Devotion #4- Traditions

 

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and will all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 6:4-7

 

During  this past Halloween I thought about my Dad taking me trick-o-treating while watching my four year old go door to door holding my husband's hand. At times she had to be carried when she saw a scary costume, a scary decoration, or a dog barking inside a house. I love how being a parent forces me to have a foot in the past and in the present all in the same moment.  I love looking back and remembering.

Remembering is Biblical as well. In Deuteronomy God through Moses told the Israelites to remember. The word remember is used something like sixteen times in the book of Deuteronomy. Feasts and celebrations were instituted just so the people would look back and remember God's faithfulness and mercy to them over the years. He is still calling us to remember Him today. Sometimes when the present seems uncertain and lacking hope, if we will look back and remember the past and God's unfailing deliverance, we can face the present and the future. We will find the strength to go forward.

Traditions can help us do just that- remember God and all He has done for us.  As a parent of two little ones I think about traditions quite a bit. What traditions from my family growing up do I want to continue? Which new traditions do I want to begin with my family? As a Mom it is especially easy to get caught up in holiday traditions and make them something stressful.  If all the activity gets in the way of remembering then maybe the tradition needs to be scaled back or eliminated all together.  I don't want my girls to say, " I remember at our house mom stressing out about the turkey at Thanksgiving and yelling at us every December in order to get the perfect Christmas card picture." That would be so sad to me. The traditions we choose must be meaningful and purposeful.

The big seasonal memory making traditions can crowd out the simple everyday traditions. There is power in the simple. Somehow the simple slips into our busy over-filled lives and causes us to pause and take notice.  What if we focused more on daily God honoring traditions like a family devotion time or making family prayer a priority? Ultimately, the most important tradition that needs to be passed down from generation to generation is the knowledge of how to have a personal relationship with Christ and how much He loves us. The relationship we model with our Savior will be the legacy that will last for generations. It will be the tradition that stands the test of time and lasts for eternity. In the end how beautiful and perfect our family looks on the Christmas card this year in their matching seasonal attire and big happy smiles is not going to matter one little bit.

 

 

 

 

My Soul Must Cling

I am a people pleaser by nature. That is to say that I am by nature a liar and a coward. I have been carelessly flirting with the father of lies for most of my life. I don't know how to be apart from the lies. Lies to make others feel good. Lies to cover up my true feelings. Lies, lies, and more lies. A foundation of them built on sand. So when I finally decided or I guess when I finally listened and obeyed God in this matter and spoke the truth to a family member, it came across as heartless and cruel because it was the truth not candy coated and easy to swallow as my past confections have been.

 Add in the fact that I have made an idol out of this person and our relationship, and things quickly go from bad to worse. I have craved this person's approval most of my life, allowing it to become oxygen to my soul. I gave the devil a foothold and he took up residence in my already wayward heart.

The funny thing is that even though it was hard to speak the truth, I felt lighter. Even though I don't know where this relationship goes from here, I feel strangely peaceful. I don't need this person like I once thought I did and there is a quiet strength in that realization. Most of my life I have feared the loss of this person's love and I have fought to hold onto it at all costs. Now my hand is open and that love can go. And I'm okay with that. There is peace in the truth. There is liberation in knowing in my heart that the only love I need, the only love I must have, is the love of my savior. His acceptance is the only validation I need now or ever. I will never lose His love or approval. I don't have to work for it, or earn it, or jump through countless hoops to obtain it. He is my portion forever. When all others have let me down, He never fails. He is the only certainty I have in an uncertain world. And whatever has to come in order for me to draw nearer to Him, bring it on. It is all worth that cost. He will never change. My soul must cling to Him now and forever more.

Sanity Saver (Mommy Tip)

My girls were driving me crazy when I was trying to get meals on the table. It didn't matter the time of day even. Somehow, everyone was always under foot and not only that but crying!  I was able to find this kitchen on Craig's List for $15 and now it sits in the corner of our kitchen. The girls love to make me something while I make their meals. Sanity restored! Smiles all around! Oh and in case you are wondering...the towel is under it because we had hosed it off and dried it off but still wanted to make sure that it didn't drip on the wood floor. We couldn't wait a minute to get it inside the house and try it out!

