To the Mama without Hope for the New Year

         Winter time can be so drab for the stay at home mother with little children.  She starts the day with a list of chores but it seems that she spends more time entertaining her bored kids than getting anything done.  She stays up late on Pinterest trying to find some new ideas that might keep them preoccupied tomorrow.  It's too cold and wet for them to go outside, at least not for very long and it takes her longer to get the little ones bundled up than they actually stay out and play.  There is extra laundry from the kids getting wet in the snow and she has to keep the boots rotated around the heater to get them dry for tomorrow.   She cooks hot meals and plenty of soup and hot chocolate.  Then stares at the stacks of dirty cups and bowls and wonders why she didn't just fix sandwiches.  She hasn't seen her friends in a couple weeks 'cause everyone is on a rotation for having sick kids.  She teaches her toddlers to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and feels good about herself as a mom for a moment but then like a failure when bath time ends in tears for both her and the child.  As a Christian she feels like she should be caring for her home and kids with a smile and joy and should have a tidy and welcoming house all the time.  But it's not and she's not, why can't she do it right?  What can she do to find peace with herself, peace in the home, contentment and a better mood, and get everything done that needs to be done?

         I heard from someone once that we just need to focus on the essentials for life.  We need food, water, clothing and shelter to live.  As long as those bases are covered then tell yourself you are doing fine as a mom.  But I just couldn't find complete comfort in that.  I could feed my kids junk food and have them wearing dirty clothes - and by that definition be fine.  But that doesn't even mention the spiritual side or education.  I was behind in teaching the ABC's, cause the neighbors kid already knew them and I hadn't even started with teaching Bible verses when that little kid on Facebook new 20!  By now I hope you can see that I had a comparison and perfection problem, but it drove me to look to the Bible for what God considers essential to life.
           There have been many passages that have helped me with this but the first being the passage in Luke 10:38-42. The account of Jesus going to Martha's house for lunch.  He commends Mary for being at His feet and rebukes Martha of her many fussings.  I puzzled over this account for a long time because I always heard people say, "He's telling Martha she needs to not worry about making things fancy but to just serve a simple meal and calm down!"  But when I read it I just felt that there was more to it than that.  So I began to dig, look up definitions of the Greek words  that were originally used and think about the whole story and how it was written in order to figure out what was the intended message that the author was trying to communicate.  These are the things I noticed.  The passage reads that Jesus and his disciples were traveling and came to a certain town where a woman named Martha opens her home. She feels that her and her sister need to do for the Lord.  She complains to Jesus that her sister isn't doing her share.  And Jesus says so tenderly to her "Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about much serving, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen that good part, and it will not be taken from her."  Ok, get ready because this is the best part!  Look deeper at those words! Martha was cumbered about much serving - vs. 40 - cumbered means to drag all around, to be distracted with cares.  The word much- means often, many times.  The word serving - means ministry, relief, as a servant attends, to aid; particularly this word was used as service to the Teacher - Christ.

Then He said "one thing is needed" - well what is it?  This is the answer I was looking for and I thought hard with bated breath!  That word needed is also translated as useful, ought to be, or needs to be furnished, one's business.  Now get this its not busy-ness it's business.  As in working for an employer. When you commit yourself to work for someone you commit to making their business your business.  You have a responsibility to them.  You take that job seriously because you owe them as an employer.   I began to cry at this point as that feeling of owing begins to dawn on me and as I saw how Christ responds to it.  Then Christ said to her "Martha, there is only one thing that you owe me.  Mary has chosen that good part." (remember Martha was complaining that Mary wasn't doing her share of the work?)  That word "part"  means portion or share!  He said that Mary had chosen her share and it would not be taken from her. What was it that she was doing?  Sitting at his feet while Martha had been running about.  Being in His presence while Martha had left the room.  Listening to Him while Martha had been listening to herself.  Having eyes fixed on Him while Martha had her eyes on tasks to be done.  Folding her hands rather than Martha who sought to keep her hands busy.  Giving Him focus rather than Martha who'd been cumbered, distracted, and running herself into the ground.  

      I see myself in Martha.  I get cumbered and worried about doing everything perfectly and get miserably depressed when it is not.  I get down on myself about my failures which makes me upset and negative about everything!  Then because I lack joy I get down on myself about being a bad Christian too!  But I don't have the time for self pity and a movie with chocolates - because there are dishes and laundry that need done and a land mine of toys between me and the TV.   If you get this way too, cheer up because this passage teaches us that there is one thing that is needed. Just one thing that we are responsible to do for Christ.  One thing out of all the others that really needs done each and every day.  One obligation that is our business to him as our Master and Teacher -  being in His presence, listening to His words, focusing our eyes on His face.  That's it!!! That's the answer!

