Heart Stirred with Wisdom

Harvest

2011-08-28T00:02:00.004-05:00

Today was a great day in so many ways. I wanted to share it.

My oldest son cleaned the kitchen tonight without being asked. He really did a great job of putting away the leftovers, cleaning the stove and placing everything in its place. This may not seem like much to some but it's amazing around here. He turned 13 this spring and it would seem that I was losing touch with him. It was as though he was an add-on to the family instead of an integral piece. But he is coming back around to the family ways by the grace of God. His sense of belonging and loyal responsibility is growing. It has been a challenge at times. His emotions and passions are extreme. Would you expect anything less from the son of a drama queen and her artistic musician husband? With all humility and a desire for the greater glory of our Lord we are drawing nearer to Him together.

My second son took the swim test at the local pool today which allows visitors under 8 to dive off of the diving board. He not only passed the test with no problems but he dove off of the diving board into eleven feet of water again and again and again. He was elated. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this without any official swim lessons. He's not very daring by nature so this is a thrilling advance in his willingness to try new things and push himself beyond his comfort zone.

My oldest daughter was obedient today. When I asked her to get dressed she did it cheerfully and completely the first time I asked. This is not always the case and so I praise the Lord for allowing her to grow in her obedience to her parents. As I spend more conscious effort expecting my children's instant and cheerful compliance they grow more comfortable meeting and exceeding my expectations. They are joyful and energetic children that love to please their parents. With God's help we will continue to inspire such loving-kindness.

We also harvested our first produce from our community garden plot today. It was a bright yellow crookneck squash. Squash is not my husband's favorite vegetable but I know that it will be a meal enjoyed by our entire family. We have all worked so hard together preparing the soil, planting good seeds, feeding the soil and plants with organic food. We have kept the weeds at bay. We even tried our hand at organic composting. That is why the harvest is so cherished.

Our harvest of family responsibility, character development, obedience and squash have made today amazing in my eyes. I am in awe of how God loves me so much to allow me to reap bountifully what He has helped us sow. He is a good God.

Not an Ordinary Day

2010-08-16T07:00:00.008-05:00

Today is not a Friday. It is neither the last day of a nightmare job nor the first day of my dream job. Today I do not begin vacation nor end chemotherapy. Today the Lord did not heal me of a disease nor raise me from the dead. Today my debts are not cancelled and my mailbox is not overflowing with unexpected checks. By all outward appearances, today is just another day. But it is not an ordinary day.

Today I am one step closer to being with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for all eternity. I Thessalonians 4:16-17

Today belongs to the Lord. He made it for me. I am joyful and glad for today and everything He designed in it. Psalm 118:24

Today I am a recipient of free and generous gifts. I cannot buy nor earn my standing with God. Even His Holy Spirit was poured out freely upon me. Acts 8:17-20, Romans 5:15-17, Romans 6:23, 2 Corinthians 9:15

He proves Himself as righteous. My trust and faith in Jesus make me stand before Him blameless today. Romans 3:24-26

Today I am growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened by His mighty hand that I might have patience and endurance. I am joyful that Christ has qualified me to be a citizen of the kingdom of light. My sins are forgiven and darkness has no dominion over me today. Colossians 1:10-14

I am the righteousness of God through the sovereign work of Jesus. I am holy, blameless, above reproach and completely acceptable to God by the blood of the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 1:19-22

Today He is living to make intercession on my behalf. I can state firmly that He saved me willingly, fully and forever. Isaiah 53:12, Romans 8, Hebrews 7:25

Today He inscribes His will on my innermost thoughts and understanding. He remembers my sins no more. Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 8:8-12, Hebrews 10:16-17

Today I have all the blessings promised to Abraham. I am not a slave to the law. I am free to live a blessed life because Jesus took my curse upon himself on the cross. I am no longer a slave to sin. Today I am a willing servant to Christ who bought me out of slavery. Romans 7, Galatians 3

God speaks to me. I hear His call and He spends time with me one on one. He abides in me this day. Revelation 3:20

Today His holy word has transformed my ideas and attitudes. His perfect will is made clear to me so that I will have no superficial or internal conformity to the ways of this alien world. Romans 12:2

Today I have felt perfect love in my heart. I have known Him and been known by Him. God makes Himself known to me as I clearly see His real person. John 14:21, John 17:26

Today I am given strength from the inside out. The Lord pours out love on me beyond anything I could even imagine. My experiences in Christ Jesus are beyond my previous understanding of what was even possible. Today He exceeds my greatest prayers, desires, hopes, and dreams. Ephesians 3:14-21

Today I am working for Jesus and Him alone. He prepared good works in advance and created me to fulfill them. His Spirit enables me to accomplish these tasks in all excellence of workmanship, knowledge and skill. Colossians 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:10, Exodus 31, Exodus 35

I have the promise of future glory because God lives in me today, as I live in Him. Colossians 1:27, John 6:56, John 15, I John 4

Today I will declare His amazing works. He is on my side and I desire to please no one but God. I trust Him with my very being. I draw near to God because there is no better place to be. The Lord is my refuge, my strength and my portion. Psalm 73:25-28

I praise the Lord, today and forever, for this extra-ordinary day! Amen.

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T10:33:00.006-05:00

Our pastor's wife asked me to speak to the congregation on Mother's Day. What an honor and a privilege! I have posted my notes below for those that asked. Please feel free to leave me a comment.

Thank you for letting me speak today. It is an honor to be here with you all. Thank you Pastor Janet for asking me. Thank you, Mike, for encouraging me to do this.

I would like to begin by applauding those of you have taken on the difficult challenge of being Christian mothers who dedicate much time and devotion to training up your children. Women who pour into their children are not missing out on opportunities to make a difference – they are creating them. I did not lose my identity by raising children. I multiplied my legacy. There is no example in the Bible of God cursing someone with children. They are always a blessing. We must relish these opportunities to strengthen God’s kingdom. I hope that today you are encouraged and invigorated to continue with renewed strength in your motherhood journey. I pray that God’s love would be obvious in my subject matter and that you would be moved toward His best for your family.

First I would like to discuss the nature of children and our roles in their development.

There is a sweet image that people love to think of children as angels. They even do newborn pictures with little fuzzy wings and a sweet halo.

This is simply not true. Children are not angels. They come into this fallen world and sin the first chance they get. They are flesh-driven and selfish in every way. This is not to say that God has not given them some things to love. As they grow we get to see their personalities and their talents. We get to watch them enjoy the wonders of this world. But we cannot be blind to the work to be done. We must love the way God created them to be and encourage their spiritual growth while encouraging them to stop bowing to their sinful nature. That is why we are admonished in scripture to train them up night and day in the Word of the Lord. This is the best way. It is best for a peaceful home and best for the future of their spiritual lives.

Next, I would like to consider how we might be fruitful in training up our children in the ways they should go.

There is a difference between having children and growing a heritage. Children in the Bible are described in many ways. Initially all children are gifts from God and should be considered such. However, depending on how they are brought up they can either become arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior or a source of sorrow to their parents. What is the delineation between these two extremes?

I believe it is their training. Some people ask why their children, “throw fits in the grocery store,” “cry when they don’t get their way,” “are mean to other kids,” or “whine about everything.” Why their teenagers “don’t want to be around them” or “ignore them” etc. I believe that the answer is not that they were born that way or it’s just God’s will for their personality or even that it’s just a phase. That’s a worldview that Christians should not buy into. Most times the parents have trained the children to be this way. I don’t mean that we purposely set out to develop a fit-throwing brat or a crazy dishonoring teenager. But what we tolerate is what we encourage.

Your children know. They know you’re not perfect. Pretending otherwise trains them in hypocrisy. Your children know you don’t have all the answers by yourself. Pretending otherwise trains them in pride. Your children know when things aren’t okay. Telling them otherwise teaches them that pretending is better than laying your worries at the foot of the cross. Your children know a lot. And they are learning from you at all times. This includes infants and teenagers and grown adults.

