Multitude Monday: Family Fun

We had an eventful weekend so I present a shorter Multitude Monday post today. Sorry there is no Scripture study.

Dear Lord, thank you for these gifts:

~ A son with the camera, capturing God's glory.

~ Dancing with husband at the fall apple festival.

~ Four kids who found joy at the bubble station for 30 minutes. We had to pull them away.

~ A naturalist who taught a wonderful class on various amphibians and reptiles.

~ Two brave girls who held the rat snake.

~ A nice visit with a dear friend.

~ Sharing burdens with Beth, my nursery worker partner. She has a 17-year-old daughter with the same difficulties my Peter has. How similar all these kids are! Like us, they find that their daughter's many issues run their lives in a sense. Please pray for Chelsea? She has severe depression with her ADHD and her depression med isn't helping enough. Very worrisome situation.

~ Our favorite nature center garden and all its treasures.

~ My precious Paul, who shares Daddy's love for college football. With no TV signal, Paul is forced to watch the progress of his favorite teams, especially Arkansas, online.

~ I have a photo of the kids on this same swing from two years ago. How they have changed!

~ Fall hay rides

Picking apples at our favorite apple farm, owned by Christians. All their neighbors' crops were ruined this year via the drought and frosts, but this family's crops flourished. How's that for divine favor?

~ Beth dancing with Daddy and then later, with Mommy and Daddy.

~ That God blesses us with deep orange and red trees this time of year. When I stop and think of this gift--about the many gifts of each season--I marvel at his tender, loving care of us.  

~ At the chili cook-off fall church fellowship, I sat next to a 68-year-old woman who was three days into a migraine. When she was 63 she suffered liver failure and was told she wouldn't live until the end of the year. All the medicine she had consumed for her migraines over the years finally caught up with her. While God didn't heal the migraines, He did heal her liver. She has to be very careful what medicines she takes, but she is alive and well. 

She prayed for me and took my address and phone number, and told me how to pray each time I have to take OTC medicines for a headache. My encounter with her was a real eye-opener for me. It was a divine meeting I will always be thankful for! 

It doesn't matter if you follow the directions on the bottles just right. Over time both acetaminophen and ibuprofen lead to liver and kidney damage. With acetaminophen, your liver goes first, then your kidneys. With ibuprofen, your kidneys are at risk.

If you take them for headaches more than two times a week, you'll put yourself into a dangerous rebound headache situation. Over time, your headaches will get far worse and more frequent (which has happened to me). This is not true if you need these OTC meds for arthritis or knee or back pain. The rebound pain is tied only to headaches.

This morning I started a reduction program. I have been taking acetaminophen every day for over 10 years. Instead of going cold turkey, which could mean some very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, I'm starting with a tapering. Instead of taking two at a time, I will take one. Then, as the rebound headaches lessen in severity, I will try eliminating the tablets altogether. It could take months and we will definitely endure some pain and hardship over this, but my new friend made me realize I have to do this for my children. 

Please pray that the rebound cycle goes away quickly, rather than taking months? Thank you!

What are you thankful for today, friends?

Linking with Ann today.

Fruitful Fridays: An Introduction

God is a master teacher, isn't he? So many analogies, examples, and images fill the pages of scripture for our comfort and learning. For the awakened spirit, it's all there for the taking, waiting to transform us. 

Dear Lord, may our spirits be as eager as baby birds, our hearts always wide open for the next morsel.

My favorite biblical analogy has to do with fruit, a favorite food of mine. And incidentally, botanically speaking, chocolate is a fruit derivative. Anything that comes from a flower is technically considered a fruit. Chocolate is made from the seed (bean) of a football-sized fruit that grows on the trunks and leaves of cocoa trees. 

Yes, many wonderful things come from fruit, and honestly, what would we do without its sweetness?

Fridays here on the blog will be spent learning about the nine fruits of the Spirit. Perhaps not every Friday, but as many as I can manage. True, few people read blogs on Fridays, but hopefully sometime between Friday and Monday these fruit posts will be read. 

During the school year I won't be posting much more than Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, because I'm formally teaching Mary, my kindergartner, as well as the boys this year. 

Now let's jump into our introduction. 

