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Delighting in Christ & Calling Women to Fruitfulness through Him Alone

Month: April 2018

A Journey Back in Song

We are leaving the UAE in 3 days. For almost 3 years, this country has been our home. Father brought us here, brought me here, to continue remaking me after Christ. He has used so much - people, conversations, trials, disappointment, joy, temptation, the birth of our son - to reveal my heart, to feed … Continue reading A Journey Back in Song →

merckaylin Uncategorized Leave a comment April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 1 Minute

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Advent
In which I introduce you to loneliness’ friends, and how I get them to leave
Loving our Kids Through Transition
On Women and Preaching, a guest post
On Friendship

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Christmas was magical until my grandpa died when I was 14. Up until that point Christmas had been the highlight of every year. But something seemed to die when he died. Several years another tragic death hit my family. After that, Christmases were never the same. It was more a season of ache than joy. . All through my twenties, the Christmas season sometimes seemed to mock me with all its giddiness when I felt so broken. Unfulfilled desires, chronic illness, separation from loved ones and homesickness were unwanted guests that exposed brokenness especially at Christmas. . Enter Advent- the 4 week period in the church calendar right before Christmas, that both remembers Christ's birth and anticipates His second coming. . I grew up as an evangelical in a Roman Catholic country. We didn’t practice anything that hinted at Roman Catholicism. Observing the rhythms or liturgies of the church calendar was not a thing I was aware of. . But I am so thankful I learned about observing Advent when I moved to the US. It has been a game changer for me. It has freed me up to treasure the joy of Christ’s first coming while also mourn that He hasn’t come back yet. Advent enables me not to resent that the Christmas season is polluted with grief. Advent just heightens the reality that I am a woman in waiting. The small story of my life is simply joining the history of the world. I am doing what history has always been doing: groaning as it waits for one of the two comings of Jesus. .... I allow time every day to both remember Christ’s birth and anticipate his second coming. I give space to sit in my grief, in my current unfulfilled longings and fears. I bring them honestly to my Father. I don’t try to mask them or stuff them down “because Christmas!” I am OK with the tension – Yes, Praise God, Christ was born! AND Life is not what it should be. ... What is your paradigm for this season? Are you ok with living in paradox? Are you aware that you are a person in waiting? Do you see how your unfulfilled longings, brokenness and grief fit perfectly with this time? Are you anticipating Christ’s return? //// For more thoughts (including ideas for how to observe advent) - link in profile

Jordan. Where my perspective has been challenged more than anywhere else I have lived in my life. Where endurance is growing and producing hope. Where gratitude is sustaining me. Where the friendship of the Lord is becoming dearer and deeper. Where we are changing and being transformed. Where ancient history overwhelms and draws out awe. Where hills reveal beauty that makes you gasp. Where language is an adventure, challenge, and joy. Where the Lord is showing us steadfast love and faithfulness, day in and day out. Where we are finding courage to call yet another place Home. . . . /////////////////// I'd love to hear from you! 💛 Where is home for you? And what is one thing you are thankful for about that place? . . . #worshipwhereyouareplanted #expatsgetaftergrateful #itssimplytuesday #tuesdaythankfulness #lovejo #thisgloballife #athomeintheworld #livingabroad #journeywomen

I get to see this man in a few minutes. And I can't wait! I wouldn't have traveled hadn't he strongly encouraged me to do so. With each reason I gave to stay home, he could think of more to get me to go. So thankful for his love in giving me this time away. Praising God too that my MIL was here to help... especially as the stove exploded while I was gone. She essentially cooked dinners in the microwave all week👏😂. Thank you so much!! @ethanmerck & @mommerck your joyful sacrifice blesses my heart.

