"You cannot serve God and mammon" (money, material things).
You cannot trust - or live for - God AND stuff. It's one or the other.
Only one thing can hold highest place in our affections.
Here in America, it's easy to give that spot to money, stuff, material things. To build up our retirement accounts, trusting them to care for us in our old age.
To work in order to earn money, so we can have money to "do whatever we want". So we can have security, or so we think.
Why do we have a hard time trusting God with everything, instead of trusting our money?
We think we are wiser than God. That if we really trust God, if we really live as He would have us to live, if we really used our money for the Kingdom instead of as a security blanket - that He would put us in the poorhouse, and we would have no happiness. We think we will be happier with money, than with God. That building up Monopoly money here is worth more than accumulating treasure in Heaven. We trust what we see, because it is now, rather than the God we cannot see, who has promised future things. And who has promised to provide all that we need if we live for the Kingdom first (Matt.6:24,33).
We forget that the One who gave everything to save our souls, does love us here. That if He takes our money, He will give us something better. Is it not the poor who love Him most? It is those who trust Him with everything that find Him to be everything. It is those with little who rejoice most in the God they cannot see. Maybe God would take our money in order to give us Himself. Is that not a better trade?
Our God is in the heavens;
He does all that He pleases...
...trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
The LORD has remembered us; He will bless us...
He will bless those who fear the LORD,
both the small and the great.
(Ps.115:3,11-13, ESV)
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
from His hand
The grass often seems greener
where other people serve God.
surely they do great things
worthwhile things
but I, I seem to stagnate here
I wonder what will last
of all I do.
Changing diapers
folding clothes
reading books to little ones...
my ever-present fight with clutter,
errands to run
bedtime again -
all seems so mundane
so useless in the scheme of things
... and thinking so
I find that I forgot His ways -
the mystery of how
"little" in the world's eyes
may be "great" in His
forgot that Jesus said
"the Father Himself loves you" -
and when I live in light of that
I see aright again
that every moment comes
from His hand
given in love
for purposes that sometimes
He alone will understand
and if every moment
comes from Him
than I receive it gladly
happy again to be
but an unworthy servant
yet more -
a child of God
loved and precious to Him
we were redeemed
to live "no longer for ourselves
but for Him who died for [us] and rose again"
and this we can do
no matter where He puts us
your life will not be wasted
if you live to serve your King
tending the plot of ground
which He has lent to you
serving His Kingdom
serving His people
loving His people
even by a prayer
an encouragement
a cup of cold water in His name
He does not forget
such "labors of love"
service rendered unto Him
even in some obscure,
unseen place
"if He had asked you to do some great thing,
would you not have done it?
How much more then,
when He asks you to do
something small?"
may I remember
and be reminded
that it is an honor
to serve Him in something small
and to be faithful there
to leave to Him
the arranging of my life
my times
my sorrows and joys
and to receive gladly
every moment
from His loving hand
(Bible verses referred to: John 16:27. 2Corinthians 5:15. Matthew 10:42. Hebrews 6:10. 2Kings 5:13)
where other people serve God.
surely they do great things
worthwhile things
but I, I seem to stagnate here
I wonder what will last
of all I do.
Changing diapers
folding clothes
reading books to little ones...
my ever-present fight with clutter,
errands to run
bedtime again -
all seems so mundane
so useless in the scheme of things
... and thinking so
I find that I forgot His ways -
the mystery of how
"little" in the world's eyes
may be "great" in His
forgot that Jesus said
"the Father Himself loves you" -
and when I live in light of that
I see aright again
that every moment comes
from His hand
given in love
for purposes that sometimes
He alone will understand
and if every moment
comes from Him
than I receive it gladly
happy again to be
but an unworthy servant
yet more -
a child of God
loved and precious to Him
we were redeemed
to live "no longer for ourselves
but for Him who died for [us] and rose again"
and this we can do
no matter where He puts us
your life will not be wasted
if you live to serve your King
tending the plot of ground
which He has lent to you
serving His Kingdom
serving His people
loving His people
even by a prayer
an encouragement
a cup of cold water in His name
He does not forget
such "labors of love"
service rendered unto Him
even in some obscure,
unseen place
"if He had asked you to do some great thing,
would you not have done it?
How much more then,
when He asks you to do
something small?"
may I remember
and be reminded
that it is an honor
to serve Him in something small
and to be faithful there
to leave to Him
the arranging of my life
my times
my sorrows and joys
and to receive gladly
every moment
from His loving hand
(Bible verses referred to: John 16:27. 2Corinthians 5:15. Matthew 10:42. Hebrews 6:10. 2Kings 5:13)
Monday, May 14, 2007
stairs
Today while we were outside, Emily climbed our whole flight of steps leading to the front door. As if she had always done that. She's done a step or two here and there, but not that much at once. Steps are so irresistible to babies.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
losing your life
In service which Thy will appoints
There are no bonds for me;
My secret heart is taught the truth
That makes Thy children free:
A life of self-renouncing love
Is one of liberty.
