Recycleable

Question-Are you recycleable?

Can God use you over and over again for His purposes and plan?


The other day I was throwing some items into the "recycle" bin. I thought to myself, I like recycling. It feels like the right thing to do. If you have a can or plastic bottle, why not take a little extra time and put it in the bin so it can be melted down and used again?

It just makes sense...

Well as I was throwing a bag of "recycleables" into the bin, God showed me a picture of myself.
He said Laura, "YOU are recycleable too."

God uses the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise.
Who am I LORD? I am just a little girl with a BIG God (like Debbie Bryson says)

"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in His presence." 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (emphasis mine)

So God enjoys using the things that the world thinks are "dumb," or "insignificant" and He makes it into something of value.

Many recycled items are broken...like glass....

I started reminding myself of how I "feel" sometimes. Now don't get me wrong. We can't fall into that Dr. Phil or Oprah or other "new age" emotional-self-focused mentality that says feelings and emotions and self rule. Women are emotional. We don't need a psycologist to tell us that! But God's Word says the heart is deceitful and wicked, so time and time again I have to deny my emotions. But that doesn't mean they fly away...they linger around....

So regarding my feelings, I admit sometimes I feel broken. I feel like I am not who God wants me to be. I fail day after day, I am beaten by this trial or that. I am misunderstood. I want to be a Proverbs 31 wife and mother but I see who I really am and I just feel plain old broken. Like a jagged piece of glass with sharp edges. As a child of God, we know the world, the flesh and the enemy can really break us emotionally. But God reminded me that God LOVES to use the broken spirit, the broken heart to be recycled into something beautiful.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit A broken and a contrite heart— These O God You will not despise." Psalm 51:17

Another picture- A mosaic. What is a mosaic made up of? Broken glass. It's beautiful. An artist takes a broken china cup, a broken glass, a broken mirror, more broken glass and ceramic and makes it into a work of art. You have to trust the master artist that when the mosaic is done, it will be beautiful...

God showed me my life is recyclable.

First, like the plastic or can, these items are melted down to be recycled and reused again. This is the purpose of trials friends. We are going to go through the fire. It's not an "if" question it's a when.

Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer I have overcome the world." John 16:33

So when you go through the melting pot, the furnace, the fiery trial (1 Peter 4:12) when you feel like it's never going to cool down, just remember God might be recycling you. He might be melting you down so He can use you for a new fresh purpose. We know God's purposes are always good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

God also showed me that a recycled person has perceived value to others- Value to God, to Christians and non-believers too.

When a person throws an empty plastic bottle into the "regular" trash, have you noticed a homeless person, or even someone who is not homeless might come behind him/her and take the bottle out of the trash? This is because the empty plastic bottle has value. In the collector's eyes, the bottle or can has value. He knows the more bottles, the more money at the recycle center.

Same with us...

I have a beautiful friend/client who is going through a terrible, terrible divorce due to her husband's infidelity. They were a Christian couple and this divorce is one of the saddest I've ever seen. This woman is amazing. She has two children with special needs and is now a single mom. She was telling me the other day that she feels like something is wrong with her because she has so much joy in the LORD in spite of this trial. She said to me, "Is it OK to feel this joy in God when my world is crashing around me?"

I was amazed by her statement. I was encouraged. I was blessed. But, I was not surprised. See, when you are in the fire, our Jesus shines more beautifully and more clearly. (Daniel 3:25) This woman is completely broken right now. Her heart is beyond broken, her life is broken, but her love for God is stronger than ever. She is a shining example to me and many others that God indeed brings beauty from ashes. (Isaiah 61:3) She is broken, but she has value. She is allowing God to recycle her and be used for His glory.

I am thankful for this picture He gave me. I continue to enjoy recycling. Now, when I throw that can away in the bin, I want to thank God for reycling me too.

My Thoughts on the CHEA Convention

I prayed for several months asking God to give me wisdom and teach me lessons at the Christian Home Education Association...Convention

And boy did God come through! (He always, and I mean ALWAYS does)
I have so much to share! It's going to be hard to summarize but I'll do my best.

Many of us think that our children "start school" when they put on their back packs and embark on Kindergarten. This is false. The first school is the home and the first teacher is the mother.

