Uncovered

There's a store nearby that our family has paid our LAST visit to. Due to completely personal reasons, we have decided that instead of grumbling and complaining every time we pulled in the parking lot, we would simply shop elsewhere. The decision has been wonderful! My daughter made an insightful observation because of our experience that has spiritual application as well. She said, "_______ is just a nasty store. They try to make their stuff look nice but it's just nasty stuff in a nasty store. It's just like our bodies - we try to make them look nice, but inside we're just nasty."

I promise I didn't add anything to her comment! After I heard her say it, I ran to grab my quote book and a pen, repeating her phrase over in my head. Which is funny, because she doesn't just say things once, so she was following me,  repeating it as well! Anyway, I thought those were strong and sobering words from a 7 year old. However, I agree with her assessment. What a wretched woman I am. At the core, because of sin, my every inclination pulls towards self. Only because of God's grace and mercy through His Son Jesus Christ do I have any hope of doing or living any other way than to please myself. When I look at it that way, no wonder I mess up! No wonder I fail and stumble. And no wonder others have failed and hurt me. Thank you Lord for your grace that takes my fallible human effort and uses it by Your power for Your glory.

I see something else when I look through life using those lenses. Paul says it best in 1 Tim 1:13:
 "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst."

Who is Paul exalting in that statement? Himself or Christ? Christ! When we see Christ for who He truly is, we also see ourselves for who we truly are. When I'm in that position, the plank in my eye is obstructing my vision a whole lot more than the speck in my brothers. Now the gospel message can be shared with grace and truth, free of condemnation. It's not about me and my record, its about Him and His love and finished work on the cross. His love has covered all our sins. When I see it that way, my nose comes back down out of the loftiness that my self-righteousness can place it and meets people lovingly where they are. To finish Paul's statement in the next verse,

 "But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."

I'm thankful to have a store to stand as a reminder that Jesus is the only One who covers up my nasty heart!

Truth and Twizzlers

Webster defines the word Freedom as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action...

If you've ever wallowed in wonderment of a situation, you know the relief truth brings. It's that moment when, no matter how monstrous, you can handle life now because you're dealing with facts and not just bits and pieces and streams of emotion. I remember being told as a child and now repeat as a parent that I can handle anything you've done as long as you tell me the truth. The reason this equation works is because the truth sets free. It releases captives...the lies and hidden motives at work. Truth is what we crave; it is what we earnestly seek after. Truth is sown into the fabric of being by our Creator. As a result, the enemy of our soul sets out to destroy and distort it. He tells us,"What is truth anyway? Is that really the Truth? It may be truth for them but not for you!" The only way to counter these types of lies is with the solid, unchanging, living and active Word of God. Here's what Jesus says, 

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" John 8:31-32

Jesus knew what the culture said then and now about truth and He knew we needed to know this. True freedom is found in the Truth! Any other rock we look under will only hold chains and shackles no matter how it's disguised!

I have a precious rule follower in my house. He's growing in grace, but still makes an excellent police officer. He's the kind who would to sit at the edge of the speed limit reduced sign and make sure we all slow down appropriately. Well, he's been on a kick about eating the exact serving size of candy bars, chips, etc. He'll count out or measure his chips and cereal according to the package label. He just likes knowing how much they say is 1 serving, then he can say, "I had 1 serving!" So one day, he used his own money to buy his favorite candy. He brought it home and excitedly unwrapped it. Then he turns the crinkly package over to see what the serving size says and he responds, "It stinks that the Twizzlers serving size is only 6, especially when it's a king size bag!" He's figuring up in his head how long it will take him to consume the whole favored package. Now, he was "free" to eat the whole thing, but it would've made him sick and he knew that.

Ps 16:5-6 "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

In the same way, we are "free" to run after other gods, to pursue selfish gain and ignore the Word of the Lord, just as Israel did. But I hope you're ready for similar tummy-aching consequences for those decisions! When we begin to exchange the truth of God for a lie we go outside His boundary lines and into slavery and bondage, which He never desires for us. For that is why Jesus came! He came to free us from the bonds of slavery sin causes. May our lives be testimony of the liberating power of Christ! May we be men and women of Truth. 

Squeezed

Sometimes life has the amazing ability to just be really hard. I try to be optimistic and find the good in all situations; to not grumble and complain - but sometimes, the school of life just slaps you across the face and tells you to "SIT DOWN"! It's those times when there's at least one puzzle piece missing (feels like more) that I cannot see. I can look in hindsight and see how the pieces have linked together. I can look ahead and make out a faint sketch of what is to come, but right in front of me - there's just no piece that fits! I've tried them all. It's a lot like our last family vacation. The one where we drove 11 hours the first day, 7 the next few days and 18 hours straight home. We heard questions like, "Where are we going today, Mom?" Mom answers... "Well how far is that?" A few minutes later, "How much further....Are we there yet?" Those are natural, trying to get my bearings questions. Thankfully, we weren't the first explorers to travel to New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, so we have a general idea of how far, how long and where to stop along the way. In the same way, the ancients of our faith have also traveled this life and left behind nuggets of truth, encouragement and wisdom for our walk today.

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, after the plagues and finally the Passover, they had no idea what obstacle they were going to meet first. Right out of the gate, they reach a chasm in their life puzzle called The Red Sea. What do we do now Lord?! Take me back to Egypt! The Lord directed Moses to raise his staff and stretch it over the water. From there I always think they just hopped ashore and watched their enemies splash to their demise. But that's not exactly how it happened. That's not the whole story. To stop there would be missing a huge piece to the puzzle. The piece where God shows His glory. So God parts the waters and sends His pillar of cloud BEHIND the Isrealites to protect them from the ensuing army. All night long they walked through the sea. Walls of water to their right and left. Walk... walk...walk. With no one mentioning the fact that at any moment the waters could return back and swallow them all up whole!

