Affirming Words May 30, 2008

Earlier this week, I attended a going away party for a friend who is moving several hours away with her husband and baby girl.  They will be missed by many people at our church.  There were the usual yummy treats and savory food that accompanies many women’s gatherings and a time of chatting and catching up with each other.  Then we did something that I enjoyed tremendously.

We sat in a circle of sorts and took turns expressing out loud words of affirmation in the giftings that God has given her and ways that she has  blessed us individually.  I don’t know if it is a “woman thing” or if men experience this too – but so often when we are given a compliment, we are quick to brush it off or shake our heads in wonder that someone is affirming us.   Guess what ladies – when we brush off a sister’s genuine compliment or affirmation – we are not allowing them to fulfill a God-given command!  1 Thessalonians 5:11 says we are to “encourage and build one another up.”  Should our response be to not accept the encouragement?  I don’t think so.

In 1 Corinthians 16:18, Paul instructs to acknowledge men who have refreshed our spirits. (Read verse 17 for context)  And there are several other verses that teach us to treat each other with kind words, build up the body, and many, many demonstrations of Paul encouraging his brothers.  I couldn’t find anywhere in my Bible where we are told not to accept encouragement or affirmation from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The challenge I leave you is one I must take on myself…  To say a gracious “thank you” when I receive a compliment.  To then thank God for the encouragement and the encourager.  Not to brush it off or give a negative word in reply.  Oh, this could be a tough one.  But the result is true building up of the body.

~kp

Good Mom. May 24, 2008

My mother’s day gift this year was a t-shirt.  A pretty pink t-shirt with two words on it.  Good Mom.

It was made by a company called “Life Is Good.”  They create t-shirts, hats, mugs with sayings that are designed to bring optimism, humor and humility.  

What I love about my t-shirt is that it perfectly fits where I am in my “mommy-hood” at this stage of my life.  A couple of years ago for mother’s day I got a t-shirt that said “Super Mom.”  I love that t-shirt because of the little love-bugs it came from, but I have realized that I can not possibly live up to my self-imposed expectation to be a “Super Mom.”  For a while I thought that I had to do it all.  Be perfect in my parenting.  I was hard on myself when I screwed up.  I tried to be a “Super Mom” as in the Super-Hero sense – wearing the cape, the “S” logo and fighting crime, grime, etc.  It didn’t occur to me that being a Super Mom might just mean being a Good Mom.

I passionately love my kids.  I am doing my best to teach them to love God, love Jesus and love others.  I would do anything for them, as long as it did not go against God’s Word.  I apologize to them when I screw up.  I stand up for them when they need me to.  And you know what?  I feel good about those things.  God has given me what I need to be a “Good Mom.”  

Thank you, God for showing me that I don’t need to be a Super-Hero, Super Mom.  Thank you for equipping me, with your help and your word as my guide, to be a Good Mom.  I pray that my sisters who read this can also let go of any self-imposed or unrealistic expectations that they or others have placed on them.  

~kp

 

 

Experiencing the Sabbath May 20, 2008

It is a long weekend and Kelly, Taelyn and I decide to head south for the day.  

Our route is spectacularly scenic.  As we drive along I can’t help but be awestruck by the creative abilities of our God.   The clouds seem to be rolling merrily along in the clear blue sky, which eventually meets the still white capped mountain peaks. Those mighty and majestic mountains seem to just “unfold” into the beautiful Lake Okanagan.  The sun dances on the ripples of the water and the occasional glistening sparkle flies up to greet us along the way.

We arrive at our destination and head straight for the beach, where we play in the sand and water for hours.  Our next stop,  the waterpark which proves to be a huge blast, and there is playground, conveniently placed for our further entertainment. A delicious ice-cream cone and we are ready for some exercise.  We rent one of those side-by-side, made for two (or three in our case) bikes and ride around the resort town for over an hour.    

Dinner is next on the agenda; patio dinning, looking out over the lake with the sun still warm and soothing, and great food (prepared by someone else) make this part of the trip one of the highlights for me.  After dinner we head back for one more swim and play in the sand before heading home. 

As I sit there on the beach I am totally aware of our unusual state of being.  I feel a deeper more delicious type of breathing set in.  Peace floods my soul.  Our day has been filled with laughter and fun, void of any anxiety and stress.  

 I have been experiencing the “Sabbath.”  Not because of any day of the week, or any specific practice of spiritual disciplines. I am just experiencing God. He chose to bless me with His presence and I had the time to notice.

~dl

Brothers in Christ May 15, 2008

My husband and I are enjoying a couple of days in San Antonio.  A mini ‘vacation within our vacation.’  The kids are with my mom in Houston.  We have really enjoyed having no schedule to follow and nothing we have to do.  Our hotel is located on the Riverwalk, so it has a beautiful view and is perfect for us.

