Ephesians 5:33

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33

The wife must respect her husband. How do I do that? I respect him by keeping my home in a manner that is respectful of him. While he is at work, I could easily spend my days just taking care of the kids and doing the most basic of housework- the bare minimum necessary. And in fact, that's how it used to be for me. I would let the housework slide all the time, and spend my free time with a book or in front of the TV or a computer. Then there would be one day where he'd be home from work and we'd tackle all the housework at once together. And once we started hosting small group weekly, that became every Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The housework would slide all week long, and then his days off he would have to spend cleaning the house. Why? Because I wanted to be lazy. I wanted to take care of my children and spend my free time relaxing. That's not very respectful of my husband. Sure, I would have dinner on the table when he got home, but there would be a kitchen full of dirty dishes, and most often we would eat in front of the TV because the table was covered with stuff. And what an awful day when someone unexpected would drop in. How embarrassing for my husband to not be able to invite someone in. He would go outside and talk on the front stoop with someone instead of inviting them in.

Somewhere along the way, God started talking to me. He started filling my heart with the desire to respect my husband more. And to me, that respect begins with the housework. It may sound silly, but it is very true. I started with laundry. That was my biggest problem area. I would let it pile up all week, and then Andy would do it all in one fell swoop- because he wanted to be helpful to me. And while I appreciated the help, he shouldn't have to. So I began doing one load of laundry every day. That's about what my family goes through is one load. On the days there are towels or bedding, it's two loads. But it takes two seconds of my morning to put a load of laundry in, that it's become quite the habit for me. I no longer have "laundry day" because I keep it up. In fact, I'm looking forward to warmer weather so that I can hang the laundry outside every morning.

My second chore to tackle was the dishes. Being one who enjoys cooking, and doesn't have a dishwasher, the dishes are the bane of my existence. We would leave the dinner dishes every night until the next morning, when I would do the dishes after getting Abigail to school. I hated coming down the stairs and being greeted by a mountain of dishes, but it was working for us at the time. That's changed too. I now wash dishes at least twice a day. When I am going to spend time cooking in the day, I start by running a sink full of water and washing any dishes that are lurking about. Then the sink is ready to wash dishes as I dirty them, so by them time dinner is ready to eat, there are no dirty dishes. Before we eat, I run another sink of water so that as soon as we're done eating, the dishes go in the sink and are washed in no time. It is such a great feeling when dish doing takes just a few minutes because there aren't very many.

And the rest of the house has taken off from those two simple tasks. I now love the look of my kitchen counter empty. Except that doesn't look as good when the dining room is cluttered and messy, so once the counter is cleared of dirty dishes and crumbs, I take another five minutes to put away the clutter in the dining room and spread a fresh tablecloth on the table. Instantly company ready. And then since I quickly run the vacuum in the dining room, which is connected to the living room, I may as well quickly pick up the living room and vacuum that. Then the clean living room doesn't look as good with that film of dust on everything, so I run a dust cloth and pick up the grime. At that point, my house is ready for company to walk in and be comfortable, and it's only taken me about 30 minutes tops to get to that point. But what if they want to use the bathroom? So I swish the toilet and de-clutter the sink and put out fresh towels- another five minutes. Then I pick up the steps and I think about company dropping in, and if they have children, the kids will undoubtedly play upstairs, so I make sure the kids rooms are acceptable for kids to be playing in. Altogether, cleaning my house from top to bottom takes less than one hour. And we have a bigger house than we used to. By doing this every day (or at the bare minimum every other day) I am being respectful of my husband. Making it so that he doesn't have to worry about a clean house.

And the benefit for me? Well, not only do I have a heart full of gladness and joy because I'm doing what God wants me to do, I also get to enjoy my free time more. If I know the house is clean, I can sit and read a book with a clean conscience. I can enjoy my time to relax, without knowing that there is something else I should be doing. And when my husband comes home from a hard day's work, he can relax and enjoy his time with the kids without having to worry about tossing a load of laundry in the washer. He can invite someone in for a chat or offer our house as a base for meetings and such because it is kept in a state that is respectful to him. I am sooo thankful to God for placing the desire on my heart to better my housekeeping skills. It makes for a happier household all around, and I pray that I am able to continue to be mindful of my time at home- that I may use it to the best of my abilities every day.

