Choices

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! 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 2:5-11

My 12 year old daughter recently purchased a book titled Coke or Pepsi? The book poses
all sorts of opinion questions that the girls are supposed to answer. For example, do you prefer to drink Coke or Pepsi? I suppose the idea is to get girls talking to each other, as if they need any help with that! Not to be outdone, my 10 year old son came home with a similar book for boys. It is titled Would You Rather…? Not surprisingly, the back of the book encourages the reader to “Challenge your friends with over 300 disgusting dilemmas!”


If someone were to write a book like this for moms, it would probably come closer to the
boy version. I’ll leave it to your imagination to come up with disgusting or difficult motherhood dilemmas. My personal list could go on for quite awhile.   Unfortunately, as moms, we have no choice but to deal with difficult dilemmas. When we became a mother, our selfish nature was forced into the backseat. When our children are babies we quickly realize that for every cute and cuddly Kodak moment, there are about 10 unpleasant moments. This ratio doesn’t change as they get older. Helping them make God-pleasing choices, or making these decisions for them, often involves a battle.


Thankfully, the biggest battle, the most difficult task to complete, has been done for
us. The price of our sins has been paid. God’s plan for our salvation put Christ on the road to
Calvary. Along the way he held unwaveringly to His Father’s plan. He battled with religious
leaders. He touched disgusting, diseased people. He encouraged his disciples to make the right
choices and reprimanded them when they didn’t. He spent his life surrounded by the unclean
and rejected of society and then suffered unimaginable pain and death. The easy way out was
never an option for him.


When we are faced with days of unpleasant choices, we need to remember our ultimate
goal. The reward at the end of our life is eternity with our savior. My daily prayer is for my
children to have this as their goal as well.


Dear Lord, please help us to focus on you. Too often we get caught up in self-pity. We listen
to a world that encourages us to reward ourselves in this life. You set the perfect example for us and then you took our punishment. Help our attitudes toward our daily tasks to reflect this
marvelous truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Keep on running

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:1-3

As parents, we are always on the go.  Get the kids to school, run errands, clean house, fold laundry, put away laundry, make dinner, help with homework, put pajamas on, get everyone in bed...whew.  Aren't there some days when you feel like you're just running in place, and nothing is happening?  Like the laundry--there's ALWAYS laundry to be done, even when you're putting the last load away in the drawers.

It is so easy to get tired of our vocation as parents.  We feel like we're always running, but never going anywhere.  It would be so easy to say, "I QUIT!" and walk away from it all.  

Imagine how Jesus himself must have felt.  He was out there, proclaiming the Gospel.  At every turn, there He came upon opposition to his preaching.  At the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced the fact that he was about to die for OUR sins.  Yet He never got tired of it.  He kept preaching.  Even that night in the garden, He prayed, "Thy will be done."

God has a plan for all of us.  He knows where we're going in life.  He watches over us as we parent our children.  He is there every step of the way.  It's such a comfort, knowing that we are not alone in this race that we're running.  If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, we'll find the way.  We'll never get lost, we'll never run out of energy to keep going.  We throw off those thoughts of quitting, and keep on going.

The prize--eternal life in Heaven--is so worth it, isn't it?

Dear Heavenly Father, I know that parenting isn't easy.  There are days that I don't think I can keep going.  Thank you for your presence.  Thank you for showing me the way when I feel like I'm lost.  Most of all, thank you for sending Your Son to give me the ultimate prize of eternal life in heaven.  In Your name I pray, Amen.

Sleep

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8


I memorized this verse  when I was 16 years old.  The Northridge earthquake had recently struck our home and it happened at 4:3O a.m.  Sleep evaded me, I was terrified of another huge earthquake hitting.  A close friend, living in Colorado at the time, sent me a letter containing this verse and encouraged me to memorize it.  I soon found myself reciting this verse over and over as the months of aftershocks continued.


This is a verse that has remained close to my heart.  As a mother, sleep is often hard to come by for a variety of reasons.  And although this verse does nothing to help with sick kids or crying newborns, it does bring a peace over me when I am up at night because of worry.  It's easy to stay up and worry about our children, sickness, money, severe weather, and all sorts of troubles we encounter.  


It's also a verse that I have found helpful to share with my kids as they are afraid of sleeping or having nightmares.  


We have a great God who is more powerful than any danger and problems that we encounter.  There is a peace in knowing that he always has me in his care.


Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the peaceful rest you provide us with to refresh and renew ourselves as mothers .  Please help us to remember that even as we sleep you are in control and watching over us.

Plugged In to what your Family is Watching

As parents we have a responsibility to know what our kids are hearing and seeing in the music, movies, television shows, and video games they encounter.  Some things are a little easier to preview, but something like a movie costs a lot of money and time to check out before letting them.  Our family likes to use the site Plugged In.  It is run by Focus on the Family and gives you the whole run down on content.  

For movies they review are Positive Content, Spiritual Content, Sexual Content, Violent Content, Crude or Profane Language, Drug & Alcohol Content, and other Negative Elements.  Games, TV Shows, and Music are a little less detailed in their review but still give an honest, helpful evaluation.

How Are You Feeling?

Jesus Wept.” John 11:35

Feelings and emotions are a part of every moment of the day. Sometimes the emotions in our homes are good and feel positive and at other times the emotions are not so good and feel like anything but positive. At times, when we are having a rough day, we might feel as if God just doesn’t understand what we are going through. We may ask, “Why God? Do you have any idea how hard this is?”

