Sex Education

This morning I read some information about sex education in the public schools that I'd like to pass along to you. (Parental Rights and Sex Education) Please take time to read the article by Robert George and Melissa Moschella. Basically the focus of this article and the Parental Rights Amendment is to ensure that our children learn about sex how and when we as parents say.

While I understand and appreciate the intent of this article and amendment, our rights to teach our children about sex are not being infringed upon. We are well aware that the public schools will teach a sex education curriculum, and the kids with whom our children will interact will teach another sex education curriculum - and the media another. Music, books, magazine covers in the check out line at the grocery, television shows, commercials for crying out loud - the Super Bowl half time show! We cannot escape the sexual billboards all around us.

This educational main stream does not alarm me - in the least. It does not make me want to home school my children, or put them in a private school. My husband and I rest in the Word God has given us for where our children are learning math, reading, language, and truths about the world that God has clearly addressed in His Word - loud and clear. This article and amendment - and all the other information that I can keep up with - makes me more aware of the curriculum that we will teach right here in our own home. Our children will learn of these sexual issues - yes, even the dicey ones - from their mom and dad. Menstruation, ejaculation, masturbation - all the "ations" - WE will teach them. Because ultimately, mom (or dad if you're a dad reading this - thanks, by the way!), your kids will learn it ALLLL anyway.

Power to the God seekin' parent who takes these lessons by the tail WITH God's Word. "Hello, serpent - you have met your match!" Not with your bare hand! With the Word of God. What we do - and will continue to do with our children and their Christian education at home, is teach them what GOD SAYS in light of what the world will continue to teach them all of their lives. THE WORD of GOD over our heart, our mind, our flesh - for all of our lives; that's sanctification baby.

So what does our teaching look like? Ok. Glad you're interested. And please share with me what you do, too! Facebook me! Email me! I'd love it! Our teachable moments are never exactly like this but - this is an outline for all of our conversation objectives.

For example: Here is what the world is teaching you___________ Why the world is teaching you this__________ Here is what God says______________ Why He is teaching you this _______________ Tell me what you think about what the world says - what God says -, what you can do as a follower of Christ with what God is teaching you about the world and what His Word says...AND what can do TOGETHER to live this out.

I always explain how I am living out whatever truth we are learning. I am not immune to sin - to the lure of it. I want my kids to get that I am with them as a Christ follower. I am made out of the same stuff they are, but my heart - at 41 - is sold out that Jesus is who He said He was, and I refuse to live for anything or anyone - including myself - but Him. Looping our children in with us in the learning and growing is pretty critical, I think. I am not above them at the feet of Jesus, I am with them. And so I ask them - grow with me. Grow with us.

We are so, so blessed as parents that we GET to teach them God's Word over their lives. They are learning what it means to be in the world, but not of it - for His purposes. Why do we doubt the power of God's Word? You don't, do you? Let's not!!! Jesus didn't doubt it. John 17! Jesus didn't pray that God would take his disciples out of the world - but that God would sanctify them, set them apart, by HIS WORD. To me - that heart sanctification is stronger than any amendment that could ever be written. The question is, do we believe God will answer THAT prayer? Think about it...THAT prayer, the one Jesus prayed...the petitions of the Son of God!!! How amazing we get to hear that prayer and know it! He didn't pray JUST for his disciples either. "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word." John 17:20 THAT prayer is for you - for me - for my children - for yours. WOW! Thank you, Jesus.

I believe God will do what Jesus asked. And I will align myself under everything Jesus said to do so that I do not exclude us from that blessing. John 15!

I'll let you go for now. Thanks for thinking about this with me, but I do want to be clear so you don't think I'm gonna just sit back and say or do nothing as far as signing or voting or anything I can do within my power. I am taking a stand on this issue. Like anything our government imposes or tries to impose that contradict the Word of God, we voice our position. However, I will continue to live by faith - not in what this government does or can do to influence my children toward or away from God -but by faith in the One who holds the heart of the king, and the heart of my babes.

"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." John 15:7

I'm asking. I'm asking for my children what Jesus asked the Father for His. "Sanctify them in your truth. Your Word is truth." John 17:17

Memorize that one, Mama Bear, Papa Bear. And pray it often.

Wait for WHAT?

Can you picture the Garden of Eden? Can you just imagine what that must have been like? The part that I love about that thought is that Adam was there in the midst of it having no expectations of more or less. Not that He didn't sense that there was more, but - hold with me here - he had no idea of any other life but the one that God gave him RIGHT THERE.

