A Study in Grace, Post 1: A Boatload of Grace

Grace has been defined as "unmerited favor." This means even though we are not worthy, God has provided us with the greatest gift--the salvation of our souls. Did you know the first time grace appears in the Bible is in reference to Noah? If you did (or now that you know) have you thought about why that is the first mention of grace? Perhaps because this is the point when things had gotten so out of hand that God's mercy was necessary? Let's review the scripture:

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry I have made them.""     Gen. 6:5-7, NKJV

Most of us know this part of history inside out, but do we fully grasp the emphasis of this passage? Things must have been REALLY rough at this point in time. It had only been 1,656 years since God created the world and everything in it, and He was already grieved with His creation. In the beginning, God saw that His creation was good. Parents and grandparents are so proud of their children, they will show endless pictures and share stories, saying, "Look at this wonderful thing I made!" At first God was proud of what He had made, but at this point He was so sick and fed up with man's wickedness that He was ready to completely destroy His brand new creation! Parents surely get aggravated with their children, but never to this point. You can picture God sitting back like a frustrated parent, sighing, ready to give up. His patience had nearly run out.** But wait! He opened His eyes to look at His children again, and saw a righteous man.

"But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Gen. 6:8, NKJV

Here's where we get to that point about God's mercy and favor. Even though the world was so vile, so corrupt, so lost, there was one man who found grace in God's eyes. Think about what this meant! The destruction of God's created world was stopped because He found one righteous man.

The account of Noah ties in with our own salvation today. Yes, God showed Noah and his family grace, but He also gave them instructions on how to obtain their salvation. God said, "Okay, Noah, I am extending my mercy to you, but you've got to prepare the lifeboat yourself and make sure you're on it when the rains come." Today, we don't need to build a huge boat to save us from impending doom but like Noah, we are also saved through action.

"that He might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an anti-type which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, " 1 Pet. 3:18-21, NKJV

I am so thankful Noah found God's grace and the world was saved so many years ago, and even moreso that God extends that grace to me!

"not by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us abundantly through Christ Jesus our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:5-7, NKJV 

Did you catch that last part? Through God's abundant grace, we are made joint heirs with Christ to the kingdom of heaven. Thank you, Lord, for your AMAZING grace!


**Side note: Can you fathom God's patience with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament after He had spared the world from destruction and they continued over and over to fall away from Him? More on this thought in later studies. 

Oh, hey there, blog

It's been nearly two years since I've blogged. Whoa, baby! A lot has happened since then! Shortly after my last post I started working at a pain management clinic as a specimen processor and continued there through July of last year. That placement ended and I was distressed the rest of the summer, but it gave me time to work on my first garden and become acquainted with a sewing machine. :-)

In September I was introduced to the idea of taking over as director of my congregation's Mothers' Day Out program (Tuesday/Thursday School) and I've been working there since the last week of September 2014. It has been so much fun working with the children and their families and it is such a good mission work. Brian still enjoys his job at Bridgestone. We have been on a few trips to Texas to visit his grandpa. Our youngest nephew has encountered some health issues requiring an eventual transplant, but that's a post for another day.

In March, I also began assisting our realtor and friend, Dana. This job doesn't even feel like a job! I am very blessed and happy. I'm not using my degree and bring in very little income, but it helps and I stay busy and useful. What more could a girl ask for? Sure, all my college friends have fancy jobs, or will after graduate school, but I am content.

I've had an on and off relationship this year with Paleo, but I've decided to try a new approach. Instead of completely grain-free, I'm going to try gluten free and no sugar. I know I'm addicted to sugar, so I've started the Fed Up 10 day challenge: no sugar added, including the 56 other names/types of sugar, except for naturally occurring sugars in fruits and veggies. We'll see how this goes... Hopefully with me kicking my sugar addiction and eating sweets only at birthdays and very special days. I'm on day 2 and will update later in the week.

Cheers!

Simple Instructions

We are taught through Scripture that there are certain requirements for many things, from salvation to proper worship. Another of God's "game plans" is the qualities of a sound church found in the second chapter of the book of Titus. What we find here can also simply be used as instructions for life. Paul addresses older men, older women, younger men, younger women, and servants. No age group or station is left out. We frequently refer to this passage to point out that the older women are to teach the younger women in the church (Titus 2:3-5). Since I am a young woman, I will also focus on these verses.

"the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus 2:3-5, NKJV

The older women, who have been around for awhile, should give instruction to the younger women. It's just plain common sense. First, Paul says that they should be "reverent" and "not slanderers." This shows that the women lead by example--if I see Grandma being disrespectful and gossiping all day to her friends, what does that lead me to think? Perhaps that doing the same must be okay if Grandma is? Can I get a "God forbid!"?

