This gracious gift, bursting flavor, waiting, calling…it’s all too good. He owed me nothing.Yet my life is full of the evidence of His love around me, each thing filing in its proper place. How often do I snub it–not on purpose, but not stopping to turn around and say “Thank you”?
We’ll eat, and they’ll be gone. Stained, purple fingers, mouths–a homemade pie with the crust not just right…
But the fruit of our hands binding us, one more strand, together as we eat and say, “Yes, the Lord is good”.
A quote by Geoff Botkin keeps resonating….”A soldier is too busy fighting to have hobbies.”
Now before you leave my blog 😉 I think you’ll find that’s not such an extreme statement. As I bring up children (arrows), I must not forget that the spiritual war wages all the time. How am I helping equip them to fight? What activities am I encouraging them to be involved in that are ultimately bringing victory to the Kingdom?
Does mindless amusement add to their armour?
Mr. Botkin clarified that there are many things our children should enjoy and participate in. But shouldn’t we stand in stark contrast to the self-centered, couch-lying, game-playing, “my-world-is-all-that-matters” culture around us?
It challenged me to take inventory of our “past time”, and all our activities. Are we investing our time into things that will ultimately serve others, bring glory to God, assist the family’s economy or other such “Kingdom-building” end?
I want my children to be busy with their hands, not just to be busy, but to be always “others minded”. If it’s music, let them practice to be excellent, in order to reflect the image of God.
If it’s crafts, let them always be learning and striving to create in order to show forth good stewardship, making something of nothing, thereby demonstrating another attribute of God, and thinking of how those skills could be a blessing to someone.
But let me always be teaching them to “Redeem the time”.
Of course I let my children play with Legos….don’t get me wrong. (I’m hoping my son will grow up to be a designer of some kind!) But if we generally understand that we are raising “Kingdom workers” (I don’t mean to overuse that term, it’s just so good!) and show them, each day, how their activities, gifts, and bents can be meaningful, our “good works will so shine before men” that the world will glorify our Father.
I should have been getting the kids ready for bed. But I had this idea, walking past the inflated matress in the guest bedroom….Aaron saw me on the edge of the stairs, just in time to firmly say “No m’aam…” with that “what is she thinking?!” tone of voice.
Oops, too late.
(He snapped this picture on a later trip 😉
So then it was on–everyone took turns.
(Be careful what you do…your children will imitate you…and your husband too.)
We don’t have a TV. Does that make us strange? Don’t answer that question.
No ER visits, plenty of free laughs, and now the kids are sure they have a cool mom and dad 😛
I’m excited about this post, but like many others, I have so many different, interlocking thoughts, that I know it will be a challenge to say things clearly. Bear with me!
Yesterday I read an article–ART IN OUR LIVES, to the kids. (I highly recommend you print if off and read it–WOW!) I got so excited about it, that at one point I bounded out of my chair and started reading from a standing position, using lots of hand gestures. I realized, when I saw the children trying to conceal their loving snickers, that I had gotten a little carried away.
“I want to rally every Christian woman up and encourage her, and undo the nonsense the culture has done, and give her a vision that is so much bigger and
life-changing and world-changing than anything she can imagine.”
Nevertheless, the article resonated with me, tying together many other thoughts I’ve had recently about this big job I feel the Lord calls mothers and wives to.
And this is where the culture misses it…this is the “missing link” that causes everyone to scratch their heads and say, “But what if a woman wants to DO something with her life?”…meaning, use her gifts and abilities in a “meaningful” way outside the home.
What we’re called to do here, fleshed out in many practical tangible ways, depending on our gifts and talents, is to be DOMINION TAKERS. (Stay tuned for a review about this coming soon!)
Through our hands, our service, our love, our talents, our ability to communicate, our cultural influence, our children, our husbands, our families–through EVERYTHING we do we are part of an army that is reclaiming our culture for the glory of God.
The question, “so what do you do all day” reveals how completely off the radar this incredible job given to us is. Why do I make such a big deal about the mandate to be keepers at home? To raise children and help our husbands?