Your children know how far they can push you. How often to pull you. How to use guilt. How to use your pride and fear of being embarrassed. They know how to push your buttons to get what they want. And the more we allow them to use these weapons against us the more we are training them in the ways of ungodliness. Children should not be developing their arsenal of rebellion and manipulation. They should be expanding their righteousness and becoming more obedient.

The good news is that it is never too late to be retrained. Parents, if you notice that you have trained your child in less than desirable behaviors then take the hand of the Lord as you refocus your child’s path. This is not an easy process because the person that will need the most retraining is the parent. We have to be retrained to listen and respond to our children with their spirit and soul in mind. What a great responsibility we have been given to train their flesh to obey our voice that they might one day heed the mighty voice of the Lord. They are His children after all.

I think about the children of Israel wandering the dessert after leaving Egypt. In Deuteromy 1 we hear about the immediate consequences of delayed obedience. The only hope for God’s people was in the children. We can say this definitely because God did not allow anyone from the hard-hearted, fearful generation to enter the promised land – except Joshua and Caleb. The adults could not trust God’s instructions and denied His command for them to take the land. Without hesitation or wavering, God told them that the land was closed to them and that their children would take the land and dwell in it. As soon as the parents heard this, they picked up their weapons and said, “Okay, we’re ready to fight now. We believe you now.” But it was too late. Their fear and lack of instant obedience caused God to warn them that if they went in now by their own force they would be destroyed. This to me is the strongest admonishment that we should train our children to be instantly obedient through OUR EXAMPLE. It allows them and us to receive our greatest blessings from the Lord.

If there is an ounce of regret or guilt on your shoulders right now for your parenting past, don’t let your conviction be confused with condemnation. I don’t want you to leave here with regrets but with hope.

Some of us may have to repent to our Lord and apologize to our children for our past shortcomings. If we repent He is excited to forgive us and able to restore the years that have been lost. This would be a great opportunity to begin anew in the ways of godly parenting. Nothing opens the door to a new chapter of success like a good apology. Don’t ignore any convictions. Thank God for the working of the Holy Spirit and walk forward from glory to glory!

Training and retraining is a big task but nothing is impossible with the Lord!

It is my goal that my children would seek the Lord all the days of their life. So I must ask myself in what ways am I pointing them to God? It is my goal that my children would be salt and light. So I must ask myself how to encourage their pure saltiness and teach them to reject darkness. It is my goal that my children would affect the world for Christ. So I must ask myself what their giftings are and what weaknesses they need to be trained to fight against. These might seem like grandiose, ridiculous goals for such a young group of people. But we fight these giant, spiritual battles with training in godliness that can be as simple as serving others before you serve yourself, allowing others to go before you, helping your parents to maintain the home, speaking to all adults with respect, introducing yourself with cheerfulness, speaking kind words instead of complaints, praying for someone who is sick or hurt, being happy for those that are happy and sad with those that are sad.

I would like now to address all the adults in the congregation. If you notice that there are ways that your parents trained in you that do not line up with God’s ways then ask Him to show you those areas in His pure light of love. He desires for us to walk in His righteousness and holiness. He knows our parents were not and are not perfect. But as adults it is not the picture of Christian maturity to maintain childish ways. Perhaps our parents were unable or unwilling to train us out of our pridefulness, selfishness, laziness, or an assortment of other sinful ways. But as adults we are to examine those lifelong stumbling blocks and pray with faith that the mountains in our lives would be moved. We don’t have to walk in those wornout paths our whole lives. God has a bigger plan.

God can change people. He can change anyone. He can change their heart and their soul. He can change them down to the core of their being. He can do it in His timing and in His way. God can change your mother and He can change your children.

Only God can change people. Only God can change the fiber of someone’s being. Only He knows their hurts and pains and can heal them completely. Only God convicts people of sin. Only God can change your mother or your children. But He can certainly use you to love them through the process.

I would like to speak for a moment to those of you who might not have a perfect mother and you find it hard to be thankful and honor her on Mother’s Day.

You can’t know the full picture of sacrifice that your mother went through to bring you into this world. Don’t take your life for granted.

A friend of mine has changed lives through selflessness.

She was sexually assaulted as a young teenager.

It was a terrible and scary time for her. It became much more difficult to cope when she found out she was pregnant.

The enemy was hard at work in this young girl’s mind. He told her it was her fault and filled her with anger toward the young man who hurt her.

The enemy reminded her of her previous dealings with boys. She had been promiscuous and had previously had abortions to cover her tracks. The enemy wanted her to believe that this story would end the same way. Abortion wasn’t out of the picture in her mind.

But God told her to save this child’s life.

She carried this child for 9 months and gave the baby girl up for adoption through a Christian agency. This young mother updated her address and contact information with the agency every time she moved in hopes that one day her daughter would reach out and find her.

That daughter did find her birth mother over 25 years later. That daughter is now living a life. She’s had trials and triumphs. She’s graduated from college and found a man she wants to marry. She’s been a revered ballerina dancing with companies all over the country…all because a teenager made a hard choice to give up her identity as a carefree child and leap into the world of motherhood, if only for 9 months.

I have often thought of how the daughter in this story must have felt when she finally learned the truth of how she came to be here. She was the product of such a horrible event. She’ll probably never know her biological father. I can’t imagine the emotional roller coaster such news would bring to my life.

To me she is the poster child for hope and selflessness teaching us that what the devil means for evil God can turn to good. God turns all things to good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Maybe the story of your birth is not this dramatic. But don’t take for granted the gift of life you’ve been given. Some of our mothers did the best they knew how. Others didn’t try at all. But love can cover a multitude of sins. Bitterness is a root that should be dug up and replaced with thankfulness. Maybe you can’t be thankful for your mother. Try being thankful that you’re simply alive.

The fifth commandment to honor your father and mother was not given only to people 18 and younger. It was for you and me. Honor does not mean that as adult children we must obey or like everything about our parents. I challenge you to dig out a place of honor in your heart for your mother. She is not the Virgin Mary but God chose her to be the vessel He used to bring you here with us today. I thank God for your mother that she made such a contribution to this fellowship.

One way I honor mothers is to call them and thank them on their child’s birthday. The first time I called my mother’s mother I think she thought I was crazy. My mother was one of 9 children but I am thankful that my grandmother had her. My precious children wouldn’t be here if my grandmother had made up her mind to the contrary.

My final point is to illustrate a caring way for mothers to dispense wisdom to other mothers or to their own adult children.

There’s a difference between giving advice and dispensing wisdom.

I know a mother who is more than happy to give you advice on hundreds of subjects in which she considers herself an expert. She’s got lots of information and knowledge and is eager to share it with everyone within earshot.

She has many words and speaks them with such authority that it is difficult to discuss alternative viewpoints with her. She’s very much a confident know-it-all who lets her voice be heard.

There is another mother I know who has taught me through her example and through her love for her husband and children.

The most important piece of parenting advice I’ve ever been given was from this woman who didn’t say a word to me until I asked. She had been around me and seen me with my children but never said a word about my methods or failures or utterly disobedient children. She didn’t raise an eyebrow to my frustration or lack of patience. She simply set her mind on her own family’s growth. She had plenty of opportunities to correct me and set me straight. But she chose to wait until I was seeking the right path.

This is the mother I seek to emulate. She is full of discernment and wisdom. She is quick to listen and slow to speak.

The difference between these two women is not their intelligence or their willingness to help. It is discernment and love. I am convinced that someone who asks for your opinion or input is more likely to receive it. And when one is not looking for wisdom it is difficult to see it as such.

Happy Mother’s Day and God bless you.

For my friend, Paola

2010-03-25T17:00:00.004-05:00

I am working on this song for my church's Resurrection Day services. But I made this video for my friend, Paola, who is also learning sign language.

I pray that it blesses you! Please let me know what you think!

The tomb is empty!

God Cares About the Little Things

2009-11-02T23:25:00.009-06:00

Last month my wonderful husband told me that he just loved it when our daughter wore a bow in her hair. Her haircut is very plain and having her hair put up with colorful ribbons draws attention to her beautiful face and carefree smile.

This was the beginning of a dilemma for me.

