Yesterday was a "re-do" day for me. A rededicating of sorts to regroup and refocus. On my weight loss goals. On my CONSISTENT quite time IN THE MORNING. On housekeeping. On working. On taming our finances, a...g...a...i...n. On the kids. On HH. I had felt things spiraling a bit out of control and had become lackadaisical with school winding down. I don't function well in lackadaisical land. My house does not function well there either. I was off to a good start. My main goal - be honest with myself about what was going on. Whether is was about what I ate, when I exercised, why I spent, or why I did not clean the kitchen, just be honest. No excuses. No justifications. Honesty. Between the Lord and I.
I was off to a great start. I was honest in my food choices. Honest in my quiet time. I felt like I was making progress. Then I got home and hit a HUGE road bump. Pretty sure in the literal sense we would have been airborne and spiraled right down to the ground if we had really hit it. You want to know my first thought?
Of course you did. Of course this happened today. Why wouldn't it? You are fooling yourself.
Do you know what that is? That is a repeat of the very stuff I was trying to break away from.
I will say it is tempting to go back. Easier to wallow than stand some days. But that just gets me dirty and does not move me forward.
So today, with a frustrated heart that has been poured out to God before any of this was even typed, I am rejecting the temptation to wallow. I am rejecting the temptation to blame. I am rejecting the temptation to distrust.
I asked God today to let His light shine through the broken pieces of my very frustrated heart.
I will reject the temptation to snuff out that light.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
HE MAKES MY HEAD HURT...
and it is not HH. Even though listening to him brag about how he has "great teeth" according to our dentist and his hygienist is getting on my nerves since it is coupled with his constant bragging about effortlessly losing weight....but he is not the one.
Bonhoeffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
I have been reading Christ the Center over the last few days. It is a collection of notes from his lectures at the University of Berlin in 1933. I just need to tell you the geek student in me is absolutely fascinated to be reading lectures from 1933. Total coolness to me, which probably means I just lost all cool points with you. I have had to reread portions several times. In complete quiet. He uses big words. Sometimes I agree with him, other times I think I might agree if I knew what he was talking about. Seriously over my head on some pages. But beautiful still.
The topic is chirstology. I had to google it...you can too. Unless you already know, in which case you are way smarter than me and should be reading this with me so you could explain as we went along. I am about halfway through the book. Sadly, it is only two parts of what was to be a three part lecture series. Bonhoeffer did not finish the third lecture. I need to find the book so I can buy it because I am certain the library does not want me highlighting their version. So I am taking notes. Lots of notes. The first notes I took were just a sentence or two. Then I was done reading the Introduction. Once I got into the actual lectures, it was entire paragraphs and pages. The language is wonderful. As my sister said, nobody talks this way anymore.
When I finish up I am sure I will more to say, but today I will just leave you with one of my favorite quotes so far-
If Jesus is the idealistic founder of a religion, I can be elevated by his work and stimulated to follow his example. But my sins are not forgiven, God still remains angry and I remain in the power of death. Jesus' work leads to despair in myself because I cannot imitate his pattern. But if Jesus is the Christ, the Word of God, then I am not primarily called to emulate him; I am encountered in his work as one who could not possibly do this work myself. Through his work, I recognize the gracious God. My sins are forgiven, I am no longer in death but in life.
(P.38-39)
Bonhoeffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
I have been reading Christ the Center over the last few days. It is a collection of notes from his lectures at the University of Berlin in 1933. I just need to tell you the geek student in me is absolutely fascinated to be reading lectures from 1933. Total coolness to me, which probably means I just lost all cool points with you. I have had to reread portions several times. In complete quiet. He uses big words. Sometimes I agree with him, other times I think I might agree if I knew what he was talking about. Seriously over my head on some pages. But beautiful still.
The topic is chirstology. I had to google it...you can too. Unless you already know, in which case you are way smarter than me and should be reading this with me so you could explain as we went along. I am about halfway through the book. Sadly, it is only two parts of what was to be a three part lecture series. Bonhoeffer did not finish the third lecture. I need to find the book so I can buy it because I am certain the library does not want me highlighting their version. So I am taking notes. Lots of notes. The first notes I took were just a sentence or two. Then I was done reading the Introduction. Once I got into the actual lectures, it was entire paragraphs and pages. The language is wonderful. As my sister said, nobody talks this way anymore.
