Do you think Hannah has spent some time in corporate worship with the grown ups? Too cute.
Discipleship has really been on my mind a lot lately. Discipleship has two parts: becoming a disciple of Christ, and then becoming a discipler of others.
My dad and I were discussing a devotional he had read. The author pointed out a profound and almost foreign point about becoming a disciple of Christ:
Discipleship always COST something.
Christ always asked his followers to leave something behind. He spoke of “being worthy of ME”, and “selling all that you have”. For some, it cost
“Christ says, ‘I don’t want some of your time & money, I want you. I’ve not come to torment your natural self but to kill it.'” C.S. Lewis
“Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing.” 1 Peter 4:19
To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God’s Will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.
The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. The people who do us good are never those who sympathize with us, they always hinder, because sympathy enervates (weakens). If we accept the sympathy of a saint, the reflex feeling is – Well, God is dealing hardly with me. That is why Jesus said self-pity was of the devil (see Matt. 16:23).
Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from man because He knew far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was after. He took sympathy from His Father only, and from the angels in heaven. (Cf. Luke 15:10.)
Notice God’s unutterable waste of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in the most useless places. We say – God intends me to be here because I am so useful. Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are no judges at all of where that is.
-Oswald Chambers
I’m in an apron mood! Especially after my daughter, Bria, made this one for my mom. I like aprons on a number of levels. For one, they make great, frugal gifts, like this one. (Bria is the seamstress of the family, no thanks to me. She made this from scrap fabric in about two hours, tracing a pattern from an apron we already had.)
I love that aprons speak a language. They are the uniform of the home-manager. I should wear them more often. Once you put one on, you just feel better suited to the tasks at hand. There’s an empowerment about wearing an apron about the house; it lets your family know you mean business and you love what you do.
Aprons have evolved, retreated and re-emerged over the years. They were first worn for strictly utility purposes–wiping noses, wiping hands, keeping dresses clean and removing hot dishes from the oven. A hefty pocket was invaluable for collecting stray items or trash. Aprons evolved into somewhat of a fashion statement in the 50’s, women donning them as a sign of domestic pride. Then they became almost obsolete as the once-respected reputation of housewife suffered a downward spiral with the full-blown effects of the feminist movement.
But they’ve become in vogue in most kitchens now, even if just a vintage icon hanging on a hook. Like ’em or not, they have things to say.
So I dare you….put one on!
- Generate your own copywork pages at WorksheetWorks. I love being able to prepare print and cursive sheets with lined paper. I use the Proverbs for our copywork in addition to the younger ones copying name, birthday, months of the year, etc. So easy and fast! Besides copywork sheets, there are hundreds of other great resources to devour. Maps, states and capitals, math problems, English worksheets, etc.
- Get the FREE ebook, Smooth and Easy Days by Sonya Shafer explaining Charlotte Mason’s secret to “smooth and easy days”…a book about developing good habits in ourselves and our children. This is a gem!
- Starfall: our favorite site for the little ones just learning to read.
I never thought I’d live to see a day where professing Christians scoff at the idea of parental authority and what has been traditionally accepted parenting methods for centuries. But as many reject authority themselves, it’s only natural that they would transmit that to their parenting.
Kevin Swanson gave a super-charged and brilliant lesson on child-training last week in Texas. The thrust of his message was, “If your children don’t obey you it’s because they don’t fear the Lord”. And he went on to ask the obvious question: “Could it be that if my children don’t fear the Lord it’s because I don’t fear the Lord?”
Be the Police Officer
To make the point, he described how silly it would be for a police officer to pull you over for speeding and give you a high-pitched tongue-lashing:
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?! YOU KNOW BETTER THAN TO BE SPEEDING! I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M EVEN HAVING THIS CONVERSATION WITH YOU!!!”
Hospitality: kindness in welcoming strangers or guests; generous reception of guests; taking care of the needs of others
“Contribute to the needs of the saints and be given to hospitality.” Romans 12:13
It’s a command and yet Christians often neglect true hospitality. We confuse it with entertainment and the thought of entertaining paralyzes us. Practicing hospitality has nothing to do with entertaining.
But why is hospitality a command in the first place? Understanding what it is helps us understand why it’s so important.
