Amid all my thoughts, wonderings, worries, questions, running about -
this is all I really need:
"Be still, and know that I am God...
The Lord of hosts is with us!
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved..."
"You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."
(Psalm 46:10,11,1,5; Is.26:3-4)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Psalm 100
Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness
to all generations.
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness
to all generations.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
call to trust
I trust Jesus. In Luke 8-9 I see His power in stilling the storm with a word. In commanding demons with complete authority. In healing the unhealable. Raising the dead. Multiplying a small amount of food to completely satisfy thousands of hungry people.
I see His power over nature. Over the spirit world. Over death and disease. With a word, even without a word, He wills, and it is done. He takes nothing and turns it into abundance.
He calls me to trust Him. His power, His mercy. And to leave all the what-if's of the future with Him. Will He not give grace for every situation? Will not whatever He gives be a choice gift from His hand, better than any alternative?
I see His power over nature. Over the spirit world. Over death and disease. With a word, even without a word, He wills, and it is done. He takes nothing and turns it into abundance.
He calls me to trust Him. His power, His mercy. And to leave all the what-if's of the future with Him. Will He not give grace for every situation? Will not whatever He gives be a choice gift from His hand, better than any alternative?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
He is Lord
Jesus is Lord
and He makes no mistakes
whatever He gives
will be found better
than whatever we thought we wanted instead
and He makes no mistakes
whatever He gives
will be found better
than whatever we thought we wanted instead
Monday, January 3, 2011
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Whobody?
Jeff, looking into the toilet: "Whobody flushed?" (I guess that's as good a word as "somebody"?)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
much, much soap
One day Jeff wanted me to refill the foamy soap dispenser in the bathroom. He said, "There's not much!" So I said, ok, you may find the soap in the cupboard. So he pulled out the refill bottle and said, "Here's much much soap!"
It's so easy to see only the weariness of motherhood (of little ones) -- the constant "Mommy!" calls... the listening to some litany of something that matters to some child, while at the same time trying to remember the other things your mind was juggling at the moment... all the physical needs of little ones that demand Mommy's doing them (dressing, bathing, getting food ready, bathroom needs, brushing teeth)... more arbitrating between two who fuss at each other, more reminders to love one another, more frustration at the sin so evident from sinful hearts... it can be hard to step back from all that in order to rejoice at the little things of childhood, so fleeting. The things that make older mothers say "enjoy this time!" because they miss those little things, and wish they had enjoyed them more (though they don't necessarily explain HOW to do that while dealing with all the little "trials" at the same time). The funny things kids say, the childish likes that will disappear soon, the trust in parents. It's easy to "not have time" to sit holding my child or reading to her. To make all the urgent things become more important than what I'll really wish I had done with my kids while they were little.
Sometimes it takes seeing what I don't have, to make me thankful for what I have. I don't (as far as I know!) have a child with a terminal or chronic illness. I don't have widowhood. I don't have barrenness or infertility. I don't have a husband who gambles away his paycheck or comes home in drunkenness or anger. My children are not AIDS orphans in Africa, with no hope and no help. I have the means to feed them (that's an understatement) and a place for them to sleep. And physical health to get up and care for them and (try to) manage our home, and homeschool. And most of all - I have Jesus! I have forgiveness through Him for all my sins! And therefore - even if I had all those things I don't wish for, it would be ok. Because I have Him.
Oh may I remember this. Day to day, moment by moment. I have Jesus! And what He has called me to do, is be here, now, to be a wife and a mother, to my family. To do it, for Him. If I remembered that more often -- looked up instead of down or around me -- then I would be so much more happy and content.
It's so easy to see only the weariness of motherhood (of little ones) -- the constant "Mommy!" calls... the listening to some litany of something that matters to some child, while at the same time trying to remember the other things your mind was juggling at the moment... all the physical needs of little ones that demand Mommy's doing them (dressing, bathing, getting food ready, bathroom needs, brushing teeth)... more arbitrating between two who fuss at each other, more reminders to love one another, more frustration at the sin so evident from sinful hearts... it can be hard to step back from all that in order to rejoice at the little things of childhood, so fleeting. The things that make older mothers say "enjoy this time!" because they miss those little things, and wish they had enjoyed them more (though they don't necessarily explain HOW to do that while dealing with all the little "trials" at the same time). The funny things kids say, the childish likes that will disappear soon, the trust in parents. It's easy to "not have time" to sit holding my child or reading to her. To make all the urgent things become more important than what I'll really wish I had done with my kids while they were little.
Sometimes it takes seeing what I don't have, to make me thankful for what I have. I don't (as far as I know!) have a child with a terminal or chronic illness. I don't have widowhood. I don't have barrenness or infertility. I don't have a husband who gambles away his paycheck or comes home in drunkenness or anger. My children are not AIDS orphans in Africa, with no hope and no help. I have the means to feed them (that's an understatement) and a place for them to sleep. And physical health to get up and care for them and (try to) manage our home, and homeschool. And most of all - I have Jesus! I have forgiveness through Him for all my sins! And therefore - even if I had all those things I don't wish for, it would be ok. Because I have Him.
Oh may I remember this. Day to day, moment by moment. I have Jesus! And what He has called me to do, is be here, now, to be a wife and a mother, to my family. To do it, for Him. If I remembered that more often -- looked up instead of down or around me -- then I would be so much more happy and content.
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