Years before meeting Anthony Salerno, while living in Kansas, I saw a cute couple’s pic posted by Kahana and Sarah Kalama, who I highly looked up to ( #CouplesGoals ) in festive Fourth of July attire — clearly in California and clearly happy to be together.
It birthed a desire in me to someday dress up with my future husband for Fourth of July and take a picture together (and maybe even post it online too).
Now, here we are! (Who likes pic 1 better? Pic 2?)
Thank you, Kalamas, for being a Christian couple I could look up to. Godly and fun, beautiful inside and out, boldly living out your creative dreams and your love for God, each other, and your extended family and dear friends. So glad I got to meet you in person and interview you about marriage before getting married!
Happy (belated) Fourth of July to all. I pray that everyone’s dreams are fulfilled — no matter how big or small.
As I've learned (sometimes the hard way), the most important thing is to be pliable to the Lord (that’s really what’s meant by the Hebrew word translated “delight” in Psalm 37:4, the verse often known for the ending, “He will give you the desires of your heart”). As Cherie Noel explained to me, that word means to be malleable, as in “to be able to be flattened with a hammer” — totally surrendered to God, for Him to do His work in you.
While an evil oppressor would take that kind of surrender as an opportunity to take wrongful advantage of his victim, because God is kind and merciful and loves to exalt the humble, He uses our position of surrender as an opportunity to bless us!
Oftentimes, the fulfillment comes in a different way or timing than we’d expect. Sometimes, it requires unexpected sacrifice — dying to our selfishness and pride.
I confess I have sometimes (okay, often) been more stubborn than pliable! It’s a miracle I even got married (!), let alone get to do so many of the cute things I’d hoped for.
Thankfully, God is faithful. And so very merciful!
If we dedicate our lives to the Lord, He will move heaven and earth to chase us down with His blessings.
I remember now what I felt God tell me when I asked Him about a prayer He answered for Christi: “There is nothing I won’t do for My obedient ones.”
May we all be His obedient ones, more and more, every day.
Comments