Story after story of sadness. Betrayal. Defeat. Heartbreak. Friends, acquaintances, family members. The trail of broken marriages seems to get wider and more traveled every day. My heart breaks for them all. In most circumstances, one person is willing to reconcile and forgive, to fight for the right thing. The other person is ready to bail, determined that the grass is truly greener on the other side. We are all so misled into thinking that marriage is the beautiful, perfect thing that comes easily and naturally. The truth is that marriage is difficult. By far the most difficult thing in which I've ever participated. Marriage is hard and messy and stressful. We aren't soul mates or best friends. We aren't madly in love and unable to imagine life without the other one. We do not often see eye to eye. Some days we don't like each other very much at all. What we are is committed. We have three children who deserve two parents. So we will try. Every day, we will remind ourselves that we are doing this for the kids. We will endure and struggle and hope for some happy moments. We will ask for the Lord's help as we honor our commitment to Him and to our children.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
A Call
This morning as I was reading in Isaiah, I stumbled upon verses that I have read before but just glazed over. Today, they jumped out at me as God provided new meaning for me in these verses.
Isaiah 54:1-3
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
Wow! How often do we talk about how we don't understand how so many folks who won't take care of their children can pop them out left and right and those who truly WANT children and can love them and care for them cannot. Here is that very situation described in God's Holy Word. This isn't news to Him! He's not up there shaking His head and wondering why this is happening. He doesn't see this as a new development in history. I love the next verse:
Isaiah 54:4
Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes.
To me, this is the very specific call to adoption. Even I the Old Testament, the Lord had to urge folks to open their homes to children. Now I am fully aware that the true, in depth, prophetic meaning of this passage of scripture is God speaking to the Israelites who have tried to continue to serve Him in spite of the many in their nation that turned away from God. He is saying that He will enlarge His kingdom by opening salvation to the Gentiles through Christ's redemption. But God has also shown me this morning, that it's surface meaning is also for our everyday lives.
When we expanded our family through the gift of adoption, this was not the scripture that urged us on despite all odds. We clung to the story of the woman whose oil and flour never ran out when she baked the cake for Elijah first - we had nothing at the time. We were struggling financially in ways that some folks will never even imagine, but we gave our home (it's all we had to give!) to God first and He provided for us in unthinkable ways. Our "oil and meal" never ran dry. There was always enough for what we needed.
At that time, this specific call to adoption from Isaiah probably wouldn't have meant as much to us. But maybe someone else needs to hear this call. Is God calling your to "enlarge your tents?" If He is, rest assured, HE WILL PROVIDE! Don't ever let fear or the financial aspect of adoption cloud this call. It's a step of faith like no other. Trust Him.
Isaiah 54:8
. . . but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
Isaiah 54:1-3
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.
Wow! How often do we talk about how we don't understand how so many folks who won't take care of their children can pop them out left and right and those who truly WANT children and can love them and care for them cannot. Here is that very situation described in God's Holy Word. This isn't news to Him! He's not up there shaking His head and wondering why this is happening. He doesn't see this as a new development in history. I love the next verse:
Isaiah 54:4
Enlarge the place of thy tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes.
To me, this is the very specific call to adoption. Even I the Old Testament, the Lord had to urge folks to open their homes to children. Now I am fully aware that the true, in depth, prophetic meaning of this passage of scripture is God speaking to the Israelites who have tried to continue to serve Him in spite of the many in their nation that turned away from God. He is saying that He will enlarge His kingdom by opening salvation to the Gentiles through Christ's redemption. But God has also shown me this morning, that it's surface meaning is also for our everyday lives.
When we expanded our family through the gift of adoption, this was not the scripture that urged us on despite all odds. We clung to the story of the woman whose oil and flour never ran out when she baked the cake for Elijah first - we had nothing at the time. We were struggling financially in ways that some folks will never even imagine, but we gave our home (it's all we had to give!) to God first and He provided for us in unthinkable ways. Our "oil and meal" never ran dry. There was always enough for what we needed.
At that time, this specific call to adoption from Isaiah probably wouldn't have meant as much to us. But maybe someone else needs to hear this call. Is God calling your to "enlarge your tents?" If He is, rest assured, HE WILL PROVIDE! Don't ever let fear or the financial aspect of adoption cloud this call. It's a step of faith like no other. Trust Him.
Isaiah 54:8
. . . but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.
Peace
This morning as I woke up to the beautiful snow I started thinking about how I was going to describe my excitement of the snow in a facebook status. Admit it, in this age of social media we all try to capture those really great moments in a few words to post on twitter or facebook that communicates to the world (or at least our network of "friends") that we love the life we are living. I came up with a pretty good status too:
"Beautiful snow, warm house, hot cup of coffee, my Bible, and glorious peace and quiet while all my babies are snuggled in their (or my) bed."
I did not, however, post this for 2 reasons: 1. The peace of this morning was my time spend in God's word which I admit with great shame does not happen as often as it should. 2. Those are the exact types of statuses that drive me nuts! They send out the message to everyone that our life is all perfect rainbows and sunshine. So I began to think of what a realistic status could be on this very same cozy, snowy morning. Here's the realistic version:
"My house is a wreck, the dishes and laundry are overwhelming. We're counting the minutes until I finally get a paycheck again (from maternity leave), and we're are in the midst of quite a bill juggling act to provide Christmas for our own kids."
I didn't post that either. God is good and He's providing for our family. Yes our house is a wreck and we do have stress and challenges in our lives. Sometimes you just have to choose to see that good and pick the peaceful moments. I am nothing special, but I am a redeemed child of God and despite my list of failures He provides me with "peach that passes all understanding" so that when I'm scaling Mt. Laundry or wishing my sink (and counters and table) full of dirty dishes would disappear or tripping over toys and fussing at my kids for not picking up their stuff or I can't sit on my couch because of all the junk piled there, I know that all of those things are a direct result of the abundant blessings God has allowed in my life.
"Beautiful snow, warm house, hot cup of coffee, my Bible, and glorious peace and quiet while all my babies are snuggled in their (or my) bed."
I did not, however, post this for 2 reasons: 1. The peace of this morning was my time spend in God's word which I admit with great shame does not happen as often as it should. 2. Those are the exact types of statuses that drive me nuts! They send out the message to everyone that our life is all perfect rainbows and sunshine. So I began to think of what a realistic status could be on this very same cozy, snowy morning. Here's the realistic version:
"My house is a wreck, the dishes and laundry are overwhelming. We're counting the minutes until I finally get a paycheck again (from maternity leave), and we're are in the midst of quite a bill juggling act to provide Christmas for our own kids."
I didn't post that either. God is good and He's providing for our family. Yes our house is a wreck and we do have stress and challenges in our lives. Sometimes you just have to choose to see that good and pick the peaceful moments. I am nothing special, but I am a redeemed child of God and despite my list of failures He provides me with "peach that passes all understanding" so that when I'm scaling Mt. Laundry or wishing my sink (and counters and table) full of dirty dishes would disappear or tripping over toys and fussing at my kids for not picking up their stuff or I can't sit on my couch because of all the junk piled there, I know that all of those things are a direct result of the abundant blessings God has allowed in my life.
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