Building a Strong Mothering Legacy Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

Last time we discussed that a mother's legacy mainly consists of love. Mothers building an exceptional legacy display other characteristics as well. All of us might come up with a different list of what these exceptional characteristics might be, but I chose to concentrate on just two.

1. Exceptional mothers love and accept children where they're at now, rather than pressuring them to perform above their developmental level. Children are very much a work in progress and we need to be cheerleaders, not disgruntled employees complaining about every outfit thrown on the floor, or every mess left behind. They'll get to these details and mature with time, and in the meantime we can gently push them with age-appropriate expectations, even working alongside them to clean up messes.

This kind of acceptance and scaffolding gives children room to grow in peace, with confidence. We need to remember that growing up and maturing steadily, while doing hours of academic work each day, is just plain hard. We easily discount the hard work our children do, thinking we're the overworked ones.

This leads me to my next point...

2. Exceptional mothers have godly attitudes about the hard work they do.

It happens to all of us: the creeping in at times of a sinful, woe-is-me attitude about the cleaning, the cooking, the organizing, the running around, the shopping, the myriad of things we do each day, while putting aside what we really want to do. This is particularly true for those of us who don't have family support around, or any domestic help. 

I've never spent the night without my children, nor been on a day retreat--even three hours away is very uncommon, happening only when there's money for a thrift-store run. It's not that I want to be without them, just that I know time away would renew energy, strength, commitment. 

If you're in this same, under-supported boat, you're not alone and it's not too big for God.

Being a mother is a privilege and each time we complain about all the work, we essentially slap the infertile mother-hopeful in the face, for one thing. Their pain is incredibly deep and our blessing is incredibly deep. Our gratitude needs to be complete, not just active when we watch our precious children sleep or when we receive their flowers and loving hugs.

And a good attitude goes beyond just avoiding sin. Our children are profoundly affected by our complaining--especially when we don't repent and apologize quickly. A sin quickly realized and corrected only teaches our children about their own need for a Savior, but ongoing sin in this area makes our children feel less than. They need to know we love caring for them. They need to know they add blessing to our lives, not burden. Otherwise, they feel guilty about having needs. They feel unworthy of our time and commitment, and they're more likely to stay out of our way,  rather than forge the strong emotional bond with us that provides a firm foundation for their future.

A confident, happy, well-rounded child experiences a mother's love, her generous time, her heartfelt physical labor. Sometimes strength is lacking due to illness or disorder, but what is given can be given joyfully.

An exceptional mother does not provide any of this out of sheer will, but out of an active relationship with the Lord Jesus. 

~ I love because I have been loved. 

~ I give because I have been provided for. 

~ I work because I have received strength. 

~ I counsel because I have been healed. 

~ I support because I have been upheld. 

~ I rejoice over others because He has rejoiced over me.

I have enough of all that is needed because of my Lord Jesus Christ...but only when I sit at his feet and receive from him. Only when I value my time with Him as a pleasure unto itself.

An exceptional mother loves (and receives from) an exceptional God. 

What qualities would you add? 

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Isaiah 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for 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.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Building a Strong Mothering Legacy, Part 1

With Mother's Day coming up, I'm evaluating my own mothering and considering what it takes to build a strong mothering legacy. Usually, Mother's Day is for showing appreciation and love for Mom, but it can just as easily be a time for us to evaluate how we're doing, and decide how we might do even better.

A legacy is defined as anything handed down from the past. The main thing mothers hand down is love. In love we patiently kiss booboos and bandaid them--something that will be remembered fondly, as will the cold cloths and kisses we put on fevered heads in the middle of the night.  Love-in-action becomes memory--etched in their minds forever.

For older children it's not so much the bandaids and cold cloths that define a mother's love, but the homecooked meals, special comments, notes, or gifts, and the teen talk sessions we endure and enjoy into the late night.

With each loving act of compassion and patience, our stock as mothers goes up and our children have one more reason to value their own lives and look with confidence upon their futures. Filled up with love, there's nothing to hold them back.

Mom invests her time, and when someone gives us their time--the precious hours and days of their lives--that says we have value. What's a life, really? Isn't it made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades? When someone invests all they have in us, we can't help but value our own life and work hard to make it worthwhile.

