Recipe for Peace

How often do you feel at perfect peace? I have to admit that too often I feel frazzled and troubled. This tendency recently became crystal clear. It also pointed to some bad lessons I'm teaching my children.

We are trying to sell our home. This process has been hugely impacted by a tree falling our on deck, a water main breaking in our bathroom, and--most recently--a determination that our septic system needs addressing. When the health inspector came to render his insights, the predictions left me worried and feeling we might never get the house sale-worthy. My mind certainly wasn't fixed on God, and worry replaced peace. 

In His grace, when I sat at my computer, God brought Isaiah 26:3 to my attention."You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." As I read the verse, God convicted me of the source of my worry--failure to keep my mind on God; failure to trust Him for helping with this. Moreover, He impressed on me the lesson I was teaching my children--to focus on problems, not God.

I gathered the children and admitted my fault. "Kiddos, I blew it. I know God has a plan for our future, and He is already taking care of us in it. He will guide this septic issue and make a way for us to do what is right. As I think about how good God is to us and how perfectly He can provide, I know He will take care of this, too. I know I sounded pretty worried. But, I talked to God, and I'm not scared now. I'm sorry I didn't go first to God. I'm more sorry I set such a bad example for you. Can you pray with me for God's guidance? Then, we'll sit back and see how God helps us."

Not only did peace pervade me--it pervaded our family.

As home schoolers we have so much to worry about. Are we meeting everyone's needs? Are we setting a good example? Are we preparing our children in all the ways they need? 

We have a promise to calm us. If we stay our minds on God and trust Him, He will keep us in perfect peace. It really doesn't get any better than that.

Tess Worrell writes and speaks to groups regarding issues of family life and living as a Godly woman. She and husband, Mike Worrell, live in Madison, Indiana, where they are in their 14th year of home schooling. She would love to hear your insights. Comment here or email her at tess@YourFamilyMatterstous.com. If you would like Tess to speak to your home school or church group, you can learn more about her speaking at YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

In Step With The Spirit

Just think what our homes could be like

and how it would affect our children

if we were truly in step with the Spirit,

devoted moment by moment to God's purposes . . .

Only three verses in all of Scripture about her, but I’m convinced I would have loved her.  Anna was one amazing old lady in love with an amazing God.

Someone in her circumstances might have become overwhelmed, bitter, and lonely, being married only seven years before becoming a widow, but not Anna.  She spent her time attached to the Lord’s interests—and He communicated with her (she was a prophetess, says Luke 2:36).  Now as an 84 year old, “she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.”  (Luke 2:37)  I wonder just how long she had been doing this.

Nowadays, people twenty years younger than Anna was are retired, but not Anna.  She obviously wasn’t sitting around at home doing nothing or feeling sorry for herself.  No, she was in step with the Spirit.  “At that very moment . . .” as Simeon was prophesying about little eight-day-old Jesus as he held Him in his arms, she came up and starting giving thanks to God.  Oh, to be so close to Him, so in step with the Spirit, that when the Lord is doing something significant in my vicinity I, too, would be in the center of it, and not missing it.

Most of the people on the planet, whether young or old, let their own selfish purposes dictate their lives, but not Anna.  Anna let God’s purposes direct her time and energy.  She “continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”  (Luke 2:38)  Interestingly, it was those who were looking to see what God would do who got in on the news of what God was up to.  I wonder if the ones who weren’t looking for the redemption of Jerusalem ever found out what God was doing?

And that’s it.  Just three verses, yet her life has inspired and challenged mine.

Where is my focus?  On my situation or on the Lord’s interests?

Am I in step with His Spirit, or I am I too focused on me to see what He’s doing?

What directs my time and my energy?  Am I ready at any moment to step up and begin giving Him thanks?

O Lord, in all my days, I don’t want to miss even one moment of what You are doing or one opportunity to give You thanks!

Moment by moment, may I, too, be a praying woman who hears from You, keeps on speaking of You, and gives You thanks that others can hear.  Shape me in such a way that the simple snippets from my life would point others to bless Your name.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:25 (NIV)

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, except where otherwise specified.