At the time we only had a few very small bows and some sad, worn-out ponytail holders to decorate her crown. Feminine hair accessories are rather expensive but they would definitely be put to good use. I set my mind to work and used some extra grocery money to purchase three very sweet hair accessories. But two headbands and one clip would not be able to be used for every outfit and every occasion. She would soon wear them out or get them dirty and I would be in a pickle.

I assured myself that I could make bows for her very inexpensively. But the costs began to accumulate in my head. "All the ribbon, clips, wire...if we did this slowly we could have a nice selection," I reasoned.

This is where I always get myself into trouble. I plan before I pray. It's a weakness and God is working on me. I find myself so full of great ideas that I often think I can figure things out on my own without consulting Him or anyone else. How foolish! God loves it when we trust Him enough to bring our every desire, complaint, and dilemma before Him. He delights in this type of interaction because as we draw closer to God, He draws closer to us.

But God already had His own perfect plan on how to answer my prayer before I prayed it. He had already seen our "need" and found a way to meet it. He also knows my frugal ways. He understands my desire to live according to His provision, trying to be content with simple living. With all this in His view, He is always in the business of lavishing us with every good thing.

I am happy to purchase most of our clothes at two of our favorite thrift stores. We also get very good used books, sports equipment and toys there for super, bargain prices. "Perhaps I could find the ribbon there," I planned with myself. "I could even keep my eye out for clips that could be transformed into something lovely."

The next thrift store trip I made I couldn't believe my eyes. God did not give me what I thought I needed to make things happen myself. He led me to find something even greater. He is truly amazing in all the ways He treats His children to the best gifts!

There laying among all the stuffed animals and stacks of baseball cards was a huge plastic bag of mint condition hair bows, headbands, and clips. I would never have been able to make anything comparing to this variety and quality.

The entire bag was $2.50. I almost started crying right there in the store. Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow!

I believe that God cares about princesses and ponytails and pink ribbon, too.

And He cares about me learning to pray before I plan...and to ask believing that I will receive. Nothing is too small for God. If we can't trust Him with all the little things, then how are we ever going to trust Him for the big things?

Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Leaders? Part II

2009-10-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is an article that I wrote for World Shapers Ministry. You can check out their website here. I have reprinted this article in agreement with their requirements. You can find where I reprinted Part I here.

Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Leaders? Part II

In Part I of this article we discussed steps to avoid having your children develop as leaders. In Part II we will consider the biblical mandate to encourage leadership characteristics in your children.

The world would have you keep your child in a mindset of childhood long after it is suitable. I Corinthians 13:11 (AMP) tells us that “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.”

Unless you plan on heaping adult thoughts and responsibilities on your child on their 18th birthday you might consider easing them into this way of life even today.

Consider the following suggestions:

Decision-Making - Let them be a witness to Godly decision-making and priority ranking. Children will not simply know how to honor God with their time and treasure. They must learn it from being submerged in it as their lifestyle.

Gifts & Abilities - Romans 12:6 says that “We all have gifts and they differ…” Your child is not just another brick in the wall. They are a unique and distinct part of God’s plan with unique and distinct gifts given by their Father to fulfill His wishes. Train the child according to their bent, according to their skills and giftings, and you will encourage them to seek God’s will over their own. He knows best what is desired from your son or daughter. Teach them how to focus on His best for them by learning the talents that He deposited in them.

Responsibility - Giving them opportunities to build trust and gain responsibility will teach them to be faithful with little. Servant attitude in their daily chores/responsibilities show them how we are daily to serve others with a spirit of excellence. Love in all activities will teach honorable actions when they are to choose on their own how to behave toward their spouse and children. If they never have anything to do at home, not only will they not feel a valuable part of the family, but they will have nothing to offer as far as servanthood outside of the home.

Commitments - Don’t be a thief. Be prompt. If you believe that God has led you to make a commitment to something then you are gathering in His name. You wouldn’t show up late if you really thought Jesus was there waiting, would you?

Authority - Respect, honor and obey your authorities. If you want your children to rebel against you then you should model rebellion in the way you speak about your boss, your pastor, your parents or your children’s teachers. Hold everything up to the Bible but don’t be disrespectful in your attitude. If you leave your child in someone’s care then you have chosen that person to carry authority. Honor it.

Priorities -The 12 tribes of Israel lived in locations assigned around the tabernacle. Their lives revolved around God. He is our center. If we make Him second or third so that our children can look more like a well-rounded child of this world then we are robbing them of the opportunity to live a God-centered life. When they hear you model decision-making that puts God at a lower priority than anything else you are insuring that they follow in those steps as they make their own decisions.

Prayer - Your children need to hear you pray so that they can rejoice with you and stretch their faith with yours. If you come together in agreement with your children it shows them that they are integral and effective in moving the heart of God.

The Bible - God’s word never returns void. It will always achieve its purpose. When you immerse your children in a living, breathing Word-saturated atmosphere they will thrive and the enemy will have no defense.

Civic Responsibility - God’s people are to be active in this world just as God is. Though we are strangers in this world we are also called to be salt to a dying world. We are to “cure” the rottenness of the world by involving ourselves and our God in everyday affairs.

Roles - Seek God’s will for your family dynamics. This holds true for families with one parent or two. A woman can only be a great mother. She can never even be a mediocre father. The same concept holds true for men. When mothers are great mothers and fathers are godly fathers then the Lord is glorified and the home is at peace. The value of our different roles should be cherished and stressed as glorifying our Lord with everything that we choose to do and NOT to do.

Friends - Direct their paths toward righteous choices by asking questions. The Holy Spirit will spark their hearts toward the right answers for friends and friendly activities. If you see your child with an influence that boldly or subtly changes who your child is in Jesus then strengthen their walk by discussing their changing attitudes and remind them that the Rock on which we stand never wavers.

Service - Allow them to serve in and out of the church with you. One of my young friends told me her definition of a leader. She says that, “Leaders are servants who help others even when they don’t feel like it.” Let your kids live in this Christian life that you profess. Don’t just let them hear you talk it. Let them walk it with you.

Beth Klongpayabal
www.wsmworldshapersministry.org
Klongpayabal@wsmworldshapersministry.org

Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Leaders? Part I

2009-10-27T07:33:00.009-05:00

This is an article that I wrote for World Shapers Ministry. You can check out their website here. I have reprinted this article in agreement with their requirements. I will be reprinting Part II in the days to come.

Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Leaders? Part I

Being a leader is about influencing people. In Mark 16:15 Christians are called to go into all the world and share the good news with everyone. This would definitely influence people. This should, at the very least, leave a distinguishing effect on our schools, communities, and places of employment. Christians are called to be leaders. Even though this is understood, there is no scripture that defines the exact age at which we are called to be a leader to those in our sphere of influence.

If you believe that leadership is too much pressure to place on your child then I suggest you follow these easy steps to avoid having your children develop as leaders:

Decision-Making - Don’t burden children with decision making. It will just make them grow up too fast. They’ll have to learn soon enough when they start to earn a living and have to make their own choices of how to spend their time.

Gifts & Abilities - Don’t hurt their self-esteem with skill or gifting assessment. We’re all winners. Tell them they are gifted at everything they try even when it’s not really true at all. This way they will not really know what they’re good at and they won’t have the added pressure developing in one direction.

Responsibility – Teach you children to take responsibility by having them clean their room. Make sure that you remind them every day to do this and do it for them if you have to. This way they will learn that someone has to take responsibility.

Commitments - Make judgments based on how you feel moment by moment. Allow them to break commitments and be late when something comes up.

Authority - Question everything. Make sure your child understands that they do not have to obey their teachers or coaches if they think that you might allow the child to do something differently. It’s best to always believe your child over anyone else without question.

Priorities - Keep the kids well-rounded. Carve out prime chunks of time for friends, school, work, sports and arts. Enroll them in every conceivable class because they’ll make loads of friends. An overly full schedule means you are involved and much more important.

Prayer - Pray in private. Bedtime and mealtime prayers will suffice for now. Children just don’t have the patience for long adult prayers they don’t understand.

The Bible - Keep them in their child storybook as long as possible. They just won’t understand the real Bible.

