Are you in AWE of our CREATOR!?

Please don't skim this post, really READ every word...
(Side note:  This blog was written by Rance.)

Psalm 19:1-7

1 The heavens declare the glory of God,

   and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2Day to day pours out speech,

   and night to night reveals knowledge.

3There is no speech, nor are there words,

   whose voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,

   and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

5 which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

   and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

   and its circuit to the end of them,

   and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

 7 The law of the LORD is perfect,

   reviving the soul;

 the testimony of the LORD is sure,

    making wise the simple;

Now, before you go any further, go to www.crazylovebook.com and go to the “videos” tab and watch the “Awe Factor” video.  Ponder on that video. 

Amazing huh!!????  But now I challenge you to be honest.  Honest with yourself, and honest with GOD.  What’s your real reaction? Cool video?  Oh wow I didn’t realize the universe was so big?  Gosh what a neat discovery? OR maybe you thought WOW HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!  HOW INCREDIBLE IS HIS DESIGN!  Or maybe you told HIM - WOW GOD YOU’RE CREATION IS JUST MORE THAN I CAN FATHOM!  I AM HUMBLED!  I AM JUST A SPECK IN YOUR VASTNESS!!!  GOD HOW CAN YOU BE SO INFINITE IN YOUR CREATIVITY AND DESIGN little ole me IN YOUR LIKENESS!!!????  WOW I'm BLOWN AWAY THAT CONSIDERING YOUR MAGNIFICENT DESIGN AND THE GLORY IT BRINGS TO YOU, and seeing my sinful wretched self, THAT YOU WOULD EVEN CARE TO PURSUE ALL MANKIND TO THE POINT OF POURING OUT YOUR HATRED TOWARDS SIN ON YOUR PERFECT SON JESUS!!!  THIS LOVE IS TOO MUCH FOR ME, I CANNOT GRASP IT, ONLY ACCEPT IT! 

Oh but Rance, that’s just how you and Jennifer think……………. NO!  WRONG! That’s a glimpse at how any follower of JESUS CHRIST that’s living in AWE of the CREATOR will respond!  Look again at Psalm 19!  HIS Glory is shining all around us each day!  GOD desires for us to be impressed by HIM!  To be blown away by His Beauty and Creativity all around us!  And to praise HIM for it!  To be humbled by a relentless GOD who is always after your heart and my heart!  HE wants our attention!  He wants us to know HIM!  To Worship HIM!  To enjoy HIM!  To discover more and more of HIM!  That breath you just breathed, it came from HIM!  It was free!  I didn’t deserve it, neither did you, but HE gave it to us simply because HE still has a purpose for you and me today!  To live for HIM!  To come closer to HIM!  To be in AWE of HIM! 

Imagine how much SPLENDOR GOD sees at every moment every day!  HE sees every flower bloom!  Every sunrise and sunset!  Every animal of the land and sea giving birth, feeding, playing, surviving, and simply doing what it was created to do!  Every storm!  Every gust of wind stirring through fields and woods and deserts!  Every leaf on every bush or tree growing, changing colors, falling to the ground!  Every stream of water splashing!  Every cloud and their limitless forms!  Every sand dune!  Every beach!  Every spider web!  Every planet, star, moon, meteor, and galaxy!  HE sees it all!  HE enjoys HIS creation!  It brings HIM pleasure and Glory!  Are you becoming more in Awe of HIM???  I hope so! J

So now let’s dwell on this!  GOD has limitless creations that bring HIM glory and pleasure all day everyday right!?  Not to mention all that Heaven is made up of and surrounds HIM! WOW!  LIKE WOW WOW WOW!  So what’s the one thing GOD hates!?  The one thing that brings HIM no glory, no pleasure, no praise!????..........SIN!  The BIBLE says in the book of James that when a person knows to do right, and doesn’t do it, it is SIN!  The book of Romans reminds us that we have all fallen short of GOD’s Glory!  We have all sinned.  We’re all in need of forgiveness, in need of a SAVIOUR!  So now think of all the sin that GOD sees all day every day!  The evil that’s streaming through the world, and be not forgetful it was man’s choice that brought it (Genesis 3)!  It was Lucifer’s pride that created it (Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14) and deceived one third of the angels in doing so (Revelation 12)!  All the evil taking place, it breaks HIS Heart!  I wouldn’t want my own thoughts and fleshly battles put on display for you to see just from one day!  So in the midst of all of GOD’s immeasurable Beauty in His Own Creation lie my sin, your sin, and the world’s sin!  And HE simply reminds us in His Word that HE hates the sin and unconditionally loves the sinner! 

