Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 10 Fun

I can't believe our fall study is almost over!  We've tackled Faith, Family, Fortune, and now, in the last part of Fall Back Into Faith, we take these final weeks to tackle FUN!  What fun!  Also, drum roll please, my new website goes live Monday.  There will be some fun giveaways and some series I'm rolling out, so I will try to make sure this redirects to what will be www.gindivincent.com next week!

I think a lot of folks, even those that have had a longstanding relationship with God, disassociate their faith and fun.  That's a shame because they should work hand in hand and your faith should inform the decisions you make in the "fun" aspects of your life. 

Today we're going to look at some Christianity misconceptions about what a faith-filled life looks like.  Next week we'll take a look at things to consider when you're having "fun," and our last week will focus on friendships, one of my favorite topics!

Here are Two Common Myths About Christianity: 

(1) If you’re a Christian, then life will be all suffering (using scripture like II Timothy 1:8 in a silo);

(2) If you’re a Christian, then life will be all blessings (using scripture like I Chronicles 4:10 in a silo).

 

God gives us extraordinary joy that could not come outside of following Him   Did you know that there are 72 references to suffering and 242 references to joy in scripture?  God is a fan of fun.  I want everyone just to hear that statement.  My grandaddy minister, who was one of the funniest people I've ever known, always gave great examples of God's sense of humor that started with the duck-billed platypus and ended with his hair loss!  However, the road is not joy-filled all the time.  The really key thing to remember is that if you are living in a time of blessing or of suffering neither, that fact alone does not reflect the depth (or lack thereof) of your walk with God. 

 

So today, let's just look at what Scripture shares about God's love of fun, and remember that Jesus' first miracle was performed at a wedding feast!  Talk about fun!

 

Zechariah 8 - This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there….” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.”

 

Ecclesiastes 8 - So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun….

Nehemiah 12 - At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem.

Esther 8 - And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating.

Deuteronomy 16 - Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Psalm 149 - Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.

 

{See also the Parable of the Lost Son, Luke 15 (when he came near the house, he heard music and dancing);  and Jesus’ first miracle at Cana, John 2 (the wedding feast!).}

Change of Plans

I had this great post planned for today - the final installment of my big decision series.  It went the way of all of my meetings and plans for today: out the window. 

I had late meetings last night so, despite a few runny noses and innocuous cough when I left yesterday morning, I expected nothing out of the ordinary when I got home and the kids were in bed.  I think that is why I am still stunned as I sit and type this.  I've been up since 2:30 am today (it's 8 pm now and Bray's putting the kids down after my extended shift).  The baby has asthma.  I will never adjust to how a little cold turns into a croup and then into a battle for him to breath.  When morning officially dawned, I'd been up for hours with the baby and our albuterol inhaler ticking down the moments til the doctor's office opened.  As the sun peaked out, all three kids had coughs and fevers. 

My nanny had the day off due to a death in the family.  Bray and I had cobbled together coverage so we could make the umpteen meetings we both had at work today - school covered us in the morning, he'd do drop off, I'd do pick up, and we'd have a sitter cover the afternoon til my mom could come after work.  That all went out the window because you can't leave really sick kids with someone who doesn't know them and you certainly don't go to school.  Bray stayed with two while I rushed the baby into the first appointment of the morning.  Dropping oxygen, tight chest, breathless, speechless.  I cried as I asked the doctor if this was going to be a forever thing because I never get used to it.  She entertained him while I composed myself.  (She's awesome by the way.  She said, no, it's not forever, and you haven't had any sleep.)

I cancelled all my meetings and left my iPhone, that I delusionally thought I'd use to check in with work, somewhere between the bathroom and the kitchen as we ran between fevers, vomiting, coughing, shaking, crying, and utter exhaustion.  Me and the kids.  I wondered if I'd ever had all three this sick on the same day.  I remember a particularly excruciating bout with a stomach virus we all five had but even that unfolded over about five days.  Today, I'd successfully get one fever under control only to have another spike.  I'd get lunch made only to have one cough so violently that it was all lost. 

This is the weirdest thing.  I never screamed.  I never lost my temper.  I never regretted not being at work.  I never felt frustrated this was the day the nanny ended up gone.  I felt relieved to be the one here.  I felt this immeasurable surge of love and protection and compassion for these beautiful sick people that laid on my lap all day and held my hand.  I felt like a mom.  And only a mom.  I felt no tug of multiple commitments today.  I did no multi-tasking.  I just fixed kids. 

