But We Will Boast in the Name of the Lord

On a summer morning more than eight years ago, I sat with my Bible in a friend’s living room. My husband and I were taking my son to his university orientation and we had spent the night with friends. Worry and fear woke me early and I found a quiet place for prayer and time in God’s Word. I worried about this new phase in the life of my family. What if the university refused to accept the home school transcripts I had prepared? What if they refused to grant my son his promised scholarships or even his diploma after four years of study due to his lack of an official public high school diploma? What if my son’s home school experience did not adequately prepare him for the rigors of university? The “what if’s” flooded my mind and led me to the Lord.

In the quiet of the living room, I prayed and then opened my Bible to the next reading, Psalm 20. Today I know that Psalm well, but on that morning, even though I had probably read it before, its thoughts were new to me. They gave me fresh hope. They gave me courage to face this giant called university after a homeschooling experience. They reminded me that the victory belonged to the Lord. Some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God. They have fallen; but we have risen and stand upright. Our boast was in the Lord and I knew that we would rise and stand upright, not because my son had a public high school education and diploma, but because our trust was in the Lord. We had prepared for the battle, but the final victory belonged to the Lord and that gave me the faith to go forward with confidence.

I have prayed this prayer from Psalm 20 for my children many times since that morning eight years ago. As they have gone forward on their own journeys, as they have faced challenges and obstacles, as they have struggled with conflicts and battles, I have prayed – May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May He send you help from the sanctuary, and support from Zion! May He grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your counsel! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions. I have entrusted my children to His loving care. I have rested the full weight of my confidence in Him. I have depended on Him alone to deliver them in their time of need.

And He has been more than faithful. He has heard in the time of trouble. He has protected and sent help. He has strengthened and given them their heart’s desire. He has answered and made their plans succeed. I have sung the psalmist’s song of praise on many occasions – We will sing for joy over your victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer from His holy heaven. He will answer in the day we call. As Lawrence O. Richards states, “When God can surely do all this for us, we would be foolish not to trust Him.” May we continue to put our full confidence and trust in the One who lifts us to stand upright.    

What is a Staunch Christian?

Not long ago, Why I Converted to Islam appeared on the internet. The article, written by a female journalist, explains the author’s conversion to Islam. Her story began in Malaysia where she went for a student exchange program. Her curiosity into Islam began with the pretty South-East Asian Muslim girls with colorful hijabs and clothes. Later, as she researched for an article on Muslim women’s rights, she found her mind suddenly bursting with knowledge about Islam and the fact that women had many rights in Islam. The first time she stepped into a mosque she experienced an immediate sense of calm and peace. Over a year later, she converted to Islam.

I do not question the author’s experiences in Malaysia. I am sure that the Muslim girls were beautiful and that they seemed to have many rights in their Muslim faith. I can understand that she somehow found a calm and peace when she entered a mosque. However, I do wonder at some of the claims that she makes in her story.  She writes that her life as a staunch Christian was a focal point of her faith journey. She also shares that her love for Jesus actually led her to Islam and that she read her Bible inside out. Because I am a Christian who loves Jesus and has read the Bible extensively, I question these claims.      

By definition, a staunch Christian is a devoted follower of Christ, one who has fully accepted Jesus’ claims of Himself. A Christian is one who steadfastly loves the Lord Jesus Christ and believes that the Bible is a book that declares Him on every page. In John 14 Jesus told His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” In the same encounter He told them, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” A true Christian fully accepts these truths and believes that the Lord Jesus is God and that He is to be worshipped as God. Christianity cannot be the focal point of a religion that denies the deity of Christ nor can love for Jesus lead one to acceptance of a faith that refers to Him as a prophet who is not to be worshipped as God.

As I consider the claims of this author and the definition of a staunch Christian who loves Jesus, I wonder how many miss the truth of what it means to be a devoted follower of Christ. I wonder how many enter our churches, maybe even every Sunday, and miss the true meaning of why we worship the Lord Jesus as we do. I wonder how many mistakenly see themselves as staunch Christians only to be led to another religion that denies the claims of Christ. I wonder how many love a Jesus that they do not really know or how many read God’s Word without really understanding the truths they encounter in its pages. I pray that God’s Word would be clearly spoken in our churches and by those who believe. I pray that hearts would be open to the truths that are read or heard and that Christianity would teach us to love and understand God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ more fully so that we might worship Him as we ought. As Christians, we do learn compassion, mercy, and love, but most importantly we grow to know Him more fully because He is the focal point of Christianity.       

Abundant Life

In this life we have two ways before us. Some would choose to believe that a middle ground exists between the two extremes, but Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 7 that our choice is between two ways only. One way is broad and leads to destruction. The other is narrow and leads to life. In Psalm 1 the Psalmist illustrates these two ways. He compares and contrasts the lifestyle choices of the ungodly man with those of the righteous man. C.H. Spurgeon tells us that the desire of the Psalmist was to teach us the way to blessedness and to warn us of the sure destruction of sinners. It is, therefore, an important Psalm on which to meditate.                          

The ungodly man walks according to the counsel of the wicked, according to the advice of those who live in sin, of those who do not seek God, but rather challenge Him. He is first influenced by their ways, but then becomes committed as he accepts their choices and stands with them in the path of sinners. He falls further when he fully identifies with them and finally sits among them in the seat of scoffers. As Jeremiah 17:5 says, he trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength. He turns away from the Lord.

