We're moving again

I know, moving is a pain. Change is tough. But this will be the last time, hopefully, at least for a while. This blog is moving. I've combined the blog with my website to simplify my life. So here it is: the new address: http://www.biblemoms.com/ Click on the blog tag and you're there. Half of the old posts are up now, and the rest will be posted in the next few days. I'm updating the website, too, but it's not all done yet. Thanks for your patience!

Motherhood is tough

Several times today I wondered if maybe being a brain surgeon would be an easier job then what I was facing as a mother. That, or say a combat specialist, CIA agent, fighter pilot. I can do my part ok. I'm totally fine washing everyone's clothes, I'm ok making the meals, I'm even ok being an encourager. The part that's hard about being a mom is that I can't control how anyone else acts. I can't make my children not complain when I ask them to do something. I can't make my kids get along. I can't make them be productive. And, though I can prod, I found today I cannot actually make them play the piano. They may sit on the bench, but that's not quite the same as playing. What is a mother to do in such a circumstance?
The best part of the day was when we made some popcorn, crawled on the couch, put in a movie, and after the initial complaints of Mom's choice of movie died down, other than the occasional grunt for more popcorn, it was QUIET.
When the kids were all settled into bed, I opened the Bible to where we left off: Matthew16:24. It says, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering;embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?"
Ok, I get it. These days will come. The question is, how will I react? Will I endure, will I trust, will I remain calm, even though the turbulent waters hit me.
I didn't make it through the day perfectly. But I did make it through. And more importantly, at the end of the day, we sang hymns and read the Bible together as a family.
There were more complaints as the light went out, but I'm hoping the message of the gospel will work in their little hearts, and I'm praying for grateful hearts, that learn to avoid complaining and spend more time thanking.

We can't all sit in the same chair

I have four children. We have six chairs around our dining room table. The two younger children mostly like to stay in the same chairs for every snack and every meal. The other two prefer to mix it up sometimes. This of course causes problems, especially when three people end up on the same chair.
I'm so thankful we weren't all created to sit in the same chairs in life. A few people were meant to be national recording artists. Many more people are gifted musicians who keep their worship services at their church beautiful every week. There's a few of us that can just add a tiny bit to that worship service on special occasions.
Jesus told the parable of the talents. (A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars.) He said a master was going away so he gave one servant five talents, another two and another one. Then the master went away. The one with five talents put those talents to work and gained five more. The one with two talents put them to work and gained two more. The one with one talent dug a hole and put it in it. When the master returned he was pleased with the first two servants and furious with the third.
God has given each one of us gifts. Some people are gifted in many facets of life. They are leaders, speak well in front of others, play instruments, sing, write songs, you name it. Many more of us could never write a song, but we may be gifted enough to play it on the piano or organ if we get the music. There are a few of us who couldn't even do that, but we're happy to sing along, a little out of tune when we hear it played.
Put your gifts and talents to work. Don't hide behind the pews at church pretending you aren't good at anything. You know you are. Many gifts, like speaking in public, can be refined with use. The more you do it, the easier it gets.
We can't all sit in the same chair. But God has given us each gifts to fill all the chairs around His table. Have a seat and use what you have!

Rededicate Yourself

I'm just in from the Aaron Shust concert. I took my nine-year-old daughter. I don't know how much she'll remember of it, other than that it was loud and she stayed up way past her bedtime. But for me, it will burn like an Olympic torch. His light ignited mine. One person on fire for the Lord can set his world ablaze.
I confess I had serious reservations. I like Aaron's music, but I hate the concept of making more of a person than they are. Let's face it, before the Lord, you and I and Aaron are all equals. I don't care much for the world's way of dealing with fame. But this, my five friends who are reading this, is the deal. He wasn't into sharp duds. His guitar players didn't bend and cringe as they played. They sang along. They played their guitars. They admited they were nervous. But more importantly than any of that, when Aaron talked about why he wrote a song or what the lyrics meant, it was obvious that this was a man who read his Bible and who loved his LORD. He made me want to go home and read my Bible.
During intermission, he told us not to buy his "junk" (CD's, shirts,etc), but instead to feed the children of the world, children who are starving not only for lack of food, but who need to hear about their Savior.
For me the most poignant moment of the night was during a song when Aaron sang something to the effect of laying all his plans at Jesus' feet. I for one am tired of making plans or trying to make things work that apparently are not in line with what God's decided is best for my life. It is time to switch off the co-pilot button and give all control to the Master.
2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Rededicate yourself today to following the only One worth following. And I'm not talking about Aaron.