When I finish up I am sure I will more to say, but today I will just leave you with one of my favorite quotes so far-
If Jesus is the idealistic founder of a religion, I can be elevated by his work and stimulated to follow his example. But my sins are not forgiven, God still remains angry and I remain in the power of death. Jesus' work leads to despair in myself because I cannot imitate his pattern. But if Jesus is the Christ, the Word of God, then I am not primarily called to emulate him; I am encountered in his work as one who could not possibly do this work myself. Through his work, I recognize the gracious God. My sins are forgiven, I am no longer in death but in life.
(P.38-39)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
CHEMICAL WARFARE
The MCs have declared chemical warfare on the opposite sex.
And their daddy.
They have discovered HH's cologne stash we got him for Christmas. Last night they decided to try ALL OF THEM! They walked past us and we nearly fell out. It was so strong I could smell it on my hands, after I had a shower, and in their room this morning when I woke them up.
I am thinking this might be a good thing though.
I am pretty sure the "ladies" won't becoming within 20 feet of them.
I know it was only a mother's love that drove me to tuck them in last night.
Side note....I caught a glimpse of MC 1 standing on a stool, brushing his teeth, and trying different hairdo's. He so gets that from his daddy:)
And their daddy.
They have discovered HH's cologne stash we got him for Christmas. Last night they decided to try ALL OF THEM! They walked past us and we nearly fell out. It was so strong I could smell it on my hands, after I had a shower, and in their room this morning when I woke them up.
I am thinking this might be a good thing though.
I am pretty sure the "ladies" won't becoming within 20 feet of them.
I know it was only a mother's love that drove me to tuck them in last night.
Side note....I caught a glimpse of MC 1 standing on a stool, brushing his teeth, and trying different hairdo's. He so gets that from his daddy:)
Thursday, May 26, 2011
I DO ACTUALLY WRITE STUFF
Click on over to A Martha Heart to read a book review of Fearless by Max Lucado and a good housecleaning:)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
BETH MOORE SHOULD ADOPT HIM
If you have ever heard Beth Moore talk, she often makes mention how her family name is a fitting one. How she can be prone to excess. If one is good....ten is better kinda thing.
HH is the same way.
If one deer head mounted in our living room is enough, then clearly six is better.
If one dog was enough, obviously nine is taking it just one notch higher.
He is a man who needs more to do. He needs projects. Which is why we have these....
(Imagine a picture of our dogs water bucket. No camera, remember, and my phone was being difficult)
Can't see? Let's zoom in......
(Visualize little tadpoles swimming all around. Probably about ten of them).
Now, being a science teacher, and considering that MC 2 is all about frogs right now, I do not object to these. These however........
(Now picture a large glass mixing bowl, filled with about twenty tadpoles, sitting on our kitchen table).
I am not to crazy about. Mainly because I have visions of coming home one day and finding myself smack in the middle of Pharaoh's plague.
He has grand plans of cooking these bad boys up if they are that sort of frogs.
Yeah....I am not crazy about that either. MC 1 will be brought to tears at the mere thought.
But clearly I will be spending my summer trying to keep the cat out of them and MC 2 from "feeding" them and wondering what will happen if he does "this", whatever "this" may be.
HH is the same way.
If one deer head mounted in our living room is enough, then clearly six is better.
If one dog was enough, obviously nine is taking it just one notch higher.
He is a man who needs more to do. He needs projects. Which is why we have these....
(Imagine a picture of our dogs water bucket. No camera, remember, and my phone was being difficult)
Can't see? Let's zoom in......
(Visualize little tadpoles swimming all around. Probably about ten of them).
Now, being a science teacher, and considering that MC 2 is all about frogs right now, I do not object to these. These however........
(Now picture a large glass mixing bowl, filled with about twenty tadpoles, sitting on our kitchen table).
I am not to crazy about. Mainly because I have visions of coming home one day and finding myself smack in the middle of Pharaoh's plague.
He has grand plans of cooking these bad boys up if they are that sort of frogs.
Yeah....I am not crazy about that either. MC 1 will be brought to tears at the mere thought.
But clearly I will be spending my summer trying to keep the cat out of them and MC 2 from "feeding" them and wondering what will happen if he does "this", whatever "this" may be.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME...
