Our Sarah's Wedding

Harvest Church did it again. They came together as an expression of true community, and provided a complete wedding reception for our bride and her groom. Tim and I are blessed to tears, thankful for our church family.

You don't know what it meant to us that you were there. You were there in every sense of the word - physically, emotionally, spiritually, you were fully present, and have been since this adventure with Sarah and her Jonathan began.

To look around that church at 190+ faces (many of those from our parent church, Trinity Chapel, where Jonathan was raised from the time he was young) was a joy beyond telling for us. To know that they would be fully fed and entertained at the reception (such dancing!) was a stunning blessing.


My Stunning Daughter-Bride, and her handsome father, almost 200 guests looking on...

Dear family and pastor-friends, gathered in prayer

The moment they were presented as man and wife

A reception moment

Cake for the groom

"Is there anyone else in the room but us?"

First dance as man and wife

See the bride's footwear? She wore them for the ceremony, too. That's my girl. See the other boots? That is the maid of honor, the bride's twin sister Hannah. The bridesmaids wore strapless, knee length beaded gowns with western boots. It was adorable.




The princess waves goodbye as she and the groom drive away in the groom's "noble steed". Festooned with caution tape. Ahem.

many thanks to the sweet Liz Overton for her pictures...

Our Girl

Tonight is our Sarah's last night under our roof as an Atchley. The feeling is beyond bittersweet. Rehearsal went well and the rehearsal dinner was a time of "togetherness" that I will always remember.

Wedding is tomorrow at three o'clock. My little girl. My little "tomboy" has grown into a Godly and talented woman. This night marks her final, brief sleep under her daddy's authority and covering as "daddy" - but she gets the intense joy and complicated privilege of returning home, and still take her place under him as her pastor.

My dear friend (who is a pastor's wife and a pastor's daughter) Donna Jean once wrote Sarah the most insightful, moving letter about what it really means to be "the pastor's daughter". Remembering her wise words is what blesses, fills, and ministers to my heart this night. My friend brought my daughter a word in season, for sure, with gems of wisdom tucked in between the words telling her what to look for in the "right man"...that man who will someday marry "the pastor's daughter".


Praise Him! God has given Sarah a man who understands the unique relationship between pastor-daddy and daddy's girl. It is a father-daughter dynamic that is truly unique in all the world, and if a future husband does not understand it and honor it, he does his wife, her pastor-dad, and ultimately a whole church body a disservice.

Because when that relationship is beautiful and right, as it has been in our home (not perfect, but beautiful. There is a difference.) it is a joy above joy to those daughters to serve their father side by side in ministry. For my girls, it has always been a dream. It is coming true. What these girls need is not another pastor....not another father...those positions are well filled. They need a husband-lover and a friend. A friend who is not intimidated by the love they have for their daddy.

That is a tall order, and it is a rare man indeed who can meet up to it - respecting and cherishing the bond that his young wife will always share with her pastor-father. Sarah's man rose to the occasion - Hannah's man did so as well, and my heart magnifies the Lord in it!



Goodnight, little Sarah. I had a dream once, too, when I was young and about your age...and you came true.

Life These Days - In Pictures

Our youngest - opening his birthday card, membership to the YMCA enclosed!

We "partied up" the front door...

A quick birthday cake from the grocery deli, because after all, birthdays come once a year, but weddings are (in our estimation) once in a lifetime...we are getting ready for the big day - three days away!

Sarah's "personal" shower...getting a pretend "tatoo". A result of an unfortunate loss on her part in a party game. We all howled in delight.

The Princess...in her blinky-crown. This thing lit up!

Sarah and her bridesmaids and her puppy, before embarking on a day of much shopping.

She'll be Mrs. Howe soon.



Me n' my gang of girls at another bridal shower. This is a picture-of-a-picture!

Our fresh baby's breath arrived via refrigerated truck, Fed-Ex'ed today.

I immediately began making two wreaths for the front doors of the church, and at this point a dear friend graciously took on the task for me.


...and she delivered the final product an hour ago! A big shout-out and thank you to the beautiful Kate Damron! Wooo Hooooo!

I Am Justified

“Many aspects of the flesh are disarmed and eliminated by a deep
apprehension of our justification by faith. Faith in Christ cures unbelief,
anxiety, and insecurity, and in so doing it cuts the roots of envy, jealousy and a host of related egocentric fleshly patterns.”

Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life

No Such Thing...

Psychology has proven what the writer of Ecclesiastes always knew...that there is no such thing as a "state of arrival". We set goals, we aspire, we pursue...all great things to do. But by the time we attain whatever it was we wanted so much, by the time we arrive at our longed-for destination, the "getting" is never all we imagined it would be. We want the next thing. This is human nature. There simply is no changing it, unless you can change your hard-wiring. It is a result of the fall...we work, we sweat, and then we must do it all again, because this world and all that is in it is passing away - in perpetual entropy.

