Another blast from the past....
You know, it's amazing to me what God teaches you through your children! I was thinking today about an argument that Natalie and I had a while back that ended with her shouting "You don't love me! If you did, you wouldn't be acting like this. You love Clark and Meredith more than me." It grieves me so much to hear my child, whom I've given birth to and would give my life for, saying things like this. I leave feeling like I don't know what else to do to prove to her that I love her.
Today, I was thinking about how hard it is to believe at times that God really does love me. I look at situations in my life and think "God, if you love me, why did you let this happen to me!" I live my life believing that God loves you and you, and everyone else, but I have a hard time making it personal. Wow! Do I sound like Natalie! Here is a Heavenly Father who loves me so much, that He did give His very life up for me. He loves me more than I can fathom. And yes, sometimes there are consequences for my actions and there are trials and tough times to overcome, but none of that changes the fact that He loves me - even when I don't feel it. I can't imagine how it must grieve Him, to see me say - maybe not verbally but with my lack of faith - that He couldn't possibly love me.
I think today, I turned a corner. I do believe Him. Not because I always feel like it. Not because things always go my way. But just because He says so. Because he gave me life. Because He gave me His life. It's the first truth we learn as a child about God and yet one of the hardest to grasp. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I hope that today, you know in a more real way that He really does love you and that you will live in the freedom of that knowledge, knowing there is nothing you can do to make him love you more and nothing you can do to make him love you less.
Thank you God for children and how you teach us about yourself through them.
Karen Dixon
2/18/05
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Trust and Obey
Here's another one from the past...written for our Moms 2 Moms group. As I re-read it, it is just as pertinent now as it was then. God's truth never changes.
One of the greatest lessons we learn from God as a mother is about Trust. God teaches us about trusting him from the very first days of motherhood when the baby is being formed in our womb and we cannot see what is going on. We have no other choice but to trust that God is forming and growing that baby inside of us. But once the baby is born, we tend to say “Thank you very much for this wonderful little gift you gave me, I can take it from here. I’ve got everything under control.”
His plan is to teach you to trust him in all things, so He allows you to go through all of those little scary moments when the baby is sick or you don’t know where you will get the money for the next bag of diapers to teach you to depend on Him. He then teaches us to trust as we let go of their little hands to let them walk on their own. Before you know it they are walking through the door of the school or getting on the school bus and once again we have to trust God with them. Next, you are learning to trust Him with their very life when they take the car out of the driveway for the first time. Then you learn to trust as you drop them off in their college dorm and hope that they will live what you have taught them. And then, the ultimate trust is watching them get married and trusting that their mate will love them and care for them even half as much as you do.
From the very first days of motherhood, we are mothering to let go. And for most mothers, it is the hardest thing you will ever do. We want so badly to control their environment, protect their bodies, minds and hearts and keep them from any pain. But God calls us to trust and the only way we learn to trust is to experience His goodness in the midst of trial and learn that He is trustworthy when we release our kids into his care.
As our children become more independent, we become more dependent on God. And isn’t that what trust is? Dependence on someone else to be who you think they are? All mothers go through that epiphany moment when we realize we are not in control and we long to believe and trust that God DOES have everything under control and that he is who he says he is. Write down everything you know about God. Does this describe someone you can trust? Who else do you know that is this trustworthy?
Ps. 9:10 says ‘Those who know your name will trust in you for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.’
We need to know the person in whom we are putting our trust. You don’t trust total strangers or people who you don’t know very well with your children. You would never hand your baby over to someone you don’t know or trust. How then do you expect to relinquish your control of them to a God whom you don’t know? The people you trust the most are the ones you know the best. You need to spend time every day getting to know God. The more you know of him, the more you will trust him.
I remember when Natalie was in Sunday school and they learned sign language to the song “Shout to the Lord”. There is a verse in the song that says, ‘my comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength’. Watching her sing that, I realized that I am not her comfort – He is. I am not her protector – He is. I am not her strength – He is. I had to learn to trust that He was walking those halls and going to those sleepovers where I could not go and that He loved her and wanted what was best for her even more than I did.
