Baby Momma

The other night I was getting Dylan out of the tub and she looks at me with her sweet doe eyes and says, "Mommy,  I love you and you are always gonna be my Mommy."  So, my heart totally melted.  I look at her and told her that no matter how old she gets, she will always be my baby girl.  And that's when she turns to me and says, "You are always going to be my baby Mommy, and Daddy is always going to be my baby Daddy."  Oh, good heavens!  She had no idea why I was laughing, but she laughed with me!

How Will They Know if No One Tells Them?

 But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  Romans 10:14

A few months ago, Dylan and I were snuggling in bed one early morning. She said to me in a voice filled with distress, “You know, I was talking to Hannah* about God, and she don’t really remember him.”

Dylan isn’t converted, and I pray that God would truly open her eyes to himself soon, but I am thankful that she has an understanding of who God is, not because we are some great parents, but because he has helped us understand the magnitude of our high calling as parents.  

I want Dylan to see her father and mother savor Christ.  I want her to be able to close her eyes and picture his character in her mind based not only on Scriptures she has been taught by us but by the vivid picture we paint of him in our lives, by stories we tell her of his faithfulness, discipline, love, omnipresence, and holiness.  I want her to see me at my wits end- and I want her to see me turn to him.  I want her to remember when things get tough and her heart is aching that her parents went through heartache and trials and rejoiced in them because, by God’s Spirit, they were able to recognize that those afflictions were blessings from God to make them more like Christ.  I want to know that though she may not KNOW him now, she knows about Him, she can in no way doubt his existence, his presence and his faithfulness in the lives of her parents.  I don’t want to fail her in this.  I pray that I would point her to Christ when she’s being disciplined, that she may know that these commands she has been given are impossible to keep apart from a change in her very nature,  I pray that God’s mercy would be reflected at times in me when I can show her that though she deserves much punishment, I will show mercy to her as the Father has shown much mercy toward me.  I pray that I show her humility and my own need of Christ when I deal with her wrongly and must ask for her forgiveness.

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

I think that these verses speak of what our goals as mothers, parents should be.  We should be breathing Christ to our children.  It shouldn’t always be like this, ‘Now sit here, open this bible and study this memory verse until you know God.’  Though, there is a time and place for that most certainly.  But Christ should be on our lips, in our hearts, in the way we speak to our children, the way we play with our children, the way we discipline them, how we drive in traffic, how we love our husbands, the way we pray, and how we serve our church.  I think in “writing them on the doorposts of your house,” it’s more than an actual written word, but a declaration by the life of your home,  “We are God’s people, we speak of him, we live for him; he is our identity.” 

May our children never say to us, ‘Why did you not tell me about God?”  May it never be said of our children, “They don’t really remember him.” 

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord , and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Psalm 78:7

It's your turn... all what, 5 of you?

Okay,  I want to write more actively,  and I do have a few more "According to Dylan" subjects, but I would like to ask you, yeah- all 5 of you, what would you like me to write about?  You can give me a subject, ask me a question, whatever, I need some subject matter, people!  Just post a comment below with your suggestion.

Worth saying again: Ten Reasons I Love my church...

I originally posted this in December of 2008, but it is worth saying again!  Too many times is the bride of Christ slandered and spat upon, but she is beautiful because she is loved by God.  Though the Universal Church is filled with imperfect sinners, it is being led and perfected by a most glorious, most perfect Savior.  He will complete His work, and she must strive to live for Him, no matter what comes against her. 

10. Godly Examples: I have so many examples of godly wives and mothers around me; women doing what they are called to do in Titus 2. My husband has a great group of godly men to surround himself with that strive to fulfill their roles as husbands in Ephesians 5.

9. My daughter has a wonderful group of children that I know and love to play with. I don't have to wonder about their parent's beliefs, question their home-lives and hope she is surrounded by at least a mediocre example of a biblical family. I know their home lives, I know their values and I know that they don't separate Sunday morning from the rest of their lives.

8. My pastor's wife: I love her, she's a great friend and dear sister to me, and I have never known a more godly example of biblical submission and meekness (controlled strength) in a woman as young as her. The beauty of the love for her husband makes me want to be a better wife to mine.

7. Fellowship: I know that lots of churches get together to "fellowship" and never speak of their Lord. Well, I have had more rewarding conversations in the last year with my dear brothers and sisters in Christ than I have had in a long time. And though we joke around are get silly, we do glory our in Redeemer and can't help but speak of Him.

6. A Desire for Holiness: For the most part there is a large group in our church that has decidedly began to strive for holiness. Through our own personal studies and through the teaching of our pastor, we have grown to know the Lord in such a way that we long to know Him more and long to do what pleases Him; Men who desire to be holy in all their conduct, mortifying the deeds of the flesh, loving their wives as Christ loves the church, and being both prophet and priest in their homes. Women who desire to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord and children who would strive to honor their father and mother.

5. My Pastor: He loves the Lord and you can see it in his life. You could come by his home unannounced and see that what he preaches on Sundays is what he strives to live out for the glory of God the rest of the week. He is a dear friend and loves to have fun, and is out to prove that Christianity isn't boring. He desires to rightly divide the Word of God and pours over the Scripture each week to ensure that he is able to do so. He loves the church and does his best to protect her from all ungodliness and understands the weight of his calling to keep guard over our souls. (Plug: Pray for your Pastor!)

