A Cheerful Receiver?

So, last week, as we were finishing up our school year with our Recognition Ceremony and preparing for my daughter's dance recital, things began to fall apart! Did I mention that we were also packing to go on Vacation? So, with the car doing something weird,  the AC in the house not cooling (it's already in the 90s outside), the fridge decides to take a vacation too and the hot water heater in the attic left a nice wet spot on the ceiling!

In the midst of all this, my husband and I stopped again and prayed about whether or not to keep our vacation plans this year in light of all that was going on. While we were off praying in various parts of the house, some friends came over and blessed us with some extra money.

The whole point in me telling you this is to discuss being a cheerful receiver. 

Scripture says in Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." 2 Corinthians 9:7 also says that "God loveth a cheerful giver." It is very clear as we read that giving is to come out of the abundance of a heart for God. It's not a duty to check off our list, but a chance to be a part of kingdom work.

Being on the receiving side is sometimes hard!  It is hard to disregard PRIDE yelling in our ears that "we don't need help."  Don't let your pride, or embarrassment take away the blessings God wants to bestow on you!  Whether it's money, groceries, someone giving you a ride or just a simple cup of coffee, humbly and with joy, accept your blessing; and remember, if you refuse, you are also stealing a blessing from the one trying to follow after God's prompting!

So the next time God prompts someone to do a good thing for you, smile and say thank you.  If he is prompting you to move and bless someone around you...what are you waiting for? Jump in the water feels great!

We thank our friends for following the prompting of the Spirit.  We thank the Lord for quick answered prayers! The fridge is working, the hot water heater is no longer leaking, and now that we are home from vacation, we can tackle the AC and car. 
 
God is GOOD...  ALL THE TIME!  

Seclusion is a LIE

I am always amazed how the Lord gently reminds me of thoughts and resolves I have made in the past.

I am currently reading through Dancing With My Father, by Sally Clarkson.  It is a book on what REAL joy is for a believer.  The last couple chapters I have read are focused on relationships.  How our deepest joy can be found through the course of "laying-down-our-lives" relationships.  Where my wants and desires are not always on the top of the list. Where encouraging and breathing life into an other's day should be natural and overflowing, not fake, like bloating someones ego, but pure and from the a heart that is overflowing from my relationship with the Creator and the love he has for me.

I have always been a people person, outgoing and.  I moved to a rural town and now live on the outskirts of town.  I don't know but a handful of people that live in my town, and that is to my detriment.  Because I don't attend one of the denominational churches in my town and I homeschool my children, my circle is very small.  I have a handful of GREAT, Godly women who I have invested my life in around me. I also have a group of families that share our homeschooling lifestyle that have become those dear friends. Because life is so different for me here in rural America, I have lied to myself and have begin to believe that I don't like people!  That I enjoy the seclusion my acreage affords me.

At first, this lie was a defense mechanism to wart away the pain of loneliness.  I was my way of stopping the tears of not a "bosom" friend, or even a surface one for that matter.  But over the course of 10 years...the lie has become a reality to me.

I believe that I don't want to invest time, that it's not worth it, that I like my little circle. THAT IS NOT BIBLICAL!!!!  Jesus did not come down from Heaven and pour himself into immature people that questioned Him on everything for me to sit around like a hermit because I simply lied to myself to make me feel better.  SPARE ME!

I need to be out there. To open my home to people, not just my friends. To love on people the way my mom taught me.  To enjoy the children coming in and out of my children's lives.  To make myself vulnerable to others again.  Not to be a doormat, but to again be genuine in my loving.

I am resending the lie that I don't like people.  Better yet, I am reforming TRUTH that I in fact LOVE people.  Which, is how my heart feels! So, from now on I am taking my thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, who layed down his life for me, and for all mankind because of his overwhelming LOVE for us.

Gotta run to Bible Study!

 

Parenting...Do You Exemplify Christ?

William Sergeant Kendall, Fairy Tale, 1900

This morning I opened my Daily Light Devotional book. It was originally printed in the 1800s by a man named Johnathan Bagster, who compiled the writings after the teachings of his father, Samuel. I love the way the scriptures are put together.

Today is the 9th of March...I thought it was the 8th, so I read the "wrong" entry, but God is not a God of happenstance! The 8th is rich for me today.

