James - the brother of Jesus?

I am studying the book of James with the teenagers at my church. I will be spending some time blogging about what the Lord is showing me along the way. 

James introduces himself as a "servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ." What an example of humility! It is believed that the author of this book is the half brother of Jesus Christ. If Jesus were my half brother, I would probably introduce myself by saying, "Hey, I'm Susan, Jesus' sister." But that was not James’ description of himself. He was extremely humble and called himself a mere servant.

This leaves me in deep thought and conviction as to where my heart is according to my position. How do I introduce myself to others? It is usually, as Brad's wife, my kids' mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, or even a youth small group leader. How often do I consider my title to be a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ?

I do seek to serve Him. I talk with Him daily. I spend time in His Word. I teach my children about the love of Christ and how to seek Him. I honor and respect my husband as head of our home. We try to teach, nurture, and train our children in the ways of the Lord. I honor my parents. I love my sisters, who are my best friends. I am trying to help my small group learn more about Christ and His love for them.

Jesus said to his disciples, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Because of this truth, I can say that I am serving Christ, when I am serving these others in my life. Therefore, I only need to see myself as James saw himself - a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

If I fix my eyes on Him and on serving Him alone, then I will be able to be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and small group leader. Then my thoughts and ways will stay pure and focused!

This is what I am meditating on right now. What about you? Are you willing to label yourself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ? Let's serve Him together!

And to think that this is only verse one of the first chapter of James!

15 Year Anniversary

I have now been married to my best friend for fifteen years! Wow! Time has gone by so fast! When we got married, I knew I was marrying an incredible man. However, over the years, I have realized that he is much more incredible than I could have ever imagined. Brad completes me! He is my best friend, my spiritual leader, my love, my companion, my defender, my strong rock. He is the only man for me! As I am looking at these descriptions, this list resembles the list of what my Jesus is to me. The Bible says that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. Well, in doing that, Brad's attributes line up with those of Jesus. I am so blessed!

I sat in the living room tonight while playing a game (Would You Rather) with the family and was in awe of what has taken place in fifteen short years. I looked at how grown up my children are becoming. We now have a fourteen year old daughter, a twelve year old daughter, and a ten year old son. I just can't stop saying how blessed I am. These three children are an enormous responsibility and at the same time they are an enormous amount of FUN! We knew as soon as we got married that we were ready to have children, which was a good thing because the Lord saw fit to bless us quickly! Like nine months after we were married! I am so grateful!

I didn't understand at age 22 how the decision to marry my best friend would change my life. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I knew that I loved Brad and he loved me. I knew that he would work to provide for me and the family that we would some day have. I knew that we would serve the Lord together. I knew that God would bless us. I just had no clue what that was really going to look like. So now, fifteen years later, I sit here in awe.

No, we do not have it all together. No, we do not have all the answers. We have more questions than answers most of the time. I think that is what keeps us drawing strength and wisdom from the only One who knows the plans He has for us. I am looking forward to MANY more years married to the man of my dreams. My Superman!

Family Heritage

I am very blessed to have a godly heritage. My grandparents have been with the Lord in Heaven for 15 and 16 years now. My granddaddy died in 1995. He was 91 years old. My grandmother died almost exactly one year later at age 86. They were the most amazing people! I miss them an awful lot! By earthly standards, they didn't have much. They lived in a small town in Mississippi. When they got married, they bought some land from his daddy and he farmed that land. This was his trade. They raised five kids in a three room house. Not three bedrooms, but three rooms. There was the kitchen, a living room which had a bed in it, and one other room that had two full size beds. Oh and thankfully it had a bathroom inside, which was added on at some point. I loved this old house! It had a front porch where we could sit and watch the cows graze in the pasture across the gravel road and wave at folks as they drove by.

Like I said earlier, they didn't have much by earthly standards. But I am so glad that I was taught that those aren't the standards in which life is measured! My grandparents had the sweet love of Jesus. So by heavenly standards they were rich! They loved life and loved being with their family. My granddaddy KNEW the word of God. I asked him one time how he knew scripture from memory so well. His answer to me was, "If you'd read it as many times as I have, you'd know it too." What incredible advice that was! He knew the Bible backwards and forwards. Anytime he came to visit us, he would find any of our Bible study or Sunday school books and just sit and read. He was always reading the Bible or some commentary on it. He had a true hunger for the Word of God. Grandma was the type of woman everyone loved to be around. She could make anyone feel welcomed. She was so witty and loved to make people laugh. I cannot wait to be reunited with them one day! I am so blessed to have had them in my life for so many years.

Now that they have gone home to be with the Lord, I have adopted my husband's grandmother as my own. She turned 94 a week ago! Just like my grandparents, she was born and raised in rural Mississippi (not the same town, but similar in many ways). She is a precious lady and I love her very much! It has been years since she has been able to “go to church”, but she would always watch church on TV.