       It's not just business or busy-ness; it's relationship!  Jesus' only expectation of us is relationship.  Isn't that so freeing!  I just bawled and bawled when it hit me because it gave me relief, it gave me motivation, it gave me hope, it gave me a tender feeling to see how God had shown Himself to little ol' me.   A simple girl and stay-at-home mom.  He spoke to my heart and chose to show me something about Himself.  He met me right where I was at - just like He did to Martha!  How blessed we are to have a God who cares so much about us and is willing to reach out to us and show us clearly the way we need to go.  He is so wonderful and gracious and tender and patient and kind!  I just love Him and am so grateful for Him in my life!  

       There are other passages that have helped me with the challenges of motherhood and the mundane day to day life - so stay tuned and I will be working on sharing those soon!!! Thanks for reading - God Bless You!

Can Jesus REALLY relate to me as a Mom?

    I read this verse at 2:30am one morning because I was awake with my 3 1/2 month old son, who'd decided that he'd had enough sleep and wanted to play.  He was laying on the floor cooing and kicking and squealing in delight while I was sulking in the chair feeling sorry for myself.  Then I reminded myself that I had set a goal to try to find something positive with every situation.  So I decided that since he was only playing and not crying, I would be thankful for that.  And since I'm always complianing that I don't have time to read my Bible - I would go ahead and read now.  But read what?  What did the Bible have to say tabout sitting up with your baby in the middle of the night when you'd really rather be sleeping?  I was prompted to turn to Hebrews and my eyes found the passage at the end of chapter 4.  Words that I had underlined after having written a paper about it at college.  "For we do not have a High Preist who is unable to sympathize . . ."  Ah!  That's what I needed right then, Sympathy!  So I began to pour out to the Lord how tired I was, and stressed I was, and to please make this child get sleepy soon!
     Then I read the next verse.  "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."   I was reminded that God did not promise to change our circumstances, but to give us HELP when we were in need.  And then I realized that I did not need a quick fix, I needed to address my selfishness.  I needed to address my pride and attitude of independence and realize that I cannot not do anything good by myself.  By myself I am a wicked, selfish sinner.  And that person would destroy my relationships and make a mess of my life.  I did not want that,  I wanted to be a good mom and I wanted to be kind and not frustrated with my son.  But I did not feel kind!  How could I do this?  What would Jesus do?  I don't know - I bet Jesus never stayed up with a baby.  I bet he never changed a diaper or dealt with little kids all day, every day!  No, but he did see to people's needs.  He did deal with people all day, and their sin, and filfth, and needs, and sicknesses, and problems.  My mind recalled a study my husband and I had done together through the first part of the book of Mark, specifically Chapter 1 and verses 21-34.  It was the Sabbath day and Jesus went to the synagogue and taught.  Now my husband, who is a pastor, will tell you that preaching one 30 minute sermon on a Sunday morning makes him feel as though he has worked one of the 8 hour shifts throwing boxes he used to do at Wal-Mart.   And we know from Scripture that Jesus felt all the needs of any other human, he got tired and hungry just as we do.  We also know from Scripture that he could feel power going out of him when he healed people (Mark 5;30).  Looking back at Mark 1 vs. 23, a man with an unclean spirit comes to Jesus and Christ heals him.  So he's been teaching and now performed a healing - we can assume that he is feeling tired from that effort and power having been expended.  Then he goes with his first 4 disciples to Simon and Andrews house, vs. 29, and there they bring to Jesus's attention that their mother is sick in bed.  Christ goes to her and heals her as well.  More draining of power.  Vs. 32 says that that same evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed.  ALL!!  It says the whole town gathered at the door!  And Jesus healed many and cast out many demons.  He has been meeting people's needs all day long and into the night.  He has dealt with their problems, thier sickness, and even spiritual issues.  Wow!  Jesus Christ really does understand what I do - because he did the same things and even more!  That was a huge comfort to me!  To know that Jesus understood!  He dealt with stressful situations all day and even into the night - just as I deal with my little kids and their needs 24 hours a day.  But then again, Jesus was GOD!!  He was perfect!  He had all the power of the universe with him, even though he was temporarily in a human body.  Can I really be like that?  Can I asquire the patience, compassion, and strength to handle situations the way He did?
    Then I read vs. 35, I read:  "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."  What!?  After a long, tiring day like that and staying up late in the night to boot, he gets up early?  Why not sleep in and recharge?  Because he went to pray.  He went to talk to his Father before he left to go on and preach some more and heal some more and deal with people some more (vs. 38-39).   Hmm.   Was I practicing that kind of dependence on the Father?   No.   But the Bible says that as a believer I can come boldly to the throne of grace, so that I may receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need.  Hmm.  What comfort, what a gift!
     So after the Lord blessed me with these thoughts that night and I had prayed at the throne of grace, I played with my son til 4 o clock, held my daughter who woke up crying, warmed up some milk for her and put her back to bed, nursed my son and got him to bed, and finally went back to bed myself at 4:30 - expecting to have to take a nap at some point later that day.  But I didn't.  I woke up feeling fine and I went all day with unexplainable energy.  Hmm, I guess the grace of God really works!!!!!!