Paul wrote to Titus to have the older women teach the younger women "good things." In today's increasingly sinful society, these teachings are labeled "dated," "archaic," and "absurd." If my God told Paul that women in the first century needed to follow these teachings, they are fully applicable today. God's Word is Truth and unwavering yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

I believe that it was with purpose that Paul says "love their husbands" before "love their children." All too often women place their children above their husbands. This is not God's plan. First and foremost we are to love God, but in second place is our husbands. Not our children. The children will one day grow up and leave the home (hopefully as Christians themselves). The older women, having experienced this, should tell the younger women if they spend 20+ years focusing on only the children, they will be left with a stranger in the home once the kids leave. Young wives, love your husbands first.

The older women should also teach the younger women to be discreet and chaste. Discretion involves behaving and speaking in such a way that private information is not revealed. This goes and in hand with modesty. Our bodies are very much private information that we do not want shared with everyone! Women (and men) should dress and speak discreetly, so as not to be a stumbling block to others. Today, the ideas of modesty and chastity have flown out the window. Again, God's teachings were not intended just for the immediate hearers of the word, but for all mankind, for all ages. Ladies, be careful how you dress. Be mindful of how you speak.

Paul also wrote that the young women are to be good, homemakers, and obedient to their husbands. Submission is frequently misunderstood; it does not mean suppression. We are to honor our husbands in the same manner that the church honors and respects the Lord. Several additional passages on this topic are: Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Corinthians 11:3,8, 1 Peter 3:1-2, and Colossians 3:18.

In the last clause of our opening scripture, Paul explains that the young women are to do all these things so "that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Many times we are the only Bible that the world reads. We should be careful of how we speak, behave, and dress. I think Peter said it best, "that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear." 1 Pet. 3:1-2, NKJV

Be reverent. Love your husband. Love your children. Be discreet. Be good.

Try following those instructions and I think most sins can be avoided and more souls can be saved. It's really that simple.

Living out of Suitcases

Since the government is behind on processing Rural Development loans, we will not be closing on our loan until June 12-14.  So although we have moved out of Tech Village, we are technically homeless. Friday night through today we stayed with Brian's aunt and uncle. Today we moved into Brian's old bedroom at his parents' house. We will be living out of our suitcases until next week. Brian has had to drive over an hour to and from work everyday for the past three-and-a-half weeks, so he will be very happy to finally be moved into our house. I have already begun planning various projects to occupy my time, including making wreaths, stripping and re-staining furniture, and soap making. I'm excited to have room to take up hobbies again! Our realtor keeps telling me that once we are settled in and have lived there for a while, this will have just been a slight speed bump. In the grand scheme of things, she's right. Many people live in even less appealing circumstances than old Tech Village, so I'm very grateful that we have this pretty house to look forward to. This has been a much needed lesson in patience and counting one's blessings. We are healthy and happy, so all is well.

**This weekend is our one year anniversary! Hopefully our cake will still be scrumptious :)

House Update

Thursday we got a call from our loan officer saying that the loan underwriter needs Brian's official 40-hour week paystub at Bridgestone. Salary employees at the Stone get paid the 15th and end of the month, so we won't be closing until June. It has been a very sad few days at the Gunter home. Hopefully everything will work out and we can get our stuff into the house before we close. We have to be out of our apartment by the 31st of May so we are going to be homeless for a little while! Thank goodness for friends and family who have already offered to take us in. I will be fine with living out of boxes for a week or so, as long as we get all of our furniture secured somewhere. This may mean renting a storage facility, but we'll get through it. Just a few more weeks and we'll be all settled in and this will just have been a slight hiccough in our process. Prayers and support are greatly appreciated!

*On another moving note, my college roomie/MOH and her hubby should be landing in about an hour on St. Kitts to begin their Caribbean vet school adventure. Prayers for safe travel and easy settling-in for them as well. Shameless plug for her blog: http://chesnuthouse.wordpress.com/ *

Older and Wiser

If someone from the present had told the high school me how my life in 2013 would be, I wouldn't have believed them.

Everything was planned to a "T." I was going to TN Tech, then to either Vanderbilt or the University of Kentucky to medical school. I would meet my future husband in college, or even med school, since I was so studious and not interested in settling down soon. I also had a back-up plan, that if I didn't get married out of college, I would do lots and lots and lots of medical missions. I don't really remember where I planned to live, but I was keen on going to TPAC at least once a month to catch a show. Life would be perfect.

Then I was accepted into the Tennessee Governor's School program and met the little town of Martin, TN. A friend turned into more than a friend and we began dating. A professor told me that realistically only 2 or 3 of my classmates would get accepted to medical school, and I realized that he was right. Life was not going to be as I had originally planned. So I made new plans, trying to make the world fit my expectations (because a nineteen-year-old can make the universe do her bidding).

