Screaming or submitting

Sitting next to my sister-in-law’s hospital bed, in the leukemia wing of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, my grief for her suffering became suffocating. I wanted to walk out into the hallways, command the attention of every doctor and nurse and yell, “Do something! Fix this! It’s been too long!”

I wanted to bust her and my tenacious brother-in-law out of that hospital and bring them home to have dinner and play card games. My heart screams–it’s been too long, too much.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence and quietly submits to Him, For my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; My fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged.” Psalm 62:5-6‬ ‭AMP‬‬ [emphasis mine]

David’s psalm pleads with my screaming soul to wait.

To quietly submit.

Because He ONLY is our rock and salvation (also translated hope).

So, for me and for you–I know I’m not the only one wanting to bust out of a situation–this is what I pray.

Father,

By faith, I agree with Your Word–You only are our hope. I tell my soul to stop being agitated and to accept the free gift of peace that you promise me regardless of circumstances. As you give that peace that is unlike any the world can give, I choose, by your Holy Spirit’s power, to quietly submit. I choose to trust Your love that sent your only son to the cross. Help me in my screaming, agitated, unbelief.

Amen.

Amen, sisters.

 

 

How We Can Be People of His Presence

The most powerful agent of change in my life has always been the presence of God. It is in His presence, whether privately or in the setting of a service at church, that real change begins and continues such that I bear good fruit.

Last night as I was pulling the molasses cookies I baked with Charlotte out of the oven and tossing chopped potatoes in to roast, I thought about all that I do to make a guest feel welcome in our home. A dear friend came for dinner and to spend the night because he has a meeting in our area tomorrow morning. The kids and I spent time this morning straightening the room in which he will stay, making the bed with fresh sheets, and setting out towels in the bathroom (after we picked all the bath toys off the floor and the bottom of the tub). I made absolutely sure I was cooking something he enjoys eating, and when he arrives the table will be set–among the normal place settings for the five of us will be one set just for him.

Throughout the day, I’ve been asking the Lord how to make our home a place where His presence is consistently welcomed and felt.  And, you know, He is showing me it is a lot like what I do for my dinner guest.  I make a place just for Him and I make absolutely sure what I am doing and preparing is honoring to Him. Mommas, don’t we want our homes to be places that our full to overflowing with His presence? Psalm 16:11 even tells us that in His, “presence there is fullness of joy…” I want my children to be people of His presence–marked in such a way that they cannot go into a room without the atmosphere changing because the Spirit of the Almighty God is with and within them.

So, whether you’re a good hostess to dinner guests or not, here are a few ideas for making your home more welcoming to the most important resident.

  1. Make a place for Him; God is welcomed by hearts of thanksgiving and mouthes full of praise. I am working to start our mornings with songs of praise playing quietly in the home, and even in the hustle of breakfast before school, praying together to thank Him and praise Him for the day He has made for us.  Perhaps, your family can spend some time at dinner praising or thanking God–it doesn’t have to be in song to be praise!
  2. Make the home full of what pleases Him: this is something I’ll be seeking the Lord’s heart on in the next few weeks. But, I encourage each of us to consider what comes into our homes through our mouths, the books we read, the games our kids play on Ipads, the television screen, etc. Let us make every moment we spend in our homes pleasing and welcoming to the Father who cannot look on any unclean or profane thing.

I would love to hear how you make a place for the presence of God in your homes and how you help your little people be aware of Him.  My prayer is that we will become people saturated with His presence!

It’s Time to Stop Breaking the Speed Limit

Beckett pulled at my jean shorts as I tried to quickly brush through Audrey’s tangled hair to pull it into a fast ponytail–mumma up he whimpered in exasperation. A teething boy has little patience for a hurried momma who isn’t able to carry him around. Audrey winced as I worked on her hair.  When I was done, I moved her out of my way in order to get to taming Charlotte’s bedhead more quickly.

We were working to get out the door to pick blueberries together–something I love doing with my kids–and, I had a certain time in my mind that I was hoping to leave. I brushed aside my people and their feelings several times in an effort to stay on my schedule.

Did you know, when speeding 10 miles over the limit while taking a 15 mile trip in a 45 mph speed limit area, one saves about 3.64 minutes overall? If you’re going 65 mph, you save 2.5 minutes–considering the risks both in safety & possible tickets/fines, it really isn’t worth it to drive 65 mph on your way to that meeting for which you were hoping to arrive earlier.

I looked in my rearview mirror as we drove to the blueberry farm and neither of my girls were smiling–they both sat with their heads slumped to the side a bit, Charlotte looked defeated even. And I knew, speeding those 10 extra mph through our morning wasn’t worth it.  We got out the door by 8:45 a.m., but I we could’ve left by 9 with Beckett satisfied by a few more minutes on my shoulder, and Audrey feeling like a treasured person not a thing that was in my way, and Charlotte would have been sitting in the back singing along to the music rather than looking defeated because I didn’t have time in the last 30 minutes to hear her.

Mommas, sometimes I become so focused on my goal, my timetable, my commitments that I speed 10, even 20 miles faster than what is best for my people.  And you know what? It is not worth it–Jesus did not rush past people.  In Mark 10, Jesus’ disciples were a lot like me on blueberry picking morning, they had an agenda and figured Jesus was far too busy for little children.  Little children don’t fit neatly into timetables and schedules–they’re messy, needy, wily little creatures, and yet, our King said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)

The 2.5 minutes you might save speeding through your time with your people isn’t worth it–and the consequences will build up over time worse than speeding tickets.  Mommas, let us look to our Savior’s behavior and slow down to our people’s speed limit.