Moving!!!

Hi readers!

I am officially moving this site. As you know, I've been torn about continuing this blog after finishing my one year journey through the Bible. I absolutely love reflecting on and writing about Scripture, but since I've started my other blog, The Arizona Russums, it's been hard to juggle both of them. I have been trying to do so for the past few months, because I really feel convicted about writing about Scripture and encouraging other women to lead obedient lives according to God's word, but it is really hard to run two blogs, and I feel that this one has been suffering miserably. I am still reading my Bible every day, reflecting on what I want to write about on this site, and I even pop on every now and then and start drafts about what God is revealing to me. However, I have about ten drafts in my box that are yet to be finished. See the problem?

But I have found a solution (I think)! I don't want to give up Flowers Fade completely, but I don't want to maintain two blogs anymore. So from now on I will be posting my regular Flowers Fade postings on The Arizona Russums once a week on Fridays. Flowers Fade Friday. I like it. Hopefully, it will be great encouragement to you as you finish out your week and head into the weekend. And, hopefully, it will make me more consistent in posting about our amazing God and what He's been teaching me through His Word lately.

Thank you to all of you who have followed this blog and supported me and encouraged my journey through the Bible. I hope to continue to encourage you on my other blog. Hope to see you there!

Love always,
Jen

A Change of Mind...and Heart

So I've been thinking quite a bit this past week about ending this blog, and I might even go so far as to say I have been convicted about it. For some reason, God keeps placing it on my heart that this blog is significant. I don't really know why. I don't really think it's a phenomenal blog, but I've been thinking a lot about my other blog, where Micah and I tell funny stories about life in Arizona and the adventures of being newlyweds, and I've just been realizing that this blog is so much more important than that one. The other blog isn't bad. It's a lovely, funny glimpse into our lives, and I know our parents love reading it since we are so far away from them. But I am reminded daily, by the prompting of God's Spirit, that this blog, right here, is a meaningful endeavor to which God has called me.

Now granted, this blog does not have many followers and my other blog gets way more hits each day. But I know that the words here encourage certain women in my life (thank you all for your lovely comments), and I just think there is something valuable in that. I was talking to my best friend a few months ago, and she was explaining how so many of the stories in the Bible are new to her. She did not grow up in a Christian household and became a Christian after college. Her faith and her story are beautiful to me, and I love that she is so eager to learn more about the Bible. How often do I take for granted my own knowledge about the Bible? I was blessed to grow up in Christian home, go to a Christian elementary school, even to fall under the instruction of some amazing teachers at my church in college. I had the books of the Bible memorized by 2nd grade and could explain the main differences between Elijah and Elisha by the 3rd grade (Elijah came first, because "j" comes before "sh"...never forgot that little trick). But I am not normal. God has given me the gift of being raised to know His Word, and I want to share that gift with others. He has also given me the spiritual gift of teaching (which I realize everytime I find myself in classroom full of teenagers and somehow find myself at home there, despite my limited education, background, or skill as an educator), and He has given me the earthly talent of writing fairly well. Ever since middle school, I have always, always wondered how He wanted me to use writing for His glory, and this blog seems to be one simple way of doing just that. Truth be told, one of the biggest sins of my youth was not obeying the Lord, despite all I knew about His Word and His character. I wasted so many years of high school and college not really loving the Lord with my whole heart (and therefore not really obeying Him because the two go hand in hand), even though He had blessed me with so many opportunities to know Him and love Him and obey Him.

So here's the deal... I want to honor God with this blog.... even if that means encouraging or teaching the five or ten women who read it regularly. This blog is not perfect. I sometimes get nervous that some great pastor is going to stumble across this blog (I'm thinking of John Piper or C.J. Mahaney or Mark Driscoll here... as if they would ever spend their time reading my blog... ha!!!) and tell me that parts of it are theologically unsound. I pray that I am staying true to Scripture in what I write, and I rely heavily on the ESV Study Bible commentators to keep me on track. I want women to be able to use this Bible as a resource, whether they are looking for encouragement with a certain struggle or want to study a certain section of Scripture when preparing for a Bible study. Now I know there are many blogs that provide resources far better than mine (http://www.desiringgod.org/ is a favorite when prepping to teach a Bible study), but I want to use what God has given to me and share it with other women. So unless I hear God calling me in another direction, Flowers Fade is here to stay, and I plan to make it more searchable as it grows, so you can look up entries by topic or by book of the Bible. Thank you for being a part of this ongoing journey. I hope you are blessed by reading this blog as much as I am blessed to write it.

God's Goodness

Sometimes when I think about God's goodness, I cry. Not like bawl-my-eyes-out cry. But I think about God's goodness in my life and how I don't deserve it AT ALL and I get teary-eyed. I don't bawl my eyes out, because these moments are bittersweet. I realize my own depravity, but then I am overwhelmed with God's power and overjoyed by his goodness. This causes tears to well up that never actually fall. I remember on my wedding day, when I was waiting downstairs with my dad, about to walk down the aisle, and "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder came on. I was so overwhelmed by God's goodness in that moment. I got teary-eyed just thinking of God's relentless love for me, a love I do not deserve.

Ezra and Nehemiah also knew of God's goodness. Although Ezra and Nehemiah's books come fairly early in the Old Testament (before Psalms and Proverbs), they actually record some of the very last events of the OT. Ezra and Nehemiah were prophets who returned to Jerusalem after the exile. They were both granted permission to return by the Persian king (the empire that ousted Babylon), and were two of the main leaders in the rebuilding of the desolated Jerusalem. Ezra arrived first and was responsible for encouraging the Israelites to rebuild the temple. He also studied Mosiaic law, and taught the people the specific commandments of the Lord, which had long been forgotten. Nehemiah arrived about fifteen years later and orchestrated the building of a wall around the new, much smaller, city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah also played a part in praying on behalf of His people and convicting them of sin. He also acted as a liason between Persia and Jerusalem, and was eventually appointed governor of Jerusalem.

The thing is... both these men were faithful to the Lord and their people in Jerusalem during a very difficult time. Faced with the task of rebuilding and repopulating a city, restoring proper temple worship, reinforcing the law of God, cleansing the people from sin (including mixed marriages again), dealing with opposition from surrounding peoples, and trying to live independently while under Persian rule, Ezra and Nehemiah did not have the easiest life of ministry. However, they knew that God was good. When Ezra was released by the king of Persia, Artaxerxes, to return to Jerusalem, it was because "the good hand of God was on him" (Ezra 7:9). When Ezra realized that there were no Levites in the group returning to Jerusalem, he sent for some. When a faithful group of Levites arrived to join them on their journey, Ezra knew this was done "by the good hand of our God on us (Ezra 8:18). Years later, when Nehemiah felt the call of God to go and rebuild Jerusalem, he asked King Artaxerxes for leave to return to Jerusalem. When the king granted his request, Nehemiah knew that "the good hand of the my God was upon me" (Nehemiah 2:8).

There is lots of talk of God's goodness in the Old Testament. From the very beginning, the things God created on earth were "good." There are also countless references to God's hand and his arm. His "outstretched arm" is a figurative term for God's absolute power over the proceedings of the earth. Moses and the Israelites knew all about God's outstretched arm in the wilderness, when God provided for them and saved them again and again. Here, at the end of the Old Testament, when things are bleak and uncertain for the Israelites as they return to their desolated city, God is still good. Ezra and Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem can trust God's goodness, His provision, His care for His people, because His good hand acts upon the goodness of His heart.