Trust is not about being sure that God will not let anything bad happen to you or your child. It’s about knowing that He will get you through it when it does happen.
Trust is also about trusting God in you, and that He is capable of telling you how to raise your child. We want to run to our friends or mothers or child rearing gurus to ask what we should do with our children. God does speak to us through others at times, but don’t ever substitute that for seeking God yourself and learning to listen to his voice inside of you.
Proverbs 3:5 says ‘ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.’
Trust is also about trusting God in your children. There may come a day when they reject all that you have taught them and it requires you to trust in God’s word that you have planted inside of them. When a butterfly is outgrowing his cocoon, he pushes and pushes against the walls of that cocoon and struggles to get out. If you cut it open and make it easy for him, he will never learn to fly because the struggle is what strengthens his wings and makes flight possible. When our children struggle against our boundaries and our beliefs, it’s easy to give in and give up. But if we do, they will not be strong enough to fly on their own. Allow them to question and struggle, knowing that God is in the process. It is His job to grow their faith and make them strong – not yours. Your responsibility is to trust Him at all times and lead the way by your example. When our children see us trusting God instead of striving and fretting, it increases their faith and helps to develop their own trust in Him.
Also, we need to learn to trust God’s love for us. There is nothing you can do to make him love you more – you don’t have to work for it. There is nothing you can do to make him love you less. You can’t lose it. Trust in his unfailing love for you and your child.
Ps. 32:10 ‘Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him’.
Romans 9:33b ‘The one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame’.
One of my favorite hymns growing up was Trust and Obey. I understood the obey part since that was what life was about as a kid. But I didn’t fully understand they trust part until I became a mother. Now I know that there is truly no other way to be at peace during the letting go times except to trust and obey.
Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
One of the greatest lessons we learn from God as a mother is about Trust. God teaches us about trusting him from the very first days of motherhood when the baby is being formed in our womb and we cannot see what is going on. We have no other choice but to trust that God is forming and growing that baby inside of us. But once the baby is born, we tend to say “Thank you very much for this wonderful little gift you gave me, I can take it from here. I’ve got everything under control.”
His plan is to teach you to trust him in all things, so He allows you to go through all of those little scary moments when the baby is sick or you don’t know where you will get the money for the next bag of diapers to teach you to depend on Him. He then teaches us to trust as we let go of their little hands to let them walk on their own. Before you know it they are walking through the door of the school or getting on the school bus and once again we have to trust God with them. Next, you are learning to trust Him with their very life when they take the car out of the driveway for the first time. Then you learn to trust as you drop them off in their college dorm and hope that they will live what you have taught them. And then, the ultimate trust is watching them get married and trusting that their mate will love them and care for them even half as much as you do.
From the very first days of motherhood, we are mothering to let go. And for most mothers, it is the hardest thing you will ever do. We want so badly to control their environment, protect their bodies, minds and hearts and keep them from any pain. But God calls us to trust and the only way we learn to trust is to experience His goodness in the midst of trial and learn that He is trustworthy when we release our kids into his care.
As our children become more independent, we become more dependent on God. And isn’t that what trust is? Dependence on someone else to be who you think they are? All mothers go through that epiphany moment when we realize we are not in control and we long to believe and trust that God DOES have everything under control and that he is who he says he is. Write down everything you know about God. Does this describe someone you can trust? Who else do you know that is this trustworthy?
Ps. 9:10 says ‘Those who know your name will trust in you for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.’
We need to know the person in whom we are putting our trust. You don’t trust total strangers or people who you don’t know very well with your children. You would never hand your baby over to someone you don’t know or trust. How then do you expect to relinquish your control of them to a God whom you don’t know? The people you trust the most are the ones you know the best. You need to spend time every day getting to know God. The more you know of him, the more you will trust him.