The Bible says in Genesis 2:18 "The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Wow. Look who is calling the shots as far as what man needs. It is God! He said that man shouldn't be alone. He saw the need of man and designed it for him specifically, and MET IT for him - beyond what he could have asked for or imagined. Nice, huh? YEAH she is! You go Eve! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this about our God!!! The Designer designed the need - for Him to meet the need. (Wow! Insert the Gospel here!!!) And ONLY HIS design would do. "I WILL MAKE..." Those words are so YUMMY to me!!! my heart just latches on to them and sings out to our Creator! Seriously! I'm sitting here goin', "Match maker, Match maker make me a match - find me a find - catch me a catch." I know it's a Fiddler on the Roof tune- but I don't know any music for "...This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man." Genesis 2:25 I bet Adam sang it out. I so bet he did! I bet he was leaping and dancing and worshiping God for what He alone had done. And I bet Eve loved every minute of it. She must have laughed and rejoiced with him, because he delighted in her so much. First party ever!

Have you seen the X Factor? You know when the contestants find out they're going to the next round? Have you seen their reactions? Something has just been given to them that they have longed for in their entirety and it is now theirs! Small comparison to where I'm reaching in my understanding - because Adam didn't even know what to long for. The woman must have been more magnificent to his eyes - and hands - his ears, his heart - than he could have ever realized anything to be. What would he have known otherwise? What could he have compared to the sound and touch, the sway and curve of a woman? What could he have imagined that would envelop his heart, his mind, his very flesh? God knew. God knew full well. And God gave her to him. SHUTUPILOVETHISSOMMUCHICOULD DIIIIIE!

calming. calming down...it's just so, so Very Good. You know?

But what does that have to do with you or me? I WANT TO BE LIKE THAT! (shouting again - sorry!) I'm so passionate in this! You with me? I see this man Adam (he looks like my husband. Nice.)... living in expectancy of nothing before his only God - but living out his created purpose before God - dependent on God for what life is and looks like - and MANOHMAN! I WANT TO BE LIKE THAT!!! I want to wait on God for God. What He has in store today - what He knows I realize is an ache, and that IN that ache - for however long it lasts unmet - because, seriously - who knows how long Adam tiptoedthroughthetulips alone, right? In that waiting, longing, ache I - WE - can glorify God. YES! even in the waitng. I want to seek Him and Him only without an expectation of what I think is a need. Because I may just be longing for heaven, ya know? I feel "it". I feel that draw toward something GOD put in me to seek Him for. Even if it's to seek Him for the eradication of that "IT" that longing? I don't know...yet.

Am I making sense here? Do you know what I'm talking about? You feel it, too? Check this: "But for Adam no suitable helper was found." vs. 20. He was naming the animals. He was doing good work God gave him to do - and he felt it. That ache for something that was still - of God- in Him to long for. What is that in you and I? If you're married - then you know it's not a mate. Maybe it's a better marriage. God is good at making marriages. Yessss DADDY, He's good! If you are not married, - well, it could be marriage you are longing for. However, I would not lock into the idea that it is marriage you are missing right now. If we are truly going to seek God for His design - His purpose for us - then we are not sketching out what the "suitable helper" looks like, be it shaped, in our mind, - as a husband, wife, job, child, home, car, education - et cetera, et cetera, et cetera....- Whatever it is we are longing for - we shouldn't be designing it for our God. And by "WE", I mean we who love Him, and we who acknowledge that He is Creator. You with me here? We are the designed thing... seeking Him. WITHOUT EXPECTATION of the part that fits into our place in the story of "no suitable helper was found".

I love that God patiently grows my faith in Him. He is my Creator. Today - I embrace Him in that knowledge with new understanding - without expectation.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him." I Corinthians 2:9

Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!!

Public Vs Parochial Vs Homeschool.

I'm not for any of it. I am for the Word of God over our lives. Stop rolling your eyes! Lol! I see you. One environment does not ensure your desire for your child. Of that I am most positive. I'll stake my life on it, that's how sure I am. You wanna know HOW I know?

Figure 1.1. That's me. Not a great picture, but if Glamour hasn't hounded me yet, I think I can be pretty secure in the fact that no picture will matter at this juncture. I grew up in a Christian home, and I attended a Christian school from the time I was in fourth grade until the day I graduated. Those environments, although infused with godly influences, did not impact my heart. At the age of 18, I walked far from God, and at the age of 20, I actually thought I would never look back.

Figure 2.1 That's my hot husband. He also grew up in a Christian home, and his parents were heavily involved in ministry. Unlike me, he attended a public school. Neither environments impressed his heart toward God. Like me, he made choices that took him further from God than he ever thought he would go.