His godless lifestyle will result in his destruction. Before the Lord, his life will be completely worthless, like chaff that is driven away by the wind. He will not stand in the judgment to receive a crown of reward. Because his choice in life was to sit in the seat of scoffers, he will not be invited to seat among God’s people in the assembly of the righteous. He will not be known by God, nor will his way be known. Instead, he will perish and his way with him.

In contrast, the lifestyle of the righteous man is built on the foundation of God’s Word. The righteous man delights and finds pleasure in the Word of God. Indeed, he meditates on it day and night. It is his desire to ponder and speak God’s Words throughout his day. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand (Psalm 37:24). As Jeremiah 17:7 states, he puts his trust in the Lord and therefore he need not be anxious in the year of drought. He is blessed by God with a spiritual and emotional joy and contentment that will not be taken away.

The righteous man receives this joy and contentment because he has chosen to live a God-centered life. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, a tree that extends its roots and drinks in the living Word of God. He will yield his fruit in season and his leaves will be full and green. He will be prosperous in all that he does, not because he is so very capable, but because he trusts in the Lord and His promises. He will be known by God because he has lived his life to know God and to walk in His ways. The righteous man illustrates for us the abundant life worth living, the life that leads to blessedness.

Distractions

These first weeks of school have, at times, left me distracted with all my preparations.  My to-do list seems endless.  One task completed reminds me of a forgotten task that must be added.  It is easy to become worried and bothered about so many things.  It is easy to fret and scurry from job to job.  It is easy to allow my priorities to get turned upside down and to foolishly add details that are unnecessary, details that cause me to feel overworked and unappreciated.  Then, as Martha did in Luke 10:38-42, I try to force these same expectations on others.  I demand and scold and insist on help so that I am not left to do the work alone.

Martha’s meal preparations differ from my school preparations.  However, I do identify with her tumult and frustration.  Her movement from task to task as Mary rests at the feet of Jesus may have caused many furtive glances in the direction of the teacher.  Does He not see the work that must be completed?  Does He not care that I am left to serve alone?  Should He not tell her to help me?  The thoughts may have festered for some time until she was unable to hold them to herself any longer.  She took her complaint to Jesus expectant that He would take her side in the matter.  Instead He answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Because God has chosen to add this little story in His word, I am led to believe that I may not be the only woman who worries and bothers about so many things.  In Gods at War, Kyle Idleman asks, “How many times have we been so distracted that we’ve missed a divine moment?”   How many times have I allowed my worries about so many things distract me from the one thing necessary, the one thing that will not be taken away?  Martha is to be commended for the required work that she did to entertain the Lord and those with Him.  However, she allowed her work to become a burden.  She put too much stress on things that didn’t really matter and allowed them to distract her from the one thing that did matter. 

The one thing that matters is our relationship with the Lord.  Our focus must first be on Him and on the divine moments He so graciously offers us.  We must sit at His feet and learn from Him and His word.  The peace and guidance that we find there will enable us to complete our required work and service with joy and satisfaction.  That joy and satisfaction will spill over into our relationships.  We will no longer demand and scold.  We will no longer expect others to help with the work load.  Instead, we will find rest for our souls for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  

How Do I Measure Up?

Mothers; wives; women:  We can all fall into the habit of sinful comparison.  We compare our children, and our husbands, and our choice of careers.  We compare the ways we discipline, and the ways we keep house, and the ways we dress.  As I have considered this topic of comparison throughout this past week, I have come to discover that really nothing escapes this habit of sinful comparison.  In fact, I noticed in my own life that comparison happens much more than I would like to admit – it almost seems constant at times.  It is a way to measure my own success against the life of another woman.  As John Piper writes, “That’s the way we sinners are wired.  Compare.  Compare.  Compare.  We crave to know how we stack up in comparison to others.  There is some kind of high if we can just find someone less effective than we are.  Ouch.” 

Ouch is right.  The problem is:  we don’t always find someone less effective than we are.  Sometimes, when we calculate our worth against the life of another woman, we can easily be left with the realization that we just don’t measure up.  Her kids may sit in perfect obedience when they are out in public or they may be offered scholarships at prestigious universities.  Her husband may take her on elaborate vacations or he may buy her diamonds to celebrate their years together.  Her house and garden may be showcased in a major magazine or she may be promoted to a high position at work.  These comparisons can leave us depressed and defeated with no confidence for the future.

However, other comparisons leave us with the prideful attitude that we are indeed more effective than the woman with whom we compare ourselves.  It may be that our children have achieved more, or our husbands are more attentive.  Or maybe our lives are filled with accomplishments that we can be, well, proud of.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss points out that these comparisons cause us to feel worthy of honor.  They give us a high and often self-important view of ourselves.  They tempt us to gossip so that others are aware of our superior measure.  These comparisons may give us reason to strut in pride, but they are just as, and possibly more, destructive as those comparisons that reveal our weaknesses.  After all we know that the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but rather from the world. 

It is right to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep.  It is good to learn from others and to seek counsel from those with more wisdom and experience.  But it is destructive to measure our worth by comparison.  It is, in fact, sinful.  As John Piper reminds us, “Jesus will not judge me according to my superiority or inferiority over anybody.  Jesus has a work for me to do (and a different one for you).  It is not what he has given anyone else to do.”  May we then compare ourselves to His standard for our individual lives and the work He has for us to do.  Let us look to Him and allow Him to measure our lives by His measure.  As He said to Peter in John 21:23, “What is that to you?  You follow Me!”   