Diligence

Just wanted to share a verse I saw in my quiet time one morning.

1 "How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no unrighteousness; They walk in His ways.
4 You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments.
7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn your righteous judgements.
8 I shall keep Your statutes; do not forsake me utterly!" Psalm 119: 1-8

Pay attention to verse four. "You have ordained Your precepts, That we should keep them diligently." DILIGENTLY. How often do I diligently keep His precepts. To me, being diligent in something requires paying specific attention to it, being deliberate in the choices we make, things we say, thoughts we think. I pray that I am diligent in keeping His precepts today!

A Daily Recharge

Being a stay-at-home Mom, sometimes I get a little crazy. There have been times where I truly craved conversation with an adult. The worst for me was when my husband was working out of town for a month at a time, and I was at home with a baby and a preschooler. I spent a lot of time at the computer those days. Despite having dial-up service, I would troll through a couple of bulletin boards just searching for a conversation to be part of. Had I really thought on it, I would have known that there was an answer to that feeling of being trapped. And that is that time that I now have daily with My God. What better companion and conversationalist could I ask for! I open my Bible and receive encouragement and instruction. And I can pray and talk to God and tell him everything that is on my heart that day.

This morning I read Psalm 5. Apparently I'm on a Psalm kick these days, because I just love reading them. I love filling my heart with joy every morning before I really get going. My standout verse today is verse 3.

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation." Psalm 5:3

Had I just picked up my Bible and remembered these verse those few years ago, I probably would have started my alone time with God much sooner. I will say though, that although I have found the early morning to be my time with God, it wasn't always so. I think the beauty of a relationship with God is that you can have that time whenever you have a chance. You find yourself ahead of schedule, or 15 minutes early for a doctor appointment, that is the perfect opportunity for a little heart-to-heart. I can't tell you how much of my prayer time has been spent at the kitchen sink with a mountain of dirty dishes. It makes the chore much more pleasant, to know that I'm chatting with God while I am doing his work in my home. When Andy and I were first married, on the rare occasion we argued, I always ended up doing the dishes. It gave me time to fume by myself and calm down and become rational again. And even though doing dishes is a chore, it's actually soothing to me now, because it usually ends up being a time for reflection and prayer.

A Nice Day

1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.

2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."

3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. ^[b]

4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.

5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

10 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

It's one of those days already. I look outside and see the snow melting before my eyes and see the spring creeping in- I found chive sprouts in my chive bed! For the first time in several days I feel like I have gotten a decent night's sleep, and overall I just woke up in a good mood this morning. I love days like this. I have a load of housework to do, but I will tackle every effort with a song in my heart. It will be a pleasure to pull laundry out of the washer and know that by next week my yard may be dry enough to hang the laundry to dry in the spring air. Tonight as I watch my daughter at ballet class, I will be so thankful to God for giving her the opportunity. And as I watch my son laugh his head off at something silly he heard or saw, I will be so thankful for him and the joy he brings to my life.

God is great! And some days are meant just for remembering that and for spending the day rejoicing in his gladness.

To Offend or Not To Offend

11What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "

12Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"

13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."

15Peter said, "Explain the parable to us." Matthew 15:11-15

I hear all the time that we should be extra careful not to "offend" people these days. What is offend anyway? One of the definitions that Miriam-Webster gives is to cause difficulty, discomfort, or injury; to cause dislike, anger, or vexation. I'm just going to think aloud today, because I confess that this issue of offending people is bothering me as of late. How do we define what offends people and what doesn't? As an extreme thought, if you had disposable paper towels, and you chose to go with the white, bleached version, you could (in theory) offend a person who is passionate about recycling and a green earth because you didn't choose the more organic unbleached towel made from recycled materials. So should we head off the offense on the random chance such a person will walk into our home? To me, that would be just silly. I could be walking down the street with my children singing a Veggie Tale song together, and we could potentially offend someone by singing "Christian lyrics." So should I instruct my children to not sing to the Lord because we don't want to offend? Hardly.