I remember when Natalie was in Sunday school and they learned sign language to the song “Shout to the Lord”. There is a verse in the song that says, ‘my comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength’. Watching her sing that, I realized that I am not her comfort – He is. I am not her protector – He is. I am not her strength – He is. I had to learn to trust that He was walking those halls and going to those sleepovers where I could not go and that He loved her and wanted what was best for her even more than I did.
Trust is not about being sure that God will not let anything bad happen to you or your child. It’s about knowing that He will get you through it when it does happen.
Trust is also about trusting God in you, and that He is capable of telling you how to raise your child. We want to run to our friends or mothers or child rearing gurus to ask what we should do with our children. God does speak to us through others at times, but don’t ever substitute that for seeking God yourself and learning to listen to his voice inside of you.
Proverbs 3:5 says ‘ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.’
Trust is also about trusting God in your children. There may come a day when they reject all that you have taught them and it requires you to trust in God’s word that you have planted inside of them. When a butterfly is outgrowing his cocoon, he pushes and pushes against the walls of that cocoon and struggles to get out. If you cut it open and make it easy for him, he will never learn to fly because the struggle is what strengthens his wings and makes flight possible. When our children struggle against our boundaries and our beliefs, it’s easy to give in and give up. But if we do, they will not be strong enough to fly on their own. Allow them to question and struggle, knowing that God is in the process. It is His job to grow their faith and make them strong – not yours. Your responsibility is to trust Him at all times and lead the way by your example. When our children see us trusting God instead of striving and fretting, it increases their faith and helps to develop their own trust in Him.
Also, we need to learn to trust God’s love for us. There is nothing you can do to make him love you more – you don’t have to work for it. There is nothing you can do to make him love you less. You can’t lose it. Trust in his unfailing love for you and your child.
Ps. 32:10 ‘Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him’.
Romans 9:33b ‘The one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame’.
One of my favorite hymns growing up was Trust and Obey. I understood the obey part since that was what life was about as a kid. But I didn’t fully understand they trust part until I became a mother. Now I know that there is truly no other way to be at peace during the letting go times except to trust and obey.
Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey
Beautiful Feet
I was just going back through some of my past writings and adding them to my blog. This one was from a Church at Charlotte Women's Ministry devotional that was compiled a couple of years ago.
For me, the topic of feet has always been a sore subject. (Pun intended) You see, I am 5’4”and I wear a size 11 shoe! I was told growing up “You’d be 2 inches taller if God hadn’t folded so much under.” Once, when I was pregnant, a lady sitting next to me in church looked down at my feet and remarked, “You have the ugliest feet I’ve ever seen!”
I have never been happy with my feet - and yet they are the very feet that God designed for me. They have run barefoot through my childhood on gravel driveways and hot sand. They paced the floor many times trying to calm a colicky baby and have walked many miles trying to shed the middle age spread. They have taken me everywhere I needed to go and even to places I’d never dreamed. And yet I still complain about them.
Romans 9:20 says, “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Isn’t that what we do too many times? We grumble at our Master Designer and complain about the way He made our nose too big or our legs too short or our hair too straight or curly. We covet what we don’t have and feel insecure with what we do have. Ps. 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” May we never cease to praise him for His beautiful creation in us.
Father, help us to see ourselves through your eyes and understand that You have created us in your image.
For me, the topic of feet has always been a sore subject. (Pun intended) You see, I am 5’4”and I wear a size 11 shoe! I was told growing up “You’d be 2 inches taller if God hadn’t folded so much under.” Once, when I was pregnant, a lady sitting next to me in church looked down at my feet and remarked, “You have the ugliest feet I’ve ever seen!”
I have never been happy with my feet - and yet they are the very feet that God designed for me. They have run barefoot through my childhood on gravel driveways and hot sand. They paced the floor many times trying to calm a colicky baby and have walked many miles trying to shed the middle age spread. They have taken me everywhere I needed to go and even to places I’d never dreamed. And yet I still complain about them.