Hospitality seeks to:
- Relieve
- Encourage
- Bond
- Build relationships
- Serve
Hospitality is not limited to having guests over for a meal. Hospitality may also mean generously providing care and kindness to whomever is in need. It may very well mean taking a meal, sharing financially with someone in need, giving one’s material possessions to meet another’s need or even sending a card or making a phone call.
And lest we think it optional, hospitality is really the core of the Christian life, and neglecting to care for others in this basic sense is regarded in Scripture as the very neglect of Christ Himself, and will result in eternal damnation!
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ” Matthew 25:41-45
AND WATCH THIS: based on these definitions, hospitality is merely an extension of what we should already be doing within our families. Perhaps hospitality is so neglected a practice because we are not learning to serve one another–to live out Christ’s example first among each other at home.
Because relationships are the key element in discipleship, and because discipleship is the Great Commission command, I submit that hospitality is the venue through which the gospel is best shared, through which Love is best shown, and through which discipleship and mentoring are best accomplished. Sharing our lives and our homes is one of the greatest opportunities available to us to further the Kingdom, both as we serve and minister to others and also as serving changes us.
The spiritual implications of hospitality should compel us to seek out the practical methods by which we can make it a regular part of our lives.
My first thought about hospitality is that some people just seem naturally more gifted in this area and yet we are all called to practice it. Which means some of us will have to study and prepare a bit more than others.
I also think the most important consideration as you ponder hospitality, is your season of life. It may be a busy season with lots of little ones. It may be a financially difficult season. It very well could be both. Adjusting your own expectations to fit the needs of the season you’re in will make a tremendous difference in your ability to practice hospitality.
My season is a busy one with little extra income, so my approach may be different than yours.
The next post will suggest some practical ways to reduce the stress of practicing hospitality!
“The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus, are indeed widely different. They are more than different. They are flatly contradictory one to the other. Among the children of this world, he is thought the greatest man who has most land, most money, most servants, most rank, and most earthly power. Among the children of God, he is reckoned the greatest who does most to promote the spiritual and temporal happiness of his fellow-creatures. True greatness consists not in receiving, but in giving – not in selfish absorption of good things, but in imparting good to others – not in being served, but in serving – not in sitting still and being ministered to, but in going about and ministering to others.”
~ J.C. Ryle
“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks….For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” From Matthew 12
“To judge is to assume the hidden things of the heart. But when once the mouth has spoken, the heart betrays itself and the judging has already been done. What is left is to measure the evidence against truth.” -Kelly Crawford
Liturgy from “Literature, Liturgy, Language and Leisure”
by Rea Berg
“For many Christians who have grown up in the United States, liturgy and the attention to a liturgical calendar have not been prominent emphases in religious experience. However, in spite of the fact that empty forms and religious exercises are often associated with notions of liturgy, the liturgical calendar can offer a way to mark the days of the year with special attention to the vibrant history of the Church and the men and the women who have gone before us. This discipline can add another level to our appreciation for the Body of Christ universal and for the profound legacy we enjoy as members of that Body.
Our family currently lives in different geographic regions due to marriage, work, and study abroad. This Easter we enjoyed a unique sense of richness as we worshiped in a number of uniquely different parts of the Church. Our eldest son attended a Good Friday service at City Church in San Francisco, and our daughter and her husband enjoyed the same at Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon. My husband and I were in a Good Friday service at Park Street Church in Boston, and our eldest daughter and her husband enjoyed the Easter celebration at Westminster Cathedral in London. In our home church, our youngest children attended a Passover celebration that marked the profound symbolism foreshadowing Christ’s passion and redemption of mankind. In a beautiful way we were all united—despite the thousands of miles between us.
Following a liturgical calendar by noting the special days in the year and marking them with specific Scripture readings or establishing family traditions around them can give rhythm and beauty to the passage of time. It also connects us to the historical Body of Christ by transcending our present time and space and helping us to recognize the sublime relationship we have with those who have gone before us and also those who will come after. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life speaks to this notion:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Intentionally connecting ourselves to the history of the Church universal requires a humility that recognizes how myopic our grasp of truth can be when we view it only through our own cultural lens. Books such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Real Christianity by William Wilberforce, or Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans connect us to the broader expression of Christ through the limitless diversity of his Body. In this way, our own faith is enlarged, stretched, and enriched.”
Copyright 2009, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com