And what about sharing God's Word in general? I think that people have a skewed view of being offended. I have heard of people telling a preacher that they should use a different passage in the Bible when partaking in Communion, because they didn't feel worthy enough to take Communion, and were offended because of that. Darn skippy! No one is worthy. I am soooo not worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus made for me, that is why we celebrate communion together, to remind us of the wonderful gift he gave us of eternal life. It's cause for introspection. If we are uncomfortable with the message, perhaps that is the Holy Spirit gently suggesting we change something in our lives. We KNOW we aren't worthy.

I used the above passage because it shows an instance of offense in the Bible, and Jesus dismissed it. And look what he said! "Leave them." He dismissed their offense and probably further offended them by calling them blind. And later on in the book of John, Jesus was discussing the "Bread of Life" and what we now call communion, with his disciples, and he called them out for being offended by it.

55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. John 6:55-64

We live now in such a PC society, that simply smiling at someone as we pass them in the store can cause them to be offended. We have just started a series at our church called "Walk Across The Room." The concept is to embrace the idea that simply walking across the room and saying hi to someone could lead them to The Love of Christ. It's such a simple, yet wonderful concept. But how do you embrace the idea of "Walking across the room" when there is that fear of offending someone? The answer is that you have to let go of that fear. Yes, there is a chance that you may offend. You can't walk through life being afraid to offend people. You have to accept that on occasion, someone may become offended, but you also have to think that for every one person you offend, there may be 10 more that you could lead to Christ. I think it's high time for us as Christians to stop worrying so much about offending, and worrying more about reaching lost souls. There are so many, and so little time. We have no time to be worried about offending.

Psalm 112

1 Praise the Lord!

How joyful are those who fear the Lord
and delight in obeying his commands.
2 Their children will be successful everywhere;
an entire generation of godly people will be blessed.
3 They themselves will be wealthy,
and their good deeds will last forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly.
They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
5 Good comes to those who lend money generously
and conduct their business fairly.
6 Such people will not be overcome by evil.
Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
7 They do not fear bad news;
they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
8 They are confident and fearless
and can face their foes triumphantly.
9 They share freely and give generously to those in need.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.
They will have influence and honor.
10 The wicked will see this and be infuriated.
They will grind their teeth in anger;
they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

I think that this is one of those days where my usual commentary on a passage in the Bible is not totally necessary. This is a joyful Psalm, and it fills my heart to near-bursting just reading it. One of the things that this passage really highlights is generosity. Verse nine says "they share freely and give generously to those in need." Have you ever noticed that some of the most generous people have little themselves? They are so willing to share what they DO have, their generous spirit is so prevalent. I think of some friends of ours who always seem to be struggling just a bit to make ends meet. On the rare occasion where they find themselves with a little extra in their pockets, the first thing they are trying to do is figure out who needs it, and how they can share their blessing.

Generosity is definitely a learned discipline. I think it is our nature for the most part to be a little miserly. To put something aside for a rainy day instead of sharing what we have. It takes a shift in mentality to transform that attitude. It takes a bit of God, actually. By loving God, and wanting to be more like God, we ourselves begin to want to share everything we have. God has, after all, blessed us with what we do have. He has blessed us with every penny in our bank account, and every morsel of food in our pantry. By sharing his blessings, we will only be blessed further. The blessings received back may not be in the tangible sense... but I look out my window today, and the sun is beginning to come out in full force, and the snow is rapidly melting into a lake in the backyard, and I am so grateful and overjoyed with the promise of spring. Today as I tackle the housework, I have the warm sunshine to keep me company, and today that is the best blessing I could possibly ask for.