One Mother's Night Job

This post is dedicated to everyone

who has ever lain awake worrying over something,

or might ever be tempted to. . .

At 5:12 last Wednesday morning the lights came on.

No, not the electric lights.  Something dawned on my heart--and I realized something.

I awoke to use the bathroom, and as I got out of bed, I began to marvel.  The things I have historically worried about in the night are never the really "big" things.  The things I know I have absolutely no control over--and that are entirely in God's hands--are not the things that keep me awake.

No, what keeps me awake are those smaller things that I think I have some control over.  The things I think are up to me, that I somehow control the outcome of.  I lie awake concerned about how I am going to get them done.

And then it hit me.  This line I've drawn between what's in my control and what's in God's control is an illusion--it's a non-existent line!  There's really no difference at all.  He is sovereign over the big things, and He's no less sovereign over the small ones.  What ever was I thinking?!  He reminded me that apart from Him I can do nothing (John 15).  My life is fruitful only as I depend on Him.  And His power to mastermind and accomplish the big things is more than sufficient for the smaller things of my life.

So I resolved to retire from my night job as worrier.  I've known all along it wasn't right, but somehow, I kept getting pulled into it.  Without actually consciously acknowledging it, I sort of imagined that I ultimately had control over the things I stayed awake over.

I'm learning to trust Him more.

"Why are you in despair, O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God,

for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And His song will be with me in the night*,

A prayer to the God of my life.

Hope in God,

for I shall yet praise Him,

The help of my countenance, and my God."

Psalm 42:5, 8, 11b

P.S. * So I've taken a new a new night job (when I'm not asleep, that is).  I'm singing His song.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Thanksgiving--The Season That Never Ends

When we first returned from Ukraine with our newly adopted thirteen-year-old daughter, my dad went around the house with her, labeling things with sticky-notes.  Her repertoire of English vocabulary was very small, so he was helping to add to it.  I still smile when I remember his labeling of legs—"table leg," "chair leg," and "people leg."

Recently, I heard about another use for sticky-note labels that I've not been able to get out of my head.  Someone suggested that each of us ought to get two stacks of sticky-notes. On the notes in one stack, write the label "temporary" and attach those notes to everything that is just that—temporary.  Cars, computers, toys, furniture . . . even money.  You get the idea.  All the stuff that, in the end, will burn.  On the notes in the second stack, write "eternal" and stick those on people, because their souls are, in fact, eternal.

Even though I didn't actually make the labels, I now can't picture my stuff without seeing those labels attached in my mind.  And I find myself asking myself why I'm spending time on certain things that won't last or that won't impact the eternal in any way.

Surrounded by invisible labels, I've been thinking of their implication on my thanksgiving, too.  The temporary can certainly be cause for thanksgiving.  The glory and magnificence of the created world—all that we can see, taste, smell, hear, or touch—can point us to the wisdom and goodness of our Creator.  Majestic mountains, the cheerful sound of children's laughter, or the savory smell of pumpkin pie can inspire praise to our Father.  He is the one who gave us ears to hear.  He gave us eyes capable of seeing color and detecting depth.  He is the one who created flavor and gave us the ability to enjoy it.  As wonderful as the created world is though, it still gets a "temporary" label.  And that's really got me thinking.

I’ve tried to imagine being in what we'd be likely to call less-than-ideal circumstances.  What if I lost my sight?  What if I could no longer hear the laughter of children?  What if I were truly hungry or out in the cold?  What if my life were the one the Voice of the Martyrs magazine asked you to pray for?  What then?  In that light, a focus on the temporary seems terribly shallow.  What would I be thankful for then?  It would be the things that transcend and that can’t be stolen by circumstances good or bad.  Think of it!  If our joy is attached to the things that can’t be stolen, then our joy can’t be stolen either.  But if our joy is attached to temporary things . . .