The other post will come.  The meetings will occur tomorrow (regardless of if I get any sleep tonight).  But today I am reminded that sometimes a change of plans can be a gift.  Even under upsetting circumstances, God works wonders.

Big Decisions - Part 2

I wrote yesterday about this season of big decisions.  I crave not only security in my life, but I also crave KNOWING.  I want to know the outcome.  I want to plan it and plan for it.  The interlude period, when I know decisions must be made but I don't know what awaits across the threshhold, drives me crazy.  No matter what it is.  Sometimes the decision doesn't even directly affect me, but I have to help make it.  It's the decision making, that will it be yes or no, that unsettles me. 

The other problem is that, at times, I doubt God despite my best efforts not to.  I think sometimes people of faith, or even people of no faith, think that if you follow where God leads you won't be as happy if you walked your own path.  Can I just say, that's insane.  This amazing, full of grace, loving, faithful, patient God is not going to take you down a path that will depress you. 

So how to pray in this interim period.  I keep praying those prayers for wisdom and for discernment and for stillness that I prayed yesterday. I am also praying for a recognition of how much BIGGER He is than me and how He craves to lead me into a good land.

Ephesians 1, one of my favorite passages, says, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. "  (Don't you love that Paul says, "I keep asking?"  It's always been a process.)

I know I shared Psalm 37 yesterday, but doesn't it fit everyday as we pray for God to lead us and to act? "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this...Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." 

And then this:

For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,   
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

(Isaiah 64)

Thursday I'm going to share the final portion of my prayers and really focus on the "hopes and dreams" part of it all.  This book called Circle Makers by Mark Batterson is building on so much of what I'm seeing partially revealed on God's bigger plan.  Bigger than a single yes or no decision.  Because all of this, it's all bigger than one decision.  It's building to a crescendo. 

And I know this one thing, when I don't have any words to pray, when the wisdom seems a distant prize, I still can pray and trust His wisdom to find the right words: 

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed....We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8)

Big Decisions - Part 1

We have some big decisions to make.  Bigger than normal.  I'm not always a fan of big decisions.  They are hard.  Even the good ones.  I worry I will make the wrong decision.  I often pray God will close all the doors except the one I am supposed to walk through so I don't make a mistake. 

But here's the thing:  that's a cop out.  That route allows me to avoid responsibility.  That "only one door" prayer doesn't require me to sit still and listen for God's voice.  If there's no "choice," then I don't have to read the Bible or pray hard or seek the Godly counsel of others because everything is done for me. 

The other problem with that is maybe the answer is stay put.  Maybe I should not select the one available option because I might be required to wait.  The decision might be no decision, for now. 

As I face these big decisions, I think of all the life decisions that I have been confronted with or my friends and family have had to face.  I remember my mother having to make a decision about maintaining life sustaining treatments for my end-stage Alzheimer's grandmother.  She is possibly the most amazing person that I have ever encountered in my entire life and, had it been up to me, I probably would have made a different decision because I would have been unable to let go.  Selfishly, and without God's guidance, I would have just kept her here with me, even though I knew she was already gone.  One of my dearest friends had to make the choice to stay in her marriage after one of the most trust-breaking, heart-aching breaches of a marriage I have encountered.  Selfishly, and without God's guidance, I would have run for the hills without praying and understanding that redemption for him and my family was even an option.  She made the better choice and her life and their family stands in testament to her allowing God to make the choice.  I moved cities, and left a wonderful life behind me, including a person I thought I would marry, because God essentially picked my resistant butt up and relocated me because He KNEW this was His plan for me.  And I have known so much more fulfillment, from finding the real man God had for me to marry to job success I couldn't have fathomed, because I let God do the decision making. 

So this week I am praying.  I am studying what God has to say about all of this, stuff like His direction for wisdom and peace, and I am sitting quietly to know better what I should decide in the months ahead. 

I write this because maybe you have a big decision too.  Maybe you would rather skip out on the hard decisions than fully participate with the leading of God's guidance and revelation.  I know how nerve-wracking it can be.  As a girl who is a huge lover of security and stability, change decisions can unnerve me.  But they can also unleash me.  These choices can untie me from the sameness of my safety zone and release me to do what God has planned.  They can wake me up from the coma of continuity.  They drive me to know God more and to listen constantly and intently to what He calls me to do. 