Some say, “Mind your own business and don’t tell others what they should be doing.”
It’s not like that! I want to rally every Christian woman up and encourage her, and undo the nonsense the culture has done, and give her a vision that is so much bigger and life-changing and world-changing than anything she can imagine.
Picture Christian women everywhere throwing off the shackles of 9-5, and not just “coming home”, but creating an estate–a city on a hill–a place out of which warriors, of every kind will march forth. Men and women who will become beacons in a dark world, to where the broken and hopeless will flock, and the world will see that YES, the people of God are mighty in the land!
Mothers, remember this on your hard days…it’s worth it!
The most comforting thing and the most terrifying thing about being a Christian is that God is sovereign, and we will never know if we really believe that unless our faith is tested.
We found out yesterday that my husband has “Retinis Pigmentosis“, a degenerative eye disease that causes slow vision loss, beginning with the peripheral vision. Sometimes it causes total blindness, and sometimes the central vision is maintained while all peripheral vision is lost. The doctor seems to think he will maintain his central vision. (BTW, my hubby is only 32!)
And while there are several factors in the physical realm that provide some comfort (new treatments that could be available in the next 10 years, etc.), our only choice, really, is to believe that God is working ALL things for our good and His glory. Period. He can heal, or he can show forth His strength in our weakness, more tangibly than ever.
My flesh reaches out on its own and contemplates our future…how will he continue to provide for us when a large part of our income involves his making occasional long, overnight deliveries across several states?
But isn’t that just like us in every situation? That’s the awesome thing–I don’t have to know or figure out the future. It’s already written. Aaron’s vision problem was woven into the same frame that was “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
God’s not wringing His hands, and neither should we be!
We just keep walking.
“His strength is made perfect in weakness.”
“The Lord gives (sight, or whatever else), and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
We’ve been here before; the discussion of legalism. Legalism is the catch word now days meant to tear down any shred of conviction or standards in the believer’s life. Something came to me that I wanted to share…
I’ve noticed a common tendency, one I think is a big problem, among the legalist-accusing folks. ALMOST always, when I hear someone accuse another of legalism, the accuser asserts that “the legalist” is keeping rules or standards because he thinks it will make him more godly, and he expects others to keep his rules also. This last assertion is almost always an assumption. I’ve personally never heard anyone who is a “dresses only” lady tell others they must stop wearing pants to avoid being in sin. And I know quite a few.
As Mr. Phillips pointed out in the last post, some of the issues of ethics (birth control, education, etc) warrant careful study of the Scripture and may have definitive lines in a Christian’s life. I’m not even talking about those subjects here.
I’m using “modesty” for illustration purposes, since that’s one of the most common areas of disagreement among Christians. This thought can be applied to any topic.
I am defending those who are accused of legalism. But hear me…I’m not defending it because it is so personal to myself. I love dresses, I love femininity, and I wear a lot of dresses. But we do not have a strict, “dress only” code in our home. Just want you to understand that so you can see that I speak from a less biased starting point than you may think.
Everyone agrees that the Bible says “dress modestly”. What we don’t agree on is the definition of modesty.
So when one family decides to “err on the side of caution” as a reader pointed out in the last post, why are they so prone to be called legalists? (By the way, dresses have as much to do with simple femininity as they do modesty for those who wear them…)
For illustrations sake, consider the command: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Again, agreed.
I know many couples, including my husband and me, who “err on the side of caution” in this area. Barring an impossible situation, we’ve just made some RULES, across the board, to keep us above reproach and temptation. Stuff like not allowing ourselves in the position of being alone with someone else, not having exclusive friendships with members of the opposite sex, etc.
These RULES are not written in Scripture. They are our own standards to protect from potentially harmful consequences. They still do not make us immune to sin, but they represent a deep honor and desire to do all we can to remain faithful to our vows.
I submit that many “dress only” families subscribe to a similar concept. Would you call me a legalist because I purposely avoid being together, alone with another man? Why not? Isn’t that a “man-made” rule?
