The greatest acceptance letter ever received was inked in blood while hanging from a tree. When occasions arise, and I am teaching my children that truth, I find that I need to remember it too.♥️
Tag: children
Fallen but Forgiven
Dear friend, I know you need to hear this today. It is perfectly normal that you are both a masterpiece and a mess simultaneously. You may say, “I do not feel like much of a masterpiece right now, but Oh, you are! See, it is confirmed here in God’s infallible word~Ephesians 2:10~ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus. Yes, it is true you are a mixed bag. So am I! That is because we live in a fallen world, of fallen people, with fallen laws, fallen morals and a ferocious enemy who wants you to believe fallible ideas about yourself. Not one of us is perfect, but our freedom is not in our perfection; it is in the truth that we are fallen citizens, but forgiven children! You are loved!
The Face of Danger is Not Always Evil
Children should not go to public bathrooms alone, nor should teen girls. I always tell my daughter to take a friend if I am not with her. I do not tell her this because I am concerned about any particular population of people other than PREDATORS. Predators do not fit the image we want to mold them into to make ourselves feel comfortable. They are rarely a face that signals danger, and they are prone to hang out in places we deem to be the safest.
It is hard for us to face the reality of evil being packaged so nice and neatly in places we trust. We are much more comfortable making “different” people the enemy because it makes us feel better.
We have to wake up and know this disillusion is one way we make ourselves and our children vulnerable to the depravity of our fallen world.
Also, I know I am stepping on some toes, but Jesus did not hang out with the self-righteous, the do-gooders, the know it alls. Luke 5:32 ~”I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” He went straight for hearts broken by sin, (that would include all of us), not built by superiority.
I do not believe if He walked this world today that He would shun away any population of people. It is easy to forget that; we are ALL people. Jesus did not come to shame people with law, but to shower them with love. The best way to make an impact on someone is how well you love them as they are and not how you think they should be. Yes, we must speak the truth; but we must say it swaddled in love or not speak at all; otherwise all is lost.
“Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.” ~Tim Keller
My Grown Up Christmas List
Dear Jesus,
My Christmas wish list is not filled with things money can buy, rather with precious, eternal things that only You can help thrive. When I was a child Santa Claus and gifts were the magic of the season; now it is about growing in my relationship with you that I see Christmases eternal reason. I have a Christmas wish list from me to You. It is simple, yet difficult and something only you can shepherd me through. They are things this world can not satisfy, only You in me can I rely. I do not ask for a perfect marriage but a peaceful one. I am not asking for saints as children, but growing sinners who repent and know they are forgiven. I do not wish for a sin free home, but one where a simple I am sorry I was wrong sets the tone. I ask not for a life that is pain-free, but one that reflects You in me no matter what my circumstances may be. In the world where suffering has no prejudice, I ask that you enable me to be a beacon of your message. Through pain, great platforms are born. Equip me to impact those watching who desperately need hope in the One person where hearts are transformed. Thank you, Jesus, for all my blessings, the beautiful and the broken, because it is all of them that create opportunities for Your truth to be spoken. If any of these requests, Jesus, cannot be, it is ok because it is only Your will that I desire be. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for me.
A Prayer For Aching Mamas Today
Father you know we mamas are creatures who crave constancy not change. When it comes to our children, our hearts are never more troubled by the trials of transition. Tis the season of so much change, God. Our babies are starting kindergarten, entering high school, arriving for their senior year and launching off to college. As our lives are fluctuating, our familiar is becoming foreign, our normal is becoming new and our usual becoming unknown. It feels as if pieces of our lives are changed forever. They will never be as they were again. It is the dying of a chapter that is so deeply rooted and known that it is painful to imagine how life will look moving forward. We are challenged to hold gently and fondly to what was so that we may courageously embrace what now is. Give us the grace to be more than conquerors in all these circumstances of change, Father. May the faith that lives in our hearts be bigger than the fear that lurks in our minds. Bless our children. Insulate each and every one of them from head to toe in your cloak of protection. Remind us mamas that we have raised them to run this race with determination not retreat in doubt. There will be trails, and there will be triumphs. May we and our children know that disguise in all our disappointments are Your appointments. Give us the courage to not look for life somewhere under the sun but in someone above it-You, Father. Amen P.S. Father, please bless all our special teachers and administrators. Refresh them daily with endurance, compassion, empathy and love.