I pray for wisdom:  God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.  (I Kings 4)
I pray for discernment:   “Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king...But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong." (I Kings 3)
I pray for stillness:  Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this...Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.  (Psalm 37)

Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 9 Fortune

Happy Friday and welcome back to our ninth installment of Fall Back Into Faith and final look at the third topic, "fortune" (for those of you new to us, you can check out three weeks of faith and family in past posts). This week, we are looking at God's call for us to be generous, after now having acknowledged Him in our work, doing what we are called to, and working hard!

I struggle with what generosity looks like in my life.  My husband and I make a comfortable living.  I live a very different life than I did growing up.  And I love giving.  I have no problem donating to World Vision or supporting hurricane relief or giving clothes and furniture away to those in need or writing a check out to my church.  But if I don't have to give anything up, is it really generous?  If there is no sacrifice and I still buy the new shoes and go out for a tasty lunch at work and buy the kids a room full of birthday toys, is it generous?  I don't know. 

Here are three things the Bible says about generosity, among many, and the rest I think is a personal decision between you (or me) and God:

1.  Don't just give generously, do it JOYFULLY! 
"Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward [the] poor and needy in your land."  (Deut. 15)

2.  If you have, then share.  And don't get caught up in what you have. 
"Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." (I Tim. 6)
"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (John 6)

3.  The more He has entrusted you with, the more He expects. 
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."  (See Matthew 25 - see also II Corinthians 9 below)

Further Reading:  Deuteronomy 12; II Corinthians 9, Luke 19, I Timothy 6

Happy Two Year Blog!

I just realized this week that I had MISSED the two year anniversary of my blog in October.  It has grown so much this past year that I feel tremendously blessed.  Even more exciting, this month I will launch the blog on a new site, gindivincent.com, so stay tuned for some really fun details and give aways as that happens. 

Last year, I celebrated my top five blog posts of the year.  This is so hard because I've written over 400 blog posts which means I'm writing about 200 posts a year.......how to pick!?!?  But in keeping with my tradition, here's my favorite posts from Year Two - cannot wait to see how year three unfolds:

5.  Losing Mothering - This post resonated so much in my own life, and then I found it resonated with other moms too who feel often like they just can't keep up with all that spins around us.  A theme in many of my posts is that mothering is hard but such a gift from God.  (Also, if you missed it, I got some great tips from moms on how to manage the coming home from work chaos in Triplet Tot Two-Step!)

4.  Clutching v. Releasing - I still struggle with this.  I realize that I can be such a control freak that reading this post helped me to go back and remind myself I need to let God stay in control. 

3.  Easter Madness, Part 1 and Part 2 - This is just so funny to me.  Easter - the celebration of our Risen Lord or...the way for commercial ventures to milk you dry.  I became overwhelmed with all there was to do for two year old triplets at Easter.  Hopefully, I will "check out" of the madness next year and really focus the kids on the sacrifice of our Lord. 

2.  The Night Before Nightmare - Okay y'all, this and its follow up post (Insert Expletive Here - which everyone remembers because of the poop-smearing) totally crack me up now because we're still dealing with this nuttiness.  It's so weird to think that this was the year they learned to scale their cribs (which I wrote about last November) and that we converted to toddler beds, back to cribs, and back to toddler beds.  There is no keeping them in.  They scale the gate every night still to this day and wander around the house.  It's nuts.  I need to separate them. 

1.  39 Things - This was interesting because I actually got traffic from NYTimes Money blog which inspired the article, so this was my second most read blog post. This post impacted me tremendously because of what it taught me about living in, and not above, the excess. I did follow up posts over that three week challenge of reducing the glut of overspending and over-acquiring - the Second Part showed me how much I needed to get rid of, the Third Part resulted in me being stuck having eliminated the low hanging fruit, and the Finale had me outraged at how susceptible I'd become to it all.   I want to teach my children differently. 

One that didn't make my list, but received the most "hits" because it was a link up to my friend Kelly's blog, was a post entitled Triplet Nursery - it was fun to go back and see how orderly that room was with babies!  That post, and the posts about our trip to Disney, were the most read but aren't my favorites (it's my earlier posts that practically only family read that I love the most).  I had five honorable mentions last year, so I'll do it again:  These remind me of how far we've com - The Terrible Triplet Twos (and The Sticker in My Panties); This one summarizes how so much of my life is about the amazing women in it - Four Friendships You Gotta Have;  I don't write about marriage much but I love this because I still struggle with telling my husband "how" to do things - How To Get to San Antonio; This one just shows how much God reveals to me through the actions of my kids - Smiling Defiance.  Oh, and this one explains why I keep doing all this, I really think I'm being called to some God-space I've not yet seen......Through The Tears, The Vision Reappears.