I believe with all my heart that the answer of where to educate a child----home school, private school or public school--- is only revealed through prayer. God has an amazing plan for each and every one of our children and how can we expect that plan to be "cookie cutter"? God made our children unique. Each child is intricate and God will show us how to educate him/her best if we are seeking Him in the area of education.

So what exactly does it mean to "educate?" Well this is the first thing that I gained great insight from the CHEA convention.

Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary defines education:
"The bringing up of a child to enlighten the understanding to correct the temper, form the manners and habits of youth"

I loved this! The bottom line goal of any Christian parents (mom AND dad) is this- to teach our kids to be independently DEPENDENT on the LORD. Isn't that awesome?

One of the speakers said this:
From Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, we are told our children are going to leave us...
Genesis 2:24
Therefore a man should leave his father and mother...

We are raising our children, our babies to leave. To prepare them to live a Christ-centered life and to walk with the LORD for their entire adult lives.

Now of course we know homeschooling does not equal salvation. Only God saves a child's soul. But we teach our children the "way" they should go. We teach and instruct our children regarding all of the information they need to not only believe and trust in God, but they also need to see faith DEMONSTRATED in our lives as we parents, AGAIN, are their first teachers.

Ok, so I can go on and on about different points I learned...but the areas I really want to share came from one specific teacher, Denise Mira. If you can buy the CD from the conference DO IT. She shared her heart and she was so real! She even said some home school moms are so religious but they are white washed tombs. You could hear a pin drop.

This is why I believe she was so straight forward-

First, the title of the workshop was, "Being a Spiritual Mother of Impact."

She said that homeschooling really helps a mother die to self. She said her theme scripture for homeschooling and mothering is this:

I DIE DAILY 1 Corinthians 15:31.

She told us mothers to "suck it up" and stop complaining. Stop nagging our husbands about this or that and just do it!!! (meaning, strive to be that Proverbs 31 woman and don't try to reverse roles with your husband)

Here are some other eye-opening points:

-The life with our children is not just work it is WAR.
-Be careful what you chase after (many women focus on what Hollywood, Oprah, magazines and other media says a woman should look like or behave, etc.)
-Work your land- That is invest in your marriage, your children and your character.
-Use a plumb line: People use this tool to see if the building is level. What are you using to line up your life? We should be using God's Word to line up our life and keep our paths straight.
-What are you "marinating in" ? What are you investing time in? Are you reading or watching things that are not pleasing to the LORD?
-Pharaoh's (and Satan's) plan is the same: He wants to steal our children.
-As moms of small children, we are living in a season of "hidden-ness." You may have desires to be involved in this or that but for now, you need to focus on your marriage, your children and your home and stay "hidden" but God will open up doors later and you will be blessed you focused on your family when they needed you the most
-WHO ARE YOU AT HOME?
Denise Mira said that unfortunately, some homeschool families experience divorce. Why is this??? She said, who are you at home? Are you neglecting your husbands needs? Remember, men have completely different needs of intimacy than you and you need to attend to this! Men don't want or need flowers, she said, men want you in the bedroom.
-1 Peter 3:5-6
For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Die to emotion. Don't keep score. Let go of fear. Let go of things in the past and die to self.

Wow! I learned so much. I am convinced that every Christian parent should attend this conference. Whether or not you want to homeschool one day...I believe every parent should learn and be reminded and refreshed on the great high calling it is to be a parent.

Put your glasses on for 20/20 vision

There is a song by Keith Green that I love. He says, “When you rolled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my eyes…I’ve been blind…all these wasted years and I thought I was so wise…and then you took me by surprise. Like waking up, from the longest dream, how real it seemed, until your love broke through. I was lost in a fantasy that blinded me until your love broke through”
(full song lyrics to “Your Love Broke Through” at http://www.lyricsbay.com/your_love_broke_through_lyrics-keith_green.html)

I was thinking about this the other day…

The idea of being blind and NOT realizing it.

When I was in college I used to sit in the front row because the professor wrote a bit too small and there was a glare on the dry erase board. My friend one day said, “Let’s sit in the back for this class.” I told her no because I couldn’t see due to the glare on the dry erase board. She said, “Oh friend! You need glasses.” I didn’t even realize it. After realizing it was also hard to read the street signs at night, I decided to go to the eye doctor. Sure enough I needed glasses!

All my life I had 20/20 vision but now, my vision needed correction.

