Empty is good

When “empty” was good...

Gut the house! 

Get rid of the mold.

Get rid of the “popcorn” ceiling.

Get rid of the old 70s carpet...and all furniture.

The house must be emptied of its contents before it can be renovated right?

““But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.””

Luke 6:46-49 NKJV

Jesus tells us here the wise man must “dig deep” 

First dig a hole, insert the plant, water, fertilize, prune... of course there must be sunlight ... then watch the plant grow.

The renovated house must be gutted.

The seed must die in the depth of soil before growth can burst forth.

Renovation

Plantation 

And Death

It’s painful.

Who wants to be “gutted” out? Not me....

Jesus died and left us the example...but I’m writing this to remind myself (and you)

That emptying of self is painful.

“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.” Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?””

Luke 24:21-26 NKJV

 “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel” 

Hopes are dead

Dreams are dead

Fears suffocate you... 

Empty usually means sorrow...

Empty nest, empty pockets.... 

Empty=silence (like an empty house with a lonely person)

I heard a pastor say....

No student enjoys taking a test.

Tests are hard.

During tests what is the teacher doing?

He is silent... He sits at his desk and watches but does not talk.

This is what Saturday is like... empty silence.

Jesus is IN the fire with us...but at times He is silent. 

Saturday is painful.

Waiting for Sunday is painful.

Being emptying of self is painful- but necessary...

NEW LIFE, RESURRECTION comes soon...

So let yourself break.

Pour it out.

Be emptied.

The tomb was empty because Jesus was  ALIVE.

He is alive.

May we be emptied so His life can spring forth from the deepest darkest places of our soul.

Only then can we be useful for our Father’s kingdom.

Proverbs 13:7

“There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor (ie., empty) yet has great riches (ie., resurrection life). The ransom of a man’s life is his riches, But the poor does not hear rebuke.”

Proverbs 13:7-8 NKJV

Empty tomb/ Risen Lord

Emptied of self/Room for the Spirit to move 

Life Inventory

Let’s be real. Life is hard. Let’s be really real- Life is painful. Social media does not help either. I am not going to post how my friend is suffering with cancer, another friend lost a family member, someone else is grieving her decision (from her youth) to have an abortion and another dear friend is contemplating a law suit against a school district for mistreatment of their special needs child.

Garden variety pain? No way. These things are down right life altering.

I have been thinking about trials a lot lately and here is a summary of what I have experienced over the years or have seen in the life of another.

Marriage - Good
Kids- Struggling in Walk with Jesus
Health - Good
Financial - Good
God is Good

Or
Marriage - arguments
Kids- Strong Walk with Jesus
Health - Good
Financial - Rough
God is Good

Or

Marriage - Good
Kids-  Health not good
Health - Good
Financial - Good
God is Good

Or

Marriage - Good
Kids-  Walk with Jesus -Strong
Health - Good
Financial - Not Good
Personal Walk with Jesus- Dry
God is Good

Or

Marriage - Struggling
Kids-  Walk with Jesus -struggling
Health - cancer
Financial - Good
Personal Walk with Jesus- Dry
God is Good

Do these sound familiar?

God really spoke to me that we need to inverse this inventory.
What if we placed GOD IS GOOD at the top of the life inventory and let Him take care of the other areas?

What if we looked at each trial as Satan’s attempt to take us out (Eph 6:12)?

What if we stopped to pray instead of complaining?
What if we took personal responsibility for our actions?
What if we stopped and reminded ourselves how Holy God is and
He has the right to sovereign rule over our life and circumstances?
What if we stopped allowing our circumstances (good or bad) define us?

I have really enjoyed the words of this song

“Broken Prayers”

I've been taught how to talk to you
Hold it together, make the bad look better
Say all the words that I'm supposed to
Bow my head, say, "amen"
Yeah, that'll do
Making every dead end look like heaven
Like being okay is the way to reach you

But you're not afraid of all the things I feel
So why am I afraid of being real?

You want my tears, every messy word
Every scar and every fear
You want all I have
With no holding back
When I'm hurt, at my worst
You meet me there
'Cause you see the beauty
In my broken prayers
In my broken prayers

You don't care if it ain't poetry
'Cause all of my edges
They're a little rough
But that's all I got to bring

'Cause you're not afraid of all the things I feel
Don't have to hide the scars that still aren't healed

You want my tears, every messy word 
Every scar and every fear
You want all I have
With no holding back
When I'm hurt, at my worst
You meet me there
'Cause You see the beauty
In my broken prayers
In my broken prayers

Mascara running down my face
Desperate cry in a dark place
You take me that way
All of me

May we allow the light of God’s Love to penetrate our hearts and show us the reality that yes there will be pain (John 16:33) but Christ overcame. Let’s practice an inverse life inventory and put God’s Goodness at the top. 

Time for Devo!