Figure 3.1 Adam and Eve. They were home schooled. Right smack dab in the perfection of home and POWERFUL Parental guidance, they were educated. And what happened? They fell. And great was their fall.

Consider well your own environments, where you have learned, loved, and been led - in whatever you believe. You would be figure 1.2, 2.2, or 3.2. respectively. Whatever lessons your heart has embraced in this life - the environment is just details. Now - don't get me wrong. God chooses His environments very carefully, because in each TRUTH is posted boldly on the "white board", and from there it can be learned, practiced, and lived out. No one is a teacher like our God, and where we learn is a classroom He has set up - called us to - and instructed in with His eye on us. I'm not makin' that up either. From the garden, to the wilderness, to a mountain, a promised land, Egypt, and then back again to Canaan, until Babylon. Ahhh Babylon. Yes, God chose where His people would learn to choose Him, where they would learn what it meant to be loved by Him, to love Him back, and serve Him out of that love. Environment is just a workbook for the lessons of the heart.

So what should you choose for your babes? Who can tell anyone that, but God? I know what I'd pick for your children, but that doesn't make it right. I most certainly would not have told Abraham on the way up that mountain that it was right to sacrifice His child. And if he said, "God told him too", I would have thought he was out of his ever livin', God fearin' mind! God did tell Him too. We can read that Word in Genesis 22. Our God instructed His people through His Word, and HE STILL DOES. My husband and I go to Him daily, before the crack of dawn, seeking God's Word over our lives - in our lives - for His light THROUGH our lives. We are two cracked pots that's for sure - but we know who our Redeemer is - and HE will not fail us - nor will he fail our babes.

And "hearing from God", my friends, is not something that goes on in my head - or my husband's head - apart from His Word. Like, "Okay here is what I think God is saying we should do: we need to put our kids in the public school. God said so." God has spoken off the pages of The Bible, and THAT WORD - was all that needed to be said for he and I to know that GOD would grow us and keep us for Himself in this foreign land. What that looks like under your roof, and under my roof, in your city and my city, will look similar in one way only - we will seek Him. See, if I follow you, or if you follow me in what living for God specifically looks like - who is our God? So if you wanna know what Scripture my husband and I were led to and landed on, and are clinging to daily, and clinging to every fall when our babes board a bus that drives them into an influence that we pray THEY influence - and we as well with them...INHALE... I'm not gonna tell ya. That would spoil what God has in store for you! Your own eye to eye - heart to heart - with your KING! Sheweee that's an amazing privilege!

Be encouraged. His Word is "a lamp to your feet and a light to your path". He's holding it out there for us. We can't miss Him. Light is loud and clear.

more fish.

A loooong time ago - like before wrinkle defense cream was even a glimmer 'round my eyes, I was in a church presentation of the Passion of Christ. I got to play one in a multitude (about 30 on our church platform) who was fed by Jesus on a hillside. The story is told in Mark 8 and also John 6). The multitude and I didn't have any lines, but what we had to do was talk amongst ourselves as we pretended to be served by the disciples. My mom later asked me what I said when I was acting out this scene. I told her I just kept saying, "More fish! More fish over here, please." She laughed. Hard. Which was the reaction I wanted. That's not actually what I said, but if I did have a line - that's what I would have been shouting. Jesus fed the people and they were satisfied. I thought it would be funny to yell out for more. You know - to be the greedy guy. Cuz who would want to be "THAT guy"??? Which reminds me - Wes Aarum did a message on "Don't Be That Guy" at www.thechapel.com. Great message! Flannel graph and all. Check it out if you have time...Time. I know. Anyway - so as not to waste yours, I''ll hurry up here.

The memory struck a chord with me as I read John 6 the other day. Thousands of people followed Jesus to hear him teach. Thousands of hungry people. And this part cracks me up - cuz I can almost see Jesus laugh to Himself at the humor in this question posed to Philip. "Where can we buy something for these people to eat?" Can you imagine? EVEN IF a market were just around the hill, would there be enough to feed them all? Would there be enough money to buy for all? This was Philip's concern, too - not that the people were hungry - but the cost and the responsibility of that hunger. Jesus knew it - and probably couldn't wait to show Him the truth of what He could provide. The people ate and were satisfied. The leftovers were overflowing from baskets.

The next day - like any crowd that witnessed a miracle of food just happening - the mob followed him. He got to the other side of the lake much faster than they did - like "POOF" and He was there, and they were amazed. But he did not address their inquiries about how and when he traveled, He went much deeper in their seeking issue. "You are looking for me, not because you saw signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."