Rejection

Today's reading was Luke, chapter 10. In this chapter, Jesus chooses more disciples, seventy-two of them, and sends them ahead to the villages he plans to visit. Accordingly, he also gives them instructions as to what awaits them and how they will be received. Of particular interest to me is verse 16.

Then he said to the disciples, “Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me.” Luke 10:16

This is encouraging. This is very encouraging. It helps us to keep plugging ahead at what God is telling us to do. It tells me that we shouldn't take rejection personally. If someone doesn't want to hear God's message for them, it's God they are rejecting, not us, as his messengers. If we are in a position of leadership within our church body, and others are not listening to what we have to say, that's okay. It's important that we don't take that rejection on ourselves and become discouraged. We should continue delivering God's word as he prompts us, because it is him who is being rejected, not us. When we are sharing with an unbeliever and they brush aside what we have to say to them, we should not take that rejection on ourselves and never try again. We should be persistent with God's word.

We need to live what we teach, we are responsible only for ourselves, not for other people. We are responsible for our own conscience, and as long as we continue sharing and doing what God has asked, we are going to meet God with a clean conscience. The rejection of others is not our fault, nor is it our conscience that is affected. It is theirs, and if we have shared what needs to be shared, the rest is on them. This verse in 1 Thessalonians should be taken to heart.

"Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you." 1 Thessalonians 4:8

A Tithing Lesson

"Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom? Proverbs 17:16

"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine." Proverbs 3:9-10

I think I am being told something this morning. I have talked about tithing before. Andy and I do tithe, and in our case, we use the Biblical reference of tithing 10% of our income. Tithing is not something that we have always done automatically. It was learned. And we're still not 100% on it. There are those weeks where Andy works a little less and the paycheck just isn't big enough to stretch, so we bypass the tithe that week. When I look at my giving statement for last year and our income for last year, we definitely have more work to do in the area to tithing. But we do tithe for the most part.

Right now, Andy isn't working, so we haven't been tithing. Those unemployment checks are so tiny, and each one could get split about 15 different ways. And one of the things that has bothered me about Andy not working is that we are not able to do our giving as we usually do. Hey- that's progress when that is what bothers me about Andy's lay-off right now. But this morning I was reading about a little old lady who lived on a very tiny social security check, and always tithed the first 10% to God. Hmmm... Unemployment compensation isn't really that different from a social security check. I swear I can hear God in my head asking "Just how far do you trust me?" 10% of not much is a lot. Yet he has provided completely this far. Our bills are continuing to be paid, and there is plenty of food in the pantry. Here is another verse I found this morning.

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My House. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:10

I guess we need to tithe on our unemployment. This is going to be a huge step of faith for us, and a difficult one at that. I pray earnestly that God will continue to bless us, and that he will be able to use that little amount that we are now going to start giving each week.

Esther, Part Two

I wanted to make another point about Esther. She is the perfect example of how we determine God's Will for our lives. I can't tell you how many times Andy and I have wondered if it was time for a major change. Whether that be a job change, relocating, or adding to the family. Just how do we know if that change would be a good thing for us? There are so many times where I think that the excitement of moving to a new place would be worth the trouble of starting over. Or we'll wonder if we are at the church God wants us to be at, and discuss other options. So what exactly do we do when we are contemplating a change?

We follow Esther's lead.

"Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions." Esther 4:15-17

Esther prayed. She prayed hard. Before she even took one step forward in her plan to approach the king, she spent three days in prayer on the matter. That way, she knew without a doubt that when she went ahead with what was being asked of her, the entire situation would be bathed in prayer. This doesn't necessarily mean that we need to lock ourselves in a room for three days and do nothing but pray when confronted with a change. But it does mean concentrated prayer. It means that our time with God should be focused on this matter and waiting on The Lord to answer our questions. And it means giving the entire situation to God to take care of and having faith in him to guide you to the right decision.