God knows our hearts need a greater focus on the intangible blessings that are enduring, a focus that goes beyond thanksgiving for the albeit lovely, but nevertheless temporary.  It’s those eternal blessings that will remain and bring joy even when our lives are stripped of all those temporary things.

That's what the Apostle Peter was getting at in chapter one of his first letter:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away...”  

I find it interesting that Scripture focuses very little on the temporary, and even the examples of gratitude for temporary things point to God's character as Provider.  Not that I don't enjoy the temporary or won't be grateful for the blessings that I know will fade, but the temporary is definitely second tier, and the real issue is one of priorities.  Recognition of the enduring importance of the eternal is the cure for a hollow life.  Seeing with God's eternal perspective keeps us from being shallow.

So while I will still be thankful for temporary blessings, I'm all the more determined to cultivate an ardent attitude of gratitude for "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places," as Paul says in Ephesians 1.  Though I can’t attach sticky-notes to them, they are no less real.  I want my joy to be anchored to the eternal, not to the temporary.  If I’m anchored to the eternal, I can't be shaken.  I’m convinced that’s what Peter was talking about as his first letter continues:

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials … and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory … [Therefore] fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Yes, 'tis the season for being thankful.

If you know Jesus, the season never ends!

By the way, parents, if we model a life of heavenly aligned priorities, we equip our children well to live a truly rich life.

"Godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.

... Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited

or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches,

but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy."

I Timothy 6:6,17

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Held Together

Some days--especially at the start of a new school year--I look at what needs to be accomplished, and it’s overwhelming.  I’m already past the straw that broke the camel’s back.  If you were to but sneeze in my direction, I think I might actually fall to pieces.  Ever felt that way?

Look this way for a moment.

“Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars,

the One who leads forth their host by number,

He calls them all by name;

Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power

not one of them is missing.”  Isaiah 40:26

Not one of them is missing.  Wow.

“For by Him all things were created,

both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,

whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created by Him and for Him.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Colossians 1:16-17

Really?  Yes, all things.

So it’s no stretch to say He holds me together?  That’s right.

Not just holds you together, but holds you in His arms.

“The eternal God (eternal—as in not disintegrating anytime in the unforeseeable future) is a dwelling place (alternately translated refuge),

And underneath are the everlasting arms.”  Deuteronomy 33:27

(Parenthetical comments mine)

Whatever it is, you’ll make it.

In Him all things hold together.

And underneath are the everlasting arms.

Please, Lord, don’t let my heart ever forget it.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

By The Will Of God

Ever had one of those days when you wonder if you're really up to the job of parenting?  I have. Some days I think of other mothers I know, and I'm quite sure they're probably doing a much better job of it than I.  Lord, how could you have entrusted me with these children?

Enter Colossians.  I warn you; if you don't want to be changed, stay away from God's Word.  If, on the other hand, you know your mind desperately needs renewing, then dive in.  If you want the biggest impact, commit it to memory.  You will never be the same.  It's exhilarating.  It gets inside your mind, deep into your heart, and even under your skin in a good sort of convicting way.

Okay, you've probably guessed; I've been memorizing Colossians.  And I didn't get past the first verse before it changed my outlook.  It just might change yours, too.  The book (the letter) opens with this:

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

by the will of God. . ."

Stop right there.  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. . ."  His identity was wholly wrapped up in the will of God.  Who he was, where he was, his calling, his mission, and his role were all by the will of God.  And it came through in everything.  He opens five of his letters that way, and implies it at the beginning of three more of them.

Do you ever wish you could be that certain?  I mean in your particular role and calling.  In my case, Carol, husband to Scott, by the will of God; mother to Vera, by the will of God; mother to. . . here in Indiana.  You get the idea.  Try putting your own name in.  "____, ________, by the will of God."

Maybe that seems awkward, but if you are a believer in Jesus, you can be just as sure. He is working out His sovereign will in your life just as surely as He did in Paul's life, or Peter's, or any of those other famous guys' lives in the beginning days of His church. Very same God, you know.  And Peter reassured us in his second letter (II Peter 1:1) that we have received the same kind of faith as theirs.

