Diligence Revisited

Have you ever had a time in your life when the same topic or idea keeps coming up over and over again and you finally clue in that God is trying to get your attention?

I can point back to numerous times in my life when that has been my experience.  It usually means that God wants my obedience in a certain area that is lacking.  I can specifically remember the way the idea of adoption kept falling in my lap out of nowhere, or so it seemed, until I finally got the message.  Keith was a part of that one, too, of course.  God worked on both of our hearts for some time before we finally submitted to His will for us.  Little did we know the countless lessons and blessings that would be ours through the awesome adventure that awaited us.

There have been other times as well.  I can be a little slow when it comes to seeing the obvious.

Yesterday I posted some verses that God had impressed upon my heart about the need for me to be diligent in teaching my kids and others about the goodness of God.  It was the idea of diligence that struck me.

Today, I was studying the beginning of Psalm 119 and this verse jumped out like it was in bold print.

"You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently."  ~ Psalm 119:4 

So, not only does God tell us to diligently teach His precepts to those following behind us, but He has commanded us to diligently keep those very precepts ourselves.

What exactly does it mean to be diligent?

"Diligence:  constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind."      ~ Dictionary.com 

Constant...really?  Earnest...really?  All the time and with real effort.  That's what it means.  Not a haphazard attempt to throw it in here and there as you go through your day with your kids, or at work, or wherever.  Not a life of obedience when it's convenient for us or when it's easy.  It is a purposed, concentrated, "persistent exertion of body or mind."  I would go so far as to say body and mind since we fight daily battles in both arenas.

The psalmist was obviously struck with this idea of diligence, too, as he followed that statement with this one.

"Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!"  ~Psalm 119:5

As I purpose to teach my kids each day, I must remember the importance, the necessity, of keeping God's statutes faithfully and living them out in front of others.  Otherwise, my words mean nothing.  My prayer is that those following after me will see someone that preaches what they practice.  That I may, in all honesty, tell them to follow me as I follow Christ.

As I've thought on this today, I've really been astounded at the depth of this one word that God has impressed upon my heart.  If one word of His can have so much impact, it is easy to see how we will be able to study and dwell on the Bible for all eternity without exhausting it's depths.

Diligence

In my quiet time this morning I was reminded of the importance, actually the absolute necessity, of being diligent in passing on the ways of the Lord to our children and the generations that follow after us.  

Moses communicated God's message to His people in the book of Deuteronomy.  

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."  ~ Deut. 6: 5-7

Most of us are familiar with this passage in Deuteronomy but the thing that really spoke to me this morning came from a couple of follow on passages.

"Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel."  ~ Joshua 24:31

Obviously the people were following God's command up to this point.  However, by the time Joshua died, someone--many actually--had dropped the ball.

"Then Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of one hundred and ten...All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."  ~ Judges 2:8 & 10

I would contend that they didn't know the LORD or what He had done because no one told them.  The really disturbing part is what immediately follows those verses in Judges.

"Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who where around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger."  ~ Judges 2:11-12

In one generation, the elders had failed to pass on their knowledge of God and the consequences were devastating.  The people did evil in God's sight, served the Baals, forsook the LORD, followed other gods, bowed down to them, ultimately provoking the LORD to anger.  We see this playing out all around us, and I have to wonder at what point God will say "enough".

Although our culture looks like the people of Israel who did not know the LORD, I don't want that to be said of my family.  My prayer this morning is that I will be diligent about sharing with them all that God has written on my heart and done in my life and that has to start with me knowing those things myself.

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil."  ~ Ephesians 5: 15-16

Can you hear me now? A call to modesty.

My husband wrote a blog post last week and addressed it specifically to dads. Dads definitely have a responsibility here but so do moms and maybe even more so.

It is our responsiblity to set the example for our daughters. Please take the time to read his post if you have girls or even if you don't or even if you have no children at all.

God created men to have their attention grabbed through their eyes--and it is good. God said so! It is our responsibility as Christian women not to take advantage of that. Think of the men out there that we cause to struggle day in and day out because of our attire. Think of your sons or your friend's sons or the young men in your church. Or the older men.

