7 Ways to Celebrate Life Everyday

Maybe you realized it, or maybe you didn't, but today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, and Wednesday will be the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. I was thinking about this a few years ago, when the thought hit me as to one way in which it did affect me growing up.

When I started school, they had built some extra, newer elementary schools in our district to handle all of the children we had. The school was built the year I was born in the last 1960s. By the time I was entering 5th grade, my elementary school had to be shut down due to lack of students. The entering Kindergarten class simply wasn't born in the same numbers as previous years in 1973, or 1974, or most years after that. It could be from other circumstances beyond Roe v. Wade, of course, or added to Roe v. Wade, but the fact is that by 1980, our elementary school closed it's doors due to a sharp decline in enrollment.

I also know that, if I were conceived a few years later than I was, I'd probably not be writing this. I'd have been a prime candidtate for an abortion--I wasn't planned, and my birth mother wasn't married. Maybe she would have chosen life, or maybe not.

As with diet and exercise, sometimes I think we try to think only in terms of the big stuff when it comes to combating the sometimes negative attitudes we see in others about the sanctity of human life, and the laws that legalize the devaluing of life. We think big, like changing laws. However, we are most pro-life when we are pro-life in the little, day to day things...Likewise, we can say we are pro life but act very differently in the everyday (maybe without realizing it), sending conflicting messages to a watching world looking for answers to life's questions.

I was pondering the different ways in which I can show, in my everyday life, that each life I come across has value. I will admit that some of these are convicting to my heart (especially that first one!). However, we really show who we are, not in what we do on special occasions, or on Sunday in church, but in how we live out the nitty gritty of life.

I am sure there are more, but these are the top seven pro life things I want to do, every day, this year, to live out my belief that every life has value, and everyone is made in the image of their Creator God, from conception until the time they set foot into eternity.

Top Seven Everyday Pro Life Things you can do to celebrate life everyday:

1. Treat EVERYONE with respect and dignity as people made in the image of God, from the grandma who is driving 30 MPH in a 55 MPH zone while you're running late for an appointment, to the baby or toddler making a fuss at the store.

2. Teach a child something new, something which celebrates the joy of being alive in little ways, whether it is how to bake a yummy loaf of bread, to how to blow dandelion fuzzies everywhere, or make angels in the snow. Stop and smell the proverbial roses every day with a child.

3. Pray for the single mothers you know, who have a tough job ahead of them, many not by their choice, and many who were courageous enough to choose life in a difficult situation.

4. Ask the Lord to show you one thing you can do to be a blessing to someone who is weary of life and needs encouragement, and act on it. You don't have to do something huge or grande to make someone around you smile. A card, a phone call, a plate of cookies, or a basket of apples off your tree...or anything else the Lord shows you to do.

5. Thank God for the life He has brought into your family, your children, your spouse, your extended family, and YOU.

6. Make sure to tell each of your children how much you love them, each and every day, preferably with a hug that lasts until they let go.

7. Tell those you meet of the hope that is in you: Jesus, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. Ask God to give you opportunities to share of the eternal life you have through our Lord, and spread the word, whether in conversation, emails, a blog, or sharing a tract if you're feeling shy. Sow good seed wherever you go.

Mountains and Valleys

I enjoy reading, among other things, Oswald Chambers book "My Utmost for His Highest" each day. Great little devotional book. Sometimes it makes me smile that how a book, written a century ago, seems to have things in it on just the right day relating to what I am going through on that day, or maybe a word in season to share with and encourage a friend who is going through a situation addressed. Strange how that happens.

Yesterday's entry (which I read this am LOL) was especially good. I hate it when you get to the mountain spiritually, only to come down and hit a very low spot. I've been trying to cheer a girlfriend going through just such a season...hanging out in the valley after having an amazing mountain top experience. Oh, bother. But listen to Mr. Chambers:

The height of the mountain top is measured by the drab drudgery of the valley; but it is in the valley that we live for the glory of God.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, October 2

We don't go to the mountain to live up there...but to retank for life in the valleys.

