Desperate

There was a blow up at my house today between me and my six year old daughter. We are just alike. What I realized today, however, was that my children have, over the course of some time, become spoiled.  I never wanted a spoiled child, however, I have always striven to be the best mom I could be, sacrificing to give to them, etc. And now they believe that the world revolves around them and they do not appreciate anything that they have. But what is worst of all, my daughter has begun to lack passion for things.  Today I decided to make some changes around the house. We would begin to get less until we learn to appreciate that which we have. The initial response was less-than hoped for, but we are moving forward now.

Meanwhile, seemingly unrelated, I was talking to my mom on the phone and she was telling me about one of those valleys that we all go through, when we wonder why God allows so much hardship to happen to us. Of course, my typical answer is that it is just the consequences of living in a fallen world.

As I was doing dishes, I suddenly realized that these two things are actually related to one another, extremely related. Let me explain...

We have all, at some point in our lives, been desperate for God. Desperate. As the breath that we breathe, we needed his presence, his hand in our situations, his strength, passionately desiring Him. Can you think of that time? I would bet money on the fact that this was not an easy time in your life. Quite possibly it was one of the worst times of your life. That is the connection.

Without the "valleys" of our lives, we would never experience that desperation and passion for God. If everything were peachy all the time, we would, like my daughter, lose our interest in everything, lose our appreciation for our blessings and our passion for life. Without tears, how could we experience pure joy and truly understand it? Without pain, how would we understand comfort? Without heartbreak, how would we realize true love - how would we even know it was true love without experiencing the loss of it? It is for no small reason that the saying "you never realize how much you love something until it is gone" or similar is so well known.

God wants to spoil us. God wants to give us everything. God does not want to cause us pain or suffering. But sometimes, for our own good, He allows us to endure it. This evening, my dear Spirit has spoken to my heart. I must change how I interact with my children. It is not good for me to give them everything. I must also change how I interact with my God. What do I need to strip away to be grateful of Him again? This is the focus of this household for now. May we in the near future be found desperate for Him.

The Crazies

We all know the story of Noah. Some of us may have even had the picture represented on our nursery walls or bedding as infants. We tend to think of this story as a children's story. We have little rhymes to sing about it. My son even has toy figurines of Noah and all his animals. My questions is this: When did the story of Noah stop being a story of absolute tragedy and despair? As I reread the story of Noah the past couple of mornings, I realized that there are several parallels we can make to that story - and that is terrifying!

The Hearts of Man Broke the Heart of God

Then the Lord^[b] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:5-6

How far are we from being able to say that every intent of the thought of man's heart today is only evil continually? When we read or watch the news, when we look what is happening in the homes of so many families, when we see the trouble in the schools, how can we say that we are not breaking God's heart? And we are the fortunate ones living in the US, how much worse is going on in so many other parts of the world today! I will not get into more, for I feel that you, my friend, can fill in with your own experiences the corrupt actions that take place in the society around us. Let me make one thing clear: It is breaking God's heart. Are we in on this? Are we breaking God's heart by going along with what is happening in the world?

It's Always the Crazy Ones

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. -Hebrews 11:7

Can you imagine how it felt to be Noah at that time? In a desert saturated with nothing but corrupt values, one man was "walking with God" and builing a giant boat. He was one of those "crazies." He would have been labeled as "extremist." I am sure that there would have been those around him who would have said, "I believe in God, but that is taking it too far." Have you ever heard those words said about you? I certainly hope so! Do you know why? Because it is always the crazy ones that God uses for incredible things. It is always the crazy ones that witness the miracles. It is always the crazy ones that get their reward in the end. The average person is always the one who wishes he had listened. Don't believe me? Read Hebrews 11. It is referred to sometimes as the "Hall of Faith." Every individual listed is someone who did great things through faith. Every individual listed was probably considered crazy. Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua, David. Think about their stories. Were they not crazy? Crazy about following God with everything they had! I love the following passage at the end of this chapter:

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,^[f] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

God is Crazy About You

Another amazing thing about this whole story is that God gave mankind another chance. And then another. And then another. Then he loved us so much, that as he looked down and saw all of our wickedness and corruption, instead of finally giving up, he sent his son to this earth, to pay the penalty for all that we had done. Talk about crazy! How can we ever love or serve him enough to show our thanks for such an incredible act of love?!

