memo to self

"Finally, in exasperation I asked myself, "What can I do that will really make a difference in society?"

And the answer led me right back to my own home.
Raising my own children with a Christian worldview was the biggest contribution to society that I could possibly make; giving to the world healthy, holy citizens who would spread their influence in an exponential way that I couldn't accomplish with my paltry efforts alone. My work with my children was the very core of societal change. " -Holly Pierlot, A Mother's Rule of life

As Christian mothers, I think we already know this to be true. Sometimes though, I need to be reminded to be mindful of my moments and to be purposeful with my day.
These words remind me to not look so lightly on my life here at home, and cause me to pause and consider the work I do -or do not do- here at home with the missionary field the Lord has sent me to work.

Will my children run whole-heartedly after the Lord? There is a good possibility that they will not, if I do not.

Will my children abide with Christ in a spirit-led life? Do I show them what a spirit-led life is?

mindful living is my goal this week.

The grackle, the bluebird

This short piece in Christianity Today Magazine struck a chord with me a few months ago, I thought I would link it *here*

"...Not long ago, I came across a comment by G.K. Chesterton-...
"Idolatry is committed," Chesterton warned, "not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils." A nice way of putting it, I thought to myself. But not as memorable as Walter Martin's story of the bluebirds and grackles."
- Richard J. Mouw

Loaves and Fish

I am enjoying these thoughts on Matthew 14:14-21... and pondering...

"Here were the disciples, staring at a large crowd, seeing all the needs of the people, and knowing full well they couldn't meet those needs. The only solution they saw was to send the people away. And here I was, seeing the many tasks and needs of my home- for my children, my husband, homeschooling, not to mention myself- and the only solution I could see was to send the children away....."

...."And then it dawned on me. It wasn't the apostles' meager five loaves and two fish that fed the crowds, but their offering combined with the blessing of Jesus. And Jesus was telling me to give Him my five loaves and two fish, my insignificant efforts, and He would bless them, and the needs of my family would be met."

..."At prayer that evening, it dawned on me: the answer to my perplexity about why Jesus had not "helped me as he'd promised....I had to give a full five loaves and two fish-not three loaves, not two loaves. I had to apply all of me to the task and mission I was called to be and do, not haphazardly, but fully, methodically, completely..."

-A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot

a thoughtful word for those of us in the homeschool trenches, way burnt out right about now.
This is my new book in my reading basket.

Unwavering

Blessed are the poor. The kingdom is theirs. Alive in the promise
to be dead to the world.
Blessed are the meek. In the eye of the Father.
The Word at Your right hand.
Spirit of truth.

Unwavering is the voice. Unwavering is Your hand.

Unwavering is the heart that bled for the sons of man.

Unwavering is Your will. Unwavering is Your plan.

The fount of salvation. On which we will stand.

Blessed are the righteous. On bended knee. Found in this
freedom. Committed to You.
Blessed are those who see. The heights of glory.
Found in the valley. Suffering for You.
Send us out to be Your hands and feet...

-"unwavering" by Matt Maher, sung by Bethany Dillon

And opening His mouth, He taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
-Matthew 5:2-10

I really love listening to the lullabye album "sing over me", which is where the song above is taken from. I purchased the cd to play for Demi-Sky at bedtime, and now it is on my ipod- so soothing and such a blessing to listen to. Two songs are my absolute favorites, the above is one, and one song makes me cry. Really, a great cd, you won't be sorry if you run out and buy it.

"unwavering" always brings to my mind The sermon on the mount. Thoughts of mercy; found and given and sorrow; endured and comforted envelope me as I ponder this song and these verses. I love the peace of knowing that the blessing is found simply by dwelling with God, and that this is all I need-and really, when I strip away all the excess, this is all I want.

Baptism

Meg was baptized this Lord's day. I was privileged to pray with her when she was six years old, to ask the Lord Jesus to come into her heart and forgive her of her sins. Her daddy was privileged to baptize her this past Lord's day. She is such a blessing to us.

Hymn-"Do come"

Drink! A river pure and clear that's flowing from the throne;
Eat! The tree of life with fruits abundant, richly grown;
Look! No need of lamp nor sun nor moon to keep it bright, for
Here there is no night!

Do come, oh do come,
Says Spirit and the Bride:
Do come, oh, do come,
Let him that heareth, cry.
Do come, oh, do come,
Let him who thirsts and will
Take freely the water of life!

Christ, our river, Christ, our water, springing from within;
Christ, our tree, and Christ, the fruits, to be enjoyed therein,
Christ, our day, and Christ, our light, and Christ, our morning star:
Christ, our everything!....

St. Patrick

According to legend, St. Patrick's cathedral in Dublin, Ireland was built on the site of a well that St. Patrick used to baptize converts in the 5th century. It is thought that a small wooden church existed on the site as early as 450 A.D., and a stone church was built in 1191 by the Normans. It is Dublin's second great Protestant cathedral, the largest church in Ireland and the national church.

St. Patrick is thought to have lived around 385-460 A.D. His father was a Roman government official. His family's name was Succat. When Patrick was 16, he was kidnapped and carried away to northern Ireland and sold as a slave. He lived the hard life of a shepherd-slave on the slopes of Slemish mountain in what is now Ulster.