Secure in God's Love Part Two

This is a continuation of a post from Sunday on Eternal Security. Read Part one first here.

There's alot of verses that talk seem to say you can lose your salvation, such as Paul warning the Galatians not to fall from grace [the verse is found in Gal. 5:4--kim's note] or verses like Rev. 21:7-8 talking about who will be in the lake of fire.

The thing is, it goes back to, are we saved by grace but kept saved by works? Paul addressed this in his letter to the Galatians...about them starting off in faith but trying to finish the race by works...Paul called this "foolish" (Gal. 3:1).

Even the passage in Galatians which you reference, in context, is about Paul telling the Galatians that they had fallen from grace by trying to mix salvation by grace and by works. Essentially, if it is a free gift you don't have to do anything to earn it and you don't need to do anything to keep it. When I give someone a gift for Christmas or their birthday, I don't take it away the second they don't live up to my standards..it wouldn't be a free gift but a debt they continually owe me.

As for the verse in Revelation 21 (and many passages like it), we have to go back to who we are in Christ. I may occasionally screw up and commit the sin of being fearful (one of the sins listed on the list as deserving the Lake of Fire), but that doesn't mean I am one of the fearful...I am a Child of God. When God looks at me, He doesn't see my sin; He sees Christ's Righteousness. My own righteousness is as filthy rags...Christ's is perfect in every way and covers up my failures.

Jesus teaches us that no one can take His sheep out of His hand (John 10:28-29). We can't even pluck ourselves out of His hand if we wanted to, because we are not stronger than God.

...If we can't lose our salvation, what keeps someone living for God? it's absurd to think that someone who is claiming to be a Christian yet living a sinful, worldly life is going to go to heaven.

With your children, do they obey better, cheerfully, and with sweet spirits when they are scared to death of losing your love and approval (and thus trying to appease your anger) or is life generally more pleasant, the children more obedient, when they are secure in your love, knowing you will always love them, and respecting you so much that they don't want to disappoint you? I don't know about in your house, but in my house, when everyone is tip-toeing around me because I am in a foul mood, they may be doing the right things but they are not doing them with the right heart...and a few of the kids just give up trying to even d the right things if I am being excessively critical. However, if they know the house rules so to speak and are feeling secure in my love, and we have cultivated a pleasant atmosphere in our home...then they are obeying with cheerful hearts to please me, not obeying out of fear.

A truly saved person is not going to want to dive back into the miry clay. God saved them. They are thankful to have their feet set upon a rock (Psalm 40:1-3). When someone is a new Christian (especially a new Christian saved as an adult with sinful habits ingrained), God starts to work in their lives, changing them from the inside out. He promises to complete this work in us (Phil. 1:6, Gal. 5:22-23). Now, initially, some of those works of the flesh mentioned in Galatians 5 are going to be a bigger issue in their lives than in a more seasoned saint...but as a new Christian grows, the fruit of the Spirit will also develop more and more. The fruit of the Spirit is something God does in us as we seek after Him, not a to-do list to keep us saved.

In my own life, when I was working to keep my salvation, I was not living a joyful Christian life but a fearful one...always wondering about my salvation at any given moment. It's much more freeing to serve God knowing I can't add one jot or tittle to my salvation...it's settled. Now I am just serving Him out of gratitude for what He did for me, rather than to pay some unpayable debt.

I seriously believe this fear of losing our salvation can paralyze many Christians to the point of inefectiveness in their Christian walk, and rob them of the joy that ought to be theirs. And how prideful to think we could do anything at all to keep ourselves saved or to earn God's continued favor!

Stay tuned for more...Lord willing...

Secure in God's Love, part one

This email was sent to me a few weeks ago, and after receiving a similar question, I decided to post it, and my condensed reply. I was hesitant to do so because I want to focus my blog on things to encourage moms, but as my darling husband pointed out, this is something that may be a huge encouragement. As this was an ongoing email discussion, and because I have way too much to say on the topic, this is going to cover several days worth of posts...starting with this, the first one. So, here goes:

Hi! I recently discovered your web pages. I have enjoyed your articles and resources, but I had a question. From reading your statement of faith, I am going to guess that you don't believe a Christian can lose their salvation. I was wondering why you believe this. Thanks.