It's all about perspective

Our four-year-old came home from the ER excited.
"I got to ride in a tube," she said, referring to her CT scan. "It was like a roller coaster."
"Well I hope you don't ride on that roller coaster again," I said.
"Why?" she asked, deflated.
"Because you have to be hurt to ride on that roller coaster," I said.
Oh, to be four and ride the waves of life so joyfully! Why can't I face adversity with the same sort of attitude?
Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
That's a bit of a tall order, isn't it? I can understand be joyful most of the time. I can understand be thankful more often then not. But here we're told to be joyful always and give thanks through it all. Why? Nothing can change what Christ has done. No matter how cruel the circumstances, Christ lived the perfect life required so He could die and pay the price. His sacrifice opened heaven for us and no one can take that away. While in this world, we'll feel the effects of sin, but thanks be to God it doesn't have to get us down. The battle's o'er; the victory's won! We are not defeated. Don't let circumstances make you act as if you are.

The tree wins this time

Last night, just before dark, my kids decided to go sledding. They put on their outside clothes knowing they only had twenty to thirty minutes. It had been less than fifteen when my husband carried my screaming four-year-old in. She had hit a tree. Her face was red with blood and cuts, but it was the blood splot soaking through her hat that concerned me the most. In all honesty, I was scared to take the hat off for fear of what I might see.
We brought her into the bathroom and cleaned her up, settled her down, got the ibuprofin on board to start numbing the pain. When we moved the blood-matted hair and started cleaning her head, the cut was not all that bad. It was about the size of a quarter, but the worrisome part was that it was dented in. My husband, an RN, watched it and wondered why it didn't swell. Obviously it was blunt force trauma. Something (a branch, a nub on the tree, who knows?) had hit her there.
After watching her for a few hours and trying to determine if she needed to go to the ER or not, we looked skull fractures up on the internet. What we saw and read was encouragement enough to let the experts decide what damage had been done.
She had a head CT and two staples put in her head before returning home a few minutes before midnight.
Last night the tree won. In the garden of Eden, the devil, posing as a snake in the tree, won. All of us have felt the effects of a sinful world ever since. If Christ had not rose from the dead, the devil would have won again. By all accounts Christ must have looked pretty weak hanging on the tree. Thankfully the story didn't end there. If that was it, and our Jesus, who claimed to be true God, hung dead on a tree, he was no different then anyone else. But He didn't stay on the tree. He didn't even stay in the grave. Hundreds of people saw him alive again in the days following his death. He was alive, with the nail holes still in his hands and the spear hole in his side, to prove it was not some impostor.
Last night the tree won. How much worse it would have been for us if the tree had won two thousand years ago.

Gardening in God's Kingdom

This is the time of year that gardeners get antsy. The seed catelogs show enough produce to make your mouth water; the big berries, tomatoes, ears of corn. At the same time our stock of canned and saved goods is running low. I just used the last jar of tomatoes. The potatoes that are left are small, and some are starting to sprout, as if they know planting time is approaching.
Our best gardening year was the only year we gardened with my father-in-law. We had cabbage and beans and cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants and herbs. Our cherry tomato plants were huge bushes that produced hundreds of bite size tomatoes. My husband and I couldn't believe how much the garden produced with seemingly so little effort.
My father-in-law died before we could plant our next garden. After he was gone we realized how much work he put into our garden. We prepared the soil, we planted the seeds and plants, we watered sometimes, but he weeded and watered inbetween our visits.
Our work in God's kingdom is that way. We may plant a seed, or we may water it, or we may pull a weed or two, but God is the one doing most of the work. Behind the scenes he's preparing hearts, preparing messages for those hearts, working in those hearts. And He's the harvester, determining when each plant is ready and has produced to it's full capacity.
As for us, we keep tending the garden. Once we're home, we'll share in the harvest.