A good work

The other day I was bombarded with expectations others had on me and it really began to weigh on me. I was asking God to show me truth about myself and to purify me wherever I had sinned. Because some of those disappointments people had in me revealed areas I really do need change in, heaviness began to descend on me. After praying on it for awhile, I realized those areas need healing that happens over time, something God has been faithful to provide so far. Each year I feel I’m healed just a little bit more and freed up to love a little better. But I’m obviously not changing fast enough and my sadness began to deepen. I began to wonder how the Lord puts up with me, and humanity as a whole. I mean how He continues to delight us with His presence all the while knowing the truth about us and the sins that linger. My reading for that day brought me the answers that changed everything.

"For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” Heb.2;11

And again:
“Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” v 13

I could almost literally feel the darkness flee as Gods truth hit my brain and settled the matter. He loves me! I kept reading on.

"For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God” Heb.3:4
“ but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end." v 6

After this follows a warning against not believing this truth about how God feels about us.

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God”( v 12) “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (v 14)

What is that confidence He’s telling me twice in this passage to hold fast to? Is it not that I am His, no matter what! That I am in the process of being sanctified, I am His child and He is the master over His house, which I am residing in. It’s Christ in me that is the hope of future glory. I am so thankful for His truth that kept me from condemnation. When others or even I myself get impatient with me, God never does. His word is filled with promises of future glory that will some day replace all the disappointments.

“He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” Phil 1:6

Godspeed

As He so often does, God recently used a simple analogy to illustrate for me how His expectations, timing and even His pace are different from mine.  I was at a swim lesson for my son and one of the skills he is learning is how to turn around under water.  So, I dunked him under water and he whipped right around to face me.  I thought that was great!  But, his teacher pointed out that it was way too fast. It's a safety class.  To "graduate", a child must demonstrate the ability to jump into the water from the side of a pool, swim out a few seconds, turn around under water, swim back to the wall and climb out.  The teacher explains that if he whips around too quickly, too close to the wall, he could smack his head against the wall and knock himself out.  I was reminded that it's a slow and steady kind of class and he's already mastered the breath control required for a slow turn, so, no reason to rush it.  In fact, it's safer if it's slow.  She mentioned that she is training us (the parents) at the same time she's training our kids.

Hmm.  Just like God is training us at the same time He is training our kids.  Sometimes, I'd like to pass God in the left hand lane.  I imagine God goes the speed limit, and I have been known to speed on occasion.  I want to get there quickly.  Especially when "there" is freedom from a stronghold, struggle or even sinful behavior within myself or my child.  I can even justify my rush because surely God doesn't like "this" in me or my child, so let's "nail it" (to quote Teresa's recent post) just as fast as we can and move on!

Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.…Isaiah 55:7-9 

and...

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (emphasis mine). Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. - 1 Peter 5:6, NIV

As I was toying with titles about how God's timing, even when it comes to molding us and our kids into His image, is different than ours, I googled "Godspeed." Interestingly, the word has nothing to do with the actual pace of things.  Check this out - from Yahoo Answers.

Godspeed = "may God prosper you, grant you success", short for "God speed you".

This expression is used especially when someone is leaving on a journey for a specific purpose. That is, it is not just a general wish for a safe journey, or generic 'good luck', but a wish/prayer that they will have success in what they are setting out to do. Thus, though used mainly when someone is literally setting out, it can also simply be used to wish someone well in a VENTURE they are embarking on, even if it does not involve a physical journey

The verb "speed" here has nothing to do with 'quickness', but is used in the archaic sense of the word - "succeed, attain one's goal, desire"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q...

Surely, God will be successful with us, those whom His son redeemed.  He will attain His goals with us; His way and in His time.  And, along the way, His grace is sufficient for His pace with us and with our children.  It just may keep us from banging our head against the wall.

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father,  thank you and praise you for your precious care and provision for us moms and our children.  Help us to trust in your promises and in your perfect plan and timing for our transformations, even when we'd like to get ahead of ourselves and/or our children.  Have your way with us, Lord, and thank you for your grace, which is sufficient for our journeys as we continue to seek you with all of our hearts.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen. 


 

Motherhood Isn't For Me

This is such a great read regarding marriage, however we can apply these same principles to motherhood. 

Having been married only a year and a half, I’ve recently come to the conclusion that marriage isn’t for me.

Now before you start making assumptions, keep reading.

I met my wife in high school when we were 15 years old. We were friends for ten years until…until we decided no longer wanted to be just friends. :) I strongly recommend that best friends fall in love. Good times will be had by all.