Would like to know when Rodney Dangerfield moved into my house?
Because yesterday I listened to MC 1 go on for 20 minutes about how he gets no respect.
Seriously?
Tomorrow is another day.....
Because yesterday I listened to MC 1 go on for 20 minutes about how he gets no respect.
Seriously?
Tomorrow is another day.....
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
IN THE FIGHT....
I have had the opportunity over the past couple of weeks to be in a high school classroom again. One of the things I have been deeply reminded of is how attacked youth are. A few examples -
One girl told us that her parents never loved each other. Seems her mother informed her that she, the mother, simply wanted to satisfy a fleshly desire and then got pregnant.
And can I say you can see the impact of those words all over this young lady.
One student has been in three schools in two years. Mom met a man on the Internet and moved from another country to marry him. Dad was killed when this student was very young.
And I suddenly understood why this student had SO MANY walls around for protection.
One has a father that works in the oil field and over the past year he had been home a total of approximately 30 days, non-consecutive.
And I understood why this one was so proud for being single for 3 whopping weeks and declared how he/she did not need a significant other while discussing who he/she was going out with next.
A group of young men whose vocabulary is extremely limited to four letter words about a three letter topic. Who, from what I could tell, have had a lot of money spent to keep them entertained.
And I understood why they tried so hard to be part of the group.
I spent time with a new teacher sharing what I had learned during my decade in the classroom. The thing that shocked her the most was when I told her for some kids she would be the most consistent adult in their life and that is a weighty responsibility.
I don't have a clever way to end this one. Just an encouragement to pray for these kids. Pray for the ones you see in the check out line. The ones you see in the fast food drive thru. Pray for your kids at church, because they walk around with a huge target on them. Let's get in the fight with them, and let's fight for them when they can't fight for themselves.
One girl told us that her parents never loved each other. Seems her mother informed her that she, the mother, simply wanted to satisfy a fleshly desire and then got pregnant.
And can I say you can see the impact of those words all over this young lady.
One student has been in three schools in two years. Mom met a man on the Internet and moved from another country to marry him. Dad was killed when this student was very young.
And I suddenly understood why this student had SO MANY walls around for protection.
One has a father that works in the oil field and over the past year he had been home a total of approximately 30 days, non-consecutive.
And I understood why this one was so proud for being single for 3 whopping weeks and declared how he/she did not need a significant other while discussing who he/she was going out with next.
A group of young men whose vocabulary is extremely limited to four letter words about a three letter topic. Who, from what I could tell, have had a lot of money spent to keep them entertained.
And I understood why they tried so hard to be part of the group.
I spent time with a new teacher sharing what I had learned during my decade in the classroom. The thing that shocked her the most was when I told her for some kids she would be the most consistent adult in their life and that is a weighty responsibility.
I don't have a clever way to end this one. Just an encouragement to pray for these kids. Pray for the ones you see in the check out line. The ones you see in the fast food drive thru. Pray for your kids at church, because they walk around with a huge target on them. Let's get in the fight with them, and let's fight for them when they can't fight for themselves.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
WIPING THE MUD OFF
We have been in the muck and mire of parenting the last couple of days. Mother's Day 2011 brought on the MC 1 meltdown of 2011. Emotions ran high, words became ugly, and tears flowed freely and that was just from him. At the time I was flying solo, so we crash landed into a mandated nap.
Over the last couple of years we have made some big changes that directly impacted him. He changed schools. Mom quit her job, limiting his funds. We have changed churches twice. After talking with him this week, I think a big part of him feels unsettled. Throw in state mandated testing, the prospect of summer school, developmental changes (with the hormones to go with it) and you have tinder ripe for burning, and burn it did. The flame it appears to most fan is that of rebellion. Over and over again it was "you won't let me do what I want to do." Submission to parental authority waging a full scale attack on his fleshly desire.
I get it. We have made changes in his life he had no control over. We have made decisions, for his good, without letting him in on the decision making process. In an attempt to gain control, MC 1 is assuming that some privileges are his rights. I know. I have been there. I have done the same thing before the Lord God. Things have happened that I had no control over. Things, that even though they were for my good, were hard to adjust to. I have rebelled when I felt out of control. I have claimed privileges as rights. Like MC 1, I have been corrected. Tears flowed, emotions sky rocketed, and words were harsh...and that was from me. But just like HH and I with MC 1, the Father lovingly says to you and I,
I am here to help you.
