In Our Weakness

Do you have a weakness? A bad habit or behaviour that you cannot overcome? Some area of struggle that you cannot gain victory over? Something that reminds you that you are flawed, imperfect, unlovely? Has it been a source of shame? Have you kept it hidden because you fear if others knew about it they would reject you?  Do you worry it makes you unloveable?

Have you ever dreamt of what it might be like if you could tell someone about it? That when you finally got brave enough to tell someone, their reaction would be one of love, compassion, and acceptance?

Do you long for a someone?

Someone who knew everything about you and would still accept you? Where the fear of rejection is wiped away? How amazing would it be to have someone who did not define you by that flaw but rather could see who you are becoming regardless of it? Do you long for a friend who would believe the best about you even though they knew your weakness?

What would it be like if someone saw all of you and loved you fully anyway? What if they could see who you dreamed to be and stayed with you in your successes and failures as you journey towards that goal? Wouldn't life be great if there was a friend who would help pick you up when you fall? Someone who would encourage you? A friend who would remind  you of the dream of who you want to be when you have forgotten.  What if there was someone who could help you regain courage to continue to move towards that dream? What would that be like?

God is that someone. He sees you, He loves you and wants a relationship with you.  He sees who you are meant to be and longs even more than you to see you realize it. He longs to walk step by step through the ups and down, successes and failures as you journey. He longs for your affection and to love you fully in return. God wants to be the most important relationship in your life.

He wants the security and intimacy of your relationship with Him to give you courage to let others know you. He longs for His people to love one another and the world the way He has loved us.

Do you have a brother or sister in Christ whose struggle you have difficulty understanding? Do you have a trouble extending compassion? Are they struggling with something that you find straight forward and honestly can't figure out why it is a problem for them in the first place?

Have you ever considered that you might actually try to treat them in their place of struggle the way you want to be received in yours? You may not be weak in the same exact thing, but can you identify with weakness and imperfection? (I am challenging myself here)

How do you want to be received in your area failure? Can you extend that compassion and grace to another?

Can you treat them the way you want to be treated?

Can you offer a place of safety and love the way Jesus offered one to you?

Can you be for someone what you yourself have longed for?

Could we choose compassion and love instead of judgement or the falseness of tolerance?

If we can live like this in the family of God, we have a better chance of loving all people better.

This is where real community begins.

This is the kind of love that shows others we are people of God.

Can you be their someone?

Life Lessons From Laundry

Last night I wearily began folding the most enormous pile of laundry. I cannot even begin to guess how many loads of laundry I have done over the years. More than can be counted perhaps.

Laundry! Oh the amounts a family of 5 can create!!

I don't remember being scolded for getting dirty as a kid. I remember shock and amazement at how messy I was.  We decided to never get upset with our kids for having adventures and coming home messy. In fact, we encouraged puddle jumping and mud hunts. I remember a few spectacular moments going to see what the commotion at the back door was about only to find sweet faces flushed from exploring and pride at how they wore the evidence of their misadventures. Shooing them into the backyard to hose down before coming in the house.

As I attacked my load (loads) of laundry I remembered how it used to bore me out of my mind. How I resented the mundane regularity of the task. How little hands used to help me sort and fold as best they could.

Laundry has taught me a few things over the years.

1. Be present- We have all sorted in a hurry and had that red sock Make our whites pink. Or gone down to switch the loads and forgot to pull that sweater out to hang. The frustration of finding it shrunk and ruined.
2. Plan ahead- We have all had a Friday when getting ready to go out we are gazing at our closet thinking, where are those jeans that look great with that top? Oh yeah, I spilled coffee on them on Wednesday and forgot to wash them...
3. Delegate- Part of being a family or working on a team means we all do our part. Having responsibility gives us connection, purpose, and confidence that we matter and are significant. I do my part you do yours. Seeing kids take on the responsibility and gain these important attributes is pretty sweet.
4. Things don't always make sense.
   
