Not Playing It Safe

Some friends of ours have just announced that they will be moving away in the near future. They don't know when they'll be moving, or even where they will be moving. They don't even know exactly what they'll do when they get there. They're happy right here - where they are, but they just know God is showing them it's time to go elsewhere. So, when the time is right, they'll be taking their kids and going - somewhere God shows them He wants them to be. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

It may sound crazy, but it's not really. It's a part of the thrilling race we, Christians, experience when we surrender completely to Christ. See, our friends have a relationship with God because they're trusting in Jesus and submitting their entire lives to Him. They are committed to following God's direction in their lives. This doesn't make them special or "holier than thou". (Everyone can have this type of relationship with God - in fact that's exactly what He wants for all of us.) It doesn't make them extra-holy, but it does make their lives interesting and overflowing with purpose.

Those of us who commit our lives to God's purposes and live truly believing that Jesus was bodily resurrected from the dead (verifying that He truly is the Son of God), often find ourselves starting out on journeys we never would have expected and whose final destinations may be unknown. When we live in relationship with our Heavenly Father, submitted wholly to Him, it's not uncommon to find ourselves taking giant leaps of faith, trusting in a God who often reveals only the next step and asks us simply to follow and obey. It's in the following, trusting and obeying where our lives become exciting (to say the least) and take on true purpose. We'll find ourselves doing and enjoying things we never thought we would and accomplishing things we never thought we could - all made possible by following after Jesus and submitting entirely to His specific will and purpose for our lives. It means life is not about trying to find our way on our own and then hoping that our decisions work out, and it's definitely not about playing it safe.

• It's the young family who moves to a foreign land to teach in an international school and serve as missionaries because that's what God is asking them to do.

• It's the almost-empty-nesters who decide to adopt orphans because God has shown them that's His will for their family.

• It's the woman who submits to God's will for her life and spends decades taking in foster-babies, often born drug-addicted, and caring for them until they can be returned to their mothers.

• It's the man who gives up his successful and lucrative career to become a pastor and support his family on half the income because he's surrendering to God.

• It's the parents who decide to tackle the difficult and unpopular task of homeschooling their child because they see he has unique needs, and God has made it clear that's His desire for them.

• It's our friends I mentioned above, who will be leaving people and a place they love because God is showing them that He has plans for them elsewhere.

We are all strings in a beautiful tapestry of redemption and grace that God has been weaving since the beginning of time. We need to be pliable threads, so the Weaver can use us where He knows we fit. He doesn't use us all the same way, but He wants to make us a part of His grand design for redeeming this imperfect world and all of us who live within it. This is His masterpiece, and as tiny threads we can only see it in part, but it's in the process of being picked up and woven, intertwined with the other threads that our lives take on the full meaning and purpose God desires for us.

To our friends, Scott and Andrea: We will miss you and your two boys when you're gone, but we know the Weaver has a special place and purpose for you in His amazing design, and that's exactly where you need to be. We just hope that somewhere down the road, God will lead you back to us!

How Would You Like to See This Hanging From Your Ceiling?

This past Friday night, when I was putting the kids to bed, I looked across our upstairs balcony over our foyer and saw that our glass chandelier (which was installed when our house was built 5 years ago) was hanging a little crookedly from the ceiling. I stepped closer to get a better look and saw that the fixture was actually coming apart at the seams!

When we awoke the next morning, it was clear that it had gotten worse and was definitely on it's way down. We called our electrician friend, Craig, who was kind enough to come over on his day off (and haul his enormous ladder with him) and remove our deadly chandelier before it came crashing down. I shudder at the thought of what could have happened if I hadn't noticed the problem before the light (very heavy with lots of glass!) fell.

Now, I am in the process of trying to get the manufacturer to give me my money back. Of course, everyone says I need to talk to someone else. You know how that goes... We'll see if I can get someone to do the right thing.

Here are some other pictures of our deadly chandelier:



Our friend, Craig, performed the heroic task of removing the hazard from our home. Whew!

A Father's Love

Matthew 7:9-11

⁹ “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? ¹⁰ Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! ¹¹ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him."

Here is a video of an interview on NBC's Today Show with "Team Hoyt". It's an incredible love story between a severely disabled son and his father, who has stopped at nothing to give his son a better life.

