My Office Door

My friend, Michelle just wrote a post from her heart about how life is never how you plan it. Michelle is one of my closest friends. Although life has taken us different directions and there have been seasons when we've hardly been in touch, she is one of those life-long friends that you can pick up a conversation about the most intimate of topics even though you haven't talked in three years.

Friends like that are a gift from God.

She really got me thinking because I can tell this blog from her came straight from a vulnerable place in her heart. I SO am right there with her. It is SO hard to be a mom and a wife... Actually the mom part isn't super hard right now for me. I mean he's still cute and cuddly and hasn't learned to say, "no" or to crawl somewhere he shouldn't or to ignore me.

The wife part is hard sometimes. Despite the fact that God has gifted me with the most amazing husband and the fact that we are perfectly fashioned for each other, there are times when I think that if this marriage survives it will be by the skin of our teeth. I think everybody who's married feels that at least once in their marriage. And many people feel that a lot in their marriage. Actually, if this (and any) marriage survives, it is only by the blood of Jesus.

And of course, there are other times when I am confident in the knowledge that we are triumphant conquerers in Him who gives us all power and strength.

Both are true, I guess. ...that we make it by the skin of our teeth blood of Jesus and that we are triumphant conquerers.

I recently listened to a sermon by our pastor called "We are More Than Conquerers." It was one of those messages that I had to listen to and digest several times to truly get it. But once I got it it was one of the most freeing truths I've ever understood.

There is no way I could do the sermon justice, so I'll just encourage you to listen to it. The bottom line is that God has already given us all we need to be confident courageous overcoming never-fearing super incredible mega-awesome triumphant conquerers over the struggles of this life and that we need not live in depression, difficulty or defeat. One thing he said stood out to me: "It would be poor stewardship on our parts not to live with all the benefits that Jesus Christ already died to give us." He went on to say that the Father has already given us his one and only son. What makes us think He would withhold anyting else we need in order to overcome?

The other day my husband told me something cool about the doors in our house. (Yes, this is related to my point.) The doors in our house look like this:

He said that the man who designed these doors purposefully put a cross in the middle of the design to remind others about Jesus. (Of course we have no way to knowing for sure that this is really true. But I thought that was pretty cool.) I started to think differently every time I looked at the door - and since the door to my office is directly in front of where I sit when I'm at the computer - it's what I stare at when I'm thinking something through.

Everything good in my life is through Him.
He is the entry-way into Life abundant.
He guards our home and makes it sacred.
He shuts out cold and keeps us comforted, warm and protected.
The analogies could go on and on...

So... needing something visual to remember the truth that I am more than a conquerer in Christ, I did this:

Everything that plagues my thoughts and worries me went up on that door to remind me to pray about it and to place it in the hands of my Lord who has all things in control. And Let. Go.

A day or so later I called Alejandro, worried about how we were going to pay for something. I said, "I just don't know how it's going to work out."

He said, "I do."

"Really?"

"Mmmhmm..."

"How?"

"You're going to put it up on your door," he said.

Immediately the tightness in my chest released and I relaxed. Yes. It's going to be ok. God is in control. And, thankfully, I am not.

Today, I rest in that.