Momma-Preacher: Meditations on Deuteronomy 6 and 11

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words I command you today shall be on your heart." Deuteronomy 6:5-6

Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. Know today that [I do] not [speak] with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm...what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place...but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did... Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today...Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes...You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. - Deuteronomy 11:1-2,5,7,8,18-19

Every night I tuck them in bed after hurried mornings in a divided house; away all day eye-ball deep in  the damaging effects of sin on and in our children, while they are in someone else's care and under someone else's teaching in this Egypt I live.

And when I read to them from the scriptures, or talk to them about a spiritual truth, or unpack to them some more of the nature of God as revealed in Christ and proclaim the gospel to them like the momma-preacher I sometimes become and they have a glazed over look in their eyes, and they sigh and start fidgeting around, and interrupt, and are obviously not captivated with what I am pouring my heart out to impress upon them, I remember Deuteronomy 6 and 11.  And I am renewed in faith and spurred on to remember its my being in love with God, and his words being on my heart, and because I have "seen"the chastening of the LORD in my own life and have experienced his work in my life, I am the one who's going to be passionate and motivated in love and obedience to the One who has captivated me with His great love... not my children.

Not yet anyway.

That doesn't mean they won't be captivated one day themselves.  I pray they will.  I trust they will.

But for now, for now with a heart on fire and hands that serve them and a life laid down to nurture and teach them, I talk with them about this great God, who I love, and about his ways- which are wonderful and always good- and His amazing story and how he redeems and their only hope.  I talk with them when we're doing our everyday stuff and when I get 5 minutes to tuck them in at night.  And I entrust the seed to the One who gives it life and who promised it will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it out of this momma's mouth.

 Quieted,

Sheila

Joy for me

It really is true: There is no greater joy than to know that your children walk in the truth.

Tonight, tucking the boys in bed, "Let's pray," initiates faces to pillows and hands folded for one child followed by, "God. Thank you for the ability to throw a baseball. And thank you that I have a brother to play with." And the mom gives thanks in her heart for the joy of hearing her son remembering God who gives him strength and brother.

For the other the que doesn't trigger the praying posture but a aha-moment look on his face and, "I know! I've got a good one! Thank you God that every day there's always something to learn." Impressed by the 6 year old boys thinking I commented, "That is a good one son!" And gave thanks for the pure pleasure of hearing thoughtful thanksgiving from my almost 7 year old Christmas gift.

I get weary of the things. The toys. The latest gadgets and goodies and attempts at making our kids "happy" that are everywhere. I'll take words of thanks rolled off little lips to a Great Redeemer who once walked through age 6 and 8 for them.

No greater joy. Period.

Quieted,

Sheila

today's the big day

Today is the first day of school in this house!

I know, you're wondering where we live that the 1st day of school begins in February. We live here, in America, but we've been walking a different path. The Spirit's led us down a path of homeschooling this past year, requiring faith and obedience on my part. And now He's leading us down the path of public schooling, requiring faith and obedience on my part too!

Today I'm trusting in these promises:

• The LORD is building this house and my children are a gift from HIM, so I can trust Him even when I'm not present and I don't need to eat the bread of sorrows. Psalm 127
• I am a servant of the Lord, my righteousness is from Him, and He promises that some of my heritage from Him is that He will be my children's teacher and their peace. Isaiah 54:13 and 17
• I don't have to pretend that I'm not concerned or don't have complaints about the way things are going, instead I can pour them out to the One who created the Universe and died both for me and my children. Psalm 142, 1 Peter 5:6-7.

Oh mighty hand of God who calls me His daughter! You know me inside and out. Nothing is hidden from You! Lead me today in YOUR path! Set your angels guard over the two souls You've entrusted to my care! Build them up today Lord. Teach them. Be their peace. For YOUR glory. Give me sensative ears to YOU today, not to my emotions, but to YOU. And I ask for wisdom in the decisions I seek to make today concerning the kids and work and home and husband. Lead me through the darkness Lord with the light of Your word and Spirit!

Redeeming the time

Elisabeth Elliot on Mary

I'm just passing along treasures from others these past few posts. I'm away from posting a lot because the need for fervent prayer is greater these days. This morning this meditation from Mrs. Elliot really spoke to me. What mom wouldn't it speak to?