    Socks. I buy equal numbers, wear them in pairs. There is always a conundrum with socks. I may just ask if I can see a time lapse from the perspective of my socks when I see God, I am curious. I just cannot figure this out!  I even have a kid's book written (well in my head) to explain it. Yeah, I think that much about it. Please don't make any conclusions about me that are irreversible.
5. Slow down- I used to resent having to stop and go sort or fold laundry. I have learned over the years to enjoy the time to slow down and focus on the task. It calms me in a way.
6. Don't procrastinate- if you don't get it done you end up at the Chiropractor in shabby undergarments. Not cool!
7. Learn to enjoy the rhythm. The sun rises and sets predictably, we eat 3 meals a day,  the laundry needs to be washed weekly. I am a finisher, as soon as you are done laundry, there are clothes in the hamper. This can be hard for a finisher. I had to focus on the rhythms of life that give stability. If the rhythm of life is driving me crazy, I need a holiday. As I pay attention to the rhythm of my need for a holiday, I can predict how a calendar year should look.
   
8. A little goes a long way. I don't look at the huge pile. It overwhelms me and I feel I will be folding laundry for forever. I would rather play. Instead, I grab a handful, put it in front of me and fold it. Done! Grab another handful. All of a sudden I am done and I can go do something I like. Breaking a task down into manageable bites makes all the difference and I am rewarded multiple times as a finisher. Instead of finishing one load, I celebrated 10 finishes for one load.
   
   
9. Men do it differently and that is OK. In the desire to lighten my workload once in a while Craig will insist on looking after it. He sorts differently, folds differently. I quickly go through and pull out anything that needs special attention and hide it (don't tell him ok?) If I am not around, then we just deal. Men do things differently and it is good. If we all thought and did things the same it would be mundane, boring and in the end, we would miss the magic of trying to figure each other out.
10. Think of others. The day I heard my son say "This load is too small. Does anyone have jeans that need washing?" Was one of those days when a Mom's heart swells with inexplicable emotion. He was not only thinking practically if he had, he would have just thrown other darks in to make the load sufficient in size. Instead, he thought of his family. Sweet!!! In so many ways and on so many levels❤️

Those are a few of life's lessons I have learned from the laundry. What are your life lessons from laundry? I want to hear them!

Love Speaks in a Whisper

Love came softly this morning.

I could sense the Holy Spirit as he wrapped around my son.

I knew He was whispering in my son's ear.

God has been gently wooing him for a while. Slowly the independence and fight have been ebbing away, peace and joy taking its place.  It has been beautiful to witness. This son who has always known truth, defended it even while running from it. He has given up his fight. God did not come in the earthquake. He did not come in the fire. He came as a gentle whisper.

 Like a gentle breeze.

If I had not been looking for Him, I might have missed it.

He whispered this morning.

The Holy Spirit spoke today.

I could sense the conversation between them. 

My son sat beside me, and all of a sudden his knee started bouncing furiously.

Then I sensed the spirit speak to me. 

Pray!!

The Spirit spurred me. 

I could feel the struggle.  

We always have a little fight in us, don't we?

"Do I speak Lord? Do I stay quiet and say nothing?"

Speak!

I looked at my boy. "Dad will be there with you, he can baptize you."

Eyebrows raised in response.

He sat tight.

Pray!

So I prayed.

 Furiously.

A smile on my lips.

"Not really sure which way this is gonna go Lord!!"

Praying for my children has been one of the great joys and struggles of my life.  

I know many parents understand this.

I could feel the love of almighty God, gently wooing him, whispering to him.  

"Do I speak? Do I stay silent? Lord, what is a Mom to do??"

Speak.

"If the Spirit is speaking to you, do not quiet His voice, obey Him son."

And that was it.

 Up he got and off he went.  

If I had not been looking for Him, I might have missed it.

God will not force us. He calls with arms wide inviting us.

He will not make us.

He waits for us to choose.

Baptism is the call to declare Christ is Lord and that you will follow him to the best of your ability.  We practice baptism by immersion. Symbolically dying to self and the old way, rising with Christ into newness of life. 

Jesus modeled it and calls us to do likewise. the early church demonstrates it. It is  a step in growing in our relationship with God.

What a joy to see your child walk in obedience. What a joy to see them lay down their fight and choose God.

If God has His rightful place in their lives, everything else falls into place. This is the biggest desire of our hearts for our kids, now and always. This is what we pray for. 

I am humbled by God's love and grace. I am so grateful!!

Love speaks in a whisper, don't miss it!

Miss the Mark?

Are you competitive?

