IRRESISTIBLE REVOLUTION by Shane Claiborne

One of my mentor's gave me this book. This is another "fork in the road" of my walk with Jesus. There have been times in my walk where God puts something in my life to give me such a clear picture of Himself that it causes me to say again, "YES! I will follow YOU!" and this is one of those books. It is a must read. But beware...it will mess you up!! It is all about believers needing to be followers of Christ, not religious people...and how God is found in the poor, the oppressed, the dying and outcasts...It tells his story of what God is doing in His life and the life of others. He serves in an innercity in Philly. the simple way ministries

Stew and I's heart has been absolutely wrecked with God's truth and call to serve the poor in the last 3 months. We are seeking to adjust our lives to reflect that...We want to stop talking and meeting about being Christians and start being followers of Christ! Their is a stirring going on in our body at the Austin Stone....who knows what God is doing in Austin! It may not be safe, but we know it will be good!

"We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours....I had come to see that the great tragedy in the chruch is not that rich Christains do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor." pg. 113

Growing in Motherhood

This summer has been a real growing time as a mother to my 2 little ones...I couldn't possibly write about all i have learned, but i wanted to share that i am learning and it has been hard and delightful all at the same time! I get scared and anxious at times....feeling so inadequate for the job. I don't have my mother to call or to show me how things should go....Yet, God reminds me of her example in life to me of who God is and I am able to come to Him and find my way. God says in Psalm 32:8 says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." I love that God "teaches" us the way in which we should go. And that His counsel is found with His eye upon us!! That has given life to my parenting and dependance on Him to show me how to teach and love my children.

I'm learning (slowly) that my children's behavior is not the "enemy" or the "judgement" on my parenting skills. As stew puts it..."we are just curbing evil until Jesus takes their hearts". I'm slowly starting to see this and believe it and not parent out of my own insecurity or messed up beliefs.

We always want our children to behave "rightly" and especially before others....but that is a fruit that develops over time and if it weren't for the "bad fruit" how could we parent them to what is indeed, real fruit. I'm learning to embrace the disobedience, temper tantrums or selfishness in my children. They are opportunities to parent my child through their own behavior, not stop their behavior or feel guilty that i have not taught them what behavior should look like. (i mean, come on! we mothers have told our kids a thousand times! what they should be doing!) but it is that waiting for the fruit and trusting the Lord to work with us that grows fruit in us and our children. We can never stop the behavior of our children....it is their own out of their sinful nature...but we can parent them through it and trust God to do work in them what we cannot.

Thank you God, for my children who are teaching me your ways and not my own!!

Trust God to guide you with your children
....and if you don't believe in God and His work....I pray you will find Him and the truth of His ways...for their is none like God, no one besides Him. He is God and there is no other. And truth is what our children need to be taught in....