Christian mothering is all about gladly giving our life so that others can live, through the power and strength of Christ himself. . This week I saw that modelled time and time again as @nancydemoss, @dannahgresh & @mary.kassian gave of themselves to pour life into us. They prayed this retreat into existence, stayed up way late to talk to us, listened so well, asked us questions, and prayed for us often during the week. They were vulnerable and gentle. Wise and kind. Their humility - it is really nothing short of Christ's own! They have served for so long and so faithfully, yet Christ is their only boast. . The best leaders are the ones who give themselves so others can flourish. And these sisters taught me this week what that means. They also pressed into us how after adoring Christ, we have no higher calling than serving our spouse and children. So as I think about longing to see others flourish in Christ, may my husband and children go first, before any other discipleship or teaching opportunity. Yes, they cheered us on so well in the stewardship of gifts, opportunities and seasons. But they wanted us to be grounded that using our gifts at home is never too small. May we never run from the hidden, unseen, daily service to our families. . After all: this is the way of Christ - who served in obscurity, obeyed in humility and counted others as more significant than himself....all for the glory of Another - His Father. . Serving humbly & leveraging maturity in the Lord to raise others up - this is true greatness. Thank you so much, @nancydemoss, @dannahgresh & @mary.kassian for living that out.

We have now lived 4 seasons here in Jordan. ⠀ There is a deeper knowledge of this place that comes from having gone through all seasons. ⠀ Last fall we didn't know just how cold it would get, but we also just how worth it it would be to wait for spring. ⠀ We didn't know there would be pine tree forests like these near our house for dreamy fall nature walks. We didn't know the sweet memories we would make around our apartment's fire place. ⠀ We didn't know about the autumn and winter sunsets God would paint dusk after dusk for us to see from our living room rooftop window. ⠀ Celebrating today what we know this time around and the good gifts God has given us in this place. ⠀ ⠀ #itssimplytuesday #tuesdaythankfulness #worshipwhereyouareplanted #lovejo

Angels. Our girls wanted to talk about angels and all they do. From there the conversation turned to all God was doing at that very moment: He was keeping us as we drove to school, keeping our friends on the other side of the world as they slept, holding all the planets in their place, giving sun and rain, saving hundreds (thousands?) of people all over the world.... All👏at👏 the👏 same👏time!👏🤯 . And it struck me: Christian parenting is all about training our kids to see the unseen. And to live in light of that. . We talk to them about a God who is Spirit who has given us all we need in Christ, who is both son of God and son of Man. That man lived, died and rose again more than 2000 years ago and changed all of history. . We obey and serve that Risen Man who is not only seated at the right hand of the Father, but also living in us through His Spirit. . We teach our kids to live by faith when we praise God as He gives and takes away. As we experience his goodness, we turn their eyes from physical gifts to the unseen Giver. When we face illness, loss & death we do so with a hope that is safely kept for us in a real place that is, for now, hidden from our eyes. . We cannot give our kids the gift of faith but we know the one who does. So we keep doing what is otherwise crazy to the naked eye: We talk and live in light of more-certain-than-this-life realities. We exalt the God who is immortal & invisible through the strength of His Son in us. We read the tangible Word to our kids believing it is alive & able to do intangible things. . We adore our Triune one and only God as we pray in front our kids to the Father in the name of the Son, and in the strength of the Spirit. All the while, we trust Him to one day say, "Live! See!" And if he does, they too will see. Maybe dimly at first. But in Christ, faith can only grow until Dawn comes and it becomes sight. Yet, even if our kids never get to see the unseen on this side of eternity, we keep living in light of it all. Because this unseen God is true and worthy - worthy of our whole lives and every square inch of our parenting. . . . #risenmotherhood #walkbyfaith #deeplyrooted #desiringgod #instagramforchrist

