Pray for Them

11 years ago the Lord started me on a long journey. I gave birth to a healthy son, who on the outside looked like every other baby, but at age six we would learn has Aspergers with a few extra challenges. As I have parented him the Lord has weaved many many lessons into my life. I have been stripped and humbled much through the ups and downs of social situations. I am constantly learning things aren't always what they seem and so much is beyond the surface. 

Every new social situation gives way for training about acceptable behaviors and trying to be Jesus as we do it. We have hurt others and been hurt ourselves. Trying to find acceptance with peers while remembering to be ourselves void of nervousness. Trusting God is Sovereign even when we don't see purpose in that experience or how it was necessary to our growth.

Six months ago I watched God move. I observed part of our story...His story...unfold. There was a boy who had been so wounding with his words and actions towards my kiddos for three years. We ran in the same circles, hung out at the same places, and enjoyed similar things. At times I really hoped God would remove us from that circle. He didn't. 

But God... pressed upon my heart to have my kids pray for him, from our first struggle. We prayed many many prayers over that child, and that God would help us love well even though our hearts were hurt. Daily we prayed when encounters happened. At night we prayed as thoughts of him swirled our minds before bed. Thoughts of painful words said... as our hearts were breaking. Three years of pleading with Jesus and no results...or so we thought. 

Our pain had purpose. Six months ago after many prayers lifted we watched God move. The same little boy we had been praying for had a change of heart. God changed his heart. God answered our prayers. God moved. The little boy reached out in compassion and love towards my son who was undergoing surgery. That boy prayed for my son right before he went under. He showed that change of heart we had been praying for. WOW! Only God. God had a plan that was hidden to us. 

Jesus wanted my kids (and me too if I am totally honest) to learn how to show love and compassion to our "enemy." God showed us that HE does hear and His timing isn't always ours. The Lord gave us a glimpse into the supernatural and how we're a part of a bigger story. Hearts do change with prayer. Our heart toward our enemy and our enemy's heart towards us. Its easy to love the lovable and those who treat you well, but love and forgiveness lived out IS the GOSPEL. 

God sees. Struggles are real, Jesus is good, and trusting in Him takes faith. Even when the Lord looks silent and still...He is working beneath the surface. He is always working. Who do you need to forgive today? Pray for them and... wait. 

                  Just be still and know HE is God. 

                                            

Overcoming Bickering

This week our four-year old has off from VPK but joins Matthew (six) and me in a special week learning about the Passion week of Christ (the week before Jesus was crucified).  One of the days we read from Luke 22:7-30 to learn more about “Holy Thursday,” the night of The Last Supper.  We read how our Savior poured out His heart to His disciples, letting them in on the great plan and what they could pass along to other generations to do in remembrance of Jesus.  But during this holy moment His disciples were…BICKERING! 

Does this resonate with real moms out there?!

There you are – in the moment – you just got done saying the last word of an awesome devotion for your kids where you thought they were SO attentive and it REALLY got through…. AND THEN… they start to BICKER!!

But here is where I focused my attention:  What was Jesus’ response?  Did He stand up, bang His hand on the table and yell in frustration at His disciples’ selfishness?! No, He didn’t.  Even with His betrayer RIGHT THERE, He simply responded in love and compassion.  He knows our frailty and tendency to think of ourselves before others.  He had the perfect story on hand for just such an occasion (see vs. 24-30).

Even though it didn’t seem like Jesus really got through to the disciples at that time, it is written in the Bible so WE can learn from His teaching.  And wouldn’t you know I got to use this illustration with our kids as they bickered over Legos not long after we read this awesome Bible story. 

The Lord is good and gracious. 

Thank You, my God for supplying me with what I needed at just the right time.

Mommas, read your Bible out-loud to your kids and ask them questions.  Apply it in their lives so they can relate to the story.  Maybe make hand-puppets out of socks or paper bags and put on a play.  Also, have these stories in your “back pocket” to use in everyday teaching moments.

Unguarded Boastful Lips

But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”  2 Corinthians 10:17

I’ve found myself boasting a lot lately.  To anyone I’ll boast about my kids and how they are doing academically or about something they’ve said or done.  But afterwards I’ve noticed that the conversation dies and I’m left feeling empty and convicted.  The Bible clearly says not to boast in anything else but the Lord.  While we are obviously proud mommas of the kids God has given to us let us not be filled with pride but give Him honor and glory for what He is doing.

Let’s guard our lips so we can be humble messengers of the awesomeness of our God boasting only of who Jesus is and what He has done.  Hey, the conversation could lead to salvation for the hearer.  