4. Teaching and Application: Not only does our Pastor do a great job of teaching and urging the body of believers to learn and apply all that is in Scripture, but we have other men who use their gifts of teaching to do the same. We have women in our church that strive to teach the younger women in all godliness. We have fathers that do what they are called to do in teaching and raising their children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. I am thankful that teaching is held in such high regard in this body.

3. Balance: We understand that we are to be ever-reforming. We understand that God is sanctifying Himself a people. But it is our greatest challenge in holding doctrine so highly that we do not go off into idolatry of doctrine and practices. I pray that we would continue to have balance and to remember the first things first: "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto You. Matt. 6:33"

2. Truth: It is held in high regard here. We know who provides absolute truth and we understand the inerrancy of the Word and we do our best to apply these truths to our lives and pray that the Spirit would teach us all things. In a world where truth is relative, it is a wonderful solace to find a place that regards highly a word of Truth.

And the number 1 reason I love my church:

1. She's the bride of Christ and He holds her more precious to Himself than the apple of His eye, how could I not love her if I desire to be like my Lord?

Puddles, Naps, Baths and Fishing... Some of Life's Necessities

                                                        

Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God

This morning, I run into the bathroom to share with Jim what the Lord showed me in His word over a quiet cup of coffee.  Some days He shows me great encouragement, some days grave conviction.  Today was the latter.  As I look up at Jim with bible in hand I say, "I'm a stupid Israelite." 
Now, I don't believe that Israelites are actually stupid, in a degrading sense, I just believe they are sinful humans and God uses examples of other sinful humans to humble me, convict me, and show me I'm not smart, but stupid too.

Deut. 1:29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the Lord your God,33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

Okay, we have all been guilty of scoffing at the Israelites as well as Jesus' disciples when we read of their unbelief, their stubbornness, and their complaining. I have even caught myself doing this and questioned my own heart- "Seriously, would I be found faithful or faithLESS if I had been confronted with these things in those days? We wonder how they could struggle with unbelief when they actually SAW with their own eyes God's faithfulness shown in His miracles, element-controlling, and power. I ask you, as I ask myself, how is it that we struggle when we have seen His power and miracles displayed in our own lives? How is that I have observed Him miraclously change my heart from a cold, hard piece of stone that is at enmity with Him into a soft piece of flesh that loves Him? How is it that His words are powerful enough to call the earth and the fullness there of into exsistence; powerful enough to divide the thoughts and intents of a man' heart like a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), powerful enough to sanctify me and yet when trials come, afflictions rise, I go to my own strength, my own thoughts, my own devices to solve them, or fret over them? If His word isn't powerful enough, what is? Nothing! And not only that, as the Israelites and the disciples, I have seen with my own eyes His faithfulness towards me and yet I hesitate to trust Him nearly every time. My first reaction to is to have the wind knocked out of me when I am hit with some sort tempest. One of my favorite Anne Hawks hymns says,

"But, oh, when gloomy doubts prevail- I fear to call Thee mine.

When springs of comfort seem to fail and all my hopes decline...

Yet gracious God where shall I flee? Thou art my only trust

and my soul would ever cling to Thee though prostrate in the dust.

Hast Thou not bid me seek Thy face? And shall I seek in vain?

And can the Ear of Sovereign Grace be deaf when I complain?

No, still the Ear of Sovereign Grace attends the mourner's prayer.

Oh, may I ever find access to breathe my sorrows there."

 Afflictions turn my cry to God and away from myself. He delights each time our hearts and cries are turned to Him. He is turning my faith to Him instead of other things or self. Though I doubt and struggle with unbelief and faithlessness, He is faithful to bring me to His word to help me to see how much I lack and how I can look back and see how faithful He has been countless times before and how I can trust Him. He is going to deliver me. He may not deliver me from afflictions or trials, though He might, but He will certainly deliver me from my lack of faith and He will strengthen my faith and my trust and my hope in Him alone. If my Redeemer pleads my pardon with His blood, He will certainly deliver me from my lack of faith. He is trustworthy and He can not deny Himself. He will keep His covenant for His own glorious namesake. Praise Him for His faithfulness!

"... but that the works of God might be displayed in him..."

I needed these Scriptures desperately this week.  I still need them today, and I am sure that the principals in these Scriptures need to be lodged into my brain and written on my heart for the rest of my days.  We can say we believe in God's sovereignty and His word, but when trials and afflictions come,  we (I) quickly see the difference in what I say I believe and how much faith I actually have, or in my case- how much faith I actually lack.  May these Scriptures encourage your heart and spur you on to know that God is working out trials and afflictions in your life that he might be given much glory and so that you might believe in Him!  He is trustworthy!

Lord, help my unbelief!  I have seen you work in my life over and over again, and yet when my life is stricken, I see where I fail. Please give me the faith on THIS side of struggles so that I may honor you with my trust, my speech and my actions.

John 11:

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 9:

1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.