You May Not Agree with Me

“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:7-8)

Iowa passed a law allowing same-sex marriage last week. I was not surprised at all. I expected the ruling to go down that way and a part of me is really struggling because I agree with it. Yes, me, the Bible-loving, God fearing, praying, joyful, Christian that I am is very torn because the legal rules, separation of church and state, side of me sees the point. I chose my faith. I chose to follow God and His ways and His design for life, marriage, love, and everything outside and in between. Although I will tell you to get involved in politics, go to meetings, vote as often as you can so that people we want to represent us are in office I do not believe that our Christian disciplines should be forced on anyone.

I know that a homosexual lifestyle is not what I teach my children and it’s not what I want for my children, I can be honest about that. However, I know if one of my children chose that I would still love them and still have them over for dinner. (Why dinner is sticking out in my mind I don’t know.) Then I think of God. He not only loves my gay child but also loves his or her partner, so I would invite that person over for dinner. My children would get a taste of the unconditional love the Father has for us through me even knowing that I don’t approve of their life style. Punishment for sin, and separation from God, is not something I have the right to dish out. And that gay child, believing with all of their heart that Jesus died for his or her sins, has a place in Heaven. There are sins that I struggle with daily that weigh no more than any other sin. The best I believe we can do is strive to live the life that God has planned for us and shine Jesus’ light for the world to see.

The state determining who can be legally united does not diminish the sanctity of marriage. The sanctity of marriage is what WE make of it and how we help other find the beauty in what God originally designed for us. Look at what heterosexual marriages have brought into our society over the last 50 years. When it comes to defending the sanctity of marriage, traditional marriages haven’t done such a great job of being the leaders in good marriages and monogamy in our country today. If we seriously want to make a difference in the world it has to start in our own marriages and then we have to learn to love the way God loves. I cannot stress enough how badly I mess up everyday and every time I go to the cross He forgives me. His example is excellent and perfect. So, you may not agree with me (I am not sure I do) but I just think that God has better ways for us to reach out and in than to verbally or legally attack people whose lifestyles are different than ours and I am sure there is a line there too….

“So the trouble is not with the laws, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Romans 7:14-16)

Just Another Day

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

 

It’s my husband’s birthday today BUT before anyone goes rushing to their Facebooks, email accounts, or cell phones STOP! He doesn’t want birthday wishes because it’s “just another day”, which of course irritated me enough that it’s all I can think about, hence the subject matter of the day: him. If you wish him happy birthday he may not join me for “just a regular day” lunch at work. So, if I don’t eat it is your fault (wait until after lunch).

 

On this incredibly normal day I will share with you how very irritated my husband can make me. In fact, I am pretty sure he can irritate me more quickly than anyone else on the planet and he is proud of how good he is at doing this. On the other hand, the better one, one smile and my husband can make me laugh and end a fight, which irritates me again! Our friendship, our marriage, and our love is not without its emotional roller coasters but I am blessed every moment he is with me. He is the man I never I knew I needed. He is my lover, my best friend, a wonderful dad, and, I believe, my soul mate.

 

He will always be the first to say that I helped him stay the course. However, I wonder if he will ever know how much his strength and love have helped me put one foot in front of the other. Those few times when my faith gets wobbly he is right there with an infusion of guidance to get me back into place. He would say I am the strong one but it’s when I am not, and I feel like everything is falling apart, he gently walks me back to the Lord’s feet. So, on this incredibly normal day I want to praise and thank God for the man He has so graciously given me to walk with on earth. I am blessed, I am loved, and I am….probably in a bit of trouble!

 

“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it.” (Song of Songs 8:6-7a)

I want to Live a Verb

“I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.” (Psalm 18:1-2a)

 

I am a nerd. Actually, I am the nerd of my entire family. Being a nerd I like schedules, budgets, numbers, and routines. However, I don’t do so well with commands and rules because I am also defiant and a little mischievous (go figure). For example: I like to wake up in the morning to pray and read my Bible. I don’t read my Bible and pray because God commands it though. I do those things because I love the Lord and I want to know Him better. I love going to service on Sundays. I don’t go because it’s the law but I go because it’s incredible to worship the God of the universe and be surrounded by so many people who are in love with Him as well. I enjoy teaching and serving on Wednesday nights but it’s not because Jesus requires acts of service. I go in to my classroom on Wednesdays because I want to encourage a great group of awesome kids to be excited and in love with Jesus.