Devotion #3- Community

"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

 

My church has something called LifeGroups. LifeGroups are small groups that meet in homes during the week to discuss different Biblical topics. My particular group meets to discuss our read through the Bible in a year plan. I'm in the only "kid friendly" LifeGroup and this year there has been a surge in attendance. All together we have twenty-four attending with twelve kids, six of whom who are three or younger. Add in the fact that we also share dinner together and the scene starts to look more like a crazy extended family visiting during the holidays than a weekly Bible study discussion group.

 

This past week we were trying to discuss Ezekiel and Amos which makes for a somewhat deep discussion, when the commotion from the little ones was just too much for us to continue. Typically the older ones are able to play together in an adjoining playroom with the babies crawling or toddling around entertaining themselves with a collection of toys piled in the middle of the floor with the adults looking on. This particular night though someone was chasing someone who didn't want to be chased, someone kept crawling into a not- so- safe dark area behind the sofa, pacifiers and sippies were being stolen left and right, and hair was being pulled. Crying and yelling continued despite one of the adults trying to corral the kids into the other room.

We couldn't even hear one another across the room trying to talk about our readings for the week. Before we gave up entirely though we began to reminisce, loudly I might add, about how far we had come as a group. We talked about how we had continued meeting despite tons of collective life changes like career changes and babies being born. At times continuing to meet had become a sacrifice. It would have been easier to have given up and to have quit a long time ago allowing our busy lives to take over. In spite of all that we have made this time a priority, and we have continued to build our relationships with one another through the years.

 Authentic community the way that God intended is only reached through a commitment to one another which includes sacrifice. We have to sacrifice in order for the blessings to freely flow. I have to admit that there have been times over the years when I have wondered if it was really worth it. Times when the events of the day steal all my energy and I don't think I have anything left to give,  times when the kids are running crazy excited to see one another, and more recently times when it is difficult to complete the reading plan for the week. Those minor inconveniences are soon chased away by the realization that this is what true community looks like, everyone coming together to do life together with all of that mess and realness with the Lord as the center of it all.

Devotion #1- Plunge

I recently agreed to do a devotion of sorts for my MOPS group. The following is the first installment for our new season of MOPS. I hope you find it uplifting and inspiring!

1 Peter 4:8-10 "Above all keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace."

 

I'm going to be honest here and admit that I struggle with hospitality.  To me it represents the core of what a woman should be and I just don't have that gift. Effortless entertaining is just not my thing despite the fact that my mom was really good at it.  Sadly,  the gene just didn't get transferred. I'm the person who thinks I have all the ingredients for the recipe and then somehow at the last minute realize that I am one ingredient short or I'm cooking something I have cooked numerous times before only to get confused at the last minute and skip a step rendering the recipe a failure. I blame part of my problem on my refusal in elementary school to memorize  the cooking measurements.  Who knew those pesky little conversions would be so important later on?

Regardless of my failings in math, God has been working in my heart in the area of hospitality. Specifically, He has been convicting me in the area of loving my neighbors. I struggled with this when I realized that I didn't even know them. This fact is somewhat justified by the neighborhood in which we live. Everyone lives on at least three acres that are primarily wooded. I literally have not seen my next door neighbor in five years. I recently found out one of the houses on my street sat empty for two years and I didn't even notice. All that changed the day that my then two year old locked me out of the house while I was bringing in groceries forcing me to have to meet the neighbor across the street so that I could ask to use their phone.

Needless to say,  a special friendship with that neighbor was quickly formed and we discussed the need to get to know our other neighbors.  After finding out she was a party planner, it was quickly decided that we needed to have a block party for the neighbors on our street.   With her making a living out of hospitality,  I knew she would be able to teach this severely lacking student a thing or two.  Being an English teacher in my previous life, I wrote up the invitations and she had them printed using her connections as a party planner. A week later we handed out the invitations together by going door to door.  I  coordinated the food being brought and she did the running around buying the paper goods and other supplies. It ended up being a  partnership that only God could have orchestrated. 

That afternoon after the block party ended,  I remember going home with a huge smile filling my face.  My spirit was full from connecting with others. My belly was full from good food shared. My hands were full of food that neighbors had insisted I take in return for planning the block party for them. My heart was full from all the thank you's and kind words I unexpectedly received.  I was so thankful that I listened to God's voice and more importantly that I was obedient in allowing myself to be used as an instrument of hospitality which for me represented taking a scary plunge into the unknown. A  verse about Jesus coming to give life to the fullest ran across my mind as I reluctantly walked home and maybe in a small way, this is exactly what He meant.

