This and That and a Teaser

Looking at pictures of my children after the house is quiet and they're all asleep, always emotionally charges me. What an awesome responsibility! What an indescribable blessing!  What a grueling task, many days, physically and emotionally speaking, for the mother....just caring for their daily needs and shaping them to be Christ followers.  I look at the day's photos and remember my failures, my triumphs, as a mother.

Most of the time, I conclude that only my prayers will save them.  I'm too flawed to reap the miracles I want for their hearts.  My prayers change me, if not them......and by changing me, the Holy Spirit shapes them.

Somehow, looking at pictures in a quiet house, I know what the answer is:  A mother's faithful prayers.

The park is my favorite outing.  Always.  I love the way they push themselves, showing confidence and spunk.  I love it when they call for me, wanting to show me their feats.  I love their joy!  Being outside the confines of the house, with its never-caught-up imperfection, does us all good.

Here is our most recent Monarch, ready for release after drying its wings and consuming its chrysallis coating.

Titus Treefrog food.  Does he look like he knows his fate?

This morning Husband took Peter to a nearby nature park, having signed him up to participate in a children's nature photography class.  I use that word "class" loosely.  Instruction wasn't involved, but we did get a good printed sheet with some suggestions.  Regardless, this free outing blessed Peter very much. In two weeks he goes back to be presented with an 8X10 photo of his best picture, which the ranger determined to be the dragonfly shown below.

I am so proud of Peter!  We have a terribly cheap digital camera, with focusing issues.  Someday I hope to invest in a camera that Peter can use to learn a marketable skill--nature photography.  If training your child in the way he should go includes pointing him in the direction his gifts and passions take him, then just maybe, Peter's calling will be to point people to the Father by taking photos that prove His majesty.

Peter most certainly feels closer to God after a day out in nature.  Whatever deficits his neurological problems cause seem to be lessened, soothed, by nature. This has been proven, and is called green therapy.  My husband, too, feels relief through nature.

The turtle and the following photos, up until the bubble play outside our house, are all Peter's work.

Enjoy!

Psalm 19:1
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Peter will receive an 8X10 of this photo.  Yeah!  He's so excited.

Genesis 1:31
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Psalm 50:2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

Exciting announcement:

Shaun Groves, Christian musician and spokesman for Compassion International, has a new album coming out on August 30.  He asked his blog readers to help him promote the album.  Considering him one of the heroes of the faith, I'm a loyal blog follower.  I jumped at the chance to ask him three questions, as detailed in his post.  Honestly, I wasn't sure he'd respond, since I have less than a hundred readers and I don't use Facebook or Twitter.  He has FBI-type ways to check into a person's blog traffic and internet use.  Creepy, isn't it?  

Anyhow, since he's such a stand-up guy, he did respond, and his answers were outstanding...witty and inspired!  Few people read blogs on the weekends, so I will wait until Monday or Tuesday to post the interview. Tease.  Be on the lookout for it!  

Listen to his new album, Third World Symphony, here:   http://soundcloud.com/shaungroves/sets/third-world-symphony

You can purchase it here:   http://shaungroves.com/store/third-world-symphony/

5 steps to better prayer

The secret to effective prayer is simple.

1. pray
2. pray some more
3. pray even more
4. pray more than before
5. pray more than ever before

Start with ten minutes, work up to an hour a day.  Soon, you'll enter prayer continuously, effortlessly.

You learn to pray by praying.  It's not easy at the beginning, as you work to defeat Satan and develop a habit.  Satan, of course, hates when a Christian develops a spiritual habit. The word habit is viral to him.

But soon, you will defeat him, and if you stick with it, your life will resemble Abraham Lincoln's telling quote:

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go."  Abraham Lincoln

"We learn prayer's deepest depths in prayer, not from books.  We reach prayer's highest heights in prayer, not from sermons.  The only place to learn prayer, is in prayer, bent and broken on our knees." Dick Eastman

Do you still think you don't have time?  Consider this:

Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work. Oswald Chambers 

How is it going this week, friends?  Easier than last week?

