We HEART Valentine's Day!

From the moment that we decided to give up everything in order to move across the world, we have experienced a variety of emotions. After all, we had a baby, were appointed to serve as missionaries in Poland, began raising up financial and prayer support teams, sold our home, sold almost all our belongings, traveled the States to continue raising support, and moved into a one bedroom apartment! So what seems fitting to say about our emotional condition over the past year is this: we are completely and utterly dependent on God, our Savior, to sustain our every breath through each new day and the many things we will experience in the midst of life’s ever-changing moments. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts that we can (and want to) press forward into what lies ahead for our family. We are often uplifted by songs and hymns. We want to share the words from a couple songs with you. It is our hope that you find great encouragement in these words below, songs that we have sung often over the past year.

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord; 
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

Refrain: I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; 
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee!

I need Thee every hour, Stay Thou nearby; 
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, In joy or pain; 
Come quickly and abide or life is vain.

I need Thee every hour, Most Holy One, 
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son!

And in a more recent version of this old Hymn, songwriter Matt Maher in his song, Lord I Need You, added a chorus with these words tacked on to the original lyrics:

My one defense, My righteousness.

When I cannot stand I'll fall on You. 

Jesus, You're my hope and stay.

Another song that has brought comfort to our souls in a constantly changing time are the words to the song, Not for a Moment by Meredith Andrews which goes as follows:

 After all You are constant /After all You are only good /

After all You are sovereign / Not for a moment will You forsake me

We have needed to be reminded that our God is with us on a daily basis! We need Him and it’s because of Christ that we can draw near to God with confidence that He will hear us in our time of need, comfort us when our emotions are up and down and be our sufficiency when we feel very weak. And the latter song encourages us that even though nothing in our life right now is constant, HE is constant. He will not change and we can rest easy knowing that He will not forsake us. This isn’t a cliché, “all is well” type of mentality. This is a very real cry of our hearts. It’s a struggle some days, and other days we find it to come more easily. But either way, we continue to press into the only One who is worthy to be called Lord of our lives. 

We don't know what you need today. We don’t know all the details of what life has for you right now. But we do know that in Christ, you will find rest for your soul. You will find love. And we pray and hope that you will cling to the one true God, Who gives the meaning of True Love through the person and work of His son, Jesus Christ.

Happy Valentine's Day,

Steve, Jenny, Karis, Isaac & Olivia

P.S. If you have never listened to or heard the songs we mentioned above, we highly recommend that you Google and listen to them in their entirety. You will not be disappointed with the encouragement each song has to offer!