Applying God’s Word

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."  1 John 2:15

Each night my husband reads the Bible to our kids before they go to bed.  One night they were in 1 John chapter two and when they got to verse 15, Matthew must have “hidden God’s word in his heart.”  Throughout the next couple of days he kept reciting this verse to us, REBUKING us for the things we were doing – like being on our phones (texting), and other things that would come up in conversation that would set our minds to think…hey, he’s right!  He would simply say, “Don’t love the things of this world.”  Why don’t we receive and apply the Word as a child would?

 (I even had to ask him where the verse was so I could write this!)

Lord, thank You for child-like faith.  May we come into Your presence today and receive what You have to say to us and apply it to our walk in life.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Seeds in Life

After I cut up an orange for my kids to eat my 3 year old said, “Mommy, this piece has seeds in it.”  I replied, “So take them out.  There will be seeds in life that you’ll have to take out so start to know how to do it now…”  I used to, and still do on occasion, be one of those moms that cut out all the seeds from the fruit and cut the tops off the strawberries.  Our kids will have to learn how to navigate the pits, seeds, strawberry tops (tribulation) of life someday so why not start their navigation learning now. 

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

There are awesome teaching moments like this every day.  Let’s not separate our devotional / Bible study learning from the teaching we could pass on to our little ones.

Marriage Fundamentals

I posted this blog on Facebook and had so many shares, I felt it may be worth posting here.  I don't know Frank or Karen, but I appreciate these 10 fundamentals they shared and believe its worth reviewing.  

http://eighthrising.com/2013/10/28/10-marriage-tips-every-wife-needs-to-hear/

NOTE:  I would add an "eleventh" point: Read the Word together! Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by renewing our mind.  When a husband and wife read together, they are united in a supernatural way.  They share intimacy with each other and their Creator in a way that aligns under His headship.  Ask your husband to wash you in His word.  A few minutes a day can be a game changer. 

 Enjoy!

Eager to get there

Last Monday Matthew started his first day of VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten).  I was unsure about how Matthew really felt about going to school but in an instant all of my insecurities vanished and turned to confidence when I heard Matthew’s eagerness to get to his school.  

They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15

Even though we live about seven minutes away from his school, I didn’t take into account the well-planned-out times of school zoning around here.  Since we were super early I stopped into a shopping center to “waste” a couple of minutes.  I got out my Bible and read the kids a verse or two then from the backseat I heard, “Mommy, can we go to my school now?”  My nerves were put at ease, my prayer answered and our journey to the school resumed.  

And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  Luke 22:15

Are we eager to get there?  I mean to heaven.  Heaven is a real place and it’s SO AWESOME!  I’ve been reading a book* lately on the subject of heaven and it has really opened my eyes to how much Scripture tells us about our eternal home.  Am I eager to share what I’ve learned with others?  Are you?  Just like the well-planned-out school zoning times, God has perfectly planned out the time when we will “enter in” and enjoy eternity.  

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  Romans 8:19

Another quick note:  Each day when I pick up Matthew from school I ask him what he learned (he is only there three hours.) A few times he says he didn’t remember what he learned or what they did!  WHAT!? Can’t remember?  Then it hit me, wow, how many times do we go to church and then almost immediately forget what we just learned?  

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  Acts 17:11

*Book: Heaven by Randy Alcorn

Touching God’s Word

“Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

How do we get our kids to have that precious, everlasting truth inside their hearts?  --Have them practice and experience Scripture.  I have this great book called “My ABC Bible Verses” by Susan Hunt.  The tagline is “Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts.”  Susan gives you a Bible verse, a clear explanation of what the words mean and then a story where the characters use the verse in a practical situation.

We were at church and our 2 ½ year-old daughter Jordan was intrigued by a friend’s little baby boy.  All she kept asking was “Can I touch the baby?”  She has plenty of real-like dolls she cares for but THIS was a REAL baby!  I let her touch his feet (socks) – as she had not yet washed her hands from Sunday School.  (I guess I couldn’t resist either because before I knew it I was touching baby’s arm!)

Opening the Bible is like touching the baby.  God is real.  God’s word is tangible and we need to let our kids see that too.  Let’s use God’s word in everyday life.

We use the “A” verse from the ABC book a lot!  “A soft answer turns away wrath” Proverbs 15:1

Who is Jesus…Really?

When you think of Jesus, what image comes to mind? A quiet-spirited man sitting around a bunch of sheep with a staff in his hand? Maybe Jesus preaching with compassion to the multitudes? Jesus on the cross?

One thing that constantly amazes me is that we, as Christians, often have a warped or incomplete picture of who Jesus was when he walked this earth some 2000 years ago. Personally, I used to think of Jesus as a gentle, calm man who healed people, taught people, and died on the cross for my sins.

