Company Clean

Yesterday was my main housecleaning day. I managed to get fifty percent done. We are rather a messy family, and I definitely have to put effort into having the house clean before company comes over. I'm teaching the kids to clean, and often it feels like more work than the actual job. 😉

I was thinking about how so many of us practice a type of confession before taking communion. Or repent at some point during a church service. These things are always important, yet I wonder if it's like cleaning house for company. Is that the first time this week we asked His opinion on something? Jesus, just a second. I gotta pick up a few things. 

It's actually a little funny. I mean, the King is IN US. He has already made us righteous. He's right there while we pick up the clothes off the floor and rinse out the sink. He's waiting for a conversation in the middle of Life. He's our good friend, our spouse, our brother, our father, our source. Our constant. 

If we are sinning during the week, why? Did we make Him Lord or not? Even better, what is that sin offering that satisfies us? Those are the questions He's asking. What's going on? In your heart? I've got a thought about that. Let's talk. 

Jesus is not about crime and punishment. That's our legal system. This is the New Covenant and Jesus is all about restoration and relationship. Stop cleaning for company and let Him live life with you. 😘❤️🌱

Fruity

First year anniversary at our home in Stilwell, Oklahoma. We've done so much work creating our farm life, and still more work to be done. But that's ok; I wake up every day overjoyed at where God has put us. A friend rightfully commented on my Facebook post this morning; 'You get spontaneous joy from being obediently grateful.' So true. 

I think the Christian thought is that joy is a fruit of the spirit and that it will magically be in you. But maybe God doesn't want to just throw fruit at us. Maybe He wants us to be an orchard. Or an oak. Or a vineyard. We always think survival; God thinks multigenerationally. With family in mind. The Vinedresser prunes us according to His desires, because the fruit isn't for us it's for the Body. 😆😂❤️

I used to think of my life as a road with a lot of potholes in it, and God was filling them. God is interested in healing and restoration, yes, but He does that to build foundation. He plans to build on top of all that smooth, healed heart. I've spent a lot of time learning about my brain and how it works. Joy doesn't land on our brain with all its crappy thoughts. It's grown; which is why it's called a fruit. Find out what you're thinking and why you're thinking it. Invite Him into your thought life. He's already there, but He does like to be included. He's not waiting for you to sit down with your devotional. He's waiting to walk with you, hand in hand, and He wants to create a place of abundance with your life. To bless Him and feed His family. 😊❤️

Civil War

I was watching The Good, The Bad and the Ugly with my love. Like many times before I was struck by the civil war scenes. I looked it up; 620,000 died in our American Civil War, more than any other war in history. My husband reminded me that there wasn't a draft; men on both sides enlisted to fight a battle that was basically over ideology. It was about freedom; but how the freedom was administered and to whom was the topic that thousands died a horrific death over. 

In the wake of the tragedy in Orlando, it feels like we are constantly trying to kill each other. If not with guns, we kill with rhetoric. And hate. And lack of perspective. It's as if the red and the blue wish, once again, to fight. 

I have good news though. It doesn't have to stop here, in the place we face off, brother against brother. This is where it will end; 

“"For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”

Habakkuk 2:14 NASB

http://bible.com/100/hab.2.14.nasb

And here; 

“Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."”

Revelation 11:15 NASB

http://bible.com/100/rev.11.15.nasb

Jesus came to reveal the face of the Father. His is a face of restoration and hope. Of Love. 

In the midst of devastation, we get to choose who we agree with; love or fear. Reconciliation and hope, or anger and blame. 

I choose Him. 

Salted with Grace

“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

Colossians 4:5-6 NASB

http://bible.com/100/col.4.5-6.nasb

Last night I cut a thirteen pound brisket into two pieces, and ad libbed a dry rub and a braising liquid. After fourteen hours at 200 degrees I pulled them out and tasted. The dry rubbed was a little sweet, the braised...well something wasn't right. I'd thrown a couple tablespoons of whiskey in and it didn't taste very good. Then I realized it needed salt. It chagnged the whole flavor! It was so good! 

Grace is like that. It's indispensable, but often overlooked. It can change a whole conversation. It's easy to acquire, too. Just think where'd you be without Jesus. Now, if you think you e done it all pretty well by yourself, or if you've pulled yourself up by your bootstraps, that's what you will communicate. 

Why can't you do it? Why can't you figure it out? Just do it. See? That's just no fun. Graceless. 😆😉

Add some salt. You'll taste much better. 😁😘😘😘😉

Drastic Cuts

I've been setting a lot of goals for myself and today I'm a total failure. I told my husband I was discouraged. When he asked why and I told him, he said, "Why don't you ask God what His goals for you might be?" Yeah. 😒

So I've been trying to pull myself out of my funk by listening to a sermon. The pastor used a story that stuck out to me. 

A guy hires an arborist to come trim a tree in his front yard. The arborist says, "Before I start, what do you want? Do you want a tree that looks good or a tree that bears fruit? If you just want it to look good I will round it off and just trim a little. If you want it to have fruit I will need to make more drastic cuts." 

I usually have an idea of how I want Christ to be formed in me. Maybe an Instagram type journey, filled with strengths and creativity. Instead I get to be a mom of three growing kids, on a farm in a fixer upper house. Dirt, poop and back talk. Drastic cuts. 

The Holy Spirit is full of hope. He pulls me along and let's me see peeks of what He's doing. And it's like nothing I ever planned. Christ in me, the hope of glory. 

CS Lewis describes this really well; 

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

I Won't Be Overwhelmed

“I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let you be defeated. He who guards you never sleeps. He who guards Israel never rests or sleeps. The LORD guards you. The LORD is the shade that protects you from the sun. The sun cannot hurt you during the day, and the moon cannot hurt you at night. The LORD will protect you from all dangers; he will guard your life. The LORD will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever.”

Psalms 121:1-8 NCV

http://bible.com/105/psa.121.1-8.ncv

Monday's are full days for me. I wouldn't say I get the Monday blues, because in a way I enjoy them. The return to structure, the gradually evolving cleaner house, kids quietly busy with school. I do, however, get a little overwhelmed. What should I prioritize? House? Farm? Parenting? All of it? 

Most Monday's I have to pull myself back to refuel and rest more than I thought I'd need to. I found myself singing this today. 

https://youtu.be/f3aZ-MgE8aU

Momentum

Eben has transitioned to a bigger bike. He had a little Red Rider that didn't have pedals and he'd balance and coast along like no one's business. This new bike has pedals and no training wheels. I'm trying to tell him that he has to be moving to balance. He needs momentum. 

“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2 NASB

http://bible.com/100/heb.12.2.nasb

Sometimes in our efforts to hear God, please God, follow God...we forget to do life. All throughout the Bible, God encountered people while they were doing things. David was tending sheep, Saul was finding donkeys, Peter and John were fishing. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm a mountaintop person. My ideal getaway location is a cabin in Alaska with only airplane access. 

And it's ok to find a clear spot to listen. In fact, I find it imperative. But I can't forget that He is with me in the day to day. I can get through the day to day, because Im learning to dream. To build. I created a generation, and it's growing, with or without me. 

The coolest part is that in the waiting, the growing, the building, the dreaming...I can have joy. I can get through the hard stuff because He's walking with me. He's meeting me and I'm meeting Him.I think this is one of the things Jesus thought of when He endured the Cross; unhindered friendship with His creation. Nothing to keep us from His love. No sin. No shame. Just the walk with joy. Now that's heaven on earth.