Jesus, the Incorruptible

We brought Greg home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. He was my first baby, so everyone holding him needed clean hands. One of the Christmas stories I used to read him has a scene of baby Jesus visited by the children of a shepherd.  The boy and girl are poor children.  They are dirty from being in the field.  The little girl reaches out to touch baby Jesus with her filthy hands.  She has tears leaving trails down her dirty face.  Mary does not rebuke her or push the dirty hand away from her clean newborn.  I see myself there with all of humanity.  We are drawn to God, to His glory and grandeur.  We reach out to touch Him.  He is perfectly clean.  Instead of pulling away from our condition, the sin on us, He says,

"Come to me all you who are weary and laden..." Matthew 11:28

and

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them..." Matthew 19:14.

We are overwhelmed by the acceptance of one so holy and grand - Jesus the Incorruptible.

Merry Christmas

God is a Time-In not a Time-Out Kind of Father to Me

Isaiah 43:1-2 has been one of my special verses for many years.

But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

I know God spoke it to the nation of Israel through the prophet Isaiah - not to me, but I feel a special connection to it. In these two verses I hear God reassuring me that no matter how difficult my circumstances are, I'm not alone. He is with me. AND No matter my circumstances, He will strengthen me to endure and persevere through them.

In my quiet time, I recently read through the book of Numbers. This book wrestles with the question of how a Holy God can dwell amid an imperfect people group. The question resonates with me because I'm not perfect and I still want my beautiful, holy God to dwell in the center of my life. Numbers 31:22-23 describes how some items that the Israelites plundered from the Midianites should be cleansed or purified for use in this holy community where God dwells among His people. It talks about passing metal objects through fire and water. This gave me new insight into Isaiah 43:1-2, Proverbs 3:11-12, and Hebrews 12:5-7.

Sometimes difficult circumstances come into my life to cleanse and transform me. They are not to punish me. They produce more Christ-like characteristics in my life. (Is all heartship for this reason? No! Look at Christ on the cross. He suffered heartship and it wasn't to grow His character.) God's intent behind them is to bless me. I'm still His chosen and beloved daughter. And He is with me in this heartship. He doesn't send me to my room or give me the quiet treatment. He's with me in the middle of the difficulty, reassuring me, guiding me, counseling me, and growing me. It's a time-in and not a time-out style of parenting.

Plus, I'm a science teacher, so I like fire!

Manure is a Rich Growing Medium

Our garden isn't very big, but people comment about how much produce comes out of its small square footage.  Would you like to know one of my secrets?  A friend advised us to work a bag of manure into the soil every spring.  By now, most of the soil in the garden is decomposing manure.  Manure is a rich growing medium.

Let's take this one step further.  Do you have any areas of your life that are kind of poopy?  You're not super happy about how things are going?  Do you sometimes do things that make you feel like a sack of manure?  Well, I've got good news for you!  Manure is a rich growing medium.  But it works best for growing after it has decomposed a little.  Then it doesn't stink so much.

Late in April we did a little decomposing.  There had been a lot of bickering and back-talk and very little parental patience for that behavior.  Prayerfully our family took some time to identify the things we really value in life.  What makes us feel alive?  What do we love doing?  If you try this, I recommend you do this prayerfully because God knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139:1-4).  Each person listed 10 things that were very important to them.  Then we compared our lists.  We identified five common values on everyone's list.  

How did this help the bickering and impatience?  It gave us a conversation starter.  Since each individual identified what THEY VALUE, it wasn't was just the parents rules or values.  So when someone criticizes his/her sibling, we can say "You value family.  Is what you just said in line with your value system?"  Or we can have conversations like this, "You value knowing God, but you consistently bring a novel and toy to church instead of your Bible.  Tell me about that."  Our children need to decide what they value and learn to live by their own moral code.  They are growing up and must learn to listen to their consciences and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I won't always be there to create or enforce the rules.  

This exercise has also helped me.  The past few years have been very busy for me.  My husband just finished his masters degree.  While he was working on it, I worked full time and did the bulk of the parenting and housekeeping.  During the school year, I rarely had any free time.  Towards the end of his master's program, I found myself bored.  The list of what I valued helped me to find things that I enjoy doing.  I had forgotten some of my interests.  

So if you're feeling kind of crappy, have hope.  Manure is a rich growing medium.  You're just ready for some personal growth!  

Home . . .

Home is where the heart is, right?

My 10-year-old son and I just finished reading Abandoned on the Wild Frontier by Dave and Neta Jackson.  This book is historical fiction intended to introduce 8-12 year old kids to the ministry of Peter Cartwright.  He died in 1872, but something in this book is as relevant today as it was 150 years ago.

I love this dialog.  God gives us each a hunger for the warmth and security of a good family life.  Why? Peter Cartwright suggests this longing is God designed; placed in each human heart to make us hunger for a reconciled relationship with Him.  Jesus makes reconciliation with God possible through His payment for our sins on the cross.  He invites you and me and all who would believe to enter into this relationships by faith and repentance.  Are you hungry for home?  

Anything new in your prayer life?