I hope you all will hang in there in the next couple months as I do some more growing with you and even grow on over to a new platform.  Your words of empathy and encouragement have made me love writing/blogging even more - thank you for sharing my life. 

Fall Back Into Faith - Part 8 Fortune

Happy Friday and welcome back to our eighth installment of Fall Back Into Faith, our fall bible study for working women.  We have wrapped up looking at faith and family and are in the middle of "fortune."  Last week, we looked at doing what God has called you to do and acknowledging Him in what you do.  This week, we are looking at God's instruction to WORK HARD!  And next week we will look at God's call for us to be generous - with our money but also with our time and talent which certainly are part of our "fortune." 

Some of us may have seen the words of Proverbs 31 more times that we can count - other may never have read it.  Let's just say this chapter describes one busy busy woman:  "She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

Don't you love this?  I think sometimes we see push back from some corners of the faith based community about working women, but this "ideal" woman described by the Bible is working full time.  SHE provides food for her family.  SHE buys a field.  SHE plants the vineyard.  SHE makes sure her trading is profitable.  Is this a crazy busy business woman or what?  

There are over 500 references to work in the Bible - that is a book that tackles work.  The one thing we learn from all corners of the Bible though is that you must work hard.  Be diligent.  Don't give up.  Stay faithful. 

But those of you overwhelmed by all of this work and life spinning around you, I have encouraging words of action for you.  Rest.  God also commands us to rest.  Maybe we're so frantic because we haven't taken a moment off in three years. 

So today, work hard when you work, take some time to rest, and give Him the glory. 

Work Hard:  2 Chronicles 24 - The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them; 2 Chronicles 15 - But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded; 2 Chronicles 31 - This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.; 2 Chronicles 34 - The workers labored faithfully.; I Chronicles 28 - And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you…Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.

Rest:  Genesis 2 - By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (See also Hebrews 4)

Give Him The Glory: Colossians 3 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.; I Corinthians 10 - Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Further Reading:  2 Timothy 2, Colossians 3, 2 Thessalonians 3, all of 2 Chronicles

Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 7 Fortune

Well friends, we're half way through our Fall Back Into Faith study.  We have covered faith and family and now we're moving on to fortune.  If faith is our foundation, and family is our cornerstone, fortune is essentially what we do.  By fortune, I mean what we do to make money and what we do with our money. 

So over the course of the next three weeks we will focus on three areas God instructs us: Do What God Has Called You/Gifted You To Do and Acknowledge It Comes From Him; Work Hard and In a Manner Reflecting Him; and, Be Generous With What God Has Given You. 

Today is a hard topic for me to tackle.  Sometimes we work at a job because it pays the bills but not because we feel "called" to work there.  While we certainly should not work somewhere that God clearly does not want us to work, we also need to realize that we may have been placed in the position we are in because God has a very specific purpose for us to impact the lives of those we encounter. 

Pray about where you need to be, where God is calling you, but simultaneously pray over where you are today.  The steps you take and the paths you cross are ordained by God to do a work for His kingdom.  You can be a positive force where you sit today.  I constantly catch myself trying to figure out what my life, and my family's life, will look like two, five, ten years from now.  I make these plans and forget to include God. 

If you are a planner, you may be able to identify.  What if instead of looking ten years out we did this:  (1) pray that God would direct our paths today and in the days to come so that we could follow where He leads, and then (2) look at the next ten HOURS instead.  What does God have for me today?  How can I be a blessing?  How can I work to best reflect HIM?

We are told from the beginning to the end of the Bible that God has prepared us to do good work and he will establish the work of our hands, but we must at all times acknowledge that it is He at work in us.  Ephesians 2 says, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do," and Jeremiah 29 shares, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you…'"

The plans should be God's.  We have to spend time listening so we can participate in His work.  Then, remember that all we have comes from God and the work, and relative wealth it creates, is ultimately His.  Deuteronomy 8 cautions,  "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.  And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

My prayer for me, and for you, today is that of David's in Psalm 90:

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;

establish the work of our hands for us—

yes, establish the work of our hands.

