Are we all in?-Indulgences

Our pastor recently preached about Elisha and Elijah as part of his "Sidekick" series. He commented on the fact that the minute that Elijah called him and transferred the mantle of leadership to him, Elisah was "all in". He didn't hesitate to say yes, he burned all of his ox, told his family good bye and ran after Elijah.

Being "all in" he said doesn't mean simply adding Jesus to your life. Many Christians only "add" Jesus in on Sunday or when they need guidance. This scares me though after being reminded of Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ It means making sure he is the center of your daily life, and that everything you do is reflective of your desire to love and obey Him.

A legacy of faith. That is Adam's grandpa second from the left at his baptism. 

Same grandpa and Nannie last month on our way home from the beach. 

It got all of us thinking, especially Goober, who took a whole page of notes and had a great discussion with us later on about being "all in" whether he is a missionary, quarterback or a stay at home dad.

Two things that I took from this sermon are more dedication to my daily bible reading and a serious consideration of how to more be "all in" as far as raising my children in a christian environment.

1) I am disciplined enough to wake up at 4:15, leave my home by 4:30 and meet 2-5 other women to work out for an hour every day. Over the last week I have started the daily discipline of immediately starting to read the Bible and pray from the time I get home from my workout until the kiddos wake up. I want them to see what a daily habit of walking with God looks like. They have even asked to join me and I love that they are excited to read the Bible and discover TRUTH for themselves.

2) We are constantly re evaluating where we are at as far as parenting, our marriage and having "too busy" of a life. We got to do that twice last week as my mom was here to watch the kids. On our overnight stay at a nearby hotel we spent a ton of time thinking through how much more involved in our children's education and spiritual growth. We aren't naive enough to think that just because they attend a Christian school and go to church that they will grow up to know and love the Lord. We know that this world is constantly pulling people away from TRUTH and telling us that our happiness is all that matters. We know that the world tells us to CELEBRATE sin and TOLERATE everyone so that we are always at peace.

The verse Matthew 13:44 "“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

My children are a treasure from the Lord and their salvation and continued trust in Him is worth all of our earthly possessions. So, are we willing to sell everything and make sacrifices in order to make sure that they "treasure" their relationship with Christ?

My treasure getting spiffy with Momma.

My other treasures at a car show with Daddy. 

Indulgences-Comfort vs. Discipline

After a long afternoon of football, baseball and cheerleading...still working on that kitchen floor :)

I love how the Lord reveals himself. Sometimes it is through scripture, other times through an awesome visual in your daily life, other times its through a friend at a nail salon :).

My Ribbit has the tendency to cling to the person who just disciplined her. For example, when I had asked her for the 15th (no exaggeration) time to finish her pancakes and get her chapel uniform on this morning I ended the demand with a spanking to her behind. She likes to talk as much as possible and in the morning this usually means she doesn't eat all of her breakfast and is crying in starvation as we pull up to school. Immediately after I spanked her, she started tearing up and grabbed me. She wanted me to hold her even though I had just spoken harshly to her and physically hurt her.

Mothers Day breakfast

My boys are opposite. The minute I even raise my voice at them they either shut down and begin to pout or declare "mommy is mean" and haul butt to find Adam. I will let you guess which boy behaves which way.

I was talking about this situation with one of my very best mommy friends, Leianne while we were getting a pedicure and manicure. Her son Kason comes homes with us everyday after school and she and I had compared his behavior with Ribbits. They both do the whole "cling on to whoever just yelled at me" bit. Leianne and I were discussing about what is the best way to respond? Do we completely cuddle them and wrap then in our arms to immediately reconcile? Do we tell them to go to their rooms and think about their bad behavior. Do we give in to their sometimes crocodile tears and tell them that we are sorry for acting out in anger? Do we ignore them and reconcile later when both of us are back on stable emotional ground?

