Broken by pain, mended by God

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Her confession that came to my ears delivered a crushing blow to my gut. Unsuspected. Unforeseen. Unbearable.

I was devastated.

Where could one even go from there? Where to find any hope? Any healing? 

The beginning of that journey brought me to my knees, renewed my trust in my Savior, and caused me to cling all the more to His Truths. Journaling was cathartic. And, it turned out, became the nugget at the core of a work of fiction, borne from our pain.

Still She Speaks, my first published work, was wrought from the discovery and the journey of healing that we went through with our precious daughter. God’s faithfulness surrounded us during those dreadfully dark months; my heart wavered between lamenting, and rejoicing. Some days, grief flooded hope. Other days, hope won. Pride toppled as I learned that even Love cannot forbid entry to sin. As a parent, I had to rethink the foundations of my trust – they’d been built on a flimsy platform of thinking “that couldn’t happen to us” and “my kids are doing great”. Truth came crashing in that day. And with it, the walls of pride fell down around me.

Oh – but HE is faithful! And together, we rebuilt my understanding of what it means to be a “Good Parent”. Instruction? Yes. Love? Certainly. But more than that – more than my modeling as best I could; more than serving and helping, praying and providing… Going deeper with God was a must. Trusting in His sovereign hand became my lifeline.

As I learned what it means to cling to Jesus, our daughter was also on her journey of healing and growing, and taking ownership of her own faith. As much as I wanted to – ached to! – have my ever deepening faith grafted into her own heart, I could not. It was something she was going to have to embrace on her own, and for herself. Thankfully, she did.

My journal sat on the shelf, successful in it’s initial goal of bringing me a sense of therapeutic healing. But in my spirit, I wondered, “Does God have a greater purpose in bringing us through this heartache? What if someone else can glean some encouragement from hearing this story?”

And so began the work that eventually became Still She Speaks. Overall, it is a work of fiction; certainly I draw a few things here and there to add the personal touches that make it mine; but mostly, it’s fiction. Excepting the core, the nugget that sits nestled in the middle of the story, poignantly reminding me that for all it’s highs and lows, characters and plots, joys, tears and sorrows – really, I guess, just like the timeline of life itself… we have a Hope, that the hurting world cannot understand. And His name is Jesus.

I pray that you are blessed hearing the back story of how this book came to be; and that you find tremendous blessing in reading my book. If you do, would you take a minute to share a word of how it ministered to you? Reviews left on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com are extremely helpful and very much appreciated! Thank you!

And if you have a word to share, or a journey you’ve been on that you have seen God’s faithfulness – let’s rejoice together! Or if you’re in the middle of a season of hurt, and need prayer – please leave a comment here – it would be my privilege to lift you up in prayer. (I won’t ever publish any comments that people prefer remain private – just mention it when you post)

May you be blessed, as we walk this journey of life, together. And let’s talk- you know – between friends.

 

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Choosing the Better way

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It’s that time of year again: a flurry of graduation notices nestle in mailboxes, tassels are ordered, gowns prepped, excitement at what lies just around the corner fills the air… I remember the day our firstborn was graduating from High School. It was a hectic day, with lots going on. She brought me her blue gown, “Mom, could you please iron this? It has some wrinkles on the front.”  I took it, hesitatingly. My skill sets do not include using a hot iron. “Um, honey. Are you sure we can’t just sort of shake them out?” I looked hopefully at her. She laughed. “Mom, it just needs a couple passes with the iron. I would do it, but I have to finish getting ready. Thank you!” She gave me a peck on the cheek and dashed back upstairs. I sighed. “Ok, let’s get this done.”

I followed everything I knew about ironing: plug in the machine and let it get hot. That was the extent of my knowledge on the subject. As it heated, I started humming, excited for the day. I spread the blue material out on the counter, and lay the iron over the worst of the offending wrinkles, pressing lightly and quickly. To my utter horror, a hole appeared in the delicate fabric – it had melted right through it! What had I done!?