 

Further Reading:  Deuteronomy 8; Psalm 90; Colossians 3; Deuteronomy 30

Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 6 Family

Happy Friday - it's Fall Back Into Faith time and our last installment discussing Family.  Next week we take up fortune and will close out on "fun."  Family can take on all sorts of forms and sizes, and God is such a supporter of growing strong families of faith.  A lot of those families have kids.  My immediate family includes triplets.  So if your family involves one kid or 18, step kids, foster kids, or any other kind of "kid," then today is for you. 

Being a Godly parent is the biggest challenge I have faced in my whole life.  Suddenly, I am not only responsible for my own faith choices, but for raising a generation of children that love God and know Him and His grace and sacrifice and compassion. 

I am no parent of the year as you may have picked up as you read the ups and downs of my parenting.  I offer no advice of my own on parenting.  I do turn to Scripture, and I see one theme repeated over and over again.  Bind the Word of the Lord on the hearts of your children.  Raise them in the knowledge of the Lord.  Teach them at an early age what faith is and how wide and deep is the love of Christ. 

Do your best.  Daily turn your life back over to the Lord to run so that you can be a better parent.  If you're anything like me, you will make mistakes.  Some you will feel terribly about.  Some you won't even realize you are making at the time.  But the Bible will never change, so even if you mess up, you are way ahead of the game if you are teaching them daily about the love of their Heavenly Father and the grace and sacrifice that offers them an eternal personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. 

I prayed for years for these children.  I prayed Hannah's prayer in I Samuel as I waited.  I love her prayer in response, after Hannah had Samuel: “As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.  I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” 

All we can do is rely on God for strength and direction.  Then love them.  And teach them.  Teach them every day in every way in every place about the love of God.

Instead of "further reading," today I wanted to leave you with the actual words, just as we must do in our families: 

Deut. 6 - Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Isaiah 54 - All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace.

Psalm 103 - But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children - with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Matthew 18 - And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.  But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Cross references:

1. Matthew 18:4 : S Mk 9:35
2. Matthew 18:5 : Mt 10:40
3. Matthew 18:6 : S Mt 5:29
4. Matthew 18:6 : Mk 9:42; Lk 17:2

Mark 10 - People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Ephesians 6 - Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Colossians 3 - Do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Cross references:

1. Mark 10:13 : 10:13-16pp — Mt 19:13-15; Lk 18:15-17
2. Mark 10:14 : S Mt 25:34
3. Mark 10:15 : Mt 18:3

Cross references:

1. Matthew 19:13 : 19:13-15pp — Mk 10:13-16; Lk 18:15-17
2. Matthew 19:13 : S Mk 5:23
3. Matthew 19:14 : S Mt 25:34
4. Matthew 19:14 : Mt 18:3; 1Pe 2:2

Proverbs 22 - Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Proverbs 3- My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life many yearsvand bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight

Heartbeats

I heard your heartbeats while you were still in your mommy.

On the way into church Sunday morning, we passed one of my favorite pastors.  He visited me several times at the hospital as I counted down the bed rest days.  He even came the day I was scheduled for an emergency c-section, not knowing the news yet.  I remember him standing in a circle holding hands around my bed, right after the doctor delivered the news, with my husband and my father and stepmom who had just drove all night to pray for the children unborn. 

When he saw the kids this morning they ran up to him and gave him a hug and he said, "I heard your heartbeats while you were still in your mommy." 

It was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears. 

You see, that statement brought back all those memories of hope and nervous anticipation and worry and excitement.  I remember him being in the room while the fetal monitors belted out the babies out-of-sync beats like a beautiful song.  But this morning, yesterday's Sunday morning, it was all I could do to crawl out of the hole to get us to church. 

I have struggled the past few months.  As the weeks pass, ever more so acutely.  I feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of mothering three toddlers/preschoolers.  The crush of doing things wrong lays like a Scarlett A across my breast.  The pressure of doing things right makes me want to flee. 

For good or for bad, I married in my thirties and had the triplets after I turned 36.  I had a number of years of single, and even married, freedom.  I made a comfortable living and spent frivolously on fancy brunches and tailored new suits.  I had a calendar full of fun events and friends to call on a moment's notice.  I zipped up my size 8 dresses and when I struggled with my weight it was never with a post-pregnancy belly bulge.  When I ran a few days late to the hairdresser, it was never to cover a nearly full head of grey hair. 