Hey, there! Thanks for the question. I have only come to this conviction about 8 years ago now. Prior to this, from nearly the moment I got saved 18 years ago, I had sadly believed that a Christian could actually lose their salvation. I have since come to believe that this belief in "eternal insecurity" is at the root of most false doctrines and has caused much harm.

Essentially, when you believe that a believer can lose their salvation, you are believing that while we may be saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-10), we are kept saved by our own good works. That is not consistent with the teaching of the whole counsel of Scripture.

This starts you on a vicious cycle, where you promise God to do better, then you work really really hard in your own power (or maybe even in God's power), but when you eventually fail again (as those of us with sin natures are prone to do), you walk away feeling ashamed, unworthy, unloved of God, those verses about people who do "such things" having their part in the lake of fire, and it takes you some time to even come back to the point of speaking with God again. As you walk through your Christian life, you live in fear of a God who walks tall and carries a big stick, ready to whack you over the head for every failure. Yours is an abusive father who disowns you then readopts you for ever infraction (or maybe just the "big infractions"). Paul himself discussed this issue, at length, in Romans 7. Actually, to get the "big picture" start reading in Romans 6 and continue on to Romans 8...as Paul leads us through being dead to sin, dealing with sin in our lives, and then walking in the Spirit.

Some of this may be upbringing, and offers a serious reason for self-examination for me as a momma--showing my children unconditional love while still chastening for wrong behavior. Loving on them unconditionally. Not rejecting them as a person or rejecting them from being my child when they do something stupid, wrong, sinful, etc. I heard in the store a few months ago some mom tell her daughter that if her daughter was going to do that then she didn't love her anymore. I wanted to slap the mom (I didn't. LOL). Some kids are more sensitive to this than others...sometimes you may not mean for it to be taken that way, but it is. I grew up thinking I wasn't loved even when I was told "I love you"...the thing was I didn't feel accepted...and for a long time in my Christian walk, I was trying out different things to make me feel more accepted by God (leading to legalism, false doctrines, participation in "christianized" cults, etc.) So, for some, depending on how you were raised, it may be hard to feel and experience the unconditional love of God, and we work to earn our heavenly father's approval, yet always feeling rejected when we don't meet some perceived criteria.

We, better than anyone else, know the sinfulness and wickedness in our hearts, and how very unworthy we at times may feel of this thing that Christ has done for us--taking our sin (past present and future) upon Him at the Cross. And so the part of us that wants equity, and wants justice screams out about how UNFAIR this arrangement is...we feel like we need to do something more...saved by grace through faith is just too easy.

Maybe, too, this is more true if, saved as an adult or in your later teen years, you now bear in your body and soul the bitter fruits of your life before Christ. I know I do. :( I have health issues that can be traced back to the excesses of the life of a pre-Christian on a secular college campus. As these health issues (and related emotional/spiritual issues) occasionally rear their ugly heads in my life 18 years later, I am reminded again, afresh, of what manner of life Christ saved me from. There have been times when I would feel so unworthy of His love, and feel the need to compensate for that feeling by working harder, or beating myself up even more for what could be considered a small mistake (compared to past sins, anyway)...but when you come to really understand Christ's love, and His grace, you realize that His love is unconditional, and when we are motivated by His unconditional love for us, vs. our guilty feelings of unworthiness, we tend to be better Christians, and we are even able to make peace with ourselves.

When I walk in God's love, I tell others about Jesus because I want them to know His love too. There have been times when I was telling others about Jesus because I read in the Bible that if we don't bear much fruit we are none of His, and I wanted to be His, so I went out and tried to "appease the angry god" so to speak by telling others...then feeling like a failure when this effort proved ineffective. I could use a similar analogy for every area of the Christian life.

