Bunyan Bit No. 8: Happiness and the Glory of Heaven
If the sight of sin and the love of God accomplishes such an effect in the soul that still experiences doubt, blindness, distrust, and forgetfulness, what will the sight of sin do in the soul that has been swallowed up by love, the soul that is no longer selfish, not even tempted to be, because all the faculties of both soul and body have been passed through the sieve of love and grace. Now they are strained so fine that they have reached perfection. They have hit the center of glory’s target.
Oh, what wisdom and goodness God has, for on the day of judgment He uses even the worst of our qualities, those things that would naturally tend to sink us and damn us, to our advantage. All things really do work together for good for those who love God. The very sins that brought a curse on the world, that split the heart-blood of our dearest Savior, that separated His innocent soul from God, these same sins will, through His wisdom and love, exalt His grace–and they will set our hearts on fire with love for Him forever and ever.
– John Bunyan, The Riches of Bunyan (p. 378)
Makin’ Me Smile – Fall 2008
Some of the things making me smile lately:
- Silly sisters and their girltalk
- Our foyer and dining/school room
- Alecia and our neighborhood CFA
- The poor babydolls!
- My silly husband
- Cold Fall outings
- Sweet, goofy children
Why do you give presents?
Why do you give presents?
The Shepherd’s Press Blog has some great thoughts as “orange to red” season begins. Of course the ideas can be applied to any loved one or friend, not just children. I like the following excerpts:
Don’t use a pile of presents under the tree as a substitute for your failings as a parent. Atonement was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, not by a Sony Wii purchased on a credit card. Give gifts simply because you love others and desire to give them good gifts. Purity is expressed by joy in the very act of giving. This means that there are more important gifts to give your children than ones that you can wrap…
Holy giving means that you can give the gift knowing that this gift will please God and help your child honor God. A new bike can be given as an expression of love and a means of helping your child actively enjoy the creation. Or it can be an attempt to earn his loyalty and cooperation. One way is holy and the other is not.
I’m past the young adult chapter and now into the parenthood chapter when it comes to Christmas presents. I’ll just say that now it’s a whole different ball game. My husband and I are trying to honor God in this area, and it is not always easy. How about you? What are your thoughts on holiday gift-giving? Have you held lifelong traditions, or have your opinions / convictions changed over time?
That One
While putting away laundry with me today, my kids broke out in their very own original mantra.
Of course my hilarity and response did nothing but encourage them to keep going. Well, this is about as political as my blog gets.
No, ’tis not a Toy Story alien rendition. If you need an explanation, here ya go! 
Open-book
Eric and I went on a lunch date yesterday, and on the way out of his office at church he grabbed a book and handed it to me. “I want you to read this chapter,” he said with a smile. The book was Donald Whitney’s Simplify Your Spiritual Life.
I want to share this with you. Perhaps you can breathe it, and it will encourage you today in the same way that has for me. I now have Bibles open in several rooms in our house, and already today it has made the biggest difference as I work, teach, cook, give correction, clean, and try to be open to whatever else God has for me today as a mom.
Do What You Can
I admire Jean Fleming. She’s been both a home and overseas missionary. She boldly and winsomely shares her faith, makes a priority of discipling other Christian women, and leads Bible studies. She actively supports her husband’s full-time ministry, frequently opens her home for Christian hospitality, and serves in her local church. In her home and halfway across the country she’s cared for both physically and mentally impaired relatives for long periods. The Flemings have raised three children and now enjoy their role as grandparents. Through it all Jean has written several books and articles.
She was converted in her late teens. Discipled well from the start, Jean thrived on a spiritual diet strong on disciplines like the reading, studying, and meditating on God’s Word, prayer, fellowship, service, evangelism, worship, silence and solitude, journal-keeping, and Scripture memory. She felt herself making spiritual progress almost daily. All this continued after she married her equally-dedicated husband, Roger.
Then she had three children in diapers. Caring for their most basic needs eliminated almost every moment of the time she used to devote to caring for her soul. Her longings for the things of God reached as high as ever, but her time and energy had new and severe limits.
On at least three occasions I’ve eavesdropped as Jean addressed young moms in similar situations. In effect she’s told them, “At this time in your life, you can’t do what you’re used to doing. You don’t have time for all your heart desires to experience in your spiritual life. Nevertheless, do what you can do, even though it’s precious little. Just don’t deceive yourself by thinking that you can put off a devotional life until you have more time. Because when the years roll around and you finally do have more time, your spiritual habits will be so ingrained that you won’t give more attention to your devotional life at all.”
Then I heard Jean tell her own story. She would keep Bibles open in several rooms—in the kitchen, nursery, bathroom—and look at them when she could. While warming a bottle or changing a diaper, she’d glance over and perhaps read only one verse. But this discipline helped her keep the Word in her heart and the presence of God in her awareness. And as the children’s needs grew less demanding, her disciplines were already in place to receive any additional time she could give them. Even though Jean felt almost spiritually dormant during those years in comparison to her early growth as a Christian, she kept alive the spiritual disciplines through which her soul would blossom in years to come.
Like Jean with three in diapers, you may be in a situation that curtails many of your spiritual activities. You may be looking at many months or even years of such limitations. Do what you can. God does not love us more when we do more, nor less when we do less. He accepts us, not because of what we do for Him, but because of what He’s done for us in Christ.
The Bible says, “He made us accepted in the Beloved [that is, Jesus]” (Ephesians 1:6). And nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). Love God, and within the limitations He has sovereignly placed in your life at this time, do what you can.
