justified freely

Free. It's such a foreign word to me. Maybe it's because of the world we live in today. Nothing is free. It seems the motto of this world is what's in it for me. As a Christian, I fear I fall into this mindset so easily. Such a dangerous one too for so many reasons. Lately, I've been noticing it so much in myself. Righteousness seems like something I need to earn, something I need to work at. Nothing, nothing in this life, not even the most good I can do or be will ever earn me godly righteousness. Righteousness only comes from Christ, and the exchange He made on the cross. My unrighteousness for His righteousness. And what does it cost? Nothing but faith. Faith that I can be made righteous through His shed blood. Faith that He is the son of God, and that He came to save me, and He would have come even if I was the only one who needed saving. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 How unfathomable this concept is to me! In my human mind, righteousness comes from how good I've been. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Romans 10:3 Some days I feel more righteous that others. There are days I fail. There are days that come much easier for me. Thankfully, the righteousness of Jesus is steadfast and unchanging. "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness…"Psalm 119:142 Another reason I believe I struggle with the concept that righteousness has nothing to do with my working, is the fact that I feel the need to prove myself and my abilities. At work, I have co-workers who I feel the need to prove myself to. Partly because I seem to never be good enough in their eyes, and partly because I want them to know I am capable of the job I have. I feel like there is a constant battle of me wanting to prove myself, but also the threat of giving up because I will never be good enough. I feel like this mindset rolls itself right into my spiritual life. There are times when I do good, and I have the desire to show God, "See what I did? Aren't You proud of me for overcoming this or doing this?" And then there is also the point where I want to give up, because nothing I do of myself will ever make me righteous. Righteousness is an act of submission. Until I can submit myself to the fact that righteousness only comes from Christ, I will never find peace. Peace is a fruit of Christ's righteousness. Knowing that because of His blood, I am made free from sin. "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." Isaiah 32:17

a new chapter for the berchtold's

It's been awhile since I lasted posted on the blog. It seems that this is what I always begin my posts with. I'm starting to see a trend. The biggest news in our family is that my sister Rhea is engaged to Adam Pfaffmann from Washington. So lots of excitement and planning is going on in the Berchtold family. He's pretty brave to be the first guy to enter our family. Lots of people have been wondering how I've been doing since the engagement of my little sister. So I'll try to update you as much as possible. It's been going so well. I always had a feeling she would get married before me, and I really, really dreaded it. And it's not nearly as bad as I made it up in my mind. In fact, it's not bad at all. God has worked in my heart so much since she told me. It really is such a miracle. The first week was a little rough. I clung to chapter 27 in Psalms. It seemed like exactly what I needed at the time. The verse that stuck out and convicted me most was verse 6 which says "And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord." It made me realize, that though my plans may have been a little undone, I needed to choose joy. And that was a sacrifice of my pride. But, through that, it has made everything different. I am honestly so excited and thankful for both of them, and I can honestly say I am not jealous. I am really content with where I'm at right now in life. My job is going better than it ever has, I have incredible friends, and I am truly enjoying the stage of life I'm in. Poor Holly has probably gotten annoyed of my saying how happy I am right now, but it's so true. God is so good. And his grace is sufficient for each day. That is another concept that was really made real to me. We don't have to depend on yesterday's grace for today. Each day comes with a new amount of grace. I know that is the only way I am able to have the attitude I have today, and the perspective I have. It's only by His sustaining grace to get me through each day. So I guess it's about time for a picture:)

february

 Tessa's unproportional body.

 When the Berchtold's get snowed it, the games come out.

 Elevator rides at the hotel for Uncle Tom's visitation and funeral. It was a beautiful service.

 The drive to the cemetery was so beautiful and peaceful.

 Valentine's dinner with Holly at the airport. So classy.

 Made it through the sketchy parking lot at their airport and a flight that didn't leave on time. We were sure ready for the Phoenix sun, even though we were only there for a few days. It was worth the warmth.

 I kind of figured out that I'm starting to become a morning person when an alarm isn't the thing that wakes me up. Sunday morning I was up before my alarm so the extra time spent outside and in God's word was much needed and appreciated. Plus this was my view.

 Kourtney Stahl, Kristin Knochel(Who we stayed with. Such a fun and sweet girl), Holly, and Me

 And just like that the weekend was over. Thankful for my traveling buddy and best friend. Who knows where our next adventure will take us:)

 I was walking through the mall, and saw this robin. It gave me so much hope that Spring is right around the corner. I've caught a slight case of the winter blues.

 On Sunday, we celebrated Cassie's birthday. We went ice skating and then to Sweet Cece's.

 Holly said my room was a disaster(ok maybe it was) so she felt the need to clean it for me. Things she told me: I have too many clothes. I have no variety in my closet. I need more colors and patterns other than stripes. What can I say? I'm a creature of habit. And dark colors are my favorite.