Reflections for the School Year

At this time of year my mind is preoccupied with thoughts of the new school year.  As I plan the goals and objectives for the year, I am filled with mixed emotions.  This is my last official year to home educate my children.  Four have already moved on.  Only one remains at the school table.  She is in grade 12 and has already made plans to move on after the year’s work is complete.  With more than twenty-one years as a home educator, I know that life will be different at this time next year.  The house will sound rather quiet.  The school books will look rather forlorn and unused on the shelves.  The school table will feel rather empty with no one to tutor beside me.

It has been a wonderful twenty-one years.  I have learned lots alongside my children.  I have often said that anyone who has a desire to learn can home school their children.  I have had that desire and I have benefited as much, and maybe more, than my children throughout our home school years.  At times I have wondered why I missed so much during my own school days.  The books we have read; the history we have learned; the nature we have witnessed; these have all filled the years with new discoveries and joys.  I admit that we have faced some struggles through the years.  Learning difficulties demanded new strategies.  Babies changed set routines.  A range of ages required creative solutions.  At times we seemed to muddle our way through the difficulties, but we always emerged with fresh insights and lessons learned.  All in all, our home school days and years have been rich with rewards and blessings.

Of course, not everyone will or even should home educate their children.  We must all consider our own families and situations in the question of school choice.  However, whatever choice we do make – home, private, charter, public, separate – we, as parents, still bear the ultimate responsibility to lay a firm foundation, both educationally and spiritually, in the lives of our own children.  I have written about the spiritual foundations we lay, Scripture reading and prayer, but we must also be intentional to lay a good academic foundation.  It is our responsibility to make sure that our children are prepared for the next step, whether that step is further education or the job market.  This means that their school needs must always take precedence over our own wants and desires.  It means that we must, at times, clear the table and spend an evening with a child and homework.

As I step into this last year of my official home school career, the realization of the shortness of time will be ever present in my mind.  I will cherish this last year with my daughter.  I will also make an intentional choice to make this last year count for the future steps she will take in the journey of her own.  I know that means that I must sometimes put my own plans aside as I help her to prepare for hers.  I also know that the seeming sacrifice will be worth it as she steps out prepared for the future ahead.           

A Mother's Prayer

In an earlier post I wrote that we must seek God’s wisdom and direction as we move the shuttle across the colored threads of our children’s lives.  We must pray for God’s guidance in our role as parents.  We must also pray for our children in every season of their lives.  Keith and Kristyn Getty beautifully illustrate these seasons of prayer in their song A Mother’s Prayer.  Our prayers for our children begin when they are wee little ones as we hold them in our arms.  We pray that their little frames grow strong and that faith takes hold while they are young.  In those early days I also prayed not only that faith would take hold when they were young, but also that their faith would grow stronger than my own faith, that they would know the Savior more deeply and personally, and that they would walk with Him all their days no matter what their future held.  In the journey of these years may they trust Him to the end.

But, as many mothers already know, they don’t stay in our arms for long.  They soon demand their freedom and independence.  They totter across the floor and then walk and run through the yard.  As they encounter the world in this new way, they soon learn that this world is not as it should be.  They suffer hurts from falls and friends.  They meet with difficulties and struggles.  They see turmoil and trouble.  And our prayers change with the season.  We pray that the Savior would open their eyes to see all that’s beautiful and true, that His light would fill all they are, and that the jewel of wisdom would fill their heart.  We pray that He would guide us as we hold their hand and teach them the way to go, always with the assurance that He is with us till the end, that He is faithful till the end.

And then, before we are quite ready, they’ll travel where our arms won’t reach as the road rises to lead their feet on a journey of their own.  However, our mother’s heart does not change and we continue to lift them in ceaseless prayer.  We pray that our mistakes would not hinder them but that His grace would remain and guide them through.  We pray that they would take His hand and go where He calls them to and that whatever comes, that they would seek Him with all their heart.  These are my prayers for my children these days.  I know that I have made mistakes along the way, and so I pray that my mistakes will not hinder their walk with the Lord.  I long to take their hands once again, but I know that I must now trust them to a faithful Lord who promises to guide them if they seek Him, and so I pray that they seek Him with all their hearts.

The Getty’s end their song with the words, Father, hear my ceaseless prayer – Oh keep them in your care.  These words echo the prayers in my heart for my own children.  I lift ceaseless prayers for them to a gracious Father who has promised to hear my cries on their behalf and I have the assurance that He will indeed keep them in His loving care.         

Wait on the Lord

Illness; unexpected complications; hectic schedules – Everyday life often exposes our limitations and weaknesses.  As I consider this fact, I am reminded that God has not left us alone to struggle through our days wearied and weakened.  He has not forgotten or abandoned us to live in our own feeble strength.  In Isaiah 40:27-28 He asks, “Why do you say, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my claim is passed over by my God?’  Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.”  We are not alone.  God not only sees our weariness and struggles, but He also understands with an understanding that is unsearchable.  He does not grow faint or weary.  His strength is limitless.  He is a stronghold to lean upon.

This fact strengthens my heart, for the truth is, we do grow weary and faint in our everyday lives.  But God is more than a stronghold to lean upon.  Verses 29-31 tell us that “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”  God renews and increases our strength so that we can run and not grow weary, so we can walk and not faint.  He replenishes us for the tasks before us.  He gives us the ability to move forward.

The reality is that sometimes the circumstances of life can be difficult.  We can become weary and exhausted with daily stresses.  Yet when we wait on the Lord, He will renew our strength.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss reminds us that to really wait on the Lord is not passive.  It is active.  It means to longingly and expectantly cling to Him.  It means to put all our confidence and hope in Him and to trust that He will give us His strength for our weakness.  It means to patiently pray and believe that He will indeed bless us with His power. 

