Making Little Disciples

I performed a monologue for Mother's Day at my church. The gist of it was to help all of the moms out there see that we have an important job, even though some days it doesn't feel that way. One of the things I love most about my heavenly Father is how He times things in my life. The things that the skit dealt with are things that I've been dealing with in my life a lot lately. So when I got the script, I was blown away by how much I could actually relate. God has been revealing so many things to me lately as I pray and seek guidance in my journey of motherhood. 

Some of us who are moms gave up careers to stay at home with our children. Many of us work in some capacity whether by choice or necessity. I've done both and can honestly say that not one is harder/easier than the other. They are different. The grass probably seems greener on the other side, but I can assure you that the grass just tastes different. That is all. With whatever path you chose, you have to figure out your priorities and make it work for your family

I spent three years as a full-time working mom. I've spent two-ish years working in some capacity (babysitting, house cleaning/organizing, independent agent doing web-based work, direct sales, and selling my crafts). For the past five months, I haven't been doing anything to earn extra income because my life has been so stinking hectic. 

Since I left my full-time career nearly six years ago, I have felt like I'm not contributing much to society. When I was a full-time working mom, I wanted nothing more than to stay at home with my baby. It took me three years and the birth of another child to reach that goal, and we made it happen. Since we made it happen, I feel like  my contribution to this world is minimal. Most days I teach children who complain about schoolwork, stay behind on chores and laundry, run children from one activity to the next, and never really have my act together. 

I want to do great things for God. I want to serve Him. I want to go out into all of the world and make disciples. I have definitely felt like what I'm doing is nowhere near that. 

That's where I'm wrong. Dead wrong. I have three little disciples right now. Sure, making their breakfast, lunch, and dinner may not seem like a big deal. Making sure they have clean clothes to wear may not seem like a big deal. Teaching them personal boundaries and how to get a long with other people may not seem all that huge. Telling them Bible stories and working on basic Scripture memory may not seem like it is making a difference, but it is. It isn't a difference that I see right now. I may not see it for quite some time. One day when they are grown and they hopefully will have a strong foundation in faith and know how loved they are. They will know that I was called to disciple them. Hopefully they will know that all of the things I did for them wasn't because I wanted to do them, but because He called me to do them and I obeyed. Hopefully they will see that as an example to answer God's call on their lives. I may be raising a pastor, missionary, Sunday School teacher, musician, stay-at-home parent, engineer, doctor, lawyer...only God knows. Thinking about all of these things makes me realize that my role isn't glamorous, but it is important. It is important because God has entrusted three tiny humans to me. There is no doubt that I will fail often - honestly, multiple times a day. But at the end of the day, if my children know that God loves them perfectly because of something they see in me - then I've done my job and have done so only by the grace of God. 

So my sweet mama friends and even the ones who aren't mamas yet, you are important. It may not feel like it when you are folding towels, sweeping floors, balancing the checkbook, or making dinner. But let me assure you....you are important. You matter to God. You are answering His call on your life and that is a BIG deal. Your little ones need to know how much He loves them and God has blessed mamas with an amazing gift - to love our babies like no one else can. (Drink deeply of her glory even as an infant drinks at its mother’s comforting breasts.” -Isaiah 66:11, I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.” -Isaiah 66:13) They will carry that love with them through their entire life. We live in a world that is obsessed with fame and recognition. You may never see that and that is okay. You just keep scrubbing those toilets and wiping those snotty noses. Our children don't care if we are famous or world renowned. Our children care about the way we love them and show them God's grace. So keep on keeping on, sweet mama. You're doing a good and honorable thing. 

 25She is clothed with strength and dignity,

and she laughs without fear of the future.

26When she speaks, her words are wise,

and she gives instructions with kindness.

27She carefully watches everything in her household

and suffers nothing from laziness.

28Her children stand and bless her.

Her husband praises her:

29“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,

but you surpass them all!”

30Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;

but a woman who fears the lord will be greatly praised.

31Reward her for all she has done.

Let her deeds publicly declare her praise. 

-Proverbs 31:25-31

Peace out and much love.

Our love grows more perfect

This past weekend my husband and I had a passionate disagreement. Let's be honest. Anytime the two of us disagree, it is passionate. We are both insanely stubborn and still haven't learned that we don't always have to be right. That is not a good combination at all. We've grown to this really cool place and it has taken us nearly 13 years to get here. I sure pray this happens sooner for everyone else, because like I said...we are stubborn.

Many moons ago, after we would argue, I would panic. I thought this must be the last marital disagreement we will ever have because there is no way we can make it through this. I would think about how I was going to survive as a single woman and start praying that God would change His heart because there was no way this was my fault.(Hey, I'm being honest.) Eventually, one of us would relent and apologize. Grudges were held. It was a mess. We were a mess.

I'm not saying that we are any less messy. Let's face it. Life is messy. However, now after we have a disagreement, one of us will pretty quickly want to talk things out again. You know, when we've had time to process things and can be more rational. 