Our hotel has a fitness room and I decided to use it.  Yesterday around 3 PM, I headed down for a run on the treadmill.  I was hoping there would be no one there to see me huff and puff my way through the next 30 minutes.  As I opened the door to the fitness center and went inside I was stunned to see not one, not two, but about 15 large young men working out on the various machines.  Several turned to look at me.  I had two choices – go in and do my thing, or leave because of the uncomfortable, self-conscious feeling that came over me. I took a deep breath, walked purposefully over to an open treadmill and ran.  I am sure I went faster than I have run in several months.  As if running faster would make the time go more quickly.

I don’t know why I felt so self-conscious or what I was nervous about.  Was it the thought of my workout being judged because I am a girl?  Was it fear of being “stared at?”   I am not sure.  But today I realized something significant.

Colin and I went to the pool.  I was shocked to see it was packed.  There were about 20 of the same guys there; swimming, splashing, doing cannon balls, goofing off and hanging out.  Once again, I was the only girl.  And even worse, now I was in my bathing suit.  Yikes.  The nervous feeling came back until something about them caught my eye…  Most of them had on t-shirts with sayings such as “God’s Army” or “Victory in Christ” or “I Love Jesus.”  We asked one of them where they were from.  It turns out there are about 5,000 young men in town that belong to the Victory Outreach ministry – they minister to inner-city, under-priviledged youth.

Once I knew they were brothers in Christ, my self-consciousness went away.  I found that interesting.  Knowing that they loved Jesus made all the difference in how I felt.  I suddenly felt like we could talk, we had a common ground.

When I go out I don’t usually have on a t-shirt that says “I love Jesus.”  There could be people around who are uncomfortable around me because they don’t know who I am.  Others are going to know by my words, my actions, my whole countenance, whether or not I am a part of God’s Army.  Have you found yourself in a situation where you made a connection with another Believer?  How did you know they loved Jesus?  Send us a comment and let us know what that was like for you!

~kp

Happy Birthday Son! May 13, 2008

Today is a milestone birthday for one of my family members.  It is my oldest son’s (Brandon) 25th birthday. 

Just two days ago, it was Mother’s Day. I have had plenty of time for reflection, as you might imagine. Strange as it still seems I am the mother of a now twenty-five year old, and also a five year old with one in-between.  As much as I think, “This is not what I was expecting, not what I signed up for.”  Now,  I can’t imagine I would change a single thing.  

As I focus on Brandon this week, I am overwhelmed and with gratitude and I praise our God!  I messed up many times along the way.  Often I said or did things that likely made him feel like he could not live up to my expectations, or made him feel unworthy.  In spite of all that, apparently God still was able to get around me to speak into his life.  

When he (Bran) was first born, like most first time parents often do, I dreamed wonderful and exciting dreams about what his little life would become.  Needless to say, none of what I had planned has come to fruition.  I’m REALLY good with that, because I see now God had a much different plan in store for him.  I recognize that Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a furture”  was God’s promise to parents who sometimes mess up.

I am so proud of Brandon.  He is maturing, and trying to follow Jesus to the best of his ability.  He is a responsible employee, a loyal friend, a respectful son and he loves his little brothers like you would not believe.

Thank-you God that “No mess is too big for you to make it right.”

It’s hard for a Mom to let go of her little boy, (not that I ever really had an control) but I trust the hands of the one I have committed him to!  Happy Birthday my sweet boy.

~dl

 

Today’s Achievements May 9, 2008

“Mom, Mom come watch me!  Come and see what I can do.”  Taelyn yelled with excitement in his voice.

Taelyn’s little friend, Taelor, had been over the day before and left her two wheeler bike at our house. There was my Tae, with one foot on the pedal and the other close to the ground was managing to make his way around our garage and keep his balance.

With hesitation, yet anticipation, we decided to take this project out onto the street in front of our house (don’t worry it’s a private drive with very little traffic).  After a few more tries, I was able to convince him to lift the other foot off the ground and pedal quickly.  Within minutes, Tae was riding this two wheel bike as if he had always done it.  We laughed and squealed out loud at his accomplishments.  I was beaming and so was he.  I told him over and over how thrilled I was for him and how proud I was of his achievements today.

We cheer our children on when they step out in faith to try something new.  When you step out in faith to try something new your Heavenly Father is right behind you cheering for you.  He is laughing with you and thrilled for you! What were your achievements today?  Listen to him say “I’m proud of you!”