Could I remain faithful to my spouse if we didn’t have those rules? More than likely, yes. So the rule in itself is not where my trust is. The rule is simply a visible guideline that keeps us from creeping, accidentally over into forbidden territory.
And if a lady wears dresses only simply for the sake of feminity, how tragic the act of being called a legalist! It would be the same as being called a legalist because you choose to only wear “warm” colors after the beauty consultant told you those were the most flattering.
I would hope that those of you who have different standards of modesty would reconsider your thoughts of legalism toward others. Understand what legalism is, and understand that you cannot, under most conditions, accurately label someone a legalist.
In Scripture, if someone had a higher standard about something not explicitly written, the “lower standard” people were to submit to the others for the sake of not offending a weaker conscience.
Just something to think about 😉
The most comforting thing and the most terrifying thing about being a Christian is that God is sovereign, and we will never know if we really believe that unless our faith is tested.
We found out yesterday that my husband has “Retinis Pigmentosis“, a degenerative eye disease that causes slow vision loss, beginning with the peripheral vision. Sometimes it causes total blindness, and sometimes the central vision is maintained while all peripheral vision is lost. The doctor seems to think he will maintain his central vision. (BTW, my hubby is only 32!)
And while there are several factors in the physical realm that provide some comfort (new treatments that could be available in the next 10 years, etc.), our only choice, really, is to believe that God is working ALL things for our good and His glory. Period. He can heal, or he can show forth His strength in our weakness, more tangibly than ever.
My flesh reaches out on its own and contemplates our future…how will he continue to provide for us when a large part of our income involves his driving out of state on a regular basis?
But isn’t that just like us in every situation? That’s the awesome thing–I don’t have to know or figure out the future. It’s already written. Aaron’s vision problem was woven into the same frame that was “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
God’s not wringing His hands, and neither should we be!
We just keep walking.
“His strength is made perfect in weakness.”
“The Lord gives (sight, or whatever else), and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
It’s hard to read a really long post…I’m painfully aware of that in all my verbosity 😉
So, I thought I’d TRY to do a “nutshell” version of the last post.
Mr. Phillips was basically saying that it is a dangerous theology to conclude that where the Bible doesn’t speak explicitly on an issue, that issue is just left up for the individual to make up his own mind. That for years, it has been the belief of our godly forefathers that Scripture was completely sufficient to answer all our questions of ethical behavior through the principles within. (He specifically referred to birth control in the article.) He states:
“No Bible-believing Christian should respect or tolerate the argument that God has left us without a revelation to sufficiently make ethical decisions.”
He furthermore states that “legalism” is a term often misused and thrown toward anyone whose standards or convictions differ from one’s own.
I’ve had a great thought about the legalism thing while I was washing dishes this evening, which I’ll post when I get time!
We have some really great friends, and really great times together. I guess people who do not homeschool don’t really have a clear picture of the socialization thing. They sincerely believe our children live a life deprived of “normal” activities and friends.
Recently a woman asked me, when she found out we homeschooled, “so, do you arrange for your children to be with other people?” I didn’t laugh out loud, because she was truly sincere. But maybe I just take for granted the richness of fellowship we are a part of through our many friends.
Thanks to the “hospitality queen” 😉
And it’s not always just “like-minded” people we share with. There are folks from every walk of life, mingling, laughing and enjoying the sweetness of the body of Christ. That’s how it should be.
My daughter with some of her dear friends.
We are blessed to have more social opportunities than time allows. We often have to pick and choose; and then our “social times” are all the sweeter.
Kyla checking out “Jokie“…he is soon to have another sibling adopted from Liberia. What a treasure he is!
This weekend we gathered with a group of friends to celebrate some graduations. These are just a few snapshots–I wish I would have grabbed one of all our children practicing the “Virginia Reel”, the “Box Waltz” and other various dances. We are preparing for a family”ball” where we we will all gather again for an evening of dancing, food and fellowship. (I’ll have to have my 9-year-old son teach me–I’m clueless.)
“How does Mallie spell socialization? F-O-O-D”