Have you ever felt like your lack of faith is impeding your prayer life?  You ask God to work in your circumstances or your character, but you experience doubt that you are even asking for the right thing?  I recently read this paragraph in Everyone Gets to Play by John Wimber.  It's in a section on corporate intercessory prayer, but I tried it in my own personal prayer life.

It makes my prayers longer.  It won't work for those urgent "I'm about to lose my cool.  Lord, I need your gentleness for this kid right now!" type of prayers.  To make it easier for me to understand, I broke the paragraph down into a list.  

1. Praise God for who He is.

2. Thank Him for what He has done in the past.  

3. Recall or pray any applicable Bible Verses.

4. Consider how God moved in the earthly life of Christ.

5. Tell God about the circumstances and ask Him for the need at hand.

I'm a big believer in simply asking God to show me how to pray and going with what the Holy Spirit lays on my heart.  I found this to be a great addition to that method of supplication because it got historical in a good way.  Considering who God is and how He has acted in the past gives me more confidence to pray in the present.  It also helps align my thoughts and prayers with His will.  Let's do an example.:

1.  Praise God for who He is.

God, you're a good Father.  I praise you because you are the wisest and most faithful parent.

2.  Thank Him for what He has done in the past.

We asked you for kids and you gave them to us.  Thank you for this children.  We love them.  And we enjoy them, most of the time!

3.  Recall or pray any applicable Bible Verses.

Proverbs 22:6 "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

4.  Consider how God moved in the earthly life of Christ.

Jesus, you embraced children with open arms.  You encourage even the youngest people to know you.

5.  Tell God about the circumstances and ask Him for the need at hand. 

God, our kids need to develop some independence and work ethic.  Please cultivate this attitude within them.  Please show us how to parent them in such a way to take pride in doing a job well.  

Try it and see if it helps you.  Don't feel like you have to pray every step for every prayer.  Take what is helpful for your relationship with God and leave the rest.  

A Prayer

One of the ladies at our Thursday Night Bible Study shared this prayer request and I loved it.  I tend to stay kind of busy, but I just added another commitment to my life.  Yikes!  When I feel stressed and overwhelmed with things to do, I don't always respond to people in the most loving manner.  So I loved this prayer:

Remember Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic speeches?

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."  

My stressed out response isn't going to make any situation better.  Nope, it's a Christ-like response that will really help.  The Bible even says so in Romans 12:21.

So if you're feeling stressed or attacked, I invite you to pray this one with me:

Lord, help me to reflect Jesus instead of reflecting the onslaught coming at me.  

Happy Halloween!

The first time I remember celebrating Halloween was in kindergarten.  I dressed up as a leopard to my class's costume parade and Halloween party.  My family went Trick or Treating that year also.  It was a little different for me than it may have been for you.  We lived out in the country.  The nearest house was about a quarter of a mile away.  My Mom drove us to all the neighbors' houses in a two mile radius to knock on their doors.  I still remember the delight that radiated from Mrs. Paxton's face when she opened her door.  She was a widow with no grandchildren living near her.  She fed us homemade cupcakes.

When I was older, I heard that Halloween was the devil's holiday.  If you celebrate it, you're celebrating Satan.  Well, I didn't want to do that because I loved Jesus.  My parents chatted with me and left the decision up to me.  For the most part, I stopped celebrating Halloween.  I wouldn't want to give fear a foothold in my life.  I was already having enough trouble with fear in every dark night.

But as my relationship with God deepened, I learned the security that comes from being a child of the Most High King.  As His servant, I live under His protection.  I can't think He will shelter me from every discomfort.  I do know He is good and powerful.  He will be with me in everything.  He will turn all my sufferings for my good and His glory.  He did it for Jesus.  He turned Jesus' suffering on the cross into good - salvation for me.  He turned Jesus' sufferings into glory - to show His power over death when Jesus rose from the grave.

This Halloween, I'm not going to celebrate evil.  But I am going to take this opportunity to reach out to others.  It's not every night that people welcome strangers.  I am going to encourage my children's imagination.  Oh yes, I am going to eat some candy.  Most of all, I'm going to celebrate that Jesus Christ has set me free from the fear of death.  Not that I'm in a hurry to die.  But when I do, I believe that I will live eternally with God because Jesus paid the price for my sins on the cross.

"Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death where is your sting?"
1 Corinthians 15:45b-55 NLT

Painting Party

We had a painting party at our house this week!  I picked up these 8 x 10 inch canvases on sale for only $1/each.  It was too good of a deal to pass up.  Each kid got to paint their very own master piece, myself included. 