 Exodus 14:24 says, "During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and thew it into confusion. He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, 'Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'"

There are times I've seen the Lord perform miracles and "part the waters" for our family. There's also times, I'm learning, He sends His pillar of fire behind us, putting distance between us and our enemy; shining light to us, but darkness to them. In those situations, when I'm walking through the oooey, gooey seaweed covered land with jellyfish to my right and left, we can only keep putting one foot in front of the other, and trusting God do the fighting and let Him get the glory. The Israelites walked all night. I may walk for awhile, but at the last watch, God will show up and deliver His people.

O Lord, Are we there yet?!

Righteous will Live by Faith

I am not tech savvy. I do not like figuring out computer issues, nor understand routers, modems and wireless connections. I do not like a computer thinking it knows what I need because its "creator" pre-programmed the inputs and outputs a certain way. In the words of Dr Seuss, "I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam I am!" Unfortunately for me - and the rest of my family at times - the use of computers and spiffy technology is unavoidable. A while back our printer bit the dust, so its replacement, un-be known to me at the time turned out to be a "smart printer". Smart printers really aren't that smart. After every other print session, it does thing called an "all systems check". Which basically means it makes a lot of noise, clicks and clacks and is unavailable for a while! Which can be very frustrating when you have several things to print out and you weren't planning on it taking all afternoon! Well that's the situation my son, Caleb entered upon. This was not a new situation for him either. He quickly surveyed the situation and issues his diagnosis: "There's smart phones, smart printers and smart cars, now all we need are smart people!!" Hallelujah, Caleb you hit the nail on the head for me! Is it just me or do all these "advancements" and "smart" equipment leave you feeling really...dumb?!

Now I'm sure we could make a strong case on is civilization growing dumber rather than smarter, but that's not quite the angle I'm coming from. As I look through the pages of God's timeless Word, I find really, not much has changed. Jesus spoke to the people using parables so they could understand - and many still didn't. He clearly referred to his death and gave His disciples specific instructions as to what to do. They still responded with the deer in the headlight look or had the audacity to ask to sit at His right and left in Glory. The Pharisees, though well educated and a prominent leader in society had the hardest hearts around. Ecclesiastes rings true again... "There's nothing new under the sun."

Jesus said of His crowd in Mat 13:13 "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing they do not understand."

I just finished reading a book called Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, not by Sight by Jennifer Rothschild, who's been blind since High School. Her book discusses her walk through blindness and the lessons God has taught her as she exercises faith everyday. In closing she says this, "The greatest handicap you can have is for it not to be well with your soul. To allow your circumstances to blind you to the infinite goodness of God is far more debilitation then physical darkness."

Jesus didn't choose the smart people of His day to be his disciples. He chose humble fisherman. Rich or poor, philosopher or lay-man, young or old, God's call is still the same. It's "Come and follow Me." There's no app for that or a pre-programmed button. Just a leap of faith. Have YOU responded yet?

Quite, Quiet, QUIT!!

"Tickle me Daddy, tickle me!" squeals a bubbling over contagious giggler of about 3 years of age. As the arms descend upon the anticipated ticklish spot, the request changes to, "Stop...Daddy....Stop....Tickling... Me!"By this time, he's barely able to speak - spluttering, kicking - the usual hilarious scene.
"Tickle me Daddy, tickle me! No, no, stop tickling me!"

In many of my prayers, I ask the Lord to grant me strength for the day. I ask for His wisdom to shepherd my children along the path of righteousness. I need His insight and understanding into their hearts and the ability to discern the under currents swirling around me. Also, not forgetting joy and peace in all situations; that God's light would shine through me and our family. So when I find myself in a situation where my children are continually picking at one another, starving animals because the chores are undone, clothes I asked to be folded, scattered about the floor, cementing breakfast dishes still on the table, and the clock telling me it's almost noon... I think, Lord, we are so far from where I'm striving to be! What is going on?! I can't do this! I am a failure.

My early envisions of being a mother consisted of the fuzzy precious moments holding a sleeping baby while the 3 year old sibling snuggles under my other arm and whispers "I love you". All the while my oldest child clears the table and wipes down the counter, then asks what else he can to serve me! As a homeschooling family my thoughts went something like children pouring over their books, eager for every word and losing sleep at the thought of learning fractions tomorrow. We would work together as a team to accomplish a project and cheer each other on as we build - "Tickle me Daddy, tickle me!"

And for a small fraction of time those beautiful moments do happen. But what I didn't configure or imagine was the in-between stuff to make it happen. AKA, reality! The sleeping baby eventually awakens and stays up all night. The 3 year old who came to snuggle with me was covered in some kind of goo he found and gave the baby a rash. The family project we worked on - maybe it's finished, but now there's permanent marker on the floor, glue on the walls, cut paper strips everywhere and we can't find the table! Plus Dad's coming home for lunch in 10 minutes! AAAHHHH! "No, Daddy, stop tickling me!"

I find that the ebb and flow of parenting and homeschooling can leave me feeling as if the tide just went out and left me with all the broken shells and junk from the water. I feel exposed - my weakness and inabilities laying bare for all to see and pick up. Paul says in 2 Cor 11:30, "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." Wow! I don't want to boast of my weakness! I would just rather not have them! But it's in these weaknesses - the "No Daddy, stop tickling me" moments where the Power of Christ is made perfect in me. "For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor 12:10) And, that is only accomplished by the Power of God!