And when we trust in in the Lord and His strength, we will do more than move forward.  We will mount up with wings like eagles.  We will soar above the storms of everyday life.  He will give us the ability to rise to the higher elevations, to ascend on high.  There He will plant our feet on higher ground.  There we will behold our loving Lord and He will strengthen us for the tasks that He calls us to do.  We will not be disappointed for He is the everlasting Father who never grows weary or faint and who gives abundantly to those who wait on Him.  

The Master Weaver

I did not post last week as my mind was preoccupied with plans for my daughter’s graduation from the Liberty School of Aeronautics FAA airframe & powerplant certificate program.  She earned her private pilot’s license more than a year ago and she decided that her next step was aircraft maintenance.  In a few short weeks she will begin work in an aviation maintenance shop.  She loves airplanes.  You can see it in her radiance as she sits on the wing of a plane, and in her inquisitive look when she hears a plane fly overhead, and in her excited chatter about King Airs and trim tabs.  She loves the maintenance side of aviation.  Her eyes light up when she talks of name brand tools like Snap-on and Fluke and of sheet metal and rivets.  I love her enthusiasm even if I don’t always understand the terms or significance of what she shares.

This was not part of my plan when I first held her in my arms on a sunny Sunday morning in May twenty-one years ago.  I don’t think I really had any definite plans in those early days and years of her life, but God did.  Psalm 139 assures me that He formed her inward parts and knit her together in my womb.  She is indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.  She was intricately woven by His loving hands and in His book were written the days that were formed for her when as yet there was none of them.  It is amazing to consider the fact that He formed her.  He knit her together.  He wove her intricately to be the person He planned her to be.  He formed her determined and fiery spirit.  He knit her enthusiastic and adventurous nature.  He wove her with the abilities needed to accomplish His purpose and design for her life.

He is indeed the Master Weaver who has a purpose and design for each child’s life.  He allows us as mothers and fathers to take a part in the weaving process.  As I wrote in my last post, this is an awesome responsibility.  We must seek His wisdom and direction as we move the shuttle across the colored threads.  We must teach our children to seek His guidance as well.  As Ravi Zacharias writes, “we are called to see the gracious hand of a designing God in our lives.  We are called to respond to God’s nod.  He holds the threads.  .  .  The design is beautiful.  The promise is sure.  The end result is profound.  The answers will all be there.  But the condition is clear; we must search for God with all our hearts.”  

As my daughter prepares the shuttle for the next row in the design, I am secure in the knowledge that God knows her more than I can ever know her.  He loves her more than I can ever love her.  I am awed by this fact.  I am awed by the precious and vast sum of thoughts He has of her.  He has searched her and known her intimately.  He is acquainted with all her ways.  He lays His hand upon her.  My heart echoes the praise of the Psalmist when he writes, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.”   I feel at peace as I leave the tapestry of her life in His hands.  I know that He will guide and keep her in His loving care.  He knows the rest of the design and it is beautiful. 

A Great Responsibility

Just after I wrote my last blog post, I sat on the steps of the visitor center at Liberty University.  I looked out over the beautiful campus nestled in the hills of Virginia.  I listened to the Christian music that quietly played over the speakers throughout the campus and my eyes filled with tears.  I wanted to shout “Hooray!” for right before me lay a miracle, a Christian university with the motto, “Training Champions for Christ.”  Here students can study in all different fields and learn how to actively apply their Christian faith in their chosen occupations.

On those steps, I thanked God for this miracle:  a miracle that allows students to choose a Christian university and a miracle that two of my daughters study here.  I thanked God for the miracle of the availability of other Christian universities, universities like Cedarville in Ohio where another of my daughters studied and graduated.  I thanked God for the godly men and women who dedicate themselves to teach in these universities and I thanked Him for the Biblical values that are taught.  I prayed for the students, for the strength of their faith.  I prayed that they truly would be “Champions for Christ” taking God’s Word and truth out into the world that so desperately needs it.

I write this not to suggest that every Christian young person should attend a Christian university.  (My son studied and graduated from a state university.)  Rather, I write it as a reminder that God’s miraculous power is ever present all around us.  I have transported students to these two Christian universities for a total of five years now and this is the first time I realized it to be the miracle that it is.  The freedom to believe and practice our Christian faith abounds around us and yet, as I wrote in my last post, we often take it for granted.  It has become so common place, so unworthy of praise that my heart aches.

As I consider the multiple Christian opportunities around us – summer camps; teaching ministries; media sources – I feel the urge to break out in song and my mind is drawn back to the pages of The Insanity of God.  I think of the stories of the faithful believers in communist Russia, believers like Dmitri, who worshiped and sang Heart Songs while in prison for their faith.  Holy songs and Scripture were the lifeblood of the church under communism in countries like Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe.  The believers did not own Bibles or hymnbooks, but they memorized Scripture and sang Holy songs.  When those believers were asked how they remained strong in their faith throughout such persecution, they answered, “We learned it from our mothers, our grandmothers, our great-grandmothers.  We learned it from our fathers, our grandfathers, our great-grandfathers.”

We have an awesome responsibility to pass on our faith to our children and grandchildren.  Therefore, let’s open our eyes to the miracles that surround us and give thanks to God who so graciously displays His miraculous power.  Let’s make Scripture and Holy Songs a priority in our homes and families and take advantage of the Christian opportunities around us.  Let’s make faith and praise a way of life.  May we live our lives in such a way that our children and grandchildren learn from us to stand firm in their faith no matter what obstacles stand in the way.  