Dear friend, you have to be crazy to believe that God would love us that much. You have to be crazy to stand against the flow of society and live your life the way God has desired you to live, despite the consequences. It may cost you your job, your family, your wealth, your reputation, and they may call you crazy. Don't blend in with the world. God is calling you to be crazy.

Our Big, Big God

It has been a while since I have posted, mainly because I have been living real life - what God calls each of us to do! This year is a busy one and I will attempt to post when I can, but they may be farther in between. Thank you for reading!

God Made Me
Lately I have been reading a book with my son simply called Nature Reader, by Christian Liberty Press. This book takes all the letters of the alphabet and assigns an animal to each one and teaches about that animal. As I have been reading this Kindergarten level book, I am in awe of God's creation! I am reminded that there is no possibly way that these things could ever have just happened!
We read of the Hippo, the only land mammal whose offspring are born underwater - they even nurse underwater! Did you know that the kangaroo is incapable of walking? Caterpillars have 228 muscles in their head. And what about the elephant? Is there any other creature that has a trunk? And last but not least, look at mankind. Of all the billions of species, from fungi to insects to birds to mammal, we are the only ones with a higher intelligence, with a heart and soul created for God to have a relationship with. I simply don't have enough faith to believe anything other than that my God is awesome and big!

God is Big
Have you ever taken a tiny glimpse into the studies of our universe? Well, it doesn't take long to realize how teeny, tiny and insignificant we are. We are one in our town of _______. We are one in our country of over 300 million. We are one on our continent of over 520 million. And we are one on this planet of almost 7 billion! Feel tiny yet? How about the fact that we are one planet out of 10 that circle our sun forming our solar system. And that our solar system is just one of many in our galaxy, and that there are many, many more galaxies out there in the universe? How about now? Teeny, tiny yet? But our God, he created all of this! He is bigger than all of this!

A Teeny, Tiny Response to such a Big God
What gets me most about all of this is walking into churches on Sunday mornings. I don't know about you, but the worship service that I witness is not anything close to being worthy of such a big God. We are so miniscule and worthless, and yet he sent his only son to die for us, because he loved us and wanted to spend eternity with us. How humbling! I would suggest that our worship services should bring us to our knees, to tears! We should be crying out "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!" as we will forever be in heaven! We should be taking time out throughout the day to just admire him and praise him for his works! You know all of those things I talked about above? He made them just for us to enjoy. Have you been too busy to enjoy the beauty your Father has given to you? Take time out to be filled with the awe of his beautiful creation and to meditate on his greatness! Giving the proper praise and honor to such a God will fill you and inspire you to do all the other things in life that is placed before you.

In Pursuit

Every relationship needs a little pursuit - from both sides! Oftentimes we as women assume that it is our husband's job to pursue us. He should buy us dinner, flowers, do the dishes, rub our feet, smell nice, write us letters and give us chocolate in pursuit of our love. Yes, and YES! He should! That is definitely part of it! But that is not all of it. Our husbands' male ego sensors have not been turned off just because we put a ring on his finger!

Men want to know that they are attractive enough for a woman to come on to them. They want to know that there is something about them that will make a woman lure him to her. He wants a woman to pursue him, to take the initiative and do whatever it takes to make him happy and make him want her - because she wants him. Make sure that woman is you.

Let's look at some scripture to back this up. I have been reading through Song of Solomon this week, and here is what I have found - passage, after passage of two lovers who are equally enamoured with one another and equally seeking each other:

He is in pursuit:
My beloved spoke and said to me,“Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. - Song of Songs 2:10

She is in pursuit:
I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.  Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside, let us spend the night in the villages. - Song of Songs 7:10-11

And these are the tame verses I have pulled out. There is passage after passage of passionate, intense pursuit and longing after one another. (Hey, the Bible can be quite scandalous, if you didn't know!)

What is so beautiful about all of this, beyond the beauty of this love story, is that this is also the love story that God has planned out for us with Him. He pursues us, yes, but passage after passage reveals to us a God who is jealous, who desires for his people to seek after (pursue) him in an intimate way!

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master. - Hosea 2:16

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. - Deuteronomy 4:24

Today, make the effort to pursue your husband. Pursue each other! And in the center of it all, come together to pursue God with a devouring passion!

