abide

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I John 4:16

Amy Carmichael on this passage:
"...We can never fully understand that love, but we can begin to understand it even here and now, and as we understand, we trust.  This means that we trust all that the love of God does; all He gives, and all He does not give; all He says, and all He does not say.  To it all we say, by His loving enabling, I trust.  Let us be content with our Lord's will, and tell Him so, and not disappoint Him by wishing for anything He does not give.  The more we understand His love, the more we trust."

I've been thinking about this concept of abiding in God's love lately.  So often, i forget who i am and what He has done...i allow my thoughts to take me to dark places where i believe the lie that i am an orphan...but i do not want to live like an orphan, i want to remember His love, to abide, to trust, and to be thankful and content with what God's hand gives.  the one who is fully loved, as i am in Christ, is free...
   free to take Gospel-risks in relationships, to love others without protecting myself from hurt and rejection...because no amount of rejection can diminish God's love for me
   free to be thankful and content with God's provision, even when it makes absolutely no human sense
   free to not compare gifts, lives, appearances....because God fully loves   me and He fully loves others, but His love does not make people identical

Oh Father, grant me grace to be content with You, to remember who I am in Christ, to take my thoughts captive, to be quick to repent

maine: final day

tuesday was our flight home, but we didn't have to be at the airport until 4:30. it was a beautiful day...the warmest yet, so we headed to the magical fort popham and beach. it was a whirlwind of loveliness.

by the way, miles thoroughly enjoyed a week of full access to his favorite person in the whole world!

testing the water out led to full-on swimming

looking for crabs in the rocky tidal pools

most ice cream shops have closed for the season, but we managed to find some anyway!

exhausting morning.  this is also what they looked like on our final flight home at 11pm, while marit talked the whole time:)

being a baby is awesome

graham was in heaven because there were crabs to catch in the water and so many butterflies on the shore

where the kids clothes were...as in not on their cold little swimming bodies

tom trying to capture the nearby seals who were catching lunch in the tide

you could say adam was enjoying this every bit as much as graham

we arrived home after 11 and our car battery was dead at the airport.  however, there was a girl from our church on the plane and she and her husband stayed with me and the kids while adam and security jumped our car.  later that night, miles woke up throwing up (thinking we fed him too many snacks on the plane, but what else to do with him?), and marit has had a fever since.  we are so glad we went, so thankful for the hospitality of tom and kelly, thankful for family-a gift of grace- and time with each other, and God's handiwork everywhere.

maine: days 5,6

Sunday had us visiting Tom and Kelly's wonderful church in Portland. Y'all, it isn't the Bible belt anymore...they drive 40 minutes to church and there are only two of its denomination in the whole state. Christian community looks different when churches are fewer. still rainy, our little fam (minus napping miles) visited the museums on campus where Tom is teaching this year. Bowdoin is a beautiful campus.

real polar bear in the artic museum...so cool!

tom's office is in this beautiful building

Galatte helper for our Sunday feast

expert chicken-carver

ready for our evening walk

monday still looked cloudy to begin with, but adam was feeling better and it wasn't actively raining, so we drove to gorgeous harpswell for a picnic lunch.

so many neat pebbles and pieces of sea glass.  the kids were entertained for a long time just looking for treasures.

the sun finally appeared!

that evening Marit joined Aida for her ballet class.  they were so sweet dancing together in this amazing dance studio in the woods in a renovated barn.

kelly has posted a lot of pictures over here on her blog also.

maine: days 3 and 4

it rained a lot on friday and saturday and was pretty chilly so our plans evolved from outdoor activities to more inside ones. we did take a misty picnic to the grass downtown on friday. we spent a lot of time on this couch cuddling and reading books.

stroller buds

we did our best to capture all six cousins smiling in the fall loveliness...

loving delicious maine apples

on saturday we found some free tix to the portland children's museum.  lots of other folks found them too and it was a busy place.  i didn't get many photos, but it was a really neato museum

touching starfish and other sea-life

in the reading corner

we took a walk around downtown portland.  lots of tired short legs make for a slow walk, but what a cool city!

love this sweet boy, but he is realllly heavy these days!

back in maine 8 years after honeymooning there!

we decided that since we were in portland, we should check out the coastal train ride and museum, since the boys are all very interested in "choo-choos."  this was a big hit!

miles insisted on sitting alone like a big boy.  he looooved this part of the trip.

half-way point

benj and graham admiring the foggy expanse

beautiful wildflowers everywhere!

the train table in the museum was lots of fun

the kids had a blast acting out train riding and conducting in the museum after our ride

adam was still not feeling very well, but what a trooper!

precious family!