Cute Quote

Me, addressing my 5 year old: "Did you like Reepicheep?"

(We had just come out of the theater after watching the latest Chronicles of Narnia movie. Reepicheep is a large Narnian mouse, who is very skilled with his sword, and known for his bravery and adventurous spirit. )

My little boy: "Reepicheep is the boss!"

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What God Can Do

Today I was reading a new book that I picked up on Sunday called Gospel-Powered Parenting. The author, William P. Farley, shared a great quote from Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) and was showing how it is possible for children to follow Christ in a world filled with sinful allurements.


"Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world: Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3)... In the same way, Christian parents try to make Christ and his kingdom glorious. Their children conquer the lusts of this world with a higher passion: the moral beauty of Christ."


Farley's own testimony of raising his five children echoes the same idea. They put all their hope in the life-transforming power of the Gospel:




"We aimed all our arrows at our children's hearts, knowing that once their hearts were changed, the decisive battle was fought and won."


I have been watching this happen in my own family. Today, I took my four sweet daughters out for a special girls time together. We reserved a study room at the library, and spent a couple of hours just talking together, and sharing what God is teaching each of us. As I sat and listened to the conversation around the table, I was so moved by what God has done/is doing in their lives. I was struck by the amazing fact that God can do in their hearts what parents can only pray for as we teach, love them, rebuke, exhort, and encourage through our days together. He captures hearts and makes them love His Son, and embrace His wisdom and His ways. I am so grateful and filled with hope for what He will do with my-- well, with His children in the days ahead.

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So Thankful That...

God is always the loving Father who runs with outstretched arms to welcome any wayward child who leaves the pig pen to come back home to Him.

Yes, I really love the story of the prodigal son and how it truly illustrates the heart of the Gospel.

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Reciting the Victories of the Gospel

In the 2003 printing of John Piper's Christian classic, Desiring God, he wrote an updated preface. The entire book is dedicated to his father, William Solomon Hottle Piper, and John Piper addresses him directly in the last paragraph:

"Finally, a word to my father. The dedicatory words I wrote in 1986 are still true seventeen years later. I look back through forty-five years and see mother at the dinner table, laughing so hard that the tears run down her face. She was a very happy woman. But especially when you came home on Monday. You had been gone two weeks. Or sometimes three or four. She would glow on Monday mornings when you were coming home.

At the diner table that night (these were the happiest of times in my memory) we would hear about the victories of the gospel. Surely it is more exciting to be the son of an evangelist than to sit with knights and warriors..."

What a statement! John Piper thought that being the son of an evangelist was more exciting than keeping company with knights and warriors. And why? There was something about his father coming home from the front lines of the spiritual battle and telling the stories of how his captain, Jesus, was winning the war. That impacted him as a young boy. His parents obviously longed to see Christ gaining victory in people's hearts. This was something they valued. They got excited about it! His dad, as a traveling evangelist, was giving his life to preaching the Gospel, and his mom, characterized as a happy woman, wanted to hear those stories, and rejoice with her husband over what God was doing. Looking back on his childhood, John Piper held those times as exciting and happy memories.

This little scene that John Piper described reminded me of the opportunity that we have as parents to influence our children. In this case, he was influenced by the example set by his parents of Gospel work, and the natural conversation that flowed out of their delight in what God was doing. How simple! Our children are listening, and they are taking notes on the things that we give our lives to, and get excited about. How fitting that the little boy around that dinner table, listening with great interest to the victories of the Gospel, grew up to be a passionate preacher and writer, who has greatly influenced many to cherish Jesus Christ as their all-satisfying treasure.

I'll be thinking of that when we sit down for our next meal together.

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Forward

Wise words to live by for a new year, and every day of every year to come:
"Only one life, twill soon be past.Only what's done for Christ will last."

My prayer for the new year:"Lord, let 2011 be a year that I live with joy and resolve toward great service, all because Christ is my all-satisfying treasure, and He is worthy of all I can give."

Happy New Year!

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Enjoying Your Mother's Day Gifts

Happy Mother’s Day, ladies! Maybe some of you were treated to special meals, cards, flowers, gifts, jewelry, chocolate, and other loving gifts today from your families. Or maybe some of you received none of these things and felt forgotten today. Whatever the case, you were already given the one gift that qualifies you to celebrate Mother’s Day as a mom…..CHILDREN! And God himself is the one that presented you with that precious gift. He is kind, isn’t He??!!

Often when we receive something as a gift, it comes with instructions, use and care guidelines, or tips for maximum enjoyment. Did you know that when God gave you children he gave you a special manual to help you enjoy your role as a mom to the maximum degree? It’s true! The One who breathes the breath of life into every newborn infant, and created the parents that were involved in the procreation process that brought the child into existence, knows the very best way for children to be raised to adulthood. He has had these principles written down in His word, the Bible, available to all who would read and apply them to their lives.

Often the principles in the Bible that affect motherhood in the greatest way are principles that relate to heart attitudes of the parents. I’m very thankful for the wealth of wisdom regarding such topics as the discipline and instruction of children in the Bible, but I have to say that before I can get to the "how to's", I need the kind of help that simply starts with my own heart, and deals with the sinful attitudes with which I struggle.