Yeah, that is part of the story, but the Bible details so much more. Jesus was passionate! He loved God and he loved people. He hated evil, and the effects of sin. He loved the sinner. He despised the hypocrite. He taught with power and authority. People either loved him and desired to follow him, or they were so mad at him that they wanted to stone him or push him off a cliff.

Jesus was pure strength and power under control. He was meek, but not weak. He spoke the truth with love, but also with a strong rebuke. He did not back down from a verbal “fight”. He healed many of their diseases…spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

I am writing this blog today to encourage you (just as someone encouraged me) to read through the New Testament book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, line by line. I started with the book of Luke this year because it addresses the essentially question of who Jesus is, what he said, what he did, why he died, and how he rose.

All too often we skip around the Bible (Old & New Testament) picking out the most memorable passages, and then we teach them to our kids and they end up with the classic list of “children’s stories” from the Bible”: Noah and the ark, the Tower of Babel, Jonah and the Whale, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, the birth of Jesus, Jesus’ miracles, etc. All too often we neglect to give our kids the complete picture of Jesus. As parents, this is the BEST gift we can give them…a thorough knowledge of their God, Savior, and Creator.

Will you take the challenge with me? As you prepare for this Christmas season, will you start the book of Luke with your kids and take the marvelous journey of discovering who Jesus really is?

Prayer,

God we love you, and we are so thankful for the truth and power of your Word. May we seek you and find you. May our faith be based on the truth of who you are, and not based on our feelings and emotions. May we desire to read your Word, and may it produce a harvest of goodness, righteousness, passion, and love for you and your people. May we give you…the BEST GIFT EVER…to our kids so that our joy (and theirs) may be complete. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Ye of Faith

This past weekend our family went camping in the Keys.  By the end of the weekend, I was bothered by the fact that we didn’t sing worship songs around the campfire or read Scripture aloud like I figured a bunch of Christians should do.  However, as I thought about it, we were worshiping God, but just in other ways than songs we all know or the Word read.  Here’s a few ways we lived the Word and experienced God.

Our campsite was RIGHT on the ocean so we were glad we brought our kayak.  My husband Ryan and our son Matthew were out on that boat for much of the weekend and watching from afar, they looked so peaceful.  Matthew’s favorite Bible story these days is from Matthew 14 when Jesus and His disciples were in the boat and a storm arose so they all freaked out except Jesus – He was asleep.  Ryan and Matthew talked about that story while out there in the boat.

The second night it was hot, lightening striking all around and the radar showed a big storm with rain headed right for us.  As I was sandwiched in between the blow-up mattresses and (real) kids I laid there thinking of Matthew 14.  Also as a mom, I needed to be sure my first-time campers were comfortable, not scared, not cold, not too hot or going to fall off the edge of the mattress.  Needless to say, I hardly slept a wink with all my extra thinking.  But in Matthew 14 Jesus knew the character of His Father, the One who was directing the waves.  In that light, why was I worrying about all these things? 

One family in our group of campers had a flimsy tent and prayed for God to spare them from the ensuing storm that second night.  A little later they re-checked the radar and sure enough, God Almighty literally split the storm in half to go on either side of the Key/campsite we were on.  Wow!

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:7-9

“Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established.” 2 Chronicles 20:20

“for the battle is not yours, but God’s”  2 Chronicles 20:15

Warriors in Battle

There is a sacred time during the day at our house – naptime!!   Usually during this quiet time I read a portion from my devotional book and Scripture, I meditate on what I’ve read and journal.  This is also a great time to fold clothes, sweep the floor, mop up all that sticky stuff & junk under the kids’ chairs at the table, dust (only because others can see it), make the bed, do stuff on the computer, and so on.  But wait – there’s more…SLEEP (oh blessed sleep).  Some days I have to literally stand up to get through my devotional and Bible reading!   I want to spend time with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords yet I am still in my flesh and it is a battle nonetheless.

The battle: Spending time with the Lord vs. doing other things.

The weapon: Prayer and Bible reading.

When you set your mind on things above, you’ll want to stay there! (from Colossians 3:2)

One of the times I fought the battle and stayed/prayed up, I began to think of what I could do better with the time God has me here on earth.   After all, our life is like a vapor… (from James 4:14).  I started reading 1 Samuel 15:22, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”  

Don’t we DRILL this into our kids’ heads – obey…  “Listen and obey”.  I love the song they sing at my son’s preschool, “O-B-E-Y, obey your mom and dad.”  LOVE IT!!  How about for us, “O-B-E-Y, obey your Father in Heaven.” 

If you have this kind of battle, put down the mop, stay awake and choose to be a warrior in the battle.  Obey what God wants to impart to you today.  It might be what makes the difference for your life.