So - there I am. I'm literally transported from my couch to this crowd being tenderly corrected. I'm the guy chasing Jesus yelling, "More fish. More fish over here please." I am chasing Him across the lake or where ever I know He is going to be, because I know what He can do. He can give me what I need. He can give me what I am convinced is a need, but deep down - is a WANT. Chasing Jesus. One of my friends from the crowd yells out what I'm thinking, "What must we do to do the work God requires?" - Thanks, Buddy! Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent." - Wow. That shut me up. But someone else wanted to know more. "What sign will you give that we may SEE it and believe you? What will you do?" -

Seriously! I'm thinkin' he just fed all of you! Was that not enough? People! And then I remember. I have been so blessed. I have eaten and been satisfied in so many ways - left overs in overflowing baskets. Do I not STILL doubt Him, too. - Shutmeupagain. Reading on...

Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, (paraphrased - I'm shootin' you straight, People!) it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that God sent down from heaven and gives life to the world."

A hungry guy (or two) - who totally reminds me of ME in that play I was in - spoke up, "Sir, always give us this bread ."

He's thinkin' what you're thinkin' - or at least what I am thinkin' ...Bread from heaven - YES! I'll take that free gift! no more $3.49 for whole grain! I want that miracle! I'll believe that magic is possible from the guy who fed all of us just yesterday!

Then Jesus said something that rocks me to the core, "I AM the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still do not believe."

Wow. What do you suppose hungry guy did with that? I bet he walked away - hungry. You wanna know why I think that??? Because in verse 41 of this chapter it says, "At this the Jews there began to grumble because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

They missed it. They missed soul satisfying truth. Jesus wasn't talking about never starving, He was talking about what every good daddy cares about most - His children's heart. Everything else is just details.

My heart hunger can be satisfied if I will just believe that Jesus is the Bread of LIFE.

Do I get that? I want to. I'm trying to. Just this morning I was chasing after Jesus for a myriad of things going on today. He didn't shove me away. He let me ramble on and on and on with my concerns - like He always does. And then I remembered. This is Jesus. He is the bread of Life. So I sat still with Him for a bit, just still, believing, until I heard my daughter's alarm go off.

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."John 8:51

Satisfied. Overflowing.

I wish I knew.

Thousands of years ago King Solomon, inspired by God, wrote down this simple but profound truth:

"He (God) has also put eternity in the hearts of men." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Though he was one of the wealthiest and wisest people to ever live, he discovered what you and I, if we're honest, know to be true as well - that the stuff of this world doesn't satisfy, doesn't bring lasting purpose, doesn't fill the void of meaning or answer the heart's deepest questions in a person's life. The truth is, it was never intended to. We are meant for something more...a connection with the Divine.

The Bible clearly maps this out in its very first book, Genesis - that we as human beings from the outset were created with a specific divine design. And that design is to be in a personal relationship with God, to know Him and love Him and live life as He designed it to be lived. However, this is not how things are. Our deconstruction began when sin entered the picture - man's rebellion against God, choosing to live life on his own terms. With sin our disconnect from God is total, and the result is not only an aimless life apart from our Creator but an eternity separated from Him as well. You and I are guilty of breaking God's law (I John 3:4, Exodus 20) and the consequences are dire (I John 3:36). BUT GOD - He does not end our story there, mired in hopelessness. His love for you and for me is so great that He launched a rescue mission, pursuing us with the possibility of a new life, the chance to be made new - or in other words - born again.

The most famous verse in the Bible clearly nuggets this amazing truth:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Our desperate situation called for the most extreme measures. The only way to satisfy and uphold the justice of a holy God was to pay for our eternal sin crime with a substitute who could completely and totally fulfill the death sentence leveled against us -

"For the wages (payment) of sin is death." Romans 6:23

God sent the only qualified, acceptable "payment" - His Son Jesus - to earth to die in our place so that by believing in Him and receiving by faith His sacrifice on our behalf, we become declared righteous (Romans 1:16-17), we receive eternal life, a home in heaven, (I John 5:13), we are restored to our original design, that loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 3:18, and I John 4:9-10), and the eternal void of meaning in our life is filled (John 10:10).

The way this truth can become a reality in your life TODAY is through faith - believing that what God says in His Word, the Bible, is for real, and then by coming to God on His terms:
- agreeing with God that you have broken His law and are guilty of sin (Romans 3:23)
- accepting Jesus' death sacrifice for you as THE ONLY WAY to get to God

"Jesus said, I am the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. No one comes to the Father but by me."
John 14:6

- Then willfully turn from sin and from living life on your own terms. The Bible calls this repentance.

