Daring to trust God’s Sovereignty

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Gone must be any discouragement that would cause us to forget God’s sovereignty over human affairs.

Instead, can we grasp the fact that other people simply cannot thwart God’s plan for our lives?
If He has called us to something, not only will He equip us, we can be sure that He will also provide the entry point needed for us to carry it out. If we are following His calling and lead, we need to learn to hear His quiet, “not now” within mere man’s louder, “No!”.

One of the things that must have spurred Joseph on while unfairly imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, was the vision God had granted him many years earlier, that remained yet unfulfilled.

While he grew in his trust of a faithful God, who made sure that the normal punishment (death) for Joseph’s “crime” (of which he was innocent and therefore unfairly imprisoned) was not enacted, he must also have grown in his certainty that God would provide the way out, in His own flawless timing. And the way OUT of prison, was the way IN to a position of prominence – just as God had foretold… because God is the Master orchestrator.

We too, though not relying on visions or prophetic utterances, can have the same certainty, and trust that God, who is eternally faithful, omnipotent and sovereign, will also work all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to HIS purpose. (Romans 8:28)

2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us that, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” The question then is: is my heart fully committed to Him? Are God’s priorities my priorities? Do I have a heart eager to be used by Him, for His glory, and to let my life be a light by which this dark world can’t help but notice? We must be vigilant in keeping an Eternal perspective, and not let ourselves get wearied by this world’s woes, nor let the weakness of our flesh tempt us toward failing and falling away from God. On our own we are all failures and frauds – but WITH Christ? We can do ALL things through His power at work in us. The key is staying fully committed and obedient to Christ, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and fleeing the temptations of this world.

God has certain jobs for us to do, and He is more than able to set aside anyone else’s denial of the gifts and abilities that He has assigned each of us for His own purposes and pleasure, and to work His good where it looks “impossible.” In fact, I believe He enjoys showing evidence of His inescapable omnipotence and sovereignty in the face of seemingly impenetrable obstacles on behalf of those who love Him.

So even in the greatest of trials let us not be tempted to diminish His love for us, or His sovereignty over all situations, but instead let’s pray that He helps us fully surrender to His desire to use all that He allows in our lives as vehicles to display His power, grace, sufficiency and love.

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

The next time we are tempted to feel discouraged from a lack of impact or use of a spiritual gift that God has afforded us, let’s remember just Who is in control.

And keep in mind: the best posture from which to watch God move mountains is on our knees, as we ask Him to.

He is waiting for us to come to the realization that He delights in our trust of Him! So let’s hasten to deepen our trust in the fertile ground of His faithfulness, so that He can display His work in our lives all the more as we step out in obedience. Let’s begin praying for marvelous things in the Only Mighty Name – that of Jesus- then stand back! And watch the hand of our loving Lord carry out what only He can! 🙌🏼🌿

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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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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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The Joys of Pain

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Getting old is ever so much fun…ok, not so much. Yesterday I found myself at my physical therapy appointment enjoying the pounding my therapist was giving my aching arm. Perhaps she saw my grimace or heard my loud groan; either way, she stopped and asked, “How’s that?” What I felt like saying was, “Well, let’s trade places for a moment and let me pound on one of your vulnerable body parts to see if I can bring you to fits of agony!”

Instead, (because I’m a polite wimp) I nodded, allowing her to continue in her torture of my bloodied limb (ok, it wasn’t bleeding – but it felt like it should be!)

I held my tongue, and began to think of the verse in Hebrews 12 that tells us “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. (Indeed!) Later on however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

I realized that just like I need to be willing to go through some pain to repair my arm to get it to where I want it to be – functioning to it’s best ability, so I need to submit to my Heavenly Father’s hand of “therapy” – correction with some pain involved, to get my heart where He wants it to be – functioning to it’s best ability through His strength at work in me. Sometimes he has to strip away a lot more than I’m ready for.

 I’ve learned the hard way that resisting only prolongs the pain; for sure the best way is to submit and trust that God loves us and has a plan.

And He will be with us – right through the difficulty – pretty incredible, isn’t it!

Are you finding yourself submitting to Your Father’s touch at work in your life? I pray so dear reader! Please feel free to share your journey – you never know how it may bless others along the way… If you’re struggling to let go of some area He wants to grow you in, let’s talk…you know- between friends.

 

 

 

 

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