First Things First

I am filled with joy to tell you that an exciting part of this year has arrived! Tomorrow my family will embark on our first train ride to Chicago to see Grampie and Grammie. After 4 days, Daddy and Mommy (that's me) will return home without the wee ones in order to prepare and go on a week-long mission trip in South Dakota. We will be ministering to the Lakota/Dakota people. I am so very excited! I wanted to share a few things with you before I left:

I will be missing my children with agony. So why am I willing to leave them? Day by day I am attempting to teach my children that their relationship with God is the thing of utmost importance in our lives. I daily try to teach them to put others before themselves in an effort to share God's love with others. I daily try to teach them that our mission on this earth is to share the Word of God with those who do not know him. The best way that I can teach them this principle is to do it. If they see me setting it all aside to take the Word of God to a people who do not know, then they will see that I mean what I say. When they are old enough, you better believe they will not be left behind, they will be right there by my side!

There are those who do not know. The compelling force that drives me is the knowledge that there are those out there that do not understand that the eternity laid out before them is hell. Nope, I am not sugar-coating it for you today, ladies! Whether it is spending time with a friend, working alongside my husband in youth ministry, spending a week on a reservation, or raising my children to one day go, I do it all for the sole purpose of reaching as many as I possibly can during my life spent here on this earth. This is not my home. I am only here that I may draw others to Christ.

First Things First. I get busy. Real busy, doing the everyday ordinary tasks. It is times like these next couple of weeks that bring everything into very clear focus for me. There are some really important things in life and the real, honest truth is, the things I spend most of my time on are not those things. I love reminders that strip me of the useless and fill me with the knowledge of God's purpose for his people.

So while I am gone I challenge you with the following:
Pray for me!
Teach your children to serve, not only by instruction, but by demonstration.
Tell others about your faith - anyone!
Remember what is most important in your life.

With this I leave you for a while! I will keep you updated as much as I possible can! Blessings!

Inspiration

As I sat down to write today, I wanted something to inspire me. If you are like me, your thoughts are like fast moving trains, and before I knew it, I found myself asking if I inspire others?

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. -John Quincy Adams

That is what I want to do - inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more in Christ!

My inspiration comes mainly from my quiet times with God. But more than that, I am inspired by His people, by their lives and stories. People such as Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, Queen Esther, Helen Keller, are sources of real inspiration to me.  More than what they accomplished, it is what they went through to get there. 

When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another. - Helen Keller

That is why I want to share my story. I hope it inspires!

Looking back at our lives to those 'hard times' and seeing how God provided, comforted, and brought us through to the next chapter of our lives is one of the best ways to find the inspiration to face today. We know we can trust Him to see us through, because we can look back and see that He has never let us down. We can look at how He worked in the lives of others and see that He has never let them down. And when we share our story, we can inspire.

I will let you in on something that, if you read my blog regularly may sound like a familiar tune. We can only inspire out of our overflow. If we are burnt-out and have a dry cup, then we will be as inspiring as a cockroach (which some may argue are quite inspiring, but not in my book - ick!). But if we go to the true source of inspiration - God - we will become beautiful fountains of inspiration! Dwell in His presence, meditate on His Word, remember what He has done.

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Go out today, my dear sister, and love, serve, laugh, and inspire.

I'm A China Dish!

I was reading an article yesterday, once again claiming Christianity to be intolerant.  The support for this? We claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Well, according to my Bible...

Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I guess I am intolerant. I also believe in absolute truth. That means that truth is truth, no matter what you believe. If it is relavent to each individual, it is no longer truth. Oh, yeah, and I also believe in a particular standard of living, being set apart and holy.
Do you have any china, or special dishware, that maybe has been haded down to you, that you use only on special occasions (or maybe not at all)? I do. I have a set of plates that was my grandmother's grandmother's. They are golden crystal and are about 150 years old. I keep these plates in my China cabinet, so that the world can see them. When they are used, it is for very special occasions and they are handled delicately. Then, when I wash them, I do it very carefully by hand, dry them and put them back into their place. I would never put these beautiful plates into the dishwasher, or use them for everyday eating, or for a bbq.  These plates are special and are handled that way!
As Christians, we are God's beautiful, china dishware!

In a large house there are articles, not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21

The text surrounding this verse describes the things that Christians should avoid in order to remain set apart and holy. It is worth reading! God expects, and always has expected, His people to be holy. He wants to, like china dishes, set us up for the world to see. We must be pure and true followers of Him, so that when they see us, they see Him. He wants to use us for special work.  He didn't create us for the normal drudgery of this world (for everyday eating)! In order for that to happen, we must be "handwashed" by the Spirit working in our lives. That means we can't "jump in the dishwasher" with all the rest of the dishes! We have to make choices that reflect who we are in Christ. Those who are Christians should be easy to spot. They should look at us and see peace, love, modesty...godliness! And all hints of worldliness should be far from us.