"I tell you the truth, unless you repent you shall all likewise perish. Luke 13:3

- and then by turning to Jesus and placing your total faith in Him - "Yet to all who received HIm, to those who believed in His name - HE GAVE THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD." John 1:12

Right now - right where you are at - you can voice your heart's desire to Jesus through prayer and commit your life to Him - and that is exactly what it is - a life commitment, responding to God Who is desperately pursuing you as the Great Lover of your soul. For God to ask for a lesser commitment would not only cheapen it but would be completely unsatisfactory in dealing with our spiritual condition. We don't just need a spiritual band-aid, we need a total life transfusion. It is that which God offers us (John 17:3), wrapping it up in an ongoing, purpose driven, outrageous love relationship with Himself. And it's one you can be confident in forever (I John 5:11-13). This is where the journey begins, and God leaves the invitation open to you...it is the only answer to the call of eternity in your heart.

You can shape your prayer something like this - and note - salvation isn't in the prayer. Salvation is in the understanding of what you're praying - and through that - the change that comes from your heart to the God that you acknowledge right now - as your Lord and Savior.

"Dear God, I BELIEVE that You are telling me the truth in Your Word, and I agree with it. I confess that I have done wrong and I need to be rescued. I need a Savior from myself - from separation from You. I believe that you sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin. I BELIEVE that He rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, and now offers me eternal life - and a love relationship with you FOREVER. I want THAT. So, right now Jesus, I turn from my old selfish ways in repentance, and I turn to live for YOU. Come into my life, forgive my sins, and give me eternal life. I commit my life to YOU. Thank you for becoming my Savior, my Friend, My Lord. I love you. Thank you for loving me and teaching me what it means to truly love you and live for you from now on. Thank you that you will GUIDE me as I follow YOU.

Amen.

(www.vintagetruth.com) from Vintage Teachings.

You CAN know. This wish was already given. Will you receive it?

"And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the SON has THE LIFE; He who does not have the Son of God, does not have THE LIFE. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." I John 5:11-13

the entertainer.

We only hear Scott Joplin's jangle through our neighborhood in the summer time. Do you know that tune? Oh how I love that song! Joplin wrote that rag time winner in 1902, and it was revived in the 1970's when the movie The Sting hit the big screen. When or why it became an ice cream truck tune, I have no idea. But it works. The ice cream truck will round the corner and on cue the music begins to play loud and long -over every vacuum cleaner, dish-washer, and game of freeze tag. That truck begins to play "come get ice cream" to the wordless tune of The Entertainer and the kids and moms come running.

My children could "bum. bum. bumbumbumbumbumbumb" it out when they were too tiny to finish their own ice cream cone. The moment they would hear that happy summer song they were bursting with all the energy and hopeful expectancy that ice cream on a stick can bring. But it wasn't just about the ice cream. There's something about that truck coming down the street to bring it to them that changes everything. Maybe it's just that a moment of sweet pleasure was coming their way, and they had not even realized they wanted it. Maybe they did realize they wanted it, and maybe they were even thinkin' about it, listening for it, and THEN there it was. Maybe this truck and frozen treat gig is a thrill because they get to beg for what they see everyone else receiving, and then get to see the power of their petitions when we say, "Yes". Maybe the excitement is because they get to hold their dollar, pick out what they want and actually pay for it. Or maybe all of the big fuss about the ice cream truck is simply because there is a guy in this town who brings ice cream to the tune of the "Entertainer" in sweet days of summa time.

Whatever the reason, my kids love to hear that song because they love what it means for them, at least what it means for them...some of the time.

I could go broke if I said "yes" every time that guy came driving down our street. He comes often, and it's as if he knows just when the neighborhood kids will be salivating and longing for it, and the moms will be tired enough to give in. I kid you not! His timing is impeccable. He even knows when the grandparents are over, because they never say "no". I, however, do - and have said, "no" enough times for my children to realize that the song doesn't automatically guarantee a prize.

Just recently I was fixing dinner while the kids were outside playing with their friends. It was a gorgeous fall day. I should have known that ice cream truck was fueling up and getting ready to rock my change purse one more time. Well, I don't have a change purse - it's more like a junk drawer with loose change thrown in it - but the latter sounds prettier. ANYWAY, while I was cooking I was talking to my friend about the book of Mark. We have been reading it with our small group at Vintage. (www.vintagetruth.com)

In the gospel of Mark, Jesus walked from town to town healing people, raising people from the dead, and casting out demons. While I read, I would just sit and try to understand or conceptualize what this must have been like. What I would give for Jesus to come and touch my own children, my niece - my brother! He has not granted my request for healing, and so as I hope in Him, I can't help wonder what it took to move the hand of God to heal.