With that said, when I cultivate the following three heart attitudes, I find that I greatly enjoy the eight gifts that God has so graciously entrusted into my care for a few short years. And really the years of having children in our homes passes quickly, so there is no time to waste.
So, to fully enjoy your Mother’s Day gifts (your children), ask God to give you…

I. …a heart of excited joy

Your child is a display of God’s amazing handiwork! God is revealed in His creation and man is the pinnacle of His creative genius. Psalm 139 talks about how each and every person is wonderfully made. When we look at a beautiful painting, we not only admire the beauty before us, we say “Whoever painted this is an awesome artist!” I marvel especially when I hold a newborn baby and see the perfection of each little fingernail and eyelash. Modern science in all of its technological advances, can’t fully explain how the human body works in all of its intricacies. It makes me say, “There is a God! Look what He can do!!!” Beyond that, the Christian can say, “MY God did this, and he is amazing!” It should fill our hearts with joy to know the God that made the whole world and your child.

When you think of your child, you should also get excited! The same God, who made children and put them into our families, has exciting work to do through you. His plan is that parents would be the primary instrument through which the next generation of worshippers would be raised up. Psalm 78:1-4, and verses 6 and 7 tell us that God wants parents to tell the next generation to come of the wonders He has done, and that He is worthy of their trust. It’s an exciting privilege and He wants to use you to lead your children to Him.

Ask God to give you….


II. …a heart of humble gratitude

We live in a culture that is all about demanding rights and getting what we “deserve”. But the Scriptures teach that, from God’s perspective, our sin makes us deserving of only one thing—death! So when God comes to undeserving sinful man and offers His Son Jesus Christ to pay for their offenses against Him, we should marvel at his grace and bow before Him in humility and gratefulness. For the believer, we should see everything He gives beyond His forgiveness as a further marvel of His kindness to undeserving sinners. That’s how we should respond to such a gracious gift as a child. We should say, “That you would give your only Son to save and forgive us is unfathomable, but this too??!! Thank you, Lord!” I Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks.”

Now I know that this seems easy to do when your child is an adorable newborn, sleeping sweetly in your arms. But even if he grows into a sweaty, disrespectful teen that is loud and selfish, he is still God’s gift to you, and God will give you the grace to love unconditionally from a heart of humble gratitude. James 4:10 says that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. After all it is by grace that God loves us, and we have all acted like problem children toward Him at one time or another!

And finally, ask God to give you…

III. …a heart of confident trust

There are so many factors in our lives that could tempt us to be anxious about our ability to care for our children. Will we have the wisdom necessary to teach and train them? Will we be able to survive the workload, the sleepless nights, and the crying? Where will the money come from to pay for all the doctor and dentist bills? How will I afford enough food to feed hungry teenagers and their friends? The list goes on and on.

Many times, upon hearing that I have eight children, people have remarked, “Your husband must make a LOT of money!” I love it when I get a comment like that, because while my husband has always worked hard to provide for all of us, it is a great opportunity to say, “It is God who always provides!” We have had children in our home for 20 years and God has never failed to provide what we needed.

Matthew 6: 33 says that God knows about all of our needs, and we should just concentrate on the priority of seeking His kingdom and righteousness. We can be confident that He can be trusted to meet every need that we have.

Beyond physical needs, God has also graciously provided many resources to help fulfill our spiritual responsibilities to our children. We have access to our heavenly Father at any moment through prayer. We were given the Holy Spirit at the moment we were born again, to produce His fruit of love, joy, patience, etc. in our lives. We have His Word that equips us for every good work, and His people to encourage and help us along. There is no need to fear, but be confident in God and trust Him to help you.

Can you see why Hebrews 4:16 is one of my favorite verses? It says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Enjoy your children. They are truly precious gifts from God!

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Forbear and Forgive

Isn't it funny how the irritating things that others do can seem so hard to live with? In a single day we are faced with many quirky, sometimes maddening, even hateful things perpetrated against us by those we love. Especially when I am tired, these things, usually done by my children, seem as irritating as sand blown into my eyes, or a pebble in my shoe that seems to grow with every step I take.

But I've been meditating on Colossians chapter 3 lately and am thinking about the phrase that says, "bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, whoever has a complaint against anyone." It is humbling to recognize how often I am tempted to complain. That is mostly because I am selfish by nature. But there is a clear prescription given in this verse for dealing with those things we want to complain about. Christ calls us to forebear and forgive. That means putting up with all those irritations and further, direct acts of unkindness, and forgiving the ones who do those things. That is what true, unconditional love chooses to do.

When my heart needs to be motivated to do this, I focus on the very next phrase, "just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you." Nothing shrinks the irritating sins of others down to size for me like being reminded of my own sins. I have been guilty of all the things that I hate for other people to do! And though it's bad enough that I've sinned against others, my sin first is against the Lord Himself. I stand before the Lord each day as a debtor who owed a debt that was too great to ever be repaid. But because the One I owed is merciful, He Himself paid my debt for me and forgave it all.

Keeping my eyes on the cross, and the mercy I received that I didn't deserve, helps me love and give grace to those around me, whether they deserve it or not. His grace given to me shrinks the boulders in my shoe back down to pebble size.

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