Home is a Place Called Heaven
Saturday marked Ron’s and my 11th wedding anniversary. I would love for you to take this day to visit his blog, Raise the Risk, and read the beginning of our story. Blessed to be loved by such a godly man and wonderful daddy. Click here to read his post, The Big Ask.
*Photo by Corey Conroy Photography
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness…as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10, ESV)
I struggle with my flesh and anxiety on the topic of dressing with modesty. This isn’t an everyday/ every-time-I-get-dressed struggle; however, I am a person who has a very sensitive conscience. Therefore, what I consider immodest the next woman might feel the freedom to dress in and vice versa: I may dress in something another women would not feel the freedom to wear. Even so, there are questions we can ask ourselves, as the Bride of Christ, and some tips to remember to help our men in the area of lust while we women purse purity in modesty of dress.
Purity is ultimately a matter of the heart, mind, and inner man. God’s word provides the ultimate answers for the questions we face weather in specific guidelines or generalities. Concerning the topic of purity, I return to Psalm 119 again and again.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. with my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statues!
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statues; I will not forget your word. (Psalm 119:9-12, 15-16, ESV)
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity of speaking with the women of our church on the topics of envy, jealousy, and modesty. The forum came half-way through our pastor’s wonderful sermon series entitled, Pure: Discover the Pathway to Intimacy. (If you attend Calvary with me and missed either the men’s or women’s forum there are CDs available at the Welcome Desk that you can purchase for both.)
Last night on Pinterest I found several other posts and videos on the topic of modesty to share.
First, this post by Courtney at Women Living Well. I highly recommend this read. I especially enjoyed the portion in which she compares godly, beautiful women of the Bible to the description of the Proverbs 31 woman. The comments are additionally worth skimming.
Second, this video was helpful to consider our men’s point of view on the clothes we wear and how this affects our relationships with men.
So now it is your turn:
Women, consider: How do you determine what is appropriate or inappropriate for your apparel?
Men, what is your reaction to the viewpoint presented in the video above?
Mother’s often struggle with mommy guilt over words uttered in anger, cookies unmade, plans not brought to fruition, and energy misappropriated.
The heart of most mothers’ is full of good intentions, noble purposes, and best-laid plans. However, the crumbs, melt-downs, mood swings of teens, and business of life leave the portrait of our days painted differently than the landscape in our minds-eye.
Take heart: God redeems the imperfections and the masterpieces of those who seek to live and love through a righteous life.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8, NIV)
Mom’s, under normal circumstances children will remember much of the good and less of the bad. That is what equips them to make their own parenting choices in the future. It leads them to the Father. It reminds them of an agape love that only the one Father can provide all of the time.
God has equipped children with the greatest capacity for love and forgiveness. It is true, our children reflect the gospel.
Yesterday at breakfast, one of my boys was crying over the way I had prepared his English muffin. That did it. The crying over his daily bread broke me into fitful pieces and the peace in our home was sliced right through.
Ron helped clean up the crumbs of crisis and loaded the kids in the car for a park date and me some much needed alone time. Before leaving, my son came bearing good-bye kisses and kneaded the dough of love into his mama’s heart. I needed that.
As he left, simply these words, “I have hugs and kisses in my heart for you and dad when we get back too mama.”
Great love. Great forgiveness. Great grace. Those are the ingredients of the spiritual and the generational families of this life and the next.
Because they call me mom I must call on the Father more.
Because they call me mom I have added accountability to practice what I preach.
Because they call me mom I have kisses and hugs in abundance.
In short, I am blessed…because they call me mom.
This post is in honor of my mom. I am blessed to call you mom and live in your love. ~Brooke
Mother’s Day 2012 was bittersweet. The month of May brought much heartache to family and friends through the loss of two beautiful women. One a grandmother the other a young mother. As my heart aches for the families grieving I pray for answers to questions and new challenges that these women’s absence continues to bring.
The pain of death is surely felt by the undeparted.
I was reminded that God is a parent that outlived His son. God the Father did not spare His own son, but gave Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins. We cannot rush through this fact: God. sent. His. son. to. die.
We anticipate reunification with our loved-ones in death because Jesus died and rose again. His resurrected body is reunited with God the Father as our’s will be with those who have gone before us into heaven.