We can be sure of our calling as His children and in the roles in which He has placed us. Not only that, but as Paul explained to the people in Athens, God even determines when and where we will live, so we can rest assured in that, too.  (Acts 17:24-27)

Listen in on Paul's prayer for the saints at Colossae,

". . . we have not ceased to pray for you

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will

 in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that

you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,

to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work,

and increasing in the knowledge of God;

strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,

for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience;

joyously giving thanks to the Father,

who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light."

Colossians 1:9-12

(emphasis mine)

When His wise sovereign will slips out of our focus, when we are filled with something other than the knowledge of His will, we get discouraged and down, questioning our calling, doubting the success of our mission, and we are tempted to give up.  All we can see are the challenges in front of us, which seem to mount by the minute and even gather strength against us.

But if, instead, we are filled with the knowledge of His will, then we understand that our circumstances are part of His elaborate plan for our good and His glory.  And we understand what He desires of us--those good works He has planned for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).  Then our trust is in Him, we are strengthened by His power, we can be patient and steadfast, and we bear fruit, because we know it isn't all up to us.  Even as we wait on His timing or an answer to prayer, we have a confidence that comes from knowing that He will accomplish His will in our lives.  We can be "joyously giving thanks" because we have a living hope (I Peter I:3) that rests in His will.

This "being filled with the knowledge of His will" is so very crucial that Epaphras, who had brought the gospel to Colossae, was "always laboring earnestly in his prayers" for the Colossian believers that they would "stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God." Colossians 4:12 (emphasis mine)

I think we can be pretty sure that the answer to that prayer wouldn't be a discouraged person who says, "I just can't do this. . . Lord, this just isn't working!"  When we begin to doubt the roles we have, or the callings we've been given, we must remember that our sovereign God makes no mistakes.  Our identity--our calling, our role, who we are, where we are--is wholly wrapped up in His will.

Let us, too, earnestly ask the Lord that He would make us stand fully assured in all the will of God; that He would strengthen us with His power, according to His glorious might; and that we would steadfastly, patiently, and joyously give thanks, as we trust in His wisdom and His will.

"Now the God of peace,

who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep. . . 

equip you in every good thing to do His will,

working in us that which is pleasing in His sight,

through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen."

Hebrews 13:20-21

(emphasis mine)

P.S.  If you're looking for some especially encouraging Scriptures, I think you'll find Colossians 1, I Peter 1, and II Peter 1 are absolutely amazing.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Perspective

I do know a family or two who apparently stay totally on schedule for school, wrap it all up by Memorial Day, and take the entire summer off each year.  However, most of the homeschooling families I know do not; they have subjects to finish up or lingering projects to complete over the summer.  And while outsiders looking in may find that appalling, it could be that they are not familiar with all that that a homeschooling mother must juggle.

When my husband and I went to Ukraine for 31 days for our adoption, my parents bravely undertook the care and home education of our other two children, who were eight and twelve at the time.  While we were gone, my mom made a chart of all the responsibilities I normally had to manage along with an estimate of how much time they each required.  What she found was that there isn’t enough time in the day to get it all done.

What I’m saying, moms, is that if your job feels huge, that’s because it is.  I have a tendency to let that get me down at times, and I know some of you do, too.

When you are tempted to be discouraged with what you didn’t get accomplished, remind yourself of what you did accomplish; stop to acknowledge the Lord’s faithfulness for the past, the present, and the future; and be thankful.  Actually, I was having one of those discouraged days yesterday, and one of my daughters helped me to put things in perspective.  It’s often the nature of homeschooling for some of the biggest leaps in learning to not be because of what was on the list at the outset of the school year, but instead they are a result of some unforeseen event or opportunity that God gave you the grace to make the most of.

At this time of year, especially, don’t succumb to the temptation to call yourself a failure just because your homeschooling schedule doesn’t look like somebody else’s.  And don’t forget that your Sovereign Father has even more invested in your children’s future than you do.