Anything you say Lord, let it be unto me as You've said!

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference: Colossians 3:3


The Mother of the Lord


We see her first, that little Mary (may I say little? I think she was a teenager), as a
simple village girl in a poor home in an out-of-the-way place. She is bending over her work when suddenly the light changes. She raises her eyes. A dazzling stranger stands before her with a puzzling greeting. He calls her "most favored one" and tells her the Lord is with her. She is stunned. I don't believe her thought is of herself (Who am I? or Am I ever lucky!). Mary is troubled. She discerns at once that this has to do with things infinitely larger than herself, far beyond her understanding. What can it mean?

The angel does not weigh in immediately with the stupendous message he has been sent to deliver. He first comforts her. "Don't be afraid, Mary." Mary. She is not a stranger to him. He is assuring her that he has the right person. He explains what she has been chosen for--to be the mother of the Son of the Most High, a king whose reign will be forever. She has one question now--not about the Most High, not about an eternal king--those are things too high for her--but motherhood is another matter. She understands motherhood, has been looking forward to it with great happiness. Her question is about that: "How can this be? I am still a virgin." He does not really explain. He simply states a mystery: "The power of the Most High will
overshadow you." He goes on to tell her of another miraculous pregnancy, that of her old cousin Elisabeth, well past child-bearing age. "God's promises can never fail," he says. They won't fail for you, Mary. Rest assured.

How will the girl respond? She is at once totally at the disposal of her Lord (she sees
that the visitor is from Him). Whatever the mystery, whatever the divine reasons for choosing her, whatever the inconveniences, even disasters (broken engagement? stoning to death--the punishment of a fornicator?) which she may be required to face, her answer is unequivocal and instant: "Here I am. I am the Lord's servant; let it be as you have told me." Anything, Lord.

We see her next with Elisabeth, who, by the manner of Mary's greeting and by her own baby's sudden movement in her womb, knows immediately that God has chosen Mary to be the mother of the Lord. They don't sit down over coffee and chatter about the gynecology or the practical logistics or what people are going to say. Mary
sings her song of gladness, of thoroughgoing acceptance of the gift, of trust in
the Mighty One.

We see her sweating in the cold of the stable, putting her own life on the line, as every mother must do, in order to give life to somebody else. We see her with the tough shepherds, breathlessly telling their story of the glory of the Lord and the singing of the angel choir. Everyone else is astonished (a word which comes from "thunderstruck"), but Mary does not join the excited babble. She is quiet, treasuring all these things, pondering them deep in her heart. We see her with the mysterious travelers from the East bringing their lavish gifts. She says nothing as they kneel before the baby she holds in her arms. We see her on the donkey again, on the roundabout journey to Egypt because her husband has been given a secret message in a dream. She does not balk, she does not argue.

We see her in the temple handing over her baby to old Simeon, to whom the Holy Spirit has revealed the child's amazing destiny: a revelation to the heathen, glory to Israel. But to Mary he gives the far deeper message of suffering, for there is no glory that is not bought by suffering: her son will suffer--he will be a sign which men reject; she, his mother, will suffer, will be pierced to the heart. No question or answer from
her is recorded. Again we know only her silence.

We see nothing of her for twelve years--days and nights, weeks and months, years and years of caring for the infant, the toddler, the little boy, the adolescent. There is no mention of any of that. Mary has no witness, no limelight, no special recognition of any kind. She is not Mother of the Year. Hers is a life lived in the ordinary necessity of their poverty and their humanity, no one paying attention to her attention to Him. Whatever the level of her comprehension as to the nature of this boy, she knows He was given to her. She remembers how. She treasures all this. She ponders things in the silence of her heart. Did she share any of them with Joseph? Could she? Could he receive them? We know next to nothing of the dynamics between them. She was content to be silent before God.