You have cast all my sins behind your back.

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

“For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.—“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.—The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Isa. 38:17; Mic. 7:18, 19; Isa. 54:7, 8; Jer. 31:34; Ps. 32:1, 2; 1 John 1:7 (ESV)

As I read, my children were fresh on my thoughts. What a picture of Godly discipleship this is to me.  The picture is not spelled out for us in fluffy bunnies, lavashing our children with all the "luxuries" we can afford.  It is also not the the picture painted of the hard thumb keeping our children in militant restraint. It is parenting from Forgiveness, Grace and Compassion.

As a parent we are given these blessing, whom will "arise up, and call her blessed" (Proverbs 31:28) if we are following after God's design as a parent. "He does not retain his anger forever, because he dlights in steadfast love." Forgive (not keeping score!), move on, delight in the steadfast love of God and pour it onto your children.

We are the reflection of Christ to our children. We have the mighty priviledge of showing them, first hand, what Christ is like.  He is Just, having rules, or guidelines in which to live.  He is Loving, having a heart to forgive when we overstep.  He is Compassionate, reminding us through his Spirit and Word how to live.

Take time to pray today and ask God to help you see your children the way he sees them.  Ask Him if you are weighted to one side in discipline.  Are you too rule oriented, or maybe you have extended too much Grace and your children can no longer find the bounderies. Scripture tells us 2 Peter 1:3 that we have been given everything pertaining to life and Godliness...even how to raise children that will "rise up and call her blessed" Proverbs 31:28.

Quiet My Busyness

This is one of 2 weekends a year that I look forward to the 364 other days of the year. I am going to a Mom Heart Conference for refreshing, vision renewal, time with other Moms, a great hotel room and GREAT food!

I have noticed that in all the excitement and the list of things to prepare...I tend to get VERY tired. By the time I finish all my gathering...I just need a NAP. So, this week I am going to wade in the still waters that the Lord has for me. I want to feel as though I have been refreshed BEFORE I am off...trying to get refreshed and soak in all the great teachings.

I need to prepare my soil to be a fertile ground so that I can take in all the great things God wants to tell me, remind me of, or teach me about this weekend. When it's time to plant, you don't just start throwing the seed out and expect anything to grow! You have to plow the field and ready the soil and THEN plant. I want to be prepare so I can get all God has for me.

My prayer for the women speaking is that they too will have a less hurried week. That they too have been able to take a few moments to bask in the quiet still waters of God. That He will fill them to overflowing, so they can pour out the words he has placed on their hearts.

Have a GREAT week!
Katie

White as Snow

My son took this picture in our front yard...not as much snow as the back...but beautiful just the same!

This morning when I woke and peered out of my sheets, I beheld a beautiful, rare sight...snow covered branches and grass. There was gentle flakes still falling down. Again...Texas...this is RARE. I love the whiteness. I love how "clean" it looks. It covers all the mud we have been tromping around in for weeks. It makes the old table behind my house look charming again.

I got out of bed to go outside to listen to the snowfall. I am, and probably always will be, a Texas girl but my heart lives in the mountains of Colorado. I can't explain how snow sounds as it gently lands on branches. It's far different that any other kind of precipitation. And the smell...could it be any better...that cold, crisp scent of snow?

As I watched and listened to the snowfall, I was reminded of a scripture I read on Tuesday. Revelation 7:14b "...and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." What a picture. I was thinking about how the snow covered a multitude of ugliness. In the same way, Christ's blood covers a multitude of human ugliness. Hallelujah! What stuck out to me the most was that His blood doesn't melt away when it gets warmer outside, or we are in the fire of temptation, or when we've messed up! It remains. It's the filter through which the Father see us. He sees us as the beautiful bride in her white dress...waiting, preparing, longing for Him. Even when our dress has a stain...He sees the Blood of the Lamb that washes us white as snow. "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red as crimson, they will be as wool" Isaiah 1:18.

I want to take a snapshot of the trees in my mind and apply it to my heart. To see myself as God sees me. If we remember what we look like, we begin to act in that manner as well. Now that's food for thought.

I'm going to load cameras with batteries for my children to take pictures, make a hot breakfast and enjoy this beautiful day.

Blessings to you all as you go about your day!

Katie