Drifting Away From God: A How-to Guide

How do you drift away from God?  Let's count the ways.

~ Worry about your problems.  A lot.

~ Spend a great deal of time looking for solutions to your problems.....do Google searches, ask the experts, read self-help books, make pro and con lists.  Be proactive and ready for anything.

~ When you're not busy solving your problems, go shopping and get new things. You deserve nice things.  You work hard.

~ Keep your distance from other people's problems and hardships.  You don't need that stuff dragging you down.  Besides, they probably made their bed.......let 'em lie in it now.

~ Keep up with all the news, the trends, the hotspots.  Be sure 'n look cool.  Be the trendsetter, even! 

~ Talk a lot.....on the phone, in person, through e-mail, through social media.  Let your voice be heard!

~ Schedule a lot of things and stay really busy.  Smart people are on the move. Yeah, baby!

~ Don't pay any attention to brightly dressed flowers, that funny chipmunk, those creepy crawly caterpillars, that songbird, those amazing cloud formations, that peachy pink sunset.  Such things will waste your time.  You aren't Ferdinand the Bull, after all......are you? What did he ever accomplish?

~ Consider that in this big world, with such diverse people, there can't really be Absolute Truth.  Everyone needs to find their own truth.  What works for you? What fits for you?  A loving existence rests in our willingness to be all-inclusive.

~ Purposely build yourself up.  Keep all eyes on you, baby!  Be the center of attention.  Tell about your amazing list of accomplishments.

~ Never say you're sorry.  Never admit defeat.  Never admit fault.  Stand strong and firm.  You are invincible.  Believe it!

telling of His wonderful deeds

Psalm 75:1
We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks, for your Name is near; men tell of your wonderful deeds.


My Gratitude List

~ Miss Beth finishing her nap in my happy arms.....me, awed by the blessing she is.

~ Putting a towel around a shivering poolside toddler

~ Husband feeling positive about a job interview (he has a 20-hour job and a 30-hour job...this would be a replacement for the 30-hour job (much better hours, slightly better pay, paid sick and holiday time, pay raises, vacation after a year).  In a recessed economy, you do the best you can.

~ Miss Mary being the perfect sister........she's Paul's art companion, Peter's nature companion, Beth's playroom companion.

~ Peter sitting by the kiddy pool with his bird field guide

~ An eight-year-old penpal from India....filling my heart like one of my own

~ Huge (larger than my girls) stuffed dog at the library, delighting my girls

~ Titus Treefrog delighting my children as he snatches up crickets with lightening speed (now that's an exciting pet!)

~ The Holy Spirit having me drift in and out of prayer all day

~ Peter passing me in the hallway, telling me, "I prayed for our penpal...that she would not be hungry today." Hugging my thanks, I fight back the tears.  The Holy Spirit lives in my son!  Hallelujah!  I knew it was so, but when I see evidence like this, I'm still awed.

~ Changing a messy number two--done in a bathingsuit with no swimmy diaper--that required a shower, then having my toddler say, "Kiss me?" as she happily went back out to play.  Oh, the sweetness of that kiss..and the smile that accompanied it.  I won't miss diapers, but I'll greatly miss the little people who wear them!  Sniff, sniff.

~ Never tiring, year after year, of watching monarch caterpillars become monarch butterflies.  The imagination God has!  So enchanting to witness!

~ Boys filling a balloon with water and freezing it, so they can play bowling on the driveway with water bottles from the recycling box, using their ice ball. :)  They learned that it takes more than one day to solidly freeze the water.  This is try #1.  George, that curious monkey, put them up to this.  The new library we're using has episodes they haven't seen.  So daily it seems, they are trying new science and engineering-type schemes.