Phoenix went with a princess theme, of course.  Greg experimented with a splatter paint technique over the Bat Signal.  I made myself an important reminder to hang over the doors to the kids' bedrooms.  It's inspired by 1 Samuel 1:27 " I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."  These are the words of Hannah, mother of Samuel.  Samuel was one of the High Priests, but he was also a prophet and the last judge of Israel.  At God's command, he anointed Saul and later David as king.  Prior to the conception of Samuel, Hannah suffered with infertility.  You can read about her struggles in 1 Samuel 1:1-20.  She was so distraught she refused to eat during her family's yearly sacrifice at Shiloh. Instead of feasting she fervently prayed, asking the Lord for a son and promising to devote him to God all the days of his life.  When the child was weaned, Hannah presented him to High Priest Eli so Samuel could serve the Lord in the temple.  You can read about that in 1 Samuel 1:21-2:11.  Why do I tell you all this?  Hannah asked God to give her a child.  Toby and I asked God for both of our children.  We struggled with a season of infertility before the birth of Phoenix.  I can relate to Hannah when she said "I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him."  Since I so desired these two beautiful children, you'd think all my days mothering them would be like a dream come true.  NOT!

Some days are difficult.  Some days they do nothing but bicker.  Some days one of them throws screaming tantrums in public places.  Some days they refuse to pick up after themselves.  Some days they completely overlook all the cool activities I plan and focus instead on one or two things that they cannot do.  Some days I wake up cranky and exhausted because one (or both) woke me up a couple of times in the night.  It's not always a walk in the park.  On those days, I need a reminder.  Something to help me shift my focus from the annoyance to the blessing.  Something to remind me that I did indeed ask for this and I really enjoy being Mom.  So I painted my canvas to serve as this reminder.

Here's how I made my painting.  I must warn you, I am not an artist.  I'm probably using some very poor techniques.   But if you want to make your own little 'reminder painting', you might be able to follow these steps and get similar results.  

1) Cover the crafting area with newspapers.  You'll thank me for this later.  Whatever color you want to use for the letters, paint the entire canvas that color.  Even paint the sides of the canvas, but don't paint the back.  The class I recently attended by Paint the Towne instructed us to paint using criss-cross brush strokes.  

2) Allow this layer of paint to dry completely.  The brush I was using continually shed bristles into my work, so I threw it away and got a new one to use.  Using a ruler to create a straight line, arrange letter stickers on the canvas to create the desired message.  I didn't draw a line on the canvas.  I just laid the ruler across the canvas while I placed the letters on top.   

3) In theory, when you paint over the stickers they resist the new layer of paint.  This keeps the canvas concealed by the letters the original shade of paint.  It doesn't work perfectly, but it does work.  I painted a purple-blue over the entire canvas, letters and all.  Again, I used those criss-cross brush strokes. 

4) When the top layer of paint dries, you pull of the letter stickers to reveal the underlying paint.  I peeked before the blue paint was completely dry.  From my experiences, the stickers came off easier when the paint was slightly damp.  The stickers that I left until the paint was completely dry were more difficult to remove.  I also painted a little red heart.

  

5) I peeled off all the little stickers and put a second layer of red paint on the heart.  As you can see, the stickers do not repell the top coat of paint perfectly.

 

6) I decided to touch up the yellow paint on the letters.  I used a very tiny paint brush with a very fine point.  Some places I had to go over twice.  It was tedious, but worth it.  Kind of like raising kids sometimes!

Happy Crafting! 

I'm Scared

It was a dark night while our van rumbled north on I-135.  From the middle seat Phoenix said, “Mommy, I’m scared.”

“Sweetie,” I replied in a gentle voice, “I’m sorry you’re scared.  You’re not alone.  I know you can’t see me, but you can hear my voice.” 

“I’m still scared.”

I reached behind my back and held her ankle with my hand.  It was awkward, but I was willing to endure the discomfort to calm her.  “See Phoenix, I’m right here.  Feel my hand on your leg.” 

“I’m still scared.  There could be monsters out there.” 

No one can argue with the logic of a three year old, so instead I prayed.  I asked God to show me how to parent her at this moment.  The memory of a terrible storm flooded my mind.  My best friend and I were walking home from middle school.  It began to rain.  When we got home, I discovered I had left my key inside the house.  Bummer!  Now we were stuck outside in the rain.  We walked around to the covered back patio just in time for the tornado sirens to begin their keel.  Rachael and I huddled between the back door and the screen door.  We were scared.  We prayed, asking God to protect us.  Then we sang to distract us from the storm.  It eventually passed and we were no worse for the wear.  Perhaps a prayer and a song would help Phoenix too.  So I said, “I like the night.  The darkness helps me to rest.  I can only see the twinkling stars at night.  Do you see any stars?  Let’s pray: God, thank you for making the stars to light up the night.  Please fill Phoenix’s heart with the peace of your presence.”

Then we sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.  All seemed right with the world.  A few mornings later, Phoenix told me she awoke in the night.  She felt scared, so she turned on her ladybug night light.  It cascaded blue stars all over her room.  She didn’t feel afraid any more.  I reminded her of a familiar nursery rhyme: 
 I see the moon and the moon sees me.

 God bless the moon and God bless me. 

I'm sure we will have more conversations about fear in the future, but God granted me the wisdom I needed for this incident.  That same God who made you also made the moon and stars to light up the darkest night.  He made the eye in the middle of a hurricane.  May you seek and find His hope in your darkest night.  May you seek and find His peace in every storm that life blows your way. 

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."