Taking the Challenge

Walk with Him Wednesday

How do I calm the storms through the day enough to sing the Praises of the Lord?

For this question I lack an answer, a true, real, honest answer.

The voices of man child the Father gave to me, the laughter and the tears, filled with frustration and also frenzied joy...the volume is so loud at times I cannot overcome it with Praise.

My heart quietly sings it to Him when the moments are soft, as they are now, with blonde heads lay on pillows and brown pigtails softly wrapping her neck while she breathes deep...

Thank you Lord....breathing in and out as the rhythm is natural, given by God, written in His holy name, YHWH...Thank you Father...thank you...

If I could only be a reflection of constant Thanksgiving for my children, not subdued by the temptation to be exhausted or to curse the hard work laid before me...

But, rather to breathe Thanksgiving in ALL things....all things...

Each moment of opportunity to teach my children, to train them up...

To refuse the temptation to find it inconvenient, tiresome, exasperating...

Oh selfish me...longing to make myself god-like rather than to serve the True God...

Those moments with my children should feel and come to me like Gifts from the Father, to be snatched up and given Victory in Jesus as we carve their hearts and their spirits for Him...

For the carving is often done without the words but with the look and the tone and the unintentional communication from my heart to theirs...

Rather I long to live with Thanksgiving in my heart and a joyful smile on my face, even in the harsh moments of teaching and carving, which happens often, moment by moment, that the knife would never dull but rather miraculously, through God's grace continue carving...

That the noise and the business of raising five children would only lift my spirit to sing His praise for the gifts He gave cannot be measured by mere words but a state of being, a place of rest within me that I live in the moment of Thankfulness...

That I might breathe Grace....

Mercy...

Grace...YHWH...

Thank you Jesus for the blonde hairs upon their heads, ten fingers and toes, hearts that long to please, opportunities to seize, help me not to fail...to take the moment by the hand and guide it...

Toward You...

Thank you Lord...

Breathe Grace...

Then they too will Breathe Grace...

They too will echo my look, my tone, my communication, without the words...

They too will one day Breathe Thanksgiving...

My faith runs deep in so many things...I trust, obey, listen, petition...

In the thing God has given to me to do most abundantly, most routinely, most importantly, I lack the faith...

The faith to give Thanks because it requires Trust, Reliance, Vulnerability...

Why do I avoid vulnerability so...

To breathe grace upon those small faces, the future men, and the small, precious woman, in my life, would require to be vulnerable...to share saddness, disapointment, to let anger go and embrace the emotion behind it all...

My faith has a come to a curious end in this moment where I refuse to raise them in the light of God's rejoicing for ALL things and His abundant Grace and Mercy...

Father create in me a clean heart...

From Anne today:
"Our thanks to God is our witness to the goodness of God when Satan and all the world would sneer at us to recant."

"When I only give thanks for some things, aren’t I likely to miss giving God glory in most things?"

"Doesn’t God call His people to a non-discriminating response in all circumstances? “[G]iv[e] thanks always and for everything” (Ephesians 5:20 ESV)."

Preparing them to Launch...

A great little article from At the Well:

So this tiny, helpless baby is placed in your arms. You know the wonderful, overwhelming feeling of being totally responsible for this immortal human being. It’s like God handing you a blank canvas.

Your job is to raise this child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That’s no little job! I believe that a parent’s primary responsibility is discipleship. When I think of Jesus’ example as he walked with and taught his followers, pointing them always to the Father, revealing truth to them in the daily events of life, I can’t help think that we owe the same to our children. It’s intense, time-consuming and worth every second.

This prayer that Jesus prayed for His disciples is full of wisdom we can glean:

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word….For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them….While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe…I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world….My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one….Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world…” From John 16 & 17

But, the ultimate purpose is to grow them up. From the minute they are born, we are teaching them the next thing, helping them become more and more independent. From holding their own cup to getting dressed on their own then learning to cook or cut firewood, it’s a constant movement toward maturity. And we are to be growing them up spiritually all the same.

I want to carefully guide my children “in the way they should go,” but I want them to pick up from God’s Word and make it their own. I want them to obey as I lead them to God, but I want them to hunger for God themselves and desire the sweetness of His precepts.

I was talking to my brother about this and how I’m so grateful that the Lord is showing me how this works in my oldest daughter’s life. At 16, she now makes many decisions on her own, weighing them against the principles of truth. From her clothing to her choice of movies, books and music, if she were not able to discern these things for herself at her age, I would consider that we had possibly not done our job.

If our relationship is right, we will move from a position of establishing boundaries for our young ones, to one of sought-after counsel and guidance as they get older. But the ultimate goal is to raise children who, more and more, are able to discern, with the Spirit’s help, what God’s will is.

We’re raising men and women. We are passing the baton and handing down our legacy of faith. It’s easy for us to forget the goal. It’s easy to keep them in our “safe place” and just continue making their decisions for them. But that’s not why we’ve been given children. Arrows were meant to fly and leave our hands. Let’s be preparing them all the time for the launch.

Gates of Hell

From At the Well:

“I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place their child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.” Martin Luther, A.D. 1537
Martin Luther’s quote is direct, yet honest and full of truth. Since Luther was a lover of the Word of God, His thoughts were likely based on how he viewed the Bible to be the beginning of all knowledge and how we, as humans, are nothing apart from God. Therefore, he determined that we need spiritual teaching above all other academic instruction. Do we need to throw aside reading, writing and arithmetic? Of course not. Since the foundation determines the stability of all else that is built above, we must look at what the groundwork of our children’s education is, as well as what it should be. Without diligent instruction about our Creator God; without a true understanding of what He desires for our lives, True wisdom and knowledge will never be attained.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning [first-fruits; principle thing] of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7
What is the fear of God? The fear of God to the believer is completely different than the fear of God to an unbeliever. A Christian’s fear of God would be one of reverence and awe, rather than the unbeliever’s fear of a God that has the ability to cast their soul into hell.
Who are those who despise the wisdom and instruction? Proverbs 1:7 says that they are fools. When that verse is directly translated, it says that those who despise the Lord’s wisdom are “silly.”