“For I am confident of this very thing,

that He who began a good work in you

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6

Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

His Thoughts

Every spring we have at least one nest of robins in our yard.  Last year we had three--that we know of.  We have so much fun watching the babies go from bald to fluffy to flying in just a few days, and we check on them quite often to see how they’re doing.

But sometimes it’s terribly sad, too.  One afternoon, I happened upon one of the babies that had fallen from the nest and died right there in the grass.  My heart sank as I thought, “We check on them so often--how could that little one have already died and we not even know he’d fallen?"

At that very moment, the Holy Spirit reminded me of something Jesus said.  “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent?  And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.   Therefore do not fear; you are of more worth than many sparrows.”  Matthew 10:29-31

That bird lived in my yard and I didn’t know he fell.  But God did.  And He knows when a bird falls from any nest--in any yard--on the whole, entire planet.

Do you ever worry about stuff?  "How am I going to get all this done?  . . . I've got a million things on my to-do list that should have been done yesterday.  . . . How do I explain this math so my daughter will understand it?  . . . I need to do this, but I can't even start this 'til I do that first, and this other thing is in the way of that. . .  How do I help my son survive writing and grammar?  How am I going to pay attention to my husband when I'm so tired I can't even think?"

Or how about the future?  "The children are growing so fast, how are we going to afford new clothes and shoes?  . . . What if my husband is in the next round of lay-offs?  . . . What will happen to my son if he can't ever make up his mind about an occupation?  . . . What if our new teenage driver totals the car?   . . . What if these medical tests come back with scary results?  . . . Will this child ever graduate?"  Can you hear yourself in any of those questions?  Can you hear yourself in any of the questions Jesus gave as examples in Matthew 6:31?

I confess I've spent more than one rather sleepless night thinking about things out of my control.  I was awake late one night when I found something wonderful in Psalm 40.

“Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done;

and Your thoughts which are toward us cannot be recounted to you in order;

if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. 

. . . But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinks upon me.

You are my help and my deliverer; . . .”  Psalm 40:5,17

This is incredible!  He’s thinking of me so much, I couldn’t even keep track of all of His thoughts of me.  What’s He thinking about?  Okay, realistically, I know He sees all my sin and knows all my thoughts (Psalm 139), so He’s definitely not thinking, “Oh, she’s such a nice person.”  So, what can He be thinking about?

Well, I looked up the meaning of the Hebrew words for His thoughts and His thinking in these verses.  And these are not just sweet, little thinking-of-you-card kind of thoughts.  These are actually intentional plans; He’s literally considering, computing, valuing, planning, devising, weaving, fabricating, inventing, . . . strategizing about me--and about you!  It’s no wonder Jesus said, “. . . Don’t worry. . .” (Would you take a moment to read Matthew 6:25-34 right here and now?)

On the night I read Psalm 40 before I went to bed, I could hardly see through my tears of relief.  We don’t need to stay awake worrying about anything.  Psalm 121:4 says He doesn’t sleep, so He’ll be awake all night, and He’s doing enough strategizing for all of us combined.

The fact is that worrying is not in our job description!  Moment by moment obedience--yes!  Trusting Him--yes!  But worry--no!   The future is His.  He's planning, inventing, and weaving it all together.  I don't know how He does it all.  I just know He is good and He is able to accomplish His plans.  As He did for Israel, He is able do for me, "Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass."  Joshua 21:45

So, this is what I now think about when I wake in the night.  God is awake and strategizing on my behalf.  Thank you, dear Father!  I can go back to sleep.

“When I remember you on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches,

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.”

Psalm 63:6-7

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Rotten Bones Not On The Menu

Thanks to Tess for Red Trucks and Rotten Bones.  How very true!  Jealousy and discontent can kill your joy in a flash.  Yet gratitude and contentment can restore it.


