So True

It's so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day and get tired of it, especially, I think, as a mom of young kids. Will this ever end, we cry?
These lines from an unknown author gave me a much needed reminder:

One of these days you'll shout, "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age?" And they will. Or you'll say, "Kids, get outside and find yourselves something to do, and don't slam the door!" And they won't.
   You'll straighten the boy's bedroom neat and tidy - bumper stickers discarded, spread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves, hangers in the closet with clothes attached, animals caged - and you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay just like this!" And it will.
   You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say, "Now there's a meal fit for company!" And you will eat alone.
   You'll say, "I want complete privacy while I'm on the phone. No dancing around. No pantomimes. No demolition crews. Silence. Do you hear me?" And you will have it.
   No more plastic place mats stained with spaghetti. No more spreads to protect sofas from damp bottoms and dusty shoes. No more gates to stumble over in the doorway of the baby's room. No more Hot Wheels or Barbie dolls under the couch. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
   No more anxious nights under vaporizer tents. No more cracker curmbs on the sheets. No more wall-to-wall water in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches. No wet, knotted shoelaces, pants with knees out, or rubber bands for pony tails.
   Imagine a lipstick with a point on it, not having to get a baby-sitter for New Year's Eve, family washing only once a week, seeing a steak that isn't ground, marketing with only groceries in the basket. No more PTA meetings. No more car pools. No blaring radios or Sesame Street three times a day. No more washing hair at 9 o'clock at night. And no more wondering, "Where is the family car!" Imagine having your own roll of Scotch tape.
   Think about it. No more Christmas presents made out of construction paper and will-hold glue. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No more giggles in the dark. No knees to heal. No responsibility! Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up!" And the silence echoing, "I did!"

   Hope this encourages you today.

Saint, not Sinner

Have you ever thought you were the absolute worst person in the world? You had a rough day and yelled at everyone around you, or cut off some guy on the road because he was making you angry. You harbored thoughts of jealousy or resentment towards a friend, or blatantly caused them hurt because you were upset.
    I have often thought that I must be the worst mom there is. All too often, I am too harsh with my kids over silly little things and am completely impatient. Everyday I can count numerous offenses against my kids and by the end of the day, I think God can't possibly look on me with joy or pleasure.
    I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'sinner saved by grace' before. I know I've heard it a lot. And it's true, is it not? We were spiritually dead, slaves to sin, before we accepted God's free gift. Because of amazing grace we are saved from our sins. And so, I've always just thought of myself as a sinner struggling along to do the right things and please God. I'm reminded from time to time that the Holy Spirit is there to help us past that sin, but mostly I just think of how many things I've done wrong in a day and have to ask forgiveness for and the fact that I'll probably do that many wrong tomorrow.
   Have you ever thought about yourself differently? Last night I started a new book The Seduction of Our Children by Neil T. Anderson and Steve Russo. I only made it a few pages before something struck me. "But we have confused ourselves and our children by calling ourselves "sinners saved by grace" when the Bible calls us saints who occasionally sin. The difference is profound. If your child (or you) still thinks he's a sinner, he will easily be convinced to do what sinners do: sin. Rather, every born-again child of God is a saint who has been transferred out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13). The more your child (or you) believes that he is a saint because of his faith in Christ's death and resurrection, the more he will live like a saint." (pg 19, items in parenthesis mine).  Wow!
    I had to stop and think that one over awhile. I think it'll take me a long time to fully process it. You've all heard of these psychologists toting the notion of "positive thought", right? Well I think when that positive thought is focused on God and His will for our lives it really does work.
    This morning, just to drive this point home, God revealed this in His Word to me. Romans 6:18 says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" and Romans 6:22 says, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." How does this relate? It means that we used to be slaves to sin and are now slaves to a most holy and righteous God that views us as holy and righteous. He doesn't look at us and see all we've done wrong, He looks at us and sees us through Jesus who is holy and righteous. I almost imagine Jesus as a filter that God looks through to see us. That filter removes all the bad and God sees us as saints.
    The next time you start berating yourself for all the wrong things you've done, remember to ask forgiveness and then not dwell on it any longer. God isn't. He's forgiven you and doesn't look at you as a sinner but as a saint. What an amazing God we have!
    I realize as well that the more I desire to love like He loves, the more He is showing me how much He loves me. If He can look on me and not see my sin, should I not do the same for those around me, especially my kids?