– Donald Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life
Letting Go
As parents surely we do this more times than we like. No one likes to talk about it really because it can be a yucky part of life. I’m certainly not the first to think about this subject, and I have written about it in the past. The last several days God has been reminding me again of its importance and great necessity. It takes great faith to see your own children with God’s eyes. I am often shortsighted and stubborn, but the sufficiency of Christ’s death and resurrection sustains my hope.
What child is this
I want to be careful to protect my Lydia with what I write, yet I don’t want to miss writing and sharing the lesson I am learning. After all I feel that so much of the road of parenthood is plowing the soil of our own hearts before we can lead them on the journey. I am groping my way through the most recent chapter of “the firsts” with my oldest daughter who will be five in a few weeks, and admittedly I am squirming in discomfort. My baby is growing up, and every moment reveals the mystery unfolding before my eyes. She is everything you expect a five year-old girl to be. She is beautiful, inquisitive, cautious, and sure of herself – all at the same time. And gosh I love her.
Ring, Ring…leave a message
While I’m trying to figure her out, I can’t help but notice that she’s running faster than me. I can’t keep up with her. No matter how hard I try, at the end of every day I feel as though time has 
slipped through my fingers, and I’m longing to peer into her heart. It pains me in those quiet moments, and like other mothers with many children close in age, I frown and wonder if I’ll ever feel satisfied with the attention she’s getting. (And I stay home full time!) I would cry and despair if not for the gospel, which clears up the fog in my head that is tempted to believe worldly thoughts characterized by child-centered parenting and behavior modification. My goal is to have grace reign in our home, to keep the phone lines of communication open between us and the children, and to be patient as God works in all of us. The balance is not easy; in fact it is probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. Lest you think that this is just another target for my bent toward intensity, I assure you that my husband has shared my heavy heart. How do parents without Christ do it?!
Tension
We have had to correct, instruct, and discipline Lydia so much in the last few weeks, and we noticed the struggles intensifying while we were on a recent trip. It has been the same thing over and over – selfish pride. Details aside, the constant battles we have fought with her have been one frustrating scenario after another that could be avoided were it not for her me-first attitude. At one point she told Eric and me that she didn’t want to play with her siblings because they weren’t pretty like her. Anyone who has children (over the age of 15 months) can agree that these are the kinds of moments that pretty much set the records straight that children are sinners in need of saving grace!
During all of this I have attempted to look the other way for a short time, simply because I had to focus on some other short-term responsibilities. It was strange because during the day at home I was by grace able to correct without losing it, and Eric and I were doing the best we could in the evenings to teach together and talk to her. Yet I could feel the tension mounting. This weekend we were up in our hometown to celebrate my high school reunion, which was great, but every single time I had to instruct Lydia, she would look and speak to me with such heart-breaking disrespect. I expect a different atmosphere when we are traveling to see our families because everyone is excited; there are expectations of toys, action and adventure, and a sudden shift of where they see their authority. I feel like I have gotten better over time at being flexible with this, but this weekend was challenging. I don’t think anyone saw the difficulty I was having with her but God and me. However during a meal one of my sisters mentioned that she was acting out very badly, and she asked, “Why do you think she does that?” I bluntly responded, “Because she’s human and a sinner.” She said that the kids she watches every day don’t act like that (they can come play at my house any day!), and although I know she wasn’t trying to be hurtful, I couldn’t help but think about that remark for a while after that. My mind started…
Do my kids really act worse than other kids?
Is there something that triggers this around our families that we could prevent?
When they are at church, everyone always says they behave wonderfully, but are they just trying to be nice?
Are we really breeding future hypocrites?
Mighty to Save
On Sunday before we drove home we visited a church that is home for many of our friends. As one of my husband’s friends led us in worship, I glanced at Lydia, who was sulking beside me in the chair. I asked her to leave her toys in the van, which we always do for church, but today you would have thought I ran over her toys with the van. I closed my eyes and let my heart wrap itself around these words:
Everyone needs compassion
Love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
The kindness of a Saviour
The hope of nations
Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender
I weep now as I remember that moment. All of a sudden I could feel my terribly wound up spirit, so tense from attempting to be in control. Almost audibly I again heard my Father speaking with power, “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” Something so marvelous blocked my thoughts from going through any other door. In my broken weakness, I felt a sudden rush of hope, and my mind’s eye fixed itself on Jesus Christ, immovable, sitting on His throne. This Jesus I know: He is mighty to save. He will take my fears and failures. He is the author of salvation.
Joy
You can see from the length of this post that all of this has been on my mind quite a bit since Sunday morning. “Child of mine, I love her more than you could ever fathom,” says God to my heart. “But, what if she doesn’t… what if she always….what if she never…?” I continue. Honestly I see with 
clarity that my biggest hurdle is I am trying to control her heart, and the truth is that no one can fully know and change one’s heart but God. I can wind myself up in a million strands of tension, but it will do absolutely nothing to change her heart. The heart of stone does not melt into flesh by human will (or a mother’s constant prodding or scheming). So again my Father is giving me the same gift of faith that He will have to give to my daughter.
And do you know what that does for me? It gives me joy – real, sufficient, serene joy. I can smile and shepherd her heart with joy and peace knowing that she ultimately belongs to Him. I have to let go. I must remember that my job is to be faithful, to love and nourish her heart and mind under the leadership of my husband, and in that service is my worship. No matter what that may look like to anyone else, it looks like faith to God, and we know how He sees this kind of faith. In that joy my wandering heart can find anchor and stand. And the rest is up to God.
Shine Your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory of the risen King
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