 

I want to live the verb of being in love with Jesus. I want my faith to be moving and living. I never want to sit down for a second.

 

+        I want to reach out into the community

+        I want to love the people in my life unconditionally

+        I want to give and then give some more

+        I want to trust and know that I am free

+        I want to be a good wife, mother, daughter, and friend

+        I want to live running and basking and all these things with God in the center of me because I love my Lord….because I love Jesus.

 

I want to bring God with me everywhere I go. Sometimes I leave Him here in this seat after I get done with devotions and for that I feel terrible. He doesn’t want just my mornings. Our Lord wants our everything and I want to give it to Him. I have let go of me and let God in and some days that is hard.  Walk with me, please, as I endure this challenge not because of some rule or ritual but because of  love and devotion to our Father.

 

“Praise the Lord! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him.” (Revelations 19:6a-7a)

Embarrassingly Naked

“I tried to relieve your fears: ‘Don’t be terrified of them. God, your God, is leading the way; he’s fighting for you. You saw with your own eyes what he did for you in Egypt; you saw what he did in the wilderness, how God, your God, carried you as a father carries a child, carried you the whole way until you arrived here. But now that you’re here, you won’t trust God, your God—‘” (Deuteronomy 1:29-31 The Message)

 

I am overwhelmed with family. I am overwhelmed with school. I am overwhelmed with a special needs child. I am overwhelmed trying to be the wife and mother I am called to be. I am overwhelmed with busyness but then overwhelmed when I can’t think of what to do. I am overwhelmed trying to be healthy and lose weight. I am overwhelmed with our finances. I am overwhelmed trying to keep a house and I am overwhelmed trying to keep my faith in line when there are days when it feels like the balls I so precariously juggle are bouncing down the road and I am overwhelmed keeping chasing them down. And what is it again that I try to teach over and over again? I shout out constantly that God is good, when we hand everything over to God we will find peace, and (my favorite) God has a beautiful and perfect plan. Once again it is easier said than done.

 

With all that you may find it incredible that I have peace and reassurance in my faith. In spite of being terribly overwhelmed, some days anyway, I can usually go with the flow fairly well. God has found ways to remind me that I am where I am and, honestly, I couldn’t and wouldn’t change a thing. I love my husband and so I love being his wife. I adore my children and so even the hard days are a joy. I love accounting so work is a reward. I believe I am a student by nature and so school is something I look forward to. And, as far as the juggling….I have never been very good at balance so it’s no wonder that I drop the ball quite often.

 

My point is that everything is about perspective. Yes, I will be the first to admit that there is a lot going on but we have a home, we have food, we have power, we have jobs, we are healthy, and we have an amazing family and circle of friends. God is good. In the chaos of it all I take a big deep breath in and I breath out and I put one foot in front of the other and I smile because, even on the cloudiest day, I am still standing in the Sun.

 

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your hear to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:5-8)

Let’s Get Real

“Let  your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love.” (Proverbs 18-20)

 

I have heard and read many debates about the purpose of marriage recently. People shout that marriage was simply put in place for procreation. Others defend that marriage is a religious institution and that it should be separate from the state altogether. And still others argue that marriage is a way for two people who love each other to commit their lives to each other publically. I am not about to go into a political debate this morning. However, whatever God intended marriage to be He intended it to be fun….or funny, I can back and forth between the two.

 

When God made Eve He did not tell Adam He was making a baby machine. God made Adam a helpmate or a companion (Genesis 2:18). As you walk through the Bible you read of many people falling in love, staying together for longer than I care to be alive on this earth, having children, making mistakes, growing families, building their homes, fighting wars, and staying together through it all. This is more than two people getting together to simply fill the earth with people (and by the way, if you haven’t noticed, the earth is pretty heavily populated). The Bible shares stories and examples of people sharing their lives, pushing through hard times, and devoting their marriages to God.

