Wow. Once again, I am left speechless at the goodness of God. He works in spite of our sinfulness to restore us both to Him and to each other through the gracious work of His Son on the cross. And tonight, I would like to especially give thanks for one particular blessing I have often taken for granted: my bother -oh yeah, um, I mean, brother- Caleb. ;)
God has given me the incredible privilege of being sister to one Caleb John Dutton. And I am so thankful for it! I can't believe our Lord has blessed us both so abundantly and loved us so deeply as to provide us with the home we have grown up in! (We love you, Dad and Mom!!!)
There were many times growing up when I think we both thought, "Us? There's no way we'll ever be close. No matter what, we just don't...click!"
Well.
Ever heard the saying, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans"? I think we both had one of those moments tonight. Caleb and I have both had our "desert" times spiritually, and both of us have at some point or another hurt the other deeply with our sinfulness.
But thanks be to God, I can say with full confidence that nowadays we both are -albeit slowly but surely- pressing toward a common goal of honoring Christ with our lives. And that fact alone has made us closer than I think either of us ever thought we would or could ever be.
So, Matthew, I love you too, of course, just as much and with all my heart! And I'm sure your day is coming for your own similar post...but tonight, Caleb gets my thumbs up and my mushy words (sorry, buddy, I couldn't resist...) for his growing determination to follow Christ and deny himself, and to lead others on his pursuit of a life that humbly glorifies God.
I'm so proud of the growth I've seen in you, Caleb! Especially over the past few months. Glory to God!! Keep it up! Thank you for starting to challenge me in my growth and to gently point out ways I need to change. I love you so much, and I'm so thankful you're my brother! ~I guess we're stuck with each other anyway, so we might as well just love each other, huh...? ;) JUST. KIDDING. :) But seriously: I love you a ton and I'm thanking our God for you tonight! And I just wanted to honor you for all the world to see. Glory to God forever!
"For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer."
~Hebrews 8:12
"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen"
~Ephesians 3:20-21
I have noticed the change in Caleb from afar. His FB posts have reflected the change in him and I have been encouraged by that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember when you were about as old as that first picture up there and Caleb was watching something sports-ish and you asked him if he wanted to do something (I don't remember what, now, but it was probably girly) with you. It was amusing to watch his struggle as he tried to figure out how to say no to you without being perceived as unkind - so cute, the both of you!