"And (they) said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen.  But do not have God speak to us or we will die."    Exodus 20 :19 NIV


"We show how little we love God by preferring to listen to His servants only.   We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we do not desire that God Himself should speak to us.  Why are we so terrified lest God should speak to us?  Because we know that if God does speak, either the thing must be done or we must tell God we will not obey Him."       -Oswald Chambers



Oh, how guilty I am of this very thing!  Reading devotions online, browsing blogs, or scrolling screens - turning the pages of a book someone else has written about God, when He is longing to write His story on the pages of my life. 

I go searching for some deep meaning or answers to the questions I carry and the burdens I bear, when the ultimate answer guide has already been written thousands of years ago.  He is the answer because He is the way. . . He is the truth.

ALL I need is God!

He is fullness!

The work of His salvation and the revealing of His nature and will is already made complete.  He has revealed Himself to us in His Word and by His Spirit.  But I will never hear Him speaking if my mind is clouded with everyone else's experience with Him.  I must take the time to spend in His Word, in prayer, and in being still listening to what He has to say to me, for my life.  

On Mission

These words struck me today as I was reading Sally Clarkson's book "The Mission of Motherhood." I hope you find her words as inspiring as I did. . .

"Over and over again in the Gospels, we read that the disciples were "with" Jesus. Our Lord developed the hearts of his followers by spending time with them - instructing them, advising them, modeling right behavior. He spoke with them one-on-one and in small groups. He included them in his ministry and in his daily life. But what he almost never did with his disciples was to sign them up for activities and programs.

We are on the go for God. We are busy doing many activities and going to this meeting and that seminar. Yet all of the going in the world will not make us or our children spiritually deep or alive. It is only by coming to the living God and developing intimacy with him that we will really draw near in our hearts to Christ.

Jesus didn't meet with his disciplies once a week for Bible study and then say, "I'll see you next week!" He gave his disciples his whole life. He lived with them, slept with them, traveled with them, and lived out a life of godly maturity before their eyes. Having the personality of the God who created the universe living with them every moment for three years gave them an understanding of his ways that nothing else could do. They observed him in the private times of friendship and eating and sharing and being exhausted and buying and preparing food as well as in public ministry - teaching, healing, worshiping, confronting, encouraging. There was perfect integrity between the words he spoke and the life he lived. Thus his disciplies could learn what righteousness looked like in all situations."
(taken from The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson)




What implications this has for us as mothers! We have the beautiful opportunity every day to live out the Gospel and be the hands and feet of Christ. He was the perfect example of how we should interact with our children. He carefully and purposefully guided them in truth. He shared and illuminated the ways of God in such a way that they could understand and grow in the knowledge and wisdom of the Holy One. We are to do the same.

These little ones come to us ready to be molded and taught. They learn not only by the words we say, but the way we live our very lives. How we respond in traffic, the tone of voice we use at the end of the grocery shopping trip, the joy or sorrow we display, it is all seen and heard by little souls who will reflect this behavior.

I pray that in my teaching, in my exhaustion, in my worship, in every waking hour my children will be able to see a small reflection of the righteousness of Christ.

I pray for His blessings and pray for His peace
Ask for the littles to have peaceful sleep.
Call out His name when I'm tired or down
Forgetting the cost of the thorn and the crown.
Foolish and focused on all that I need
Missing the forest because of the trees.


I have it all backwards or so it would seem
When begging for blessing comes so easily.
The giving should be TO the Father above
Who once gave His Son, and His life, and His love.


So, may I bless Him with my words and my deeds
Helping, forgiving, and loving so free.
He gave it all, so that I might have life
Now may I live fully for only my Christ.


(my small song for Him tonight, I love you Jesus!)  :)

Motherhood

I am made a mother in late November.  No slight thing that this girl. . . made wife. . . made mommy happens two days before Thanksgiving.  What an amazing gift to be thankful for!  The gift of motherhood! 