As the year winds down we start to think of goals for the following year.

Exercise more, be kind to strangers, pay down debt, plan summer vacation, kick a bad habit, etc.

Reality check: 

Many of us NEVER stick to these goals.

We start well. We have good intentions. Rarely do we follow through on these goals in the long term. Some people DO reach their goals. What makes these people the rare 1% goal keepers?

A Plan

Dedication

Discipline

Commitment 

Do it daily even when you don’t feel like it.

If you’re a mom or a dad who wants your child to grow up to have a relationship with Jesus there is one important goal we can’t neglect:

Devotions with Kids

This topic has been on my heart for a long time and the Lord impressed it upon my heart to write this.

We all know the verse: 

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

We know it. We can quote it. But do we do it?

Sharing from personal experience:

HAVING DEVOTIONS WITH KIDS IS HARD

Is going to get ice cream hard? No

Is hanging out at the park hard? No 

Eating dinner together? Sometimes hard 

Devotions are hard because they have eternal value. 

Why are they hard practically?

Kids have short attention spans 

Parents are short on patience 

We have other  “stuff” to do

We have places to go people to see etc.

Over the years, in our family we decided to read a short devotion at night with Olivia. She would begin to yawn or seem “checked out” We still read to her, talked about it and then prayed together.

For this year 6th grade, we changed the routine and now have morning devotion and prayer at the breakfast table and then prayer at night. I’m sharing this because it’s important for everyone to learn what works for their own family and for each child. 

When we read at night...it was really hard. We were tired, our child was tired and frankly we began to get grumpy.

Are you even listening?

Are you falling asleep?

What did we just talk about? 

Let’s pray. To be honest, devotions can feel rushed because you know they have short attention spans and you “gotta” do it but you’re exhausted. 

My encouragement: DON’T give up!!!!

Our family decided to switch devotions to the morning because we realized everyone was pretty much checked out at night because Olivia gets home late from dance practice. 

Now again, practically speaking, Olivia and Chuck are reading through a few verses every morning in the Gospel of Luke. I’m in the kitchen making lunches and breakfast. Yes I would love to stop what I’m doing and sit with them, but most days I’m listening but also doing “mom stuff” again, we don’t have to be rigid...the Bible says 

““Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 7 NKJV

For me, as mom, I talk about the Bible, what God is teaching me, (I also ask Olivia what God is teaching her) in the car... we have so many great devotions and talks in the car, or at bedtime, or in the morning when she comes to me and sees me in the WORD. 

The point is this:

Some devotions with children are very structured- like Olivia and Chuck’s weekday morning devotions, but other times, it’s more fluid and comes at various points in the day.

If we treat Jesus and His Word as a “have to” like a chore such as throwing our the trash, it’s not going to be as fruitful compared to if we treat Opening His Word as a “get to” and the delight of our hearts. 

These same principles can apply to nieces, nephews, or anyone else who comes into your home.

Reading God’s Word should be both fun and important at the same time. 

Kids want you to be “real” with them...

Also, like anything in life it takes practice. 

For example: 

Whenever we see or hear a paramedic or car accident, we stop our conversation and pray over the situation. I do this in the car.

The other day Olivia initiated the prayer on her own and I was blown away

“She’s getting it!” I realized...

Same goes with arrow prayers.

I always remind her we don’t need to be long winded in our prayers we can pray with our eyes open and lift up an arrow prayer to God for help on a test, help with the kid that acts mean at school, or for God to help someone hurting, even the homeless person you see on a bench.

Olivia mentioned to me that she says “arrow prayers” and I blessed God-

“She’s getting it!” I realized...

Talking with God and doing devotions with children is not a once a day thing-

IT’S A LIFESTYLE

And lives aren’t changed over night...they are changed day by day moment by moment..Little by Little. 

Friends- maybe you’re reading this and realize you haven’t been spending time in Gods Word with your child as you should.

Please don’t feel condemned. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, guide you, and put it in your heart to WANT TO read with your child. 

Yes, on one hand devotions are a habit, but it’s also a key part of staying close to Jesus and abiding in Him, to bear much fruit. 

(John 14) 

Use the new living translation or NASB translation to help your kids understand.

If your kids seem distracted or bored, don’t give up! God is working and eventually they will get it and want to learn more about God. 

Merry CHRISTmas, Happy New Year and May the LORD help us as families to seek His kingdom first every day!

Bullied No More

The LORD reminded me of something powerful.

Jesus was mocked.

Jesus was bullied.

I can picture the soldiers laughing at him

Romans picking on Jews ...it was common for them...

But this time was different.

Jesus could have halted the jokes and jeers. 

He didn't.

He took it.

He took every bit of the bullying. 

I say the movie "The Little Boy" the other day.

