Yes, I'm a Mom but...

Somehow today I am supposed to be elevated to almost a godlike status somehow? I am supposed to feel my worth in how well I am treated by my children?

I have often wondered about this. You see, I have three children. Two of them are

still in contact with me but one has sadly left the fold. So days like this one, Mother’s Day, can be difficult for me. It is hard for me not to think of the “what if’s” and “if only’s.”

We mothers are not gods. We have feet of clay, I have learned. I mothered much the way I was mothered, warts and all. Not to say that my Mom is not a great Mom. Guess what? My Mom mothered the way she was mothered, and her mother mothered the way she was mothered.
The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, you know.

So what’s the point of making a big deal of Mother’s Day? Well, we take a day to honor and remember the things she did for us, which should not be limited to just one day a year. We are admonished to honor our parents in the Word of God everyday so that our lives would go well with us. There reaches a point in human maturity when one stops blaming their parents for all of their problems and takes on responsibility for their own life. Yes, we all have been handed a raw deal. It is called the fall of man and it started when Eve took the fruit from the serpent. Ever since then, there has been no perfect mother, and no perfect family. Our excuses might sound good before men, but they won’t stand before God. We each will stand alone.

So, on Mother’s Day, I did get very kind thanks from two of my children and I am quite grateful for that. But could I be happy if not even one of them acknowledged me? That one is a tough one to think about, but if I let my mind think with the Word of God, I could say “yes,” I could still be happy.

You see, my happiness should not depend on the kind of card I get, the gifts I get, the adulation from others. It all boils down to this: ONE Person came down from His heavenly abode and all His glory and took on the likeness of human flesh to become one of us, made from dust and dirt. HE loved me enough to hang on the cross for me until all my sins, and everyone else’s too, were paid for. It comes down to these words describing Christ from the book of Galatians chapter 2, verse 20:
“who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” (emphasis added)

Surely that is better than a card or gift on Mother’s Day, is it not? Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for what I have, but the greatest gift of all that remains is LOVE. His Love, demonstrated by giving Himself for us unconditionally on Calvary’s Cross. It was more of a sacrifice than any mother ever made for her child, it was more than any love one person showed for another, indeed, it was a love that was not from this world.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. I John 3:1 NASB

If a believing mother would happen to read this on Mother’s Day and for some reason is heartbroken for one reason or another, you still can rejoice, no matter what, for you have received the greatest gift of all: the love of God in Christ Jesus!

Honor Your Father...That Your Days may be Long...

"'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5: 16

Today is the day in which we honor our fathers for the role God has given them in our life. Whether you have had a situation of happiness or sorrow with your earthly Dad, God's principle remains the same, honor your father. As a little girl, I had what I call magical thinking toward my parents. I believed everything they told me, and thought they could make all of my problems go away. As I matured, I outgrew that kind of thinking and sadly came to realize that people, even my parents, could not solve my problems.

Even after walking with the Lord many years, I still leaned on the arm of the flesh for way too long. The Lord had to discipline me like an earthly father would to show me that He was the only one I could lean on. In my reading today, I cam across these words in Isaiah 31: 1:

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, [And] rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because [they are] many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD!"

That is exactly what I did for many years, by constantly running to people, even though I had the Bible and its multitude of wisdom. One day it occurred to me, God's verrrry slow learner, that He meant just what He said.

Isaiah continues in verse 2:

"Yet He also [is] wise and will bring disaster, And will not call back His words, But will arise against the house of evildoers, And against the help of those who work iniquity."

As I read verse 3 (which I have read many times before) a light bulb went off:

Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together. (emphases are mine)

Worldly wisdom tells you if someone is nasty to you then you should be nasty back to them. Get them back with ferocity! It also says if you want to get rich, play the lottery often and maybe you'll hit one day, and then you won't have to work anymore. Don't worry about having integrity, nobody else does, so why should you? These are some of the things you might learn when you "go down to Egypt for help."

Dad taught me wisdom that lined up with things taught in the Bible. The chief morsel would have to be this:

Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,(v.7) Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, (v.8) Provides her supplies in the summer, [And] gathers her food in the harvest.
(v.9) How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? (v.10) A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep-- (v. 11) So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

Dad put up with my foolish complaining when he asked me to help him carry firewood back to the house that was chopped down over the hill. We would burn the wood in our family room fireplace. I was a "little continual dripper" like the nagging Proverbs wife in grade school!