So, those who do not desire the knowledge that God freely offers through His Word are silly. Do most parents want to send forth from their home silly young adults?
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning [commencement; opening] of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10
We are told that the origination of true wisdom begins with a fear of God and that understanding comes from the knowledge of the Trinity (the Hebrew word for “Holy” is indicative of the trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – three in one).

Through biblical instruction we teach our children how to fear and truly know the Lord and His desires for our lives. In doing so we are opening the doors to true wisdom and understanding. The Hebrew word for understanding in the above verse is ‘biyn’ and means: to be cunning, diligent, direct, discerning, eloquent, (to) inform, instruct, have intelligence, (to) know, look well to, perceive, be prudent, (can) skill (-fully) teach, think, (cause, make to, get, give, have) understanding, deal wisely). When you look at what one will gain from a fear and knowledge of God, what more would any parent long for in their child?

“In not mentioning God, my public school teachers preached a thundering message daily. By implication they taught that God is not relevant to most areas of life…with every lesson, in every class period, all day every day for 12 years I was being taught to think like an atheist in the academic realm and didn’t even know that I was being indoctrinated.” - Chris Schlect, Scriptural Worldview Thinking
Schools that have little or no emphasis on Biblical teachings and instruction are producing young adults who act only what they have retained from their years of academic instruction. Most times they only have access to what is immediately available to them in the recesses of their human minds.
On the other hand, young adults who were trained for their role in God’s Kingdom will possess an unspoken and spiritually-powerful wisdom from God. They will not only be able to rattle off their retained book knowledge, but they will also be able to think for themselves in light of Scripture. They will be able to apply Scriptural principles to daily life, as well as have access through the Holy Spirit to all they have ever studied in their scriptural instruction. John 14:26 speaks of how Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to not only teach us through God’s written Word, but also remind us of all we have learned. With that kind of understanding and access to the supernatural recollection of knowledge, what better education should be sought?
Do we want to raise children who blindly follow those who claim to have the answers to life’s problems, or do we want them to have an overflowing heavenly knowledge and discernment? Do we want them to be wise in the eyes of the world or do we want them to have the Wisdom of Solomon and to be considered well educated and wise in the eyes of God? Which is more valuable in the light of eternity? How will you instruct your children in the knowledge and understanding of God in light of these verses?

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” Psalm 111:10

Hard Lessons

I am learning to appreciate the lessons God teaches me as I grow up...yes I am still growing up. I am the person that would resist admitting this, especially in those words. I simply have a desire to arrive...when do I arrive?

These gifts God has given to me reflect to me God's answer to that question. NEVER. As if through them God is quietly whispering to me....

The whisper of a coaxing, a calling to draw near, breath deep, seek me...I believe in you...hold tight...

He brings me to my knees to reveal to me my broken heart, my need for Him, that hope is never lost.

The lesson of this moment snuck in...settled softly...then in a quiet moment whispered to me...

"You need to LAUGH more, HOLD them longer, and bear down in LOVE to train them up."

My husband and I have been committed to training them up for some time now. That isn't just a phrase, it is a way of living. Intentional training of children...not just expecting but teaching, holding their hands, drawing hard lines, keeping them close, making expectations clear...

It is a constant, demanding, sometimes exhausting, but most rewarding job. We believe it is also the ONLY way to fulfill our calling as Parents in a biblical manner.

And, in the moments of training up children, boys and a young lady, to Love Jesus, Obey Authority, Love Others, Sacrifice Themselves, and show HONOR, VALORE and BRAVERY-- satan also tries to whisper..."It isn't fun", "Get Angry", "They aren't learning"...

His motives are clear...but they can be overcome. I must take a step back...gently but efficiently remind myself, through God's word and His lessons to express JOY because the calling is filled with JOY. Being a mother is a gift and a blessing. Always noted by God in His Word as a blessing He Gave to those He was rewarding. That moves me towards growing up...for them, for me, for Him.

God has given us much and in return much is required. Raising Warriors for Christ SHOULD be FUN, SERIOUS, JOYFUL, CHALLENGING, RIGOROUS, REWARDING, INTENTIONAL yet WONDERFUL all at the same time

This is only possible with God.

We once were listening to an audio series on parenting and the speaker said, "Often we find our dissapointments with our children are a result of our own personal selfishness."

They are CHILDREN and when they make a mess it offends our NEED for it to be clean.
---Children are just messy by nature and must be taught to be clean.

They are CHILDREN and when they spill it offends our NEED not to be bothered to clean it up
---Children are clumsy by nature and must mature over time.

They are CHILDREN and when they don't come when they are called it offends our PRETENSE of being a good parent.
---Children aren't given an innate ability to obey, they must be trained.

They are CHILDREN and when they display "wrong" behavior in public or perhaps hit another child, it embarrasses us so we lash out against them.
---Children can't grow from parents who LASH but rather flourish with parents who LOVINGLY train and discipline.

I myself need this priceless reminder...this is the growing up part. Self control, righteous anger, putting others first...Start responding like an adult, refrain and restrain your personal self centeredness, children can sniff it out, and approach being a mother with some grace and JOY.

The lesson to be learned as Mothers is clear although we convince ourselves it is often elusive...the application of it all... well, attempts should be made through prayer...