When I have talked to others about Christ through personal evangelism, there is a huge (HUGE!!!) segment of the population who "tried Christianity" but it didn't "work for them" or they "couldn't live that life" or whatever other one of a thousand variations they may use. Press further, dig deeper, they couldn't take the cycle of guilt, repentance, work hard till you drop and screw up again, then guilt again...and on and on it goes. That's not salvation by grace. That's getting in the door by Christ's blood but some how thinking we keep ourselves in the kingdom in our own abilities to adhere to Christian principles or stick with a Christian lifestyle.

How many prodigals are that way because they came to the realization that they "couldn't live this life" but instead of falling on God's grace, they instead turned from the One who could help them, thinking He rejects them when they fail?

But, what about those verses that talk about people going to hell as a result of this sin or that one, you may ask? More on that in the next post. :-)

Got service?

Someone emailed this to me a little while ago...very convicting.

In not Of

It's one of those areas that are extremely complicated to figure out...being in the world but not of the world.

I love reading history, and Church History is particularly interesting to me. I was reading in a church history book recently about the rise of monastatism in the early post-apostolic church, and the attempts early Christians made at living a holy life by escaping from the world. I could relate. Some days I wish I could do that, you know?

On Sunday, we had a lesson in our Sunday school class, and this topic was among those discussed, and an interesting point was made, and this is it: we can try to seclude ourselves away from the "evil" of this present world through isolating ourselves, but we can never really flee from sin, since we are all sinners, and sin in in our hearts. Our hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5:6) is supposed to be about seeking God not running from life....and just a few verses later (v. 13-14) Jesus reminds us that we are the salt of the earth and light of the world.

Living in the world but not of the world can be even more complicated when you have children. I never would have imagined that "momma grizzly bear" response that would rise up in me when I felt my babies were in danger! Maybe that is the thing that took me most by surprise about being a mom...the overwhelming feeling that I'd do anything to protect my children. As a Christian mom, part of that is protecting them from bad influences in their formative years, and I think that topic has been done to death....but the other part is wisely teaching them how to be in not of too, as they navigate the world around them.

The thing is, there is no other way to really learn or teach that other than being on our knees and in the Word. God didn't issue us some sort of neat checklist (in bulleted format), but He put His Spirit in us, and gave us His Word to search out His principles....bringing us back to hungering and thirsting after His righteousness, and being filled. (Matthew 5:6)

Want to know the will of God for YOU? Read on...

Have you ever heard someone say, "I just want to know the will of God for my life?" Maybe you've said it. I know I have. A few times.

BUT, the will of God is not nearly as mysterious and adventurous as we make it out to be. The will of God is actually quite simple, and is found in the Bible.

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thessalonians 5:18)

I remember reading years ago the autobiographical story of Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom, helping Jews in Nazi-controlled Holland at the time, and getting thrown into the concentration camp. Betsy read this verse, and started to give thanks for everything, even the fleas and lice (having recently had to battle fleas this summer on our Doxie I have a great image in my mind on that one!), and Corrie protested. Finally, Betsy learned, months later, that the reason why they could hold Bible studies and have prayer meetings without being disturbed by the cruel and evil guards is because the guards wouldn't set foot in the dorms because of those fleas. Everything has a purpose, even fleas (though I agree with Corrie; I think I'd also have a hard time thanking God for fleas LOL).

This has been a really hard year for our family. It seems like things are going totally crazy around here, and in all of the craziness--the jury duty, the broken down van, then malfunctioning car, the furnace that broke down for a second time and is waiting for a part--brrrrr, the broken washing machine, and the lack of sales on my website---we are still more blessed than those living in other parts of the world. Hey, I could be one of those Christians in Darfur that the Muslims are brutally murdering, torturing, and raping for their faith. I could live in China, where house church leaders and members are often thrown into prison or beaten for their faith, but God continues to move and add to those churches daily in spite of it. I could live in Germany where the neo-nazi government siezes property, children, and bank accounts of parents who choose to homeschool their kids.

All in all, I'm pretty blessed.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

And so do you....

You will never know the complete, detailed will of God for your specific life, until you are already obeying His general will of God for you, as revealed in the Bible. We all fail of course ;) but there are so many things He shows us to be the will of God in His word that we routinely ignore or disobey while begging to know the will of God...do a study, searching for the words "the will of God" in some Bible software....there is a whole selection of verses.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Totally Awesome post

A cute cartoon with a great message from Joshua Harris....featuring Jabba the Flesh ;)

View it here

Chosen and Accepted----by GOD!