Civic Responsibility - Separation of church and state isn’t just for politics. Don’t mix God with current events.

Roles -Men and women do whatever works best for your family as far as gender roles and responsibilities. The roles established in the Bible were for a different time and place.

Friends - Don’t interfere with their friendships. They need to learn to choose their own friends and deal with their own problems.

Service - Make sure to tell the children when you serve the Lord so that they will know that you are doing good.

If you have been challenged by these comments I encourage you to read the second part of this article. We will look at a path which will ask much of the parent and produce much in the child.

Beth Klongpayabal
www.wsmworldshapersministry.org
Klongpayabal@wsmworldshapersministry.org

Perspective

2009-09-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

I was recently inspired by a friend (thanks, Rea) to consider the time I spend with my children making them feel like the blessings they are. I want my children to feel loved and valued as individuals. I want them to be secure in who they are and the love my husband and I have for each of them.

As much as I endorse this concept, it is difficult to make a reality in day-to-day interactions. There are so many interruptions and distractions from this grand undertaking that it almost seems impossible. I am often overwhelmed by the mucous-covered, dirty body parts and the bickering and the little screechy voices…It just makes me want to give up some days.

But I am not to grow weary doing good. And so I find the joy of the Lord to be my strength in this mission. He loves my kids more than I do. Surely, He’ll be willing to help me show how much I care in a way that is meaningful to their little hearts.

I have found that it is the joy of little moments with these precious people that adds up to a tremendous atmosphere of love in my heart. If I can focus and live in each moment as they come, this dismantles the lie that it’s too hard to love each kid the way they need to be loved. And we all grow closer together and stronger in our bonds. This makes tomorrow’s challenges just a minor puddle to hop over instead of a waterfall to cross.

Today was a good day for our bonds to grow. My oldest son and I shared a private joke with each other over a dozen times throughout the day. And we both thought it was funny the thirteenth time. I made a yummy, over-the-top dessert with my daughter beside me helping with each step. Our family worked on a huge project together to prepare some animal bones and skulls for display (very stinky work, but we did it together). My husband chuckled and encouraged our youngest son to make giggly, piggy faces against the mesh walls of his play yard. I was able to cuddle with our 5 year old son as he explained to me all the cool features of his favorite video game. My husband and I taught our oldest son to play Yahtzee tonight.

I know that these don’t really sound like monumental or important moments. But they were huge to me. I am not promised tomorrow. So what a joy it is to relish my blessings today!

All of us can brush off opportunities now and then to seize the moment with our children. But I need to overhaul my thinking so that I see my days as abundant in blessings instead of loaded with bothersome irritations.

Here are some reminders to me to keep my perspective in line with reality:

My children are not interrupting my housework. They are the reason I came home.

My children are not ruining my perfect school lesson plans. They are teaching me every day.

My children are not crowding out my dreams. They are giving me a legacy.

My children are not a nuisance or an annoyance. They remind me of God’s goodness and patience.

My children are not sent to punish me or make my life hard. They are sent to help me think of others as greater than myself.

My children are not insignificant or unimportant because of their youth. They are blessings with a spirit and a soul that need to be directed to God.

Leave me a comment below to let me know how the Lord has allowed you to take advantage of moments with your kids. How do you keep your perspective in line with God’s truth about your children? Is there something perhaps that you can suggest to frustrated young mothers who want to avoid seeing their children as a burden or a bother when the days are long and the children are under your feet?

Thanks for reading. I look forward to your comments.

Communicating in Thirds

2009-09-15T08:40:00.016-05:00

In my quiet time this morning I was led to these notes in my study Bible:

**************

From The Woman’s Study Bible New King James Version

Communication: Exchanging Ideas

Communication is the exchange of ideas and information by talk, gestures, or writing. It is an active process present in all meaningful relationships. Communication is not talking but also listening, looking, and feeling. Though individuals have different communication styles, spiritually mature believers are to seek continually to improve their communication with other people and with God.

Speech is powerful. The spoken word can either encourage or discourage. Scripture teaches believers to control the tongue (James 3:1-12) and speak only words of kindness (Ephesians 4:29, 32). The Book of Proverbs discusses the importance of listening with understanding to others who speak (Proverbs 11:12; 18:2; 29:20).

Words alone cannot fully express meaning. Body language, facial expression, tone of voice, and other means of nonverbal communication are essentials for effectiveness. Those who study communication patterns have concluded that two-thirds of the intent of a message is communicated non-verbally, while only one-third of the message is communicated through words.

Obviously, communication is more than conveying information. Women especially use communication to express feelings more than facts, to establish rapport more than to give a report.

Paul underscores the significance of communication and gives advice on verbal behavior (Ephesians 4:25-32). Christians are to:

speak the truth in love (v. 15, 25),
control angry words (v. 26),
speak words of encouragement and healing (v. 29),
avoid unkind or bitter speech (v. 29),
speak words of forgiveness (v. 32).

Mature believers realize that clear, loving communication is important in conveying the message of salvation effectively.

**************

This led me to consider how only one-third of my message was coming across in my conversations throughout the day. We all know that so much is lost when you talk on the phone. Gestures and facial expressions are invisible. Even more is missing from the written words we share online. When we read something on a computer screen instead of having a live conversation, vocal inflection and stresses are lost. How does this affect our intended message?

I am not always clear in what I write. I do not always take the time to measure my words to make sure that they consistently encourage others. I can fall into negative speech that is not profitable for anyone. What a waste of words that is.

I find this dilemma to be multiplied when I am attempting to communicate by typing in real time. Chat rooms and instant messaging systems add urgency and remove some of the luxury of being able to choose your words carefully when putting your thoughts in writing. I find myself getting caught up in conversations that are not profitable for building up others or possibly being so silly that my message is completely lost in foolishness. I recognize that this is not glorifying to God.

It is at these times that it is best for me to step away from the keyboard and remember that it was my Creator who gave me the ability to speak and reason in words. Since all of my words are from Him shouldn't all of my words point to Him? I do not mean that we should only speak theology and eschatology and all-kinds-of-ologies. But shouldn't I always be mindful that I represent Christ in my attitudes, word choice and manner of speech?

We as believers are called be diligent to use our words (verbal or written) to “impart grace to the hearers.” Would you label your words as encouraging, healing, loving, kind, forgiving and full of grace? I challenge each of you to ponder these thoughts as we improve our communication with God and with each other.

Please leave a comment below to share with me your thoughts and wisdom on communicating effectively online. I look forward to learning more on this subject through your comments and insights.

We All Have Gifts

2009-09-03T09:19:00.008-05:00

Romans 12:6-8 NIRV

We all have gifts. They differ in keeping with the grace that God has given each of us. Do you have the gift of prophecy? Then use it in keeping with the faith you have. Is it your gift to serve? Then serve. Is it teaching? Then teach. Is it telling others how they should live? Then tell them. Is it giving to those who are in need? Then give freely. Is it being a leader? Then work hard at it. Is it showing mercy? Then do it cheerfully.

I love the New International Reader's Version of this scripture because it is the translation my oldest son memorized when he worked through Romans 12. I can still hear his voice reciting these powerful phrases. He is definitely a talented speaker who is passionate and enjoys talking to people.

All children have talents and abilities that make them special. Some are exceptional artists and others have a quick mind for puzzles, some gravitate toward building things and others are gifted at math. Even better than talents they might possess, if they have repented and put their trust in Jesus, they also have at least one of the spiritual gifts listed in Romans 12. But how do we know which gifts each child should be developing? How can parents encourage their children to use their gifts to benefit the church?

I found this great blog post that helped me in my thinking about this topic. It even features a Spiritual Gifts Survey for Kids that I can't wait to give to my oldest son.

Let me know how you have discovered your children's spiritual gifts. Please leave a comment below.