It's an easy fix, ladies. Cover up! No, i'm not advocating the burqa but a camisole or tank top under a sundress or low cut top goes a long way. A good friend mentioned last week that she teaches the girls in her youth group to wear those low cut tank tops backwards under their clothes. Great idea! Thanks Jori! The point is that you can still look beautiful and quite fashionable without causing the men around you to struggle.

As a wife and the mom of four young men, this grieves my heart. Society would have us believe that we have a right to dress however we like and that it is the man's responsibility to "just deal with it". That is not what Scripture says. It is our responsibility to not cause our brother to stumble, to not defraud the men around us. If you disagree with this, it is not me that you disagree with.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

~1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

Think about your husband. Just try to imagine, in our culture, what he is faced with day in and day out. It starts with us, ladies. If we are not willing to swim against the current, if we do not set the example for our children, if we do not teach our daughters the "why" of it all, then we are not the wives and mothers that God calls us to be.

We have a responsibility and it is not to bare our cleavage in some "I am woman, hear me roar" show of feminist ideology and immodesty. We have a responsibility to God Almighty to honor Him with our bodies first and foremost.

When we do that, we will greatly bless the men we so dearly love.

Answered Prayer

It has been a busy summer around here. I have a lot that I need to update on here but since several people have asked about my Facebook status, here is the story.

Tuesday night was the first meeting of a four week inductive Bible study that I am leading at my church on the book of Ruth and our Kinsman Redeemer. It is a Precept Upon Precept Bible Study. I have worked hard to get ready for it and was really excited about it.

This first week was supposed to be more of an intro to the study and a how-to lesson for those that had never done a precept study before. Keith taught me how to use powerpoint and I had worked up a fairly lengthy pp presentation teaching the method of inductive Bible study. I was all set.

Then Satan went to work trying to mess everything up. It started at 3:30 Tuesday morning when Emma woke me up. Both girls were wide awake and it appeared that they had been for some time. I won't bore you with all the details but 2 hours later they were still awake and consequently so was I. So, I was tired from the get go. It was one of those difficult days where everything you do seems to be wrong or go wrong.

I fixed an early dinner and started packing up to head to the church. I started a pot of coffee to take with me and the coffee pot was sounding very strange. I went to check on it (it is a new pot that we have only had a few months) and I had forgotten to put the lid on the carafe before I put it in the coffee maker so the water wasn't flowing through to the pot it was just filling the basket and running over into all the guts of the pot which was now full of grounds. Ugh! Keith cleaned it all out for me and ran a pot of water through it and then made another pot of coffee. It worked fine, thankfully.

So, then I get to the church. The projector at church has been having some issues but I really needed it for that powerpoint presentation. Keith had helped me set it up Sunday night after church. It took him a good 20 minutes to get it to work. Then he just put it on Standby so it would be ready to go Tuesday night. Well, when I got to the church the projector had been moved and unplugged. My heart sank because I just knew after the way the day had gone, that projector wasn't going to work and there went my entire pp presentation, which was all of the info that I needed to cover that night. I was going to have to wing it and I was nervous enough already. You know, that standing up in front of people thing.

I plugged the projector in and the power light wouldn't even come on. Turns out the plug I was using had been disconnected earlier that day. I switched to another plug and initially got nothing on it either but then the power light blinked so I knew that at least the plug was working. I worked for a solid half hour to get the projector to come on and it wouldn't even hiccup. I was down to 10 minutes and still had to set everything else up.

My head fell into my hands and I prayed, "God, Satan has been working against me since 3:30 this morning. I'm tired, frustrated, and discouraged. I know that this is your will and He doesn't want it to happen but I also know that you are so much greater than him. Please make this projector work and light a fire in these women to know your word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

I lifted my head and put my finger on the start button and that projector lit up just like it's supposed to, not even a hint of a delay. I kid you not. All I could do was sit there and bawl like a baby. It was so incredible. That had to be the quickest, most obvious answer to prayer that I have witnessed in a long time. "I am the Light of the World" comes to mind. Beautiful!

The rest of the evening went well without even a hint of a problem with that projector. So for those that were wondering about my Facebook status...there you have it. God is so good and this is going to be a great study!