Spending time with God

I was thinking over my quiet times lately and something interesting dawned on me. A few years ago I was in a Bible study called the 2:7 Series. The first book in the series required us at some point during the study to spend seven consecutive days doing quiet times, that is reading somewhere in our Bible, writing about it and praying about it. It took me over two weeks to get seven days in a row! And it was suggested that we spend 15 minutes a day. I remember in that time thinking what in the world will I do for 15 minutes. I even remember looking up at the clock to see if time had gone by yet! It was so hard to read and write and pray for 15 minutes for seven days!
   The next book in the study required us to do 14 days in a row! Oh no, I thought, how will I ever get that accomplished? It took me over a month to do it, but as hard as it was I made it, 15 minutes a day and all!
   Now, looking back I can't believe I had such a hard time with it. These days I find myself looking up at the clock only to realize that 40 minutes have gone by and I've only read and written. I think, oh no, I have to get the kids up and I'm not done yet! What a change!
    What made the difference? There wasn't a specific day that I can say, because of this situation or this miracle or this audible voice from heaven. All that happened is that I persevered and kept trying to spend time with my Bible and God. I started to get to know God slowly with each reading and journal entry and prayer. As I got to know God and am still getting to know Him I want to spend more and more time with Him because I am finding He's so truly amazing and as my boys love to say 'incomprehensible'. The things I can learn about God, His character, His miracles, and His presence never end. Every time I read something in the Bible, even if I've read it before it applies to my life! It's truly amazing how alive scripture is and how much we can benefit from it IF we persevere work through the dry spells.
   It's hard at first because there's a lot of information and a lot of history that we just don't understand. But if we continue in it and pray for wisdom and understanding, our great God is faithful in providing what we need and revealing himself to us!
   I always find it amazing how easily we can get lost in a good novel. What if we got lost in the pages of the only book that's alive with God's words? What would our lives look like? Go ahead, try it. Just 15 minutes for the next seven days. See what happens.

Love like you love

Recently my prayer for myself has been, "Lord, help me love the way you love." Seems like a simple thing to do, yet it's so difficult to actually accomplish. I started wondering about a month after praying this prayer what was wrong with me. Why couldn't I love the way Jesus loves and asks me to love?
    As I pondered this I started asking the Lord what the obstacle was in my heart that prevented me from loving freely, besides the obvious sinful nature we all struggle with. And our Lord is so good to us and is faithful to answer our prayers, especially when they focus around his will for our lives. He gently revealed to me right over Mother's Day that I still had things I needed to work through from my mom's death. After eight years I honestly believed I was over it and had it all worked out.
   Our Lord knows when to reveal certain things to us, and is so good in that he doesn't bombard us with it all at once, but slowly and gently leads us through it.
    The revelation was simple yet profound. There was an unconscious, unexpressed fear in my heart. I had never recognized this fear or even thought of it as a possibility. I generally view myself as a person without many fears, so it took me a bit by surprise. The Lord showed me I was afraid that those I loved dearly and openly would then be taken from me and therefore I refrained from loving them like the Lord does. 
    The Lord is still gently leading me through this obstacle in my life. Recognition of it has been a huge leap in loving others like He does, and He's revealing to me the importance of putting my all into loving others and setting aside the thoughts of losing those people. The saying, it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all rings in my mind. It may sound cliche but it is true. After all, why else were we put on this earth than to love like Jesus.