I had years of strong faith and consistent service to my Lord, but there were years of distance in my relationship with Christ and obligated religion. 

Sometimes, I find the devil uses memories of days gone by to create discontentment and depression. 

And now, as God has expanded my ministry and writing/speaking opportunities this year, I struggle more than ever.  Vehement questions of What Am I DOING? swirl through my head as I not only wonder how I could possibly take on one more thing but also wonder who am I to add my voice to those of stronger Christian women speaking and writing today. 

And this weekend, besieged and befuddled, I just wanted to move away, under a new name, a live for a time in a gorgeous remodeled apartment full of breakables where I would not be covered in pee, and poop, and peanut butter, and vomit, and paint.  A land where my personal trainer came in the morning and my chef prepared delicious 200 calorie meals at night.  A land where I slept through the night and never found myself kicked out bed because it rationally only holds four, not five, people. 

It was that daydream popped by those Sunday morning words that spoke of unborn heartbeats and hopeful anticipation and prayers covering our days to come.  I walked into church and heard this refrain sung over and over again, "Your love never fails, it never gives up, It never runs out on me." 

As I processed the magnitude of that love of the Father, over His children far more disobedient than my own, the pastor offered this, "The cross of Christ will not let you down, but neither will it let you off." 

Christianity does not give you a hall pass to be self-indulgent and irresponsible.  It will never condone weakness when you have access to a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week supply of the most unfathomable power supply ever to exist.  Instead, our ever patient Father says He will hold us up and strengthen us so that we can keep going.  But more than propping us up, He walks with us through the battlefields - bruised but not beaten, victorious not victims. 

I do not get a pass to whine and hold a pity party and wallow in selfishness and sin.  I do get a pass to call in back up.  I get to say I have nothing left, nothing to hold it together and pull this really hard motherhood thing off, HELP please.  And help comes. 

Psalm 121 - I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber.

Isaiah 40 - Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Galatians 5 - You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

Matthew 11 -  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Fall Back Into Faith Fridays - Part 5 Family

Welcome back friends.  I love to write about today's topic, but I tend to avoid it because inevitably if I talk about marriage my intensely private husband is implicated! 

Well, I can talk today about marriage in the context of this study without implicating my own marriage one bit, I'm sure much to his relief.  As most of you know, we're studying faith, family, fortune and fun this fall in our study.  Last week was the first week of the family quadrant and hopefully it encouraged you with the promises God has for your family, whatever it looks like.  Today's and next week's study on family may not directly affect all of you, but since these relationships are the primary ones in many of our families, I wanted to tackle the two topics of marriage and kids. 

I shared a little bit of my personal marital challenges yesterday, but today focuses on how faith functions in the midst of your marriage. 

Your marriage may be on one of three different places - you and your husband both hold the same strong personal faith, you and your husband basically hold the same beliefs but he (or you) does not rely on his faith in a strong and daily way, or you and your husband have completely different faiths or he has no faith beliefs at all.  Because the faith in our marriages can be at completely different places, it is hard to write a one size fits all growth guide for faith in the middle of your marriage. 

The most critical piece of information to remember is that you are not responsible for your husband's faith.  You are responsible for your faith.  And you are responsible to make sure your faith shines brightly in your marriage.  Sadly, I think we often are the poorest witness inside our marriage.  If you both have a strong faith in God, you can hold each other accountable and pray for one another and strengthen one another as you grow in the knowledge of the Lord.  But if you are at very different places in your faith walk, or if you hold different beliefs, you can only work on allowing God to grow you closer to Him and then allowing that relationship between you and God to serve as a testimony to your husband who can't join you on your walk at this point in your marriage.  Do not allow the differences in your places of faith to drive a wedge in your marriage.  Instead, do you best to grow more fully in your relationship with God and just pray for your husband. 

I love this prayer for husbands from Renee Swope's A Confident Heart and also from Lysa Terkeurst's Capture His Heart.  This prayer is beautiful because it works regardless of whether your husband is a strong and solid believer or has no interest in God at all.  News flash:  God is interested in him, and always will be, and He is interested in your marriage succeeding.  Here is some of that prayer and I have provided a link to Renee's full free downloadable version as well.   