Each of us, hopefully, has someone in our past who invested their time in us. If not, we're obviously left with scars--but nothing our Heavenly Father can't heal if we lay it at His feet.

If as mothers we truly invest our time, showing love and compassion, our sons will hopefully want to choose a wife who is like us, in terms of her future mothering potential, and our daughters will hopefully look no further than their own childhoods to evolve into wonderful mothers.

We hope and pray this is the case, but to make it reality, we have to engage in self-evaluation. Just loving our children doesn't make us great mothers.

What else is needed to seal the great-mother deal? After all, what mother doesn't get up in the middle of the night to tend to her sick children? What mother isn't forthcoming with kisses and bandaids when the blood flows? What mother would ignore a teen who obviously needs to talk?

There are certainly qualities beyond these that make a mother exceptional. But what might they be?

We all might come up with a different list, but....

...I think a great mother also has exemplary attitudes.

Yes, they will remember our loving care, but won't they also remember our complaining, our bitterness over the hard work, our yelling over the clean clothes thrown on the floor (again)?

No one is without blemish and mothers can get downright exhausted quickly, leading to less than godly responses. Children certainly give us room to be human--being very forgiving--but they also take note of our attitudes over time.

I've considered two wrong attitudes that will stain our mothering legacy. I want to eradicate them in my life, and I bet you do too.

1. Expecting children to know better.

2. Resenting the hard work involved in mothering.

In this post, I elaborate on number 1...Expecting Children to Know Better. Later this week, we'll get to number 2.

My son Peter is 13 years old. There were many times over the years I wondered if he would ever mature, but now, four months after his 13th birthday, I'm daily seeing signs of a godly manhood evolving. He sees ways in which I need help and he willingly puts aside his plans to step up to the plate. In the past, hoping his brother or dad would help, he selfishly pursued his own agenda.

He looks protectively upon his sisters--both in regard to their physical and spiritual safety. He'll gently remind them to resolve their differences amicably, for the glory of God. He'll call them out when they complain and stomp their feet over a parent's unwanted directions, such as to stop sewing and brush teeth for bed.

He'll recognize his own ungodly attitudes quickly, and apologize now, not later, with a heartfelt repentence.

He'll bravely share Christ with neighbor children, pray with neighbor children over backyard baseball games, and remind neighbors to love their siblings when sibling bickering occurs here. He'll pray for them at night and wonder what else he can do to help them along spiritually.

And all this without any prompting from me. It's God, working through Peter, who is responding to the command to make disciples of all nations (and neighborhoods). Somehow, the neighbors keep coming, despite the young evangelist who lives here. They want to listen to Peter, who commands their respect.

What has all Peter's recent growth reminded me of? That children are a work in progress. I don't know that I remembered that enough all these years. I don't know that I would have believed you, two years ago, if you described for me what my son would be like today. He's a wonderful young man and I didn't see that coming.

Shame on me.

Of course children throw clean, rejected clothes onto the floor--they're only children! Of course they leave out their craft supplies and their bikes and spit toothpaste gobs into the sink....and then leave them.

They're. only. children.

What did I expect, I wonder? That they would show an understanding of my hard laundry work, when they're so busy trying to learn and grow each day themselves? Growing up is hard work.

They are no more guilty of disregarding our hard work, than we are of theirs.

1. A great mother respects her children's learning curves. She loves her children where they're at now.

2. A great mother expects her children to shine one day, despite the childishness of today. She sees potential.

3. A great mother praises efforts, not just outcomes.

4. A great mother prays for her children, more than she preaches at them.

What would you add about giving our children room to grow in peace? What do you think makes a mother stand out as exceptional?

Next time, we'll discuss a mother's attitude about the hard work she does.

Hoping your Mother's Day is sweet...full of kisses and hugs and picked flowers and pretty pictures.

Read Part 2 here.

Raccoon Happenings

Who's cuter, Her Royal Highness Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, or little baby raccoon here? Just kidding...baby Charlotte is a gorgeous baby! Congratulations to my UK readers. The news is so often horrifying, and baby news was a welcome respite as we welcomed Charlotte.

Hubby and Momma Raccoon went a few more rounds this weekend. Peter got some good pictures during the "battle". This is one persistent raccoon!