Easter 2009

Saturday dawned bright and early and dying Easter eggs was at the top of the schedule for the day. The girls were very excited. The box of PAAS that I purchased for the occasion (the original PAAS, not those newfangled things that never work the way they are supposed to) was short some of the color tablets so we had to make do with what it did include. The girls didn't seem to mind and they had a good ole time dipping...waiting...and removing their eggs. Emma is not so good at the waiting part.

Rain was in the forecast for Easter Sunday so we had the girls' Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. Keith hid the eggs all over our front yard and then the girls set to work.

And because I rarely make it into the photos...

Celebrating Easter causes me to focus intently on the most important thing in my life...Jesus Christ. Not only did Jesus die for me but He conquered that death and lives again. Therein lies the victory!

We had a great service at church. Our pastor spoke on the significance of the resurrection...in other words, where would we be if Jesus was not raised from the dead. Praise God that He lives!

Here are a few pics of the girls and the family taken before and after church.

After church, we had some great friends over for lunch. We had quite the feast: ham, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, corn, deviled eggs, rolls, jello salad, fresh fruit, and an awesome dessert that Bonnie (my friend) made. Yumm!

It was a cool and wet day here but we enjoyed it immensely. We really needed the rain so it was a welcomed treat.

I hope you all had a very blessed Easter Sunday. We really should celebrate the significance of Easter every day.

Grace

I had a hard time telling my little ones goodnight tonight. I had just watched the Chapman family on Larry King Live. My heart is so grieved over their loss of little Maria. I cannot imagine how they must feel and how they are dealing with it all. The scripture that keeps coming to mind over and over again is Hebrews 4:16.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God gives a special mercy and grace to people when they need it. It is obvious that the Chapman family is being flooded with God's grace right now. Their grace is not mine to have because I don't need it at this time. Maybe that's why I have such a difficult time understanding how they can get up in the morning let alone open themselves up with such transparency to the whole world.

Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Miracle of the Moment" is a good reminder to live each moment to the fullest. Each breath we take here on earth is a gift and we never know when it might be the last. I want to do it right. I want to focus on the miracle of each moment I have here and make the most of it for God's glory.

For the Chapmans, I know that their prayer for this interview was that God would use it to draw others to Himself. That people would see and understand that the greatest hope we have in this life is to spend all eternity with the loving Father that created us.

I pray that God will allow the Chapmans to see the fruit that He will bring about as a result of their willingness to be honest and open in the midst of such tremendous grief. I pray that God will continue to sustain them with His great grace and bring healing and peace to them once again. They are forever changed but they cling to the One who never changes and who has promised to reunite them with Maria someday. He, Jesus Christ, is the One they hope in and He is the One I hope in. Without that hope, we have nothing.

This is Commandment Five

On Wednesday nights during the summer, Emma and Kara attend Patch the Pirate Club at church. This is Kara's first experience with being in a real classroom situation instead of being in the nursery. She is loving it.

Our pastor's wife is teaching the youngest group of kids (the Plebes), and they are learning the Ten Commandments. Kara has been able to tell us each week which commandment they learned. I have been amazed at what she remembers.

Tonight, she was going through the house singing the song they learned last night. Keith thought we should video it...so I did. It is so precious I have to share it with the rest of you.

In case you aren't up on your commandments, the 5th commandment is found in Exodus 20 verse 12. It says "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

17 Years Ago Today...

Wow, time really does fly. 17 years ago at 7:19am New Mexico time, I gave birth to my 3rd son, Tyler. I cannot believe he is 17 already. He is 12 hours old in this picture.

Tyler was born in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We moved there when I was 8 months pregnant for Keith to attend Fighter Lead-In Training before going on to Luke AFB, AZ, for F-16 Training. Tyler was born a week early and we moved again when he was 2 weeks old. Needless to say, it was a crazy time in our lives. This picture was taken at 18 months while we were living in Arizona.

Shortly after that picture was taken, we moved to Hill AFB, Utah. Tyler had his first asthma attack there when he was three years old. Little did we know then that it was only the first of many more to come. This picture was taken around that time.

