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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