 

But let’s get back to the fun part. It is my desire that every married couple truly enjoy themselves. We need to love our husbands and wives with a love that the world does not understand. It’s an agape love that transcends anything you will find in a romance novel. It’s that love that shines when your bride is walking down the isle as much as when your husband is puking all over the bed from food poisoning. It’s that love that sticks with you even when the days are long and you can’t remember what it was that drew you to your spouse. It’s a choice to love someone when they have bad breath or when they wear that one sweater than you like so much. God gave you your spouse. Love them fiercely, even more when you are mad. Enjoy them immensely because you can. Laugh often, fight fair, and be silly whenever you can (that is what works for us anyway). The days won’t always be easy; in fact there will be some parts that suck. But, the journey will be worth it and eternity will make it all clear.

 

“My lover is mine, and I am his. Nightly he strolls in our garden. Delighting in the flowers until dawn breaths in light and night slips away.” (Song of Songs 2:16-17a)

The Ones We Love

“You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe without seeing” ~Jesus (John 20:29)

 

Have you ever heard that saying: you always hurt the ones you love. Or, how about the fact that you are more likely to die at the hand of someone in your family than a complete stranger. (Not sure if that is true or not but I know I have heard it somewhere.) In my Bible, after the Book of John, I have written: Jesus, how can I love You when I fail you so many times? I am pretty hard on myself some days. There are days when I fail in self-control, anger, or bad thinking and the disappointment washes over me and I wish I could hide from Jesus. However, King David let us know that there is no where we can hide where God cannot find us.

 

This weekend I was pretty upset and instead of keeping my mouth shut I made everything worse and picked an argument with my husband. I wasn’t even upset with him. I was just stressed out and tired.  I didn’t go out to start a fight but my bad attitude lead to one. I would have never done that with one of my friends, my parents, or the pastor of our church. Although I don’t think it at the time I know that my husband is not going anywhere and he will forgive me, so maybe there is safety there for me to let my guard down. Maybe the same is true with Jesus: I know He will forgive so it makes it that much harder to change sometimes.

 

I tell my oldest son that there comes a time when he just has to start making better choices on his own. I remind him that he is old enough now that I can’t be with him everywhere he goes and that my arm only stretches so far. I think it would be good to remember that although God is with us everywhere we go, a great feat I wish I could do with my own children, He knows that we are old enough now to make better choices. Just because we can’t see Him doesn’t mean He’s not there watching every success and seeing every stumble. I feel like my stumbles must hurt God somehow but it’s hard to change and I know He won’t stop loving me, which makes it even harder. Maybe that is why we can tell our kids over and over again the same thing and they still do it wrong; it’s because they know we won’t stop loving them or taking care of them….not much incentive there, huh. So, where do we find that incentive? How do we change? How do we stop hurting the ones that we love?

 

“I am the grapevine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mind that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.” (John 15:1-4)

It’s Breaking

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hunger, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?….No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” (Romans 8:35, 37)

 

Have I mentioned I love the weather we have had lately? It’s been cool and kind of rainy and for some reason I have been basking in it. I am not usually this excited about the cold coming in but it just seems like such a nice relief. However, with the cold hitting my skin I have noticed that stress and worry have been hitting my heart and maybe even my soul. Is it just me or does there seem to be more stress, breaking relationships, grief, and pain right now? Has the gray sky of the season blocked out our ability to see all the blessings in our lives?

 

Lord, I really don’t know what is going on but I know that so many people need so much healing. We need healing in our homes, in our relationships, in our bodies, and in our hearts. O God, please remind us that You are always near and always walking with us. Dear Jesus, help me, and everyone, peel away the layers that keep us from experiencing Your peace and comfort and the layers that keep us from the people I love or need to love. Lord, guide our hands, feet, and hearts towards Your will and Your perfect plan. May we chose to walk with You Lord and may You please give us the strength to do just that….even when it seems so much easier to walk away. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

“And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20b)

An Intimate Conversation

“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake?” (Matthew 7:9-10)

 

Here is the phone text conversation:

 

“Oreos”

 

“LOL. Reg or DBL?”

 

“U Pick”

 

I had been having a craving for Oreos. I had an Oreo blizzard thing from McDonalds a few days ago but that just wasn’t cutting it. I felt like it had been years since I had good few moments of dunking and I couldn’t resist any longer. So, while my husband was about to get off of work the other night I sent him the above text. Imagine my delight when he brought the Oreo cookie package to me that night along with a glass of milk. Not only had he brought me what I wanted but went above and beyond to give me more! What an awesome example of what God does for us all the time: give us more than we asked for.