We had a great day at church yesterday. Most of the time, I always Intend to blog about what God was showing me in church, but so often that does not happen! I get so busy with *LIFE* that I forget to share ;). In Sunday School, we are going through the book of Ephesians. We were in Ephesians 1:3-6 yesterday. There was a lot of meat there!!

When you really stop and think about it, what an amazing thought that God has chosen and accepted us into His family--and that His acceptance of us is not based on our performance but on what Christ has done! I think that latter part many of us struggle with the most.We will say we were saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9) but we live as though our works will be what keeps us saved. However, if we weren't good enough to earn salvation, how on earth can we possibly be good enough to keep it on our own? Such a thing just isn't possible!

My husband and I were involved in lots of different churches over the years...we were just talking about it, but we have been at our current church the longest! That's a scary thought, as I still feel so new; however, we've been here for almost 7 years. There are a lot of variations on this teaching. I've been in churches where you could feel both saved and lost dozens of times each day--every errant thought sent you back to damnation. I've been in churches where only the "really big sins" made your salvation unsteady. I've been in churches on the other end where, because of God's grace, we were told we weren't supposed to change anything of our lifestyle or do anything the Bible teaches because we're saved already. So many teachings...and yet they didn't sit right with me as neither seems to me to be teaching the character and heart of our Lord. Is He a mean, abusive Father who stands over us with a big stick, waiting to beat on us for messing up and rejecting us the second we don't keep a standard only His Son has been able to keep? Is He a jolly Santa figure, who plays the permissive parent, and delights to let us run wild because "it's all grace, anyways"? Or is He a firm yet loving parent, guiding us step by step, loving us even when we fail, but loving us enough to gently chastise us when we go astray, and lead us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake?

Maybe it has something to do with upbringing too--that is how we were raised affects how we view God. Growing up I heard "I love you" a lot, but I didn't feel loved or accepted.There was verbal abuse that undermined any affect those three empty words ever did in my heart. For a long time, it was hard to accept that God did in fact love me unconditionally, that he didn't dismiss my hearts desires with a cruel "Don't be so foolish!" and realizing that He didn't look down on me with a look of rejection whenever I screwed up. I think everyone's upbringing, to one way or another, colors how they view God until they mature in the faith to the point where they know God well enough to know His character is contrary to the flawed ways earthly parents raise their children.

In churches where eternal insecurity (the doctrine that you can lose your salvation) is taught, usually the argument is made that if we are saved by grace, what reason would we have to obey God? How about love of a father? Imagine this: if you were a teenager, and your daddy indicated to you that every time you messed up he was turning his back on you, and no longer your father, what sort of feelings would you have for that guy? If you are like me, you'd say, FINE! I'll take my chances down at the soup kitchen and homeless shelter, and you'd move out. If you aren't so outspoken, you'd maybe silently resent that, and leave as soon as you were old enough or maybe harbor some bitterness. You'd NOT be motivated by love to please your daddy. If you obeyed at all, it would be just to keep a roof over your head. However, if you know that you are loved even if you were a teenager, and you came home to tell your parents you were pregnant or if you called them from the county jail for stealing cars, you'd probably be more motivated NOT to screw up and disappoint them. For a while, believing that God would cast me out if I were to mess up "too badly", I lived paralyzed in that fear of rejection. When I did mess up, I usually didn't quickly grovel back to Him...I ran from Him. I messed up and have lost my salvation, so time to live like an unsaved person for a few days (or months)! However, when I know that God, in His mercies, loves and accepts me, and sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins (that is, every sin I ever committed and will commit!), then of course I am going to not want to disappoint my heavenly father.

My heart's desire is to please Him, and to bring Glory to His name. I so often fail...but He still loves me. Father God looks at me and sees Christ's blood instead of my failures. We thrive in the security we have as believers. We are not worried about earning God's love, or performing. Practical truth in light of positional truth, we were taught yesterday, means that I have freedom to live securely in Christ. Amen and amen!