“Oh no!” I cried out. Mark and our four other children gathered around to see the damage, as Hannah also ran into the room. “What’s wrong?” “Oh honey, I can’t believe this! Look! Oh Hannah, I’m so sorry! What are we going to do?!” I wrung my hands, tears streaming down my face, as I held the ruined gown, showing them the hole, the size of a giant strawberry, right on the front panel in plain sight for all to see. I was devastated. I had ruined not only the gown, but the Day. The day that was supposed to be filled with promise and hope, excitement and laughter, beauty ~ and lots of pictures. And now, all of that was going to be ruined – just because of my ineptitude. Tears didn’t fully convey the pain in my heart as I held out the evidence of my inadequacies to my daughter. I waited for her to cry in dismay, too, but instead, she took the gown and set it on the counter. She gave me a hug and gently assured me, “Mom, it’s ok. Please don’t worry about this. I can still wear it – it’s not the end of the world.”

What? It would be ok? How?? Hadn’t I ruined all chance of that with my carelessness? She hugged me again, “I love you. And this doesn’t matter. It’s just a gown. I’m still graduating, right? It’s all ok.”

Her sweet words of encouragement hit the intended target, as I dried my tears.

I remember feeling such pride in our girl that day. Not only for her achievements in finishing well her scholastic goals; but even more, for her sweet, gentle expression of forgiveness and love when I truly needed to hear it.

Her response reminds me of the verses in I Peter 3:3-4, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

I doubt that too many people noticed the hole in her gown that day, but I sure did. And I teared up with joy at her God-honoring response as she crossed the stage to receive her diploma, radiant and lovely.

The following year, our second daughter was graduating. I offered to buy her a new gown to replace the one with the hole in it. Abby smiled, “That’s ok, Mom. I kind of want to use that one. It has a special meaning now, you know?” Oh my! Really? Tears filled my eyes as she hugged me. Talk about the gift of encouragement!

This year, our third beautiful girl is graduating. I assured her that it wouldn’t be wrong to purchase a new gown, but she too has opted to use the “special gown” over replacing it with a new one. It’s almost become a badge of honor. May I tell you what a joy it is to this mama’s heart to see that my daughters are all choosing to place more emphasis on the day than the accouterments of it? Each time I see that gown, I think of the road that we could have headed down, full of anger and frustration, bitterness at broken dreams… but instead, it has become a symbol of a better way that was chosen: letting go of all insult and offense, and replacing it with love and forgiveness.

If you’re blessed to see our daughter Lydia stride across the stage to receive her diploma in just a few weeks, you may notice a gaping hole on the front panel of her gown. Now that you know the story behind it, I pray that you are blessed and that you smile a bit, as you’ll surely see me doing.

Do you have a story to share of a time when you, or someone in your life chose a better way, that had ripple effects of blessing?  I encourage you to share it… Let’s talk…you know – between friends. 🙂

 

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All Things Beautiful

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“The Clock, knowing full well it was to be the last week the family would have together for a long while, pushed itself to it’s limits to speed along in a reckless frenzy, popping the minutes off in a well-rehearsed, methodical way…Alas, when only a handful remained, it sounded tauntingly: the entire stretch of days was gone. Once again, Time had lacked any patient sympathy. It simply wasn’t in it’s nature to dawdle.”

I wrote the above little ditty toward the end of the time we had with our two oldest home for break. Even as I lamented the quick passing of time to spend with them, I was rejoicing that they are both in a marvelous season of learning and preparing for their futures.

It is exciting to watch our children venturing out on their own, exploring all that God has planned for them!

As a mom, sometimes my heart wants to hold too closely to the present, and not let go… but then, I would miss out on all the marvelous things that are to come!
Isn’t it such a comfort to know that God makes all things beautiful in His time…Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us that we cannot see or know all that He is doing and has done, from beginning to end. We serve an infinite God, who is powerful, and omniscient – and loving. We need to fully trust Him, and not lean on our own feeble understanding.
Let’s lean in to our ever-loving God and thank Him for Today, and trust him with tomorrow… for we can’t see what He’s doing, but we know it will be Glorious!
Do you ever struggle with wanting to hold on to the way things are, and resist changes that are coming? Let’s talk… you know – between friends.

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Angels Among Us…

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There is a news organization whose tag line is: we report, you decide.  That’s how I feel about this amazing situation; I will share with you what happened, you make up your own mind…I’ve already made up mine.

Our girls were traveling home for Thanksgiving break. Their flight was tracking to land early, and Mark and I were running a few minutes behind, so we decided to pick them up just outside of the baggage claim instead of go in and meet them.