Nevertheless, falling in love with my best friend did not prevent me from having certain fears and anxieties about getting married. The nearer Kim and I approached the decision to marry, the more I was filled with a paralyzing fear. Was I ready? Was I making the right choice? Was Kim the right person to marry? Would she make me happy?

Then, one fateful night, I shared these thoughts and concerns with my dad.

Perhaps each of us have moments in our lives when it feels like time slows down or the air becomes still and everything around us seems to draw in, marking that moment as one we will never forget.

My dad giving his response to my concerns was such a moment for me. With a knowing smile he said, “Seth, you’re being totally selfish. So I’m going to make this really simple: marriage isn’t for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy. More than that, your marriage isn’t for yourself, you’re marrying for a family. Not just for the in-laws and all of that nonsense, but for your future children. Who do you want to help you raise them? Who do you want to influence them? Marriage isn’t for you. It’s not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

It was in that very moment that I knew that Kim was the right person to marry. I realized that I wanted to make her happy; to see her smile every day, to make her laugh every day. I wanted to be a part of her family, and my family wanted her to be a part of ours. And thinking back on all the times I had seen her play with my nieces, I knew that she was the one with whom I wanted to build our own family.

My father’s advice was both shocking and revelatory. It went against the grain of today’s “Walmart philosophy”, which is if it doesn’t make you happy, you can take it back and get a new one.

No, a true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It’s about the person you love—their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, “What’s in it for me?”, while Love asks, “What can I give?”

Some time ago, my wife showed me what it means to love selflessly. For many months, my heart had been hardening with a mixture of fear and resentment. Then, after the pressure had built up to where neither of us could stand it, emotions erupted. I was callous. I was selfish.

But instead of matching my selfishness, Kim did something beyond wonderful—she showed an outpouring of love. Laying aside all of the pain and aguish I had caused her, she lovingly took me in her arms and soothed my soul.

Marriage is about family.

I realized that I had forgotten my dad’s advice. While Kim’s side of the marriage had been to love me, my side of the marriage had become all about me. This awful realization brought me to tears, and I promised my wife that I would try to be better.

To all who are reading this article—married, almost married, single, or even the sworn bachelor or bachelorette—I want you to know that marriage isn’t for you. No true relationship of love is for you. Love is about the person you love.

And, paradoxically, the more you truly love that person, the more love you receive. And not just from your significant other, but from their friends and their family and thousands of others you never would have met had your love remained self-centered. Truly, love and marriage isn't for you. It's for others.

CHALLENGE: Read Proverbs 31:10-31 and then 31 again?

Nail It…and Press On

“Get over it!” I caught myself saying this phrase to my oldest Doodlebug as he complained over something very trivial…again. There is nothing wrong with this phrase, but there is a better one--one that I learned in college from my wonderful mentor couple. A phrase that helped me to let go of “past failures” and move on to the next thing without the excess baggage of self-condemnation, excessive frustration, increased worry, doubt, overly self-consciousness, etc. It dawned on me that I needed to teach my little ones to “Nail It…and Press On”.

In a nutshell, this phrase means that you emotionally “let go” of those things that have already happened and that you no longer have control over. For me, back in my college days, it meant letting go of my performance on a previous final exam so that I could mentally focus on passing the next, upcoming exam. It meant letting go of my feelings (or frustrations) over my performance in one track event so I could fully focus on the next event…and hopefully (prayerfully) perform better. It meant letting go of an argument or disagreement with a friend so that my whole day would not be consumed with thinking and rethinking the argument.

 Mainly, it meant not focusing on the negative, but choosing to focus on the positive and to keep moving forward.

Consider what Paul says in the following two passages:

“12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.”  Philippians 3: 12-15a

“8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:8-9

In both passages, we are encouraged to forget the things that are behind us or “Nail It” to the cross of Christ, keeping in mind that Jesus’ blood covers our shortcomings, mistakes, failures, sins, disappointments, etc. He can handle it all! Then we are encouraged to “Press On”—keep striving for the goal Jesus has set before us. In order to do this, we must take every thought captive, and think about things that are lovely, pure, true, and worthy of praise.

So Mom, will you join me in surrendering your past, your yesterday, your few minutes ago to the Lord, and embrace His plan for you at this moment? Take your thoughts captive, forget the things that are behind that you no longer have control over, and live in the grace and mercy and the second chance that our Father so freely gives right now. Let’s “Nail It…and Press On!”