We started home schooling while we lived in Utah. We were part of a great home school community which gave us the opportunity to go on some really fun field trips and even to have professional "school" pictures taken every year. This is Tyler's 4 year old picture. The photographer that took pictures for our home school group was always great about including the younger kids too.

In 1996, we moved to Portales, New Mexico. Tyler continued to battle his asthma as it seemed to grow worse and worse. We struggled with the doctors there because it seemed like all they wanted to do was treat the attacks rather than trying to find something to prevent them in the first place. It was always frustrating and scary to watch Tyler struggling to breathe. This is Toothless Tyler when he was 7 years old.

Just before Tyler's 8th birthday we moved to Wichita Falls. The first year we lived here, he was on steroids 10 times in 12 months. It was agony for him and for us. A friend from church recommended asking our pediatrician about trying an inhaler that she had been given to treat her own lung issues. We were desperate as we had tried everything else we could think of. At that time, this drug was not generally given to children Tyler's age but his asthma was bad enough that the doctor agreed to try it.

Within 2 weeks, we saw a huge improvement. Over the next 2 years, Tyler only needed steroids once. The difference was amazing. We have praised God many times for leading us to that medication. This is Tyler in the 5th grade taken just a couple of months before he started the new medicine.

There were many nights that I sat up with Tyler, giving him breathing treatment after breathing treatment praying for God to heal him. I was so afraid that there would come a time when the steroids wouldn't work and Tyler would stop breathing. In those times, I learned to trust God. I didn't know what the future held, but I knew that God loved Tyler even more than I did and He had a plan for his future, even if it wasn't the same as mine. Here's Tyler at 13, finally a teenager.


Do I share all of this because Tyler's life has been defined by his asthma? Hardly! In fact, even though he still takes that "miracle" medicine to stave off the attacks, asthma almost seems like a distant memory in our house.

I share this because today, as Tyler stands on the threshold of adulthood, I'm one proud mom and I'm so thankful to God for all that He has brought us through. I believe that I learned more through Tyler's asthma than he did but sometimes that's how God works. He works through the hard times, the "why" questions, and the fear and trembling to teach us to lean on Him and to trust completely in Him because we can do nothing else.

I shared once with a friend that I was afraid to turn my kids over to God (as if we really have a choice anyway) because I was afraid that He would take them. She said maybe it's like Abraham with Isaac. God just wants you to be willing to obey and He will give them back to you. That spoke volumes to me. They are really His anyway, only on loan to us. How blessed we are to have them for the time that we do...and it goes much too quickly.

Tyler is an awesome kid. He is a super hard worker...just ask any of his coworkers at United. He is a great help at home. And he wants to help others. On top of all that, he loves the Lord.

So ... Thank you God for bringing Tyler this far. Thank you for the gift of his life and for the awesome young man that he is. Thank you for everything that you have brought him through and for his future that you hold in your hand. May you use him for your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen!

Happy 17th Birthday, Tyler!!! May God grant you many, many more. I love you! ~Mom

Faith

I was out running some errands with the girls this afternoon when I caught a short blurb on the radio. I didn't get the woman's name but she was speaking for a ministry called "The Proverbs 31 Woman".

She mentioned that several years ago God had made it abundantly clear to her and her husband that they were to adopt two little boys from Africa. She said that people have asked her if she ever regretted their decision to do just that.

Her answer is always "no". She said that even though some days are really difficult and it is often stressful and tiring to raise 5 active children it has taught her to live by faith. She asked this question "How can I be a woman of faith if I am living a life that requires no faith?"

I feel like I'm walking in this woman's shoes. I could replace her in this story if you added one more child. It has been 7 years now since we submitted to God's working in our hearts to add to our family through adoption.

I have never once regretted the decision to follow His leading. I will admit, though, to sometimes wanting to ask God "why" some things have happened the way that they have.

Maybe today I got my answer. Maybe, if I could really ask God "why?" He would tell me that it was to teach me to live by faith...to trust Him...to stop relying on myself and let Him be in the driver's seat. Sometimes life is hard...sometimes it's really hard...but He is always faithful.

Thank you Lord for teaching me to live by faith and thank you for each and every one of my precious children.

I am a blessed mother indeed!