"The life of a shepherd-slave could not have been a happy one...The work of such shepherds was bitterly isolated, months at a time spent alone in the hills. Deprived of intercourse with other humans, Patricus must have taken a long time to master the language and customs of his exile, so that the approach of strangers over the hills may have held special terror. We know that he did have two constant companions, hunger and nakedness, and the gnawing in his belly and the chill on his exposed skin were his worst sufferings, acutely painful presences that could not be shaken off... Like many another in impossible circumstances, he began to pray... ...Patricus endured six years of this woeful isolation, and by the end of it he had grown from a careless boy to something he would surely never otherwise become-a holy man..." -How the Irish saved civilization by Thomas Cahill page 101

Patrick heard God's voice in a dream telling him a ship was waiting for him, and so he headed for the sea coast-200 miles away. Patrick studied several years in Europe to attempt to make up for the education he had missed and then returned to Ireland a bishop to convert the people who had once held him slave. It is very striking to me that Patrick returned to Ireland, at the time they were a very wild, violent, pagan people. The Romans in their first encounters with the Irish, were afraid of them. "The Irish, like all the celts, stripped before battle and rushed their enemy n*ked, carrying sword and shield but wearing only sandals and torc...The Romans, in their first encounters with these exposed, insane warriors, were shocked and frightened. Not only were the men n*ked, they were howling and,it seemed, possessed by demons..." -Cahil page 83

Irish society at that time was ruled by different tribal kings, they were a people of war and offerred up human sacrifices. Patrick, in returning there to preach the gospel was a real life portrait of one loving his enemy. Cahil writes,..."Nor was he blind to his dangers, for even in his last years "every day I am ready to be murdered, betrayed, enslaved-whatever may come my way. But I am not afraid of any of these things, because of the promises of heaven; for I have put myself in the hands of God Almighty.".. His love for his adopted people shines through his writings...the horror of slavery was never lost on him...In his last years, he could probably look out over an Ireland transformed by his teaching...Within his lifetime or soon after his death, the Irish slave trade came to a halt, and other forms of violence, such as murder and intertribal warfare, decreased." -Cahil page 108-110

"In becoming an Irishman, Patrick wedded his world to theirs, his faith to their life...Patrick found a way of swimming down to the depths of the Irish psyche and warming and transforming Irish imagination-making it more humane and more noble while keeping it Irish..." -Cahil page 115

"Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!" Acts 28:28

Mercy in the middle

Monday Meg and Josie had the treat of spending the day with Grandma. Such a day usually includes lunch out, a day spent exploring old town Orange (think lots of shops) and Barnes & Nobles.

For background, Meg and Josie have a night out with daddy weekly-and they always go to Barnes & Nobles. Demi and Amie are very much looking forward to the day when they will be invited along. They don't go now, for a few very good reasons.
I could sum them up with: the time we went with gracefulmom and her two littles, and the four of them were stopped mid-reach for the fire alarm pull. (spidey senses to the rescue!). Or the uncountable times I ventured forth with them and they just could not sit still, could not be quiet. The many spills we have had in as many trips... Or the time they knocked over a large book display. Or my current adventure: Monday's;

They did really well, I can tell they are getting older and not so squirrelly. We read a pile of Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and Clifford the big red dog- cuz we are just into that high-brow stuff... had some hot cocoa, real mom and her offspring bonding time. Until the obligatory trip to the restroom and Amie's fall down the escalator. I was right below her and caught her, but not before she got scratched up and frightened. And then, somehow Demi managed to spray the 1/2 teaspoon of cocoa remaining in his cup (with a lid!) all over himself. It was amazing the square footage he was able to cover with such a small amount of the stuff. So, I came home and laughed about it with Sky, while saying...again..."never again!"...

The whole thing with B & N and my struggle with mom guilt, which is why I usually take them..again, made me think about mercy. Mercy that is extended towards us, and not because we've earned it, but because of love.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

It is because of love that I take my little ones on such a trip, when it would be much easier on me to stay home. I extend grace toward them because of love.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God," Ephesians 2:4-8

We are in need of God's mercy because of our pitiful situation, our dead situation. God is so rich in mercy to make us alive out of our deadened- by- sin state, to be alive together with Christ. He shows the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us. His grace is a free thing, a gift we do not deserve. This grace we are unable to resist.

"I have loved you with an eternal love, therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee." Jer 31:3

I love my boy because he is mine, because the Lord gave him to me. I have grace and mercy towards him, not because he is such a good little boy that he deserves it, but because my love is a free thing. I take him to Barnes & Nobles not because I believe he will behave perfectly, but because my love is unconditional.

[Mom] suffers long and is kind;...[mom]... does not behave rudely,..[mom] is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; [mom] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

I hope my children see love, and that this love will draw them to the One that is love made real.

We More Than Conquer

I was blessed to attend a memorial service for a brother in the Lord. There is so much to say about the service and about a life lived to satisfy God, I wouldn't even know where to begin. My thoughts today center on a Bible verse from a list of verses he loved, in fact one verse- Romans 8:37 graced the front page of the program we were given. Later that evening I spent time reading this verse and the footnotes that accompany it in my Bible. I thought I would share:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, "For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we have been accounted as sheep for slaughter." But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers Nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:35-39

here are the footnotes...
vs37-Because of God's unchanging love for us and the fact that Christ has accomplished everything on our behalf, neither tribulation nor persecution can suppress or defeat us; rather , in all these things we more than overcome and conquer through Him who loved us.
vs.39-The love of God is the source of His eternal salvation. This love is in Christ and has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (5:5). Nothing can separate us from this love of God (vv.38-39). In God's salvation this love to us has become the love of Christ (vs.35), which does many marvelous things for us through the grace of Christ until God's complete salvation is accomplished in us. These marvelous things provoke God's enemy to attack us with all kinds of sufferings and calamities (vv.35-36). However, because of our response to the love of God in Christ, these attacks have become benefits to us (v.28). Hence, we more than conquer in all our afflictions and calamities (v.37).

This brother in the Lord fought against cancer for about a year, and I thought his choice of scriptures to proclaim spoke volumes, paticularly against the backdrop of his life. He gave up much in worldly standards, to come and serve the Lord.
He wrote-"only His satisfaction can issue in our satisfaction."

Amen