Prayer:

God, you love us with an everlasting love. You never desired for us to get caught up in our mistakes, our frustrations, our disappointments. You want us to come boldly before your throne of grace and lay all of our cares at your feet. May we do so. May we let go of those things that we can no longer control, and trust that you are in control. May we fix our eyes on you and not our circumstances. May we choose to not continually think about the things that went wrong, but the things that went right. May we walk in your grace, love, and peace each and every moment of every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

FAILING AT FOCUS

ROMANS 8:33-34

33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

I shared a devotional with my 13 year old the other day. It really touched my heart and hers. The writer spoke about the constant struggle of trying to be aware of God continually. She advised that we aim toward this goal but never fully achieve it in this world. This world is rigged to distract us from God. Each time we break through the distractions of our lives to make contact and communicate with God we have overcome the challenge and claimed victory.

I explained to my daughter that we may walk through this world feeling like a failure at being a devout Christian but that is not how our Abba Father sees us. He smiles every time we strive to make contact. We are not to be discouraged at the fact that we have failed but be excited for every time we succeed! God delights in us praying, reading His word, and communicating with Him. Rejoice in these times and they will increase and bring joy to you daily.

I saw a huge weight lift off my daughter as we discussed this. Kids are afraid of failure. They so honestly want to succeed and need to understand that only one was perfect, Jesus. They need to not only know but feel the constant grace God gives. Not as an excuse to mess up but to understand that when they do its ok. Have you talked with your kiddos about the gift of grace? Do they know they can miss the mark and still be ok? Have this talk, you won’t regret it 

I Call, I Cry Out, and ...HE Hears

As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me. 

  Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.

 - Psalm 55:16-17

I read this in my devotion this morning and found great comfort. The Lord is into the small details of my life (Psalm 37:23) and knew it would refresh my soul. A simple truth jumped out...

I  must CALL

and

I must CRY OUT

and He promises to
 
HEAR MY VOICE 

So many times my first instinct, in times of crazy, is to call a friend instead of calling my Creator. My heart wants to flesh out by spewing my issues with hopes of feeling better, when I know deep down it is His Voice that I need to hear. 

Today was a great example of that. My kids had meltdowns at a park and as I drove home I felt hopeless. Exhausted and feeling overwhelmed, I called my husband and let out a gush, full of detail, about my experience of embarrassment as my kids misbehaved. Through tears and frustration my kids, in the backseat, listened as I "shared" with my husband.

I want my first call to be to Jesus. My Creator. My Maker. My Savior. My Peace. My Calm. It takes training, like anything in life, and discipline to create a habit. I am setting a goal to go to Jesus first in those times of utter crazy and He promises to hear my voice. After all, it is Him who will change my heart and my kids' behavior as well. Will you join me in this goal?

Do you need to call out to Him today?

Have you cried out to Him about those unnerving things in your life? 

He hears. He knows you. He has a plan.  He loves you.

The Scary Man!

Hope was not real verbal as a toddler.  Taking concepts and turning them into sentences was a challenge for her for longer than it should have been.  You can only imagine our surprise when a friend of our family approached our car to talk with Greg.

This was a man from our church.  As Hope watched him approach our car, she started in with words and thoughts we were sure we weren’t hearing correctly.  But the closer He came to our car it was quite clear what she was saying,  “Scary Man!”  “Scary Man!”

In the midst of being tickled at Hope’s assessment of our friend from church, we were trying to quiet her words so as not to BE understood.  It was one of those situations where we were trying to get our child to NOT be quiet so verbal.

I’m thinking our friend more looked like the “Boogie Man” to Hope.  It’s amazing how we can conjure up fears of what we have never seen or had explained.  However opening my door a few times tonight to those who were “trick or treaters” made me think the “Scary Man” or the “Boogie Man” had returned.

Seeing young people dressed as “scary men” reminded me of what I read this morning.  Psalm 140 – 142 deals with real boogie men, scary men, really the evil of our world and our response.

Psalm 142

I cry to you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”

⁶ Listen to my cry,
    for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
    for they are too strong for me.
⁷ Set me free from my prison,
    that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
    because of your goodness to me.

Moms, there is evil in our world.  There are evil people, evil circumstances, even evil in us.  Our flesh is weak.  God will always be our refuge. He is always good.

Let’s get our eyes off the evil off of the circumstances, off people who distract us.  We can spend time in God’s Word, with God’s people and run into the goodness of our perfect Heavenly Father.