Critical Spirit

2009-08-23T18:00:00.000-05:00

It is bittersweet to end my Bible study, Draw Me Near by Nancy Douglas. God has taught me more than I could have dreamed was possible from one 10-week study. He really means it when He promises to give us good things when we ask. (Luke 11:9-10)

Now the Lord is moving on to His next great work in me. I am beginning to study about having a critical spirit. I am interested in God's view of our critical spirit, the lies that cultivate a critical spirit, healing a critical spirit and operating in wholeness after a critical spirit. God has opened my eyes to many biblical examples and several ministries' views about the subject.

Do you know someone that operates in a critical spirit? In what circumstances have you found that you are unlovingly critical of others? What Bible passages have helped you heal this attitude? Have you been hurt by a critical spirit? How did you approach the offender in love? Is there a published Bible study that has helped you understand critical attitudes in God's people? Please post a comment below or e-mail me at heartstirredwithwisdom@gmail.com. I hope that God's wisdom in you can help me further my study in this area.

Attitude of Gratitude

2009-08-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

Recently my 10 month old baby boy woke up from his afternoon nap about 30 minutes early. My immediate thoughts were of the basket of laundry that had not been put away yet and the school lesson I still had to complete with my 5 year old son. But the Lord quickly reminded me to focus on gratefulness instead of all the plans and activities my baby had “ruined.” I was moved to be thankful for his waking because some children do not wake from their afternoon naps early. They do not wake from them at all. This thought led to a flood of gratitude in my heart for the many benefits the Lord has heaped on me and my family. They are too numerous to list but they lifted my heart and left me singing as I greeted the baby in his crib. My attitude of gratefulness transformed my day to one of profound joy and peace instead of a pile of disappointment and self-pity.

Please share with me what are you grateful for?

Colossians 3:12-17

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

If you would like further study on gratitude please read this wonderful series of radio broadcasts by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Zucchini Brownies

2009-08-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

Zucchini Brownies

These are very moist and great for snacking. I prefer them after they have completely cooled for a sweet treat with lots of nutrition. At around 100 calories and less than one gram of fat per brownie these are a smart choice instead of your usual chocolate indulgence.

Ingredients

3 cups zucchini -- grated

1-1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup fat free plain yogurt

3 tsps vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

½ cup wheat bran

½ cup wheat germ

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsps baking powder

2 tsps baking soda

½ cup carob powder

2 T flaxseed

Directions

Preheat oven at 350. Prepare a 9X13" baking pan with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine zucchini, sugar, yogurt, and vanilla.

In another mixing bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 24 bars.

Cover tightly and store in refrigerator.

Approximate nutritional value per brownie Calories 108; Total Fat >1 g; Protein 3 g; Total Carbs 25 g (including 3 g dietary fiber, 14 g sugar); Vitamin C 3%; Thiamin 10%; Riboflavin 7%; Niacin 7%; Vitamin B6 10%; Folate 5%; Vitamin B12 2%; Pantothenic Acid 5%; Calcium 5%; Iron 10%; Magnesium 8%; Phosphorus 14%; Potassium 4%; Sodium 12%; Zinc 8%; Copper 11%; Manganese 39%; Selenium 19%

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

2009-08-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

These muffins are full of superfoods to promote cardiovascular health, brain health and all-around well-being. Enjoy these fresh from the oven for best results.

Ingredients

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

½ cup wheat bran

¼ all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup skim milk

2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute

¼ cup oil

¼ cup fat free yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon extract

1-1/3 cup blueberries (if using frozen, thaw first)

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 2-1/2 inch muffin pan cups with paper baking cups. Spray the cups with non-stick spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, oatmeal, wheat bran, all-purpose flour, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a spoon.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg, oil, yogurt and lemon extract. Mix well.

Add wet mix to dry mixture and beat until well blended. Fold in blueberries.

Pour an equal amount of batter into each cup until cups are about 3/4 full. Sprinkle sugar evenly over muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in center comes out dry.

Each muffin provides approximately 177 calories; 6 g fat ( >1 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat, 713 mg Omega-3 fatty acids, 1343 mg Omega-6 fatty acids); 0.5mg Cholesterol; 241 mg Sodium; 27 g Carbohydrates( including 3.5g of Dietary Fiber and 10g Sugar); 5.5 g Protein. Daily Values Provided by one muffin are: Calcium 11%; Iron 18%; Magnesium 13%; Phosphorus 25%; Potassium 4%; Sodium 16%; Zinc 10%; Copper 17%; Manganese 53%; Selenium 15%.

(Nutrional information was calculated on nutitiondata.com)

Quiet Time Part IV

2009-08-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

This is a continuation of my promise from God described in Quiet Time parts I, II and III.

Everything my God and my husband were revealing to me lined up with my understanding of God’s statement to me about how I was offering Him my bare minimum. Remember I was requesting a personal promise from Him when this Quiet Time journey began. Yet I didn’t even fully comprehend what His Holy Spirit was already doing in my life according to Ephesians 3.

For God to fulfill my greatest desires He wants me to perceive that with which He has already blessed me. For me this means that when I operate in His power that works in me I will see Him do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think.

I need to fully give Him all my time, talent and treasure to see Him working. He is not asking me to give to Him so He can destroy it and make a burnt offering. He doesn’t desire for me to live a life of poverty, lack and boredom. He just wants to be entrusted with managing and directing the use of all of my time, talent and treasure.

The width and length and depth and height of His love is big enough to encompass my days plans and my hearts desires. But He doesn’t just want to surround my life. He desires to be intimately involved in my every moment. He is not interested in setting up a perimeter around the width, length and height of my life to love me from the outside. His Holy Spirit dwells in me to operate through me. That is why He designed me with talents and provides me with treasures to be used while operating in the fullness of God.

He wants to be the overseer of my time and daily schedule. He wants to supervise my talents, skills and abilities for His glory. He wants to control my treasures so that they don’t control me. When all things are in His hands they are perfectly balanced.

I thank God that He gave me this promise. And I give Him all glory and praise for encouraging me to submit this word to be held up to scripture and godly counsel. I thank God for developing my understanding of this word so that I might seek Him and know His fullness.

Quiet Time Part III

2009-08-07T08:00:00.004-05:00

“Give Me the bare minimum of what I want and I will give you the bare minimum of what you want.”

This is what I heard from God as a promise to me. (You can catch up on this in Quiet Time Part I and Quiet Time Part II.)

Michael reminded me of Paul’s exaltation in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

How could our amazing limitless God who works beyond our imaginations be anything that could be called bare minimum?

I immediately knew that I could find something in scripture to talk about a blessing being removed or the requirements for living the blessed life. But it served me well to study what leads up to Paul’s amazing proclamation about God’s gift of salvation which no man can work to earn in Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV.

Paul prays for the Ephesians to be blessed by God Himself. He requests for them to be strengthened in their inner man and rooted in love. He prays for them to understand and know the fullness of Christ’s love. This part of his letter to Ephesus is about the amazing gift of salvation offered to us all through Christ Jesus. But Paul does not stop at recognizing God for salvation. He goes on to encourage the church that there is a blessing in comprehending the “fullness of God.”

The fact that he prays for these things to be granted them means that these benefits are not automatically perceived by believers upon salvation. Even though these blessings are available to us at the moment of salvation we may not immediately take hold of them. Paul was obviously not saying that we had to do anything to earn Christ’s love nor strength from the Holy Spirit nor the bounty of His riches in glory. He was simply praying for us to perceive, comprehend and understand the fullness of God that is available when we are in Him. This will allow us to see what God is doing as His power works in us.

God revealed these truths to Michael in a word picture. It blows me away as I imagine it.

“God's fullness is always being poured on us. Only when we fully open ourselves to His fullness are we able to see it more and become more aware of it. It's like when Elisha [our 9 month old] is sitting on the floor playing and we are standing over him watching him. We are there the whole time, but he is not aware that we are there. So to him, we are not present. But soon he sees our shadow on the ground next to him and then he becomes aware of the shadow and it excites him that something else is there. Then he turns and sees a foot; he is more aware of our presence. Then he looks up and sees us looking on him and smiles really big at the realization that "Oh, hey, where have you been this whole time?" To him, we just appeared. We were there all along, loving him and watching him the whole time, just reveling in his beauty. With each advance of his perception, he becomes more and more aware of us. Our love and affection were there in full the whole time, but it wasn't until he looked up and saw us that Elisha became aware of that love and affection."