16 years ago today....

Sixteen years ago today, I got baptized at Baptisten Gemeinde Salzburg (Lehen).

God is so very good, isn't He?

I am overwhelmed with the way He has led and guided my life up to this point, and this despite some of the huge, godless mistakes I made before I accepted Christ and called on Him to be my Lord and Savior! WOW.

This week for my Reformer's memory work, I am working on learning Romans 2: 4. It has really cut me to heart too...let me tell ya!

"Or despist thou the riches of His goodness, and forebearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"

How many times do we do that? I know I am guilty of being irritated when I see God giving someone I deem "unworthy" one more chance....sometimes I think, come on, God, do something!!! and I realize He is doing something--showing that person the riches of His goodness, forebearance, and longsuffering, knowing that the Goodness of God will possibly lead that person to repent....

How many times did I NOT deserve those same riches of His goodness, and yet He dished them out anyway?? He's so good to me!

Just the Regurgitated Pseudo-Facts

I was very busy this week and didn't get on here....too busy living life to blog about it. LOL....

but I was playing around with a few thoughts for Defending the Faith Sunday that I never got around to posting, and then learned on Tuesday of the death of the Rev. Jerry Falwell (and the ensuing nasty bashing that pretty much everyone took part in). It was rather ironic that my DTFS topic that I was mulling around had a lot to do with what was so obviously displayed this week on the occasion of the death of Mr. Falwell.

As a pre-Christian in the mid eighties, I had some false assumptions about Christians, Christianity, conservatism, and so forth. Most of my assumptions I didn't come up with on my own. They were just some regurgitated pseudo-facts I had heard along the way that any self-respecting liberal is supposed to repeat until they believe them to be true.


One of those "facts" was that the conservatives are trying to ban free speech and turn us all into mindless drones who can't think for ourselves, and they are trying to suck the fun out of life. At the top of the list of villans in this story stood Jerry Falwell.

I never actually personally heard the guy speak. I only heard from others who heard from others that he was a hate monger bent on the destruction of our free society, and needed to be shouted down until he was ultimately stopped from his evil world domination and subjection plot.

Years later, as a Christian, I still didn't always agree with Jerry Falwell, but I understood where he was coming from and saw his heart--one that was pained deeply by the direction our society is heading and who seemed to care too much about others.

I almost laugh when I hear about how Christians don't think for themselves. It is probably true of some, of course, but it is despite the Biblical commands toward wisdom and understanding and being of a sound mind, not because the Bible advocates any sort of assimilation into a collective conciousness of group-think. If anything, I've noticed how foolish some people sound when they start spouting those sorts of lines about Christians and yet come across as the puppet with someone else pulling the strings.

Talking to a variety of people throughout my daily life, it gives me an eerie feeling to remember the sins of my past when I meet up with some bonehead who, like I once did, throws a temper tantrum and uses foul language as their only defense against the truth of God's word, and who can feel threatened even by a middle aged mom who is speaking quietly about the love of God. Even this past week, as I read some comments about Rev. Falwell's death, and people proving their immaturity by stating that they would be celebrating his death by engaging in acts that they know he would find offensive, all I could think about is "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do". No truer statement has been said--they really haven't thought at all about what they are doing and saying--they are just regurgitating the same tired lines they've learned from others.

Defending the Faith SONday--May 6th, 2007

Really, every day is defending the faith day, isn't it? :-)

Jo Jo Tabares, of Art of Eloquence as well as her blog and weekly podcast, "Grace Talk Soup", has come up with this great idea for Christian bloggers each Sunday. this is in response to the too-absurd-to-be-believed celebration of "Evolution Sunday" in some churches. I've decided to take her up on this challenge, and I will endeavor to blog something on this theme in my blog each Sunday. I usually try not to go on the computer at all on the Lord's Day, so actually it will probalby be posted on Mondays or Saturdays. :-)