I am for you.
I love you.
Rebellion can masquerade itself. It can as blatant as walking away from the whole thing or as subtle as grabbing that next piece of brownie. My lack of trust causes me to want to control things and do it my way. Any thing. My food. My money. My time. My attitude.
MC 1 has to know, and at times be reminded, HH and I are for his good. We support him. We encourage him. We also set boundaries for him. We correct him. We discipline him when we need to. We remind him who has the final say. Above all, we love him.
If you are in Christ, our Father does the same thing. Our best parenting is only a shadow of the parenting He provides for us. Our most sincere, most loving intentions towards our kids are just mere scratches on the surface of God's love for us.
We... I, like MC 1, have to believe that. We have to believe He is for our good. Not that we get our way, but that in doing it His way, He gets the glory. Above all we have to believe He loves us. Many days we have to choose those. The world and the prince of it will whisper lies to you otherwise.
No one wants to be your friend.
No one ever talks to you.
No one ever asks you to come over and play.
In talking through these same phrases with MC 1, we were able to pull the truth out from amongst the thorns of the lies that were trying to hold him down. You and I can do the same. It takes time.
It takes work.
It takes helpers.
Ultimately, though, it is our choice.
Our choice to believe.
Our choice to accept.
Our choice to submit.
In Christ or out, you have to know He loves you. He desires to parent you. Not as earthly parents do, good or bad, but as a the perfect Father He is. There is no evil in Him. There is nothing but love. Tough love at times, but perfect love always.
Over the last couple of years we have made some big changes that directly impacted him. He changed schools. Mom quit her job, limiting his funds. We have changed churches twice. After talking with him this week, I think a big part of him feels unsettled. Throw in state mandated testing, the prospect of summer school, developmental changes (with the hormones to go with it) and you have tinder ripe for burning, and burn it did. The flame it appears to most fan is that of rebellion. Over and over again it was "you won't let me do what I want to do." Submission to parental authority waging a full scale attack on his fleshly desire.
I get it. We have made changes in his life he had no control over. We have made decisions, for his good, without letting him in on the decision making process. In an attempt to gain control, MC 1 is assuming that some privileges are his rights. I know. I have been there. I have done the same thing before the Lord God. Things have happened that I had no control over. Things, that even though they were for my good, were hard to adjust to. I have rebelled when I felt out of control. I have claimed privileges as rights. Like MC 1, I have been corrected. Tears flowed, emotions sky rocketed, and words were harsh...and that was from me. But just like HH and I with MC 1, the Father lovingly says to you and I,
I am here to help you.
I am for you.
I love you.
Rebellion can masquerade itself. It can as blatant as walking away from the whole thing or as subtle as grabbing that next piece of brownie. My lack of trust causes me to want to control things and do it my way. Any thing. My food. My money. My time. My attitude.
MC 1 has to know, and at times be reminded, HH and I are for his good. We support him. We encourage him. We also set boundaries for him. We correct him. We discipline him when we need to. We remind him who has the final say. Above all, we love him.
If you are in Christ, our Father does the same thing. Our best parenting is only a shadow of the parenting He provides for us. Our most sincere, most loving intentions towards our kids are just mere scratches on the surface of God's love for us.
We... I, like MC 1, have to believe that. We have to believe He is for our good. Not that we get our way, but that in doing it His way, He gets the glory. Above all we have to believe He loves us. Many days we have to choose those. The world and the prince of it will whisper lies to you otherwise.
No one wants to be your friend.
No one ever talks to you.
No one ever asks you to come over and play.
In talking through these same phrases with MC 1, we were able to pull the truth out from amongst the thorns of the lies that were trying to hold him down. You and I can do the same. It takes time.
It takes work.
It takes helpers.
Ultimately, though, it is our choice.
Our choice to believe.
Our choice to accept.
Our choice to submit.
In Christ or out, you have to know He loves you. He desires to parent you. Not as earthly parents do, good or bad, but as a the perfect Father He is. There is no evil in Him. There is nothing but love. Tough love at times, but perfect love always.
Choose to be His child.
Choose to come back.
Choose to be adopted.
He has already chosen you.