The Galatians passage on the fruit of the spirit (printed below) is meant to be a contrast between life without salvation, and life with salvation. No longer slaves to the flesh or bound by Jewish law, we have freedom in Christ, living by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. As such we are called to love one another, for the whole law is summed up by the single commandment: "You must love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:13-14

But how do we do this, when as Paul said in Romans, we so often find ourselves doing what we don't want to do...that is, sinning? 

The answer comes in the fruit analogy. Think of a piece of fruit that falls to the ground; shortly, it rots. While still attached to the stem, through which nutrients flow, the fruit flourishes. God continues to complete his work in us until the day he comes to bring us home, so in a sense our fruit is always getting sweeter, riper, more capable of nourishing others, as God nourishes us. 

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

But as with everything that comes from our union with the Father, fruit is not automatic. We don't get saved and suddenly produce fruit. We have free will always...a bittersweet gift to be sure. We must continually choose to remain attached to the Father. We must pursue Him, which is accomplished through Bible reading and Bible study, through prayer, and through worship (songs, psalms, praises). 

Remember the Tozer quote from my first post on joy? 

“What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him.” ~ A. W. Tozer

While still on this earth we are as a branch, producing fruit for the Tree...only spiritually healthy when we remain attached to our source of life. God the Father.

John 15:5  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. 

There are nine fruits of the spirit, which can be divided into three categories. The first three, love, joy and peace, pertain to the health of our soul. The second three, patience, kindness and goodness, pertain to our relations with others. And the last three, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, are part of principles for godly living. 

The first fruit in each group gives rise to the other two. For example, if we love God, we have joy and peace. If we have patience (long-suffering), we are kind and good to others. If we are faithful to the Father, we can be gentle and self-controlled.

Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26:

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other.

I'd be honored to have you join us here on Fridays. I thank the Lord for you, friends.

photo credit 1, 2, 3

Walk With Him Wednesday: Joy

I'm participating again this week in Ann Voskamp's Walk With Him Wednesday. The assignment this time?

For the next 3 weeks: The Practice of Joy…. What does it mean to choose Crazy Joy? How do we authentically walk through hard times? How do practice the “gigantic secret” of Christians?  We look forward to your Scripture study, stories, encouragement….

Unquestionably, the gigantic secret of Christians everywhere is joy. But as busy moms performing a hundred mundane tasks a day, how do we get there? Surely it doesn't arise from our sweeping, scrubbing, wiping, changing, folding, fixing and preparing...all while fielding interruptions? Surely it doesn't arise during discipline problems or money problems or relationship problems?  

Joy is such a meaty topic, we'll concentrate on just one aspect a week. Today let's discuss access. What everyone wants to know is this: How do we access joy? 

In preparing for my study, I read through five or six different topical studies, hoping to find the best scriptures pertaining to joy. And do you know, three-year-old Beth woke up three times during my four-hour study? The third time I had to finally ask the Lord...what are you trying to tell me here? That you don't want me to complete this study? For surely I need time, don't I? Can you please give me time, here, God?

I think I heard the Spirit say, "Little Beth finds joy in your presence. She finds joy in nourishing at your breast, for her divine comfort. You are her joy, and I am yours. You find it in my presence and in my Word. Gradually, children replace the joy of Momma's presence, with the joy of My presence. So, go, be with her now. Give her joy in your presence, as I give it to you."

Every Christian has access to all the fruits of the Spirit, including joy. If you are saved, joy is available to you through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

It's common to mistake happiness for joy. Happiness is based on circumstances; joy is based on presence. His presence. Psalm 21:6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. 

Don't gloss over the verses here, but really drink them in.

Psalm 145:18 "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, who call upon Him in truth."

Psalm 43:4 “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” 

Habakkuk 3:18-19 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.



Everything available to us through our union with God? It's not automatic. This is a grievous misconception of many a Christian. God must be pursued! We cannot scrub day in and day out, sweep this and that debris away, sacrifice for our families, labor over our children's hearts, and then experience joy automatically. We must pause and go after God. Find him in the garden. Spend time with Him: talk to him (prayer), sing praises to him (worship), and meditate on his Word (study).

Psalm 119:111 “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.” 