The Grace of God brings . . .

     Spring has always been a favorite time of year.  A time when all things are made new.  A time when what was once dead comes alive.  A time when the changes that take place are so drastic and so miraculous that it leaves us in awe and could only be credited to the Creator!  From bland to brilliant, from dark to dramatic, from finished to flourishing, from rotten to refreshing.
   
     You could say the same thing about the changes that the Creator makes in His people.  The change that He performs through the actions of His grace: from wickedness to righteousness, enemy to heir, debt of sin to paid in full, objects of wrath to recipients of powerful love, from shameful to sanctified.  This is what the Living God does.  He gives life.  But beyond that He makes our life constantly better than they were before.  In fact unrecognizable to what they were before. God is a God of details.  He does not stop at just changing our eternal destiny, but He seeks to change our daily living as well  When looking at it this way it seems so wonderful that you would wonder why anyone would refuse such changes.  Yet many people do.  I know I do.  Although I have accepted His forgiveness for my sins and have placed my faith in Him for my eternal salvation, I still often refuse the further changes that He desires for my life.  Sometimes the thought of Him making me unrecognizable to what I am now scares me.  I don't enjoy change, but would rather stay with the familiar.  I don't want to lose some things.  I like the way I am now.  However without God's changes I would remain in my old nature and in my worldly ways.  I have to come to see my need to align myself with the reality of the worthlessness, darkness, and the temporary time that the things of this world have.  That I'm really not doing myself any favors by seeking to hang onto those things just because they are what I am used to.
1 John 2:15-17
¹⁵  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
¹⁶  For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
¹⁷  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

     When I focus on the goodness and holiness of God and the wonderful desires He has for me and the world around me - I am then able to see the worldly things that I am clinging to become a lot more worthless, pointless, and small.  I believe that is what it means to have the heart and mind of Christ.  To look at things as He does, to see things as He describes them in His word, and believe it as truth.  Even if what we desire feels good, we should take God's Word over that emotion every time.
Proverbs 3:5-12 
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
⁷  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
⁸  It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
⁹  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase;
¹⁰  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.
¹¹  My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction;
¹²  For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

      I also need to remember the loving kindness of my Heavenly Father.  That everything He does and allows in my life is with the purpose of my good.  He is not out to beat me down, embarrass me, or create situations that I can't handle just for spite.  Rather, He treats me as His child, trains me to behave according to His standards of holiness, and molds me more and more into His image.  He disciplines me because He loves me.  

Hebrews 12:11  

¹¹  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 

     I pray that I will no longer harbor a rebellious spirit or resist the discipline God gives me, but to see it as good and respond with a sensitive and obedient heart.  I pray for a right perspective of my humanness, weakness, and susceptibility to sin and desperation for His grace working in me each and every moment of the day.  And that I would sow and walk in the Spirit, bear the fruits promised, and be faithful to do the good works God has prepared for me.

Galatians 5:16 
¹⁶  So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:22-26 
²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
²⁴  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
²⁶  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Galatians 6:7-8 
⁷  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.
⁸  Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Ephesians 2:10 
¹⁰  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

What is Christmas?

   
      My husband and I were talking about Christmas and traditions this holiday season.  We were wanting to get some traditions of our own for our young family.  We talked about my family Christmas' and his family Christmas' and we also went back to research how Christmas began.  We always hear that the true meaning of Christmas is Christ's birthday and that He is the reason for the season.  But when we looked back - we found that that just isn't true.
   