As a result of Jesus rising from the dead He is restored to not only the Father, but to all mankind as well. Further, those who place their faith in the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus will be reunited with family and friends in heaven who are of the same conviction and belief.
Bible verses preached at the grieving absent the Holy Spirit seem dull and lifeless. However, with the Holy Spirit, God’s living word soothes our anxious grief-stricken souls–if even moment by moment. God’s well of mercy has not run dry nor shall it til Christ returns. He promises He will comfort us; both parent and child.
When a child dies before his or her parent, or when a child looses their parent, the Trinity is familiar with this pain and will give us all that is needed to walk through our tragedy and loss (Romans 8:32). If Mother’s Day is a day of grief for you this year due to the loss of a mother or child I pray God’s peace and blessing on your soul. May the God of all comfort comfort you in your time of need (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). Those who mourn shall indeed be comforted (Matthew 5:4) both in this life and in eternity. Harder days may lie ahead but you never walk alone.
Home is indeed a place called heaven. Perhaps you are more anxious to arrive now that you know more familiar faces await you…He has already wiped away your loved one’s tears.
Photo by my friend Hannah F.
*A re-post.
Fairy tales… We have all read them: The Princess and the Pea, Beauty and the Beast, The Frog Prince, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel. The beginning is charming, the middle is grim, and the end is happily ever after.
Every little girl wants to be swept off her feet by a prince upon his stead. Likewise, most boys at some point decide that dashing in on a white horse to rescue a woman sounds adventurous and noble.
Looking at the divorce rates and failing marriages crumbling within and without the church, begs the question: What has gone so desperately wrong? Where are the princesses and the prince charmings of today?
To read the rest, join me over here. I am blogging at iBelieve today.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:34-35)
Following Jesus’ time in prayer, the disciples told him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:37-38)
Jesus designated time alone in prayer and as a result, it could be conjectured, that Jesus’ vision for his day’s work or even so much as his life’s purpose was sharpened and redefined.
Prayer can sharpen our vision for the purpose of life, in general, and our day specifically.
I want that kind of prayer discipline. The setting aside of time and space to draw closer to His kingdom and converse with Him as face to face. In order for me to experience this type of prayer life I must purpose a few things:
This week our son, Joshua, has been praying aloud more with our family. The interesting thing about Joshy’s prayers is that he will pray with his eyes open as he thanks God for all that he sees, but then close his eyes as he makes his requests known to God. “Thank you God for rocking chairs, curtains, toys, this John Deer, trucks, and shirts. I pray God you give me more toys and make more shirts for Ernie because he doesn’t have anymore. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
How God must delight in the heart-felt thanksgiving of a little child!
This weekend, I want to slip away to a quite place alone and pray with eyes wide-open to all of God’s blessings before me. Then, in heart-felt petition make my requests known to God. Perhaps you will purpose and do the same?
Enjoy your weekend friends…giving thanks with eyes wide open.
*All photographs courtesy of my friend, Hannah F. What a blessing to receive these in my e-mail inbox this week! Thank you, Hannah!
Pictures of doors from around the globe often captivate me on Pinterest. Vivid colors, adorning flowers, and unique shapes of doorways stand out among the mirage of images to pin.
Prayer opens the door to communication with God. God speaks to us in a variety of ways: the Bible, His people, our circumstances, etc….as directed by the Holy Spirit. However, we initiate communication with God through prayer uttered with our minds and mouths. When we pray, we invite the ever-present God to join in the conversation of our very lives moment by moment.
The goal of prayer is to live all of my life and speak all of my words in the joyful awareness of the presence of God. ~John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation, Jesus instructed his disciples (Mark 14:38). Watch and pray. Seek wisdom with your whole heart (Proverbs 2). Whether you turn to the right or to the left you will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way, walk in it (Isaiah 30:21).”
God actively instructs, watches, and listens to us. We determine if we go about our whole day without a God-ward thought, or if we open our eyes and lift our thoughts in continual communion with the One who never leaves or forsakes us.
To make prayer a continual conversation is to truly take every thought captive and make it obedient to God. At the gym, in the car, at the job or while correcting our children, we take captive our thoughts and purpose them to prayer. It is a matter of our will and a matter of restoring our redeemed minds to the mind of Christ-likeness– the one in whose image we are made.