Lord Jesus, we pray for all the mommas reading this.  Thank You for the time You give us to spend time with You daily.  It is truly a sacred, holy and blessed time.  We ask that you help us to ask, seek, listen, and obey.   We look forward to what You will speak into our lives today!  In the everlasting name of Jesus.  Amen.

Dare To Be A Daniel

Over the past two weeks, my kids and I have been studying the book of Daniel.  We’ve talked in-depth about the captivity of the young Hebrew men and the emotions they must’ve felt as they were carried off to the foreign, pagan land of Babylon.  We speculated that they probably felt scared, vulnerable, angry, sorrowful, homesick, etc.  We tried to put ourselves in their places and imagine what if would be like if some foreign government landed on American soil and began capturing and carrying away all of the healthy young men and women.  As a mom, it’s a scenario that makes me shudder.  Yet, it was a very real event in the lives of the mothers of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.  While Scripture doesn’t clue us in as to the names of the mothers of these boys, it certainly reveals a lot about the way they raised these young men were before they were enslaved.  

Check out Daniel 1:8:

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8

This verse jumps out at me as a hint of Daniel’s home life, pre-Babylon.  Not only did it require incredible boldness for him to speak out against eating the king’s food, it required trust that God would take care of him and his three friends.  So, how did he get to be so bold and courageous?  We can only speculate, but I believe these four young Hebrew men were brought up in homes where a fear of the Lord was present and utmost respect for God’s commands was imperative.  Given the outcome of their lives, it seems logical to postulate that their mothers placed great importance on the Scriptures.  

We’re familiar with he saying that “children are a product of their environment;” I suspect it rings true in the lives of these men.  They didn’t decide to be men of character and integrity after they arrived in Babylon.  Rather, these traits were assuredly etched on their hearts from a very young age.  It’s apparent that these young men were taught to honor God with their minds, bodies and worship.  In fact, Daniel didn’t seem  concerned with what anyone thought of him,  He understood that God’s opinion is the only one that counts.  

Considering a passage like this inspires and challenges me to continue sowing seeds of faith into my children’s hearts.  I want them to be able to fearlessly stand strong for the Lord, pursue purity, and reject the “banquet” the world lays at their feet.  My desire is for them to truly know God and be able to trust Him even when difficult choices have to be made.  

Daniel provides so many opportune teaching moments on what it means to wholeheartedly follow the Lord and I pray that my kids will be inspired as we continue to study his extraordinary life.  

**What are some ways you can instill in your children a life of devotion to the Lord?

**If “children are a product of their environment”, are there things in your home that need to go in order for your family to better honor God?

**Think of a time when you had to make a difficult choice and share with your children how God gave you wisdom and saw you through.

“Well” Watered?

If you think of a well to draw water from – it’s DEEP, it’s not so wide but concentrated in one direction to fulfill the purpose for which it was made.  Same with us.  We were made to be a well filled with water, living water, that should continually be drawn from and filled again…to overflowing.  Do you have the picture in your head of that well – bricks around the top and even a wooden roof was made atop (so no junk could fall in from the sky, if you know what I mean), and a watering bucket is hanging between the wooden posts with a rope to let down the bucket.

Bricks/foundation – God Almighty, sure foundation, solid rock (Psalm 62:2,6)

Roof – banner over us is love (Song of Solomon 2:4, Isaiah 18:3)

Junk – the world, sin (John 1:29, John 16:8, Exodus 9:27)

Bucket – our bodies, our offering, where the wellspring of life is (Proverbs 18:4, Romans 12:1)

Posts – our friends, accountability (Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 17:17, Proverbs 18:24)

Rope – prayer, lifeline, connection to God (1 Samuel 2:1, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, James 5:16)

Does your well-water runneth over so others can be blessed or is it always running dry?  Does it “runneth” at all?  Do your kids know you read the Bible?  Do they see your lifeline in action?  Do they hear you talk to friends with encouraging words (or gossip stuff)?  They see how you dress, is it representing an offering to God, or an offering to the eyes of the world?  Does your roof leak the junk of the world in or is your home covered by the blood of Jesus, in love?  Is the foundation of your life built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ? 

Let’s pray:  Lord God, we are so grateful and thankful for giving us Your word, the Bible.  We can read it and ask You to fill us with Your living water of love, and the fruit of the spirit.  We receive your gift of love and act on it today.  May our eyes be open to the possibilities around us.  May we look for ways to pour Your love onto others today.  May we experience the joy of our salvation when we share the hope that is within us today.  We’re thankful that we can draw from You today.  Help us be concentrated in one direction to fulfill the purpose for which we were made.  Thank You, Lord.  In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.