Pictured above is one of her babies, left behind and discovered behind the shed door, shaking with fright. Hubby used a dustpan to scoop her up, then placed her in a storage box and set it at the corner of our yard, next to the fence Momma Raccoon uses to get in and out of our yard. Our hope was that Momma would hear the baby and come for it. Raccoons make a unique call, which is a cross between a bird and tree frog sound.

My own and several neighbor kids oohed and awed over baby, and all wanted to keep her and raise her, as you might expect. :) We had our hands full watching over the kids, making sure they didn't get their hands too close to the baby. It certainly made their Saturday very exciting, to say the least. All they had on their agenda together was baseball, prior to the baby's arrival on the scene.

Momma Raccoon did indeed come for her missing baby, but it took about five hours, during which baby raccoon burrowed in some insulation to keep warm and comforted. As soon as we spotted the Momma, we placed the box over the fence on its side, which almost scared her away. But then she heard her baby's tree-frog-like calls, noticed it in the box and quickly grabbed baby by mouth. Momma was so frightened at us watching her, that at first she didn't grab the baby correctly, and baby growled at her. Then, Momma adjusted her baby better, and took off down into the nearby gutter.

 

We thought that would be the end of it, so hubby did more construction on the shed Saturday afternoon and evening, intent on keeping the raccoon family out (but he left the greenhouse part of the shed intact). He also chopped some branches off the pear tree which Momma Raccoon climbs to get on our shed roof.

No sign of Momma on Sunday, but on Monday she came back, snooping around. She couldn't, or didn't try, jumping from the tree to the roof, so that was victory one. After circling the shed, she couldn't quickly find another way in, so victory number 2. If she gets desperate enough, she could do serious damage to the siding in other places, but we hope that doesn't happen. We made some noise and chased her away, in case her memory is too short.

Snooping around on Monday.

More snooping around on Monday.

Looking straight at Peter. She has a healthy fear and doesn't ever get too close to us, though she thinks nothing of coming into the yard when my kids are hosting neighbor kids for baseball. When we spot her, I send everyone home.

How was your weekend, friends? How's your new garden coming along? We're having a heat wave so Peter is putting our garden in slowly.

Weekly Homeschool and Life Wrap-Up 5/1

Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Skip to the bottom for newly published trade books.

Note: Reader Terri H. - Congratulations! I assume your new baby arrived? You probably aren't reading blogs at this time, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say how happy I am for you. Be blessed!

Giving Thanks For...

~ A close relationship with both of my teen and tween boys

~ Two little girls who love to cuddle

~ The closing of our AWANA year; a solid run for each child

~ My children saying (and singing) verses that they love just for fun (Mama's gotta love AWANA!)

~ Excellent books to read

~ Praying together as a family is about the single best thing we do. It helps us see each other as Christ does...flawed but forgiven. When we pray about our personal weaknesses and each other's needs, our family members feel so much closer to us; they love us all the more, and feel all the more patient with our idiosyncrasies. Humbling ourselves before each other, and before God, is game-changing. 

~ The pediatrician saying my kids behave phenomenally. The four of them crowd into little exam rooms at every sibling's appointment and that could be a disaster, but the Lord has been gracious to me all these years with this--at the children's hospital and at the pediatrician's. The pediatrician is an Indian doctor but native to Ohio, and he knows we're Christians, so this is a testimony orchestrated by the Lord.

~ Siblings who are best friends

~ A nice time at the Cleveland Zoo for Educators's Day

~ The preparing for college series Marianne Sunderland wrote for families of dyslexics, although it's invaluable for any homeschooling family. Think scholarship links galore, for one.

~ A steadfast, loving husband

~ Unique personalities in my children...all of them making me smile

~$135 back from the dentist office, out of the blue (badly needed to pay for a repair project on our back door that went awry)

~ That the Lord always sends money just at the right moment from the strangest sources (the dentist office? Only God.)

~ Some of you know I had to cut ties with my mother and step-father 15 months ago--with Mother's Day coming, that just stinks--but the Lord is sustaining me through this rough patch and I am grateful. We can't choose our parents but we can choose how dedicated we are to our own children, so that our legacy is hopefully the opposite of what we came from. And of course, we can forgive and remember that outside of the Lord's grace, we would be there still.

