Parent - Parenting - Parented

Saturday I found my son hiding partially under his bed, busily engaged in "something". It turns out he was outfitting one of his impossibly old action figures with a new superhero look. He was using permanent marker to color the plastic. Not a bad thing really, except that all the carpet in our town home is white. When I asked him why he was hiding he said he was sure I would not let him do this if he asked. Actually, I’m not all that concerned with the impossibly old action figure. Thanks to my son’s abundant creativity that little guy has been every hero imaginable (and it saves me from buying every hero imaginable!) I explained as much to my son and then addressed the more alarming issue-the hiding.

We’ve always told both our children, anything you have to hide you probably shouldn’t be doing. I was sad that he didn’t just come to me.

"Am I really that strict, mean, unreasonable?"

" No", he says.

"So why didn’t you come to me?"

He tells me all the time I’m the “best Mom in the world”. I know it’s not true, but isn’t it nice to hear? I usually respond with “I’m glad you think so because I really do try.” So I asked him,” if I’m the best Mom in the world, why didn’t you just come to me? You say that, but you didn’t come to me.” (Truly a teaching moment-all parenting skills fully operational.) But much more was going on than that. I heard my own words echoing in my head. How often could God say those very same words to me?

"You say I’m mighty and holy and wonderful, but did you come to Me?"

I was in one of those parent - parenting - being parented moments. No matter how old I am, no matter how old my children are, I will be a parent and a child simultaneously. Very often it’s in the moments of parenting my kids that God reminds me of something within myself that needs to be dealt with. So as I strive to be a faithful, loving parent I’m thankful I have a faithful, loving, perfect Father.

On Display

I seem to find lessons in everyday life. Most often a concept becomes more clear to me or is reinforced by just thinking over things throughout the day. While on a walk this morning I began to blog in my head.

Yesterday was our typically quiet Sunday afternoon. We had the blinds up on the picture window in our bedroom/office/library. Our son was out in the cul de sac playing with a new friend and we were keeping an eye on them. We live in a town home neighborhood with lots of cars and people coming and going. It occurred to me that anyone could walk by our window and see inside. There was nothing too interesting really, just Travis writing a paper at his desk. I was finishing bible study homework and laying out paper for verse packs. But still, we were on display for anyone who chose to look. Do you ever think of your life as being on display? Kind of like the feeling you get when the person in the car next to yours catches you singing or dancing at the red light? In public situations people see our reactions, listen to our words, watch us love (or not) on our kids, or be cute (or icy) with our spouse. It’s a humbling thought really; especially when we have verses that remind us that we are ambassadors for Christ, that we represent His character and unfailing love to this world. Even more humbling are the verses that remind us that God Himself knows our thoughts, knows our words before we speak them. We are ever on display before Him.

One of the beautiful things about grace though, is that in living an honest, transparent, on-display life, God is glorified in our defeats as much as our victories. Through repentance and humility we can use our shortcomings as a springboard for pointing others to His perfect holiness. The places where we fall short are natural segues to declare the fullness of all His attributes. There’s also another important opportunity available to those who willing acknowledge their weaknesses and need for the ongoing, progressive sanctification process. By admitting we’re not perfect we can seize the moment to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. He lived the perfect life (we never can) on our behalf and died in our place to pay the penalty of our sins. We are being conformed into His likeness day by day until the day we die and go to be with Him. So every moment of our lives can be a picture window others can look through as we glorify and proclaim Jesus to our watching world.

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:12

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Too Busy to Blog!

It's been SO long since I've posted! I've written a dozen blog entries in my mind, but you're not likely to be reading those any time soon. I've just been too busy to blog. Besides filling my days with caring for my wonderful husband and kids, I've had some side projects as well.

• caregiver to a dear sister in Christ with MS


• designated paper-editor for my seminary student husband


• hosting my Mom in our home for a week! (We hadn't seen her in 8 months!)


• a small group prayer leader for a women's Bible study


• hand making Scripture verse packs to encourage others with


• vegetable container gardener


• volunteer lunch monitor for a table full of very energetic 4th grade boys!

My life is pretty full right now, and I'm just so blessed. I wouldn't have each day any other way. A verse that I hope characterizes my life right now is Psalm 37:3

Trust in the LORD and do good;Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

On A Mission

My husband used to read Calvin and Hobbes. Now our 10 year old son is enjoying his Dad's old copies of the books. Every day Declan and I walk the two blocks to his elementary school. One morning we began ad libing a whole senario where he was an astronaut and I was mission control. We "radioed" back and forth about what gear he was to take with him. What his mission was. Whether or not he was to engage any hostile life forms he encountered. Where we were to meet to pick him up. It was really fun. Just one of those spontaneous, silly moments we so often share.