My wonderful father-in-law has done an amazing job taking care of her needs for the last 25-30 years since her husband died. For the past several months, he has faithfully gone to her home each morning and helped her get out of bed and into her wheelchair where she spends her days. Then each night he would go help her get back into bed. I cannot even describe to you what an incredible man he is. He is such a servant and has lovingly taken care of his mother. Unfortunately, because of her frailty and her complete inability to move from bed to chair or vise versa, she cannot continue to live alone. Sadly, she has just been moved to a nursing home. The fact that she has continued to be able to live alone and take care of herself this long is an attribute to her strong character. She has shown love to me and my children every time we come near her! She loves to remember stories from when my husband was young and would spend the night with her and her husband, their grandfather.

Again, my family is so blessed to have this heritage. I also am grateful for the example of my mother helping to take care of her parents in their final days as well and the example of my father-in-law taking care of his mother all these years. They have shown the love of Christ to their parents and in doing so have shown love to Christ.  Matthew 25:40 “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Let this be a reminder to talk to your kids about their grandparents and pass along the stories of their family heritage. Although my kids never had the privilege of meeting my grandparents, they know all about them because we talk about them all the time!

Modesty

I Timothy 2:9-10
And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

Modesty is a very touchy subject. I feel the need to discuss this topic is very important, especially as summer approaches!

Anything a Christ follower does should be Christ honoring. Right? Even the way we dress? The way we teach our daughters to dress? YES!

This subject is very heavy on my heart. As Christian parents, I believe it is our responsibility to teach our children to honor God with their bodies. I Corinthians 6:20 says, "for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." This is from the Word of God! Before we go out the door, we need to do a self check and ask, "are we honoring Christ with the clothes we have on, or are we drawing attention to our bodies for our own purposes?"

Let's talk about swimsuits.  Parents, please don't let your daughters grow up wearing immodest swimsuits! Don't even start when they are little or the trend is likely that they will continue to wear that type of suit. If you wouldn't let them go around wearing their bra and panties in front of the world, what makes it alright for them to wear a swimsuit that looks like a bra and panties? And let's face the facts, it's not just seen at the pool or beach anymore. We are in the facebook age, where one day lasts a lifetime and can be seen all over the world through digital pictures. "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise.", Ephesians 5:15.

We are to please the Lord in all areas of our lives. This includes the way we dress and the way we teach our daughters to dress. What picture of Christ are we letting others see? Are we different from the world in the way we dress? Romans 12:1-2 says it this way, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Growing up, I always had to make sure that my dad approved my swimsuits and, now I make sure my husband approves the ones that my daughters wear. This is because guys see something totally different when they look at girls than what we see when we look in the mirror. Dads have a way of knowing whether these clothes will send a wrong impression of their little girls to the boys who will be seeing them. The Bible teaches us not to cause our brothers to stumble. If we dress immodestly and it causes others to have lustful thoughts toward us, then we are indeed sinning and in some cases setting ourselves up for danger.

Mark 9:42
“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck."

2 Timothy 2:22
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

I know for some of you, this could be a new battle. I encourage you to embrace it and help your daughters shop for a swimsuit that is modest to the eyes. They are harder to find, but they are out there! I'm not saying that you have to cover your whole entire body to go swimming, but I am challenging you to make sure that your daughters are covered enough so that they are not sending the message "look at my body" to the guys they will be with at the pool (or the world who will see their pics on fb!).

As a mother of two beautiful daughters, I am very cautious of what "image" they are presenting to the world. As a mother of a soon to be 10 year old boy, I find myself wishing that more girls would cover up their bodies to protect the images that are being sent his way. I know that the battle for his mind is approaching, and I am praying that God will protect his eyes, heart, and mind from lustful thoughts.

I am asking for you as Christian parents to make a conscious choice about what you allow your girls to wear. Let's be wise and honor Christ with our bodies and teach our daughters to do the same!

Summer Break

It is the time of year that we all get to take a breather from schooling! We have actually been done now for several weeks and have had lots of down time already.  I have played catch up on laundry and worked in the yard some (when we can get a break from the rain) and watched a lot of baseball and softball games and practices. But I have really not been focused on accomplishing anything for several weeks - and it felt pretty good... for a while. Now it is time for me to establish some sort of summer routine! I love free time, but my mind feels so much better when that free time is scheduled.  That seems like an oxymoron statment, doesn't it! Let me explain...

Like I said, I LOVE free time. But being a scheduler and an all or nothing type person, it seems that if I don't schedule my free time around the things that I need to get done, then free time runs rampant and my day is gone before I've had time to even consider what is for dinner.  So, it is time for me to think about what I want to spend my summer break doing!