What Went Right This Week

~ I happened to remember that a marked characteristic of learning disabilities is inconsistency in day-to-day performance. My second grader has dyslexia and whilst last week she could read a Magic Tree House book without frustration (i.e. about six errors per page) this week she just stumbled and stumbled and had to put it aside. She stumbled on the first story in her new All About Reading Level 3 book, as well. Ordinarily I would have responded with a private dismay, but I took it in stride, knowing this is what it's like having a learning disability. One day you can remember how to make a 15, and the next day it's not automatic. Dyslexics don't have the automaticity regular learners enjoy--but they make great entrepreneurs, artists, performers, inventors, so it's not all bad. 

I am learning how to be a supportive parent to a dyslexic--looking for the strengths and remediating the weaknesses as best I can, and remaining light-hearted about it all.

~ We ordinarily do about ten devotional sessions a week, between the morning ones with just the kids and me, and the evening ones that include Daddy. We all need every single one of them, and since this was a week full of frustrations, they saved us in so many ways.

~ It's working well for me to come up with journal and essay questions for the boys to write on, rather than trying to follow a writing curriculum. It helps me to better tailor the learning to their strengths and weaknesses. And I love reading the Sonlight novels they're reading (Core H), which is necessary for me to come up with good literary response topics.

~ I'm on a campaign to decrease our sugar intake and it's going well. Sugar is highly addictive, which you've probably noticed when you try to go a day with just a smidgen of it. Just the naturally occurring sugar in milk and fruit and grains adds up quickly.

What Went Wrong This Week 

~ We purchased a desktop PC from Amazon a few months ago and had to send it back. It appeared to have a failing hard drive. We picked something else out as a replacement (from an HP to a Lenovo--parent company IBM), and in the last three weeks that began to look like a lemon, too. I called to start service and possibly get a replacement, and found out that the warranty started last October, but I didn't purchase it until February, which makes me think Amazon is selling refurbished computers as new ones (just a hunch...don't quote me).

As per the tech--probably from India, who called to check on my progress at 11PM tonight!--I had to try doing a factory default setting before they would consider a replacement. I did that today and all is well so far, but it has been a week of researching what could be wrong with the PC, before finally calling the company for help.

~ And then there was the HP printer we bought several months ago, which began acting strangely and required research as well. It turned out to be a server problem with the company, and I did find a fix online, thank goodness. We're back in business.

~ We're 8 months out from Peter's concussion accident (fell out of a tree) and he still comes out of his room, after reading twenty pages, with an exhausted look and feel. He used to be ahead in all his reading, but now he is somewhat behind the curriculum pace. The fatigue breaks my heart and from my research I know it could be 1 to 5 years before this effect goes away. His worsened OCD coincided with his accident as well. My prayer is that the Lord in his grace will erase the effects of this accident very soon.

~ We bought LG flip phones recently after our other basic cell phones would no longer hold a charge, and mine, despite not being dropped, just goes dead randomly now (only about two months old). At first, taking out the battery and putting it back in seemed to reset it, but that didn't work as well this time. So there's that company to deal with too (Verizon). I. hate. technology. I don't have time for technology, but against my will I learn a lot each time theses things happen, as I scour the Internet for answers. My boys listen and learn too.

~ The raccoon who had babies and is living in our shed attic has been an unbelievable menace--damaging property, taking up our days and evenings, and just generally appalling us with her antics. You wouldn't believe the strength of these animals. We nailed and blocked off the damage in the siding she made, with a heavy barrel full of construction debris, a heavy door, and a wheelbarrow, and she still got in and made a mess and reopened her damage hole. She pulled open the grill of the shed attic also, bending it back like the hulk. We always make sure she and her babies are out before we board anything up, but she just keeps coming back. 

It's a scene out of Caddyshack around here and team human is not winning. The previous owner designed this side of the shed to be a greenhouse, making the insulation necessary for warmth. My crazy-mad husband is thinking of sawing out the attic so no nursing-momma raccoon finds it cozy ever again. I hope it doesn't come to that and I'm trying to stay out of it. All the other sheds in the neighborhood are of the traditional type, so ours is particularly inviting, with the insulation like soft blankets for new life.