I love being a Mom! I love sharing special moments with our children. I love teaching them every day as we walk through life together. It is such a blessing (and a huge responsibility) to teach them and point them to Jesus.

I'm praying in each moment I remember what my mission is. That I've got my necessary gear and it's in proper working order. That God will give me grace to glorify Him in every encounter with my family and this world.

Roger. Over.

2010 A Faith Odyssey

Here’s our New Year’s blog a few days late!
　

In a few short days it will be 2011. I’m sitting here in North Carolina sipping coffee by a cozy warm fireplace thinking of all that has happened this year.
Here’s a sample:

We said goodbye to Travis’ mom who passed away after battling ALS for 3 years. We have hope that she is in heaven with Jesus.

We had to put our “third child“ Brownie, to sleep. She was just the best dog and one of Mo’s rewards for being medically brave when she was 4.

Our family was separated for four months while Moriah and I lived in a children’s hospital in Texas while she underwent weeks of Halo Gravity Traction and major spinal surgery.

I met about 15 amazing godly ladies in Texas who became so close to my heart! I will never forget their tender care of us, prayers on our behalf, fellowship, and fun they brought to that hospital room we called home for a while.

Our church family showered us with love and cards and prayer while we were away. Two sweet friends even drove 12 hrs. just to get me out of the hospital for a day and Moriah got to spend the day with her sweet friend!

Travis only worked four months out of the whole year.

In April, Travis was accepted to Shepherds Theological Seminary in Cary, North Carolina while Moriah was recovering from surgery in the PICU.

The last week in July we said goodbye to all our loved ones and moved to North Carolina to pursue Travis‘ call to full time ministry. Leaving our family, our friends, and especially “our kids” at Grace Bible Church is one of the hardest things we’ve ever done.

God so graciously provided for all our needs here in NC: a great town home, good schools, specialists for Moriah, a new church family, and a job that is more than we could have hoped for.

This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas the farthest away from home that we have ever been.

Travis received all A’s his first semester.

Our family is as close as ever.

We are seeing evidences of our children walking with the Lord.
　
　
It is interesting to remember that this time last year I had no idea what lie in store for our family. I call 2010 a “Faith Odyssey” because all of these circumstances and blessings challenged us and reminded us to live out our faith in God; what we know to be true about Him, taught in the Bible.

Faith in God’s Sovereignty-His complete rule over all time and circumstances and things. Not one aspect of our lives is beyond His control.

Faith in God’s Goodness- He only does what is right, no mistakes.

Faith in God’s Provision- That what we really need, we will have, at the right time and in the right way. He’ll take care of us.

Faith in God’s Love- That all of our circumstances are for our good and will result in His glory.

Faith in God’s Mercy, Grace, and Protection- that He’ll be right there with us. He won’t leave us. He’ll give us His strength to bear whatever circumstances He brings into our lives to change us, grow us, make us able to help others and bring Him glory.

It’s been quite a year. There have been many days filled with laughter. Many sweet times of fellowship. Days when I thought I had run out of tears. Nights when all I wanted to do was sleep but couldn’t. Moments when I was so scared and completely undone. Precious “hugs from God” where He sent His people to minister to us. Opportunities we had to comfort others with the comfort we had received. Adventures we “bravely” took trusting we were following what God wanted for us. I wouldn’t change one moment of one day. 2010 was a good year. Better is one day (no matter what that one day looks like) lived with the assurance of God’s love in Jesus Christ, than a thousand days without Him. I look forward to what God has planned for the coming year!

Waiting on God's Job

After 5 months of waiting, my husband started working at his full time job with stellar medical benefits on Dec. 13th! Prior to our move to North Carolina he began filling out applications in the area. By July he flew to NC for two weeks hoping to have some interviews. He came home with nothing. Not one interview. His only job lead was given to someone else. Our hope was to leave Kansas with a job waiting for him in NC so there wouldn’t be much lag time between paychecks. That simply didn’t happen. Believing that going to seminary in North Carolina was what God wanted for our family, we followed through on our moving plans.

The Joy of Cooking???

Learning to enjoy cooking has been a slow process for me. When I was a kid both of my parents worked so I grew up fixing dinner after school before they came home. My Mom taught me fast, economical recipes that took very little skill. We had a big, busy family and had to fix enough to fill everyone up without breaking the budget. This information proved very valuable to me during our first years of marriage and also the more penny pinching times while Moriah’s medical care was so intense. Typically, I found that recipes intimidated me if they involved too many ingredients or took too much time.