So on Saturday we had one of those crazy disagreements. It was all because we just didn't understand each other. There wasn't really someone at fault. We ended up working through things pretty quickly. I had to leave to get groceries and I got a text from my husband that said, "I love you. I love to make up with you. It allows my love for you to grow deeper".  And my response was, "I love you too. I'm thankful for how far we have come in our arguing. That's definitely a God thing. I agree that I feel more secure and rooted in our love when we can work through something. It is just a taste of God's love for us. Very exciting!" (Yes, I'm more longwinded when I respond, but as someone who expresses herself through written words, what do you expect?)

Friends, I'm here to tell you. This is not how we argued several years ago. There was gnashing of teeth and lots of ugliness. This is a God thing. There is no other way to explain it.

Then the next day, our pastor preached his sermon from 1 John 4.

16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world (1 John 4:16-17 NLT)

Wow. It all makes sense now. We are growing in our faith. We are growing in our walks with Christ. We are seeking to live in God. He lives in us. As we live in God, our love grows more perfect. Perfect love. Is that actually attainable?

So all of these thoughts are swimming in my head. If my husband loves me just a fraction of the amount that God loves me, I simply can’t fathom it. And here I go again getting all freaked out by how much actually God loves me.

Then there’s this other really cool part. We CAN love others better. I CAN love my husband more deeply than I ever imagined. I CAN love my children and family more. I CAN love my friends more. I CAN love people I don’t even know. I CAN love more perfectly because God lives in me. Just think about that for a minute. Really think about it. We are capable of loving more perfectly because He lives in us. That is really HUGE. It is something we should really strive for in our Christian walks.

This doesn’t just apply to marriage. This applies to all of our relationships. I pray that we can allow God to help our hearts grow to a size that we didn’t know was possible and love all the people. Even the people we don’t want to love. The ones that make us angry. The ones who cause us to dig deep inside and find that love. You know, those people. 

Peace out and keep loving people! You CAN do it because He lives in you! 

 

Love is in the Air

Chris and I have had the privilege or working with our high school students since this past August. We both absolutely love it. We have an amazing group of students and I love hearing their insight on life. We also had the privilege of going to our very first Resurrection as chaperones. For those of you who don’t know, Resurrection is a ministry that offers a weekend retreat for 6^th-12^th graders in Gatlinburg, TN. It is a good time for spiritual renewal for all parties involved.

The theme of our weekend was Love. The pastor, Andy Nixon, really encouraged us to love like Jesus. He shared great stories of love and hope. The band that led worship, The City Harmonic, was phenomenal. The music really bestowed upon us a mountaintop experience. The lyrics to all of the songs are so deeply entrenched with Scripture. The presence of God was very alive this past weekend and will most definitely remain a memorable and life changing experience for all of us.

The theme of love has really been impressed in my heart for the past year or so now. If you read my blog, you might remember me writing about it from time to time. I personally have felt the Holy Spirit convicting me to love on a deeper level for quite some time.

Well, fast forward to this Wednesday’s lesson with our high school group. We are studying the book of James. Tonight we focused on loving without favoritism. We dove into some Scripture that really explained what love is, how we do it, and why we do it. We challenged the group tonight to really pray about how they might be able to show love to someone they might not normally want to love.

One of my favorite passages of the Bible comes from Romans 12:9-10.

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

I did a quick search and I found the phrase “love your neighbor” is mentioned 11 times in my translation of the Bible. (Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Matthew 5:43, Mark 12:31, Galatians 5:14, Leviticus 19:18, Mark 12:33, Luke 10:27, James 2:8, Romans 13:8, and Romans 13:9)

I don’t know about you…but I’m going to deduce that it is a pretty BIG deal to love our neighbors.

Notice the Bible doesn’t say any of the following: Love your neighbor if they are rich. Love your neighbor if they think just like you. Love your neighbor if they drive a nice car. Love your neighbor if they are nice to you. Love your neighbor if they don’t get on your nerves. Love your neighbor if they live the exact same lifestyle as you. Love your neighbor if they love God.

It just says to love your neighbor. That’s it. No exclusions.

I don’t know about you, but that is pretty convicting. It is really easy to love the people who think just like me. It is really easy to love the people that I enjoy being around. It is easy to love the people who don’t challenge me. That kind of puts me in a really vulnerable position and I don’t always like to be vulnerable.

Romans 12:9-10 actually says not to pretend to love, but to love genuinely and to actually take delight in honoring each other. Seriously, I can’t pretend? I have to enjoy this love stuff? I have to take actual delight in it?

Wow, God. Just wow.

How is anyone to ever come to know the love of Jesus if we don’t mirror the heart of God in our actions?

That is powerful stuff people. This love stuff…it’s hard. Really hard. It isn’t easy. But we are commanded to do it. And by doing so, we are showing others just a small glimpse of the love Jesus has to offer.