Now I’m becoming even more in AWE of our Creator!  Because when Luke Ritter and I saw the Rocky Mountains (picture above)…….when Billy and I caught that last rainbow trout………..when Roger text me a picture of a bright yellow bird the other day………when Jennifer and I watched the sunset on the beach in Dominican Republic and watched it rise to shine in our living room this morning through the settling fog on the side of the mountain…………I stand in AWE of our CREATOR wondering how HE looks past all of HIS MARVELOUS BEAUTY daily and YEARNS for your heart and mine!!!  Yearns for our attention!  Desires our praise!  Wants our every heartache, concern, and worry to flood HIS EARS!  GOD looks past all that and sees a disgusting world full of sin, and says to us……THE PRECIOUS SHED BLOOD OF MY SON HAS PAID FOR IT ALL ON CALVARY’S CROSS, AND 3 DAYS LATER CONQUERED DEATH SO YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN, WALK AND GROW INTIMATELY WITH ME, EXPERIENCING ME, GLORIFYING ME, AND LIVE AT PEACE WITH ME FOR AN ETERNITY!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Are you in AWE of a RELENTLESS CREATOR that’s after your heart!!!!?????  Why would we dare want to miss that immeasurable amount of LOVE being poured out on us!???

Maybe right now you’re realizing you have never trusted HIM as your SAVIOUR.  Maybe right now all you can think is I need HIM!  I need JESUS!  Be honest with yourself for the sake of ETERNITY!  Do you really know you’re going to Heaven when you die!?  Call on HIM right now, right where you are!  There is no perfect prayer or words.  Simply trust JESUS for Who He is and what He did!  Tell Him that you put your faith in the fact that HE is GOD’s perfect Son, Who died on the Cross for your sin, and arose from the dead!  And you gladly receive Him as your Saviour, the forgiveness of sin, and the promise of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-10)!  Now let someone know!  Including Jennifer and I so we can celebrate with you and praise the LORD together!

I will close with this thought from Romans 8:32...

”He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

GOD’s creation is glorifying HIM all around us, even in bondage under sin’s curse (Romans 8:19-22),….the heavens are declaring His Glory and the skies are proclaiming His handiwork!  How much more does HE desire to proclaim HIMSELF in us for His Glory!?  To shine through us as we yield to His Spirit leading our lives!?  He feeds the birds and brings the rain for the forest, How much more does HE desire to bless and provide for His Own children who love to obey His Word!?  How much more of Himself and His Character does HE desire to reveal to us, His sons and daughters!!!?  May we choose to live in AWE of such an AWESOME Creator Who’s LOVE towards us is RELENTLESS in CHRIST JESUS!!!



So You Want To Be Like Christ?

I hope you are shouting the answer to that question with a "YES, Hallelujah, Amen!"  Why?  Tell me one thing this world has to offer that can be better and more fulfilling (at all times) than pursuing the ONE that created you, the ONE who knit you in your mother's womb, the ONE who looks at you and says you are WONDERFULLY made, the ONE who walks with you always, the ONE that will never, I said NEVER fail you (because the world will and that includes your mom, dad, brother, best friend, husband, wife, sister, co-worker), the ONE who sent His own Son to the cross to die the most gruesome, painstaking death to take on every single sin that had been committed and would ever be committed, the ONE who created your son or daughter, the ONE who provides all your needs (to eat, sleep in a bed at night, and simply be alive) and the ONE who is preparing a place for every believer...a place that is far beyond our imagination (HEAVEN)...

Why would we not want to know HIM, be like HIM?  

Rance and I are meeting with some FUN teens once a week now and this week we met at our house on Wednesday night for our first night and let me tell you, we had a BLAST!  After we completely devoured some sketti, texas toast, milk, coffee, brownies...we started the book "So you want to be like Christ?" by Charles Swindol.  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I will go into great detail about this book later but I want you to meet this sweet group...

 From left (Tacey, ME, Amber, Rance, Charleton, Hunter, Jessica & Bethany)

 BRRRRRRROOOOWWWNIESSSS & MILK :)

 A-Long & "Hunnnnerrrr" (per Rance)

 Don't know them

 My lil girl :)

"I'm just sooo...HAPPY!" 

Yes, it's starting to SNOW again!

(Thanks for taking the pictures A-Long)

I love each one of these guys/gals and I am so excited the Lord is allowing Rance and I to love on them and point them to JESUS!  I am even more thankful for their desire & hunger to not just 'be saved' but to know Him and to try to do it His way!  If only I could go back to their age and know what I know now but praise God it's never too late... 

*Hebrews 10:24-25* 

²⁴ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. ²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

God Ordained...