While in His presence we will know peace and joy, despite the circumstances of the moment. Remember that peace is a Person, not a destination. Psalms 63:5-7 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Isaiah 12:6 “… Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”


Did you know that if you drink a full glass of water, it boosts your metabolism for some time after you consume it? And the closer you get to 8 glasses a day, the higher your metabolism will be? It's the same with joy! The more you drink in of God and his Word, the more joy you'll have, and the longer it will last. If it's been more than 24 hours since your last fill up, expect anything but joy.

First of all, you aren't likely to obey God if you spend too much time away from him. Disobedience brings unnecessary turmoil. John 15:10  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Our joy is complete when we remain in Him? It's that simple? Yes! I have experienced this time and again, after horrific hours and even whole days. Joy is only as far away as my Bible and my pause for prayer or song.

“What I am anxious to see in Christian believers is a beautiful paradox. I want to see in them the joy of finding God while at the same time they are blessedly pursuing Him. I want to see in them the great joy of having God yet always wanting Him.” ~ A. W. Tozer

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, I love you. Thank you for your promised presence. Thank you for the joy it brings to my soul. I pray that same joy for my children, my husband, my family and friends. May we all remain in you daily, may we remember how very close you always are, ready to comfort, nourish and bring joy. Father, thank you that we can pause at any time, during sweeping, during laundry, to speak to you, to sing to you, to drink from your strength and your peace. If needs and children are everywhere and our Bible is not, let us remember song...for we need only our voice to praise you. What a beautiful gift you are! May we spread our joy, sharing the secret with the lost and the lonely. May we not keep hidden that which is most precious .We love you, Father. Thank you for the exceeding joy!

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

photo credit one, two, three

Multitude Monday: Contentment

Writing from prison to the believers in Philippi, Paul tells us “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need”. Philippians 4:11-12

I love Paul's triumph here and more importantly, I love that God brought him to this place for the benefit of every believer who will feast on these words, again and again, generation after generation. For Satan, he takes no greater pleasure than to breed discontent in our hearts. Paul's words mean death to Satan's schemes and for that reason alone, Philippians 4:11-12 is a priceless Biblical gem indeed.

You wouldn't know it from my outburst yesterday, but God is working this gem in me. 

My son's ADHD was like a hammer to my head for some concentrated afternoon hours, short-circuiting the contentment function in my heart. And while I tried to slam our faulty microwave door with just the right force to engage the broken start button, coaxing 6 baked potatoes out of it without popping an electrical circuit...all the while feeling the sensation of a snapped underwire in my years-old bra digging into my skin...well, contentment was not mine. 

And hearing my dedicated son Paul, willingly practicing his half-hour of piano--on which he's self-teaching with the help of beginner piano books--tell me that his cheap, battery-powered lap keyboard no longer played right...while I worked in a kitchen with four broken drawers sagging down and a snapped-in-two cabinet door someone swung on one too many times...well, contentment was not mine.

In a moment there, my spirit wanted to get into my van with its missing door panels, door handles and door locks, its filthy carpet and dirty upholstery, its 220,000 miles, and drive off into the sunset that wasn't.

But my husband was outside trying to fix my son's bike chain and tire for the fiftieth time and what exactly does Peter do to cause these chronic bike problems that terrorize his already-busy Daddy? 

So if I drove off into the sunset that wasn't, who would finish the Sunday-night roast chicken dinner preparations? What would the children eat for dinner besides chicken and how would my husband manage the baths, stories, teeth, and devotions, all by himself?

I plowed through, feeling no choice, but my mood tasted sour and my outburst ruined a perfectly good dinner. 

Once I read that ADHD causes as much parental stress as autism. Probably a true statement, that. In a final act of heartlessness, I let my son know that his relentless onslaught and inability to delay gratification ruined my night and could he please stay away from me because I couldn't. take. it. another. minute.

And perhaps worst of all, Mommy didn't apologize before bed and it wasn't until Scripture drove the truth into her soul a few hours later, that her heart melted and sorrowed over her ghastly display of discontent and ungodliness. Thank the Lord for a daily washing with the Word. What would my filthy heart do without this eternal soap?