We had this very thing happened when we moved to this house. We loved our old neighborhood. The house was too small, and in need of some updating, but we lived there for years longer than we were planning to because we really liked the neighborhood. When we were finally ready to move, we really prayed about whether or not we were doing the right thing, and asked God to guide us to where he wanted us. And let me tell you, the house we are in now is one of the last ones in Seymour where we wanted to live. But we are definitely needed here. We live in a neighborhood that is entirely unsaved. I am grateful that I like the house I live in, because we may be a here a while. While we are definitely planting seeds, there is so much that could be done here, that God may have us here for awhile.

Wrap those major decisions with prayer. That way, you know that God is with you in whatever decisions you make. Esther did that, and saved an entire people.

Esther-part one

This morning I read the book of Esther. I was just going to read chapter 4, but the whole book is really one great story, so I decided to just read the whole thing. The story of Esther is one of those that I began learning in Sunday School when I was really young. And even as an adult the story is a great one, and is full of little nuggets of knowledge. One thing that in particular sticks out is the character of Esther. I've heard many times about how courageous Esther must have been to be able to approach the king, knowing that she could die simply for entering his inner throne room. But today as I was reading, it struck me that Esther actually was not courageous.

Esther actually was practicing faith. Before her audience with the king, she prayed and fasted for three days for the strength to approach him without being summoned. It was faith in God that led Esther down the hallway to her husband, the King. It was faith that kept her going, faith in her God to see her and her people through the nightmare to come. This is an example of faith. Faith is believing when God says "I am with you always." (Matthew 28:20) Notice that Faith doesn't say that courage is with me, it says "God is with me." Even when courage isn't. Faith is being able to do what needs to be done without the courage.

Esther's faith in God saved her life and that of all the Jews. Imagine what your faith could do.

Taking The Blame

This morning I read 1 Corinthians chapter 4. And I have to admit, it was kind of a stern talking to this morning. Here are the first seven verses.

So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. 2 Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.

6 Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I’ve been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted from the Scriptures, you won’t be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. 7 For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?

How often do things go wrong and we speculate about what we could have done better to make it work? A new program at church kind of fizzles out, and I am the type of person that I think it's my fault it didn't work, because I could have done something better, or suggested something to make it better. Or a friend of ours sent their son to school after seriously considering homeschooling. I did everything I could to encourage them in their decision to send this child to school, and he did awful, they had to pull him out and go with the homeschooling. And somehow, I felt it was my fault for all the encouraging I did. I need to stop thinking like that. Playing the blame game with myself can be really diminishing to my spirit. I feel discouraged, like what I did wasn't enough, or that what I want to do wouldn't be appreciated, so I just stop doing.

I also worry about what other people think. And right here in 1 Corinthians, Paul tells me to stop doing that. Look at verses 3 and 4. I should take a lesson from Paul and remember that it should matter little what other people think of me. Thoughts of judgment from other people are not important, and they don't count in the grand scheme of things. God alone will judge me, and as long as I have done my best when I need to, I can rest easy and have a clean conscience.

I also like verse 5 this morning. "Don't make judgements about anyone ahead of time." That is quite to the point isn't it. Just as I don't want to be thought poorly of, I shouldn't think that way about other people. It is not my place to judge someone else's efforts or personal life. It is my place to take care of my own. Don't make judgments. Think about that statement. That's actually saying a lot. Think about how many times we judge someone in our mind. Sometimes just seeing someone across the room can bring up a plethora of thoughts that shouldn't be there. I pray this morning that God will temper that in me. I think I do that a lot. I see how someone is dressed or how their children are dressed, and I automatically make judgements based on their clothing. How silly is that. Just as we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, so shouldn't we judge a person by their outside. It's what's inside that counts.

Yeast

I keep meaning to touch on this parable, but then something else captures my thoughts that day and I never get to it. This is one of the shortest parables in the Bible- in fact, it is only two verses long. But being a bread baker myself, I completely understand this parable, and it makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside just thinking about it.

20Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Luke 13:20,21

When a baker mixes a loaf of bread, they use flour, salt, water and yeast to make a very basic bread dough. Without the yeast, the flour, salt, and water would combine to make a dough, but it would not rise, and you would end up with something resembling flat breads or crackers. Yet it only takes the tiniest pinch of yeast to turn that entire ball of doughy mess into something beautiful and full of lift and life. It is the tiny bit of yeast that permeates every corner of the dough and transforms it from a lump of dough into a loaf of bread. Such is the Kingdom of Heaven. When we are without Christ, we are like the unleavened bread. We are lumpy and misshapen, and our life has no purpose or meaning. But once a bit of Christ has been added, we start to take shape. When the Kingdom of God enters our lives it permeates us and transforms us into something beautiful, and something that can be used.

Yeast is an invisible force. Once it has been added to the dough, we cannot see it, we cannot open a loaf of bread and see the yeast, it has become one with the dough. Same thing with the Kingdom of God. Once Christ has been added to some one's life, he cannot be picked out, but he transforms that person's life completely. He's an invisible force that provides structure and gives substance.

I like to think of myself as a loaf of bread. This kind of runs along the lines of the potter's hands message I shared last week. No two loaves of bread are made exactly the same. In an artisanal bakery, every single loaf of bread is shaped individually, and each loaf can serve a different purpose. Some become sandwich breads, some are more for slicing and eating, some for dipping, some bread may become pizza dough or pita bread. But each piece of bread is lovingly kneaded and shaped by a master baker. The same with us. Each of us has been lovingly kneaded and shaped by our Heavenly Father who made us just so, and to serve a specific purpose.

Are you a loaf of bread? Has the Heavenly yeast been added to your life? If not, you can check out these posts to help add that precious gift.

A Bit of Practicality

"When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet." Proverbs 31:21

"Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer." Proverbs 30:25

This morning I decided to visit the site that inspired me to start this blog, Laine's Letters. I know I've shared that site before, but it is worth mentioning over and over. Laine loves her God more than anything, and she is such an inspiration to me. She is a kindred spirit to me, as she has also spent a lifetime as a stay at home Mom, and her encouragement is priceless. I can read a letter of hers that she wrote years ago, and I smile because I feel like it was written just for me.

This morning's letter was her letter titled "A Well Stocked Pantry." Laine does what I want to do someday. They have a modest garden and small farm animals, and they grow and produce a lot of what she stocks her pantry with. It is remarkable how in today's day and age she strives to have her family be self-sustaining, and live off of what God provides. She talks about how it is such a blessing and a privilege to be able to take what God has provided and put it by for another day. I was thinking this the other day. I pulled out a carton of frozen strawberries that I had picked last June. We used them to top french toast for dinner, and it was such a treat! It reminded us of summer days and picking strawberries. It made us all smile to eat those bright red berries. And in light of all of Andy's time off this year, I am determined to do more "putting food by". With God's help I can conquer my fear of canning and freezing and safely preserve everything I can to get my family through the time off next year. I love pulling out a jar of homemade salsa or jam.

This may seem a silly thing to post about on a devotion blog, but it's where my heart lies today. :-) I am looking forward to warmer weather, to putting in my tiny garden, and shopping at the local farmer's market. I pray that God may help me with the means and the desire to gather all I can to stock the stores for winter. It truly is a miracle when you think about the whole process of growing. A good harvest is a gift from God, as it is he who causes the clouds to rain and the sun to shine. Tonight with our dinner, I think we are going to have some of the carrots that he blessed us with last fall when I had the time to freezer them. He does provide so generously! I am praying that he will open my eyes to the possibilities with the coming growing season. That's of course, after I finish thanking him for the two feet of snow that's gracing our yard this morning. The kids are bursting with joy at the idea of spending the day in the snow. Thank God for little blessings.

Being Content

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

This verse has been a great encouragement to me. That simple word "never" can do so much for encouraging a discouraged spirit. God will never leave us or forsake us, and he will continue to take care of us for as long as we need it. When I look at our bank statement, and look at the math and the bills that are going to be coming in shortly, I get a little nervous. God has provided this far, surely he will continue, but it's really hard to keep remembering that. Especially when I look at a calendar. It's March! Andy is still not working, how on earth can it be March already and he's still at home. But God has been giving us an amazing lesson in trust and we truly are amazed.