When I became a Christian in 1990, I considered myself to be rather progressive in that I believed in God and the Bible inspite of what I thought was scientific evidence to the contrary. The fact is that God made Himself so very real to me in such a miraculous and tangible way, I couldn't deny His existence any longer, but at the same time, I had to wrestle with how to make this experience fit into my pre-conceived ideas and prejudices against the Bible (Which I had never read). I look back at that now and consider it rather absurd, but the Lord led me one step at a time....from rabidly opposed to Christianity to joyfully and faithfully attending a fundamentalist church. The fact is that there is so little evidence to support evolution (which, by the way, contradicts the basic laws of physics), that it would be a leap of faith for anyone fully informed of all of the shortcomings of this flawed theory to actually believe in it. Those who are die hards in it keep searching for their holy grail, "the Missing Link"....which is still missing and always will be.

As a thinking person, the more I have studied this out...not only evolution, but all aspects of biblical history and Christianity, there is no other conclusion to come to but the truth and validity of the faith.

Meditating on Joy

I've been meditating on Joy this past week.

I guess it seems fitting, doesn't it? This blog IS called Joyful Momma Musings, and my website is called Joyful Momma Publishing.

At Reformers, my challenges this week have to do with the fruit of joy. (Reformers, as I said in other posts, is an addictions ministry in our church that I take part in each Friday). The definition of Joy that they give is this: "Joy is a cheerful, calm delight in all the circumstances of life" contrasted with Frustration. I started to realize just how much joy is related to meekness too, in a fresh new way. I have always known that Joy comes from God and that it is not about circumstances, but rather about God in me!

At first I was a little confused as to why the workbook contrasted joy with frustration. What?!? but then I realized that when we are joyful in the Lord (not just "happy") we are less inclined to be frustrated by the circumstnaces of life....we just roll with it.

Come on now, you too, right? I mean, when you are waiting in line at the store and someone decides to barter as if she were in the Morrocan marketplace while standing in the 20 items or less express lane with 23 items in her cart, if you are full of the Spirit you can usually cheerfully and calmly delight in it and even find some amusement in how frustrated the other customers are getting. AH but when we are in the flesh and the same thing happens we tap our feet, turn red and then blue from holding our breath, think unhappy thoughts about the dear lady, and practically breathe fire out of our noses.

that's Joy vs. Frustration....plain and simple. Think about it.

Pragmatic Obedience

As I said in my last post, I have really been enjoying being reminded of those fundamentals of Christianity, and getting back to basics in that regard. It made me think of how pragmatic we get in our Christianity sometimes. While studying this whole matter of love versus self love, and while meditating on God's expectations for me, as a Child of God, I have also been confronted with some various crisis, some in my own life and some in the lives of others around me. And I began to notice something, while this matter of love vs. self love was fresh in my brain, that we have become extremely pragmatic in our Christianity here in modern day America (and probably other parts of the western world). Our main concern is not, "Is this the right thing to do?" but rather "Does it work? Will it get ME the desired results that I am looking for, to meet MY needs?" How many times do people discuss issues like giving in terms of what God will do for us if we do this, instead of just "Do it because it is the right thing to do!" We help out those in need because God says He will bless us, not just because God says it is the right thing to do. We give our tithes and offerings because we want God to open the windows of heaven on us, not because we want to honor God. Well, maybe we do want to honor God but the fringe benefits are also there, prominately in our minds.

Maybe I am feeling a little bit cynical....since meditating on the whole issue of love, versus self love, and analyzing myself, I have noticed these strange hidden motives of my own heart, where while I want to honor God, I have one eye on what is in it for me. God, I'm giving this to missions,as you have prompted me, now you do your part and bless me really good, ok? God, I'm going to help out this family who is in need, so you be sure to take care of us too, ok?
Of course God takes care of us...that's why He says, as I read in my daily Bible reading today, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on..." (Matthew 6:25)...maybe part of that taking no thought is not doing the right thing with a hidden motive of bribing God into doing what He has already promised, not even thinking about what benefits might come our way. And this is not just financial giving...that's just a nice clear cut example where people say, Oh I tried that and I became a millinoare or I tried that and it didn't work. Obedience is something we do,not something we try out to see if we are going to get what we want--in any area of the Bible.