In Part IV, I will apply my understanding of these revelations to my promise from God.

Quiet Time Part II

2009-08-04T08:00:00.004-05:00

After my pathetic attempt to listen to God’s promise for me (Quiet Time Part I) the Lord was faithful even in my weakness. He answered my prayer. This was His promise to me as I recorded it in my Bible study notes for that day:

“Give Me the bare minimum of what I want and I will give you the bare minimum of what you want.”

This was not a threat. This was not a punishing, menacing voice of domination. And it sure didn’t sound like a promise in the way I was expecting. God was simply stating a fact about my submission to Him.

God revealed to me that I was withholding all of myself from His care. It was mostly a mental block on my part. I was not affording Him the trust that He had earned to tend to all my needs and desires. In keeping myself from Him and giving Him my bare minimum I was robbing myself of the completeness of what He wanted to give me. I did not trust Him to take care of me so I took matters into my own hands which are obviously not as capable as those of my Good Shepherd. I was receiving God’s bare minimum not because He withheld his best from me but because I did not live and breathe in the knowledge of His fullness and love.

At this point, my husband prompted me to test my word from the Lord against scripture. He is very wise to test things against God’s word. He brought to my attention Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Michael further clarified his questions:

“To me (and I could be wrong on this) God will and can do what he wants in my life whether I am a participant or not. Yes, if I give myself fully to Him, I will receive fully from Him, but it almost goes towards a "works" practice, rather than grace….I absolutely get what you are saying with this, ‘We limit the work that God is able to do in our lives.’ In a sense, that's what I got out of it. I think that is true, but I want to lock it in to scripture because of the simple fact that it appears to limit God, who is limitless.”

*I thank God for my husband who keeps me seeking the Lord and His truth.

I agree that God can do what He wants with my life whether I participate or not. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I have ever planned for myself. Let us always remember that God does what pleases Himself. He is sovereign and holy. He chooses who He uses and how.

In Part III, I will lay out for you the beauty of what God showed Michael and me as we tried to understand how I could be experiencing the bare minimum of a limitless God. I was brought to tears of joy by the loving and tender kindness of our Lord who does not tire in revealing Himself to us.

Quiet Time Part I

2009-08-01T08:00:00.006-05:00

One discipline the Lord is developing in me is the skill of listening to Him during prayer time. I have never spent much time practicing listening to God. He is usually pretty clear about His desires for me. He has been good to reveal His will to me through His written Word and promptings of the Holy Spirit followed swiftly by words of confirmation.

While working on my current Bible study, Draw Me Near by Nancy Douglas, I was reminded that God has some covenants with all mankind, some with selected groups of people, and still more promises that He makes to individuals. This morning as I completed my lesson I felt that the Lord desired to have me actively listen and wait for a word from Him. This is how that went with the parenthetical comments being my inner thoughts.

“Lord, I am dedicated to listening and waiting for Your promise for me today.

You are so good to speak to me throughout my day. (I can stop sitting here now and go about my day’s work. He’ll probably speak to me while I’m doing dishes or folding laundry.)

I know that you, God, can give me answers in dreams and visions. (Maybe I should go back to sleep and get my answer that way. God knows I’m tired and He gives peaceful rest to those He loves according to Psalm 4.)

*A total of 30 seconds has elapsed since this “quiet time” began.

You really want me to wait, don’t You?

Lord, please clear away anything in my heart that is keeping me from hearing Your voice clearly. (I am trying to give it all over. This is hard. You know I should really blog about this because my thoughts are getting in the way and it’s pretty funny to think that I can’t shut up long enough to listen to the Creator of the universe.)

(Just stop talking. Don’t plan out how this is going to be a great story. You asked Him a question now let Him speak.)”

He did speak. And that is a post for another day. But I pray that my pitiful example of listening will inspire you to consider if the Lord is asking you to listen for a change.

Creaking Door No More

2009-07-29T08:00:00.005-05:00

I have recently begun doing my Bible study in the early mornings after my husband leaves for work. I know that most people already understand to start their day off in prayer and worship but I am stubborn and I like to sleep as long as the children will let me. But no more.

I was convicted by the following verses to change my drowsy ways:

Proverbs 26:14 NKJV As a door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy man on his bed.

Psalm 5:3 NKJV My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up.

I will not be the creaky door. I will be the upturned face with voice calling on my Lord.

I now enjoy going to bed early as a part of my worship and honorable service to God. It is good to be able to focus on the Scriptures I am reading and process each phrase or thought as the Lord leads without the children interrupting me. I now cherish the quiet of the morning as I tune my ears to hear the Holy Spirit’s teachings. God is so good to meet with me daily as I seek Him.

I also believe that it encourages my husband to see me up and cheerful in the mornings preparing to keep his home all the day until he returns in the evening. My husband works so that I can homeschool and be a diligent, God-honoring keeper of the home. He does not go to work so I can sleep in and ignore God’s promptings. And I know that honoring my husband is honoring to God.

This is a new form of worship for me, to seek God's face in the morning, and it is already changing my perspective on many things.

Turkeys in an Oat Coat

2009-07-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve found myself privileged to be able to experiment with some dietary changes for my husband. He was diagnosed with severe hypertension and I quickly researched some nutritional suggestions to help lower his blood pressure and improve his overall health. We are attempting to find a balance between reducing bad foods and increasing good foods. For example, we seek to reduce his fat intake while increasing whole grains. This recipe for Turkeys in an Oat Coat is my healthier alternative to pigs in a blanket. The turkey sausage is much lower in saturated fat than pork and the fortified baby cereal has oats which are great for heart health. This is not to mention the whole wheat flour which is a whole grain that is easy to gobble up!

Turkeys in an Oat Coat

Makes 28 wrapped sausages (You can easily half this recipe but I make the entire batch and freeze them for easy breakfasts for one or for many.)

Ingredients:

2 - Jenni-O Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links – 14 links each 14oz. package

3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp molasses

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp salt

2 pkgs regular or quick-acting active dry yeast

2 1/4 cup very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

4 cups Gerber Oat Baby Cereal

Oat Coat Instructions:

Mix whole wheat flour, molasses, honey, oil, salt, and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough of the oat cereal, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle. Depending on the humidity in the air you might also need to add in more whole wheat flour to reduce the stickiness of this dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; spray the top of dough with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double.

Turkeys:

While the dough rises cook the turkey links on the stovetop until golden brown and thoroughly cooked to appropriate internal temperature. Remove from pan. Drain on paper towel. Immediately place sausages into freezer until needed for assembly.

Assembly:

Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched. Lightly flour a rolling surface. Roll out half the dough into a rectangle until dough is about ¼ inch thick. Use pizza cutter to make 14 strips of dough. The rectangle and the strips do not have to be perfect. Just try to evenly distribute the dough. Remove sausage from freezer. Roll up links in dough strips until completely covered with dough on all sides and ends. Smooth dough slightly to evenly distribute dough and close all seams. Place on cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise 20 minutes. Prepare the other half of the sausage and dough. After the first set has risen 20 minutes preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake: Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes or until bread coating is light golden brown.

This dough is a modification of my all-time favorite honey whole wheat bread recipe which I will post at a later date.

Family Meetings

2009-07-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

My husband recently instituted family meetings. This is a time that we set aside to come together as a family and grow in the Lord.

We decided to have our meetings each weeknight after baths and before bed. This would allow us to have a set schedule leading up to bed. Also, my husband is currently leaving for work around 6:15am, so morning meetings are not practical for our family.

The reason we call these family meetings is because the two older boys have heard us discuss Dad’s meetings for work or ministry. They know that meetings are very important and very grown-up. They enjoy being a part of something so significant. We add to this importance, I believe, by also keeping it a priority in our schedule. When we skip family meeting it makes it appear less vital than it really is.