Right Now

I have to apologize for my spotty writing lately. I really thought things would slow down a little with my oldest starting preschool and going every morning. That hasn't been the case though. I suppose trips to the doctor and dentist had been put off during the summer months and all that is catching up now it seems. I have also felt very convicted to focus more on my physical health lately so I have been setting aside more time to exercise which of course is a positive change but one that takes up more of my writing time these days. I also began Community Bible Study and feel like God is working on me in ways that I can't yet even express yet. Too close to my heart I suppose. I recently finished the book (devoured whole would probably be a better description) the book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess  by Jen Hatmaker which really rocked my thinking and caused me to question so many areas of my life.  All that is to say that I feel God is calling me to give up everything to focus on Him and His word right now. It is a calling to get lost in Him and His word. I am taking "Seek Ye First" literally and making it my number one priority. Every day. So some things are on hold right now as I trust Him exclusively in a way I never have before. Some days He may be calling me to write and other days He may be calling me in a different direction. As I start this new journey with Him I am excited at what He will be doing and I plan to share it with you. May you receive blessings on this day of your journey!

Mommy's Are Good Like That

I am the type of person who always has tons of projects  going on at once. I blame my mom for this but at the same time I secretly like it.  For one thing, I am never bored. Most of my projects are in neat piles in my craft room lined up on this extra table I bought to have room to actually do my projects on but that is another story. I even had my husband put up a wipe board for me so that I can list all my projects and easily see what I want to get done in order for me to use spare moments as I have them.

Typically, I get to most of my projects even though it might take a while. For instance, I got really excited last spring when I saw this pattern at JoAnn’s for an “easy” pillowcase dress. I picked out really cute fabric and thought I could get it done before the baby was to born last summer. Yeah right.  A year later I am still staring at the fabric and the pattern. A few weeks ago, I decided that the time was right to finally make it. I got everything out and began reading and the farthest I got was to cut out the actual pattern. I need to mention that I have difficulty spatially. I hated Geometry in school. I love the actually process of sewing, but patterns confuse the heck out of me. The irony here is that I inherited all of my mom’s sewing paraphernalia so if you were to walk into my craft space you would think that I am a seamstress and really knew what I was doing. I never even took Home Ec. as my middle school pushed academics over electives and students were encouraged to take an extra social studies or a foreign language instead. I did finally take a sewing class as an adult, but it was years ago and sadly, I am one of those people who easily forgets skills if I’m not using them.

I think part of the problem was I was actually scared to start, to make a mistake. I just couldn’t begin. I came up with a way out though, or so I thought. I have a friend who goes to my Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group, Olivia, who sews and actually used to sew as a side business. She made my nursing cover up and I loved it.  I would tell new moms about her all the time and brag on what great cover ups she made. I sent her an email asking her how much she would charge to make my dress that way I could get it off of my crafting “to-do” list once and for all. She quickly responded that she wanted to make one for her daughter too but had been too busy to make one.  She asked me if I wanted to come over for a “sewing playdate”.  I have to admit I was really skeptical that this would work. I could just envision all of our kids going nuts and my baby crawling around and getting into her things and destroying her house like she does mine. Not to mention the fact that I am one of those nerdy people who needs quiet to concentrate and you put four kids together and quiet just doesn’t happen unless they are getting into something and don’t want you to know about it and then things get really bad. But I was desperate to get this dress made. So I took a risk and said yes.

We got together a few days later and the whole experience was amazing from start to finish. First of all Olivia’s house just oozes this great vibe of creativity and a “go with the flow” attitude.  It just felt good to be there. It instantly made me wonder if my home feels as welcoming and inviting to others. Then the kids simply got along really well. There was little fighting and they never got crazy together which is just short of amazing. They remembered each other from being at MOPS together which did help of course. Even Lillian my baby did well despite being in a strange environment not completely “baby proofed”.  So we started our sewing adventure around 10am and by 2pm I had a completed dress.  Olivia was the best teacher and between the two of us, we were able to help out the kids when they needed things. No one argued or got mad the entire time which amazing for that amount of time and the fact that we were all pushing things way past nap time.  

So, sometimes it is worth taking a risk especially when it comes to women helping other women. I was able to get a dress made, develop a friendship, and help my children develop their own special friendships. It was all so worth it. The funny thing is Riley was so excited that I was making this dress for her and has she worn it even once yet? A big, fat no. But I outsmarted her. I made the dress a size bigger so she can still wear it next year and then after that Lillian can wear it too. Mommy’s are good like that.