The reason it's against the law to trap them is because cities and towns don't want you to catch and release (these animals have to be put down). Once they feed out of trash cans and live in neighborhoods, they become a menace. Driving them elsewhere only makes it someone else's problem. Not very helpful for us, since we have no money for this kind of thing! Even the cage to catch them is pricey, not to mention hiring a pest company as an alternative.

In Other News

Mary is learning two more ways to make the long a sound--/ay/ /ai/ (All About Reading 3)

The children are still using the large Melissa and Doug blocks they got for Christmas.

I found a mild enchilada sauce recipe, of which my husband's heartburn approves. Too bland for me, so I have to tweak it and make two separate batches--one with more spices. Everyone loves homemade enchiladas here.

Teaching Textbooks continues to be my best homeschooling friend ever. Mary can't wait to start the third grade level next January and get her own buddy sound.

Paul made no-bake cookies (peanut butter, oatmeal, sugar, butter, vanilla (so not healthy) the day before I decided we needed to cut way down on sugar. He found a library book featuring 150 no-bake cookie recipes. I told him we can have a sweet dessert no more than 3 times a week, and he was not thrilled, but he and his brother are on board to be as healthy as possible, nonetheless. The girls are far less thrilled at the change in dessert frequency. And hubby says...what in the world will we do without stress relievers, such as no-bake cookies?! When things stop breaking down and raccoons stop terrorizing us, maybe he can do without dessert, but right now he doesn't think so. He eats a very healthy, well-rounded diet, but he enjoys dessert to help neutralize life's downs.

Here's Beth with her arm around Paul, while he teaches her anatomy using Khan Academy. It made me smile, seeing these two peas in a pod doing this just for fun. They're my intellectual ones, while my other two are the nature & outdoor lovers, who would never waste a good sunny day on Khan Academy, thank you very much. I love the uniqueness of each child! Just a thrill and a gift seeing their individual personalities unfold before my eyes. Mothering is divine.

The thing I love about Khan Academy is the way the instructors' talk/teach and point to something on the screen at the same time with the marking pen, giving children with learning disabilities a leg up (audio and visual simultaneously). It's up close and personal--not from the chalkboard of a large classroom. The teaching isn't unique, just effective.

Newly Published Social Studies, Music, & Science Trade Books

Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Six Guiding Beliefs (as told by his niece) 

by Angela Farris Watkins, PhD, published February, 2015

School Library Journal Synopsis: Gr 2–6—In this vividly illustrated picture book, Watkins, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., provides a simplified version of his six guiding principles of nonviolence: have courage; love your enemies; fight the problem, not the person who caused it; when innocent people are hurt, others are inspired to help; resist violence of any kind; and the universe honors love. Referring to King as "Uncle Martin," Watkins states each principle and then describes one clearly written example of how King followed it. Instances selected include the burning of King's home in 1956 and King's famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," in which he argued for nonviolent resistance. The bold, colorful mixed-media illustrations capture the emotion of the situations described, and Watkins's writing style is conversational but impassioned ("So even when Uncle Martin was hurt, he did not respond with violence."). Though informative, this title lacks back matter. An excellent choice for younger students studying King and for teachers explaining violence in history and current events, as well as for beginning middle school students.—Stephanie Farnlacher

LuiGi at the Opera 

by Ellie Alldredge-Bell published January, 2015

Synopsis by School Library Journal:  Gr 1–3—Luigi and his grandpa Rigoletto are aficionados, and when they go to see Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, "an opera about a ghost ship," Luigi is totally enthralled. He admires the elegant lobby, views the orchestra through his opera glasses, and is enchanted by the music, singers, and scenery that bring the masterpiece to life. Under his grandfather's guidance, he learns appropriate dress, opera etiquette, and even a bit of Italian to complete the experience. Alldredge-Bell's text is clear, concise, and instructive without being dry, and while the action is limited, the duo's enthusiasm for the opera is contagious. Primary-grade audiences will delight in seeing the twosome singing arias while driving and the piccolo player scratching her nose with her instrument. Williams-Ng's watercolor cartoons range in size from a quarter-page to full spreads, with the larger illustrations proving most effective in terms of detail and color. The pictures are generally playful—the beehive hairdos are especially fun. Some, unfortunately, as in the case of the soprano, have too much white space, and pages with text alone have a sterile feel. Still, the illustrations of the author and her husband in the lobby scene add a bit of fun. Endnotes explaining Wagner's opera, vocabulary definitions, and Italian pronunciations will assist budding opera lovers. Luigi can be paired with Gary Clement's The Great Poochini (Groundwood, 1999) for a lighthearted look at this musical art form.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan

A Violin for Elva 

by Mary Lyn Ray, published February, 2015

Synopsis by Publisher's Weekly: Elva, a girl with an upturned nose whose hair is never quite tidy, hears a neighbor’s enchanting music through the hedge and asks her parents for a violin. Ray’s (Go to Sleep, Little Farm) prose softens their refusal by giving it lilt and rhythm: “She asked them both. She asked with please. But they hadn’t heard what Elva heard. And they said no.” Elva, undeterred, continues to dream. She grows up, works, loves her dog, grows gray—and buys, at last, a violin. Ray’s story is not a fairy tale—Elva never masters the instrument—but Tusa’s (Marlene, Marlene, Queen of Mean) image of the earnest woman standing amid much smaller child students at their first recital has a deep sweetness. Quiet humor (Elva’s dog lying belly-up on the floor, defeated by his mistress’s terrible intonation) provides a tender accompaniment to this meditation on fulfilling one’s dreams. The last spread, in which Elva soars into the air with her violin, borne aloft on strains of music, offers a vision of the only kind of success that really matters. Ages 4–8

Juna's Jar 

by Jane Bahk, published February, 2015

School Library Journal Synopsis: PreS-Gr 2—Charming soft watercolor illustrations and a sweet story that tugs at the imagination provide a flight of fancy that youngsters will enjoy hearing again and again. Little Juna and her friend Hector share adventures in the park across the street from their apartment building in Koreatown. Interesting critters and other items go into Juna's empty kimchi jar to be studied, then released. When Hector moves away, Juna's older brother, Minho, observing her sadness, buys her a small fish, gives her a small bean plant grown at school, then helps her find twigs and leaves in the park to provide a habitat for a cricket. Each night, the kimchi jar takes Juna on a fabulous journey. The goldfish takes her on an undersea adventure, growing so large that it must be transferred to the family aquarium. The bean plant transports her to a tropical rainforest, then is moved to a large pot on the balcony; the cricket carries Juna over city buildings to the window of Hector's bedroom, where his stone-filled kimchi jar sits on a windowsill near his bed. Seeing Hector safe and happy allows Juna to move on and make a new friend at the park. Hoshino's delightful detail-filled paintings of Juna's nighttime adventures show smiling sea creatures, sloths, monkeys and crocodiles, and a city alive with activity, illuminated by vehicle headlights "that lit up the hill like a string of holiday lights." Use this title inpreschool storytimes or in the classroom to stimulate leaps of imagination.—Susan Scheps

Millie's Chickens 

by Brenda Williams published March, 2015

Synopsis by School Library Journal: K-Gr 2—This sweet British import features a rhyming text that highlights various aspects of poultry care. "Here are the chicks,/Hatching out well,/Pecking their way/From inside the shell." Appealing illustrations use loose acrylics with saturated color. Millie's idyllic backyard is filled with plants, a slide, a clothesline, and happily pecking chickens. One of Millie's hens, Silkie, gets lost, but is quickly found with a clutch of eggs, and Millie is kept contentedly busy looking after the chickens and their new baby chicks. Endpapers feature an assortment of heritage breed chickens on a soft blue background. The back matter includes a colorful illustrated glossary and informative text on keeping chickens, chicken anatomy, parts of an egg, and the life cycle of chickens as well as suggestions of different cooking methods for eggs. VERDICT An appealing picture book answer to the question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"—Madigan McGillicuddy

How was your week, friends? Have a blessed weekend and thank you for reading here!

Come With Me; Cast Worries Away

"I'm so excited, Mommy!" Paul shared the night before. "I can't believe we're going to the Cleveland Zoo!"

We've wanted to go there for ten years, but owning a house and repairing it frequently swallows up these dreams all too often. Saturday was Educator's Day, gifting us with four free tickets.