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

The issue should always be holiness, never tolerance.
What are your thoughts?

Keep Your Virtue

There continues to be more to glean from Rudyard Kipling's poem If and we will focus on it a couple more days! The portion I would like to look at today screams loudly of one word - Integrity.

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much.

Integrity is one of my favorite words.  According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary integrity means:

1: firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

2: an unimpaired condition : soundness

3: the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

I was always taught that "integrity is who you are when no one is looking." I love the synonyms used: incorruptibility, soundness, completeness. The Bible says

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
But whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. Proverbs 10:9

It is a very easy thing to lose one's integrity. As women, we balance so many things on our shoulders, that there are many places that we could lose that incorruptibility. If you are a stay at home wife, then there is even more danger! Who is there during the day to keep you accountable? Remember, who you are at home, is who you should be when you meet for coffee with the mayor's wife and the same you should be when you get together for a girls' night out and the same you should be on Sunday morning at church. Who you are should not change with your surroundings. We are beautifully created women, not chameleons! As Kipling points out, we are to always keep our virtue no matter what crowd we are in; we should never lose the common touch, or our humility, no matter what important people we are with; all people should be equal in our eyes.

Ways to protect your integrity:
1) Find an accountability partner - someone you can call and let it all out with. Make sure she is someone who will also be brutally honest with you when you need it!
2) Monitor what you watch, read, and listen to. You may be an adult, but step back and see if you would allow your children or teens to have the same input that you are having into your own heart. If the answer is no, then ask yourself why? and then should I? The way we view the world is powerfully influenced by these things. Find instead a book that will teach you how to be a better wife or mother. Find a radio station that will play music with a positive message (it is there for all music genres, believe me!). Limit your TV time.
3) Make a To-Do list for the week.
4) Don't be alone with men. There is so much on the line, especially when our husbands are away each day. Remember it is your heart you are guarding, not just your body.
5) If you have kids, remember that what you are demonstrating will be qualities (or lack of) that will most likely reveal themselves in your child's life. Try to live and display the fruit you want to see grow in your child.
6) If you feel that you are not always the same person, sit down and decide who you truly are. Then, go to your closet, jewelry box, or bathroom and discard all the things that belong to "that other woman." Make a conscious effort to be the real you all the time.

My dear sister, I hope that you have an amazing day in Christ, being just who He created you to be!

If You Can Keep Your Head

Sometimes it is astonishing to consider what a crazy world we live in, full of chaos and darkness.  The Good News is, there IS hope in this darkness and we are supposed to deliver it!
This week we are discussing what our lives would be like If Busy Didn't Mean Burdened.  Our inspiration comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem If.  Here's the first stanza:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you.
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowances for their doubting too.

Keep your head when all about you are losing yours!  Yes, this world is a crazy place and sometimes we feel like we are going to go crazy with all the responsibilities and situations that life throws at us.  But we must keep our heads; we must keep focused on our purpose - to shine the light of Jesus into this darkness.

Trust yourself when all men doubt you.  If you are a woman on fire and passionately in love with Jesus Christ, then there WILL be those that doubt you.  Be confident, however, that if your focus is where it should be and you are following the call given to you by our Savior, then you can trust yourself.  We should be able to exeplify what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:13:

If we are "out of our mind," as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.

We should be perceived as Crazy if it is for God, but we must be the voice of reason and sanity to those that are seeking Him. 

What follows this realization then, is that we make allowances for their doubting too. One of the hardest parts of being a Christian for me is to relate to those that have not had the awe-inspiring, 'mountain-top' experiences that I have had, those whose acceptance of Christ does not move forward into a crazy, love-driven relationship with Him. I don't understand how they can be exposed to Him and not find themselves swept away by Him.  But we have to make allowances for those people.  We have to share those experiences with them, draw them into love with Christ by being open and revealing about our love of Him.  We can't expect everyone to be in the same place as we are or to have had the same revelations that we have had about him.

My dear sister, I pray for you today that you may trust yourself enough to let yourself fall head-long into love with Christ.  Allow Him to give you what you need to Keep Your Head!