I’m going to end on this challenge. We asked our high school students to actually show love to an unlovable (in their eyes) person this week. I’m going to ask you to do the same. I’m going to ask myself to do the same. I’m honestly not around tons of people as a stay at home mom, but I’m praying that God will put that person in my path and I will be able to show him or her a tiny glimpse of God’s love. It may be a co-worker, family member, fellow student, roommate, but we all have a person that we can love this week. I’m asking you to be bold. Do what you are called to do as a fellow believer and make a difference by putting yourself out there and loving. Let’s see what kind of difference we can make for the Kingdom of God. Maybe your act of love will be the example a person needs to know that the one true God loves him. This has the potential to be huge, if we all just take the time to show a little bit of God’s love and grace that He so generously pours onto us. 

-Peace out. Go love someone unlovable this week. 

This is what it is all about...(not the hokey pokey)

Matthew 22:37-40 has been on my mind a lot lately. Like for months actually. It has been consuming my thoughts, so I guess it is time I write about it.

37Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

What does it really mean to love God that much? I’m fairly certain it is a level of perfect love that we as humans will never actually reach, but we should strive for every second of every day. I think as Christians, we get that. We need to love God. We need to put Him first. We need to trust Him. We need to let Him lead our lives. Putting those things into action is what is really more difficult. Let’s face it. We have a lot of distractions in our lives that keep us from loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.  But like I said, I think we know we should strive for that love.

The second part of that command which Jesus says is EQUALLY important – to love our neighbor as yourself? Wait……what? I’m supposed to love everyone as much as I love myself?

1 John 3:11

11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Romans 12: 9-10

9Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-13

1If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.8Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.11When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

13Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

Romans 13:8

8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.

These verses are just the tip of the iceberg. Seriously, love is kind of the theme.  Especially loving others.

Here is my question. Why is this so hard for Christians? Sadly, Christians are known to be some of the most hateful and ugly people around the world. What kind of disservice are we doing to the name of Christ? I mean, really? Friends, what are we doing?

Dude, Jesus loved. He loved everyone. He hung out with the unlovable.  He taught them. He fed them. He healed them. He loved people.  Jesus was love. Jesus is LOVE.

Aren’t we supposed to be like Jesus? That is a rhetorical question, in case you didn’t know.

I seriously get all warm and bubbly thinking about Jesus. He was hands down the coolest guy who ever walked the face of the earth. I want to be like Him. I really do. I eff it up daily, but He is patient with me.

So my challenge for whomever reads this little blog of mine is this….

Walk the walk, people. Stop giving Christianity a bad name. Stop doing things in the name of Jesus that aren’t Christ-like. LOVE. Love unconditionally. Forgive. Help. Use your spiritual gifts. Make a difference. Show grace. Love others. Don’t pretend to love. Really love them. Look at people as Jesus sees them and remember that God made that person too.

The church isn’t about pretty candles. It isn’t about whether or not you think the music is at an acceptable level. It isn’t about the Sunday School rooms being big enough. It isn’t about the thermostat setting in the worship area. It isn’t about sermons that make you feel happy and don’t challenge you. It isn’t about whether or not you agree with every little thing. Being the church is about coming together as a unified body of believers who have one greater purpose.  

John 17:20-23 (part of Jesus’ prayer)

20I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

22“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Love...

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This passage of scripture is stuck in my head. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

 I'm feeling pretty upset right now. I'm not really going to go into details about why I am upset, because it isn't really important. I don't want to be loving, accepting, kind, or patient and God reminded me of this passage.  I'm a really stubborn creature.  

Sometimes people aren't really worthy of our love. I've definitely been the unworthy one on multiple occasions. Sometimes people are such jerks, or so caught up in themselves and their own stuff, that they make you feel small and insignificant. Sometimes people just make us feel badly. Sometimes they are struggling so much with their own personal things that they don’t intentionally hurt us, but they do. Sometimes they make us angry because they hurt someone that we love. But that is just the thing. They are just people. People make mistakes. I make bad choices on a daily basis. If God based His love for me on my actions, I'd probably seldom receive His love. I'm thankful that He is the example of love. 

Father,

Help me love others the way you love them. Help me to see through the hurt, the bad decisions, the selfishness, the inner turmoil, and love them. Help me show them Grace. Help me remember the example of love that you have shown me over and over again. Help them see You in me.

Amen.

something small might make a difference

After my pastor's message this past weekend, I absolutely have to do something. I cannot just sit here in my house passively. I came across this idea while pinning (imagine that) and just have to share it with everyone. Blessing bags  from the Kids With a Vision blog.

For the bags around here I'm thinking of doing the following:
Put everything in a gallon size ziploc bag
chapstick

packages of tissues

toothbrush and sample size toothpaste

comb

soap (although they might not have access to a shower?)

trail mix

fruit cup

granola bars

peanut butter & crackers

pack of gum

band aids

mouthwash

coins

hand wipes

warm pair of socks

hand sanitizer

deodorant

note of encouragement

Any other ideas for the Tennessee area? I'm hoping to get started on these within the next week or so with some others from my church. Who else wants to make these?