Classes were increasingly more difficult, I realized I wasn't the smartest kid in school, and a lifetime with my boyfriend, who became my fiance, seemed much happier than working myself to death to become a doctor. I explored other options, toying with the idea of becoming a physician's assistant, but that wasn't right either. My senior year of college I was academically devastated. I was miserable in my major, my grades were unmentionable, and there was no career in sight. After all the years of scheming and heartache, something clicked in my head and I finally understood I cannot rely on my plans. I've heard a saying that if you want to hear God laugh, to tell Him your plans. That's what I had been doing my entire life.

I learned that if I work hard, try to take care of myself and Brian, and have a sure faith, I will be provided for. I don't have the highest paying job in the world, but it has been an amazing experience and will ultimately help me reach other career goals. I don't know what is next for my life but I cannot compare myself to friends and classmates who are fulfilling their plans and dreams. It isn't healthy and only makes me more upset, more stressed, and less fulfilled. Perhaps my latest idea to become a lab technician is actually what I'm meant to do, but maybe it's not. Only He knows.

What I do know at the ripe old age of twenty-three, is that I have to trust the Master. I am still very young and I have an entire life to learn and grow. I have learned that mistakes, missed opportunities, and broken plans lead to maturity and wisdom. Here's to tossing my plans out the window and trusting that God will see me home.

"Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil."--Proverbs 3:7, ESV

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."--James 1:5, ESV

Moving on Up!

I am very excited to announce that in 23 days (or less!) we Gunters are closing on our first home! :D

Our apartment hunting experience in McMinnville was DREADFUL and I was so afraid we weren't going to find housing. We started the process during Brian's spring break, giving us about 8 weeks until graduation to find somewhere to live. Needless to say, I was beginning to become distressed. That weekend both sets of our parents suggested buying a home.

Buy a house? We don't have enough money to buy a house! Or so I thought...

After thinking about it and looking online at homes, I drove out to Manchester with my mother-in-law to look at one last apartment complex then at some houses that had sparked my interest. I fell in love with two houses: a fixer-upper whose structural bones are exactly what I want in a house and a perfect house that had a hot tub on the back porch! [I know it had a hot tub because I climbed up on the porch to look ;) Don't judge me; I got a splinter for my efforts.]

After lunch we met our realtor, who is Brian's boss's wife! She is awesome and has been so helpful throughout this whole process. During our meeting I found out both homes I liked were off the market; the perfect one had sold the day before. I was a little bummed for a few days because I couldn't find any other homes that I liked that were in our price range. I trimmed down the list of homes Dana (our realtor) had sent me in our price range, then gave the shorter list to Brian. While I was looking at them, I noticed that one of the MLS listing numbers ended in "0609," which is our wedding anniversary! I didn't say anything about the coincidence and I actually didn't give the particular house much thought, because I was still upset about the loss of the other houses.

We compared the four or five houses, thought them over, then called Dana for a viewing appointment. Two houses were basically move-in-ready and two needed some work done (new carpet, wallpaper removed, that kind of thing.) Brian gave me his order of preference, which differed from mine just a bit, but his number one choice was the house with the listing ending with 0609. I couldn't help but think it was fate and we were supposed to end up in that house.

Two days before we were supposed to go view the houses, Dana called me and said that three, not one or two, but THREE of the houses we liked were off the market. What was with our luck? But, the remaining house was the ---0609 listing. Once again, I thought the powers-at-be were at work. She had a couple of others for us to look at, so we wouldn't just have one house to view.

The ---0609 house we viewed first. I loved it... but I didn't want to get too attached due to my prior experience with falling in love with houses.  I wasn't really "feeling it" when we saw the other two homes so we decided to go back to the first house. Dana said she heard me sigh when we walked back in. As we went through the rooms again, I was mentally placing our furniture and even thought about where the Christmas tree would go.

Thirty minutes later we were at Dana's office writing up the contract to send to the owners of the house. I had to be at work that afternoon so we went through the paperwork rather quickly and we were headed back to Cookeville. We stopped in McMinnville for lunch and about five minutes after we were back on the road, my phone rang. The owners had verbally accepted our offer!!

We viewed houses on Good Friday, so the banks were closed and I had to get the loan paperwork started the following Monday. Our loan officer is great, also! Thank goodness for Rural Development loans which are geared for first time home buyers--no down payment, 30 years, with 3.5% fixed interest rate! Brian had class so I took all the paperwork home with me, he signed everything, and we sent it back to the bank. Friday (4/5) we had our home inspection and everything is perfect! We have everything finished on our end and are waiting on the underwriters. Our set closing date is May 2, but there is a chance they can finish before then since everything is done! I cannot wait to start painting and move all of our things to the house. We plan on moving in the night of Brian's graduation, Saturday, May 11. Happy days!

♥ Happy 10 months of marriage to us today! :)