Called-- into Question

God's calling doesn't promise a smooth road. Sometimes we can be smack in the middle of God's will and it leads us into criticism from those closest to us—even from those we respect and admire. 

I am thinking about Mary and Joseph's calling. God had a plan to deliver a savior into the world. It required Mary to lay down her reputation and risk losing her betrothed, Joseph. 

A woman found pregnant out of wedlock in those days could be stoned or turned out by her family and left to starve along with her child. 

Joseph faced two choices when he learned of Mary's pregnancy before they had come together as one. Divorcing Mary was the upright path—the expected decision for one of Joseph's standing in the synagogue. This would prove to the Jewish community that he was not the father of her child. His reputation would remain intact. Proceeding to marry his betrothed was a confession of guilt.

Reputation was everything among the Jews. 

God knew Mary and Joseph's hearts. He asked them to lay down their reputations and life plans for His greater purpose. He knew they would say, "Yes!" 

I am challenged this season to examine my heart. Will I say "Yes," when He asks me to do hard things? I'm praying that like Mary I will say...

May it be done to me 

according to your will.

Luke 1:38

Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids

Crafts with children during the Christmas season are some of our family's favorite memories. 

Found this link with some great ideas: Real Simple Holiday Decorations.

Let us know how they worked out. Do you have a cyber link to other crafts or ideas you've used. 

Merry Happy Joyful ??????mas

I purchased the colorful bag on a whim. Out Christmas shopping I thought I'd found the perfect bag to cart all of my packages home to family. 


I got it home and suddenly I realized how funny the bag was:

It totally left out the source of the Joy, Peace and Holiday Cheer--

The true light that gives light to everyone

was coming into the world.

He was in the world,

and though the world was made through him, 

the world did not recognize him.

He came to that which was his own,

but his own did not receive him.

Yet to all who did receive him,

to those who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God—

John 1:9-12

Merry CHRISTmas!

Operation World

Bringing the world home to my children is a priority. One interactive website that I love is Operation World.

Loaded with pictures, facts and videos it inspires us to pray for others around the world. Information is listed by region and country. You can teach your children to pray specifically as they understand the spiritual climate of each country in the world. 

You have the opportunity to pray with others using the prayer calendar which highlights a different prayer focus each day. 

The effective prayer of a righteous man (or child)

can accomplish much.

James 5:16 NASB

A Place to Lay Your Head

I love laying my head on my pillow every night. Work is done, my kids are all asleep and there are no more phone calls.

I like my stuff, my house, my space. I like my creature comforts. 

Ever thought about Jesus and stuff? 

Ever seen a picture of Jesus pulling a rolling suitcase or carrying a backpack? He was a homeless man without a grocery cart. He moved around throughout Israel and depended on the hospitality of others. 

He travelled with just the robe on his back and the sandals on his feet. He walked—okay once he rode on a donkey, but that was a special event. 

Jesus challenged would-be followers by telling them, "The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

His lack of a physical place to call his own never slowed him or hampered his ministry. It freed him. He didn't need to have a place to feel secure. His security came from the relationship he had with his father.

I am challenged by Jesus' words. I am trying to unload stuff. When an opportunity for a mission trip to an uncomfortable location arises, I want to say, YES and not think about the stuff I can't bring with me. I want to teach my kids about the pitfalls of materialism. 

I want to be free like Jesus who did his father's will without pre-conditions. 

Every night when I lay my head on my pillow I think about what it would be like to have nowhere to lay my head. I thank Jesus for the sacrifice he made while on earth and embrace the challenge such a lifestyle offers me. 

Moms of Missionaries

Granddaughter waves to her aunt in SK

Hooray for skype! What did missionary families do to keep up with each other before internet?

This past weekend we had a daughter and her family visit and we held a skype reunion with another daughter who is teaching in Seoul, SK. 

The visiting daughter brought her baby who is our first grandchild. The whole family likes to keep up with each new grandbaby skill. Aunt Kimela in SK is no exception so she spent time talking to her 8-month-old niece. 

The baby was fascinated with the screen. She practiced her new waving skill. She kept trying to touch her aunt's face on the computer screen. Aunt Kimela sang "Jesus Loves Me" for her and that made me cry. Precious to watch. 

I'm honored to have kids who are so enthusiastic about missions and international issues but it is tough on my heart. I miss them and know that even more of my kids plan to live overseas in the years to come. 

I spend a lot of time praying for my children. When I wake sometimes in the middle of the night, my first thought is, "What time is it where my child on the mission field is living? What do I need to pray for?" I assume I've been awakened to pray. 

So today I am thankful for the gifts of prayer and skype.

Behind, Before and Over Me

I was just starting dinner when the phone rang.

"Stop what you are doing and come see this!" 

My friend lives outside of town in the country. Vergie is the fun mom with the cool house that my kids always want to visit. She has wild peacocks, a garden, and a chicken coop. 