1.  Visit with my parents
2.  Work in the yard/garden
3.  Blog
3.  Plan for next school year
4.  Play with the kids
5.  Exercise
6.  Go to the zoo
7.  Swimming
8.  Read, Read, Read!!!
9.  Take the kids to the park
10. Do NOTHING! :)

There is lots more I could add in there, but that is a good start!

In order for me to do these things, I must plan for them.  I will be establishing a new morning routine for everyone. This will be much less rigid than during school days, but we've got to make sure that the house doesn't fall to pieces! Also, I will be setting aside time to do my meal planning/grocery shopping as well.  It is my opinion that these are two important staples for a well run home. 

Once our morning routines are finished, then I say we can play the rest of the day! And if I have my meals planned in advance, I won't have to worry about coming up with something at the last minute before our evening events begin. 

Ahh... I can feel my mind getting clearer already! Just thinking about a schedule and routine helps me!

What will you spend your summer days doing? I'd love to hear what you have planned!

O the Blood

I heard this song at church last week for the first time and was blown away. After we sang it again today at church I knew I needed to share it with you.  Please watch this video and worship with me the One who died for us even in our sin...Jesus.

O the Blood sung by Kari Jobe - Gateway Worship
Lyrics:

O the blood
Crimson love
Price of life's demand
Shameful sin
Placed on Him
The Hope of every man

CHORUS
O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

Savior Son
Holy One
Slain so I can live
See the Lamb
The great I Am
Who takes away my sin

O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
The precious blood of the Lamb
What a sacrifice
That saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me

Sins Like Weeds

Let me start by saying that I haven't been able to blog for a while because I have been taking care of my husband who had knee surgery (ACL reconstruction) three weeks ago.  Thankfully, he is recovering and doing better and better every day! Since it was on his right knee, he still is not able to drive.  Hopefully as his knee continues to get stronger, he will be back behind the wheel before too much longer! To all of you who knew about this and prayed for him, I am very grateful! Now on to what God has been teaching me...

It's Spring and that means that its time to weed the garden and flower beds. That is exactly what I have been doing. I love being out in the sunshine and working in the gardens! Since we had such a cold winter, I am especially ready for time in the warm sun!

As I was weeding my rose garden I began thinking about how those weeds in my rose garden can be compared to sin in my life. There were some weeds that were a booger to get up because they had rooted in one area, then spread out into several different directions, then rooted again, then spread out even more, then rooted themselves AGAIN, and on and on and on.  Get the picture? This is not very fun to think about, but I know that I must examine my heart and see if there are any sins in my life that could act like these weeds.

So what did I find? One that I will share is my selfishness and my quickness to say "no" to my children when they ask me to do something for them. Sometimes in all the busyness of my life, I tend to not want to waiver off the planned path that I have for that day. For instance, when my tween daughter wants me to roll her hair, in my selfishness, many times I have said no immediately. I have said no before even thinking about it. Why...? She cares about how she looks and loves for her hair to be rolled. It takes about eight minutes to put the rollers in her hair... Ugh! This makes me sick to think about all the times that I've said no without even considering how important it might be to her. Conviction has been hitting me hard over this one.

Another example of my selfishness is when my son wants to show me something on a game he is playing or to look at something on the computer with him, I shouldn't let "no, not right now" be the first words out of my mouth. It usually only takes a minute or two for me to pay him that attention that he needs. If I let this continue, he will stop asking and then our relationship will be hindered. I have got to be interested in what is important to him.

I think that saying no once makes it easier to say it the next time, then the next time, then the next time.

Does this mean that I should always say yes to whatever they want me to do?  Absolutely NOT! What I am realizing again (seems like God has shown me this before and I went back to my old ways) is that I need to be aware of why I say NO and why couldn't I really say YES every once in a while.

This is not the kind of behavior I want to impress upon my children. This is not the kind of character quality that I want them to remember in me. It is certainly not a character trait that I want to teach to them.
In general, I would not consider myself to be a selfish person. In fact, most of my time is spent serving my family and I LOVE it! Spending time with them is my favorite thing to do! God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and three beautiful children who love me! God continues to show me ways that I need to grow more like Him. I am so grateful that God shows His mercy to me when I mess up!

Moms, listen - I am not saying that we are to be slaves to our families and never take time for ourselves!  Please understand that this was a lesson with the condition of my heart! Usually when this affects me the most is when I have to many irons in the fire. I want to slow down and enjoy these special bonding moments with my kids.

It is definitely okay to say no to your children. I just want to make sure that when I do say no or don't take the time to listen to them right away, it is not because I am being selfish.

Is there something that needs weeding in your life? It's not fun to go there really, but it is necessary! I don't want us to be walking around with sin crowding out what God intends to grow in our lives! I want for us as Christian mothers to be growing the fruit of the spirit!

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.