      There were many holidays that people celebrated around the time of the winter solstice.  Many countries had their own individual reason for celebrating and their own traditions as well.  They were pagan holidays, worshiping false gods and including much consumption of alcohol and feasting.  One article described them as a mix between Halloween and Mardi Gras.  In Europe, people in poverty were known to go to the homes of the rich and demand they give food and drink for a party or else they would bring acts of mischief to their property.  The Christians tried to come in and give an alternative by making a Christian holiday with the name of Christmas around the end of the 4th century.  The name took but the raucous and rowdy ways remained. In the early days of America the Puritans made it illegal in Boston to celebrate Christmas because of this.  Yet in the early 1800's,  Washington Irving wrote "The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon", a story of an English squire who brought peasants into his manor to celebrate Christmas in a warm and peaceful manner.  This along with Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" began to transform Americans way of thinking about Christmas and they began to make the holiday about generosity and family.  It was also around this time that the tales of St. Nicholas began and a holiday was declared in his name on December 6th. A new story was introduced showing St. Nicholas as coming down chimneys in order to bring gifts to children on Christmas Eve rather than Dec. 6th and that stuck more prominently.

      So what is Christmas all about?  It would seem that there are many "reasons" for the the day of celebration, however it is not "truly" about Christ.  The Bible never tells believers to remember the day of Christ's birth.  However it does tell us in Romans 14:5-6 (NKJV)    ^"One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.
 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks."

     I wanted to bring this up just to say that there really isn't grounds for us as believers to go around telling people that the "real" meaning of Christmas is Jesus' birthday or that they are wrong for celebrating Santa or anything else at Christmas.  There is more evidence for other celebrations than for Christ's birthday!  However as a believer we can certainly use the holiday to proclaim Christ's name and share the message of salvation with others.

      Daniel gave us a great idea this year to make ornaments that show the message of the Gospel.  We made a star to represent God in the beginning as a pure and holy being and Creator of the world.  An apple with bites taken from it to represent the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  A manger to represent the humility of Christ to come to the earth in the human form of a baby and live among people.   A cross to represent the price He paid for our sin by shedding His blood and giving His life as a ransom for our lives.  A broken heart that is now mended to show that Christ has restored the believer to fellowship with Himself and that He holds us in His hands and we are safe with Him forever!!!   It was a great time together as a family and Lord willing we will have it on our tree in the years to come to remind our children of what Christ has done and to create curiosity in others so that they will ask and we can share the Gospel with them too!

 

Praising the God of the Harvest

       Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise, give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."   ~Psalm 103 

        All around are sights and smells of fall.  Pumpkin patches, tractors in the corn fields, trucks making numerous trips back and forth on the roads, pot lucks with dishes made from fresh picked produce!  All these things bring feelings of joy, family, and celebration!  One little 2 yr. old boy after the service here was dragging his mother out the door because he'd been promised he could ride with Dad in the combine!  We are excited to be here at harvest time and celebrate the bounty of the farmers here!
        In a way we find ourselves in a time much like they are.  In a harvest time.  They have planned and planted, tended and waited, and are now working and gathering the fruit of their labor.  They depend on this harvest to support and supply them for the coming winter and through to the next year.  In the same way we are celebrating our support and provision that was planned in advance, waited on with prayer, and now has come in, allowing us to draw from it for the coming work and the coming year.   We are thankful for God's faithful hand in our lives and the support team He has raised, surrounding us with gifts, prayer, and encouragement.  We are also reaping a harvest of seeds not sown by us but rather by those before us.   To have come here and been so welcomed by the people, so blessed with all the work they have put into the parsonage, and to have their hearts so open for the teaching of God's Word is because of God's work in people's hearts and the many Village Missionaries before us.  For that we are thankful!

          There truly has been a lot of work put into the parsonage with new paint, new central air heating and cooling, new water heater, and still more improvements!  We are feel really blessed!  I enjoy the signatures of an old house - the old windows that you have to prop open with a stick, the old door handles, with the wide and designed wood trim.  I appreciate the root cellar that brings back memories of gardens with my family and jars and jars of home canned produce, and the new paint that matches so much of my decor!  The Lord even added a sweet touch by remembering my delight in all the roses on Plum Street in Cotopaxi, and allowed the little pink rosebush here to still be blooming outside.  I also take delight in the dirt street we live on and all the pick-ups and farm trucks going back and forth, giving me a feeling of being right at home! 
         Daniel has been able to settle into his office and realize that all those books many of you helped us move, doesn't look like very many when compared to the many empty shelves at the church!  He has plans to continue building his library!
         Hannah's smile has begun to build a reputation for her as we've met people on walks around town and at a gathering at the library on Fridays for coffee and conversation.  She's amazing at socializing!  She's also been a great joy to have laughing and playing on the floor and who makes meal times so much more entertaining now that she's eating solid foods with us!