November 20th was the SECOND biggest day of my life (the FIRST day being when I accepted CHRIST as my Savior).  That day was so full of joy, emotions, laughs, tears, friends, family - but most importantly, JESUS!  So often I think how much I would love to re-live that day all over again and thanks to Bianca & Seth Palmer (the most amazing husband/wife photographer/videographer team) - Rance and I were able to be a guest at our own wedding & re-live it while watching this FUSION video they created...

http://vimeo.com/19281817


When I watched this video, I was flooded with emotions that God chose me, Jennifer, to be the one that got to marry Rance Haven Shuler.  Now, this is not the goo goo gah gah email where I'm trying to make all you people out there throw up over our sweet little romance.  This is different so don't stop reading just yet.  You see, I knew there was something very, very different about Rance from the very beginning.  Keep in mind, I'm not talking about different as in 'omg he's the one.'  I'm meaning another kind of different. 

On July 10, 2009, on the island of Trinidad (many, many miles away from NC) - I met Rance.   This day was just any ordinary day but for those of you who know Rance, he is far from ordinary...he's different.  That day, I was completely blown away by this country boy from North Carolina and it was not because of how incredibly adorable he was or his sweet country accent - it was ONE thing & ONE thing only.  I had never met anyone (and still haven't) that was so genuine, so BOLD, so excited, so full of joy, so sincere, so loud (yes LOUD!) and so passionate about ONE thing...and that's JESUS CHRIST.  Never in all my years.  He was not afraid to let anyone and everyone know how in love he was with Our Heavenly Father.  He had a passion for the gospel that left me speechless...and I learned that by being around him only a few hours that Friday night in Trinidad.  (For those of you who know him I'm positive would all agree you don't have to be around him more than 5 minutes before you know his most important passion...Jesus). 

When I left that small little island of Trinidad the next day, Rance's boldness and love for Jesus stuck with me.  I never thought I would ever talk to that Jesus lovin' country boy from Robbinsville, NC again (and DEFINITELY did not think I would later marry him) but I can assure you - Jesus used Rance (my husband) to answer something I had been praying about a long time.  Let's just say (without going into extensive detail), I knew that that was the kind of fire & love for Jesus that I desired in my husband (but often thought didn't exist...Lord forgive me).  God used Rance to show me what I was waiting for and would continue waiting for...!  No, I didn't go home dreaming about Rance, it had nothing to do with him, but everything to do with his love for the Lord.  In fact, I was never that girl constantly dreaming of getting married & my wedding day...in fact the "M" word always freaked me out (ask any of my friends).  I always knew the guy I finally said 'yes' too would have to be...well...different and the kind of different I had not met yet...until God showed me in Trinidad that the husband He describes in the Bible (yes that Ephesians 5 & 1 Peter 3:7 husband) does exist.  I knew I had rather remain single forever than sacrifice the most important quality I looked for in my husband...his love for JC.

I had no idea what the next year and a half held for me when I returned from Trinidad, but I can assure you, God knew (and it was nothing like I envisioned)!  Sometime I will write about the amazing journey that took place and the many answered prayers...small & big...from July 9, 2009 until the BIG DAY but for now, I got something else to talk about...

You see, as believers most of us love the Lord...but do we PROCLAIM it everywhere we go?  Rance does.  He is a living testimony for Jesus.  He is known for his love for the Lord!  He isn't ashamed, scared, shy - none of the above?  Why?  He desires for the whole world to hear the best news on this earth and he doesn't just talk about it, he lives it.  Rance is going to love on everyone he comes into contact with and share the gospel with the guy at the gas station, the student in his classroom, the lady at the grocery store, and whoever else he runs into in a days time.  You will not walk away from Rance Haven Shuler without hearing him say "I'M BLESSED" and "JESUS."  It doesn't matter if it's the first time he's meeting you or the 70th time.  Like I said earlier, I knew from the first time I met him he was different - and still to this day - he's only surprised me more with His genuine love for the Lord & others too.  In fact, he is the closest person I have ever met on this earth to being the disciple for Jesus Christ we are called to be.  I'm not boasting over my husband, I can assure you of that (he is human and he has faults just like we all do).  However, I've never been so convicted in all my life about my own walk with the Lord until I got to know Rance.  He showed me a kingdom-focused heart.  A heart that regarded others more important than himself.  He is never in too big of a hurry to give God the glory in every situation (like the GOOD SAMARITAN).  He will be late to church or to work if it means he has an opportunity to love on someone the way Jesus would or share the good news of Jesus Christ so ONE more soul can have eternal life.  He would sacrifice anything to share Christ (like his job).  He desires every person to know Him.  Rance knows his eternal home is in heaven but he wants to know that every man, woman, boy and girl he comes into contact with will be there too.

I'm thankful I have someone in my life that daily sharpens who I am in Christ even when it hurts (thank you Rance).  I want to live my life in a way that always glorifies my Father in heaven so that one day when I meet Jesus face to face - He will look at me and say 'Well done thy good & faithful servant.'  What do you say?  Are we in this together? 

James 1:22 (Amplified)

But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].