Please hear me: Now is the good part. All "later" is, is a "now" that has not happened yet. You will never be happy later, if you are not happy now. If you do not learn to savor and love "now", you will not even recognize the "later". Today is the best day, because it is the only day you have. You won't be satisfied - fully satisfied - until heaven. In this life, on this side of eternity, the best days are always the season you are in now.

Why? By the time you reach the goal you have set, your brain has already annexed the property. What once was the thing that would make you happy when you finally got it, now becomes one more thing in a long list of attainments, small and large, that continue on and on. And if you never reach the goal you set, if you never attain the thing you wanted...well, what then? The eyes of man are never satisfied with anything but their Maker.

The goal of singing a song is not to finish it. Think about that. The idea is to simply sing. To enjoy singing.

"Let my life be like a love song."

This time next week, the last of my two daughters will be married. This time next week, the wedding will be over, and Tim and I will be cleaning up the church sanctuary, preparing it for Sunday. My thoughts, no doubt, will be a mixture of lingering over the beautiful events of the day, and looking ahead into Sunday, mentally preparing for what comes next.

There is always a "next".

Now is all there is to take joy in. All of this process, before the wedding day, is the best part of it. Next week, as I busily decorate the church and clean out the gorgeous post-and-beam barn for the reception - that will be the "fun part". As I hear the soft music and my son seats me in my place at the front of the church as mother of the Bride, and I then stand up to welcome the Bride to the strains of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"....that will be the best part.

When Sarah walks down that aisle, into the arms of her beloved, that will become the best part.

And when I, at the end of the day, sink wearily and gratefully into the arms of my beloved, and we switch off the light for rest, with a lingering kiss and a whisper of "mission accomplished"....ah, that will be the sweetest moment, too.

Life goes on. Always, it goes on. Now is the best part.

Sarah's Wedding Shower

Her present from mom and dad...
I was married twenty plus years before I got one of these!

My fiesty "little girl" will be a married wife in less than two weeks.

::happy sigh::

And he's a good man - talented, Godly, a summa cum-laude art school graduate, and a man who understands the importance of the local church. This young man never dated until he met our daughter. Never. He waited for her, with all his heart. She is the only woman he has ever cared for, or kissed.

How uncommon is that? I told you he is one in a million. A good man.

Sarah's wedding shower was yesterday. Suddenly, in the wake of a long, cold winter...out comes the sun. Wouldn't you know it? Even the sun marks his calendar for The Princess's Special Day, (Sarah's name means "princess") and comes back from his vacation earlier than orginally planned.


My sister did it again! She planned and executed Hannah's wedding shower last April, and then planned and executed Sarah's shower yesterday...she has a sparkling, amazing gift of hospitality and event planning. I'm telling you, this woman could do this professionally, and name her price. She's that good.

She reserved a special room for the party, and we all walked in to a feast in every sense of the word....a feast for the appetite and the senses. The fragrance of vanilla candles filled the air, and all was decorated in the browns and "soft metals" that is the color story of the wedding.

such beauty...



Sweet couple!






Party favors...








Food tables...



Gifts...


...and more gifts...





Yum!





Did I tell you that my sister is talented?

Hand calligraphied by a local artist-friend, and member of our church (Need one? Contact me!)





The bridesmaids Emily (in pink) and twin sister Hannah (snapping a photo)

Lifting a heavy box of SPICES! (I keep reminding myself "thou shalt not steal"...or covet.)

It was such fun...so special.

The book is a running joke between Sarah and her twin...(Hannah is a fashionista - Sarah is not.)

My lovely sister, who kept us wildly entertained with a monologue during the present-unwrapping-time. She is hilariously funny.

This will come in handy, will it not?

Sarah is more than able, now, to set up housekeeping. God has been beyond good to my daughter...and her future husband is getting the best of the very best.

Can't wait to see them start their new life together!

A "Guest" Blog Post-Liz Overton

There is something to be said for a pastor-teacher preaching the gospel to his flock, week in and week out, staying faithfully on message as opposed to a topical, "felt needs" approach to preaching.

To further illustrate the impact that hearing the gospel of the free gift of grace for an extended season can have, I am sharing with you a blog post from one of our church members - our journalism grad Liz Overton.


Liz "rocks" this piece. She has even changed the whole name of her blog to reflect her new season of life, and new revelation into the grace of God.

Liz is a beautiful twenty-something, talented and intelligent and extremely conscientious. This young woman loves Jesus, and has for most all her life. Harvest would not be what it is without her...she is so faithful. Enjoy reading her take on things - posted to her blog a couple of months ago:

Perfectly saved by His grace!

My pastor has been teaching on grace--the heart and message of the gospel-- for the vast majority of this year. And while some people might get tired of hearing a seemingly recurring message for several months, I haven't. The heart of those messages isn't something grasped overnight, and listening to those truths week after week has been a life changing experience. I seem to understand God's grace more and more as time moves on--and I know I have only started to scratch the surface of it!

