Hearing problems???

"There's an eye in my ____!"

   We had just moved into our new house. Ahhh, there was so much more room to spread out now and I was so excited to have a playroom. As if the space wasn't enough, the playroom also had this magical feature called a door that I could shut when the volume inside the room moved up to HERE! I always wished  it closed automatically!! But anyway, One evening, Caleb was excused to go play in there while Adam and I and baby Mackenzie finished up eating dinner. After a while though, Adam and I noticed it was quiet. (That's always a problem!) So Adam got up to investigate. He walked in to find Caleb, who's 3, jumping up and down with 2 fingers pressed to his ear. Then he would stop jumping, shake his ear with his fingers and whisper in a little boy voice, "There's an eye in my ear." "Hmmm, what did you say son?" Adam replied. To which Caleb did it all over again... jump, jump, jiggle, jiggle and whisper, "There's an eye in my ear." "There's an eye in your ear?" Adam repeated back. Caleb nods yes in between his repeated act. What do you do in a situation like this? Grab a flashlight and check it out! Laying the child on the couch, Dad peers in. It didn't take long to discover that yes, Caleb was right. He had an eye in his ear! One of those googly eyes from a craft project! Adam carefully removed the foreign object (don't try this at home!) and we have laughed about it ever since!

  Afterward, I realized why Caleb was jumping up and down. That jiggling googly eye was loud when pressed against his ear drum! Then when he stopped he had to make sure it was still there by jiggling it again. Which makes me think one step deeper, because God loves to use the common everyday things to speak to me, when I listen... Things sound really loud when they're up close.  I'm actually stealing that one from my husband, but it's so true! So simple, yet so profound, just like him. That eye sounded really loud because it was really close! But in reality, at a "normal" distance, you'd barely notice it. So here's my application and challenge: What in life is blaring loud and getting my attention? Is it loud because it's important or because it's on my eardrum? Am I paying attention to what's most important or just loudest? God usually whispers to me. Dishes, laundry and errands scream at me. I'm finding, though that when I spend time listening to God FIRST, the other things go back to a normal voice and they are sorted in order of importance.

    Father, help us hear your whisper, even when everyday life screams at us. May we hear your voice and follow after those things close to your heart! We need your help to do that. On our own we jump from  fire to fire and at the end come up empty. Breathe your breath of life in our days, I pray.   Amen

Grace and Truth

   With the dawn of the new day, it was obvious my plans for the day were going to have to take a back seat. After attempting some needed and routine morning chores, I decided that today we would read and work on school from the comfort of my couch. Every time I got up and tried to do more, my body just wouldn't let me! When lunch time rolled around, I reheated some mac-n-cheese and added in the last of the bacon. The smell of bacon always draws my kids in, so when they were assembled in the kitchen to receive their bowls, I said, "I'm sorry I'm not feeling good today. Thank you for letting me get some rest and playing so kindly on your own." To this they all smiled, but Zach said, "It's OK Mommy, we can just live on our own!" Laughing at his precious comment, I visualized what it would look like for a 3 year old to live on his own. It was be all fun and games until he needed a band aid!

   It reminded me though, how important motherhood is! God did not give us our children by mistake! I just heard some encouraging words from Sally Clarkson at her Mom Heart conference over the weekend. Since you can never have enough of those,  I thought I would pass along the encouragement...

   It's wonderful to be in a place among 800 women and hear speakers like Kat Lee say, "Moms are a big deal!" She reminded me that, "God doesn't want my credentials, He wants my commitment." We see that with His choosing of the disciples. We don't bring anything to the table, He works through us. Another speaker, Sarah Mae, who co-wrote a book with Sally Clarkson called Desperate, pointed out the fact that we are just clay. And clay doesn't mold itself. We don't expect our ball of play-dough to stand up and start making itself into animals and intricate sculptures. It takes a designer. In the same way, my children cannot mold them self either. Here's where my job as a mother comes in and my reliance on my Heavenly Father is exercised. He is the potter, we are the clay. We can inspire our children to be apart of God's story by building a strong relationship with them based on unconditional love and trust. We can tell and show them who God is and that He loves them and has a purpose for their life. Maybe God will use them one day like He used Daniel. How even the King wanted to know Daniel's God because of Daniel's faith! Maybe our daughters can be like Ester who took 3 days to pray before she approached the King's throne. Sally's daughter Sarah said, "All of us can be a hero or heroine in the story of God." Our culture shies away from this fact, but as mothers, we can boldly proclaim it!

   Some other words of wisdom from Sally herself... "Grace without truth is puff-ball. Truth without grace is legalism." And on the subject of discipline, "Law with love creates protection, but without love is legalism." She also said that we have a grid that we look at life through. That grid is shaped by our philosophies and biblical foundations. She says, without this grid in place, "we will by nature go the way of culture" - of the world, our friends, what our church or neighbors say. So what am I allowing into the grid of my mind? That is also likely to be the grid to my children's mind. What do they see when they look in my eyes? Can they see I believe Jesus? Can they see I love them? I remember as a small child the impact my mom had on me. Even before the age of remembrance, her great faith caused me to "want her Jesus in my heart". How we look at them, how we esteem them and our views of eternity have an impact! It's clearer than ever to me how important it is to lead my children and that God has called ME to that job. 