~dl

 

 

 

Who will clean up this mess? May 6, 2008

Yesterday was a fairly busy day.  I spent several hours cleaning up my kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom and living areas.  It was long overdue and very necessary.  It felt really good at the end of the day to be able to stand back and actually see what I had accomplished ( a neat and tidy/clean house – rather than the usual mayhem).  I glanced around one last time before making my way to bed, and was comforted to know it would look the same way the next morning.

Much to my dismay, when I got out of bed this morning, there was a huge mess in my kitchen!  Dirty dishes everywhere, food still out on the counter, spills running down the cupboards and onto the floor.  I was absolutely frustrated (to say the least).  I wondered which gremlin made the mess and WHY…why would they just leave it and expect someone else to clean it up for them?

Then I remembered how often I have done the same thing to God.  I’ve made a huge mess in my life, in my finances, in my relationships, then sat back and waited for Him to come along and clean up after me!

~ dl 

 

2 More Sleeps May 5, 2008

The social networking scene has exploded into places where not only can you make connections with friends, and their friends, and so on and so on… but it has become a playground for application developers to test out their software apps and market them en masse. I have enjoyed making the connections through Facebook that I would not have otherwise made. Connecting with old friends all over the word is a blast. And if I can share a game of Scrabble with a friend in Paris, France – bring it on!

One of the applications that I came across via a friend’s page is called “Countdown.” It allows you to post a date that you are personally looking forward to (a birthday, a vacation, a dental appointment) and the application will count down to-the-second how long until your event happens.

I am traveling this week to visit my family in Texas. I can’t wait to see them and I know the kids will have a blast. I love road trips and traveling, and I have been counting down the number of sleeps until we leave. In my preoccupation with the excitement of leaving, I have had to catch myself a few times not missing on the “now” moments that are going on around me. It is tempting to look ahead with anticipation and just cruise along passing time, until the ‘event’ arrives. Pregnancy was a bit like that for me. With each one, I so looked forward to the baby’s arrival that I am sure I missed out on some rest and relaxing that I could have enjoyed more along the way.

There isn’t anything wrong with anticipating a fun time to come, but let’s not miss out on the NOW moments. There are blessings to be had along the journey to your great destination.

~kp

Too Much! May 3, 2008

Our Women’s Bible Study wrapped up our session for this semester. We ended it with a Feast of Tabernacle celebration that included a beautiful worship time, led by Brenda Alguire. (http://www.brendaalguire.com) Some of our women and even husbands got involved in re-creating the atmosphere visually with props. Donna’s husband built a couple of tabernacles, one talented woman painted gorgeous murals of Jerusalem, we build a stone altar and even had our own little Pool of Siloam!

As you can imagine putting something together that required a lot of visuals and props brought a lot of “set up” and “tearing down” of the stage before and after the program. A friend and I had to stop and just laugh when at one point we realized just how much stuff I was trying to carry in one load, rather than making two, even three trips! It was TOO MUCH! I was spending more time picking up things I was dropping than I would have spent in making the walk back and forth from our sanctuary to the church kitchen twice!

I think there is a temptation to do a similar thing in our Spiritual walks. Often I may find myself carrying around things that really I need to set down at the feet of the One who is intended to carry them. That feeling of “It’s just TOO MUCH!” may be an indicator that your arms are overloaded, and you need to let our Saviour carry what is in them.

~kp

It’s not MY fault! May 2, 2008

Yesterday, Taelyn and Bennie (Kim’s 4 year old) had a play date at my house.

The two boys were downstairs playing so well together, and there was lots and lots of laughter. Listening to them my heart was filled with wonder at the way children laugh so easily – right from the deep of their bellies. (As adults, I just don’t think we laugh enough).

The laughter continued for quite sometime…until a point when I started to worry. As much as I love to hear them laugh, I thought it might be time to check and see what they were up to. Much to my dismay I found them, markers still in hand, using each other as a canvas board. They had colored all over each other, clothes included. At first sight of them, I couldn’t help myself and laughed out loud. Then I realized they had not only colored themselves, some of my furniture was part of the “fun” and the markers were permanent!

We talked about the appropriate use for markers (again!) and had a bit of a time out. Later they both came and apologized. Tae’s apology reminded me of the Apostle Paul; his came with a bit of an explanation. “Mommy,” Tae said, “I am really sorry, but it wasn’t my fault.” (I’m waiting for him to blame Bennie at this point, but that didn’t happen) “I didn’t want to do it, but my brain told me to do it.”

What could I say? I have the same problem, so did Paul; “we do the things we don’t want to do, and don’t do the things we want to do!”

I’m trying not to listen to my brain as often; but I find it interesting that this thing that I am to try to teach my child is something that I’m still trying to learn myself.

~ dl