So, life is always busy and always a story in our household....thought I'd give you a few pics of this last week....My friend Lauren and I love to cook, so we invited some newly married, almost married and almost engaged ladies to our home and showed them a few tricks! It was so much fun! We had stations for them all with the food prepped and recipe ready to instruct them. We walked around and showed them some secrets. We showed them how to make 3 different meals out of a Rotissarie chicken! Chicken enchiladas and salsa, Pesto Chicken salad and Coconut soup! They did a great job! Then we made Biscotti for dessert! As our food cooked, my friend Jenny Rose Ford taught them about hospitality and that it isn't about entertaining, but about the people you are serving. She is amazing and did a wonderful job! Man, it was so fun! We ended the night with questions and fun prizes for everyone!
And the next day Sally had a tea party with her friends while her brother was at school....fun stuff...it is still fun...but i'll stop there and continue later.....
I can remember when we first moved to Austin. Sally was just a few months old. Everything had just changed as I knew it. My mother had passed away, sally was born, stew had a new job, we left memphis where all my mentors where and moved into an apartment in Austin TX. Things were a little "out of my control". Change was reality in every sense.
Some of my past struggles with anorexia began to come up again. That scared me so much. How could I be so weak and turn back to my old ways and still pursue ahead with strength in all that was so new?
2 Corinthains 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace (my unmerited love for you alone) is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
I remember one night going back in to check on sally as she slept....as I looked over her, I was overwhelmed with the role of being a mother....I knew that both sins and beliefs can be passed down to generations and in that moment I whispered to her..."I will fight for you, sweet girl." What I meant by that was that I was going to fight against the weaknesses of my generation...and seek the Lord to destroy the idols that I had in my own hand....to fight against my anorexia temptations was no longer about me....it was about my children...about a new generation.
The internal working of my heart is given great motivation when i realize that I am not just wanting to change for me, but to let Him change a whole new generation through me....my daily battle with sin and the growth and change that happens within me that leads me to Believe God in all things, for all things effects my children...effects a new generation.
psalm 78
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
6that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,
Being a parent can be scary...especially when you begin to see your sin...but it is through the process of seeing our sin, turning to God and rejoicing in His work for our lives, that transformation will happen...andwith transformation, new things will arise for the next generation...old things will be gone and new things will arise...for Him!
So what are some of the things in our home, we are seeking not to pass along to our children? What are the things we do want to pass along? More later....
21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
I doubt Naomi, in her great sadness had little thought about what God had given her in Ruth....though it looked like she was empty-handed, God had placed in her care, a woman who would be one who would bare children that bore children from whom Jesus came from. This has helped me remember that some things God is giving to us specifically in our children. That we bring forth a new generation for him....This should help us as mothers...even fathers raise our head high and pursue parenting with all we have!
But what if your week looks like mine did this week? I had no patience....often times i just wanted to get in my bed or go away to a coffee shop and be alone rather than instruct my children in the Lord or take care of them. What if you become so frustrated that it leads you to bursts of anger towards your children? What if you no longer feel love towards your little pooping preciousness and start dreaming of when they will be out of the house on their own?
Well, It is real. It happens. It isn't fruitful, but real, none the less. And something that all of us can relate to whether you admit it or not. So what do you do with those weeks? what do you do with those times you "fail" as a mother? You cling to the Gospel!
Micah 7:7-9
7But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;
"when I fall, I shall rise;
"when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. 9" I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. " He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.
Confessing Sin is huge in our home. And it is just not for our children. When I have wronged my children, I admit it to them. Confessing sin and believing the gospel is the work of God. To believe the gospel in those moments or after those fruitless moments is redemptive for our children...for the next generation. To show them that the same God we sin against is the same God that redeems us is powerful!
Mark 1:15
15and saying, ""The time is fulfilled, and" the kingdom of God is at hand;"repent and believe in the gospel."
John 6:28-29
28Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing" the works of God?" 29Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."
Some days for us preschool moms may seem so mundane and never ending with matters of doing...but let us remember that the work of God is to believe the gospel. Let's model for our children repentance and believing the gospel. They will learn more about that from your life than anything you ever instruct them. It is good to confess sin...though i fall, yet shall i rise...more later...
Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.
Ephesians 5:1
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Psalm 119:32
I've found in my own journey with following Christ that when I doubt God's love, I never obey Him. If I stay at the place of confession that "i am more wicked than I could ever believe"....I am never moved to obey God. but when I rise up in the truth that "I am more loved than I could ever imagine"...then obedience begins to take shape in my life. My heart desires humility rather than pride. I long for Jesus.
When I realize that I am accepted, justified, loved with a never-stopping, never-giving up, always and forever love (as the Jesus Story Book Bible reads...), I hear God's commands differently. I am set free to follow them, b/c all of them are created in love...my best...God's glory!
When I realize that I don't have to be the most together, best image, perfect friend, and accepted child, my idols fall from my hand and I run to God, my father. While i was sinning, Jesus died for me (romans 5:6-8). What love! He set me free when I could not free myself. He did not set me free to have eternity alone, but to glorify Him here on earth...to do good works. (ephesians 2:10)
As I began to think about God's love for me and understanding my pride and humility...my belief and unbelief. I began to apply it to parenting.....rather training in the Lord.
I tell them, "because I love you, you can obey me." When they disobey, I point out their unbelief...their pride. "You have forgotten how much mommy loves you..." and I remind them of love...humility...and implore them to believe that I love them. "love is to obey what God has commanded" (1 john 5:3)...."children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right" (ephesians 6:1)
I instruct my children, that to obey is not my commandment, but that it comes from God first. I am always trying to point everything back to God...His character...His way...His truth...If I can't...then perhaps it isn't necessary.
Sometimes behavior gets worse in our household before it gets better...of course, some still remains worse until fruit bearing age...but more important than behavior modification is something dearer to my heart... that they are grasping truths about the reality of life...God...His purposes for them and us...His purposes for circumstances and the things around them.....His way-that there is no God besides Him.....Truth found in the Bible....Truth about themselves,...they are sinners, they sin...they can never find a way around their sin but through Jesus....and that b/c of His great love, they can be set free to love as well. And my prayer is that from generation to generation, the gospel will be more clear...you see, the goal of my instruction..my charge...is love.. from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith....1 Timothy 1:5
and perhaps a new generation will rise up with my children and after my children to call on the name of the Lord...more later...
Me and the girls have been sick with the flu..but i managed to get out the valentine treats for my kiddos this morning....the girls got matching pj's and slept in them all day....I did too...this was one picture we managed to get between naps...maybe others will be later...but happy valentine's day!
So, life is always busy and always a story in our household....thought I'd give you a few pics of this last week....My friend Lauren and I love to cook, so we invited some newly married, almost married and almost engaged ladies to our home and showed them a few tricks! It was so much fun! We had stations for them all with the food prepped and recipe ready to instruct them. We walked around and showed them some secrets. We showed them how to make 3 different meals out of a Rotissarie chicken! Chicken enchiladas and salsa, Pesto Chicken salad and Coconut soup! They did a great job! Then we made Biscotti for dessert! As our food cooked, my friend Jenny Rose Ford taught them about hospitality and that it isn't about entertaining, but about the people you are serving. She is amazing and did a wonderful job! Man, it was so fun! We ended the night with questions and fun prizes for everyone!
