I know my Redeemer lives.......

"Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!  Job 19:23 - 27

What a wonderful blessing this is to read.  Job, who went through hell and back, praised God because he knew his redeemer lives.  This is amazing when you consider the fact that Job is in the Old Testament.    In the reading plan I have started Job falls in day 4 after the tower of Babel event.  There is no promise to Abraham, no Israel, and no exile and then return, yet Job know his Redeemer lives. 

How wonderful to be so sure that God lives when you don’t have all the proof found in scripture. 

Another blessing is the reminder that someday we will all see God.  Someday the troubles of this world will fall away.  So whatever you are going through, you can know that someday all will be good.  It all goes back to my favorite verse in the New Testament:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21: 3 – 4.

Whatever you are going through, remember, some day we will all rejoice and shed no more tears, have no more worries and most importantly, that our Redeemer lives.

My journey with God……….

I have started this blog as a way to share my journey with God with others who seek him.  Here’s my story:

I have been a Christian my entire life.  I grew up in a Christian household.  I thought I had all the answers and new exactly what God wanted me to do when I grew up.  At the age of 12 I thought “God wants me to be an accountant.”  My dad is a CPA and I was good at numbers so that’s what God wants me to be.  Now how many 12 year olds really know what they want to be and for that matter, how many 12 year olds want to be an accountant?  When I was 13, I thought maybe God didn’t’ want me to be an accountant.  Maybe God wanted me to go into the ministry.  It was during my final 2 weeks before I was confirmed.  I felt that God was telling me that accounting wasn’t the place for me.  Maybe, just maybe I was to minister to people.  I loved God (and still do) very much and I truly did Love to Tell the Story!  The only problem was, I was a girl!  At the time there weren’t many ordained women in our Synod, at least that’s what I was told.  I was basically told men do the preaching and women help with the other stuff.  Not in those words mind you, but that’s the gist of what I understood based on my surroundings. 

So I went to college and studied business and accounting.  My favorite classes were New Testament, Christian Ethics, and Creative speaking.  When I graduated I took the CPA test 10 times and only ever passed 2 sections.  When I was at the exams, during breaks, I would be evangelizing in my own way and talking about God.  I had more fulfillment doing that then anything on the test!  Over the years I had 3 jobs in accounting but they were not fulfilling.  I was laid off in 2005 due to a reorganization of the company I worked for and started seeking God.  At the time I couldn’t believe God would let this happen, after all I worked for the Church!  Then opportunities came up for me to grow in my faith.  I volunteered through our Lutheran church and I started attending Bible studies.  I was (and am) truly seeking God.  Over the past 5 years, God has lead me on an awesome journey.  I have worked with a lot of wonderful people. 

My time spent helping out in these areas showed me that God really does have a plan and I needed to listen to what his plan was and is for me.  I didn’t need to listen to anyone else but God.  I took a year off from a lot of my volunteering because I wasn’t sure I was in the right place.  Then I was asked to be the Youthfest coordinator and I had the chance to go to Synod Assembly in 2007.   I accepted the position and headed to the assembly.  While at the assembly I read over the paper explaining the lay training and the Aaron’s ministry.  I told Pastor Held I would love to do this but I didn’t think I could.  He asked why and I said my son is so young, can I do this?  When my husband picked me up, I told him about it and he asked why I couldn’t do it.  I said about Tommy being so young and he said – he’s potty trained so I can take care of him.  (You have to know Dennis!)   So I said I would pray about it.  The more I thought about my past and what I liked to do and when did I feel the most peace, I realized it was during the times I was working for God.  I signed up for the classes and felt at peace.  I was finally home.  The classes taught me so much.  I would get so excited when I was in the classes and I never want them to end!  I became a trained worship leader and enjoyed leading worship.  The classes helped me get a better understanding of the Bible and what it said and meant.

In January 2010 we started attending Cornerstone Ministries.  Our son was missing the Bible Study he had gone to before kindergarten started and asked us to find a church whose teaching format was the same as Community Bible Study.  He said he wanted to learn more about God.  I finally understood the old saying “you attend church where your kids get the most spiritual growth.”  It amazed me he wanted to learn more and more about God.  I asked around and was told that Cornerstone Ministries was the place to go for such a format.  We have all been so blessed by the teaching at the church.  Dennis, my husband says “if you don’t squirm some during the sermons, you aren’t listening.”   

I have had many people ask me over the years if I would consider going to seminary.  I told them yes I would and I have.  Right now, however I have a 7 year old and I feel that God wants his education and journey to adulthood to come first.  I am where I need to be.  I tell people that when it is time, God will open the door.  I’ll be ready to walk right through when He does!