For the Glory of it All

“And after all falls apart/He repairs/He repairs/For the glory of it all is He came here/For the rescue of us all that we may live/For the glory of it all oh He is here/With redemption from the fall that we may live/For the glory of it all/Oh the glory of it all/Oh the glory of it all”

These are lyrics from the song Glory of it All by David Crowder. This is my favorite part of the song leading into the climax where it talks about “after the night comes the light/dawn is here/it’s a new day.”  This song really moves me because it speaks of redemption. Lives fall apart because of sin but Jesus repairs. He brings redemption from the fall. And He does it all for His glory. He brings hope…the hope of being redeemed. It’s this hope that brings tears to my eyes. I think back on the past few years of my life mourning and regretting some of the decisions I made and the experiences that I had. I have come far. Four years ago I was 17 and beginning a life apart from my family. It was hard and I struggled a lot emotionally. The past four years have been a growing period for me. That time in my life is now over. I am no longer a teenager. I am no longer poor, confused and single. I am no longer depressed, anxious, lonely, and entirely consumed in my schoolwork. I am now more emotionally stable, more mature, more theologically sound, and I am married. My focus is now split between husband, school, house keeping, and my own personal interests like reading and writing. It is an odd thing to step out of that previous time in life and step into a new one. My mind continuously wants to go back but I am paving a new way, a life with Kyle, a story of our own. It is wonderful and difficult all at the same time (though more wonderful than difficult). Having Kyle as my husband is a reminder to me that Jesus does repair, that He does bring hope and redemption. It was through Kyle that God brought rest and peace to my soul. God took me out of that which was not meant for me and put me where I was made to be…in Kyle’s life, folding his laundry, cooking his food, taking care of him, helping him, loving him. I believe that the past four years were growing me for this: that I would be a good wife, a loving person, have a well-rounded life and do it all for the glory of God.

“With redemption from the fall that we may live…”

On a less deep note, I have begun to bake and decorate cakes again. When I was younger I took a cake decorating class and for a while I was always baking and decorating cakes. However, when my parents moved to Houston and I started at Criswell I had to stop baking because I no longer had my own kitchen to work in. I have moved four times in the past four years so it just wasn’t possible to keep up my hobby. But now that I have a kitchen again I decided to try to decorate a cake and see if I can still do it. Today is Kyle’s mom’s birthday (and me and Kyle’s 1 month wedding anniversary) so I baked and decorated a cake yesterday. I made my own icing as well. I quickly remembered how difficult and messy cake decorating can be, especially when I’m having to make do with what little supplies I have. The icing didn’t turn out well for decorating. It tasted great but the consistency was wrong. I need the icing to be stiff in order to decorate well, otherwise the flowers and designs will not keep their hold. So, the cake did not turn out like I wanted it to but I managed to make it look okay. I posted a picture of it on my Facebook. Though I did face some difficulties I really did enjoy baking and decorating again. Also, Kyle made me buy a KitchenAid mixer, which turned out to be a great buy! It’s way easier than mixing by hand or using a hand held mixer. I’ve always mixed by hand because I refuse to use a hand held mixer. I hate those things! Anyway, the cake was a hit amongst Kyle, Mom and Dad so I am happy. It did taste amazing if I do say so myself. I think Kyle was pretty pleased because he bought me some more cake decorating supplies off of Amazon! The next thing I’m going to buy is a tilting cake table so that I can have the cake elevated and tilted, which will make decorating it easier. I’m going to have another chance to refresh my skills this weekend. I offered to make a cake for my niece’s birthday party. I think my sister and I decided to do a fairy theme party so I’m going to make three dozen cupcakes and use them to make fairy wings and maybe a wand. Cupcakes are super easy to decorate so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m going to look up some pictures on Google for inspiration. It should be fun!

So, Kyle and I are headed to Houston on Friday and will be back Monday. I’m looking forward to it and I’m hoping to get most of my homework done by Friday. Pray for me and for safe travels! =)