"It's too cold out here, Dad!" I would start the whining after only carrying about two loads. Dad never minded a bit of cold, his blue eyes would twinkle like Santa Claus out there. He would just keep trudging and expect me to do the same.

I think that's why Dad singled me out to go help him, which I saw as a "grave injustice." Little did I know what Dad had to do when he was my age.Every morning he would be up before dawn to feed and care for all animals in the family barn. On the Iowa farm, Dad only had one pair of shoes to wear to school and had to pay his own way to get through college. It was a feat that no one else in his family did. I was a foolish ingrate, but thank God for His mercy in showing me the way to repentance.

I thank God for my hard working earthly father. To this day, Proverbs 6: 6-11 has never characterized him. He works from sunup to sundown at age eighty-one. His mind is sharp as a pin. He honors the Lord with the firstfruits of his increase. (Proverbs 3:9) He delights to go to the house of the Lord, and fellowships with his wife of fifty-five years in the Word every day.

No matter where you are with your Dad today, it is never too late to make a fresh start. Even if he did you wrong, God put him in your life for some reason. Maybe you will never know it until eternity. I encourage you to thank God for your earthly father. In doing so, your faith will be built up and your burden will be lightened. And that is what Christ came to do. (Matthew 11: 28-30)

1Th 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

If you are estranged from your earthly Dad, there is no time better than "now" to be the first person to take a step in reconciliation. Even if he won't, you'll know in your heart you tried. You will have peace, your days on earth will not be filled with anxiety, with strife, with a constant running from yourself and others.

But last of all, even if your relationship with your earthly Dad wasn't what you hoped it would be, in your sorrow remember that God's love will never, ever change towards you:

I John 3: 1 assures us ultimately:

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him.

Gratitude or Grumbling, Part II

As today is the last day of November, I wanted to do an update on my "Gratitude or
Grumbling" post from Tuesday. I had this "funny feeling" when I posted it that I was going to be tested on it. Well, let's just say the last couple days have been kind of rough for me. The enemy has been taunting me with "Look at how much good that did you!" admidst days of unresolved issues in my life.

I know condemnation is not of the Lord. (Romans 8:1) But I was feeling pretty condemned, truthfully. But I have this, this only as I cling to the Lord: He is not in the business of giving up on His kids.( Hebrews 13:5) He loves me unconditionally. (John 3: 16) God's love is not at all like human love.(I John 3:1) That is all I need, period.

He demonstrated that love when He died on that cross for me.(I John 4: 10) He knows my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. (Romans 7: 15) I am still thanking Him for things, even things that are hurting. The promise in Romans 8:28 still says, if I love Him, He will work all the tattered pieces of my life together for good. He promised. He does not lie. He does not change.(Malachi 3:6) You think I am writing this just for readers? I speak to myself first!

Sometimes, when you walk around, did you ever notice all the broken people you see? Those people that are "down on their luck," so to speak? One guy I see around the neighborhood has some kind of problem, he talks to himself incoherently and to others the same way. Most people hurry away from him. Jesus, If Jesus saw that man today, all scruffy and unkempt,He'd find a way to graciously communicate with him. Another old fellow walks down the street very slowly with a cane. He can even hold up traffic at times. One time I helped him with a door or something. I was tempted to be impatient because he was so slow. Then he told me he was blind in his one eye. He may have been injured in battle sometime. All of a sudden, I was ashamed of myself for being so thoughtless and uncaring. Jesus has all the time in the universe to care about people's needs....But my window of opportunity to show love and do good is fleeting quickly. In fact, Christ lived outside of time, in eternity. That's why He never was flustered and frantic like we are.

These two men reflect beatings on the outside, but we all have them, whether inside or out. Though we don't show them, we are just as roughed up as they are, even though many people might not want to admit it. Though my troubles rose rapidly to the surface after I set my mind to think gratefully, I am identified with the Greatest Victor in the Universe. (I Cor. 15: 57) If I set my mind on the things above, not the things of earth (Col. 3:1-2), my heart will remain grateful. If I fail, I pick myself back up again, confess it to God, for He will forgive and cleanse me up to "70 x 7" (meaning an infinite amount.) What more could a daughter of God want?

Thank you Lord for even allowing the hard trials into my life so that I will run back to You. Amen.