Loneliness always brings along a few friends. I would know. The first time I remember encountering Loneliness I had left my home in the Dominican Republic to go to university in the US. Those first months were especially hard: I didn’t live on campus but a 20 minute drive away. I couldn’t easily stay for events as I always depended on rides to get back home. It has been 17 years and 3 countries since then. Loneliness is an old friend at this point. And I want to introduce you to a few of its friends that I have met along the way. . Meet Envy. She makes me look at other’s lives and wish I had the community they seem to enjoy. She tells me to think of my sister who’s lived in the same city her whole life and is raising her children with the children of our childhood friends. Or our military friends who also move around a lot but have found rich community to quickly plug into. Or the online friend who moved cross-country for gospel purposes and has friends who can fly in to visit her for the weekend when she is lonely. . Seconds after Envy arrives, Self-Pity comes breathlessly behind. Around her company, I start thinking that my life is harder than most of my friends. I feel forgotten. “Everyone seems to have their own lives and not remember us over here.” “No one sees the need to come and visit us.” “Where.is.the.CHOCOLATE?" .... When loneliness’ friends come and wanna have a chat, I offer them a shocking gift that surprises them and makes them leave. /// To read the rest, please go to the link in my profile.

LOVING OUR KIDS THROUGH TRANSITION// “Mom, I really miss my friends.” We’d moved to the Middle East a few months before, and my oldest – then 3. 8 years old – was really struggling with leaving our old life behind. Her downcast look made my heart sink. “Oh sweetheart, I know. I miss my friends so much too…” I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. But I also wanted to guide her heart to the One who comforts us. So I asked, “What do we do when we miss our friends?” She looked at me and said, “We cry.” "Yes… we can definitely cry… then what else? What else can we do?” “We can eat ice cream!” I burst out laughing as I hugged her tight. Why yes! ice cream helps. How did you know, sweet girl? Eventually we finally got to “we can also pray…” And we did. ............ We have had two more big moves since then. Helping our kids through transition has been one of our most important jobs living overseas. . I wrote this 👆 a while back to encourage other moms going through transition but never shared it here. . Check the link in my profile for some ideas for how to love your kids as you transition. . . . . . #takingroute #expatmom #overseaslife #tcklife #tckmom #alifeoverseas #motherhoodabroad #icecreamandaprayer

The couple of hours between dinner and kids' bedtime are often the time of day I feel more acutely my need of faith. Language learning can be an exhausting activity (both physically and mentally), as can also be parenting a toddler, cooking within our dietary limitations, and navigating all the deep feels of our older two. So I have little energy left for post dinner's responsibilities: cleaning up the kitchen, prepping school lunches for the next day, making sure uniforms are clean and ready, giving baths, devotions & snuggling with the kids. 8 o' clock promises so much - the gift of finally having let down after a hard day, the enjoyment of uninterrupted conversation with my husband, or maybe watching a show. It is tempting to feel so entitled to that rest. When our schedule runs late and they are still awake after 8 or - heaven forbid! after 9 - it is easy to think I now need to be paid overtime. It's ok, mamas of teenagers. You can laugh at me.😅 I sometimes get snappy, annoyed at the kids for not being robots, and upset at my husband for taking too long in family devotions. So I need faith. ✔️Faith to turn away from fleshly living and toward Christ. ✔️Faith to believe Christ's work is finished which means I am righteous and a saint. So even though I am tempted to respond unrighteously, that is not who I am. ✔️Faith to lay hold of this: that through His life in me, the real lasting me is humble and patient like Him (Ephesians 4:24). ✔️Faith to believe I have his limitless strength to serve my children well past bedtime. ✔️Faith to discern when it is ok to leave dishes in the sink and when to press on 20 more minutes and clean up the kitchen. ✔️Faith to look up and praise His name when all I feel like doing is gazing down. ✔️Faith to trust that through His Spirit all of Christ's riches are mine so I can live and love supernaturally. ✔️Faith to see His glory and worth when overwhelm and exhaustion stubbornly insist on clouding my vision. Faith is his gift & he loves to give it (Ephesians 2). We pray fo the eyes of our heart to truly see. He is faithful to answer! . What about you? When are you typically most aware of your need for faith during your day?

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