In God's paradox, self-denial (serving others rather than yourself) is more satisfying than self-indulgence, and the way to save your life is to lose it. The way to exaltation is humility.
To be like Jesus is to "be a servant to all", which means you don't mind being treated as a servant. Gratification is often delayed, and your reward or recognition may never come until your life is over - until you enter into Real Life, where we will see God's face!
to live is Christ, and to die is gain!
"If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."
(Lk.9:23-24, ESV).
(Philippians 2:3-4,14-15; 1:27. Ephesians 4:1-3).
There are no bonds for me;
My secret heart is taught the truth
That makes Thy children free:
A life of self-renouncing love
Is one of liberty.
In God's paradox, self-denial (serving others rather than yourself) is more satisfying than self-indulgence, and the way to save your life is to lose it. The way to exaltation is humility.
To be like Jesus is to "be a servant to all", which means you don't mind being treated as a servant. Gratification is often delayed, and your reward or recognition may never come until your life is over - until you enter into Real Life, where we will see God's face!
to live is Christ, and to die is gain!
let him deny himself
and take up his cross daily
and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it."
(Lk.9:23-24, ESV).
(Philippians 2:3-4,14-15; 1:27. Ephesians 4:1-3).
Monday, April 30, 2007
Kid News - April 2007
Katherine: 2 yrs, 11 mos. old
Current favorite...
Things to do:
- play on the computer (www.starfall.com, a learn-to-read website, or play with TuxPaint, a free program for kids) - now that she has in large part learned how to make the mouse on the computer do what she wants it to do.
- play outside with water. Scooping water out of a large container into smaller ones. Filling items from our recycle bin (which lives on the deck) with water and sunflower seed hulls and dirt (since we feed sunflower seeds to the squirrels and birds on our deck). Play outside in general - hooray for spring!
Toys: Duplos. The Eye-Block (see my prior post).
Books: Carl's Christmas and Carl Goes Shopping. Sometimes, she likes the kids' version of the Little House books. I recently swapped out most of the paper-page books on her living room shelf with board books, since Emily learned how to take them off the shelf. So now Katherine is rediscovering (and liking again) her old board books too.
Fun things she has said:
- "I'm going on this coaster to Coster-ica (Costa Rica)" (well, it was a hot pad for a pan, not a coaster, but that's what she called it as she put it on the floor and sat on it.)
- "Notch is climbing the screen saver." (Notch is one of the only squirrels we can identify, and she knows that if she climbs the screen of our sliding glass doors, we'll pay attention to her and feed her with some sunflower seeds.)
Ongoing mispronunciations:
- "new-seum" (museum - referring to the children's museum that her Grandma Peggy took her to some time ago)
- "smelling things" (she means, sPelling things with her alphabet magnets on the fridge).
Cousin Collin was here for a visit
She loves to be tickled
She wanted me to take a picture of her finger
On Daddy's shoulders for a wild ride to her bed
Coloring in Sunday School
Emily: 9 mos. old
Happy playing with rods
She now crawls mostly on hands and knees, though occasionally still uses an army crawl instead. She's getting faster every day. Today for the first time (April 30), she started "cruising" - walking her way around the footstool in the living while standing up at it. Today she also successfully climbed up onto our Vitalizer (exercise trampoline) several times, which she had never done before. Now we get to teach her how to get OFF safely...
"Standing" up
Is this banana peel edible?
I'm not sure...
She finally learned how to eat Cheerios by herself (instead of grabbing one with her whole hand and then putting her thumb in her mouth while still holding the Cheerio in her hand)
She's extremely easy-going, not easily fazed by things out of the ordinary, like getting sat on or bumped, or falling over (unless it really hurts or scares her).
She likes to play with whatever Katherine is playing with (sometimes to Katherine's chagrin... a common refrain is "no, Emily, no, no, don't play with that!")
Whatever Katherine is playing with must be interesting
Duplos
Sometimes the lid is more fun to play with than the Duplos
Current favorite...
Things to do:
- play on the computer (www.starfall.com, a learn-to-read website, or play with TuxPaint, a free program for kids) - now that she has in large part learned how to make the mouse on the computer do what she wants it to do.
- play outside with water. Scooping water out of a large container into smaller ones. Filling items from our recycle bin (which lives on the deck) with water and sunflower seed hulls and dirt (since we feed sunflower seeds to the squirrels and birds on our deck). Play outside in general - hooray for spring!
Toys: Duplos. The Eye-Block (see my prior post).
Books: Carl's Christmas and Carl Goes Shopping. Sometimes, she likes the kids' version of the Little House books. I recently swapped out most of the paper-page books on her living room shelf with board books, since Emily learned how to take them off the shelf. So now Katherine is rediscovering (and liking again) her old board books too.