The apostle Paul tells us we are "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3, NIV}.
There is mystery there, but when I think of the life of Mary, I see some facets of that mystery that I missed when I read the apostle. Hers was a hidden life, a faithful one, a holy one--holy in the context of a humble home in a small village where there was not very much diversion. She knew that the ordinary duties were ordained for her as much as the extraordinary way in which they became her assignment. She struck no poses. She was the mother of a baby, willing to be known simply as his mother for the rest of her life. He was an extraordinary baby, the Eternal Word, but His needs were very ordinary, very daily, to his mother. Did she imagine that she deserved to be the chosen mother? Did she see herself as fully qualified? Surely not. Surely not more than any other woman who finds herself endowed with the awesome gift of a child. It is the most humbling experience of a woman's life, the most revealing of her own
helplessness. Yet we know this mother, Mary, the humble virgin from Nazareth, as
"Most Highly Exalted."

I am thanking God that unto us a Child was born. I am thanking Him also that there was a pure-hearted woman prepared to receive that Child with all that motherhood would mean of daily trust, daily dependence, daily obedience. I thank Him for her silence. That spirit is not in me at all, not naturally. I want to learn what she had learned so early: the deep guarding in her heart of each event, mulling over its meaning from God, waiting in silence for His word to her.

I want to learn, too, that it is not an extraordinary spirituality that makes one refuse to do ordinary work, but a wish to prove that one is not ordinary--which is a dead giveaway of spiritual
conceit. I want to respond in unhesitating obedience as she did: Anything You say, Lord.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Redeeming the time

Nothing is Lost from Elisabeth Elliot

Reading this in my email this morning surely is the response of comfort by the Spirit, working through Mrs. Elliot, after my meditations on Phillipians 2:12-17 this morning.

As moms, it can be so easy to get discouraged and feel like our labor is in vain. After all, we clean up the same messes over and over, and in regards to our kids, the same issues get addressed time and time again. And for some of us all our effort seems to be burning up in the choices our kids are making or in the seeming never-finished work we're doing. But this TRUE word of comfort is what we must confidently press on in!

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: Keep A Quiet Heart
Scripture Reference:
1 Timothy 6:15 Acts 2:23


Nothing is Lost


A pastor's wife asked, "When one witnesses a work he has poured his life into 'go up in flames' (especially if he is not culpable), is it the work of Satan or the hand of God?"
Often it is the former, always it is under the control of the latter. In the biographies of the Bible we find men whose work for God seemed to be a flop at the time--Moses' repeated efforts to persuade Pharaoh, Jeremiah's pleas for repentance, the good king Josiah's reforms, rewarded in the end by his being slain by a pagan king. Sin had plenty to do with the seeming failures, but God was then, as He is now, the "blessed controller of all things" (1 Timothy 6:15, PHILLIPS). He has granted to us human beings responsibility to make choices and to live with the consequences. This means that everybody suffers--sometimes for his or her own sins, sometimes for those of others.

There are paradoxes here which we cannot plumb. But we can always look at the experiences of our own lives in the light of the life of our Lord Jesus. How shall we learn to "abide" (stay put) in Christ, enter into the fellowship of His sufferings, let Him transform our own? There is only one way. It is by living each event, including
having things "go up in flames," as Christ lived: in the peace of the Father's will. Did His earthly work appear to be a thundering success? He met with argument, unbelief, scorn in Pharisees and others. Crowds followed Him--not because they wanted His Truth, but because they liked handouts such as bread and fish and physical healing. His own disciples were "fools and slow of heart to believe." (Why didn't Jesus make them believe? For the reason given above.) These men who had lived intimately with Him, heard His teaching for three years, watched His life and miracles, still had little idea what He was talking about on the evening before His death. Judas betrayed Him, Peter denied Him. The rest of them went to sleep when He asked them to stay awake. In the end they all forsook Him and fled. Peter repented with tears and later saw clearly what had taken place. In his sermon to the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 2:23, PHILLIPS) he said, "This man, who was put into your power by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed up and murdered.... But God would not allow the bitter pains of death to touch him. He raised him to life again--and there was nothing by which death could hold such a man."

There is nothing by which death can hold any of His faithful servants, either. Settle it, once and for all--YOU CAN NEVER LOSE WHAT YOU HAVE OFFERED TO CHRIST. It's the man who tries to save himself (or his reputation or his work or his dreams of success or fulfillment) who loses. Jesus gave us His word that if we'd lose our lives for His sake, we'd find them.