Let Jesus wipe the mud of this world off.
Let Him sanctify you with His words.
Just as MC 1 cried, let the tears fall before Jesus, and let Him use them to clear your vision as to who you are in Him.
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:17 (NKJV)
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
OLDER
Not me.
Not yet.
Them.
Over the past couple of months, each one has had a birthday.
And for each year, they have gained,
I am pretty sure I have gained five.
But as I am going to grow older, and clearly I am,
I can't think of a better group of MCs
to grow old with.
Love you guys.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
REMEMBER THAT OTHER KID...
we have.
'Member him?
Well, in the midst of the mud, we had to parent his future. We had a meeting a couple of months ago about his academic future. Actually, I took the meeting, relayed the details to HH, and we made plans for what we thought should happen next. We had a follow-up meeting earlier this week. I took that one, too. I think I am going to start carrying a Polaroid of HH with me. I'll set him out at meetings and such, as proof. Sorta of like Ross did when he asked Phoebe to show Ben his picture while he was in Japan, where he met that Julie woman and derailed the entire Rachel relationship for a bit. As you can tell, I watched way too many episodes and, it would seem, too many reruns.
Back to the kid, he has a learning problem called I don't wanna (IDW).
MC 2 I need you to count to 20...I don't wanna.
I know he can count to 20. We work on it every day. But when his I don't wanna kicks in we might make it to 15. Sadly, it only seemed to manifest itself on testing days. So the initial meeting was a bit touch and go as to what the district thought would be best. Lucky for them, I knew we had the final say. One thing we did was have his speech tested.
The meeting this week was much more optimistic. His IDW syndrome seems to have died down and he has made great improvements in a few short weeks. His results for speech were at a level that required intervention, but not full on therapy. To our district's credit, they started with him the same day as the meeting. There was no rebuttal when I informed them we weren't retaining him. There was encouragement and ideas as to how to help him be successful next year.
So, little one is moving on.
As my sister said yesterday, we will wove him regardless of the fact that he thinks a leaf is a weaf.
And we wove you too!
'Member him?
Well, in the midst of the mud, we had to parent his future. We had a meeting a couple of months ago about his academic future. Actually, I took the meeting, relayed the details to HH, and we made plans for what we thought should happen next. We had a follow-up meeting earlier this week. I took that one, too. I think I am going to start carrying a Polaroid of HH with me. I'll set him out at meetings and such, as proof. Sorta of like Ross did when he asked Phoebe to show Ben his picture while he was in Japan, where he met that Julie woman and derailed the entire Rachel relationship for a bit. As you can tell, I watched way too many episodes and, it would seem, too many reruns.
Back to the kid, he has a learning problem called I don't wanna (IDW).
MC 2 I need you to count to 20...I don't wanna.
I know he can count to 20. We work on it every day. But when his I don't wanna kicks in we might make it to 15. Sadly, it only seemed to manifest itself on testing days. So the initial meeting was a bit touch and go as to what the district thought would be best. Lucky for them, I knew we had the final say. One thing we did was have his speech tested.
The meeting this week was much more optimistic. His IDW syndrome seems to have died down and he has made great improvements in a few short weeks. His results for speech were at a level that required intervention, but not full on therapy. To our district's credit, they started with him the same day as the meeting. There was no rebuttal when I informed them we weren't retaining him. There was encouragement and ideas as to how to help him be successful next year.
So, little one is moving on.
As my sister said yesterday, we will wove him regardless of the fact that he thinks a leaf is a weaf.
And we wove you too!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
WIPING THE MUD OFF
We have been in the muck and mire of parenting the last couple of days. Mother's Day 2011 brought on the MC 1 meltdown of 2011. Emotions ran high, words became ugly, and tears flowed freely and that was just from him. At the time I was flying solo, so we crash landed into a mandated nap.
Over the last couple of years we have made some big changes that directly impacted him. He changed schools. Mom quit her job, limiting his funds. We have changed churches twice. After talking with him this week, I think a big part of him feels unsettled. Throw in state mandated testing, the prospect of summer school, developmental changes (with the hormones to go with it) and you have the tender ripe for burning, and burn it did. The flame it appears to most fan is that of rebellion. Over and over again it was "you won't let me do what I want to do." Submission to parental authority waging a full scale attack on his fleshly desire.
