The Most Amazing Thing Just Happened!

Within a period of about 5 hours Chris and I where contacted by 3 people we were formerly mentoring. Two of them called to say "I'm done with the world and I'm ready to live for Christ!" We listened to their stories and rejoiced with them. I love those kinds of phone calls!

This just reminds me that we are simply to be faithful sowers of seeds. None of us have the power to produce righteousness in ourselves, much less in other people. Only God can bring about such a marvelous transformation.

"So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase."
1 Corinthians 3:7

But we do get to share in His joy if we share in His labor!

"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field..." 1 Corinthians 3:9 (Emphasis added)

So don't be discouraged if the ground appears to be barren where you have planted your seeds. Today may be the day the tender shoots break through the ground!

In Memory of Joe

About this time 5 years ago, my little brother Joe (21 at the time) was spending the day on the beach, swimming in the ocean, working on his tan, boogie-boarding, laughing with friends and simply enjoying life. I'm glad he got to enjoy that day because unfortunately, it was his last. He was killed in a car accident on his way home late that night.

I wish I could have been there that day to see him laugh and have a good time. He was always so much fun. But I have other good memories of my brother that I hold dear: Christmases (one Christmas in particular those darn reindeer on the roof kept waking him up), our special picnics (we had to have strawberry Kool-Aid), Disney World (it's just wasn't fair that he got a Mickey hat and I got stinking silverware!), fishing trips in the pond, and when him and his friend Chad would join us at the lake, to mention a few. My fondest memory though and the most important was when he accepted Christ. Upon returning from the altar, he put his head on my shoulder and just cried. In this I take comfort. I will see him again.

This Memorial Day weekend there are many who are grieving over the loss of military loved ones. When people grieve over their loved ones the last thing they want is a lot of empty words in an attempt to talk them out of their heartache. Most people want to experience occasional sorrow at the memory of a passed loved one. Talking them out of it is selfish. It only shows that you are uncomfortable with their emotion and you would rather not deal with it. It's understandable that people are uncomfortable with death, but they shouldn't shun the grieving because they "just don't know what to say". A little advice from scripture: "...mourn with those who mourn. "(Romans 12:15)

Don't Be Cruel!

Her piercing glare said it all. It was like time stood still for a moment as my 3 year old daughter starred at her 3 month old baby sister in my arms. As is expected, there had been many times since we brought the baby home that Autumn vied for my attention, whether through extreme hyperactivity or all out tantrums, but this time was different. This time I saw resentment in her eyes. It was enough to break my heart.

After she spent some time trying to convince me that she was a baby like her sister Addison, we had a talk(as good of a talk as can expected with a 3 year old attention span--hers, not mine). I asked her if she feels angry inside when I hold Addison. She shook her head yes. I told her that I understand that it is difficult to share mommy and I reassured her of my love for her. I also explained that I am able to love her and her sister just as she is able to love me and her daddy. There's room for both. Then I sent her off to play hoping she understood.

"Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" Proverbs 27:4 NLT

"...jealousy is cruel as the grave..." Song of Solomon 8:6 NKJ

Scripture is true, jealousy is a cruel thing. It will make you want to be something you are not in order to preserve your soul from the dreadful fear of being rejected or replaced. And where jealousy is, anger is not far behind. Just look at Cain and Abel (Genesis 4), Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 37), and the older brother of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32).

No parent wants to have to deal with sibling rivalry even at its earliest stages. I would love for my daughter to be confident enough in my love for her that she never has to experience the cruelty of jealousy or its sidekick anger. I believe God desires the same for us a thousand times over.

So, what about you? Perhaps you're angry and don't know why? Is it possible that you are a little uneasy because you fear being replaced? Don't be cruel. Andy Stanley says that one way to overcome jealousy is to publicly commend the very person(s) that you feel "threatened" by. But that alone will not suffice. You must also sit regularly in the father's lap and allow him to reassure you of his love.

What's the Point?

I confess as a stay-at-home mother of two, I tend to get somewhat of an Ecclesiastes 1 attitude:

"Meaningless! Meaningless!...Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!"

Inspiring isn't it? Can anyone sympathize?

I mop the floor only to have milk spilled all over it, play dough stuck to it and dirty feet trample on it. I change a wet diaper only to make room for a poopy one. (Speaking of poop, I managed to find a pile of it in the hallway one day...and on the walls... and all over my daughter who was happily singing and washing her hands in the bathroom. Ugh!) I wash a sink load of dirty dishes and BAM! it's full again. I rejoice over an empty clothes hamper in the morning and by evening it's overflowing again. Even writing about all this seems a little meaningless, but it's not.

One of my favorite quotes is by G.K. Chesterton who wrote of a God who "is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, 'Do it again' to the sun; and every evening, 'Do it again' to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them."

Not only stay-at-home moms suffer from the mundane. The search for significance plagues every soul. This is why the above excerpt serves as a constant encouragement to me. I envision the Lord softly speaking to me every morning, "Terra, do it again"; and if he says this to me I know it is for a purpose, if only to teach me perseverance. Perseverance is the main ingredient of godly character. How essential!

I believe Ecclesiastes 1 was meant to be treated as a car wash; you just pull in there from time to time to wash off all the worldly attachments and then drive out clean, with a new outlook. To park your car there would be, well...meaningless.

You see, I am blogging now because it will help me find meaning in the mundane. I don't expect to inspire many, mainly me. Keeping a journal of my thoughts is therapeutic and it gives the ramblings of my soul an outlet. So enjoy...or not, it makes no difference. :)