As a parent, I was moved to tears by this father's love when I first saw this video, and as a child of God, I couldn't help but also think of the Bible verses above.

God Cares About the Smallest of Things

I just wanted to give credit where credit is due. (Bear with me and all the details...) A little over an hour ago, I decided to search on eBay for some of the homeschool curriculum we are using for our son this fall. The curriculum, Sonlight, is pretty pricey, so I've been keeping an eye out for good bargains on eBay. I found an auction (with barely more than an hour left) that had many of the items I needed at a still very low price. I wanted to bid on it, but hesitated because with Father's Day and various other things, we've had quite a few more expenses this past week and, therefore, a tighter budget.

Then I remembered three items I have here at home that I need to return to the store. Their total cost added up to $48. A little thought went through my head (looking back, I believe it was God whispering in His still, small voice): "Make $48 your maximum bid even though other auctions have sold for much more. That way, if you win, you won't be taking any more money out of the bank account, and if you can actually buy all of those books for $48 or less (a real bargain even by eBay standards), maybe it will be God's way of confirming you've made the right choice to homeschool Jamie next year."

So..... I used my favorite online auction-sniping program and placed a max bid for $48 and set it to place the bid 5 seconds before the auction's end. I won the item for $48 exactly, meaning $48 really was the absolute lowest max bid I could have put in to win. (For those of you who don't use eBay, many times you never actually pay your max - only just enough to surpass the next highest bidder's previously-set maximum.) I had no way of knowing the current winning bidder had already made a max bid of $47.18 (since the price was only at $37.50 when I placed mine), but God knew! He also provided the exact amount of money to pay for it, too! And after receiving criticism for our decision to homeschool for Kindergarten, God gave me the much-appreciated confirmation that we are doing what's right for our child, and He's taking care of the rest.

What an awesome God we have!

Why None of Us Is Meant to Be Alone

I read this quote by the 19th century English poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, on a wall plaque, and it seems to be a perfect image of friendship and the built-in human need for companionship.

"Friendship is a sheltering tree."

Shaping a World-View

Earlier this week I had a conversation with my five-year-old son, Jamie, which reminded me that parents have the awesome privilege and responsibility of shaping their child's world-view. He asked me a very simple question while examining his previously skinned - now healed - knee, "Mama, why do we have scabs?" Of course, I told him it's like our body's own special band-aid. Then he said (and this is where you can detect his world-view), "I'm so glad God gave us scabs! He thought of everything!" This innocent, childlike remark gave me such satisfaction as parent. It's clear from his comments that he views the world and all within it as created and cared for by God.

Opportunities to shape his view of the world and his place in it come up at random times. I never know when I'll get a question or witness an incident that offers me the opportunity to show him the truth of God's love and his laws. For instance, Jamie has become fascinated with the Star Wars characters, even though he has never seen any of the movies. (He was first awestruck when he saw Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers make an appearance on a special episode of the game show Deal or No Deal!) He knows that Darth Vader wasn't always a bad guy, and he has often asked the question, "How did Darth Vader get bad?" I answered with, "He became selfish and stopped caring about other people. He only cared about what he wanted." Then he asked a much more searching question, "How do people get selfish?" This is where I had an open door to teach him the truth about God and our relationship to Him. I told him, "People become selfish when they stop listening to God."

It's amazing how scabs and Star Wars (and anything else, for that matter) can become springboards for teaching Truth to a child. It makes me want all the more to make sure that I am physically and emotionally present with my children as much as possible, so that I can be the person they turn to when these thoughts and questions run through their heads. I believe as a parent, I have a solemn duty to impart Truth to my children, so that they can stand up against the inevitable storms of life, much like the wise man Jesus described, who built his house - not on the sand - but upon the Rock.

Be Lifted High

I recently bought the album "Stand" by the Christian recording artist, Michael W. Smith, on iTunes. The song "Be Lifted High" really resonates with me. I found this video on YouTube featuring the song.

I pray for myself that these words would be true everyday in my life. It's a daily struggle to deny myself and follow Jesus, and this song puts that life experience to song. When you play the video, listen carefully to the lyrics.