Abby’s bag was among 4 or 5 that came out right away, so they were waiting on Hannah’s, along with most of the other travelers on their flight, when the conveyor belt stopped cold.  They texted us about the delay so Mark and I drove over to wait in the cell phone lot till they summoned us. Ten minutes later, more luggage came spewing out, but not Hannah’s bag.  We all waited. One more delivery cycle brought almost everyone else’s bag up, but not Hannah’s.

It had been nearly an hour since the plane had landed; clearly something was wrong. Hannah called us, explaining the situation, then, with some hesitation shared, “Um, worse though, is that I didn’t save my receipt. I left it on the plane.”

Terrific. Now we not only had one large lost purple bag, we had no way to identify it with the tracking numbers. I was gearing up for a good lecture that could occupy most of our trip back home after they were in our car on the importance of holding onto your receipt till you had the bag back in your possession. “What were you thinking?” was a common phrase I intended to put to good use as well. I was already mentally preparing a checklist of what she would probably need to replace.

Mark swung back into traffic; we were going to park and go in while he saw what might be done to claim a bag without any receipt.  I began praying earnestly, mixed with excitement at seeing our girls – and of course a proper dose of instruction about wisdom and folly when it came to traveling with luggage.

As we were hustling along the busy airport, I was praying that God might somehow miraculously allow Hannah’s bag to be found still and returned to her, even if it was days later. I wasn’t sure how that could be since the conveyor had long been quiet, but I was leaving the ‘how’ part of the whole thing to God to handle; I had my part to play in the “what have we learned from this?” department.

As we descended the final escalator to the baggage area, Hannah and Abby met us – they both had bags! What had happened?

“It was the craziest thing!” Hannah said excitedly. “We were hanging out near Conveyor 12, hoping for a miracle that it might start up again and my bag would appear, when this man walks directly up to us and says ‘You have a purple coat, might you also have a purple bag that you’re waiting for?’

Hannah couldn’t believe it – sure enough, it was her bag. But where…? How…? Who was he? How had he known of all the people milling about in the massive room that it was her missing bag? Where had it been? All those questions were left unanswered as she stammered out “Oh my goodness, yes! Thank you so much!” As the girls watched him walk away, Hannah commented to her sister, “Keep watching him Abby, because in like 5 seconds he’s going to just “whoosh” away- like an angel!”

I was dumbfounded. Gone were the speeches I’d been preparing, replaced by rejoicing in my heart for what was clearly prayer answered in an astonishing way. Our car ride home was occupied by a whole different sort of conversation than scolding – more like Praising God for his undeserved goodness and Awesomeness!

I don’t know who the man was or where he came from, or any of the other questions I would have liked to ask him if we’d seen him; but I do know that we serve a BIG God who works in mysterious ways sometimes, and that’s all I really need to know.

Have you ever had prayer answered in ways that went beyond explanation?  Did it grow your faith even stronger that God hears us – and answers us? Let’s talk – you know – between friends.

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Orphan Care

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While living in California, our family became involved in a ministry called Safe Families for Children. Much like foster care, but without compensation and with a more reasonable, lenient structure that operates through area churches to find host families willing to temporarily care for children in crisis, SFFC had its’ start in Chicago in 2002 and our church in California was just embarking on it.

After going through the background checks and training and approval process, our family got to host our very first placement – a sibling group of 4 sisters! It certainly was a challenge at first, going from 5 kids in the house to 9 overnight, but again, we truly saw God at work in amazing ways and were thrilled to be able to participate in such a fulfilling ministry.  It became a family ministry – we all needed to help welcome the kids into our home, be willing to give up some time, comfort, space and convenience – how better to show the love of Christ than to be hospitable to these kids in crisis? 

God has used Safe Families to stretch our faith even further, as well as a very visible way for our kids to learn that choices have consequences. Many people who use the ministry are just people who find themselves in a tough spot and needing some temporary help as they are completely without support as they face a crisis, loss of a job, loss of a spouse, temporary setbacks that no one could have predicted; others though, are there because of some poor choices they have made; needing to serve jail time, or go through drug counseling, and are without anyone to come alongside and help with their kids during a tough time. 

Better than lectures, better than threats, these real life examples of the fall-out that can happen when we make bad choices spoke volumes better than we could have to our kids. 

Better than lectures, better than judging, these real life people see Jesus at work in our lives when we reach out to help them in a practical way during their time of difficulty.