My friend sat listening to me "process", as she often does. Which is wise, and kind - because for so many of my rantings there is no answer, just the need for a heart to sit with me and realize that I cannot know everything about our God, and I don't need to know everything.

However, as this conversation - or rather monologue - was taking place, that song began to play. The front door was open so the autumn breeze could blow through my warm kitchen, and so I heard it loud and clear. And then the next thing I heard was my son. The screen door opened and slammed while the song played on to his words and actions.

"Mommy! The ice cream truck!" he yelled out.

"I know, Son. I hear it."

"Can I have some ice cream?" he asked.

"No, Son. Not this time." I answered.

"But this might be the last time," he whined.

"Not necessarily. You don't know that," I replied.

"But it MIGHT be. Then it won't come around again until next year," he realized.

"You don't know that. It could be coming back sooner than you think, Kaden."

"But, Mommy!"

"Son, I have dessert for you. A great dessert treat. We're having a cookie cake later."

"So, I could get THIS, too, and save it for another time."

"Kaden, I do not support the ice cream truck."

And with that last response, my heart ceased, and I latched on to my thoughts. It was as if I heard my own Father's Word to me over my own insistence. I beg for what seems like so much sense, never realizing that He may have something else in store that is better and more delicious than what the ice cream truck could ever deliver.

"I am not in the business of supporting the ice cream truck, " kept repeating in my own mind. God is God. He is Creator, Provider, and Shepherd; He is my Banner, the Lord of Hosts, and the Self-Existent One. He is the Lord our Righteousness, our Peace; The God Who Sees ME and You, He is the God most High, The Lord, and YES, He is a healer, but for His purposes. Healing and any other miracle of His nature came when it did to those people, including salvation, for the purposes of God, and this most certainly was their good. For His purposes Jesus walked among those people in flesh. And for His purposes He does not come walking down my street right now - nor does he deliver everything that I am asking Him to bring our way - no matter how good it seems to be to me. His plan is for my good, for my family's good, and it can only be better.

I had to set the spoon down as I stood in front of the sausage filled pan that I was stirring. With tears in my eyes, I just looked at my friend, because I think she heard and knew - what I just heard, and realized. I said to her, in total awe - while my son waited for my final reply, "These words were for me to hear, not him."

"No, is my final answer, son," I replied with a huge smile on my face. "We will have dessert later, and you will love it." He walked out the door very disappointed.

I felt bad that he could not find joy in what was in store for him. I felt bad that he did not trust that I was caring for him even in that moment, but I knew he would enjoy that cake later, and I knew one day - he would understand why I do not support the ice cream truck. I am for him, no matter what he thinks in the moment. One day, I pray he realizes just how very much so.

God is not in the business of supporting one aspect of His nature for my pleasure. He is not in the business of "supporting the ice cream truck" for my benefit. And what I see, and hear, and realize is His nature, is in itself a gift. I get to know God! So when the music plays on before me of people being healed, and their loved ones saved from evil, the dead walking, and hungry fed, I will not lament what is not mine. Because He is. Jesus is mine, and He is my God. I lack no good thing. Not one.

"And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him and said to Him, 'Everyone is looking for You.' He said to them,

'Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, sot that I may preach there also; for THAT is what I came for.'" Mark 1:33-38

teaching little fingers to play

Our piano is being tuned right now. We have two sets of little hands that tickle the ivories daily to prepare for their lesson on Friday. This thirty-five year old piano has not been tuned for quite awhile, and only as of late has the pitch of each note been important to my oldest musician. The pitch was fine before. Before what? Our piano's pitch was fine until she heard with her own hands and ears the music of a piano that was actually in tune. Now here I am investing in every opportunity to make it right.

Making wrongs right: powerful business, powerful yet - unpopular. Two of the most difficult words that I can ever utter are "I'm sorry". Why is that? The pain in such humility, right? What am I so afraid I will lose when I admit wrong doing? A relationship is not built on being right - but on love. What tune did I hear that made me think otherwise? And when did I realize it was off pitch?

It was years ago. We were newly married. Ahhh those tender moments of learning what it meant to become one. So much of me was still me - apart from my spouse. I was mad at him for something - probably trite and selfish. I ranted and raved...can you hear me? Yeah, I know you can. And then I slammed a door so hard it could have cracked. For any movie scene that demanded an ugly lovers' quarrel, I would have been magnificent - but for life with this man that I love, I had been most horrid.