Fun things she has said:
- "I'm going on this coaster to Coster-ica (Costa Rica)" (well, it was a hot pad for a pan, not a coaster, but that's what she called it as she put it on the floor and sat on it.)
- "Notch is climbing the screen saver." (Notch is one of the only squirrels we can identify, and she knows that if she climbs the screen of our sliding glass doors, we'll pay attention to her and feed her with some sunflower seeds.)
Ongoing mispronunciations:
- "new-seum" (museum - referring to the children's museum that her Grandma Peggy took her to some time ago)
- "smelling things" (she means, sPelling things with her alphabet magnets on the fridge).
Cousin Collin was here for a visit
She loves to be tickled
She wanted me to take a picture of her finger
On Daddy's shoulders for a wild ride to her bed
Coloring in Sunday SchoolEmily: 9 mos. old
Happy playing with rodsShe now crawls mostly on hands and knees, though occasionally still uses an army crawl instead. She's getting faster every day. Today for the first time (April 30), she started "cruising" - walking her way around the footstool in the living while standing up at it. Today she also successfully climbed up onto our Vitalizer (exercise trampoline) several times, which she had never done before. Now we get to teach her how to get OFF safely...
"Standing" upShe eats anything (almost) that you give her, edible or not. The inedible things get rolled around in her mouth until Mommy notices and says the refrain of the day, "What are you eating?!" and fishes it out. Anything from crumbs in the kitchen (I could sweep three times a day...) to acorn tops and sunflower seed hulls and bits of string. At least she's never choked on anything, and doesn't seem to try to swallow the inedible things. Yet.
Is this banana peel edible?
I'm not sure...
She finally learned how to eat Cheerios by herself (instead of grabbing one with her whole hand and then putting her thumb in her mouth while still holding the Cheerio in her hand)She's extremely easy-going, not easily fazed by things out of the ordinary, like getting sat on or bumped, or falling over (unless it really hurts or scares her).
She likes to play with whatever Katherine is playing with (sometimes to Katherine's chagrin... a common refrain is "no, Emily, no, no, don't play with that!")
Whatever Katherine is playing with must be interesting
Duplos
Sometimes the lid is more fun to play with than the DuplosFriday, April 20, 2007
The Eye Block
Katherine's new favorite item is the "Eye Block" - the Duplo square piece that has an eye on two sides so that you can use it to make an "animal" with eyes. Her initial reaction upon seeing it was little short of terror. I made an animal with it and showed her how the eyes on the block made the animal have eyes, and suddenly in the space of minutes, the Eye Block went from a source of terror to her favorite item in the world (for now).
After making animals with it for a week or two, she switched to just playing with the block by itself, carrying it around, etc. We've nearly lost it a few times because she'll take it with her to her room or elsewhere and then leave it and forget where she put it. She still somewhat likes Schtoompah and his tuba, and at least she'll say his name now (she used to avoid saying it); she sometimes still puts her blanket over her head to say it's her "tuba". And she still likes to see cement trucks when we pass them on the road. But the Eye Block definitely wins over them both at the moment.
After making animals with it for a week or two, she switched to just playing with the block by itself, carrying it around, etc. We've nearly lost it a few times because she'll take it with her to her room or elsewhere and then leave it and forget where she put it. She still somewhat likes Schtoompah and his tuba, and at least she'll say his name now (she used to avoid saying it); she sometimes still puts her blanket over her head to say it's her "tuba". And she still likes to see cement trucks when we pass them on the road. But the Eye Block definitely wins over them both at the moment.
Emily is crawling
After 3 months of "army crawling", Emily has finally started to crawl on hands and knees. She started a few days ago and is slowly doing more of it each day.
Oh, and she is suddenly into everything. I used to be able to assume that she'd be generally where I left her, and playing with what I expected. Now she is increasingly reaching more, moving faster, and trying to eat every speck of fuzz and dirt that she can find.
She's definitely "her own little person", and a sweet one! She's still getting me up at least once a night to nurse, but I love her anyway and know they all outgrow it someday. Sometimes she needs her "Mommy time" - after getting up from her afternoon nap, she'll often want to be held (or carried in the baby carrier) for half an hour or so, and then she's happy to be down and doing her usual things.
Oh, and she is suddenly into everything. I used to be able to assume that she'd be generally where I left her, and playing with what I expected. Now she is increasingly reaching more, moving faster, and trying to eat every speck of fuzz and dirt that she can find.
She's definitely "her own little person", and a sweet one! She's still getting me up at least once a night to nurse, but I love her anyway and know they all outgrow it someday. Sometimes she needs her "Mommy time" - after getting up from her afternoon nap, she'll often want to be held (or carried in the baby carrier) for half an hour or so, and then she's happy to be down and doing her usual things.
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