Mothers Day Brunch

We had an audience that day as we were the last ones in the salon, with about 4 people working on our hands and feet. I could tell that they were listening and either very ready for us to be done or very inquisitive as to what our final answer would be.

It was a very clear answer. Has the Lord ever turned away from me when I wanted comfort? More than that, the Lord does not withhold his love from us, even during His discipline. The minute he convicts us he begins to guide us back to him...literally wrapping us back into his arms, into his grip. He doesn't tell us to go think about our behavior before he will redeem us or before he will once again show favor on us. He doesn't want us to "feel" his aggravation or for us to wallow in our sin....in fact its the opposite. Its just like the prodigal son whose father RUSHED to greet him, clothed him, ordered a feast to be cooked and immediately enveloped his son. There was no "lecture" or "you should be ashamed" talk...there was no time for that because the son had returned.

Isaiah telling me that he doesn't need to hold my hand because he can hold his own hand!

This thought has truly taken me a week to even pen. I imagine it will take me even longer to fully process it and put it into action daily. I tend to be very black or white with my children...I am either happy or upset with their behavior.....its honestly something I am super ashamed of. I want to be a mother who offers redemption, love, comfort and compassion regardless of whatever behavior/sin/attitude we are currently disciplining. I am so thankful that my little Ribbit is able to show me in a tangible way how the Lord wants me to parent. To indulge myself in my sheep, to truly let the Lord be my shepherd so that I can shepherd my own flock.

Wait Time-Indulgences

I attended ETSU, East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN for my masters program...Art Education. I learned so much about how to teach children, different learning styles, different classroom management styles, different classroom lesson progressions, etc, etc. However, the one thing I learned that I have clung to and found applicable in every other are of life is ........wait time.

Wait time kicks in when you ask the class a question, that you want a response to, and they give you nothing. So then as the firm, professional educator that you are you wait them students out....you can give them the stink eye while you wait but I have found that waiting calmly, looking into their souls is a  much better, faster way to produce answers.

Most of the time students don't want to answer for several reasons. 1-they are too tired to put together more than 2 words cohesively. 2-they don't give one iota about what you are rambling on about. 3-they didn't read or do their homework the night before so they are sweating and praying to God that you don't call on them and reveal their shameful laziness or 4-they know the answer but they aren't about to let you or their classmates on to the fact that they enjoy learning, they in fact LOVE IT!!

So what do you do? You WAIT THEM CHILDREN OUT!!! You ask the question and even when everything inside of you wants to yell out the answer or say things like "well let me give you a hint" or "ok ok, here is the answer, we have to move on"...you just sit and stare. I LOVE IT. The awkward silence in the room makes them rethink the question and before long one or two little shaky hands go up and they begin to offer reasonable responses.

This method is SOOOOOOO applicable to every other part of our lives. I have a rule for my own 3 lovelies at home. If mom ask you a question, she will never accept the answer " I don't know". Because if you honestly don't know what your homework assignment is then you best be figuring it out. Or if you honestly don't know where your uniform shoes are for the 3rd day in a row then you had better tear the house a part before I pull out of my garage in the mini-van.

So, sometimes when I ask a question and my children can only think to answer " I don' t know" but they know that those 3 words aren't allowed they get real quiet. That is when I wait them out. I just stare at them and wait for them to think through the problem and how they can personally solve it so that I don't spend every waking minute finding shoes, homework, chargers, huggy batman and the coveted candy blanket.

We also use this in our dinner devotionals. Adam is great at asking the kids questions and getting them to think through how these lessons from long ago are applicable to our lives today. Goober is known for creating an answer that wouldn't make sense on Pluto so many times we just have to wait him out, let him think through what he has just heard and formulate something with reason to it. Believe me, its hard to not prod him or give out hints but waiting on him allows him to struggle, to wrestle with God's word and how it truly speaks to him today.