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7, NLT)
Often we might want to shut the door on certain thought patterns. God knows the needed areas of change. He will not stagger in astonishment at our repentant confessions and pleas for help. He delights in humble, contrite hearts– not the hearts of the religious pharisees whose cups are clean on the outside only (Psalms 51:17, Matthew 23:25-26).
In our day, most people close their eyes when they pray. But praying with one’s eyes open was common for Jewish people in that day. Among other things, it reminded them, God is right here, right now, in my real world. ~John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be
How often do you open the door to communication and communion with the Spirit of the Living God?
Today, may we pray with eyes wide open. May we look for opportunities to speak with the Spoken Word made flesh (John 1:14) that His presence may be manifested to us as He dwells within us (John 14:26).
Excerpts taken from:
I am sure that you have felt it…that gentle push into the deep. The pressure to go further than you have gone before. More resistance. A steeper incline…or a seeming free fall.
When we are challenged to step out of the boat, into the ring, take center stage, or serve in the most humble of ways, it is all for the glory of God and the transformation of a spiritual life.
Humans need change. We need to be pushed past our known limits so that we can achieve the unmet goals of good works that God has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10). This looks different in every life. Likewise, the cost of change will be felt somewhat uniquely by each individual.
Routine and familiarity breeds comfort, but trust in the midst of change breeds faith and rejoicing.
In what areas are you being asked to make changes? Step up? Step out in faith? To endure beyond what you thought was possible?
Choose joy in this:
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)
Take heart my friends and serve faithfully. In prayer, I will do the same.
Sitting in the Hard Rock concert hall in Orlando, I contemplated the irony that my first youth pastor’s conference comes about eight months after our six year tenor as youth pastor and wife had officially ended. I further considered the hilarity that the “cool” students in youth groups initially intimidate me nearly as much as the youth workers with swag!
After settling into my cushioned seat, along with my surroundings, the people watching began. As workers and volunteers filed into the auditorium it didn’t take long for mommies and daddies carrying babies in infant backpacks to catch my attention. I was instantly reminded:
The sacrifices and juggling youth pastors and their wives endure to meet the needs of students is one of the most unseen tasks of the ministry.
For moms partnering alongside their pastor husbands, babies bring love and logistical issues. The will, passions, and heart of the mother are oftentimes torn between the desire to be the visual, involved helpmate of her pastor husband. While loving my job and joy as a mother, I often struggled with the desire to experience all of the riches of youth ministry: trips, conferences, discipleship, after church meals and fellowships. However, the choices of: a. bring the kids and chase after them… and the youth, or b. find a sitter to pay while I enjoy ministry, were both less than ideal.
If you are in the midst of ministering to teens or are parents of teens, would you agree that at times this portion of ministry seems like the leach and daughters in Proverbs 30; always crying for more? As a youth pastor’s wife, I often felt this way. (I can say that now, although it is with great fear and trepidation even after running in a different lane of ministry for 8 months!) Youth ministry is demanding and the pace strenuous.
Please understand, I loved pouring our lives into the next generation. Our aim was to minister so that fully devoted disciples would be made to reach the nations and the generations with the gospel for the glory of Jesus Christ. However, there was an ongoing struggle, a wrestle if you will, with my flesh, our families needs, and the demands and desires to minister as God would have both of us do.
At this conference I learned very valuable ministry methods, was reminded of the global needs of God’s created world, and reviewed with speakers the true critical issues of youth ministry. But, perhaps the most valuable challenge for me specifically was the reminder to pray for youth pastor’s and specifically their wives.
Join me today in praying for the youth pastor’s wife in your church. I hope the bullet points below would be a good launch pad for your prayers.
When my youngest son brought the 911 picture book to me for our bedtime read aloud I hesitated. It was weighty material for bedtime, but as is typical of my personality, I dove in anyway.
When we erase historical events and people in our history with whom we may or may not agree , we erase our national identity and our shared heritage of both the virtuous and the vile. Additionally, when we ban books and limit the free speech and expression of authors and artists we are weakening the ties that bind us as a culture and nation. We are stifling learning, discussion, and connection within and among our people.
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We’ve decked our halls and trimmed our trees. Our large blue wooden box of Christmas books sits stuffed to the brim and many titles have already passed through little hands. We add to our Christmas book collection each year and develop new favorites as we revisit old friends. Traditionally our family celebrates the season at […]
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