My first-ever newborn photo shoot was (in my own personal opinion, anyway) a success! Little Mr. Asa Isaac was not altogether delighted to have his portrait taken at 10 days old, but put a baby in the frame and how can it not turn out cute?! Fortunately his older brother was more than happy to get pictures with his new buddy. :)
I spent one of the most glorious weekends of 2015 (to date) in Spokane, relishing the delicious dry sunshine and distinctive scent of eastern Washington and the company of some of my favorite friends. On my way back I was overwhelmed with the glory of all the mountains standing crisp and white against an unbelievably blue sky—the Stewarts, the Cascades, and of course my beautiful Mt. Rainier. What a beautiful God we must have, if any part of Him is reflected in His creation!
I stopped in Ellensburg and had lunch with my brother, and we got to talking about the strategies of the Enemy, and how he might like us to think his deceitful voice is actually that of God, or at least similar in power. It took me back to Genesis 3 and perhaps the clearest example in Scripture of Satan’s tactics for driving a wedge between us and God, and as I was lying in bed last night (yay 11:00pm inspiration) this is the conclusion I drew:
The oldest strategy of the Enemy is, first, to make me question the goodness of God—to make me doubt His actual investment in my very best interests. It doesn’t seem to matter how much evidence of His love and blessing I have in my life; I only have to latch onto one small thing I don’t have, or one small thing I’m not, or one small thing He might be keeping from me in order to mentally defame Him in this way. The next step is simply to fill that place with something else, something “better”; this will come in the form of my own small “wisdom,” and the Enemy will be happy to point out an object for that wisdom, which will likely be something incredibly useful (The woman saw that the tree was good for food), something unbearably enticing (and that it was a delight to the eyes), and/or something that addictively makes me feel “good” about myself or my life in some way (and that the tree was desirable to make one wise).
I may feed myself this slow-spreading poison for days, weeks, or even years before I come to fully understand what eternal spiritual fruit and fulfillment I have sacrificed for the sake of a relatively momentary, gluttonous satisfaction. I may not even realize that a chasm is being formed between myself and God. Perhaps my chosen vice is not even inherently a bad thing, but I have used it for a purpose that either I or it was never intended for—simply because I allowed my foundational understanding of God’s character to be eroded by the cunning questions of the Adversary.
I hope you’re all having a delightful April thus far!
This week, my kitten turned a year old. It’s funny because when I look at these pictures I overwhelmingly see Thor… Thor’s personality and Thor’s face and Thor’s mischief, just in baby version. It’s odd to me that I can see in his baby face his present self, and vice versa. This must be how parents feel when they look at their kids’ baby pictures. I’ve never had that experience before.
I do love this kitty. He trots into the house every morning with his massively fluffy tail bouncing along behind him, purring and ready to cuddle and snuggle before he embarks on his daily mission to be as mischievous as possible. He and his brother Loki bring us a lot of joy. (And frustration, but mostly joy. ;))