We ask the kids every Sunday to tell us how the Lord spoke to them. We simply do not allow regurgitation of the sermon...it has to be something that tells us that they were expectant to hear from God and open enough to receive it. Waiting on them to put their thoughts together, while chowing down on lunch, has led to some of our most beautiful discussions. When my 10 year old can tell me that "the resurrection of Jesus gives hope to everyone and that to be a Christian you have to believe in the resurrection"...thats good stuff. When  my 5 year old can tell me that she has lost her "scratchboard book but that its okay because when she dies she will not need it in order to spend forever with God", that is good stuff. Those are things that God whispers to them in their little minds as they struggle and think through what they have heard and apply it.

Wait time is good, its good for us to wait and see what others can produce when all the world around them is silent. Its good for us to sit and wait on the Lord to speak to our hearts. Its good for us to ask questions and honestly give the other person a moment to reflect without demanding an answer from them. Its good for us to wait for those little minds to learn grit and to not depend on their parents for the answer or hints towards the answer.

God reminds me of "wait time" constantly. I was antsy all weekend, for several reasons. The first is that I hate being sick and so anytime I tried to be productive or to produce any fun activity for my children it literally wore me out. I took too many naps to count. I was also anxious as I was waiting to hear from the Lord, I feel like I have been waiting to hear from him all year long honestly. I keep laying my desires before him and HE IS THE MASTER AT WAIT TIME!!! I'm pretty sure his answer to my requests is "wait"....but I don't wanna. So I keep begging and I keep trying to tell hiim " I don't know what you are saying"....but just like me he doesn't except that  " I dont' know" answer...because I do know. I know he wants me to wait on his timing and his perfect plan for my life and for my family's life...but waiting is hard, especially when you think you may be waiting for the answer you don't want to hear.

                                          

Running to your arms - Indulgences

One of my favorite worships songs is "Forever Reign" by Hillsong. You must read the lyrics...they are definitely some of the groaning's of my heart.

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin
You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting
Oh, I’m running to Your arms,
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go
Oh, I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
My heart will sing
no other Name
Jesus, Jesus
Oh, I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

 Anytime the first beat of this song comes on Goober gets my attention and says "Mom, its your favorite song" with a big ole grin. He sings it about as loud as I do. 

This song has always led me to the throne but it took on a whole new vision for me after seeing this video.....Catching Kayla. 

Kayla needs her coach to literally catch her at the end of every race due to her MS. As a runner I know what it is like to physically and mentally push yourself to finish, but to finish the race and NEED to land in someone else arms is beyond my thought process. 

This is such a beautiful picture of running this race, life, and to know that in the end you will fall straight into the Lord's arms.  That you will need to struggle and push and give it all you have but you will be able to physically fall into his arms and be rescued for all eternity.

Kayla runs so far that her body temperature keeps her from feeling her legs so she has to learn how to pace herself using other methods, trusting something else other than her feet. We often times try to  run our lives,  and as the world begins to become more and more numb to the Lord we have to overcome that and learn to trust in Him, in something that we can't often "see" or "touch" but that we know will help us pace our self as we run to the finish line. 

Oh, I’m running to Your arms
I’m running to Your arms

Come quickly Lord Jesus!!

Indulgences-Romans 1 & 2

The Lord is so gracious to speak to me in a thorough, no sugar added, detailed way.

I woke up this past Monday an hour later than I normally do and went into instant panic mode. Not only was I supposed to meet two other friends to work out (and I generally lead it) but it meant that my whole day was thrown off. I panicked and raced to the bathroom where I could make a game plan in the light. (an hour later is 5:45 for me and there is still no sign of life in our home).

God quickly calmed me down and invited me to spend some time in His word. In fact, I became hungry for it and set out to find my Adam's archaeological bible since mine was at school. I found it and prayed that God would speak to me about how to talk to one of my family members. Sister is about to get real transparent up in here, in fact, I think said family member is a reader of this blog so here goes.