The Miracle of the Moment

Every Sunday morning I publicly gather with other believers.  We break bread together without fear of interruption.  We take hymnals from their places and freely sing hymns of praise to the Rock of our salvation.  We read God’s Word together from all portions of Scripture.  We hear messages that have been prepared beforehand with the help of Biblical study aids.  We do not quietly whisper the gospel or place lookouts at the doors.  We do not use codes to inform the believers of the time and place of worship.  We do not baptize new believers or conduct corporate prayer meetings in secret.

These worship privileges have become common in our everyday North American lifestyle.  We often take them for granted in the same way the Israelites seemed to take manna from heaven for granted.  In our eyes they have lost their miracle status.  Yet, in countries like China, where believers are persecuted for their faith, these privileges are considered miracles.  This is one lesson I learned from Nik Ripken in his book The Insanity of God.  He writes, “The truth is, these things that we take for granted are all miracles!  Chinese house-church believers taught me that.  Their remedial lessons gave me new eyes to see and appreciate the miraculous power of God still present and at work in our world today.”

Chinese house-church believers meet in secret.  They move about from farm to farm and house to house, often at night.  Many house-church leaders are without a complete Bible.  Bibles are torn apart and divided so that each pastor can take home a portion of Scripture to share with his people.  House-churches are also without hymnbooks.  Christian music is absent from the public airways as is any Christian teaching.  Instead the house-church leaders find that they gain their most important theological education while they are in prison.

The Chinese house-churches do see miracles.  They see God’s faithful provision of strength and courage while in prison.  They experience His repeated protection from authorities and His supernatural guidance through dreams and visions.  They witness amazing answers to prayer and their church has grown with new believers.  In fact, at least one hundred million new believers have come to Christ despite fifty years of oppression under communism.  Yet, in comparison to the miracle of religious freedom in North America, the Chinese believers asked, “So tell us, Dr. Ripken, which of these things do you think are the greatest miracles?”  This question humbles me because I realize how much I take for granted, how much I fail to appreciate. 

Ripken ends his book with Samira, a Christian believer out of Islam who was forced to flee her home country.  She worked as a women’s advocate in refugee camps and later, for her own protection, she was relocated to the American Midwest.  She was able to spend a week with the Ripken family and while there she witnessed a public baptism.  She questioned, “Why aren’t all these people standing and cheering and clapping at such a miracle from God?  I think that I am going to burst with joy!  I think that I am going to shout!”

She didn’t shout, but she did see something that we often fail to see.  She saw the miracle of the moment.  She saw the miraculous power of believers in Christ coming together to publicly testify the name of Jesus.  I often miss those moments.  I pray that God would give me new eyes to see the miracles of the moment and greater appreciation for His miraculous power so that I might more freely respond with shouts of praise and thanksgiving. 

The Glory of the Gospel

My daughter recommended a book.  In the book, The Insanity of God, Nik Ripken shares lessons he learned from believers in persecution:  how to follow Jesus, how to love Jesus, and how to walk with Jesus.  In chapter 2 Ripken looks back to his rural Kentucky background.  His parents weren’t churchgoers except for Sundays like Christmas and Easter.  They did, however, faithfully send their children for Sunday school and worship.  This may have been for the free babysitting, but Ripken liked to see his friends and he enjoyed the choir music of the morning worship.

At the age of eleven, Ripken had a significant and personal spiritual experience.  It was an Easter Sunday and the church pews were full.  He remembers that the sun made the stained glass windows of the sanctuary glow with a deeper, richer color than he had noticed before.  The pastor’s message recounted the familiar story of all that had happened to Jesus during the Passover week.  Ripken was drawn into the story.  He absorbed the words.  He writes, “For the first time, I understood something of the price that Jesus paid for the sins of the world, and for me.  .  .  When the preacher finally got to the Easter-morning part of the story – the part about the rolled-away stone, the angel, the empty tomb, and the resurrected Jesus – something deep inside of me wanted to shout right out loud:  Hooray!  I felt like breaking into song just like the crowds in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.”

But as he glanced at the people around him, he saw no difference from other Sunday mornings.  Some children drew or wrote on bulletins; some fidgeted; some appeared lost in their own private daydreams.  Most adults seemed to listen intently, but their faces showed no excitement, no enthusiastic response.  He wanted to shout, “Hey everyone!  Are you listening to this?”  He thought, “How in the world was it that these people managed to get so much more excited about what happened at a high school football field on Friday nights than they did about the resurrection of Jesus at church on Easter Sunday morning?”  He concluded that maybe they had heard the story so many times before that, now, they saw it as  .  .  .  just a story.”

He writes, “I am sure that they believed that it was the truth – but it was truth that had very little to do with real life.  Evidently, it was a story that did not demand much excitement or response.”  As I read those words, I was convicted of my own lack of joyful response to the gospel story.  I have the opportunity to hear that exciting story often, but have I allowed it to become too familiar, to become just a story?  I know it to be true and yet does it still excite me?

I was dead in my trespasses and sin.  I was separated from God.  And the Lord Jesus Christ left the glory of heaven and paid the penalty for my sin with His own precious blood.  I have been saved by grace; it is a gift of God.  But, when I have torn the wrappings off, do I toss the gift aside and move on to other activities or do I contemplate the cost of the gift?  I should ponder it often.  My response should be one of grateful excitement.  Thankfulness should overwhelm me and I should sing praises and shout for joy.  I pray that my response would not be numbed by the futile things of this world, but rather, that the story would remain ever fresh and awe-inspiring, that Jesus’ sacrifice for my sake would never become just a story.

Creative Work

She looks for wool and flax,

And works with her hands in delight.

She is like merchant ships:

She brings her food from afar.