          Below are some pictures of Hannah, our house, and the church.

 

                                               
   What a privilege it is for us to be serving at this little church!  Please pray for us as we make adjustments, get to know people, and seek God's will.

Thank-you for your time & God Bless!                                                                                              

Turning the Page

This chapter of our story is coming to a close.  Just as a book gives you signs and little hints of wrapping up one segment and yet giving headway and hints into the new and upcoming intrigue of the next chapter, so it is with us.  Daniel was able to preach on our final Sunday here at Cotopaxi Community Church and I was able to see how much the people love him and how much this church played in developing him into the man he is now.  The preacher and becoming pastor that he is now.

We are two weeks away from moving to our first mission field.  We are changing from the Mountains to the Meadows as far as physical location.  Only God knows the changes He wants to bring about in our hearts and minds. We look forward with anticipation and strong confidence as a player in an orchestra looks ahead to each measure of written music.  They trust the writer in having it all correct to sound it's best.  They trust the conductor to keep them in time and in unity with all the other pieces to be able have harmony.  And as they approach the end of a page and prepare to turn the next, there is no stress and worry about whether the next page is in order or whether it will sound right.  Whether they need to proofread it first.  They just turn the page and continue on with only a fresh breath as their concern.  In that same way are we.  Trusting our Author and Conductor and ready to turn the page with a fresh breath to take on the next measure and then the next and then the next.  One step at a time, one day at a time, to follow into something orchestrated beyond just us and fit in to the work as a whole.  May God be praised for it all!

Undivided Heart

                I came across a sticky note I had stuck in my Bible, specifically in the Book of Psalms.  On it was a short list of passages and I had scrawled “Study Out”.  I remember writing the note because I was in the midst of writing several papers my Sr. year of Bible college and knew that I didn’t have the time to put the research and thought into these passages that I wanted to.  So I had made a note for when I was through with school and would have the time.  Almost a year and a half later, being married and with a 4 ½ month old daughter, here I am looking at this sticky note.   The first passage on it was Psalm 86:11 and I started there.

                “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth:  give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.”

                The Hebrew word for heart is also used for consider, mind, and understanding and its definition is “most interior organ”.    Our definition of the word heart today is the seat of the affections or sensibilities; the source of life and motion in any organization.   However insight from the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary shed light on what the word meant in the day of this Psalm.  “Heart – the Hebrew language had no word for conscience, so the word heart was often used to express this concept.  ~Job 27:6, I Samuel 25:31,/ I John 3:19-21”                “The heart is the root of the problem, this is the place where God does his work in an individual.” Ez. 11:19 “The heart is the dwelling place of God”.

                So saying the verse by adding the additional meanings would read something like this:
Join my will, my understanding, my mind, my source of tenderness and thoughts, my inmost organ, the center of me to fear, to dread, to make afraid, to reverence Your name, Your renown, Your character, Your position.

Put this way it reminds me of Rom. 7:21-25a:    So “I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
I in and of myself cannot walk in truth, cannot follow God’s way, cannot be good.  Only by Him teaching me, helping me, and changing me can I accomplish this.  It gives me relief because I do want to do good, I want to live my life in a way that honors the God who took the Cross for me!
Gal. 5:16-18 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”  The Bible says my heart can be deceived, we see evidence of that in the first sin in the Garden of Eden.  My heart is desperately wicked and is the root of problems.  I cannot trust my own heart, how then should I follow it?  Rather I need to follow the Holy Spirit of God.

                What does Psalm 86:11 mean to me?  Lord, take my heart.  Put all of its aspects together & cause is to do only one thing.  Fear thy name.  Teach me Your way, Unite my heart that I will be able to walk in your Truth and Fear thy name. 
Rather than . . . walk in my own way, in others’ way, in Satan’s way and be behind all kinds of wicked and hurt and trouble.  Let me not fear or come to revere anything or anyone more than You.  I, in myself am faulty and will fall – but if You have my heart Lord – there will be good.  There will be glory, for You, good works for You, honor for You!  May people not see me or my way but You and Your way and may they give You their hearts, their fear, honor, and glory! Amen!