:)

OK, I'm not as gifted at brevity as I thought.
I wanted to share this quote on facebook, but it was too long. This is from Spiritual Slavery to Spiritual Sonship by Jack Frost. Here it is:

"The Great Commandment to love God and love others is a call to intimacy; the Great Commission to go and make disciples is a call to fruitfulness. Intimacy is to precede fruitfulness. The Great Commandment must precede the Great Commission and is an inseparable part of it. When intimacy does not precede fruitfulness, we easily become subject to our own mission and become focused upon religious duty, hyper-religious activity, and aggressive striving that leaves an angry edge in our life and relationships."
Yeah, I've been there. And I'm still in the process of growing out of being duty-driven and into being drawn and motivated by the love of Jesus (receiving it and letting it flow through me to others). I pray that we all keep growing in that direction.

Facebook

I have decided that I have the gift of brevity, and I'm going to share more of my thoughts on facebook and less on this blog. I have 102 facebook friends, including three of my daughters (who don't read my blog), and I love the feedback.
But I do have one thought to blog today. This one's for you, Leslie.
Jesus said that life is about knowing God (John 17:3), and because God is infinite, there isn't going to ever be any boredom for us, is there?
I could say God bless you, but I'm going to say,
WE ARE BLESSED

The DMV/Easter/Mom

The DMV
The Friday before last I went to the DMV to get the permanent registration for our van, since the temp tag had expired two days prior. The lady at the counter said I couldn't get the registration because Jeff's name was on the paperwork but mine wasn't. I was given a form that Jeff could sign in front of a notary, giving me the power of attorney to register our vehicle. I went home, called Jeff and explained all this. But instead of saying "power of attorney", I kept saying "power of eternity". I just couldn't get my mouth to say attorney. Jeff said it was a Freudian slip. I got a good laugh out of that one.

Easter
I know it's nowhere near Easter, but I recently read the gospel of Matthew which ends with the Easter story. When the two Marys saw Jesus alive, Jesus greeted them, and in the NKJ version it says that He said, "Rejoice!" I don't suppose he said it in a monotone. He had completed the rescue of His beloved (us), and now the two ladies at the tomb, as well as the rest of us, could be with Him forever, which was absolutely the number one desire of His heart. I like to try to picture the look of love and joy on His face. It'll be amazing when we really get to see His face! More than amazing, but words fail me. Come Lord Jesus!

Mom
I'm excited for Thanksgiving. Amy will be home from college, and we'll have some fun family time.
I am reminded of holidays during my childhood, and ordinary days too; there are so many happy memories to be thankful for. I was especially thinking about all the blessings Mom brought to our home. She worked hard to keep the house clean (the offspring saw to it that the house wasn't excessively clean). She was always blessing us with home-cooked food (usually from scratch), and she maintained the daily routine of meals, chores, school, playtime and sleep time. And bedtime stories, which I loved. It gave me security and contentment to know that I was not just going to be taken care of, but well taken care of by my loving mother. When there was a baby in the house --I clearly remember four of my younger siblings as babies--, those little ones were cared for with lots of motherly tenderness and gentleness.
God also gives lots of tlc: in Isaiah 66:12-13 it says, "thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will extend peace to her [Jerusalem] like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed, on her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you.'" Thank you, Lord Jesus, and Mom, for all of your lovingkindness. I truly have many blessings to count.

Conversation with Kelly

Kelly, age 14, said to me, "You had a boring childhood, Mom. You watched tv and went to (4H) dairy camp. Did you ever do anything else?"
I said, "I came home from dairy camp."
She said, "Did you ever build a bomb?"
She should have asked her dad. He made a pipe bomb in his younger days. In his words, "It made a big loud bang."

Forgiven

Today I was feeling bad because of problems I've caused in relationships--I've badly hurt people that I love. I thought I had forgiven myself, but today this was coming back to haunt me. I remembered that Jesus forgave the people who nailed him to the cross. That helped me understand the magnitude of His forgiveness. I remembered Colossians 2:13, which says that God forgives ALL our trespasses. I went for a walk, and the sun shone very brightly on the snow. And the hymn came to mind:

I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small!
Child of weakness, watch and pray
Find in Me thine all in all."
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.

I could picture Jesus looking at me and saying, "I forgive you." With those loving eyes! I wondered if He forgave me for doubting my forgiveness. Again He said to me, "I forgive you."
Another song lyric came into my mind, from the song, "Day by Day", by Point of Grace:

Day by day You're coming closer
Making our way clearer and straighter
Turning our faces into the light.

And that reminded me of Psalm 44:3 "For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them." Because my struggle with believing I'm forgiven is more like a war than a one-time battle, it's good to know how to fight. Looking into the loving face of Jesus and seeing His love really helps me in the battle.

Safety, and LIfe

Even though I had a relatively happy childhood, the environment I grew up in did include a fairly large amount of belittling and ridiculing; mostly this was not aimed at me; nonetheless I did not emerge unaffected by it. Couple this with a natural propensity for shyness, and the result is that I have trouble finding anyone that I feel I can entrust my heart to, regardless of the fact that there are people who truly love me. I find myself longing for emotional safety. God encouraged me quite a bit with these verses:
Psalm 27:1, 5 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?....in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavillion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock."
It doesn't say that when I have trouble, God will ridicule and belittle me. It says He will keep me safe. I also like Colossians 3:3: "your life is hidden with Christ in God". That's a safe place for our hearts.
And while I'm in Colossians 3, I also have to mention the next verse, verse 4, which says, "Christ...is our life". He is our only source of life. And if we want life to flow out of us to help others, that has to come from Him too. So, keeping our focus on Him and depending on Him seems to be the most important thing. This too is difficult (probably impossible), but the Lord even takes care of that. I love the way Hudson Taylor explained it to his children: "Once I used to try to think very much and very often about Jesus, but I often forgot Him. Now I trust Jesus to keep my heart remembering Him, and He does so. This is the best way."
So, the Lord gives us love and security instead of fear, and He gives us life as a gift that we don't have to strive for. How wonderful is that!

Unconditional Love

Hebrews 3:12 says, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God"
I was thinking about this verse because my heart was unbelieving. I was thinking that God doesn't approve of me unless I do something to earn His approval. And I was thinking that I had failed at that, and that God wasn't happy with me. Here's why: lately, I've been seeing a lot of my shortcomings as a mom. Mothering is the main job that God has given me right now, so if I'm failing, how can God be OK with me?
The Lord gave me some good news in Romans 4:5: "But to him who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." Meaning that we don't have to earn God's approval; we just have to receive by faith His gift of love and forgiveness. And that faith is counted by God as righteousness. The same receiving of God's grace that brought us out of the kingdom of darkness initially is also the way to live the Christian life. This is such basic doctrine, yet somehow I really needed the reminder.
Then, guess what song came into my head? "We love to work at nothing all day"! I laughed, I cried (all at the same time). Bachman Turner Overdrive isn't meant to be taken seriously, but I think God was using some humor to tell me not to worry about doing or earning, but to receive His love and acceptance as a gift. God took a horrible burden off me and made me laugh too!