Head - Father, I ask that You would continually renew my husband’s mind, resulting in a transformed life. Help him bring every thought to Christ and make it obedient to You....(Psalm 119:15, Rom 12:2, 2 Cor.10:5)
Eyes - Lord, keep open my husband’s eyes to spiritual truths that You have for him. Help him to see things as You see them. Please guard his eyes from things that make his heart wander away from you and me. (Psalm 119:18, Psalm 119:37)

Ears - Father, help my husband to hear Your voice clearly. Give him wisdom to recognize your voice with certainty. Protect him from listening to those who aren’t seeking or walking with You....(Is 30:21, 1 Kings 3:9, 1 John 4:1)

Mouth - Jesus, help my husband to speak the truth in love...Let the words he speaks be Yours, not his own...(Psalm 19:14, 119:13, 41:3; Eph 4:15, 4:29; James 1:19)

Heart - Lord, instill in my husband’s heart a desire to seek passionately after You. Teach him to guard his heart with diligence and wisdom. Help him deal with anything in his heart that is not pleasing to You...(Psalm 78:72, 119:10-11; Prov 4:23; 1 Thes 3:13)

Hands - Lord, I pray everything my husband does would be done with his whole heart, serving You rather than man. Seeking to please You alone. I pray You will increase his skills and abilities so that he might bring honor and glory to You...(Psalm 24:3-4, Col 3:23)

Feet - Jesus, I pray my husband would love Your Words and walk in Your ways. Help him walk in a manner that is worthy of You, bearing fruit in every good work. I pray You’d show him how to creatively share your truth with our kids as he does life with them. Father, when he walks through the valley of the shadow of doubt and difficulties, I pray he would fear no evil because He knows that you are with him. (Deut 6:7, 8:6, Col 1:10, Psalm 23:4)

 

For Further Reading:



Proverbs 31, Ephesians 5, Hebrews 13:4-6, Song of Songs 4,

Sweet friend

I had a couple of posts in mind for today.  One about work.  One about marriage.  Waking up with a little precious three year old in my arms gave me plenty of material.  But then I felt God telling me to write about my sweet friend. 

This amazing woman became a friend of mine in 2004 when we shared a Pilates trainer.  She had this radical transformation in her faith and went from being a casual work out buddy to a strong sister in the faith and accountability partner.  She prayed a prayer of commitment over me and my marriage just moments before I walked down the aisle.  She prayed with me during the infertility years.  And then during the NICU time.  I have prayed with her as she reconnected to her faith and saw the obstacles she would face in that return.  She had the wind knocked out of her a couple of years ago when her youngest daughter, then 4, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer.  We prayed over and over again, and still do, for that sweet one who has now been in remission since last fall.  She is also an aspiring writer, well she's an actual published writer, and we had the great joy of attending a conference together this summer as God revealed just one more page of what we should write. 

I know that many of you who read this little blog pray.  I have been somewhat of a slacker connecting with her this past month as she enters an exciting but unnerving new season.  She is pregnant.  And due in March.  Her husband just moved overseas as his job relocated him for some amount of time (likely one to two years).  She has gone through this before, a few years ago, but never pregnant and with a child that regularly gets cancer check-ups.  She is still stateside until their family visas come through.  When she moves, likely sometime before year end, she will be overseas, using a new medical system, having a new baby, away from family and friends, oh and she will have to home school her two school-aged daughters as she bounces back from having a baby since there is no international school available to them. 

Did your jaw just drop open?  Well mine did.  Then I dropped to my knees.  She is one of the most gifted, uplifting, truth-speaking, funniest, coolest girls in town.  I am going to miss her like nobody's business.  But I know God is doing this huge amazing work in her life, and I would never stand in the way of that. 

So would you pray for her today?  Would you pray specifically that their paperwork would finish quickly so their family could be reunited, and that God would work in this crazy miraculous way to orchestrate it all so the results would even be a testament to the people at the company working on it?  Would you pray for an overwhelming sense of love and protection and peace and assurance over her and her two girls as they are without a husband and daddy right now?  And would you pray for her husband, that he would do this rock star job and be such an acknowledged leader and talent at his company, and that he would feel secure and strong until he has his family back under one roof? 

I think it is crazy cool for the church community to be able to band together to lift up one of its own and see the unfathomable results that follow.  I thought you might join me for this miracle ride.  Here is what I am praying over her today:

Col. 1 -  We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people...For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Deut. 1 - The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain....See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

Eph. 3 - For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.