving. I cannot wait...hope to see you there.

ejk