My son went to archery with his physical education class this week.  He is very interested in it and enjoyed it immensely.

Did he get a bull's eye?

NO.

Did he want to?

YES!!

We want to think we are OK.

We don't like to think there is something "wrong" with us.

We like to think we are good people.

When a child takes a toy from a toddler, their instinct is to hit.

The instinct of that child is to hit back.

As parents, we intervene and teach that hitting is wrong.

We are to be kind, ask if we can trade.

Why?

If we are intrinsically good, why is it then wrong to instinctively want to take something from someone or to hit?

Where did this standard come from?

Thinking we are basically good by nature becomes harder after raising children :)

This has been another tough few weeks in the news. Chemical warfare in Syria, the US firing back, bombings in Egypt and the horrendous ever growing issue of child and human sex trafficking. Canada ranked 3rd in offenders of creating distributing and promoting this despicable industry that treats children, people as commodities.  It makes me nauseous!!

That is all the information that I need to know that there is something 'wrong' with humanity.

Easter is the biggest of the Christian celebrations.

Scripture tells us there is a standard of what is right and good and that we all fall short of that standard. It is not just some of us. ALL of us.  There is no room for self-righteous indignation at the situation of another. My eyes are on me, your eyes are on you and if we are honest with ourselves, we know there is something off and there is nothing we can do about it. 

We shy away from the word sin, but there it is. In my thoughts, motives, and actions.

I do not achieve the standard. 

I know it is wrong to hit and sometimes I still want to!

I miss the mark.

God is just, perfectly just. Sin has a price and in His perfect justness, that price needs to be paid. Being perfect, he comes to our rescue. 

He knows humanities plight. 

He knows we will never be able to pay the price.

So He does.

He rescues us.

 We were helpless to do anything and so He does.

We don't like this either. 

We want to be independent, believe we can do it on our own. 

We can't and so in rebellion, we try to prove we can.

But, He took care of it by sending Jesus. The only perfect one, worthy to pay the price.

It is too easy. 

I think that is why we fight it.

Or maybe we are overwhelmed by our dark nature and think we are still unworthy.

For whatever reason, we fight.

God has his arms wide inviting us to come.

In the Jewish Religion, one High Priest was chosen by lot to go into the Holy of Holies to represent the people of God on Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, the Sabbath of Sabbaths. The Holy of Holies was guarded by a massive veil.  It kept the presence of God separated from us.  

When Jesus breathed his last, The veil tore.  There is no more separation, he paid the cost, the debt owed by sins for all time paid and we were given free access to God. We no longer need priests to represent us. We can go to Him ourselves. 

He has His arms wide inviting us to come!

To receive forgiveness we need to recognize that sin is an issue for us and Jesus is the answer.

God made a way through Jesus, we are covered by his blood,  our sin washed away. When we receive what Jesus has done on our behalf and recognize Him as our Saviour, we are declared righteous. We are justified. 

Sin previously separated us from God. Jesus took care of that. We get unrestricted access to God. 

All we have to do is accept the gift, our debt paid by another. 

But there is more!!

He conquered sin and death by rising.
There were over 500 eyewitnesses and the accounts were written within their lifetimes.
There are nonreligious historical evidence too if you research.
 If the accounts were false, there would have been plenty of eyewitnesses and documents to correct them.

This is where things really get good.

Now I am a child of God, a new creation.
Because Jesus rose, sin has no nold on me.

I am an heir, the glory of eternity is my inheritance.

Sin no longer has a grip on me and death has no sting.

I have access to God, a personal relationship with Him, not a set of rules to follow and sacrifices to make.
A relationship.
 He wants only my love.

This is why Easter is our biggest celebration.

Are you tired of fighting? Are you ready to receive Him?

There is great freedom here.

He is Risen!!

God is Not Immune to Pain

It is Palm Sunday. 

The day we celebrate Jesus going into Jerusalem as King. 

In the recorded history, the people rejoice, laying down their cloaks and palm branches to honor him.

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

I have always felt tension on Palm Sunday. 

From the time I was small.

Those involved in this celebration had no idea what lay ahead. 

They were completely unprepared. Jesus begins to display a different tone and urgency in his teaching as he tries to prepare his followers for what lies ahead and who knows what The Father and Holy Spirit are feeling knowing what lies ahead and how those praising him will in a few short days be crying out for his death. Oh, the fickle nature of humanity.

