Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Saturday, March 8, 2008

He said, She said.

Because I love Jennifer, my bride, more than my last breath, I will reserve the right and responsibility to provide some homefront perspective throughout this portion of the journey. Hopefully, it will provide an even more complete view of God's enduring grace, and His faithfulness to those who are a part of His family.

I am so thankful to be given the priviledge of leading this family. It is, by far, the greatest job God has given me. What makes it even sweeter is that I have a gorgeous wife who is the most trustworthy, Christ-like, and genuine person that I have ever known. She is my first pick every time for a teammate. In all, life is better with her, and it's tough when we're not together geographically.

However, while I was thinking about our family and thanking God for His sovereignty and perfect plan, He pointed my eyes toward Psalm 145;

"I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever. Everyday I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness in unsearchable.'

"One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty; and on Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness. They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.'

"The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His works.'

"All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures througout all generations.'

"The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down. The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.'

"The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works. The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

"My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever."

Jennifer and I pray that our children will see God at work around them, and praise His works to their children and grandchildren. And, just like when Moses came down from the mountain, we pray that the reflection of God's awesome glory is what others see in our family both now and for generations.

4 comments:

Matt and Amanda DeSarro said...

Todd,
What a beautiful, faithful, loving, and godly husband and father you are with your eternal prespective! Jenny will love your post! How beautiful to honor her and the Lord- there is nothing greater for a wife!

Jenny,
What a JOURNEY of LOVE and FAITH!!! I am thinking and praying for you to many times a day to count! I just CRY when I read your updates... It is so amazing to see your heart for Jesus and how you walk with HIM! God is writting a beautiful and significant chapter to your life. Take lots of pictures of the area your children are from, the homes, the people, the landscape. I wish I had taken even more for Hadassah and we took about 75 picture of her birth place. The pictures are priceless to us and one day will be to her. Another idea buy the local paper, a magazine, and a Bible for your children to have one day. ( I wish I had done that)
Oh Jenny, I am praying for you all. You are the apple of His eye and in the palm of His hand. How wonderful to be serving our Lord and have the awesome blessing and gift of His children to be your children! WOW! I love you and am with you in my spirit just talking to God about you all the time and believing for His FAVOR to be a SHIELD!
Blessings,
Amanda

Anonymous said...

"Date Night with Sagee"
Tokens tucked tightly in her hand, she surveyed the Chuck E. Cheese scene. Let's see, there's the airplane, the spaceship, the boat, the horses, the games, the batman car, and the climbing gym with a pool of balls... Sagee did of all these and more... but her favorite of the night was the airplane, returning 4 times to pilot the machine.
On one of her trips I asked,"Sagee, where are you going?"
She replied with a gleam in her eye, "Im flying to Africa."
Though the whole night was special for grammy and grandpa, this next moment was one of the sweetest. We were driving to our next destination and Sage was happily singing from her heart this tune.
I love my Grammy so much, I love my Grandpa so much, I miss my Mommy, I love my Mommy so much. She is in Africa to get my brother and sister.
This precious moment reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:34
"From the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."
We know this whole journey to Africa is a "date" that God has prepared for you as well as for Lacey, Erryn and Cheryl. As he takes you to each destination that he has planned, may all of you be singing from your heart, I love my God so much, I love my Jesus so much, I love the Holy Spirit so much. May your heart continue to overflow with his love.
love, mom

Kroll Family said...

Todd and Jenny,

You are such an inspiration to us. We are blown away by your faith and your willingness to follow God wherever he may lead you. Please know that we are praying for you every step of the way!!

Love and Blessings,
Jo and Family

Anonymous said...

Hello to all of you special ladies!
All is well on the homefront. Ryen doesn't quite understand time as of yet, so Jordan (daddy) & I (grammy) are always trying to explain to her. I think we will post a calender so she can cross of the days to Lacey's (return). Trying to keep Peyton on her schedule, she is delighted to feel the love. I spent the night at their house last night, so I could keep Peyton while Dad & Ryen attened church this morning. I came upstairs this morning to find dad getting them both out of the tub. I grabbed Peyton from him & He tended to Ryen. Forgetting about the time change last night, we had to up the pace! Dad got some breakfast munchies for the drive to church, while Grammy did Ryen's hair & off they went! Peyton & I enjoyed breakfast & a bottle, then sweet playtime before she went down for her morning nap. Dad & Ryen arrived home with McDonald goodies. Then Ryen & I went to check out some new hiking trails down by the Yellowstone river. A nice day! Next time we need to take something to carry all the rocks, feathers, bugs & whatever else Ryen needs to collect during our hikes.
I want to thankyou so much Jenny for the story of the missing bag in NY. All Praise to God for presenting Himself to the four exhausted & frustrated ladies in the elevator. He always knows how to get our attention, whether it be thru His Blessings, trials or a disguises (such as a deaf, blind, mute) We know He is the Great Creator. Thus, His creative "attention getters"!
I Love You my beautiful daughter, Lacey & I really miss you, more than you can ever know, but it is comforting to know you are in God's hands. I am just so excited for you & for God's desire to use you as an instrument of His love.
Blessing's! Love, Mom / Monica