I am so thankful that 'God only wise' allowed me this unspeakable joy of mothering.  It is almost a shadow of a glimpse of the ever encompassing love He has for us.   To have and to hold made flesh simply. . . to have more and to hold more.

I know love deeper because I am a mother.

I know compassion more fully because He has placed these little ones in my care.

I know joy wider because of their sparkle filled eyes.

I know peace stronger because they have rested in my arms.

I know life sweeter because of the sweetness of their embrace.

I know the Father stronger because of this gift of mother journey.

Thank you Lord for making me a mother.  For trusting me enough to guide these tender ones to You.  For showering grace after grace on us.  I love You!

God Comes in the Quiet

Our God comes in the quiet things.

Even now the heavens are declaring His glory, but not a word is spoken.

Trees praise with uplifted arms.

Light burns with joy, turning sunset bright.

He whispers His love on white butterfly wings. 

As blossoms fall from budding trees, we see His goodness.

The fullness of the earth is His and cannot help but shout silent His wonderful works!

If only I would stop and see the words He's written on the world. 

To be still. . . quiet. . . and hear Him speak.

Quiet Thanks

Lying quiet on lavender dusted field.

The breath of clouds drift soft against sky blue.

Child laughter dances across the breeze.

Bare toes run on spring grass to deliver yellow lioned flowers.

Butterfly white skipping on wind's joy.


For this I am grateful. . .

the beauty of spring

the quietness of His presence

the unexpected refreshing

handfuls of dandelion love

laughter shared with women of faith

"Come here, I want to kiss you," from my little guy

chasing bubbles in the wind

new mercy

being close to Him

knowing Him more day by day

# 230-239

Satisfactory Apathy

The mail piles up on kitchen counter.  Sales papers, credit card offers, utility bills, and the starving cry for my attention.  I browse the sales, tear up the offers, file the bill to be paid, and pause.  This is my choice.  Here, delivered right to my mailbox is a way, a way I've been seeking to help the needy, serve the poor and homeless, sick and orphaned.  But how many times have I seen the bloated tummies. . . and thrown them in the trash.

Our nation oozes affluence.  Even in our humble home, living on a budget with five people who need to eat and a light bill that needs paying and clothes that need to be bought, we live in the top 20% of the wealthy of the world.  The other 80% of the world lives on less than $10 a day, and a majority of that group lives on less than $1 a day.

The saddest part of this story is that most people will read those statistics and think, "Wow, that's hard to believe," and promptly change the channel on the television and stuff another handful of potato chips in their mouths.  This seems harsh, but the reality is that most of us know there is desperate need in this world, but most of us do absolutely nothing about it.

Even now I can see the rolling eyes and groans of people who have become so apathetic you can see their hearts harden before your very eyes.  I am ashamed to say, that for awhile that was me.  The envelopes fill the mailbox, and if you give once they all come asking again and again, until it feels like all you give is going to pay for the postage of all this mail you receive.  But when it comes down to it, the question is, am I willing?

Am I willing to make the right choice.  To choose seven meals for the starving or one for my family to eat dinner out.  Am I willing to choose sacrifice over self?  Am I willing to love others more than I love stuff?  Am I willing. . .

This begs the question, what if I had been born in sub-Saharan Africa, what if my mother had just died of AIDS, what if there was nothing at all to eat. . . or drink. . . or wear?  What if all I knew was desperation and starvation and loneliness?  I would want someone to care.  I wouldn't want my picture thrown in the trash.  Choose today.  Boldly care, boldly give in faith, and there will be no regrets.




"It's very apparent that you are to love the Lord with all your heart and then you're to love your neighbor as yourself.  And myself doesn't want to be starving, and so I don't want other people in the world to be starving.  Jesus does not ask that we care for the less fortunate, He demands it."   -Katie Davis


www.samaritanspurse.org
www.compassion.com
www.WorldVision.org