I put on my glasses and I saw so many details I was missing out on. I would look at trees and there seemed to be millions of leaves. Mountains had more details and definition. The sky seemed more blue and crisp. Everything was clear and more visually stunning. I saw the world in a whole new way.

Unfortunately my vision got worse over the years and needed further correcting but this is what I realized the other day. How would you answer this question, “Are you wearing your Jesus glasses?”

This is what I mean…

Chuck and I recently celebrated 11 years of being married. I look at him and I am still so attracted to him. He is still handsome to me. He is still my friend and we laugh together and act goofy together. He is a great man who loves God and loves me and loves our family. Now of course we have disagreements and no marriage is perfect, but I love to see Chuck through God’s eyes. (This is only realized through prayer, the filling and refilling of the Holy Spirit and meditation on God's Word)

In God’s eyes, Chuck is perfect. He is washed in the blood of Jesus. That’s how I want my husband to see me too. I want him to see me as God sees me. From God’s perspective, I am his daughter, precious and worth dying for. Even with all my faults and failures, God loves me with unconditional agape love.

I started thinking that my life is beyond blessed. I have so much to be thankful for.

Think about it for a second. We see our children (at least we try to) through God’s eyes. We look at our kids and we forgive them when they do wrong and test our patience. We love them even when they fail us or hurt our feelings. Our children are precious. To a mother, a child is the most beautiful creation. I think the parent/child relationship helps us understand God’s agape love. A mother nurses her baby not expecting something in return down the road in life. A mother lays down her life for her child. But think about this….Who looks at his/her spouse like that?

There is a 50% divorce rate in America. Half of all couples end their marriage. It is heart wrenching.

But what parent divorces a child?

Not one. (well…there has been a situation where a child divorced her parents but it’s extremely rare).

God looks at us with agape love.

God sees us and loves us just as a Father loves his child. We need to look at our spouses this way. We need to look at our in laws this way. We need to look at that annoying neighbor or co-worker that way. We need to see the world this way…with Jesus glasses on.

Convicted? I know I am!

Friends, remember, life is sweeter with Jesus. It is crisp, clear and so thrilling and fulfilling!

If you have seen the movie Avatar there is a scene where the human is in the Avatar body for the first time. It’s a whole new world. He takes a bite of a fruit in a new land. This fruit is the juiciest, most amazing fruit he has ever tasted. Again, this reminded me of our life with Jesus. Our food tastes better, songs have more meaning, sleep is more peaceful, our life is sweeter in every way because of Him. I was reminded of this recently, but I want to live with this awareness of how sweet my life is because of my sweet savior every day. I want to walk daily with my Jesus glasses on.

The Wealthy Woman at Shunem

2 Kings 4 shows a picture of a woman I want to be like. She is not as well known as other women in the Bible like Sarah, Noah's wife, the Proverbs 31 woman, Esther, Ruth, Mary, and others.

She goes under the radar. But I want to tell you about her, a woman in the BIble that I am learning about...the Bible does not record her name, she is only called "the wealthy woman" and we know she lived in a town called Shunem.

I used to be very curious why certain people weren't named in the Bible. Some chapters go on and on listing names of people while other places in the Bible, we read about people who are amazing and he/she goes unnamed. I am learning that sometimes it's good to not be known by name...

For example, in the children's ministry I am known by some as "Olivia's mom" or "Isaac's mom." When Chuck and I served in children's ministry at C.C. Golden Springs there were many, many parents that I knew as "Vincent's mom" "Hannah's mom" etc. I tried to learn names, but it is impossible to learn every one's. I am sure these people, like I am, were content in having their identification as the parent of a child. More importantly, God knows our name, and that's really all that matters.

Back to 2 Kings 4- This woman is AWESOME. She clearly loves the LORD and served Him. Elisha the prophet visited her town, the town of Shunem. She invited him to eat with her and every time he came to visit she showed him great hospitality. Wiersbe's commentary stated that showing hospitality to ministers is a dying art or dying ministry. How sad! It's probably due to the busy and hectic lives we have. We are so busy working within the confines of our bubbles (our lives) that we neglect to host and show kindness to those who are ministering and serving the LORD.

Well the wealthy woman didn't just show kindness by opening up her home and cooking for Elisha. She went above and beyond. She suggests to her husband the idea of building Elisha his own room where he could stay comfortably while he is visiting the town of Shunem.

This really blessed me.