I sat there on the bed waiting for the response. He would come in any moment, right? He would come in - yell back and this passionate release would continue to ensue until I had my moment of ....of what? I sat there. And sat there. And then I laid back on the bed waiting. And waiting. He did not follow me. Where was he? This anger I had built up was diffusing, and I was feeling more and more...unvalidated. I waited as long as I could, because to come out of that room was to admit, in some way, a weakness for him. Weakness for him: to me this was a negative.

The house was silent. Where was he? I pretended not to look as I went from room to room pretending to straighten up. You know how that goes. And then, I found him. He was lying on the bed in the guest room, and it looked as if he had been crying. (Granted he MIGHT have had something in his eye. I'm not saying you WERE crying, my husband. It just looked like you were.) I stood there in the doorway silent, just looking at him trying to figure out this foreign fighting strategy. I walked over to him because his silence concerned me. More weakness displayed. He laid there, looked over at me with such compassion - such weakness - I broke. He took my hand, and in a voice of tenderness, of almost pleading and such humility he said, "There will be no slamming of doors in our house."
What could I say?

"I'm sorry, " was all I could muster through my tears. He sat up and hugged me closely. I am his, and he is mine, and we are one life for the sake of the other no matter what. He forgave me without words, because the sound of submission was too sweet to interrupt.

I might think I know the way I want my life to go, the way I want to be defined, but I realize at 41, I need to listen closely to what I call strength - to what I call solid ground - what I call gain and what I perceive as loss - because I have been off key before, and I never even knew it.

This house is not so empty anymore- not so quiet in the moments of conflict when conflict does ensue. However, my heart has learned a new song with which to fill it moment by moment, and I am ever aware that I am teaching little fingers to play.

"Blessed are the peacemakers..." Matthew 5:9

what do you see?

I love when my kids play that game "What do you see in the clouds?" Remember doin' that? Do you play that? It's kind of hard not to once you've been in the habit of it all your life on a cloud canvased day. My babes say the funniest things! Well, actually I guess they're SEEING the funniest things, but I get a kick out hearing what they're seeing. Imagination - pressed in on reality. Based on that thought, here's another: it's not really what they see, so much as what they choose to perceive.

Last week at Vintage - our church college group - www.vintagetruth.com - Wes Aarum spoke about the gospel, the truth of salvation that is come to us. He said, "May the truth of God's Word be louder than our circumstances." Wow. Say that again, because my heart just got jolted to new life. And I have not let it go. Or rather, this new thought of life will not let ME go.

How may times do I miss truth because of my circumstances? (oh God you are so patient!)

In one of my favorite books, Tender Mercy for a Mother's Soul, by Angela Guffey, she wrote "I need God to come and do the Bible in my life." This, too, was a phrase that would not let me go. How I would pray over baby days that seemed so meaningless at diaper, feeding, cleaning, crying times, "GOD DO THE BIBLE IN MY LIFE! NOW!" What was I expecting to happen? Why did I think that He wasn't doing the Bible in my life?

My latest read is, Tozer's The Pursuit of God. This book has managed to find me at a time when bottles and babies are no longer in my lap. Sigh. Good times, Bud, good times. ANYYYWAYYY - So while enjoying Tozer by myself today, I realized...here it is.....and bear with me because it's not earth shattering....I realized that what I have perceived so many times as the absence of God in my life - has been in fact my own perception pressed into reality.

Tozer wrote, "The worshiping heart does not create its Object. It finds Him here when it wakes from its mortal slumber in the morning of its regeneration...Faith creates nothing; it simply reckons upon that which is already there. God and the spiritual world are real. We can reckon upon them with as much assurance as we reckon upon the familiar world around us. Spiritual things are there (or rather we should say are here) inviting our attention and challenging our trust....The world of sense intrudes upon our attention day and night for the whole of our lifetime...The object of the Christian's faith is unseen reality...For the great unseen Reality is God...As we begin to focus on God, the things of the Spirit will take shape before our eyes. Obedience to the word of Christ will bring an inward revelation of the Godhead. It will give acute perception enabling us to see God even as is promised to the pure in heart. A new God-consciousness will seize upon us and we shall begin to taste and hear and inwardly feel God, who is our life and our all."

I had to set my cup o' tea down after reading that...and look at what was around me in that moment. Silenced. Reverenced. In awe. God is present while I learn - and grow - and seek Him. Always.