I could hardly stomach the bullying scenes. They bullied the boy called him dwarf, midget and humiliated him. All he wanted was to be with his Papa (like Jesus longed to be with His Heavenly Father) 

As a special needs mom, bullying is one of my biggest fears.

The looks. The whispers.

A kid once told Olivia "I won't touch him (Isaac) because then maybe I won't be able to talk either" ....as if autism is contagious.

The word "retard" makes me cringe.

A person once told me "yeah my daughter has special needs and learning disabilities but she's not a retard"

I cringed and I was speechless.

Bullying stings.

Words can hurt and inflict wounds that are deeper than a mere physical wound.

Someone once said Olivia looked chubby and she stared at her body for weeks... it took her months to get over it.

Jesus was bullied.

The mocking must have hit His heart... 

When we are despised and rejected we want to crawl into a hole. 

Jesus took every bit of the scorn publicly. He knows what it is like to be bullied. 

One of the biggest lies Satan whispers is this.

"No one cares."  

What a lie!

Jesus cares.

He understands.

Hebrews 4:15 

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin

He cared enough not only to die for us but He was also subject to public humiliation. 

The image of the soldiers twisting the thorns into a crown is so condescending and insulting. (John 19:2) 

If only they knew who He REALLY was and who He really is.

The creator of heaven and earth. The True King.

Isaiah 25:8 says 

"In that day the LORD of hosts will become a beautiful crown And a glorious diadem to the remnant of His people"

Jesus Himself is King and HE will one day be a crown of beauty for all to see.

He is the King and yet He was bullied.

It does not make sense!

We must see how deep the Father's love is for us. 

Words have power both to destroy and to give life.

Jesus took the verbal abuse because He knew it was only part of the end goal- to die for the sins of all man-kind. 

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 

Isaiah 53:7

His strength under this pressure gives us hope. (Isaiah 40:31) 

Genesis 3:15;

And I will put enmity

    between you and the woman,

    and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

    and you will strike his heel.

Rev. 20:10

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Although Revelation is our sneak peek to Satan's ultimate defeat, Satan is still a bully to us at present day , but one day the lies will stop and Jesus will crush His head!! 

Most bullying goes unseen.

The same goes with us. 

Satan bullies us at night when we are vulnerable, or when we are sick, or when no one is around.

Coward.

May the Lord remind us EVERY TIME we partake of communion or read through the passion (or read through Isaiah and the many prophecies of Jesus) that He was bullied only for a moment, but now He reigns triumphant forever; He himself is the royal crown, He is the King over every circumstance He is the King over every trial, He is the King and Lord over every trial and He is Truth, He stomps on every lie Satan hurls at us.

John 10:18

"No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded."

The Pleasant Land

“Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭106:24-25‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

What if THIS is the pleasant land?

Women have a tendency to  squeal when we see a friend who is pregnant or is very visibly pregnant.
 For those of us who have carried a child we immediately become nostalgic. We immediately remember our pregnancy all the flutters all the moments when that little one was growing in our tummy... we remember praying over the child singing over the little one  and the overall delight of being pregnant.
 This of course is not true for everyone. Some women have experienced very harsh pregnancies and labors or maybe even a miscarriage. Some are unable to get pregnant and seeing someone that is pregnant might bring up painful memories of visits to the IVF doctor, trying to adopt and  all of the times that prayers were answered "no"

Life can be painful.

Jesus said He came to give us life and life abundantly (John 10:10)

 This verse in Psalm 106:24 "they despised the pleasant land"  reminded me of the longings of our heart ...

We want abundant life so we pray for it...
 Lord God you see me in my singleness please bless me with a  husband. Or Lord God you see me how I desire to be a mother so bless  me with children. Or Lord God you see me living in this tiny home or on a friends couch please bless me with a home.
Always longing ...never resting...

It's not wrong to desire things.
But it is wrong to complain. .

“Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, But complained in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the LORD.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭106:24-25‬ ‭NKJV

We don't believe God when we take matters into our own hands... trying to "hurry up" the answer to prayer in our own fleshly efforts.

 I knew a woman who told me her story.
 There she was dressed in her wedding gown,  make up done, manicure and pedicure done, hair done, flowers all arranged ....but as she looked into the mirror she knew something was wrong. The Holy Spirit was telling her not to marry this man.
She proceeded.
 She endured many hardships over her nearly 20 years of  marriage and she says that she knew she was out of God's will when she married him ...
she rationalized....
she was over 40 ....her clock  was ticking she wanted to be married and she wanted to have children so how could this wedding day be wrong ?
As the verse states, we must heed the voice of the LORD.
Now this woman did not complain as she saw God's hand guiding her and she was blessed with 3 beautiful children...
but she learned a painful lesson "do not despise the pleasant land"

 If we are not content in our current situation whether it be singleness or  we want to be a homeowner or we are at the lower level and desire a promotion... or we can't get pregnant, etc  if we are not content and we do not see the pleasant land  for what it is we walk dangerously close to behaving like the Israelites... we can  reject the voice of the Lord.