Yes, it was wearying, yes, it was chaotic at times; but did God teach us some valuable lessons through it? You better believe it.  Plus it started to build hearts of compassion in our children.

They began to realize that God might not ask us to do grandiose things, but we are all capable of doing the simple things of love and kindness that He asks of we who claim to follow Him. It is a ministry that is still close to our hearts today and that we have stayed involved in, still hosting here in Chicago (the tale of how that move transpired will be shared in an upcoming post).

Four years into it, with multiple placements, I wrote an Open Letter that I dedicated to each of the children we’ve had in our home. It is such a fruitful and fulfilling ministry, I want to share the glorious gift of involvement with everyone I can, in hopes that it might encourage others to take a step of faith in participating in this marvelous and practical way.

Dedicated to Each of the Precious Safe Family Children we have had the Privilege of Hosting:

Little did we know, oh little one, how mightily you would capture our hearts.  We thought, when we took you into our home, that we were helping you- but God, in His sovereign wisdom, knew that you were just what we needed as well.  Yes, those first few days were hard – we were trying to learn about you, your likes and dislikes, and you, cautiously were learning that we are here to help you, and over time, trust blossomed, and warmth and safety won.

I marvel that we get to watch you grow and discover the world around you, however briefly. Your delight at learning of a whole new world on the ground around our feet was priceless ~ you sat entranced watching the bugs crawl and the ants busily working on their projects, distracted by the wind bending the delicate stems of the nearby flowers, as birds sang their songs of joy into your listening ears.  Perhaps, have you never been exposed before to the marvelous melodies of nature?  Your peels of laughter as we whirled you through the air, around and around, made me wonder: have you ever laughed with such abandon before?

 Your smiles, slow at first, have been the loveliest thing to greet us each morning as you wake; and, as you began to trust that this place is full of love for you, you have softened.  A part of you has awakened under the gentle touch of caring hands that hold you when you fall, delighted smiles bestowed from your sweet gifts of colorful pictures scribbled with chubby crayons,  contentment as we read books, play games, sing songs and make our way through life, together, for a time. 

I don’t know if you will ever know that for this precious and fleeting bit of time, we shared our journey of life – will your young mind ever recall the laughter we have shared? The love that has grown in our hearts for you? Perhaps, some day, far from now, you might have a hazy memory of this time, a little fuzzy around the edges, but certain in the feeling that you were safe and cherished and loved.

I know that our family has been blessed by having you join our circle, even if it is only for a few weeks or months; you have reminded us of one of the best things God has put in the human soul: to have compassion on our fellow man, and the ripples of blessing that follow our acting on that compassion.

Soon, all too soon for us, you will be going back home, to a mom that loves you; not perfectly, but deeply. She has dreams for you, wants good things for you – she must, or she never would have sought the help of people like us who want to support her through a difficult time in her life, to come around and for a while, care for her most precious gift on Earth: her children. She is as precious to us as you are, for she is hurting and alone, in need of the unconditional love that only Jesus offers us; we pray for her healing, for her discovery of the thing she needs the most as she uses this time to build a home for you to come back to, a healthy place for your family to flourish and grow.But when you leave here, do not think that you have fully left us – the memory of you will live on; the stories of what you saw, where we took you, what you learned, how you made us laugh – those things will remain with us, carefully knit into the legacy of stories that will pass down for generations to come; and we will pray for you, just like one of our own. Because, for this little while, you are one of our own. And know, just as we pray now each night beside your little bed, we will continue to plead to God on your behalf after you have gone from here, to watch over you, to protect you and to bring you to Himself as only He can.

So, for today, let’s embrace the time before us and enjoy the simple pleasures that come our way. God holds the future and we can walk with sure steps forward as we take one day at a time trusting in His love and kindness; for now, you are here and life holds great promise; and that is all we need to know.

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” ~ Jesus

There are so many wonderful ways to be the hands and feet of Jesus; but there are always more people needed to participate in this great ministry… if you are drawn to learn more about Safe Families for Children, please visit www.safe-families.org .

Are there ministries you are involved in that are helping others along life’s journey? I’d love to hear about it!

Let’s talk…you know – between friends.

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Homeschooling!

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We stayed for three glorious years in sunny Northern California, enjoying many of the majestic sights – Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Monterey Bay, Carmel; trips to the ocean, fresh road-side fruit stands, plentiful sunshine and completely new experiences from what we had known in our home state of Wisconsin – we grew to love our time there and God so faithfully showered his grace on us, helping us to find a great church and make some friends.