Our verse today is just one of the many verses in God’s Word that reminds us that God does understand. He knows first-hand exactly what it is like to feel many different emotions. Surrounding this verse is the story of Jesus talking with Martha and Mary after the death of their bother Lazarus. Jesus was friends with Lazarus and when he saw the sadness and mourning, He was moved to tears. Jesus felt sorrow and sadness over the loss of a friend.

Here we are reminded that Jesus, along with being true God, is also truly human. God sent His Son here as a human to “walk in our shoes”, to know what it feels like. We can see other times in Scripture where, in Jesus, God feels the same emotions that we do. He showed anger when He saw the people making the temple like a market place. When Jesus celebrated at the wedding feast of Cana, He surely felt joy and happiness. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene, feeling the weight of the sins of the whole world bearing down on Him, the stress He felt was so great that He sweat drops of blood. When Jesus was beaten, mocked, and persecuted to earn our salvation, He felt pain.

God does know what we are feeling. He has experienced the same joy, sadness, stress, pain, and anger that we feel as we go through life. Not only does God know how we feel, He carries us through. Jesus came to earth as God and man. He felt the same emotions that we feel every day. He experienced the path that we follow in our earthly lives. He came to suffer and die to take the punishment for our sins. Through faith in Jesus, our beautiful Savior, we will one day begin our eternity with Him in heaven, where we will no longer feel pain, stress, sadness, or grief.

What a wonderful comfort it is to know just how well God really does know everything that we go through in this earthly life. What a wonderful comfort it is to us as parents that we can share with our children and help them to know just how much God knows and understands them and all of their feelings. God does know how we feel!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Your Son, Jesus, to walk this earth and feel the same emotions that we feel as He journeyed His life here on earth with the purpose of winning salvation for us. Lord, help us to remember to come to You with all of our joy and sorrow knowing that You understand. Help us to teach our children to come to You and share their feelings, knowing that You are always there. Amen.

They Better Mean It!

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. John 10:27-29

The words of the song were proclaimed loud and clear. “God, you are my God and I will ever praise you. And step by step, you’ll lead me and I will follow you all of my days.”

These were words that I had heard my girls sing several times before from the back seat of the car, through the walls of their bedroom, and even on the front porch, but this time they were different. This time instead of being entertained by the volume and enthusiasm, with which the words were sung, I stood in the back of the church thinking, “They better mean it.”

Oh, how I pray the words of John are true for all of my children! In a perfect world they would hear constantly the word of God from me and from all who surround them. There would be no question that all would inherit the life that has been promised them through the death and resurrection of our Savior. All of creation would remain in the Father’s hand.

This is not however a perfect world. The world is a scary place for my children. No matter how hard I try to monitor everything they are exposed to, I can’t do it, and I find myself flinching at some of the things they hear, see, and say. It seems the only safe place for them is in my arms, and even there I know they feel the repercussions of my sin. This is where prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit come in. It is also where trust in the words of the Savior come in.

I cannot shield my children from everything in this world that would cause them to fall into sin, but I can pick them up with the hand of a forgiving God. I cannot keep them from hearing harsh words from a classmate, but I can make sure they hear His Word through daily devotions. I cannot sensor every message the world gives, but I can proclaim the message of Christ crucified and risen, loud and clear in my home. And I can pray that as my children grow, our great Heavenly Father would keep a tight grip on them when I cannot.

I am praying for your children today too; children who walk step by step with mine in following The One who is greater than all.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for entrusting your children, to our care. Equip us to teach them the words of eternal life, and keep them safe in a world that does not always proclaim your salvation. May our children want to sing of your promises and your glory all throughout their lives.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

Where is your treasure?

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:16-18

Around the time of Thanksgiving it always starts.  You go to your mailbox, and every day there seems to be a new toy catalog.  Turn on any kid's station on TV and you'll find a barrage of commercials, telling the kids what they NEED for Christmas.  If your kids are anything like mine, they have a Christmas list a mile long.

Christmas comes and goes, and if you're a mom like me, you find yourself saying, "I don't know why we bought you kids these toys.  You don't play with them!"  And in the stores:  "I'm not buying you a new toy--we just got done with Christmas!  You should be playing with the toys you have!"  It seems like no matter how many toys we buy our kids, they're always wanting more.

The same can be said about us as adults, right?  We buy those perfect boots, thinking that's all we need.  But then the store has some different boots come on a great sale, and you start thinking that you could really use those, too.  Or we buy a new car thinking it's the latest and greatest.  But then the new models come out, and your car just doesn't seem right anymore.  We're never really satisfied.

What we need to remember, though, is that these earthy treasures just don't matter.  No matter how much stuff we pile up throughout our lifetime--be it clothes, toys, shoes, whatever--it doesn't matter when it comes to our salvation.  We can't take anything with us.

That's why it's so important to stress to our children that we want to be working more on storing treasures up in Heaven than on Earth.  Enriching our faith with daily Bible reading and devotions.  Giving money to the church offering.  Giving time to those in need.  Sharing our faith with others.  Those are the treasures we need to be concerned with--not the treasures we may want here during our daily life.  As our Scripture today tells us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the treasure you give us.  Thank you for the gift of eternal life that you share with us--that treasure in Heaven that will never leave us.  Help us to remember that is the treasure that is most important to us--not any treasure that we may have here on Earth.  In your name we pray, Amen.