Redeeming the time,

Caring for orphans and being poured out as a mom

"...for I am already being poured out, and the time of my release hath
arrived..." 2 Timothy 4:6 Young's Literal Translation

This morning I have two specific moms on my heart. One is my sister and friend Summer, and the other my sister and friend Kandace (my sibling sister).

I received a heart-touching email from my sister Kandace this morning.

She and her husband have been going through the necessary steps to adopt in their state system for the past 2 years. Just two days ago, they finally got a call to take in two young boys ages 9 months and 18 months for foster care.

My sister has struggled with resigning herself to foster care, feeling like she'd have to experience loss constantly, when the children are taken away, since she cannot but pour out her love and not hold back when they are with her. But finally, she and her husband, after much prayer and waiting, have decided to give themselves over to loving whatever children come into their home, whether they get to adopt them or not, and to trust that God is doing what is best for them (the children and them as a couple).

When I hear my sister's heart, and see what she and her husband are doing, my heart overwhelms with joy and compassion because I see the heart of God and His plan for all moms in my sister's story.

Like my sister, we moms who have "our own" children that we bore with our bodies, must give ourselves over to vulnerably loving them, training them, and pouring out our lives into them, not knowing when they may be taken. All moms are foster moms so to speak. It's easy to forget and think of our kids as our own since they were born from our bodies, or, if we adopted, since they are legally ours, but the truth is, God has done through us what His word says He does.

"He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the
stranger, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

By placing a child in our care, God has administered justice for the fatherless. If that child comes through our body, God uses our body. If that child comes through our front door, God uses our door. And to the degree that we are willing to be poured out on these children's lives, loving them, training them, being an example of Christ to them, we are revoking our rights as moms in trade for worshipping God through loving these little ones with redeeming love. Our lives become an offering to God, which is the best, most fulfilling, and most fruitful way to mother a child. Through us He administers justice for the fatherless.

When I looked at the picture of Summer and Zane and their ever growing family of beautifully colored children this morning, after reading the email from my sister, I just felt the heart of God changing me and showing me what He says motherhood is.

It doesn't center on me and my needs, it centers on God administering justice for the fatherless. It doesn't center on me being loved, it centers on me being a vessel through which Christ's redeeming love can capture the hearts of children in my care. It isn't so much about being filled up (though their is great satisfaction and filling in loving children), it is about me being poured out!

I remember singing this song when I was in my church's youth group:

Would you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Me?

Would you be broken like bread to feed the hungry?

Would you be so one in Me that I may do just as I will?

Would you be light, and life and love My Word fulfill?

Yes, I'll be poured out like wine upon the alter for You!

Yes, I'll be broken like bread to feed the hungry!

Yes, I'll be so one in You that You may do just as You
will!

Yes, I'll be light, and life, and love Your Word fulfill!

I find myself singing that song often in a day, when I start to feel complaints rise in me cause, "I don't have any time for myself," or, "I'm drained! I need a break!" As soon as I begin singing I hear Jesus asking me if I'll be poured out like wine upon the altar of my kids' lives for Him. His love changes the way I think about being a mother.

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering
of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. -Philippians 2:17

My sisters have reminded me this morning of God's will for me as a mom- the beauty and privilege of being poured out like an offering of worship as God administers justice for two boys who would be orphans if I didn't obey God's call on my life.

Lord Jesus thank You for my sisters Kandace and Summer. Thank You for loving me like they are loving the little ones You've entrusted to them. Thank You for reminding me that this is the ecstasy of life... being poured out in love because that's what You did for me! I can't be "life and light and love Your Word fulfill" apart from You. But through You I can do all things. I give You my body, my time, my mind and emotions, my will.... Lord Jesus, please have Your way with me. I trust You to guard and keep that which I've entrusted to You- the hearts and minds of these two little boys. Lord, as Kandace and Wally, Summer and Zane, pour out their lives into the little ones You've brought to them, I pray You would become more and more known to them. That they may know Your love increasingly and Your presence very really. Guard and keep the seeds planted in their little ones.