Friends with troubled relationships saying, "Well, I tried it the Bible way, but it didn't work because he is still doing (fill in the blank)..." or "I tried training my children but it just didn't work...." Doing the right thing because it is the right thing is a reward unto itself, isn't it?

Here's to obedience without pragmatism in this new year!

Last week happenings

Last week we had Missions conference in our church, which I look forward to every year. I have been sitting here thinking of how to sum that all up for my blog, and my thoughts are all swirling around.

It is a blessing to have children who long to serve the Lord in whatever way they are able to. I can say with John, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John 4). It really is a joy for this mom to see children come up with ways to be a blessing to others without me nudging them on! My kids, each year, talk to the missionaries, and they also try to make them each cookies to take with them on the last day. This year, we did ginger bread cookies.


It's also a blessing to be challenged about needs that extend beyond ourselves and our immediate area. Wowie.

Then there's the blessing of being reminded of the faithfulness of our God, and how we can trust Him with our every need. I think that is a reminder we can all use! Trusting God goes beyond one or two of our pet issues, and encompasses the whole of our lives...a life truely yielded to God, where we are willingly obedient to Him.

It always amazes me when parents are negative about their children becoming missionaries or wanting to serve God in some way. I am so thankful that my children are tender about being yielded to God. I've always told them...all I want for you guys is to be in the center of God's will, whatever that ends up being. Amen?

Have a great week.
Kimberly

Jonah and the Vine and a God who PROVIDES

Someone emailed me recently to ask me if I personally ever get down over
financial issues. After reading my book, Thriving on One Income, she was
wondering if I ever have those down days, with discouragement and so forth
at not being able to have all that it seems others have.

The truth? YEPPERS!

I really think it comes and goes in seasons. It depends on a lot of things,
but most especially what I am allowing into my head. I've noticed that if I
have spent too much time with my mom (who has a lot of nice stuff), or
anyone who has "nice things" or at one of those home parties where everyone
is buying up things and I am scanning the list for anything under $5....I
get down. I wonder, WHY ME? Why can't I have what (fill in the blank) has?

I think I hit my low point last summer when my husband finally got a good
job after years of being underpaid....and then in a few months, they just
closed down the shop and moved it overseas for cheaper labor. I was crushed,
and angry. It was rather ironic too because the week that this all
transpired, a large white truck pulled in my driveway and dropped off 4
cases of books--copies of my book Thriving on One Income that I had printed
up and perfect bound with shiny new full color covers. I was really having
a pity party and a temper tantrum all rolled into one over this whole issue,
and so my husband ripped open one of the boxes, and handed me a copy of my
book and said, "You may want to read this. It might help. Some lady who has
learned to be content on a very small income wrote it to be an encouragement
to people in these situations."

I was not amused.

However, a few pages into my own book, I was really convicted. It isn't a
one time thing--that whole "contentment thang". Sometimes we have to go back
to the Lord over and over and over again concerning the exact same issues,
because in our own human strength we just CAN'T! However, in God's power, we
can. His grace is sufficient for us, even in seemingly "mundane" areas like
being a stay at home mom.

Just recently, as I was reading through the book of Jonah in the Bible (as
in Jonah and the Big Fish), God really showed me something. You see, I have
always been somewhat mystified by the part of the story where Jonah is
having a temper tantrum outside of the city, and God allows the vine to grow
up and to shade him, and then God allows the vine to die, upsetting Jonah.
It never really made a lot of sense to me in a practical way, but when I
read that recently, God showed me that I am a lot like Jonah in that regard.
Just when we were having a really hard time to the point where we were both
ready to give up, God sent along a vine (the nice job). Though it didn't
last long, it was shade for a season, so to speak. God allowed it to whither
and go away, and like Jonah, I was upset....mostly because I was missing the
big picture.

God was STILL My provider, no matter what job we had, if any. And even
today, with the job my husband has now, it is all God's grace that we rely
upon, not ourselves, or our employers, or anything else. Praise Him