 The sisters who went ice skating. Claire sat out for a lot of the time, because ice skating is not a strong point for her. The most athletic one in our family can't stay up on the ice. At least it made me feel like maybe I have a little piece of athleticism in me(wishful thinking). Cassie did good and Tessa was just learning. Lots of falling for her, but eventually she sort of got the hang of it(which means she basically would just run with ice skates on. haha)

 Holly was an honorary guest of the Berchtold family on Sunday. Actually my cousin Marissa was also here to help celebrate Cassie's birthday, we just didn't get a picture with her.

 Claire and the Birthday girl. We officially have another teenager in the house.

 Skyping with Tress on Sunday night.

My room apparently was the hang out place on Sunday night. What a fun night:)

florida and other happenings

I apologize in advance for the mixed up pictures. But here's been the beginning of my new year. 

 After hours and hours of driving, we finally got into Florida. This was on the way to the airport to pick up Rhea and Hannah Martin(who were staying right next to us). This bridge kind of scared me a bit.

 When Holly drives, the windows go down. Not my favorite thing when you're driving that fast, but the change of weather was nice.

 Our first night down there, we ate at Daiquiri Deck. I did indeed try these gator bites. They were fine. Nothing too exciting.

 This is my first Salmon of the trip.

 Lindsey turned 22 on that Sunday we were down there, so of course we celebrated. Sparklers on the beach.

 Birthday girl:)

 There was a group of what we called "frat" boys who were staying right next to us. Thankfully they didn't stay the entire week we were down there, because they were kind of rowdy.

 Cloudy day. The weather was fairly good. A lot warmer than Illinois. We did have several cloudy days, but for the most part it was pretty warm.

 We tried to get out to the beach every evening to watch the sunsets. They were absolutely gorgeous.

 One day, me and Sadie snuck out because we were sun burnt and didn't feel like being in the sun. We actually did laundry that day, so we had to go get quarters and laundry detergent. We saw Five guys and decided to eat lunch there.

 And then we saw a cupcake shop. Had to stop there of course.

On Wednesday night, we went to P.F. Changs for dinner and then to the Orange Octopus for ice cream. This was not our only stop at the Orange Octopus that week:)

 On Thursday, Sadie, Holly, and I went shopping at this new mall near the airport. It was cold, and cloudy that day, so we decided it would be best if we did some sort of indoor activity. On the way back, Kristin told us to stop and pick up the rental bikes. The guy thought we were crazy thinking we would get the tandem bike in the suburban. Apparently he was right, because it didn't happen, so Sadie and I had to ride it back. In our skirts. Not easy at all, especially when you have never ridden one. Once you get the hang of it though, it is fun!

 This was our last night, so we dressed up and went to Bonefish Grill. Not sure what we were laughing at.

 Second Salmon of the week. Gotta admit, this was the best Salmon I think I've ever had. So good.

 And then I had to come home to this. Quite the difference. The thing about living in the country is, the roads never get plowed. Plus we are in-between two countys, so the other county always thinks the other one is going to plow our road. Never gets done.

 Sophie turned 4 on the 17th. Can't believe how fast she is growing up! Everything for her birthday party was Frozen.

 The birthday girl and I.

 New bike.

 Mom does a pretty good job with decorating cakes.

 And then after cake and ice cream, Tessa decided they needed to dress up as Anna and Elsa.

 Invite a friend weekend was Martin Luther King Day weekend. I personally think I had the best people invited. These girls are so great:)

 And some more Florida pictures. This is from our first night out.

 The second time we went out, we went to The Hub, which was really good. This would have been on Sunday night for Lindsey's birthday.

 And here's a tour of our townhouse we stayed at. It really wasn't that great at all, but it was ok, because we didn't spend a ton of time inside.

 Living room

 Kitchen. This was probably one of the worst parts of it. The kitchen was super outdated. The utensils and appliances did not work the best and were kind of gross. I definitely cleaned my dishes before eating on them(maybe I'm OCD?)

 Kristin and Rachel's room. The nice thing about this house, was that everyone got a bed.

 Bathroom. There was only 1 shower in the entire house, which made it a little difficult for 6 girls to get ready, but it all worked out just fine.

 Me, Lindsey, Holly, and Sadie's room.

 It did have a random sink and mirror in our bedroom, which did help when we were getting ready.

 Lots of frisbee and volleyball was played.

 They laughed at me for doing this, but I didn't want to suffer from the cold.

 P.F. Chang's. First time experience for me.

 And this was the day we went shopping. These girls tried to make a wind block, because it was windy and cold. And that's why we didn't stay out on the beach that day:)

 Me and Kris. I love this girl so much.

 Me and Hols. This right here is my best friend. She can make me laugh so easily. She's one of the funniest people I know.

 Linds and Rach.

 Rach and Sades.

 It was absolutely freezing waiting for Bonefish.

 But they did give us free appetizers, sooo I guess it was worth it if you liked shrimp.

 Us in our Siesta Key gear.

 The couch really could swallow a person.

 Driving home. There was an accident, which made traffic sort of slow, but other than that it was smooth sailing.

And here is all of us on Sunday night. From L-R: Me, Holly Funk, Sadie Teubel, Lindsey Ploussard, and Kristin Fehr. Rachel Schrock was taking the picture. It was such a great week with these girls and a much needed break from work.