The first school we put our kids into turned out to have some beliefs that we couldn’t agree with. We heard about an excellent Christian High School and decided our older two girls, who were by this time both in high school, would attend there for our second year of living in California. Having no other options for the younger three, I was sort of thrust in a direction I had never considered before: homeschooling. A prospect I was terrified of!

I was not a teacher! I never even went to college! The thought of my precious children’s educations being placed into my quaking and (in my mind at the time) unqualified hands was simply ~ Well, the word disastrous comes to mind!

But we were out of choices – and time. So, with great trepidation, we set out to try our hand – praying daily that God would give us what we needed to make the year a success.

As I brought my fears to God, He handed back to me a verse found in Joshua 1, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous – do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you may go.”

It turned out to be a marvelous journey! I utilized the curriculum my sister recommended to me and the kids and I enjoyed the extra time together, foraging through the endless maze of learning – one interesting thing led to another and we fully embraced it all and learned together! We were able to really hone in on the few areas my children had each struggled with in the past, giving them stronger foundations on which to build.

I so appreciated the extra time I got to have with my children, better understanding their areas of weakness and strengths – if they understood something, we moved on; if they didn’t, we simply ‘parked’ there until they did. It was very fulfilling, and I am glad we have it in our memory bag of experiences.

As wonderful as I ended up thinking homeschooling was, the four of us sitting around our dining room table left very little chance for any of us to meet people and make friends; since we hadn’t gone back to the first school, our younger kids were still relatively friendless; so we agreed, they needed to go to school. God allowed Mark and I to find a marvelous school for them the following year.

I still look fondly back at that year; I realized that had I allowed my fear of the unknown to stop us from trying this, we would have missed out on SO much! I discovered in a very intimate and tangible way that I serve an AWESOME God – and if He is calling me, He will also equip me.

Was it always easy? Certainly not! But was it worth every stretch mark of growth I saw in my life as a result? You bet it was!

Sometimes the idea of trying something out of our comfort zone can cripple us…but God wants us to be willing to venture out into arenas in our lives that He is beckoning us to join Him, trusting that He is with us and can carry us through.

Are there areas you’ve opened up to God to stretch you so He can build your faith deeper? Are you fearfully holding back from walking through a door God has opened for you? Let’s talk…you know – between friends.

 

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Burdened or Buoyant?

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When I was much younger (18…ok, much, much younger) I got in a car accident in which I hit a pedestrian. It was icy, he was walking on the side of a fairly busy road and I hit a patch of black ice.

My car was spinning very sluggishly – the whole thing felt like it was playing in slow motion so that by the time I actually made contact with him, I more or less “pushed” him into a ditch heavily filled with snow (I recall seeing his face very briefly through the glass staring dazedly at me as he hung onto the hood of my car before landing in the ditch.) Certainly scary – for both of us!

During the questioning for the deposition with the attorneys (which was agonizing) I was asked, “What happened to the car when you steered it to the right?”

I nervously and truthfully answered, “My back end came around and got in front of my front end.”

Now, this made sense to me. It still does. It is precisely what happened.

My parents received a copy of the transcript in the mail. You’d be surprised how much laughter has been generated in my family from that one small statement. It has been brought out at holiday gatherings and told to coming generations; it may as well be stamped across my forehead it’s so embedded into my history.

I laugh right along with everyone; seeing it in black and white made it sound a lot more funny than the day I said it in front of a room full of strangers where I sat worried over the unknown of my future. (It turned out ok; there was an eyewitness who saw the whole thing and the man checked out perfectly fine at the hospital.)

 I’m so glad that God in his grace allows us to build onto his legacy – He lets us be called wonderful things – like “Christ follower” and “Child of the King” and “Joint Heirs with Christ”… Our identity in Christ, if we’ve accepted his free gift of salvation, is our greatest label, our finest possession – the best thing we can be known for and triumph in!

“Colossians 1:10-14, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Oh dear reader ~ Has your heart caught the truth of this? This is incredible really! That we are share in God’s inheritance ~ just for our obedience to Him?! Wow! It reminds me of a poem I wrote…I will share next time.

