Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Altar

Friends' harsh words and untrue accusations they sting and cut. What good can be found here?

I struggle to find the gift, the purpose.

I reflect on words in haste years past all my own and am thankful for grace.

I unwrap the unexpected a piece at a time...the chance to lay down pride, forgive the unjustness, extend love, and find hope.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

Putting it all to death for our friends...isn't that what He showed us?

This fleshy Holy one whose feet walked the path first and we, in all our unworthiness, can stumble behind meshing out what it looks like for us in the dailys.



Days run into each other, I feel the hurt resurface and I see the grace all around me. It's there in little ones faces, hugs of grown boys, trees dancing with fresh buds, words on paper that draw deep.



We have choices as women do we not? It's bound to happen...this topsy-turvy, messy world where our sin abounds and we stammer out life one day at a time flailing in response all wrong.



We pick up pieces, brush off our excuses and justify the selfish. When we hold onto the bitter, the root embeds itself and tangles all else. Choking we cling to remnants of life because we can't see the beauty.



He knew, our Father, how it would hurt, and He made way for us to come undone.

Laid bare before the altar, we toss aside our rights, forget our pride, see our own chipped, broken selves, and there we offer up our thanksgiving.



Sweet, perfumed, drenched in tears our gratefulness comes and we cling to our Saviors feet because that is where He puts us back together. Love that we cannot produce on our own pours forth unabated, we yield and it fills.



Oh, how our Savior He fills.






Saturday, May 14, 2011

You Know When...

You know you just had a high-need baby when....


1. Your laundry piles no longer can be contained or hidden...like King Kong they invade the city (your home) in mass destruction.


2. You walk around all day with your shirt on inside out AND backwards. You are not aware of this until your hubby on arriving home chuckles lightly and informs you.


3. Speaking of clothing...getting "dressed up" just means ACTUALLY getting dressed.


4. Coffee is no longer optional...it is required for basic survival.


5. Clutter piles have become your new favorite way to decorate.


6. You've resorted to cereal as the breakfast of champions.


7. Someone in the grocery store asks you if this is your "first" as you simultaneously bounce fussing, unsoothable baby while unsuccessfully fishing for wallet in spilling diaper bag you mumble and cough "yes."


8. You have not a clue how old your baby is.


9. Grade.4 math stumps you.


10. You fantasize about what it would be like to get sleep in 4 hr increments.


11. You feel pampered when you have time to shave your legs.


12. You thank God for this gift and lesson in humility as you come to the realization that you apparently are NOT the baby "know it all" veteran.








p.s. pix of the little, high-need, well-loved masterpiece coming up soon...that is when I can find my camera amongst the wreckage. :)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Embracing the Mothers Day




In Stacy MacDonald and Jennie Chancey's book "The Passionate Housewives Desperate for God" Dorothy Patterson describes her frustration with societys disdain for the homemaker and its insistence on the replaceability of the wife and mother. The amazing double standard...




"Of course, much of the world would agree that being a housekeeper is acceptable as long as you are not caring for your own home; treating men with attentive devotion would also be right as long as the man is the boss in the office and not your husband; caring for children would even be deemed heroic service for which presidential awards could be given as long as the children are someone else's and not your own."





The world lies to our hearts that caring for our families is not noble, that caring for our homes is bondage.




The word of God speaks of a different promise...



"Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her"


~Proverbs 31:28




Happy Mothers Day to all the beautiful mothers out there serving and loving on their families daily!

Love,

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