We begin each meeting with prayer. This is followed by dispensing rewards to the children for behavior throughout the day. These rewards are awarded for godly behavior exhibited. Attributes rewarded include cheerfulness, perseverance, patience, kindness, gentleness, selflessness. We also reward the children for any progress in ceasing negative behaviors. Examples of this might be an award for not throwing a fit when you don’t get your way; staying calm and not retaliating when you are hit; or using your words calmly and respectfully to resolve a dispute instead of lashing out and hurting someone physically or emotionally. Click here to read more about our "minute" reward system.

Next we read a modern devotional called "Keys for Kids." This is a free publication by CBH Ministries. You can find out more here.

We always look up the scripture references and read from the Bible to reinforce the fact that all of our learning in godliness comes from the Word of God. The devotionals are one way that we open our children’s understanding to the application of the Word. It helps tremendously with the very difficult task of making abstract teachings into concrete wisdom for daily living.

After discussing this story we move to a passage from Little Visits with God: Devotions for Families with Small Children by Allan Hart Jahsmann and Martin P. Simon. We use the 1964 printing of this family classic. I like this version for its use of language and simple lessons. The questions at the end of the lesson are easy for my 5 year old to answer and my 3 year old can often chime in with a question about the details of the story.

I have not studied the newer editions of Little Visits with God. Many editions of this book can be found on Amazon. I think I prefer to stick with the classic version (originally published in 1957) as it makes me feel connected to what my grandmother might have read to my father. I know that she faithfully prayed for me until the day she went to be with our Lord. She was a loving example of Jesus my entire life.

The next section of our meeting varies. Sometimes we have Bible quizzes. This is my oldest son’s favorite because he can often beat his parents to the answer. My daughter’s favorite use of this time is looking at the Evangecube. Michael guides the children through the salvation message with the 5 year old taking the lead in narrating the pictures. Hannah loves to hold the cube and look at the pictures. What I would like to do next with this tool is to teach my children the scriptures that directly correlate to each image on the cube. This will make the cube truly educational and beneficial in instruction. You can learn more about this teaching tool here.

After this time we go around the table and ask each person to say something they are thankful for. Now and then Mike will change it up and have us say something nice about someone else in the family. In any case, we are all encouraged to participate and use our mouths for thanksgiving and blessing.

Sometimes we do communion during our meetings or we talk about prayer requests that we have. Mike mentioned recently that he wanted to add worship songs to our meeting times. We have also considered adding scripture memory to reinforce qualities that we believe our family should exemplify everyday. We might occasionally read from my favorite children’s Bible storybook Kid’s Bible Story Book by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut. This is one of the best books for children because of the vivid storytelling. I also appreciate that my children have to listen harder when there are no pictures to distract them. These stories are not watered down for children. But they are accessible. This book is no longer in print but you can find it at a deceptively low price here.

We are just starting out on this journey. I am not sure what the future holds. I am sure that God is in our midst as we gather in His name. He is growing us closer as a family as we grow closer to Him through study and prayer.

Minutes for Moments

2009-07-20T15:15:00.009-05:00

An epidemic was brewing in my home a few months ago. My two older boys, ages 5 and 11, were playing their portable game systems an inordinate amount of time. I let them play so often that they felt entitled to game time if they simply asked politely. They wanted to play every spare moment. If everyone was getting ready to leave the house and one of my sons was ready first he would ask to play his game while he waited…even if he knew it would only be for 2 minutes. I had created this situation and I had had enough.

Another plague was looming over my home in the form of overwhelmingly negative discipline. I was spending much of my waking hours telling my children what they had done wrong. On the other hand, there was a severe lack in positive affirmation. I don’t mean filling the children with useless “good jobs” just for mundane activities or praising them for things that are out of their control like being naturally good at something. I was failing to praise my children for good character choices. I was neglecting to recognize the Holy Spirit working in my children. I was getting tired and worn down from all the negativity. I had had enough of this as well.

In an effort to solve both problems with one solution, my husband and I came up with “minutes.” We created a reward system for positive attitudes and actions while limiting game play to the weekends. The children would earn minutes, little foamboard tickets in varying denominations. They would accrue these each day for remembering to act out their faith. Then they could redeem those minutes from Friday evening to Sunday evening. There would be no game play during the weekdays but plenty of recognition in the form of minutes. It was amusing to me in the beginning how excited the boys were at the thought that they would not be able to play games all week long but could earn the privilege to play on weekends.

Since we have instituted the minute system we have seen a dramatic reduction in attitudes of entitlement. We have also seen our boys light up when we recognize their righteous deeds and love for others. They have really grown in so many ways. It is exciting to be able to recognize it daily.

Culinary Creativity

2009-07-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

My husband’s mother was a very good cook. In fact, his whole family is full of people who love to cook. His grandmother, mother and father all owned restaurants at some time. This makes him a natural born lover of food. He just didn’t know what he was getting himself into by marrying me.

My mother and father worked very hard and long hours when I was growing up. We ate a lot of hamburger helper and canned vegetables. My mother never really seemed to enjoy being in the kitchen so I didn’t learn all the secrets and tips that many women bring with them into marriage.

It’s not that I don’t know how to cook. It’s not that I don’t enjoy cooking. I just didn’t have an arsenal of information to build on when were first wed.

In the beginning of our marriage, I made my debut in creative culinary arts. One night I was making meatloaf. I was so excited because this was not something my family ate when we were growing up but Michael and I both very much enjoyed down-home country cooking. I let Michael know what I was planning and got him all excited about the evening’s meaty meal. The time came to make the meatloaf and I realized that I didn’t have any crackers or bread crumbs. We only had one car which Michael had with him at work. I couldn’t walk to the grocery store and be back in time to have dinner ready. I really wanted to please Michael’s tastes but I had no reasonable substitute for the missing ingredient.

This meatloaf had to be good. So I closed my eyes and made a surprising substitution. I chose to take a chance not knowing if it would ruin dinner or be a masterpiece.

When Michael sat down to enjoy the dinner I gave him no indication of my dilemma. I didn’t even hint that there might be anything wrong with dinner at all. I just watched him very closely for any hint of displeasure. There was nothing. He genuinely enjoyed the meal and even commented on my first big attempt at cooking.

My substitution went completely under the radar. No raised eyebrows or suspicions. That is until later that night when Michael was looking for a little snack in the cupboards.

“Hey, what happened to the rest of my Pringles?”

I had to tell him the truth and he had no objections. The meatloaf did turn out yummy.

Recently I desperately wanted to make some Magic Bars only to find that my dear husband had given the kids almost all of the graham crackers for snack. So again I had a choice to make.

I scoured the pantry to find some reduced fat Triscuits and a few packets of McDonald’s granola that I’d saved from the yogurt parfaits. (I really don’t know how I thought I was going to use these packets but I just couldn’t waste them, and they give them to me attached to the parfait.) So that’s what I used.

They were so good. The granola added a little bit of cinnamon flavor and the triscuits gave a touch of salt.

Michael didn’t notice. Most of the time he can’t tell at all. But he always gets suspicious when I ask him, “So what did you think?”

My Marriage Resurrected: Part III Powerful Prayer for Marital Triumph

2009-07-11T08:00:00.002-05:00

Photo Courtesy of clarita via Morguefile.com

Ephesians 6:12 NKJV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

A few months after Michael and I began attending church the walls began to cave in around my miracle. Michael sat me down on the couch in our living room and calmly announced to me that there was someone else. He didn’t say he was divorcing me. He just told me that he was having an affair and then he walked out of the front door.

I did not know what to do. I was not prepared for this bombshell. I called his cell phone and he had turned it off. I began to panic and run around the apartment hyperventilating. I was so mad and confused. We were going to church. I was trying to be good. This is not how my miracle would die. I was not going to stand back and watch my marriage fall a final time.

Then I called a young couple that we had just met. The wife was much younger than me and they were barely newlyweds but I knew that she would be able to help me. I had heard her talk about her quiet times with the Lord, and the faith in her eyes could light up a room. I told her what was happening. She immediately knew what to do. She told me that we needed to pray and she set her husband to praying at that moment also. She picked up her copy of The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian and began to read the prayers to me over the phone. She took my husband and placed him before the throne of God. She lifted me up there to intercede for our union. She raised my expectation of what God could do.

