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Monday, April 13th, 2009

Holding Each Other Up

“And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ” Exodus 17:11-12

Do you ever feel like you are in a daily battle as a mom? Sometimes we are battling to teach our children the basics of living. Other times, we are battling rebellion. And still other times, we are battling against the world for the hearts and minds of our children.

It is very easy to become exhausted in our daily battles. Some days, it doesn’t even seem worth bothering anymore. But when someone comes along beside us and lets us know that they understand what we’re going through and they are there to support us, it suddenly seems do-able again. This support might come from husbands or from friends. (For that matter, it can even come from someone we don’t know!) It can come in the form of physical help or giving us time off to recharge. But I think the most important form this support can take is prayer.

For those of us who are stay-at-home moms of young children, it can be hard to offer physical help to someone else … especially when we ourselves are often exhausted. However, one way that we CAN help each other is to pray for each other. Just knowing that a friend is praying for me can mean the difference between just barely making it through the day and making it through successfully. It can mean the difference between ending the day feeling defeated or ending the day feeling that something has been accomplished.

Are you feeling the need of prayer support today? Who do you know that might be need to be supported by your prayers?

Posted in Daily Life, The Christian Life | 1 Comment »

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Whiners and Complainers

“For the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.” Exodus 16:8

I was reading in Exodus last night, and it struck me how often the Israelites would complain and how quickly it was after the Lord had just performed some miracle for them. They saw the parting of the Red Sea and the deliverance from Pharoah, but three days later they were complaining to Moses that there was no water and they were going to die. The Lord had Moses cut down a tree and throw it into the water so that it became drinkable, but soon they were complaining that there was no food to eat. The Lord provided manna every morning and quail every evening, but they were soon complaining again about a lack of water. The Lord provided water out of a rock, but soon…

It’s easy to see when we read about someone else complaining, but how often do I complain to the Lord? I’m pretty sure that I don’t wait 3 days in between complaints! Although the miracles that the Lord has done in my life may not be as spectacular as those He performed for the children of Israel, they are miracles, nevertheless. Yet, it isn’t long before I’m complaining again and thinking that things are going horribly wrong – or at least that they aren’t going my way!

I need to do a whole lot more thanking and a whole lot less complaining, methinks.

Hmmm. DH just now got home early with a gorgeous long-stemmed red rose for me. No complaints here! :-)

Posted in Daily Life, The Christian Life | 6 Comments »

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Every Knee Should Bow

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

Yesterday, I stumbled across a BBC interview about a beautiful young lady who is passionate about her faith in the Lord Jesus. Deborah Drapper is a 13 year-old homeschooled girl living with her family in the British countryside. The 4th of eleven children, she is bright and articulate, and enjoys spending time with her siblings. What is striking about her is that she regularly looks for opportunities to share the gospel with people she meets. Her concern for the souls of other people and their need for salvation put me to shame.

While the video shows a family of parents who obviously love their children and and siblings who enjoy being with each other, the BBC interviewer attempts to portray Deborah and her siblings as objects of sympathy because they don’t know what “reality TV” is or recognize the names or faces of such celebrities as Britney Spears. The children are shown to be bright intellectually, and there is no indication that their academic education is lacking in any way. It is very apparent that the parents are importing a very strong spiritual foundation, one that is preparing the children for life as strong Christians and productive members of society. However, the children’s cultural education is focused on by the interviewer, with its significant lack of introduction to such things as celebrities, teen sex, drugs, and smoking. In the eyes of the interviewer, it is not enough that the children have frequent internet access, the poor things are deprived of having a TV in their rooms and access to teen magazines!

It took me no time at all to discover that this interview is being used widely in athiest circles as an example of why children should be taken away from Christian parents. It is posted on YouTube with such tags as “abuse” and “indoctrination” . It is okay for parents to expose their children to all kinds of garbage and leave them to the pitfalls of peer pressure, but it is not okay to teach them that there is a God who made them, and of whose standards they fall short. It is not okay to teach them that, because they have sinned against that God, they are worthy of eternal judgement. And it is certainly not okay to teach them that that same God has provided a way through His Son for them to escape eternal judgement, but that the gift of salvation through His Son is the ONLY way of escape!

One day, every single one of those who are now denying the existence of God will be forced to admit the truth. Those who now express anger at Deborah’s parents for daring to teach her the truth of the Bible will one day bow their knee before the One they now deny, and will confess Him as Lord. There will be no more denying the existence of God, His laws, or the Savior that He provided. There will only be eternal suffering and regret that the day of salvation was neglected and the Savior spurned.

On the other hand, there will be rejoicing for Deborah and her parents, as the Lord rewards them as “good and faithful servants”. They will spend an eternity in the joy of their Lord side by side with those that they have introduced to the Savior through their faithfulness. May the Lord help me develop the same passion for the Gospel that Deborah has, and may I help inspire my children to the same!