~ Playing Jenga as a family

~ Miss Mary asking questions about the breakfast Bible passage

FYI:  The number to call for a Compassion penpal......800-336-7676

Into a Life of Prayer; A Journey, Part 6

Links for earlier posts in this prayer series are here:   Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

The Lord's Prayer, Our Model, Vol. 3
We're back to our study of the Lord's Prayer this week, exploring the first three petitions:

1) Hallowed be Thy name;  2) Thy kingdom come;  3) Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

These petitions are related in that they all include the keyword Thy.  Our first lesson here is that our prayers should focus first on God and on His Kingdom.  Now, if you're desperate to speak to Father--we're all desperate at times, aren't we?--he's certainly not going to be fussy about the form of your prayer. Generally speaking though, focus first on God.  His kingdom is more important than even of our individual problems. Intentionally structuring our prayers this way helps put our problems in perspective.

These petitions are alike in another way, too. They all ask for the return of Christ.  This is a hard thing, depending on how close we are to Father, or on how much we've suffered in this life.  We must remember.....we are supposed to want Christ to return, right now. That means, we shouldn't hope that our baby is born first, or that we'll get married before he comes, or that we'll move into a new home and plant that coveted garden before he comes.  Those are earthly matters.  Temporary. This is not our home...we are pilgrims here.

So, we are directed to pray for Christ's return.  This too, helps us gain perspective.

When you think about it, don't many of our sins arise from a lack of perspective?  Complaining, selfishness, ungratefulness, impatience, self-indulgence....they are all related to lack of perspective....a me focus.  The Lord's Prayer speaks to this problem in our lives.  The structure and meaning of it help us get over ourselves, so we can obey the greatest commandment.


Matthew 22:35-37
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.


All prayer, done rightly, adjusts our gaze....taking it off of ourselves, and putting it squarely on the Father.


Now we'll go through each of these three petitions individually, starting with Hallowed by They Name, explained below by G. Hugenberger (because he's a theologian, and I'm clearly not):

In more modern English with this petition we are simply praying “may Your name be held holy”. The Scriptures teach that God will finally and decisively vindicate the holiness of His name only when Jesus Christ comes again (Romans 2:24; Isaiah 52:5.6; Ezekiel 36:21-23; Philippians 2:9-11). From that point God’s name will never again be dragged though the mud, whether by His own people or by His enemies. For this reason when we pray this petition, we are in fact praying for the return of the Saviour.

It is clear, however, that God can answer this plea in a more limited way by afresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit who is mighty to help His people honor the name of God (rather than continue to be a reproach to His name) and to grant repentance to those outside who still despise His name (Acts 15:14; Romans 10:13ff.; John 12:28). 

Next, we'll consider Thy Kingdom Come, also explained by G. Hugenberger:

Here in the most blatant way we are asking for our Lord’s return (Matthew 6:33; Revelation 22:20; II Timothy 4:1,18; Matthew 25:34; Daniel 7).

Nevertheless this petition also may be answered in a more limited way in this life through the work of the Holy Spirit subduing the hearts of men allowing Christ’s Kingly reign to be effective there. (Romans 14:17,18; Colossians 1:11-14; Romans 8:23; II Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14). Indeed, the Holy Spirit is the pledge and foretaste of the Kingdom of God, our heavenly inheritance. 

Lastly, we'll consider Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, explained by G. Hugenberger also:

As with the first two petitions, this one also can only be finally and decisively answered with the return of Christ --- only then will God’s Will be done on earth with the wholehearted love and joy that is found in heaven. (II Peter 3:13; I Corinthians 15:24-28; I John 3:20). Obviously this is not meant to deny that God sovereignly rules over all things even in this life (Psalm 99; Ephesians 1:11)—the point is that only then will the obedience be conscious and willing, in a universe purified of every taint of fallenness.

 Once again in a partial way this petition also may be answered now through the work of the Holy Spirit convicting men of sin (John 16: 8-11) and securing righteousness in believers (I Peter 1:2; Galatians 5:16-25) and effecting various miracles of healing and blessing as were accomplished through our Lord Jesus (Matthew 12:28; John 1:32 – and as continues by the church, I Corinthians 12:10).

The last three petitions, to be discussed next time, all share the keyword us.

~ Give us this day our daily bread
~ And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
~ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.