She was wealthy. She had the means. She could have used her wealth for lots of things. She could buy more gladiator sandals (I believe that's what they wore...tongue in cheek), more clothes, more perfume, more food, more decorations for her home...

Instead of buying more "things" she uses her wealth to show even more hospitality to Elisha the man of God. What a wise woman! Now I truly believe the woman did not have an ulterior motive in doing this. I believe she was a woman after God's own heart and felt this home addition would be a blessing to Elisha and a blessing to the LORD.

Later, Elisha is so appreciative of her kindness he wants to do something in return for her. She refuses. She didn't want Elisha to talk about her to the king. She didn't want any type of self promotion or accolade. She was content in the LORD. This to me, was the greatest blessing of reading about her in 2 Kings 4. I believe the wealthy woman felt like she had it all. She loved God, she had a blessed marriage and she was wealthy. She always wanted children, but she was content with that too. Although she was barren, God had blessed her life in so many other ways she learned to be content serving the LORD in her daily life and at every opportunity. Her sufficiency was in God. Yet, Elisha was adamant about repaying her kindness.

Elisha's servant Gehazi suggesed, "She doesn't have a son, and her husband is an old man" 2 Kings 4:14. Elisha tells her, "Next year at about this time you will be holding a son in your arms!" (verse 16)

The woman replies, "Please don't lie to me like that, O Man of God."

I like this too.

I felt like she said in modern language, "Shut up! Stop playing around! Stop lying!" She was real! She was a totally down to earth--a kind, genuine, humble person.

Next year she held her baby boy in her arms...just as Elisha had said.

This story moved me to tears because this is the heart of our God, our Abba Father. When we pray with all our hearts--Father, you are all I need. You know I have this desire, but if this is not your will for me, that's OK. I want your will God and not my own. I would love this desire to be met, but if it doesn't happen, I trust you. I trust your will for my life. I trust your plan for my life. I trust your hand in my life and I ask you to make my desires in alignment with yours." He hears us and responds.

This is not an easy prayer. This is actually more than a prayer, this is living a life like Jesus did- aiming to always please the Father saying, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done."

See, the woman didn't build Elisha an extra room with the intention of getting something in return. She just lived her daily life serving God. She loved God and desired to be hospitable to His servants. She had the means and the ability so she did it. God saw her heart and was blessed by her. Not only was He blessed by her, He gave her one of the lifelong desires of her heart- to have a child. What an awesome, loving, gracious and sweet God we have!!! I love it that if we delight ourselves in the LORD He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). It might not be tomorrow, it might not be today...but one day. We will look at our life...we will see that during those times when we are delighting ourselves in Him, He gives us the desires of our heart. It doesn't mean He always answers our prayers in the way we hoped, many women go their whole lives without having a baby naturally, but He will always fulfill us when our desire is simply to know Him more and to be used by Him.

I have a friend who was never able to conceive a child. After many years of waiting and praying, her and her spouse adopted. One day her spouse said to me, although I would still be blessed if my wife and I had our own child, I am glad we were unable to...because we would have never adopted and we would never have this amazing son we have in our lives today...He was able to see God's hand in the situation as they delighted in the LORD through it all.

Friends, be content in doing God's will today, trusting He knows what's best for you. May our desire be for NOT for things, relationships or situations but May HE ALONE be our hearts desire.

Satan’s Text Message (to the youth)

(A Text Message from Satan to our Youth)
Not sure if you are straight, gay or bi? Why don’t you just give them all a try.
Christ’s passion? So out of fashion.
Don’t worry about what your parents think, come here, have fun, have a drink.
Sex on a date is the best. If you are late, it’s OK, the school nurse has a pregnancy test.
Christ is the only way? That sounds silly to me. Remember, you are your own deity.
Someone got shot! Oh that’s such a shame. Unless of course it’s from a video game.
Can’t pray in school, only silently, if you say “under God” you’ll get sued you see.
R U sad? R U lonely? Let’s hit up the mall.
I just got a text from your friend, oops, I gotta go. She serves me too you know...

I've been thinking a lot about our country and the influences on our youth. I have been praying for our nation. I recently read some terrible statistics about where our culture is going morally. The only answer is to turn to God in prayer and repentance. I wrote this poem as a way to vent my feelings. I get so angry in knowing our youth is being lied to. May we raise our children for God. May we pray for God to raise up people to be an influence for this lost generation. May we trust Jesus is coming, very, very soon.