Meanwhile, are you living with burden or buoyancy? Are you buried under the stresses of life and unable to see yourself how God sees you if you are one of his? Or are you living with joy filled steps, walking forward excitedly in all the delight that comes with being a child of the King? Let’s talk…you know – between friends.

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Better than Batman!

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Looking back over some of my old writings, I chuckled with the wonderful memories; grateful for the gift of family. I thought I’d share one of them here, with the hope that you enjoy it as well, dear reader:

 “A superhero lives in our home. He has incredible powers that my children swoon over. He can hoist them up near the ceiling to reach the gum that got stuck up there; he can carry them long distances on his shoulders without groaning or collapsing. He can even swing and twirl two of them at a time for hours of non-stop fun!

 No matter what Herculean effort I have made toward being a cool, “with-it” mom all day long, when he strides through our door at the days end, his entrance is ushered in with great celebration and festivity.

 They usually attack him while he is still standing on the red carpet rolled out solely for his arrival.

 Is it any wonder that he is greeted in such fashion? He considers a bag of Oreo’s, a can of soda and a vitamin to be a balanced lunch. Rides, games and fun-till-you-puke are the way of the day when he is home.

 I really don’t mind, in fact, I too am impressed by his magnificence; (though at times I do wish he’d learn how to hang up his own superhero cape.)

 His super power stamina greatly exceeds mine, so on occasion, he will watch the wee ones while I mingle with friends for a night out.”

 How blessed we are to have such a dad and husband! He takes to heart the commands in Philippians 2, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

I want to be sure I take the time to thank them for the very gift from the hand of God they are to me, and to thank our Lord in Heaven for his grace in giving me such a gift!

Do you have someone like that in your life today? Someone who is such an abundant blessing and joy to you?

Let’s talk…you know – between friends.

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Salt

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My daughter broke our saltshaker a few weeks ago and I said “Thank you Lord.” Wait- no I didn’t – not in that order anyway- back up: my daughter broke our saltshaker a few weeks ago and at first I was perturbed by her carelessness, as I watched salt steadily emptying onto the floor from the broken base she had somehow whacked.

 But then God brought a verse to my mind – and I saw how wonderful it actually was that she’d broken it- because it made me think, and that’s generally a good thing.

 In Matthew, Jesus said to his followers, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made good again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

 God says we are to be salt in our world – but what does that look like?

 Salt makes things that are bland taste better – this life is full of heartache, and humans without hope have an inability to see trials of this life as chances to rely on God – but as Believers in Christ with hope – we can have joy no matter what our circumstances!

 We are to be the salt that makes living in this hard, cruel, unfair world palatable – not because we have some upbeat positive attitude about our own selves and abilities – but because we have HOPE through Christ and can live a victorious life out of His strength! 

 In our little world with our little children, when they hang on the drapes pretending to be Tarzan crossing the dangerous jungle – count it all Joy! (We may have to discipline and teach them why that’s wrong, but we don’t have to ‘lose it’ on them)

 When they ask “why?” “why?” “why?” a dozen times – count it all Joy! (We may have to explain our why’s, but we can see that their curious little minds just want to understand – much like we do when we ask our Heavenly Father “Why?”)

 When there are 12 cookies in the cookie jar when you leave the room and 2 when you return and ask who ate them and everyone shrugs – count it all Joy! (We may have to take time to explain why lying is a sin and they need to ask permission before taking things, but we can chalk it up to a terrific training session where they’re learning and we are helping them understand God’s ways.)

 As Moms we hold a valuable position – we are the gateway to our children’s understanding of God. Through our modeling, they can follow.  Through our handling of the difficult, humbling, exhausting situations we sometimes find ourselves in, they are watching and making decisions about the authenticity of our walk with Christ. 

 Is it all just words, or are we doing the very things we are telling them are important – things like having the fruit of the Spirit as talked about in Galatians – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

 It’s not always easy, there are times we want to lash out at the frustrating situations we find ourselves in; but those are the times God wants us to display the fruit He provides us with, with a heavenly outlook, and a heart that see’s a chance to demonstrate His power at work in our lives. Those opportunities for growing in sanctification are where ‘the rubber meets the road’ in the Christian walk.

 God wants us to share our burdens with one another, so that we can be in prayer for each other as we walk this journey called life. Are you facing some difficulty that makes it hard to be the salt in your world?

 Let’s talk… you know – between friends.

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