We've also become content. It's hard to believe, but true. I have always wanted stuff. I think that's common in today's society, but it's so easy to want more and more, and with financial means, it's even easier to just buy and buy more stuff. We've actually come to the idea that not only do we not need more stuff, we have too much stuff. There are people who are actually in need, and that's not us. We have wants, and it's those wants and desires for more that leads to being discontent. And the reality is, we don't need. We have shelter, clothing, food, and transportation, we really need nothing. Everything else is extra. I'm even looking at my pantry thinking that I really don't need anything.

I went shopping with my mom the other day just to get out of the house, and she informed me that she wanted to help fill my pantry while we were out, and I should put whatever I needed into the shopping cart. The reality of the situation though was that I really didn't NEED much of anything. Some things for Abigail's school snack, eggs, and some fresh fruit. As long as I can keep food on the table, I don't think we are in need. We have food in the pantry and in the freezer, and I have come to realize the difference between a need and a want. I want to go fill up a shopping cart with groceries. But I really don't need to. We have plenty. It may not be our favorites, but God has blessed us with a bottomless pantry for now, and for that I am more than grateful, and I'm eager to see what my pantry can put together next.

One might think that we are getting a little stir crazy and tired of staying at home doing nothing because we can't afford to do more. But we choose to look at this time as a blessing. We are getting some real quality family time in. Abigail and Zander are constantly helping me with cooking and trying to help with some chores. Both kids are getting some unbelievable quality time with their Daddy, and we've rediscovered the joys of sitting around and just playing together. Family time costs us little more than our attention, and you can't buy that in a store. We are very content with what we have, more than content, we are appreciative. I thank God daily for all the little blessings, and for giving us this time to discover them. And as the bills come in, the money we need will continue to be there, because He will never leave us or forsake us. Never. Never is a very long time.

Criticism

After yesterday's examination of self-acceptance, I wanted to find more of what the Bible has to say about self-image. And I found a perfect example in God's servant Paul. Specifically, 2 Corinthians, chapter 10. Here are verses 9-18:

9 I’m not trying to frighten you by my letters. 10 For some say, “Paul’s letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he is weak, and his speeches are worthless!” 11 Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away.

12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

13 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. 14 We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.

15 Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 17 As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.

At the beginning of these verses, we see that Paul is learning about some gossip about himself. That had to have been so hard for him! He was following God's direction, doing what God told him, and here he was being gossiped about by some of the people he was ministering to. And look at what Paul's response was! He clearly had a healthy image of himself, and brushed aside what these men were saying of him. "Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other". Paul realized that he was being evaluated by people who were concerned about themselves. He also realized that he had his own area of service, which God set for him, and that is what he needed to concentrate on.

Each one of us is placed in God's Kingdom and gifted for specific work by God. It is God who can critique us properly, and as long as we are doing what he has instructed us to do, it doesn't matter in the least what our fellow man may be saying about us. This can certainly be a hard lesson to learn, and while it may be hurtful to hear criticism from someone within our own church family, Paul shows us that it really doesn't matter. God is what matters. As long as we continue to teach the truth as Paul did, it should not deter us or veer us off course.

Part of this is learning to accept the gifts that we have and continuing to improve ourselves in those areas. Along with that, is learning to deal with the areas where we are less gifted. We need to accept that we don't excel at everything, and as long as we can accept those limitations, we are doing what we should be doing. Our gifts, calling, and our personal boundaries (what we can and cannot do) are set by God and God alone. As a believer we need to learn to be happy with God's boundaries and be glad to operate within them as such. This will help us to develop that spiritual healthy image that allows us to set aside what others may be saying about us. My favorite verses in this passage are the last two, and I think they are very fitting for closing up today's devotional.

" As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them." 2 Corinthians 10:17,18