A year or so ago, our son wrote about how God worked in his heart on just such a theme. (The background is that, at the time of writing, he had recently gotten over his allergy to eggs, but he is still, to this day, allergic to milk, peanuts, and tree nuts.  We generally take food along for him wherever we go, so that he has something safe to eat.)  Allow me to crack open a window into his thoughts... 


After a family outing with our cousins to the Creation Museum, we stopped on the way home at Cracker Barrel.  At the table, I was feeling like I had the raw end of the deal, because everyone else had what I thought was really good food--pancakes, fish, salads, biscuits, and french toast, while I, as usual, had my own food, this time just a home-made turkey sandwich with real mayo (the kind with eggs).  All of a sudden it hit me that the Lord had graciously allowed me to eat eggs now, and what was I dwelling on?  The things I couldn't eat!  I remembered my sister, Megan, telling me once that you can't be truly happy unless you're content.  So I thanked the Lord that I could eat eggs, and decided to be content.  After that, I could enjoy our time together at Cracker Barrel--and my food.


Contentment is truly a moment by moment choice we can learn to make.  It will involve establishing priorities for what we will value.  (Tess offered two very helpful questions for addressing the heart of this issue.)  In Christ, we are given so much, and it's of eternal value, besides.  When we and our children learn, as Paul taught Timothy, to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness", we can understand how Paul could counsel Timothy that, "godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment."
(I Timothy 6:11 & 6:6)


When we know what to value, turning our focus, then, from what we don't have to what we do have really does make all the difference.  The Apostle Paul's encouragement to rejoice, when he himself was imprisoned for his commitment to Christ, has always been a challenge to me.  He said he'd learned to be content in whatever circumstances he was in, and I believe he reveals some of that secret in the same chapter (Philippians 4).  Rejoice in the Lord, he says, pray about everything with thanksgiving, and think about the true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise.  If that's not a recipe for contentment, I don't know what is.

"A cheerful heart has a continual feast."

Proverbs 15:15

Got to go--I think I hear the dinner bell calling!

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God. She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her 'theme song', titled Captain's Anthem, can also be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

The Invisible Work

"For I am confident of this very thing, 

that He who began a good work in you

will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Philippians 1:6

October 31, 1992, we moved into our first house.  The frost had already come and the previous owner had graciously cleaned up the then essentially empty flower beds.  Before long, winter came and blanketed it all in snow.

Then one day it happened.  Spring weather came, and all over the landscape beds, flowers and plants of all kinds started popping up everywhere.  I couldn't understand it.  I had planted nothing.  Where was all this coming from?

Such was my introduction to perennial gardening.  What had looked like just a barren piece of ground virtually came alive when the time was right.  I was in awe.  Each day I just had to go out and inspect things to see what the next surprise would be.  I began pouring over books, trying to identify what was growing in my yard.  I was hooked.  And I would never be the same.

Twenty years later, the arrival of the perennial spring growing things still calls me to wonder and awe before the Creator who engineered it all.  And each spring I am reminded of a wonderfully reassuring truth.  Even though there are times when things may look like nothing good is happening on the surface, like all is dead, like no progress is being made, like there isn't any hope anymore, what we see is not all there is.  God is ever and always at work, behind the scenes, in ways we could never even imagine, carefully orchestrating His perfect plan.  Then, when the time is right, He shows us what He's been working on.

Maybe there is a situation in your home or your school circumstances that you have begun to despair about.  Perhaps it seems things have come to a standstill where you really need to see some progress.  Is there something you are tempted to lose hope about?

"I would have despaired

unless I had believed I would see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD;

Be strong and let your heart take courage;

Yes, wait for the LORD."

Psalm 27:14-15

Our gracious God is reminding us this season that He is at work even when it may look to us like nothing is happening.  When you see these spring growing things, remember that He is at work in your very own household as well.  What seems to us to be a permanent plateau in a child's learning or character development may actually be the time of God's invisible work.

When the time is right, we'll get to see what He's been working on.  Until then,

"Let us not lose heart in doing good,

for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary." 

Galatians 6:9


Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.