Romans 9:20 says, “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Isn’t that what we do too many times? We grumble at our Master Designer and complain about the way He made our nose too big or our legs too short or our hair too straight or curly. We covet what we don’t have and feel insecure with what we do have. Ps. 139:14 says, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” May we never cease to praise him for His beautiful creation in us.
Father, help us to see ourselves through your eyes and understand that You have created us in your image.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Upside Down
I find it curious how we as Christians can get so caught up in and sucked into believing the definition of success and importance that the world gives. In my line of work, we get many different types of people through the door. Some obviously have money...or a good line of credit...based on the cars they drive or the watches and jewelry they wear or the handbag they carry. Others don't seem to have much at all and stress the importance of getting a good bargain because they don't have much to spend. Then there are the ones who you just don't know about. By the way they are dressed and the handbag they carry, you'd probably guess they fall into the second category, but in reality they are very wealthy.
The reason I am even pondering this is that I am finding myself more and more uncomfortable with the amount of attention that Christian people place on the watch or the bag or the affiliation with a certain team or school or the neighborhood they live in. Didn't the writer of the book of James talk about showing favoritism? Don't we also know that Jesus said "the first will be last"? What do our children learn when we tell them that what is really important in life is character and godliness and virtue, but we fall all over ourselves trying to get close to and associate with those who seem to be successful and powerful? What would it look like if we fell all over ourselves to get to that person who is driving the beat up car and wears clothes from the last decade and has never had a real hair style.
Maybe it's my affinity for the underdog or my disgust of arrogance, but I just can't take it anymore. I long for the day when we as believers really get the fact that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. All of us came to Christ in the same condition; naked, poor and blind.
I will never forget a trip that I took to Old Salem one time when the tour guide explained the headstones at the cemetery. All of them were exactly the same and the guide told us that the Moravians believed that all men were created equal and that even in death, no one deserved more than another. What's amazing about this is that even during the period before the civil war, slaves were buried side by side of their masters...with the same headstone. Paul says in the scripture that there is neither slave nor free, male nor female; Jew nor Gentile, but all men are created equal in Christ. (my translation)
I wish for just one day, we could have God's eyes and see each human being the way he sees them. I think we would be extremely surprised at how differently we would respond to those who garner our attention now. I think we would fall all over ourselves in the presence of the most unassuming soul that walks through our door.
God, give us your eyes and help us to respond the way you would...and forgive us for how quickly we forget that your kingdom is an upside-down kingdom where you choose to use the base things of the world to humble the great.
The reason I am even pondering this is that I am finding myself more and more uncomfortable with the amount of attention that Christian people place on the watch or the bag or the affiliation with a certain team or school or the neighborhood they live in. Didn't the writer of the book of James talk about showing favoritism? Don't we also know that Jesus said "the first will be last"? What do our children learn when we tell them that what is really important in life is character and godliness and virtue, but we fall all over ourselves trying to get close to and associate with those who seem to be successful and powerful? What would it look like if we fell all over ourselves to get to that person who is driving the beat up car and wears clothes from the last decade and has never had a real hair style.
Maybe it's my affinity for the underdog or my disgust of arrogance, but I just can't take it anymore. I long for the day when we as believers really get the fact that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. All of us came to Christ in the same condition; naked, poor and blind.
I will never forget a trip that I took to Old Salem one time when the tour guide explained the headstones at the cemetery. All of them were exactly the same and the guide told us that the Moravians believed that all men were created equal and that even in death, no one deserved more than another. What's amazing about this is that even during the period before the civil war, slaves were buried side by side of their masters...with the same headstone. Paul says in the scripture that there is neither slave nor free, male nor female; Jew nor Gentile, but all men are created equal in Christ. (my translation)
I wish for just one day, we could have God's eyes and see each human being the way he sees them. I think we would be extremely surprised at how differently we would respond to those who garner our attention now. I think we would fall all over ourselves in the presence of the most unassuming soul that walks through our door.
God, give us your eyes and help us to respond the way you would...and forgive us for how quickly we forget that your kingdom is an upside-down kingdom where you choose to use the base things of the world to humble the great.
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