The One That Bled For Us
The scarred hands that fold for us in prayer are the hands that bled so we may be comforted in times when life is unfair.
The nail pierced feet that walk with us in triumph and carry us in tribulation are the feet that bleed to free us sinners from every nation.
The head that thinks of His children as beloved is the one that bled when pierced by thorn; making His perfect righteousness ours to be worn.
From His mouth with blood stained corners he urged; forgive them, Father, they know not what they do. The same mouth says, I know, and I finished it, so no debt or condemnation is due.
The One, who died to ransom you, sees where you are bleeding today, and He wishes you to remember that He will never go away.
Life is full of hurts and worries, but we must stay in His story; fixing our eyes to see, so not to miss His glory.
May you encounter His glory today.
The Enemy is on Instagram
There are days I wish I could quit social media altogether. It crosses my mind frequently, but ultimately it is not reasonable for me right now having two teens. It is my job to monitor their accounts, their etiquette, or lack of, their friends, what the current concerns are and so much more.
Lately, though it is getting harder for me, especially Instagram. I am concerned by the fading presence of modesty, particularly in young girls. Tiny bikinis that leave little to the imagination litter feeds. Low cut tops. Shorter than short shorts. Tight clothing that hugs curves and features as if to highlight and focus attention on them. As a mom of a boy, this is concerning. As a mom of a girl, this is concerning.
Girls are being reduced to the “perfection” of their bodies. Comments are rampant about bootys, boobs, abs and so on. All this, portraying the picture that your worth and power is based on your body. No one will be able to measure up to this standard forever, and some never.
I cringe when I see comments like these direct quotes, “I wish I could be you,” “Why can’t I be beautiful?” “Body goals.” I want to grab these children and say, you are beautiful, there is no one like you, and these are not goals! Ugh! Their precious, immature and permeable hearts! I think my soul sheds tears every time I read these comments.
I understand in young, immature minds that is what they think. I have been there. We as parents have the power to speak into that faulty thinking, though. If I think a post is even remotely inappropriate, you better bet it is being deleted. It has happened; it will happen, and it will continue to happen. I will never explain or apologize to anyone for that! Also, we cannot control what others post or comment, but we can sure communicate with our children about what is and is not appropriate.
It saddens me to see girls so young using their bodies to draw attention, affection, approval, power and validation. How this will impact them as they grow older is even more concerning. Our girls must know if they want to be respected and cherished for their hearts and minds, and if not now, someday they will; that is what they must accentuate. Our outward bodies decline quickly. Inward beauty has the potential only to get better as we age.
Equally as tragic are the boys who are looking at and commenting on these photos. They are not learning to respect girls. They see what is as it is! That is all! They are being bombarded with physical images that are hard to remove from their minds. The impacts of this, as they mature, are devastating.
The prevalence of pornography addiction is astounding. When I was, a child boys had to sneak and steal magazines and go off into hidden places to look at them. Now it seems as if what they are holding in their hands right under our noses borders on pornography. It is in my feed, and what is in theirs is worse! This is a problem on so many levels. Boys grow up to be men. Once the seed of addiction is planted in the adolescent years, it is VERY hard to overcome in the adult years. Porn and sexual addictions are destroying today’s families. If you do not, believe me, visit websites like Route 1520. Read the book, Surfing for God by Michael John Cusick. It is real. It is rampant friends! There is hope but not without going through hell first!
Sex trafficking and pedophilia are also alive and well in our world. We like to turn a deaf ear and cast a blind eye to these problems, but they are not going away. They are in our community, our churches and sometimes our homes. Who knows who is looking at our children’s photos. There are so many ways to access them and then do with those faces and bodies sickening things. Please don’t be naive.
I pray for the social media trend to shift from worth and approval based on my body, friends, likes, the number of comments and successful social lives. I pray girls and boys, too, learn they are already fully accepted and approved of by those who truly love them for who they are on the inside, not the outside. It is a pervasive battlefield where the enemy has a strong foothold, though. We must fight back!
Technology continues to change and evolve. Our talks and teachings with our children must too. Morals have not changed; we have changed. It takes more strength, courage, and prayer to be steadfast than streamlined. It is true, but it is entirely possible, and our children’s hearts are entirely worth it!