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For those of you who could have possibly adopted the misconception that I am “so organized” or “have it all together,” please allow me to introduce the real me.
- I have repeatedly gone home without something on my grocery list, even after I’ve stared at it in the aisle.
- “Don’t forget the ketchup” is a running joke at my house because occasionally I will buy the same product 3 or 4 weeks in a row, forgetting each time that I had already purchased it (ketchup was one of those items; now, it’s pita buns–I think I have 8 in the freezer).
- I can remember obscure moments from my childhood but have no recollection of a conversation I’ve had with my husband the night before. (Sorry, honey.)
Now, meet my family.
- My husband and I have been married for 6 years, and I can recall only one occasion where he forgot to do something for me. What an amazing track-record! (Please allow me the courtesy of leaving my track-record undisclosed.)
- My four year old son called me into the bathroom the other day to inform me that our toilet paper was broken: the paper was pulling from the bottom of the roll rather than the top.
- My two year old daughter brought me the dog bowl we are no longer using for the dog’s water (graduated to a larger dish for the summer) and informed me that we needed to give the extra bowl away. (No duplicates of anything at our house, folks).
So, when you are tempted to think I am perfect, remember that I attempt to be organized for the sanity of my family. I am the spontaneous element of an otherwise OCD household.
One of my favorite things is a baby’s laugh! Laughter has a way of brightening the dreariest day. And sometimes the biggest laughs can come from the smallest hearts. Listen to this laughter and thank God for the refreshing blessing of humor.
Witnessing to relatives and friends is heavy on our minds this time of year. Loved ones that we only see a few times a year are packing suitcases and making travel arrangements to spend the season with us. And after listening to the sermons about sharing “the Reason for the season,” the guilt has already been working on us.
But then, there’s that something that always holds us back, isn’t there? When conviction sets in and we nervously anticipate the “perfect moment” to approach that unsaved friend, there’s that nagging fear that chokes all our seasonal resolve.
It’s also the season when our best excuses are prepared for just that moment. “What if I say something wrong and turn them away from God forever? What if I don’t give the gospel right, and they don’t really get saved? Boy, it would be better if I just didn’t say anything at all. ” Our excuses sound awfully spiritual and rooted in a deep concern for the person. But what is God’s opinion of our excuses and our fear? Read the rest of this entry »
One of the highlights of my day is teaching the Bible to my children. As I was preparing to teach them the story of Samuel, I asked my husband if there was anything in particular he’d like me to include. “Tell them that we have given them back to God, just like Samuel. I don’t know if they are old enough to understand that or not, but go ahead and say something,” he responded. So I did. It wasn’t the main element of the lesson, just an aside. I mentioned that we had prayed specifically for both of them and, when they were born, had given them back to God; we wanted them to serve the Lord as Samuel did. Then, I finished the rest of the story.
Several hours later, we were out for a walk with our new addition, a Beagle puppy named Pokey (my son’s choice of name). My three-year-old son was watching the puppy sniff the grass at the side of the road. “Mommy,” he began, “we need to give Pokey back to God, too.”
The heart of a child always amazes me. So often I take for granted what they can understand, assuming their simple minds won’t grasp the profoundness of God and His truth. But continually, God reminds me that He is the One who reveals truth–to whomsoever He will. And those simple minds and hearts are His favorite.
Ladies, whether you have children of your own or have the opportunity to work with someone else’s, my challenge to you is to never hold back the truth of God because you assume they won’t understand. For it is not to “the wise and prudent” but to the “babes” that God reveals His majesty (Mt. 11:25).
Occasionally, I enjoy a good documentary. Distant places, different cultures, diverse lifestyles–seeing what I have in common with someone who lives so much differently than myself is intriguing. Perhaps that’s why I began watching the Muslim documentary, a film documenting a hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. Read the rest of this entry »
I live before an audience of one. Before others I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain, nothing to lose.–General Charles Gordon
While I was in college I ran across this quotation, and it instantly became a life motto for me. The quotation meant even more to me when I began teaching college classes and often had students older than I was (and more talented). Every day I battled the “fear of man”–prayed about it, resolved to defy it, strove to 0vercome it. It was a conscious, daily, decisive commitment to live in the fear of God alone.
Once I stopped teaching and took a less high-profile position, married, and had kids, I didn’t battle the area as much. Or, maybe I should say, I stopped fighting battles over it. My consciousness of the struggle to live before an audience of One was less sensitive. That is, until recently.
As life’s circumstances shift and change, it seems that certain areas of our lives cycle through for closer inspection. Suddenly, my old fears have crept in–in places I least suspected. Read the rest of this entry »
Every morning, I roll out of bed with this prayer surfacing in my foggy brain: “Lord, give me grace and strength for this day.” As I stir the cream and sugar into my coffee and look over the day’s agenda, I pray again, “Lord, I need your sufficient grace and daily mercies.” But, lately, it seems I’ve needed an extra shot of strength and grace and mercy.
Yesterday, as I began my routine–rolling out of bed with a fragmented prayer, stirring my coffee, looking over my day, opening my Bible for my morning devotions–I decided to turn to the concordance and find a few verses about strength. Isaiah 26:4 was among the verses listed. I drowsily turned to that passage and read the chapter, a song of Isaiah.
“Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:4
I paused, meditated, absorbed the thoughts and meaning packed into that small verse: “I AM everlasting strength.” His is a strength I can depend on to fight my battles for me, to come to my defense, to meet my needs when no one else observes them. His is a strength I can count on to always be there, even before I am aware that I need it; to never run out or reach its limit; to sustain when nothing else can. He is more strength than I will ever need–strength enough to create life, to sustain life, to be life. And his strength, rather than being depleted by my need, is made more perfect, more complete, in my weakness. Truly, that is everlasting.
Perhaps, instead of rolling out of bed muttering anxiously, “Lord, I need…”, I should begin my day with the peaceful recognition, “Lord, YOU are…”
The purpose of the Bible is not to improve my life. That’s a striking statement, isn’t it? Especially, when we’ve been taught for so long what we’re supposed to do rather than who we are supposed to be.
When I approach God’s Word, I do not approach it as if it were a crystal ball, revealing the answers to my present problems or future fulfillment of my desires. My problems (and often my desires) stem from sin, and the only solution to sin is God’s holiness. Read the rest of this entry »
Perhaps I am overwhelmed by the “insignificant” daily tasks. Perhaps I am influenced by the world’s point of view more than I’d like to admit. Perhaps I am, unknowingly, viewing my family as obstacles to what I want to accomplish rather than the accomplishment. Whatever the excuse, I am often so distracted by the endless Cheerios on the floor that I can’t see the “blessings” that have scattered them there. I am so absorbed in motherhood that I forget its significance. Read the rest of this entry »
No, God never gives me more than I can handle, but He does like to give me so much that I can’t grip more than a few threads of any one thing. He leaves me with one decision: I can either hang on haphazardly to my scraps, or I can let go completely and cling to Him.
It’s not really a hard decision to make as I feel the deep slices in my fingers from the tension of my various threads, hearing the strands fray under the strain. But then, I face that moment of faith, Read the rest of this entry »