I get it. We have made changes in his life he had no control over. We have made decisions, for his good, without letting him in on the decision making process. In an attempt to gain control, MC 1 is assuming that some privileges are his rights. I know. I have been there. I have done the same thing before the Lord God. Things have happened that I had no control over. Things, that even though they were for my good, were hard to adjust to. I have rebelled when I felt out of control. I have claimed privileges as rights. Like MC 1, I have been corrected. Tears flowed, emotions sky rocketed, and words were harsh...and that was from me. But just like HH and I with MC 1, the Father lovingly says to you and I,
I am here to help you.
I am for you.
I love you.
Rebellion can masquerade itself. It can as blatant as walking away from the whole thing or as subtle as grabbing that next piece of brownie. My lack of trust causes me to want to control things and do it my way. Any thing. My food. My money. My time. My attitude.
MC 1 has to know, and at times be reminded, HH and I are for his good. We support him. We encourage him. We also set boundaries for him. We correct him. We discipline him when we need to. We remind him who has the final say. Above all, we love him.
If you are in Christ, our Father does the same thing. Our best parenting is only a shadow of the parenting He provides for us. Our most sincere, most loving intentions towards our kids are just mere scratches on the surface of God's love for us.
We... I, like MC 1, have to believe that. We have to believe He is for our good. Not that we get our way, but that in doing it His way, He gets the glory. Above all we have to believe He loves us. Many days we have to choose those. The world and the prince of it will whisper lies to you otherwise.
No one wants to be your friend.
No one ever talks to you.
No one ever asks you to come over and play.
In talking through these same phrases with MC 1, we were able to pull the truth out from amongst the thorns of the lies that were trying to hold him down. You and I can do the same. It takes time.
It takes work.
It takes helpers.
Ultimately, though, it is our choice.
Our choice to believe.
Our choice to accept.
Our choice to submit.
In Christ or out, you have to know He loves you. He desires to parent you. Not as earthly parents do, good or bad, but as a the perfect Father He is. There is no evil in Him. There is nothing but love. Tough love at times, but perfect love always.
Over the last couple of years we have made some big changes that directly impacted him. He changed schools. Mom quit her job, limiting his funds. We have changed churches twice. After talking with him this week, I think a big part of him feels unsettled. Throw in state mandated testing, the prospect of summer school, developmental changes (with the hormones to go with it) and you have the tender ripe for burning, and burn it did. The flame it appears to most fan is that of rebellion. Over and over again it was "you won't let me do what I want to do." Submission to parental authority waging a full scale attack on his fleshly desire.
I get it. We have made changes in his life he had no control over. We have made decisions, for his good, without letting him in on the decision making process. In an attempt to gain control, MC 1 is assuming that some privileges are his rights. I know. I have been there. I have done the same thing before the Lord God. Things have happened that I had no control over. Things, that even though they were for my good, were hard to adjust to. I have rebelled when I felt out of control. I have claimed privileges as rights. Like MC 1, I have been corrected. Tears flowed, emotions sky rocketed, and words were harsh...and that was from me. But just like HH and I with MC 1, the Father lovingly says to you and I,
I am here to help you.
I am for you.
I love you.
Rebellion can masquerade itself. It can as blatant as walking away from the whole thing or as subtle as grabbing that next piece of brownie. My lack of trust causes me to want to control things and do it my way. Any thing. My food. My money. My time. My attitude.
MC 1 has to know, and at times be reminded, HH and I are for his good. We support him. We encourage him. We also set boundaries for him. We correct him. We discipline him when we need to. We remind him who has the final say. Above all, we love him.
If you are in Christ, our Father does the same thing. Our best parenting is only a shadow of the parenting He provides for us. Our most sincere, most loving intentions towards our kids are just mere scratches on the surface of God's love for us.
We... I, like MC 1, have to believe that. We have to believe He is for our good. Not that we get our way, but that in doing it His way, He gets the glory. Above all we have to believe He loves us. Many days we have to choose those. The world and the prince of it will whisper lies to you otherwise.
No one wants to be your friend.
No one ever talks to you.
No one ever asks you to come over and play.
In talking through these same phrases with MC 1, we were able to pull the truth out from amongst the thorns of the lies that were trying to hold him down. You and I can do the same. It takes time.