This I learned: Moment to moment contentment is not found in properly working household items or in properly behaved children. It's not found in classy shoes, new bras, beautiful kitchen cabinetry, well-fitting clothes or a shiny new van.

As the Apostle told Timothy, “we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content”. (1 Timothy 6:7-8)

Job, too, understood this  “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21)

Blessed be the name of the Lord because as creature comforts are taken away from me, I transfer my affections to God and his purposes. 

My Lord? He's doing an incredible work in my heart...an Apostle-Paul type work. And when I stop to give thanks for it, to surrender to it, to look forward to the beauty it will wrought in my heart, I get that much closer to Paul's declaration: I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21) How much more has to go wrong, how much more has to break, has much more has to rattle my nerves, before I utter these same words?

The more we let go of temporal possessions, the more we gain eternal treasures...the kind we can take with us. 

The less we are attached to creature comforts, the more we are attached to Christ. 

And the converse? It's also true. The more we are attached to creature comforts, the more we are attached to Satan. The more we are attached to Satan, the more we are attached to the future and not thankful for the present.

“We want a whole race perpetually in pursuit of the rainbow’s end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present.” Uncle Screwtape’s counsel to his nephew Wormwood in C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters 

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Tomorrow morning, not only will I apologize, but I'll also teach: It's beautiful to be surrounded by broken things...and the above Scriptures? They tell us why.

Giving thanks today:

~ A determined, disciplined, talented son...may he daily give thanks for, and never develop pride over his God-given gifts.

~ A broken son whose life teaches me surrender and godly contentment...may I love him well and teach him his worth in Jesus Christ, his Redeemer.  

~ Sunday-night roast chicken dinners

~ A husband who dutifully takes the spiritual lead

~ Hugs from little girls with heavenly smelling hair

~ Hot cocoa sipped with my Bible reading 

~ Middle-of-the-night headaches that steal me more time with my Bible 

~ Fall color all around

~ Chili cook-off fellowship dinner next weekend

~ Two letters in one day from India

~ Husband's hugs in the midst of child-rearing craziness

~ Endless laundry (we have changes of clothes to our name, praise the Lord)

~ A little girl who loves late-afternoon light in the trees. "Can I go outside, Mommy? It's my favorite part of the day!"

~ Food in the fridge and pantry for a week.

What are you thankful for today, friend? 

Giving thanks with Ann and other thankful ladies, for Multitude Monday.
photo credit 1, credit 2, credit 3

Also linking with Emily at Imperfect Prose

Diary of a Discipleship Relationship

After our friend Lexi responded so enthusiastically to AWANA and her new Bible, I feared spiritual attacks aimed both at her enthusiasm, and at our ability to disciple her. After she completed her school homework on Thursday, she put her Bible in a plastic grocery bag and headed over to our house.

I know this how, exactly? Because Peter loves to look out the window and announce the comings and goings of his friends.

Lexi, being highly distracted, got involved in squabbles with neighborhood kids along the way and it wasn't until after 6:00 PM that she made it over here, her Bible still in one piece. :)

That squeezed our evening awkwardly but we did manage to serve her ice cream and have a Bible reading and study time with her. And some more good news!  We got permission to take her to church with us this Sunday, at her suggestion. She's still very excited about all this, thank you, Jesus.

I must be better organized to accommodate regular Bible study with her. One-on-one discipleship is something I strongly believe in. In my mind it's the most effective method for The Church to grow strong enough to really impact society for Christ--and I don't refer to strength in numbers. Too many Christians live like everyone else, resulting in a weakened, low-impact presence in our world.

One-on-one discipleship is not only training in the Word, but a concentrated question and answer, teacher and student relationship that builds trust and digs in deep, meeting the believer, or the seeker, right where she's at.

Satellite church groups popular now, in which small groups of a congregation meet during the week, don't meet the need for personal discipleship. They certainly help identify problems and prayer needs and keep people accountable for attending church regularly--making them feel welcome, as though their presence matters to people. But without someone studied in the Word willing to meet one-on-one with a stagnant, new, or weak believer, the impact of these groups remains low as a whole. Pastors and deacons often can't commit to the time-intensive endeavor of one-on-one discipleship, especially when marital problems, hospital visits, and crisis management take up so much of their time. It's up to individual believers to commit to one-on-one discipleship in the name of Christ, through the strength of Christ.