How amazing to me what I miss, but even more than that - how amazing what God let's me see. You know what I'm saying?!?!? I so hope you do!!!

I don't need God to come and do the Bible in my life. He did do it. He is doing it. He was doing it when I didn't see Him, and He will always be whether I choose to realize it or not. OH don't let me miss it! Not one moment of it! Yes, I'm praying, "Open my eyes, God! I want to see you!"

Hope we think of that together when we are lookin' up on a cloudy day. "Let your TRUTH, God, be louder than our circumstances."

"I am your servant. Give me discernment that I may understand your statutes." Pslam 119:125

censorship.

I'm not for censorship when it comes to my 5th grade reader. Really. Guided reading, yes. Censorship, no. Without looping in all the arguments for and against censorship, I stand on one truth: She will learn about the world, whether I try to protect her from it or not. I want to equip her, because I cannot protect her from life on earth forever.

Have I shocked you? Well get ready for this - cuz this will really curl your toes. DAILY - I encourage her, in some way or another, to read the most controversial book ever written. It is full of adultery, rape, murder, homosexuality, incest, suicide, witchcraft, demonic power, war, torture, dismemberment, and then also love, friendship, poetry, - you name it, it's in there. Why would I ask her to read such a book? Because I know it will open her mind to the world in which we live. But more than that - the Bible is living and active, and by it God will open her eyes to see the Way truth and the LIFE.

Are all books so powerful? No. The Bible is the only one that is God's living Word. However, I can teach her to see every other book - every aspect of life that man can pen or imagine - by the one that God wrote so that we could have eyes to see and ears to hear. Any book can point in some way to the truth of this world that God has already addressed.

Do I want her to read all books? Absolutely not. I don't read all books. And I would even go so far as to say God doesn't want her to read every book that is introduced to her. However - I want for her - what God wants for her; to learn the blessing of a choice that is for God, and the consequences of one that is not . I want her to realize that the power to make either choice is hers.

Recently she brought home a book from the library that tells a girl's tale of revenge on people that were unkind to her. Gasp! How could I let her read such a book? Yeah that story could be found in the Bible too. King Saul was known for seeking revenge. Will you let your children read that story? It's a good one! And maybe she will compare and contrast this tale with that truth - or maybe not, but as I read this library book with her...I can be her tour guide or her book-talk club. And in the midst of those literary, mother/daughter moments, I can also teach her the critical thinking skills that I want her to employ for the rest of her life in every area of her life.

One morning after reading about Herodious, the wife of Herod, I sat thinking about what just happened in this wicked tale of a daughter who danced for her father the king, and a Saint who lost his head because of it. What could be learned from this? Surely something could. My heart was completely arrested.

Herod's wife hated John the Baptist. She wanted him dead because he told her husband it was wrong for him to have married his brother's wife...her. Guilt ridden, black heart, she wanted him out of her seared conscious. Her daughter's exquisite dance before her daddy and guests pleased the king so much he told her he would give her anything up to half the kingdom. Can you imagine? What power this little girl had at her fingertips! She did what a lot of little girls might do; she asked her mom to help her think about what she should ask for. How this mother convinced this daughter to forgo riches and jewels or a journey to an island, or a husband, I have no idea - or do I? But nevertheless, she told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a plate. How gross! and how utterly dissatisfying to a child. Or not? This daughter did as her mother suggested, and the father did not back down on his promise. He gave her exactly what she asked for. She gave it to her mother. And what did her mother do with the head of John the Baptist? But greater still, what will I do with this story now stuck in my own head?

A daughter who pleases her father can have great influence. And a mother can have great influence through her daughter. This thought will not let me go.

How did this girl think/feel about herself before this happened? after?
What did she think about others before this happened? after?
What did she think about God?
What have I just learned in light of what God has taught me about myself? others? Him?


Considering all of this, I wrote four simple questions on a sticky note and stuck them in the cover of the book my daughter would be reading later that day. Already we have had some amazing discussions...not just my daughter and I - but our whole family. Cool book talk for sure. You wanna know the four questions? I hope so! Because I would love to share them with you - for your readers and you to enjoy as well.

1. How does the main character feel about herself/himself?

2. How does the main character treat others?

3. How does the main character feel about God?

4. What do you - yourself - understand about these 3 questions in light of what God has taught you?

Questions to help her read with purpose may enlighten her understanding; they may even influence what she chooses to read next time. (That would be great!) My certainty rests in the solid one on one talk time that will make my little girl well aware that what she reads and thinks matters to her momma - very, very much.