 

Talking with God should be as easy as talking to your best friend or your lover. Simple conversations are what God wants with you. There needs to be nothing fancy. There needs to be respect, love, and yes, even some fear but no big haughty language or things like that.  God knows you so well that you really don’t need to tell Him anything because He already knows but He still wants to have a relationship with you so He is always ready to hear.

 

Talk with God. Go to your Lord with your joys, sorrows, celebrations, and disappointments. Ask to help you. Thank God for saving you and blessing you with the people in your life, the material blessings you have, and the struggles you have gone through. Ask God to be with you today; to walk with you through this world. Ask God to be with your family and friends and they go through their days at work, school, looking for jobs, and dealing with finances and health issues. Simply go to God and watch Him give you so much more than you could have possibly asked for. Go to God in love and faith and watch your relationship with Him grow.

 

“Keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Unexpected Joy

“What sorrow awaits my rebellious children” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins.” (Isaiah 30:1)

 

The kids went camping this weekend. They left on Saturday and I will grab them from their grandparents later today. I had spent so much time planning and getting them ready for this trip that I never considered what I might do with them gone. There was even a little inkling to keep my youngest home this weekend or go camping with them to make it easier for him, but that didn’t happen either. I just figured my husband I would just sit around and not do much or work on the little projects we have going on…you know, be productive while the kiddies were gone. Not God’s plan at all.

 

Saturday, as soon as the kids were gone, I headed to a Bible study. We never did once open our books we are studying. Instead we spent four hours talking, encouraging, laughing, sharing, tearing up, and encouraging some more. It was amazing. When I got home I walked in with a kind of numb feeling of not knowing what I wanted to do. Thank goodness the hubby had all kinds of ideas and we were off. We went to Eddyville to watch drag racing and I was reminded of how much I missed seeing and hearing those beautiful drag cars. Sunday we went to service, walked to have lunch with friends, came home to rest and then headed out for a nice long 21 to 22 mile bicycle ride around Saylorville Lake. We ended our weekend with ice cream dessert while watching the Olympics.

 

This morning I spent many moments thanking God profusely for this beautiful weekend I had with my husband and the timing was perfect as we have a busy week ahead of us playing and getting ready for school, open houses, doctors appointments, meetings, and work. I had no idea what I needed but God did and my husband did. I am usually the encourager in our marriage and this weekend my husband took that role on. He is the one who kept pushing us to do things and I just kind of went along for the ride….and boy was it a beautiful ride.

 

“As the Scriptures say, ‘A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the tow are united into one.’  This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.  So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” (Ephesians 5: 31-33)

The Library

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105)

 

I was leaving the library yesterday afternoon smiling to myself. I am currently listening to a series of books while I finish a project I am working on and I had to pick up the next couple of books on CD. See, once I start school in September I will stop my free reading almost entirely. It seems as though reading about tax laws and financial statements makes it impossible for me to pick up anything fun to read. However, there is a series I wanted to reread before the summer is up and I have a project I have to do so I am doing both but that is not why I was smiling I was just sitting up the story.

 

The kids and I have faithfully made it to the library quite often this summer. My oldest discovered Calvin & Hobbes, my youngest had a fascination with I Spy and fictional books about frogs, and my daughter bounced from series to series trying to find the perfect one for her. I read all kinds of great series books from some of my favorite authors. We all could find what we wanted and what appealed to us the most, which is why I was smiling.

 

I love the Bible. I believe it is one of the most precious gifts God has given us. Within the pages of this amazing book are 66 books consisting of history, poems, songs, chapters reading like news stories or tabloid scandals, lessons, financial counseling, marriage and self help, parenting advice, and so much more. The Bible is so much more than a book, it’s a library. There is something for everyone on these pages and words that help guide us and simplify our lives. I was smiling yesterday because I never have to leave home to go the library, it is always right here with me and I can take it anywhere I go! If you truly take the time to try some Bible reading I am sure you will know what I am talking about.

 

Unlike any other book, or library, the Bible has the ability to do something extraordinary. The more you dive into this precious book and soak in God’s Word, the more you will be transformed and the more God’s Word will become a part of you, written on your heart, and embedded in your mind. His Word will guide you through your day, help you in times of distress, give you words when you cannot find any, and show you glimpses of the future that are mere heartbeat away.

 

“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” (John 17:17)