-Proverbs 31:13-14

The Proverbs 31 woman works with her hands.  She looks for wool and flax.  She brings her food from afar.  As I consider these verses, I wonder how they relate to women today.  We don’t usually look for wool and flax as we can buy our clothes already made.  Food from afar requires only a visit to the local grocery store.  The focus must be on the work she does with her hands.  The Hebrew word work that is used here can mean much more than the simple act of labor and toil.  This word work or asah also means to make or to create and it is used in Genesis and the Psalms to portray God’s work of creation as He fashioned the heavens, the sea and dry land, the great lights, the beasts of the earth, and man.

Because we as women have been fashioned in God’s image, we also have a creative nature.  Our creative nature is not on God’s level as Edith Schaeffer reminds us in The Hidden Art of Homemaking.  We are restricted by a finite body and limited resources.  However, we still have the ability to work with our hands and to create and fashion something with delight.  We have the ability to bring forth something that other people can taste, smell, feel, hear, and see.  We have the ability to create a home that is a place of refuge for our own family and for any others that enter its doors.    

Mary Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life created such a home out of an old, neglected house with broken windows and a leaky roof.  She worked with her hands to transform the dilapidated house into a home filled with love.  Real women, single and married, have done the same.  Amy Carmichael made a home for girls rescued from temple prostitution.  Betsy and Corrie ten Boom created a haven of safety for Jews during WWII.  Susanna Wesley created a home for her large family even in the midst of turbulence and tragedy and Caroline Ingalls created homes in many remote places from the big woods to the prairies.  

Many other women whose names do not appear in books have also created homes for those in their care:  homes with the aromas of simmering soups and cut flowers; homes with the welcome of warm hugs and comfy couches; homes with the joy of cheerful music and happy laughter; homes with the beauty of papered walls and coordinated colors; homes with the savor of delicious meals and tasty treats.

Homes are an essential part of life for every human being.  They offer a sense of community and welcome and they provide a place of shelter and refuge.  As T.S. Eliot states, “Home is where one starts from.”  To create a home is a privilege that we as women are given and when we do it willingly with palms that are opened upward with a spirit of offering, it is a source of joy as well, joy for those for whom we create, but joy also for ourselves for it is in giving that we receive. 

She Does Him Good

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

And he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

-Proverbs 31:11-12

The first verses that describe the Proverbs 31 woman focus on her relationship with her husband.  She does him good.  She is pleasant and cheerful.  She is kind and lovely.  I notice that the definition for good does not include traits like irritable, critical, and exacting.  Instead her spirit is calm, compassionate, and meek.  She has virtue and moral goodness.  Her husband trusts in her.  He trusts her morally.  He also trusts her to build his reputation.  Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ mother modeled this kind of honor for her husband.  Nancy relates, “To this day, I can never remember her speaking negatively about him to us or anyone else.  It’s not that he didn’t have weaknesses and rough edges, but rather that she was scarcely conscious of the negatives because of her deep, genuine admiration for him.”

I am in the midst of studying Titus 2 with the guidance of True Woman 201.  The authors, Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Mary Kassian, point out that four different Greek words are translated “love” in the English language:  storge – familial love; phileo – friendly love; agape – commitment love; eros – sexual love.  They then ask the student to rank these four types of love in order of importance in a good marriage.  I was quick to rank agape #1.  My explanation followed the idea that marriage is not always easy.  My husband does not always do things the way I think is best.  Therefore, I must have agape, a committed love, for my husband.  I noted that phileo love attracted me to my husband, but agape keeps me faithful no matter what.

Imagine my surprise when I turned the page and learned that the actual word Paul used in Titus 2:4 is phileo.  “Older women are to encourage young women to love (phileo) their husbands.”  Phileo the authors write “is often used to describe more of an emotional response.  Phileo means to deeply care about a person, to approve of him, to appreciate him, to welcome him, to treat him with affection.  Agape generally says, ‘I choose to love you,’ whereas phileo says, ‘I deeply like you and enjoy you.’”  The love I am to have for my husband is the love that I had for him when we were first dating, a love that overlooks his faults and imperfections, not because I am committed, but because I deeply like and enjoy him.  The authors directed me to take a moment to reflect and I took many moments. 

It seems much easier to focus on my husband’s weaknesses than to simply enjoy his friendship - to laugh in the midst of a mess, to enjoy the extra time together when he turns down the wrong street, to be grateful for what he did do rather than annoyed for what he didn’t do.  I have reflected and I have practiced – I have simply enjoyed my husband.  And I have discovered an amazing fact:  I have more fun when I enjoy my husband than I do when I focus on the changes I think need to happen.  My husband truly is my best friend.  I must be committed to him but, more importantly, I must delight in him.      

A Looking Glass for Ladies

An excellent wife, who can find?

For her worth is far above jewels.

-Proverbs 31:10

Many of us try to avoid the Proverbs 31 woman.  She seems to be a special type of wonder woman, a picture of perfection that is out of reach for most normal women.  She rises while it is still night, she stays up past dark, she works with her hands, she avoids idleness, and she earns money in her free time.  A glance in her direction makes most of us want to run the opposite way.  Her perfection causes us to make excuses for our inability to live up to her standard.  But Matthew Henry calls this passage a “looking-glass for ladies, which they are desired to open and dress themselves by; and, if they do so, their adorning will be found to praise, and honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  And so I am emboldened to consider this model of womanhood.

Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic poem that uses each of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence to begin the first word of each verse.  Dorothy Patterson suggests that its literary form may have made it easier to commit the passage to memory.  Indeed the passage was recited in many Jewish homes on the eve of Sabbath to challenge and express gratitude to the mother in the home.  Or possibly its acrostic style was used to emphasize the characteristics used to describe this ideal woman, characteristics outlined by a mother for her son who would be king.  It was a description of the type of wife he should seek, a virtuous woman worth more than rubies, a wife suitable for a king. 

In the poem King Lemuel’s mother sings the praises of a worthy wife and godly mother.  This woman is excellent or, as some Bible versions state, virtuous.  The Hebrew word chayil is used here.  It means might, strength, power.  This is the description of a strong woman.  She is capable and energetic with a high sense of dignity.  In Ruth 3:11 Boaz used the same word to describe Ruth, “for all the people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence (chayil).”  Ruth, a widow, left her own homeland to travel with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem.  She rose early each morning and gleaned in the fields to provide food for her mother-in-law and herself.  She displayed a dignified strength and a loyal love that went beyond what was expected.   

What reassures me most about chayil is that I do not have to rely on my own virtue or strength to possess it.  God gives me this dignified strength as the Psalmist affirms in Psalm 18:31-32:  “For who is God, but the Lord?  And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength (chayil) and makes my way blameless.”  The woman who fears the Lord is girded with strength and He makes her way blameless.  I still examine the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 with hesitation.  But I am encouraged by the fact that she is given as an example, a looking glass for ladies.  I am unable to match her skills and creativity perfectly, no woman can, but I can learn from her example and I can strive to exhibit the excellence and strength that she reflects with the help of the Lord Who is my rock and my fortress.

Elisabeth Elliot: A Mentor and Guide

On Monday, June 15, I scrolled down my facebook home page and found that Elisabeth Elliot Gren had passed away earlier that morning.  I paused with a sense of sadness.  But my sadness quickly turned to joy as I considered that she was now in the loving arms of the Lord she so faithfully served.  In His presence is fullness of joy.  Her struggles with dementia and old age were now gone and she dwelt securely in His right hand with pleasures forever more.  I am sure that she heard the words that we all long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I never knew Elisabeth Elliot personally but she was my mentor.  For more than ten years, most every day, at one-o-clock in the afternoon, I turned on the radio and heard the familiar words, “You are loved with an everlasting love and underneath are the everlasting arms.”  Sometimes I listened alone while my children rested.  Sometimes I listened with a baby in my arms.  Sometimes my children and I listened together, especially when she read stories aloud at Christmas time.  I listened and I learned and I grew in my walk with the Lord. 

Elisabeth Elliot inspired me during those early years of my motherhood.  She taught me that we all have “too much stuff – more than enough” and to “just do the next thing.”  She taught me to love my husband and my children.  She taught me to fear, honor, and reverence God even in the most mundane and ordinary tasks, tasks like doing dishes and folding clothes.  She imparted in me a willing spirit to do what God called me to do as a Christian woman, wife, and mother.  She encouraged me to be committed to Him and His ways even when they went against the ways of this world. 

Along the way, Elisabeth Elliot introduced me to other mentors, women like Amy Carmichael and Elizabeth Prentiss.   She guided me through her spoken words on her radio program.  She directed me through her written words in her books and newsletters.  But most of all, Elisabeth Elliot inspired me by her own example:  her trust when Jim Elliot died; her faithfulness to minister to the very people who killed him; her commitment to encourage other women with the truths she had learned. 

The back of my Gateway to Joy book states that “Elisabeth Elliot has modelled courageous faith for more than forty years of public life.  Her wisdom has been gleaned from her experiences as a twice-widowed wife, mother, grandmother, missionary, Bible translator, radio broadcaster, public speaker, and best-selling author.”  She continued to model that courageous faith even when she learned of her memory loss.  Her husband Lars Gren shares that she handled it as she handled all else in her life, with acceptance.  In acceptance lieth peace.  Once again she taught by her own example.

I am thankful for Elisabeth Elliot and for her ministry on Gateway to Joy.  She made a difference in my life.  I am thankful also for the many other women who have led and guided me along my life journey.  I thank God that He calls women to teach and encourage other women and I pray that I will be as faithful and willing in that calling as women like Elisabeth Elliot have been.   

When Mother Reads Aloud

You may have tangible wealth untold,

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be –

I had a mother who read to me

-A Reading Mother by Strickland W. Gillilan

I agree with Henry Ward Beecher when he says, “A home without books is like a room without windows.  .  .  .  A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessities of life.”  Indeed, books enrich our lives.  They transport us to different times and places.  They allow us to experience life in another’s shoes.  They enlighten us with timeless truths and values.  Books are a necessity and so we collected books.  Our home is crowded with books:  books in every room, books stacked to make room for more, books beckoning to be read.    The living room holds the greatest treasure of books, at least one shelf for every wall, some shelves smaller than others but still filled with books.  As my children grew, we gathered in the living room to share adventures from the pages of our books.

I read aloud to my children.  Of course, we read picture books, but we also enjoyed chapter books – chapter by chapter, night after night.  One of the first chapter books we read together was Little House in the Big Woods.  We followed this book with the rest of the books in the series.  The Ingalls family had become part of our family.  We learned from Aslan along with the Pevensie children and we adventured with the Swallows and Amazons.  We traveled with missionaries and lived with historical figures.  We read stories that were fun and made us laugh and we read stories that were serious and made us think.  Some stories stretched our imaginations and some added to our education.      

Through our books we met people and traveled the world.  We sailed over oceans and flew through clouds.  We adventured with new friends and discovered fresh truths.  But most of all I hope that my children were touched through our reading:  touched to accomplish brave and noble deeds, touched to be strong and true to their convictions, touched to make a positive difference in the world.  I hope that the times we read aloud left them richer than before.