It takes work.
It takes helpers.
Ultimately, though, it is our choice.
Our choice to believe.
Our choice to accept.
Our choice to submit.
In Christ or out, you have to know He loves you. He desires to parent you. Not as earthly parents do, good or bad, but as a the perfect Father He is. There is no evil in Him. There is nothing but love. Tough love at times, but perfect love always.
Choose to be His child.
Choose to come back.
Choose to be adopted.
He has already chosen you.
Let Jesus wipe the mud of this world off.
Let Him sanctify you with His words.
Just as MC 1 cried, let the tears fall before Jesus, and let Him use them to clear your vision as to who you are in Him.
Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
John 17:17 (NKJV)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
WHAT I HAVE HEARD RECENTLY
- a great sermon by David Jeremiah on persecution. Key thought for me was: am I being persecuted for Christ or am I behaving badly, even as a Christian, and reaping the consequences? BIG DIFFERENCE. How do we know the difference? How do you know the difference? Do we tend to lean toward persecution when we don't get our way?
- thoughts by Perry Noble about biblical correction. My question is who corrects when the pastor is it? When the buck stops with him? Where is correction to come from then? And what do you as a church member do when correction, at any level, is lacking or ignored?
- from Matthew Barnett on Life Today: Relevant tries to fits in, revolutionary tries to change the dynamic of the community. How does that affect today's churches? Does it speak into my life in any way?
What I would like to read is your responses to these questions.
Looking forward to them.
Monday, May 9, 2011
BUT I WILL SLEEP BETTER...
I really have nothing for you today.
Which means I probably have stuff I am sorting through,
deciding if I want to share it.
Probably.....
In the mean time,
Because those lawn mower racers are a dangerous breed,
or so I reckon.
Seems my biting sarcasm is in rare form today.
Friday, May 6, 2011
MAMAS....
to babies we saw go back to Jesus before we ever were to hold them...
yet still hold them in our hearts.
to our own men children and women children we love on each day...
and to droves of high school kids we loved for a season.
to neighborhood kids and friends' kids and kids whose mamas needed help.
If you ask any one of us girls what our deepest desire is right now....
it is to just be mamas.
Good mamas.
Mamas who love Jesus.
Mamas who kids know that by our actions as well as our words.
Mamas who honor the daddys we share our children with.
Mamas who pass on to the generations to come
the faith, knowledge, and love of Christ Jesus.
Like the one we have.
May it be said of us and our children one day....
"...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also."
2 Timothy 1:5 (NKJV)
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
FAITH REMEDIATION 101
So I have been wrestling with an issue.
You've gotta be tired of reading that...cause I am tired of saying it....but I think there may always be something we are working out because He knows I have got enough for Him to work with.....
My hang up was I could not see what things were going to look like.
I had no clear vision of the end result.
I kept saying, "Yes Lord I want to obey but I don't know what it looks like,"
which basically meant I wasn't moving until He showed me.
In case you are new to this Christian walk, or to God period, He does not cower to demands.
E...V...E...R....
The sermon I heard on Sunday was the equivalent of a knock on the knuckles with a ruler.
The sting hung around for a bit giving me plenty to ponder on.
Monday, it hit.
You are not required to.
Now let me say here there are times when I have to be reminded of lessons I already know. Times when head knowledge needs to be reignited into heart knowledge.
Remediation if you will.
This was one of those times.
I don't have to know what things are going to look like.
All I have to know is what Christ has said to do and obey.
I am not responsible for making things look pretty or nice.
He is.
I am not responsible for how it all works out.
He is.
My job...
seek Him...
hear Him...
obey Him...
trust Him...
I have no idea how this will pan out.
I really don't. What I do have an idea of is what He requires of me when the situation presents itself.
And it will.
Probably soon.
For you newbies, He likes to do that as well.
I don't like remediation.
But I choose to be grateful for it.
"Being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians 4:6 (NKJV)
Because even though I can't see the end result, He can.
And it is for and to His glory:)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
SOMETHING...
Mc 2, where is the bag this game goes in?
I don't know. I'll go get a new one.
No...I don't have anymore. Find the bag it goes in.
Minutes pass by.....
I found one!
What was in that bag before?
Something....
What was it?
Something....
Where is that something now?
Out....
Thank you for clearing that up, son.
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