Missing Them

Wednesday, February 10, 2016, 5:01 pm

Normally on a day like today I would be home, sitting down to a home cooked meal prepared by my wife surrounded by my six children. Today, though, I am at the church, preparing sermons a couple of weeks in advance. Why? Because they are gone. They are gone because of one very special person who make so much of my life better. One person who nearly 24 years ago I asked to join me on an incredible journey, and she said "yes."

She said "yes" not because she knew what was coming (truth be known, if she knew what was coming, she might have had a different answer), but because she knew the one who was asking her. To this day I can't understand what would have possessed her to want to spend the rest of her life with me, but she said "yes".

Nearly 24 years later we are still together, traveling on this road of life and experiencing the journey's ups and downs. Six times we have experienced the joy of welcoming a new life into the world. We have celebrated 22 wonderful anniversaries and look forward to the next 22. We've celebrated 102 birthdays all tolled and we have had 24 Christmases as well. Much of the life's journey we have been happy, but not all.

There have been heartaches along the way. Sometimes pain caused by us, sometimes pain caused by others. We've seen God at work and watched His hand bring about amazing results. We've also been in the valley when God was hard to see. We've lost some of those whom we loved, and we've been able to see the lost, found.

But the one constant that has always been with us throughout these past 24 years since the day I asked my beloved to be my bride is this: God has never left us, nor forsaken us. He is the constant One, and the never-changing God! He is full of mercy and compassion. He disciplines those He loves and we are His children...the objects of that love. He is the foundation of our marriage and He will continue to be so.

And because of her love for me and for her family, she has willingly sacrificed nearly a month of her life to (for lack of a better way to put it) be a chauffeur for my three oldest children. They were involved in a play (HPA's production of The Secret Garden) back in Michigan before we moved. We both felt God telling us that it was important for them to continue in that production as they only had a month left until the performances. During the month of January, my bride drove from IL to MI and back again 3 times, stayed with her parents approximately 25 days, slept on a pull out couch during that time, transported the children to and from practices, performances and parties, washed clothes, put up with hassles from outside the family as well as inside, and all in all kept her composure with grace and dignity. I love my wife for her sacrifice, and I love my kids as well. I can not wait to have them back with me so that I can show them just how much I have missed them.

Thank you, Lord for Your grace and for giving me the best family any man should ever have.

"God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"  --Hebrews 13:5

Inside Not Out

I often have insecurities. I think we all do. I sometimes wonder if I'm good enough, pretty enough, if I'll ever catch someones eye.  I know I am pretty and good. But I don't often feel like others think that. 

That's what I'm going to talk about today.

Being the nerd girl that I am, my mind often wanders to my fictional heroes. 

In this case it goes to Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. Before his Super Solider days, Steve was a puny under average human being that was constantly beat up. No one but his friend Bucky liked him. Bucky was a good looking dude that all the ladies loved. Bucky liked Steve, not for his outward appearance, cause that sure wasn't that great. No, Bucky like Steve for his insides. 

See, Steve stood up to the bullies. That's why he became such a great Captain America. That's why he  was Captain America. The serum increased what was inside. Steve's loyal, good heart bloomed into Captain America.

I think we all need to be like Bucky. We need to judge others not by what's outside. You can be the most beautiful person ever but inside look like crap. 

Or vice versa. 

You can be ugly, twisted, scared but if what's inside is filled with what is good and lovely, it will shine so much brighter.

I'm in the musical the Secret Garden and this play proves my point beautifully.

Archibald Craven is a man with a hump on his back. His niece, Mary is orphaned in India when her parents die form the cholera. Mary is a "sour little thing." Her mother, Rose, was a beauty and everyone "loved" her. Rose's sister, Lilly, married Archie despite his hump. 

Rose in one scene of the musical yells at Lilly about loving Archie with his hump. Lilly tells Rose that Archie has one of the "tenderest hearts she's ever seen."

My point is, Rose was a beauty outwardly but inwardly she was uglier than a monster. 

Archie was ugly outwardly, but Lilly looked beyond that, at his heart and found a tender, loving soul.       

I may not feel pretty. I may not feel loved. But I do know of One who loves and cherishes me beyond reason. He created the stars, and yet He calls me beautiful. He thinks I am perfect because He created me and everything He makes is perfect. 

1 Samuel 16:7 -  

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Welcome to the Family!

Greetings friends, family, loved ones, neighbors, strangers, acquaintances, and anyone else not covered by this list. We are thankful to have you hear with us! We want to welcome you to our family...the Augustines. All 8 of us here want to thank you for the interest you have shown in our family and what we are doing here in the western side of the state of Illinois. We hope that this blog will help you stay in touch, informed, and inspired.

The title of this blog post is "Welcome to the Family." The reason for this is that it is our hope that you will feel like one of our family. We are excited to share our lives with you, and hope that if there is a chance to reciprocate that you would do the same. We seek friendship (as much as it can be through the computer), and we seek to serve, pray for and minister to those whom God puts in our sphere of influence.

From time to time you will see the kids post things that they want to talk about, Cindy will post some stuff, I (Jim) will post some stuff, but it will always be meant to encourage, inspire and inform. It is our hope that you all will share this blog with those who care about our family, and with anyone else you think would be encouraged by its content.

Thank you for visiting! And now...off we go!