I benefited greatly from two years of one-on-one discipleship from a fellow school teacher, after which I married and began receiving teaching from my Bible-scholar husband. As soon as I believed through my teacher friend's leading, there were constant question and answer sessions and on-going Bible Studies, all with a widow who needed the fellowship as much as I needed the discipleship. God works wonders when we let Him use us--when we say yes to His agenda. 

When I became a mom to my first colicky baby and held a part-time, at-home job, my walk with Christ weakened, strengthening again when I quit working and when special needs in my son, accompanied with husband's job loss, drove me to the Word for answers, for comfort, for survival.

Without that foundation laid through intensive discipleship, I wouldn't have known--wouldn't have experienced--that Bible and prayer hold all the answers. Often our first response is to look to the world for answers, but when someone trains you, really trains you, in how to cling to God, it becomes your knee-jerk reaction to the trouble in this life. And as you fall in love with the Lord through your study, your time with Him is a pleasure.

Last night revealed something important: One hurdle in training Lexi in the Word will be her reading ability. She repeated third grade and now in the fourth grade, she's still presumably toward the bottom of the class, at least in reading. Retention, which my state does a lot of, is rarely the answer for students not making the grade. Another year of the same type of institutionalized learning doesn't help and could hinder. 

Lexi miscued on half the words she read from the Gospel of Mark and without my husband's verbal recounting of the passage for her, she would have comprehended little. She wouldn't let me read it while she followed along. Turns out she likes to read aloud. I didn't make mention of her reading difficulties. She was happy to miscue and keep going, not concerning herself with whether the sentences carried any meaning for her. It was as though she liked being the center of attention, more than anything else, but she did listen attentively to husband's teaching and she asked many questions as he spoke, which allowed him to hone in on her misconceptions.

A couple common misconceptions were cleared up last night. Lexi thought that if you sin a whole lot or commit a really big sin, you would go to hell--which she thought was just a burning and instant death, rather than eternal suffering. And if you just committed regular sins, you would still go to Heaven. Husband also explained Satan's background and a little about how he works his evil.

I'm going to introduce her to Bible web tools, including a site allowing her to listen to the Bible online, and read it online with different sized fonts.  

She has ADHD and 65% of these kids have co-morbid disorders, which could include OCD, tic disorder, depression, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, and oppositional defiant disorder. She has anxiety which causes her to pick scabs mercilessly and cut herself, she has oppositional defiant disorder, and some difficulty associated with reading.  It took me several years to figure out that my son's ADHD comes with dysgraphia, which is difficulty with all aspects of writing--spelling, handwriting, and organizing thoughts on paper. Obviously I'm no expert on processing disorders, but I hope to help Lexi nonetheless, maybe using her desire to read aloud to help her practice--without her even knowing I'm remediating her, hopefully.

But I'm already a busy mom and this all feels overwhelming, just as Satan wants it to! 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! I'l keep chanting it. I know a couple of you have been praying for Lexi and I want to thank you. Fruit is forthcoming, I believe.

Lots of progress on day one! And a bonus is that my children witnessed all of it, making them more apt to disciple someone on their own in the future, as they watch it unfold. I disciple them throughout the day, but they're so used to it they don't know what I'm up to. Seeing it done this way, they can identify it in their minds as discipleship in action and mimic it when God presents the opportunity. Our neighborhood has become a means for them to practice their faith, to stand up for Jesus and withstand the pressure to fit in, with mom and dad right there to provide assistance, strength, and prayer, as needed.

I think it's so neat--looking back on those years of a quiet neighborhood and us praying for friends--that God waited until my boys were strong in the Lord to present them with a broken world looking in all the wrong places for answers. Everyone, kids and adults alike, want to be accepted, to belong, and therein lies hidden mines, planted by Satan, capable of destroying hearts and futures.

They all need the same answer. Christ. The Redeemer, the Lover of Your Soul, to whom you will forever belong, to whom you can always go, through whom you receive love, purpose and peace.

Go! Tell them the good news!

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hallelujah!