Posted in The Christian Life | No Comments »

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

One of a Kind

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

What is it that makes each child so very different? Just how many opposites can you have?! Even from the womb I have noticed significant differences. For instance, although most babies would stop kicking when “Daddy” would try to feel the kicks, number 5 seemed to say, “Ah, it’s Daddy. Time to practice Karate!” I didn’t even feel baby number 7 moving until I was 20 weeks along, yet I have literally felt this one since I was only 12 weeks. (I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t watched the baby moving the screen during an ultrasound and realized that what I was feeling very definitely coincided with the movements I felt!) Now that I am 20 weeks along and feel the strong kicks of my unborn child, I wonder how it is possible that I was only starting to feel the last baby at this point.

As soon as they are born, we see more personality differences. Some are “good” babies who sleep a lot and are content when they are awake. Others have us walking a path in the living room night after night. As they get a little older, we see differences in their tempers. My sixth baby threw her first full-blown temper tantrum at only 2 months of age. I didn’t know what to do with a tantrum in an infant that young! However, I think number seven was almost a year old before he really threw a temper tantrum. Then some exhibit the “terrible twos” way before they turn two, and others have more of what I have called the “terrific twos”. Of course, the older they get, the more and more we see changes in their personalities.

When I only had 3 or 4 children, I used to say that I had 3 or 4 opposites. Now that I am expecting number 8, I’m not sure that I can continue to say that they are all opposites, but they are still very different from each other. Of course, now and then I see similarities, but only in a few areas. Each child is still very much his own person.

I believe that these differences can only be evidence of the hand of a Creator. There is no way that there could be so much individuality by random chance! But even more, it is evidence that we were created by a loving God. Only a loving God would care so much about us that He would make us each unique. There is no one else just like me, and there is no one else just like you. God took the time to form each of us to reflect a small part of His own character, but in a different way than anyone else! And to think that not only did He make me different from anyone else, but He also had a plan for my life before He ever began to form me in the womb is just mind boggling.

Posted in Children, The Christian Life | 2 Comments »

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

The Unclouded Day

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” Revelation 21:23

I love sunshine! While I know that the spring showers are necessary to bring the green and the flowers that I love so well, it is hard for me to feel my best on a cloudy overcast day. But give me sunshine shining in the window and let me see the trees illuminated in the yard, and I feel myself taking deeper breaths and holding my head higher. Even the bright glare off my computer screen in the morning is not enough to make me wish to pull the blinds!

The winter days are never long enough for me. I love the longer days now that we are into spring, and enjoy knowing that the days will continue to get longer for a few more months. I look forward to the sun rising earlier and earlier, and I can hardly wait for the days when the children will go to bed before dark has fully set in. Soon there will be light after dinner for family walks or enjoying the garden after we’ve eaten of its bounty. I don’t even want to think about the fact that, in a few months, the trend will be reversed, and the days will once again get shorter.

Some day, we will be in a land where there will be no need of the sun, but we will never wish for more light. The Lord Himself will be the Light, and we will never feel any lack! There will be no shadows, no clouds to dim the Light. There won’t be any need for artificial light, and we won’t ever suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), either. Never again will we long for the sunshine, for we will be able to bask in the glow of the Son. What a day that will be!

Posted in The Christian Life | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

Where do I go to resign?

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

Have you ever had one of those days when you felt like a complete failure? A day when the kids aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, the house is a disaster, and the whining, bickering, and fighting seem unending?

This morning, I was having one of those days. I locked myself into my room to have a pity party. (I knew that I would be interrupted by a little one wanting to give me a hug or something if I hadn’t locked the door!) As tears of frustration rolled down my cheeks, I wondered why the Lord thought that I should be entrusted with another baby when I couldn’t even do a good job with the children I already had. Poor me. I just wanted to walk out the door and escape, because it was obvious that I couldn’t do what was expected of me.

Then, out of the blue, a tune started running through my head, and I was hearing the words to an old Steve Green song. ”He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it…”

Okay, so I’m not anywhere near the mother I want to be and my children haven’t come close to achieving the perfection that I want for them. The truth is that it isn’t MY work being done. The Lord is performing a work in me and in my children. He began the work in us, and has promised to complete it. He didn’t give a time frame for completing it, and I can’t give up in discouragement when it isn’t completed overnight or even over a period of 18 years.

It seems that there are far too many lessons that have to be repeated in my life over and over again, but that is not the fault of the One doing the work. That fault lies squarely with me. I get frustrated at times when it seems that one of my children is being thickheaded about learning something that I am trying to teach them, but I am thickheaded far to often when the Lord is trying to teach me something, too. The Lord hasn’t given up on me, but has promised to complete the work. Likewise, I should continue in patience as I seek to teach my children.

After a few minutes of reflection, I unlocked my door and called all of the children together. I asked them if they ever felt like failures, and admitted my shortcomings to them. I then shared the above verse with them, asked for their forgiveness for my failures with them, and encouraged them to remember that the Lord is also doing a work in each of them.

No, the rest of the day hasn’t been all roses. However, there has been a sense of hope, and things are much more in order than they were earlier!

Posted in Mothers, Reliance on the Lord, The Christian Life | 4 Comments »

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