That couple then came directly to my home and brought me my own copy of this wonderful book to study for myself. My husband was in the arms of another woman and I was in the throes of battle. Even though it seemed I would have to pray every chapter in the book to cover all my bases, I was given peace that things would turn out in God’s favor.

He came home that night. I was never so happy as when he came home. I still thank God often when Michael comes home. Many men don’t.

From that point forward, I knew the war was already won. I prayed hard. I didn’t like him but I prayed for him. He hurt me deeply but I prayed for him. And most importantly I prayed for his wife. I needed serious change. I needed a change in perspective and focus. Despite my growth in the things of God I was still focusing on changing my husband. I began to see the darkness in my own heart. It was ugly.

Even so, I am hard-headed and stubborn and I hate to lose. It was my new mission to convince him through my actions, demeanor and spiritual warfare that I was a wife worth having and he was a lucky man.

The enemy fought a vicious fight. He attacked what seemed to be a weak point – our marriage. We had been through so many marital issues that it seemed an obvious strategy. But God is so much smarter. He had placed it on Stormie Omartian’s heart to write an amazing, life-changing book. God had put that book in the possession of the young newlyweds. And He brought that book to me to transform the way I prayed.

The miracle of this story is that God continues to renew and strengthen our marriage when I remember to focus my prayers for Michael toward God changing Michael’s wife.

My Marriage Resurrected: Part II From Darkness to Light

2009-07-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

Photo Courtesy of xololounge via Morguefile.com

Ephesians 5:8-11 NKJV

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.

This is continued from Part I found here.

After our marriage was given true life by the power of the Holy Spirit, Michael and I began to see things in a new light. We thought about the world differently and tried to figure out all the right things to do to make this work in our day to day lives. Our marriage was still afloat and the Lord was with us in this transition. But for me the journey was painful because I wanted Jesus to be my Savior without being my Lord and Master.

Let me paint a picture of my life. I had wallowed in filth and every vile thing. I was a disgusting sinner through and through. It was as though I was completely covered in mud and muck from my head to my toes. It was in my hair and face, even in my mouth, covering every part of me with a thick coat of slimy darkness. I knew I was dirty and I knew Jesus could wash me as pure as snow. But I only wanted Him to wash my head. I wanted to know in my head that I was saved without giving over the other parts of me that were needed for the entire temple to be complete. I could not imagine the painful process that it would be to be all the way clean.

I held on to many lusts of the flesh. I smoked and drank and flirted with men. I spent afternoons dreaming of how perfect my life would be if I could just have a perfect husband or better job. I cursed like a sailor and filled my mind with gossipy magazines and ungodly music.

As much as I still reached for them, these fleshly desires were driving me mad. I would cry while I was driving to my women’s Bible study. I repeatedly fell apart during worship service at church because I was so unworthy of anything Christ had ever done for me. His sacrifice for me was very generic in my mind. “For God so loved the world…” I was part of the world and that’s why He thought to include me in the offer of salvation. I had no concept of what God wanted to do with my life. I just knew that this couldn’t be all there was.

I needed to make a clean break from the things of this world, and God knew just how to wake me up and make me choose a side.

You can read the next part of this story here.

Feeding 5 for $5.51

2009-07-08T23:55:00.017-05:00

I enjoy making every dollar the Lord blesses us with stretch to its fullest capacity. One way I do this is to try and control our grocery spending. Each time I grocery shop I spend some time picking out items with their prices reduced for quick sale.

We had a very thrifty dinner tonight that incorporated many of my latest frugal finds. Tonight’s menu was spaghetti with meat sauce, steamed vegetables, organic mixed greens and Italian sweet bread. This made plenty for our growing family of 6 (with one of them only eating a few mushy carrots) and enough pasta for everyone’s lunch tomorrow plus veggies and salad to add to Michael’s lunch.

The vegetables were bought fresh from the produce section. The hamburger meat was from a 5 pound package that has provided several meals. The bread is a much-loved family favorite that has slumbered in the freezer waiting for such a time as this. This bread tastes fresh after reheating. I simply unwrap it, pop it in the microwave with a cloth napkin on top to trap the steam and keep it moist. It goes in on defrost for 3 minutes and then on high for 1 more minute.

Ingredients:

ground beef – 1/2 pound - $0.48 CLEARANCE

whole grain pasta - $1.00 on SALE

spaghetti sauce - $0.89 with COUPON

bread – $1.39 CLEARANCE

broccoli, carrots and snap peas - $1.00 CLEARANCE

organic salad ½ pkg - $.75 CLEARANCE

_____________________________________

Total Cost for Dinner - $5.51

(Dinner price does not include grape juice or dressings pictured.)

This meal was relatively healthy and it fed all of us for less than the price of one McDonald's "value" meal.

My Marriage Resurrected

2009-07-08T22:53:00.010-05:00

Isaiah 61:4 NKJV

And they shall rebuild the old ruins,

They shall raise up the former desolations,

And they shall repair the ruined cities,

The desolations of many generations.

If you aren’t convinced that God still performs miracles today then prepare to be amazed. God stepped into my marriage and brought it out of the pits of hell to bring glory to His Son Jesus Christ.

Michael and I married in 1997 and our first blessing was already on the way. Neither of us was walking with the Lord. We were both headed straight for hell and I think I was driving the bus. We loved the world and sinned accordingly. I was a terribly selfish person and I could not understand why this man who said he loved me could not even attempt to make me happy. He didn’t do as I pleased and he didn’t care when I cried about my miserable state of being. I was pretty pathetic.

Our poor child had to suffer through our fits and pouting. We threatened divorce three times, each time the gap between us grew and the apathy crept in. The Lord was there watching and waiting.

When we hit the bottom He caught us. I nagged my husband that we could either get a divorce or start going to church. Either way I really didn’t care. He should decide. After four years of self-induced agony I gave up any hope of reconciliation. But God’s plan was so much greater than we ever imagined. My husband who had not been to church since childhood chose church over divorce. I firmly believe that the Spirit of the Living God convinced my husband to choose church. There was no reason for him to choose the petty brat he called a wife. God personally stepped in and chose for us.

We began attending a church where God worked miracles. We met people who God trusted to shine the light into our dark places. We attended small groups where we learned God’s true ways of operating in people’s lives. We listened to sermons that were directed right at where we were and directed us where God wanted us to be. We grew leaps and bounds and our marriage began a long journey toward God’s plan for us.

This path back to God’s heart was not easy. Our growth pains would soon begin. But everything has to have a beginning. Our marriage was born again in 2002.

Read Part II here.

The Reason I Write

2009-07-07T22:17:00.013-05:00

Photo Courtesy of Kevin Connors via Morguefile.com

The Lord has been so good to me that I cannot be silent. I have been strongly encouraged by my husband to start this blog to talk as a wife and mother to encourage women to live for God in every aspect of their lives.

My blog title comes from Exodus 35:20-29 NKJV. The Israelites were commissioned by God to build the tabernacle and everyone did their part. The New King James Version states in verse 21 that “everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering.” Women and men gave what they were moved to offer. This passage catalogues extravagant offerings of gold, fine linen, silver and bronze and many other freewill offerings of great monetary value. Then in verse 26 we find that “all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair.” What in the world is goats’ hair yarn doing in the midst of all the precious metals and stones of great price?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible notes on Exodus 35:20-29 illuminated these verses to me. It states:

“Without a willing mind, costly offerings would be abhorred; with it, the smallest will be accepted. Our hearts are willing, when we cheerfully assist in promoting the cause of God. Those who are diligent and contented in employments considered mean, are as much accepted of God as those engaged in splendid services. The women who spun the goats' hair were wise-hearted, because they did it heartily to the Lord. Thus the labourer, mechanic, or servant who attends to his work in the faith and fear of God, may be as wise, for his place, as the most useful minister, and he equally accepted of the Lord. Our wisdom and duty consist in giving God the glory and use of our talents, be they many or few.”

This comment states my mission for this blog very well. My talents, wisdom and service are the Lord’s. I pray that He be glorified in every post.