This is going to be my first attempt to write about some of how this message has changed my life and perspective. Writing has always helped me sort things out, so this blog post is probably more for my benefit than anyone else's, but I'll post it here for general reading anyway.

I've grown up in the church and pretty much only remember serving the Lord. I was saved at the age of six and have never strayed from that commitment. Obviously, I've progressed and matured a lot in my faith as I've grown up, but one thing I have never doubted is my salvation. I know and believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose again for my sins, so that I can spend eternity with the Father in heaven. However, I have discovered this past year that my understanding of God's grace has been skewed at best and I have been held captive in the chains of legalism for most of my life.

I knew I was saved, but I lived with the mindset, whether consciously or subconsciously, that I had to strive in my own strength to live a godly life and please God. Now I recognize that it was like I was trying to somehow claim to stay in God's good favor by being a fairly decent person. I was essentially trying to say, "God, I deserve at least some grace. Your love and mercy weren't wasted on me. See--I can be a good girl, a good daughter--at least most of the time." I tried to earn his grace, instead of accepting it as the entirely free gift it is, bestowed on a completely undeserving sinner.

Furthermore, I failed to realize that my attempts to "earn" God's favor were pretty much a slap in His face, calling the sacrifice of His son insufficient and not enough.

I knew in my head, but didn't understand with my heart, that God's work of grace on the Cross is a finished work. The Law was fulfilled and we are completely redeemed and justified by accepting God's grace through faith. We are made perfect and completely righteousness in God's eyes through the blood of His Son. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.


"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
- Ephesians 2:5-9

As a perfectionist who has always had a drive for excellence, the idea that I could be made perfect and completely redeemed, simply by believing in Christ--no further "works" required--was hard to wrap my mind around. It's so simple, yet so unnatural. My pride didn't want to accept that I did absolutely nothing to deserve God's grace, love and forgiveness and could never earn it no matter how hard I try. Jesus did it all. I did nothing. Yet I receive everything!

I also spent a lot of time feeling guilty or under condemnation for the many, many ways I would fail regularly in my attempts to live a godly life and please God. I have always been painfully aware of my own flaws and mistakes. So while on the one hand, I was trying to earn God's favor through good behavior, on the other, I knew I didn't deserve God's favor. I had a hard time understanding God's love. Because I knew that if love could be earned, I didn't deserve it. So I often felt unloveable. How's that for a confusing mindset?!

But thanks to God's grace, I am completely covered--human flaws and all. Nothing I can do can take that away. And God is so crazy in love with me that he loved and accepted me, even when I was a despicable sinner. Now he sees me as his redeemed daughter, made holy and righteous through the blood of His Son, and still adores me. And even though I am saved by his grace--my salvation is a done deal--he still continues to lavishly pour out his grace into my life, day by day, hour by hour. How awesome is that?!?! The very thought of how much he loves me is overwhelming. We could spend a lifetime of loving God and learning to understand his love through an intimate relationship with Him and still never even scratch the surface of it.

I would be utterly lost without his love and his grace. Lost for eternity, certainly, but also lost in the chains of legalism as I try to live my life for him here on this earth. And the more I realize how much I need his grace to get through even the most mundane days, the more I realize how important it is to keep going before God to ask for His help and guidance in my life, with the assurance that he is not just willing, but eager to be all that I need.


"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
- Hebrews 4:16

God wants us to turn to him with everything, instead of thinking that we can handle some of it ourselves. The truth is--and we all know this deep inside our hearts, our pride just won't let us admit it most of the time--we can't do anything on our own. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Like the old hymn says, "I need thee every hour." God is waiting for us to turn to him, and when we do, he is eager and ready to pour out his grace and help us in our need.

This concept is one I'm still trying to fully grasp and apply and I still fail continually. While I may do it more often than I used to, I still don't go to God with everything as I should or fully rely on his grace in every moment. But I no longer feel condemned when I mess up, because I know that I'm still covered by his grace, even when I fail. Blowing an opportunity to obey God, pray or witness isn't counted against me--but I do try to avoid missing the chance the next time, because I want to spend time with my Lord and I do want to tell others about Him.

There's much more I could say, and perhaps I will write more later in another post, but for now, I'll try to wrap it up. This post is long enough.

If you want to understand more about grace, I would encourage you to really dig into Galatians, Ephesians and other books in the New Testament written by the apostle Paul. He wasn't the only one to address grace, but he did it the most extensively. You can also listen to my pastor's messages at our church's web site. Another good resource is the book Grace Plus Nothing by Jeff Harkin.

And finally, some of you may have noticed that I changed the name of my blog. I named it "The Life of a Journalizm Girl" years ago as a fun play on my name and profession, but now that I'm in a different season and have a new perspective on life, it only seemed appropriate to give my blog a new outlook as well. Thus, the new name of my blog is also the title of this post: Perfectly Saved By His Grace.

Thanks for reading, and to quote the apostle Paul, grace and peace be with you!