As I look around the room and ponder the books on the shelves, memories flood my mind.  I remember the stories that we read together and I long for more.  When I began writing this post, I thought that I would list people we met along the way and places we went.  I thought that I would share more titles and lessons learned.  But too many gather in my mind.  Which are the best?  Some of my children would say one and others would counter with another.  Different books touched their hearts and lives in different ways. 

I am thankful for the days I had to read aloud to my children.  I am thankful for the books we read together.  I can still see my children gathered together for a story.  Sometimes they came with handiwork or coloring books and sometimes they just listened.  I remember the day when my son sauntered through the room toward another activity.  He lingered by the doorway.  He had decided that he was too old for our read aloud times.  Even so, the written words and adventure captured and held him.  No one is too old for a good story to be read aloud.  Stories add to life.  So, choose a book, gather the children around, and enjoy an adventure together.

         

A Glad Mother and Father

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.

Let your father and mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

-Proverbs 23:24-25

Almost twenty-six years ago, my first child, my only son, was placed in my arms and I fell in love.  I loved his big eyes.  A stranger at the grocery store once admired him in his little seat in the cart.  She told me that his eyes would become normal one day and I hoped that they wouldn’t.  I loved his grin.  It brightened my days and filled my heart.  I loved his talk.  He talked at an early age and I enjoyed our chats together.  He taught me a lot about motherhood and he grew.  He moved from the baby who cuddled while he nursed to the toddler who played at the playground.  He matured from the young boy who enjoyed math and numbers and held my hand when we walked along the way to the young adolescent who had thoughts and ideas of his own. 

Then, before I was quite ready, he was a young man with goals and dreams that would take him far from my loving care.  I held him with clenched fingers that God gently pried apart.  The days when he was a young child gathered close to my knees seemed much easier.  Now he would move more than 600 miles from home.  My days of daily influence were over.  For the most part, he was on his own and he would make his own choices.  I wondered in my troubled heart why God would give such a precious gift and then tear it from my arms.  Of course, God didn’t tear him from my arms.  As a friend reminded me, we do want our kids to move on and live the life God has planned for them.  It is the cycle of life that He has created.  And I reluctantly agreed.

Two years ago, on June 8, that mature young man moved further from my grasp.  He found and married an excellent wife.  His role and responsibilities have changed.  He is now a husband.  He is still my son and he will remain in my heart forever.  I will like him for always.  But he has a family of his own now.  My role and influence have changed.  Life is full of these changes.  They remind us to number our days and to make the moments count.

The years pass ever too quickly.  Goodbyes happen ever too frequently.  Goodbyes are hard.  Letting go causes pain.  But, I have found that it also brings joy:  joy as they persevere and succeed; joy as they walk by faith and live righteously:  joy as they make wise decisions.  These things make a mother and father glad; they allow us to rejoice.  So, let’s cherish the times that we have with our children.  Let’s help them build strong foundations.  Let’s teach them to fly.  Then, when they move on, we can smile and wave.  We will shed a few tears, but we will also watch them soar to new heights of their own.   

Sanctify Them in the Truth

Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.

-John 17:17

An anonymous author wrote, “Every home is a school.  What do you teach?”  This statement implies that, whether we are intentional or not, we are teaching something in our homes.  Our children learn from our actions and examples whether we have planned and designed the curriculum or not.  As moms who desire to make a positive difference in the lives of our children, we must take the intentional approach to what we teach in our homes.  So, what do you teach? 

When my husband and I first began our homeschooling journey many years ago, we heard a speaker share about the priority of God’s Word in our daily home life.  I remember his admonition that Bible always comes first.  “If there is no time for both math and Bible, math goes.”  I took his words seriously and Bible time became the first subject of every day.  Before we officially sat down with math or reading, we read God’s Word together. 

I found that reading directly from His Word was the most effective strategy.  We often fail to realize that children can understand God’s Word.  They do not need children’s Bibles that water down the stories nor do they thrive better on little words of wisdom books that paraphrase and moralize the Truth that sanctifies us.  In John 17:17 Jesus prays for His disciples and He asks, “Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth.”  The word “sanctify” means to withdraw from fellowship with the world by first gaining fellowship with God.  It is through His precious Word that we come into sweet fellowship with Him and it is through that sweet fellowship that we are cleansed, purified, and directed.

So, what do you teach?  Reason 84 in 101 Reasons God Made Moms says that “God made moms so they could teach their children about the Bible.  We teach by our example – did you have your daily quiet time in God’s Word today?  Do your children expect you to take time with God on a daily basis?  As Marie T. Freeman writes, “If you want to be a teacher, remember that you’re just as likely to teach who you are as you are to teach what you know.”  We teach by our priorities – does God’s Word have prominence in your life with your kids?  Do they perceive its importance because it is read aloud together?  We teach by our actions – do you follow the lessons you have learned from God’s Word?  Do you allow His truth to change your life?

No matter what your circumstances in life, you can make God’s Word a priority by withdrawing from fellowship with the world and seeking fellowship with God through His Word.  This example can be lived before younger and older children, grandchildren, and even nieces and nephews – any young people who have the opportunity to watch you in some way.  If your children are young, daily Bible time can become a priority in your home.  Choose a time that works for your family and set that time aside for Bible reading and discussion.  Through His Word those children will be sanctified in fellowship with the One who made and loves them.  Can anything be more important in the teaching that happens in our homes?  What do you teach?  Let’s be intentional to teach God’s Word.