 So what  is so pleasant about this land?
 Even in a season of trial you can draw close to  the Lord and lean  on him and grow closer to him more than ever before ...

 Whatever season we are in we can look up and see how pleasant the land really is. Psalm 16:11  in his presence is fullness of joy at his right hand pleasures forevermore.  We are saved we are heaven bound,  we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus we have a mind that were able to read the Bible we have eyes that we can see his beautiful creation we have family and friends that love us we have a body of Christ that prays for us. If you are breathing, you can give thanks for that too! We have so much to be thankful for. But are we going to choose to see the pleasant land or are we going to be complainers ? These examples are there for us to learn from.
I don't want to be like the Israelites...complaining and whining,  I want to be like Jesus and say not my will but thy will be  done.
Enjoy the pleasant land, an even better destination awaits us in heaven!

Broken Swing

Broken swing

One day I saw a dad pushing his daughter on the swing. She was small 12 months or so. She was so happy and safe. He was looking right at her, no phone in hand and they were completely enjoying each other....completely smitten and in love...

Immediately I thought to myself...
This is what heaven must be like, a child face to face with her Father, enjoying each other. No worries, no cares. No disease or divorce, pain or heart break. No anger or fear. Just pure joy. Joy in His presence. (Psalm 16:11)

Today I saw a broken swing at the park....
it reminded me of my vision of heaven.
Then it clicked...
Maybe this world is like a broken swing.
The swing was created for a purpose. It had a designer and a plan for its use.
It was going well for a while... but now it's just broken...
A broken swing is sad...
No child to sit on it... no parent to plop his child on it... not even a place for a teen to sit and goof around.
The broken swing appears to be useless.
But you can imagine what it was...
God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:1
He has a purpose and a plan for His world
Jeremiah 29:11
But the world is broken.
The world is under the sway of the wicked one ...
1 John 5:19
Beauty is distorted and women are not valued how she was intended..
Prov 31:30
A man is valued not by his heart...but by his bank account and "look" on social media.
1 Samuel 16:7

The world is broken...like the swing.
But one day, we'll be in heaven with our Abba and all tears will be wiped away.
He will twirl us around and make us laugh til our cheeks hurt.
We will enjoy His presence and we'll battle valiantly and have new names given by our King.
Revelation 2:17
It's coming....
we must hold fast and not let the pollution of this world make us cynical.
People need Jesus
Older people younger people those who drive and those who wait for buses
We need His eyes
We need to see each day with His proper Father eyes.
Yes the world is broken, but one day it will swing again

Salute- To Dads, you're the Real MVP

Salute.
Shout out to all the unsung heroes out there.
To all the fathers who bear the  name "dad."
Just like in the movie boyz in the hood -the father says "any man... can become a father but it takes a real man to be a dad to his child."

Shout out and salute to the dad wakes up in the middle of the night to help give comfort or a bottle.

Shout out to all the dads who attend their daughters dance recitals.

Salute to each and every dad who goes to appointments with their children.

Salute to the dad who stuck around when they said "your child will have special needs all his life"

Salute to the dad who wakes up every day and goes to work when he has back pain.

Salute to the dad who works a job that he's not passionate about - but he does it to put food on the table.
Salute to the dad who wakes up at night because he hears a strange noise or a car turning down the street and wants to protect the home and family.

Salute to the dad who will drive a car way past it's "cool"  to allow the kids to be in sports and other activities.

Salute to the dad who takes his children on one-on-one daddy/daughter or daddy/son dates even when they're exhausted from working all week.

Salute to the dad who prays with his kids every night.

Salute  to the dad who puts a hand on his wife's forehead at night and prays over her.

Salute to the dad who sets aside a little bit extra money for his child's college education.

Salute to the dad who takes his kids on vacation but he doesn't really consider it fun ...he will sacrifice his own fun for the joy of the child.

Shout out to the dads who always double check that the car seats are buckled in right.

Shout out to the dad who knows the difference between infant diapers and pull-ups.

Shout out to the dads who have children with food allergies and sacrifices for the child's special needs.

Shout out to the dad who puts an Internet security block on the home computers and phones to protect not only the kids but themselves from looking up on evil.

Shout out to the dad who wakes up an extra hour early to read the Bible and get fresh manna from Gods word every day.

Shout out to the dad who visit others in the hospital when they're sick or hurting.

Shout out to the dad who lives out the image of Christ in their daily living.

A dad is not a cartoon bald headed Homer Simpson with a doughnut in his hand. A dad is one who is willing to take the financial, emotional, and spiritual bullet for the family every day ---day in and day out.

Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us earthly fathers who exemplify your love and sacrifice for wives and children all across the globe.