So, there we were after all these years. The animals were wonderful to observe. We all felt pretty blessed, except that Peter's OCD took away his smile most of the trip, and Mary's anxiety over storms and car breakdowns reared its ugly head as well. Beth's arthritis means she can't walk all over the zoo like a typical six year old. Thirty minutes in and she needed a stroller, over which I received some surprised and nasty glances due to her height and age. To some, she looked pampered and spoiled and lazy in her stroller and I had to consciously ignore the stares. I knew it wasn't fruitful to dwell on them.

The day seemed to represent life in all its messy gloriness. Legitimate heaviness was there, sure, but if I chose to focus on it, I missed the blessings all around...my excited little girls, Mary skipping with joy all over the zoo, Paul making sketches of the animals, and God's glory reflected in every creature.

Life is astoundingly hard. Sometimes the days just seem full of uphill climbs. Sometimes it seems there's nothing to look forward to but more hills the next day. Hope can get lost as our chests and hamstrings burn from the exertion.

I encounter ugliness, but I also find God's grace around every bend, eclipsing the pain. He doesn't make the pain go away, I'm afraid; that isn't his modus operandi most of the time.

Instead, he changes our perception of the pain by passing his glory over it. Our pain remains, but we're distracted from it by his awesome display of glory. Awe struck by his love, we lift our eyes off of ourselves and weep with joy over his presence.

He provides sustenance for us daily, just as I bake and provide the daily bread here. Homemade bread has no preservatives; you can't bake ahead even if you had the time. You bake and eat, bake and eat, bake and eat, as though it's manna in the desert, falling at just the right time.

Is there security in this method?

Well, it depends on whom or what you're depending on for your security. If you're depending on Momma, then no. Sunday morning I don't bake bread. I get six people ready for church. Saturday morning I get distracted by trying to catch the house up and sometimes forget to bake bread.

So, no. Momma's method for delivering bread is only secure five out of seven days...not very good odds, with two breadless days.

God's manna delivery is secure, if we seek first His kingdom. We don't need to awake with anxiety, wondering if our hunger will gnaw away at us all day. We can awake with joy, knowing God will provide.

Abraham put his son Isaac on the alter in Genesis 22 and appeared to be ready to murder him. How strange, I've always thought. What parent goes through with those motions?

Isaac inquired about the source of the burnt offering, saying “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

And Abraham want on preparing to burn his son.

The Offering of Isaac - Genesis 22 (source here)22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go tothe land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Should I give the tithe on Sunday, knowing he'll provide for the broken door next week? Or do I fix the door...or the toilet...or the rusting bottom of the van, whichever the case may be, and then put the leftovers in the offering plate?

If your pattern is to store up your manna, then you'll choose to forgo the plate until your broken things are fixed...if that ever happens. If you look to God daily for your needs, knowing he doles out as needs arise, then you'll confidently have money ready for the plate--and not any less than last week.

The longer I live--the more that goes wrong in my life--the more I see exactly why Paul the Apostle uttered it: To live is Christ, to die is gain.

Nothing matters except the Gospel. Jesus didn't save us so we could enjoy conveniences and perks. He didn't save us so we could have everything working well in our bodies and minds and houses and cars, or to have the time or money for the things we want.

He saved us hoping we'll identify with him in suffering, bringing him glory through our weakness, our ills, our dependence. He saved us to be banners of love, receiving from Him vertically and handing out His spiritual riches horizontally. He saved us to advance the gospel through us.

To live is to walk with Christ, even on the narrow, uphill, barely-there trails. To live is to never wonder if the manna is really coming. To live is to know that His grace is sufficient, his love divine and perfect.

To live is to know that a place is prepared for us in our Father's House, and over the next bend, He's waiting for us.

On the trail to the next bend, we need only focus on the blessings all around--the trees, the singing birds, the toiling insects, the hidden crocuses, the wild daffodils, the smell of the pine, the sound of the needles and leaves under our feet, the blue of the sky. The blessings all around us are his graces, his majesty, his glory, his very presence.

Come with me. Cast all your worries away and get lost in the blessings, excited at knowing we'll be face to face with Christ soon, as faithful servants, not ashamed of the gospel.