We who read the accounts now know what is coming. 

That is where my tension rises from.

I love this quote from John R. W. Stott

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many temples...and in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering. 'The cross of Christ ... is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours....' 'The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak; they rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.”

The torturous cost of my sin He willingly bore. A God who entered into pain for us. We have a King, Lord, Saviour, Friend, who understands. He is unique in his identification with our pain. He can comfort us because He walked this earth, lived in the world we live in and understands our experience. We are not alone.

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday, it is a day of celebration, gratefulness, and joy. I acknowledge the tension I feel and knowing that Jesus himself knew what was coming. Knowing he willingly embraced it. Jesus did not turn away from the path that led to the Cross. I celebrate a King who chose this to redeem humankind and restore what sin broke, at great cost to himself.

It is fitting I give everything to follow Hosanna, Messiah,

the one who gave everything for humanity.

In preparation for Easter, I have been reading from some YouVersion Bible reading plans. 40 days of Lent and Words of Jesus During Passion Week. I encourage you to explore some options this week to prepare your heart and reflect on what Jesus suffered and accomplished for us.

Hosanna in the Highest!

Help I'm a Mom: Learning To Parent Young Adults

Are you raising Young Adults? Will you be one day?  I always thought that I was a Preschool to Primary age grade person. I have been wonderfully surprised at how fun every age has been. More often that naught I am beyond my depth and wondering what the heck I am doing!

It is like a foggy path where only what around you is known and in focus.

Every age has its' challenges and delights.

We are new to the Young Adult stage of parenting. We have a 20-year old, almost 18 and soon to be 17-year-old age range at the moment. Love them to pieces (most of the time!)

This is such a weird stage of life.

I cannot wait to have my husband all to myself again, yet, I am nostalgic about all the memories and stages.

I love my young adults but I long for the times when they were little.

I grieve them leaving and think it is best that they test their independence and fly.

I am completely confused and mixed up!

This is some of what I am learning. did you get that? Currently learning, I clearly have a long, long way to go!!

1. Start letting them test their independence early. while in your home, make them make their choices without your input. How to spend their spending money, how to manage their time and commitments. how to deal with certain situations at school, sports and work are challenges that they are ready for in their mid to late teens. Practicing this prepares them and teaches valuable lessons while they are still in your watchful and loving care.
2. When they ask your opinion, turn it back on them with a question, get them to explore it more. We have always encouraged our children to trust their 'inside voice' or 'gut'. This is often the Holy Spirit talking to them. They have got to learn to be in tune with that voice and listen to it. It can mean the difference between life and death at times. I really did not like it when my own parents did this. Sometimes I sincerely wanted their advice. Guess what,  they actually knew what they were doing!!!
3. It is possible to be supportive without saving them. I actually have more fun watching how they approach a situation. I love to see how they work it out, think it through and act. It is really fascinating! Quite enlightening!
4. It is a load of fun watching God direct their steps. I have a personal history with God specific events I can tell you about that have proven to me He is faithful, good, trustworthy and active. They are just learning that in new, real and personal ways. God is doing this with one of our precious ones right now. It is awesome! What a ride!!!
5. Pray like you never have before that God will put good mentors and reliable people in their path to encourage, disciple, teach and stretch them. Other adults often have the freedom to speak things we as parents would not. I am speechless with gratitude for the men and women God used in our children's lives to be a significant influence. What a gift they are!
6. Don't fret so much! Your child has picked up more from your life, values and teaching than you think they have.  We have had the incredible pleasure of building friendships with many young adults over the last 7-8 years and this is a reoccurring theme that has been a delightful surprise.
7. They are smarter than you think! 
8. Even when they make mistakes, God is big enough to turn it around!

I am loving this stage and the way it is challenging me to be flexible and change the way I interact with my children. 

It is a good exercise in trusting God with what is extremely precious to me. It is teaching me in a new way to think and listen more before I speak. I have a long way to go. But, I think if I stay in tune with the Holy Spirit, He can use this parenting stage to file down my rough edges and shape me more into His likeness.

I do not know what the future holds

But I cannot wait to see what God is going to do!!