You see this family member and I have completely different views on lifestyle choices. However, this member is literally like a brother to me, in more ways than I care to expound. As much as I love them, its hard to not pass judgment and become self righteous about my stance.

What happened next is quite comical but I couldn't find the book of Hebrews. Y'ALL, think about it, the BIBLE teacher couldn't find the book of Hebrews. I was about drop my head in shame and turn to the front index when God whispered to me "Romans".

BAM.....there it was.....I could have spent all morning in Romans chapters 1-2. God spoke to me in a very thorough, no sugar added, detailed way. When I would stop and think "well, then what should my response be?"...I would keep reading and the answer was provided.

It was like a big warm hug and a small swift kick in the rear all at one time :). Yup, the Lord knows me.

He knew that I would need to read the words of Paul...
 ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,^[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

I am obligated. I don't get to choose who is offered salvation or how they live it out. I asked Christ to be my King and that means that I am loyal to his teachings whether or not I like them...or even more convicting whether or not I like the people he has called me to LOVE.

He knew that my cold, stubborn heart needed to be softened with these words...

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ² Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³ So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? ⁴ Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Ouch, DO I SHOW CONTEMPT?...Do I take advantage of?...Do I ignore?....Do I underestimate?...OUCH. 

I thought it through and God reminded me that my sin is simply hidden better than others. I am better at keeping it personal, covering it with a thick layer of hypocritical language, soft white lies and closed doors.  It's like the day that I finally had to tell Goober how bad a liar he was and he got made at my "insult". I am a sinner, a bad person in need of saving and even worse I have become great at covering up my sin. There it is, no sugar added.

What is the Lord specifically teaching you?

Indulgence

As I shared in my first Fitness Friday post, I truly believe we are a very indulgent society, my home included. We indulge in food, entertainment, gossip, clothing, gimmicks, sports, etc.....basically everything except the one area that we are free to indulge in, our Faith.

My prayer for the past several months has been "Father, make me desire you above all things, give me a taste of what your word offers to my life and remind me to INDULGE in you constantly." I love the thought of indulging ourselves in the word, in prayer, in praise, in fellowship, in community with other believers. Its like putting a big ole pile of pumpkin spice doughnuts in front of me and saying "SISTER, HAVE AT IT!!! TEAR THEM SUCKERS UP, EAT THEM ALL BECAUSE THEY ARE CALORIE AND SUGAR FREE"...except its ten times better and if I indulge in the Lord I will never want for more!

There is no limit to how much we should indulge ourselves in the Lord. We should crave it, soak in it, lick the bowl clean if you will!

So how do we do that?

(long blank stare and pause)

I have no clue. I think it starts with a commitment. As I mentioned in my New Year Resolutions post I have a daily planner where I document, brainstorm and set goals for all of the compartments of my personal health. ITS ALL IN PEN, no pencil here. It's a commitment. As I shared with my 8th grade girls bible class (yup, the bible teacher struggles to indulge herself in the Lord), I want to schedule in a daily wake up call with the Lord so that my conversation with Him begins the minute I wake up. I'm not talking about an allotted 15 mins where I read 2 chapters, annotate on the side, sip coffee and check if off. I am talking about a lifelong habit where I wake up, thank the Lord for being mine, ALL MINE, a God that I can indulge in and then I continue that conversation and relationship all day long.

 It looks a lot like spending time in the word, praying before making decisions, listening for answer to those decisions, spending time with my family in prayer, speaking truth from scripture into my children daily, asking others to pray over me, going before the throne for others, SERVING my church, community, workplace and like Romans 12:10 says " Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor". OUTDO each other! INDULGE in HIM and you will be able to OUTDO one another by showing honor. Now for this southern competitive girl out doing others is something I can handle. Challenge accepted :).

Would you pray with me that we would learn to indulge ourselves in the Lord in 2015? That we would have a heart that yearns to desire Him and seeks to truly get to know Him!

How do you indulge in the Lord?