  That's why it's also important for us moms to fuel ourselves so that we have food to give our kids. If our cup is continually pouring out, eventually it runs dry. I was encouraged to search and find my source of encouragement and not let my cup run dry. A dry parched mother really doesn't do anyone good!  I have found much love and truthful encouragement in Sally Clarkson's WholeHeart ministry. I pray you find yours.

   Even though Zach is only 3 now, eventually he will move out on his own. What am I doing today that will influence and equip him for tomorrow and the next?

Frequent SLUG Sightings

   I'm not exactly sure when or how it started, but for a couple YEARS now my children have had this "thing" where they make a very loud interjection when we see something on the road. It could come at any moment... in the middle of a conversation, or song, or even silence a raging fit (yes, we do have those). Any guesses? It's the sound of "SLUG BUG!" Which is usually followed with "Ahhh, where? Is it parked?" or "I saw it first, just didn't say anything!" All at once whatever control I had over the air pressure in the car just combusted into a noise bomb and there's no turning back!

    This incident makes me smile and so I had to write it down on my favorite quote list, but honestly had no idea how to link this quirk to a deeper spiritual meaning. That is, until I read through the Psalms this morning. The thought hit me, or rather, God whispered to me, "What if you pointed out all the blessings I give you like they point out 'SLUG BUG?'" Ohhhh. Yes, maybe I wouldn't wait for just the right time or wonder if my audience will appreciate it and just burst out, "Guess what God did for me today!" Actually, He doesn't even have to DO anything. He already finished it all, we just get daily glimpses or reminders of His glory each day. Why am I so timid to share that? My kids aren't!

    Maybe our praise could silence the criticism and judgments that seems to mark our Christianity  If our mouths were continually filled with His praise, there would be less room for gossip and slander. If praise colored my world, I would see the evidences of God all around me instead of items NOT crossed off my list. I would see that my debt is paid and He is with me even in the hurt, the pain and the "hill of difficulty" that I climb.

Ps 52:9 

"I will praise you forever for what 

you have done;

in your name I will hope, for

your name is good.

I will praise you in the presence of 

your saints."

   In an ecosystem of praise, discord, slander and gossip cannot dwell together! The very nature of Praise will uproot all vines and parasites our flesh naturally grows. The Word also tells us in Ps 34:2 that our praises can lift even the afflicted and help them rejoice too! Our fertile soil naturally grows and spreads and can affect the soils around us. 

   Here's a challenge: Read through a Psalm (or multiple ones) and count the ways the Psalmist calls us to Praise. Then go and do one TODAY. 

   Remember, the next time you see a "SLUG BUG!" remember what God has done for you!

Eternal Time Zones

   Time to a 4 year old can be comical. It has no meaning to them. They have no frame work in their brains of what a minute or a second, day, week or year means. I mean 1 year to them is 1/4 of their life - might as well be forever! :)

   We used to have a rule in our house that "wake up time" is 7:00. This allowed Mom, who's not a morning person, to wake up earlier and have some quiet time. In my husband's words...just as you don't wake a sleeping bear, you don't wake the sleeping mommy! We would remind the kids of this wake up time frequently before bed and they had a clock in their room with stickers indicating 7:00. Sounds complicated,. but it actually worked quite well. So one night after prayers, on the way to bed, Mackenzie mumbles almost in a teenager tone, "What does 7:00 even mean anyway!?" At that moment I realized it meant nothing - absolutely nothing to a 4 year old!

   Have you ever noticed how God's timing isn't our timing? I have! It's like The Chronicles of Narnia. When Lucy walks through the back of that wardrobe and into Narnia, time in the world behind her stops. This can really confuse our finite minds and cause us to doubt God.

"Where are you Lord? I need you right now!"

The disciples had an encounter similar to this in Mat 14:22-37. They were out in the middle of a lake and caught in a raging storm. Helpless to the buffeting waves, they wait for help. Midnight...1:00...2:00...3:00...4:00... When suddenly a figure appears out on the water, walking towards them. "Is it a ghost?" they cry. No, instead the voice replies, " It is I. Don't be afraid." Ahh. Jesus is here! But they still weren't sure. Peter says, "Lord if it's you, tell me to come you on the water." And Jesus does. Peter goes walking out to him on the water. He's doing good, until he sees the waves. Then he begins to sink. Jesus reaches out His hand to help and says, " You of little faith. Why did you doubt?"

   Why do I doubt? The disciples had Jesus with them physically and still doubted. Sometimes I just get tired of waiting out in the middle of the lake and by the 4th watch of the night, I'm tired and ready to take matters into my own hands! Other times, I think God shows up in my circumstances and I fail to recognize Him. But I love how this story ends. After Jesus and Peter climb back into the boat, the wind dies down. And it's at that moment those who were in the boat worshiped Jesus, proclaiming, "Truly you are the Son of God." I'm so thankful that God is patient with me and tenderly cares for me. He stays with me and keeps working and then finally, I get it and have to say, "Truly you are the One True God!"

   God's timing is seldom our own, and "what does 7:00 even mean anyway!?"