"The chicks are hatching. You've got to come watch."

I did drop everything. I moved my dinner to the back burners and packed up the kids and drove out to her house. 

Vergie ushered us over to the chicken coop and told us to listen. The baby chick and the mother were talking to each other. You could hear chirping coming from the egg and then the mother hen would answer. The more the mother hen clucked back, the more the baby pecked it's way out of the egg. Truly a marvel to witness!

This wasn't the first chick to hatch. My friend stirred the mother hen and she began flapping, revealing several recent hatchlings attached under her wings. They were literally encased in the downy feathers under the mother hen's wings as they grasped tightly with their claws. 


The soft warm feather's provided the perfect temperature for the new hatchlings and protected them from intruders like snakes or coyotes. I couldn't help but remember one of my favorite verses. 

He will cover you with His pinions,

and under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 

Psalm 91:4 ESV

My children still remember this day. It forever etched in their minds the truth of this verse and what God means when He says He hides us under His wings. 

As we drove home I told them another story that I'd heard about a barn fire. The farmer walked through the charred ground afterwards surveying the damage. He came upon a mother hen that had died in the blaze. He wondered why the chicken hadn't escaped ahead of the flames. As he pushed it over, he heard chirping and several small hatchlings scattered.

The hen had stayed and given her life to protect the chicks that she had covered with her wings. What a picture of what Jesus did for us—He could not save us without dying for us on the cross. 

You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high, I cannot attain it. 

Psalm 139: 5,6 ESV

May you know His love and protection that is behind, before and over you. 

Stumbled Upon a Verse

When your words came, I ate them; 

they were my joy and my heart’s delight, 

for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.

Jeremiah 15:15-17 

This verse reminds me of how far I've come. As a young mom I was a hand-wringer. I encountered temper tantrums—sometimes my own and not my toddler's. I would hope the money held out until the next paycheck. I had conflicts with girlfriends. 

I rarely ran to God's Word. I certainly didn't read it everyday or even every week. I preferred to stew about my problems. 


The years, the messes I've had to clean up, the crying at night—mine and not only my children's—have taught me something. Run—don't walk—to God's Word. It has become my delight. 


I have learned that nothing truly satisfies my worries like a time reading my Bible. I struggle just like everyone else with busyness—how to fit it in. 


I use a read through the Bible in a year. So far it has been 21 months but I have 20 days left and I'm still reading. When I finish my one year Bible in 21 months I will start all over—even though it will probably be October and not January. Who said we have to wait until January? 

I have the dramatized version of the gospels recorded on my ipod. I often listen to it as I get dressed in the morning. That's truly putting on the full armor of God along with the mascara!


The dramatized Old Testament stories are great in the car with the kids. Just one more way to stay in the Word during a busy season of life. 

God's Word has become my delight and I can't seem to get enough now. This is one lesson I wish I'd learned much earlier in my MommyLife!

Cry Baby!

How is your prayer life going?


I have to admit, I struggle to fit it in at times.

I know God is always near. He delights to hear me turn to Him. I get a little used to the fact that He is always there I can enter His presence boldly at anytime.

My reading in the book of Hosea this morning struck me:

They do not cry out to me

from their hearts...

Hosea 7:14a

The people Hosea spoke to may have looked good on the surface with their offerings at the temple but they kept God at arms length in their hearts and their emotions. I do that way too often. 

I had a front row view this weekend watching my seven-month-old granddaughter. There were lots of smiles and lots of tears. She seemed to go between one to the other at the slightest provocation. She connected from the heart and we all knew what she was feeling at any given moment.

When God talks about the kind of prayer life He wants us to have with Him, He beckons us to cry out to Him from our hearts.

I wonder how often my routine "bless me" prayers connect from the depths of my emotions?

I'm determining this week to cry out to God from my heart. It takes time. It takes focus. I'm endeavoring to be a bit of a cry baby before my heavenly Daddy. 

Guest Author Post: Praying Through Your Adoption by Michele Scott

We are blessed to have Michele Scott share her heart on the role of prayer in adoption and how her book, Praying Through Your Adoption came to be. This book is a treasure for those seeking to adopt and those encouraging others going through adoption. I have a copy of the book to give away. Post a comment and I'll select a recipient to receive the book in the mail. It will be a blessing. 

Michele, what can you tell us about yourself, your childhood, and the present?

I grew up as an only child in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Faith was a vital part of our family life, so I believed in God from an early age. About mid-way through college, after heartaches and some poor decisions, I decided to trust Jesus and the plans He has for my life. I graduated, moved to the suburbs, and married my husband, Eric. I worked in the corporate world and Christian ministry before becoming a work-at-home mom through adoption. 


When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer? 

I started writing poems and stories for fun as a child. I even had a poem published in Highlights for Children. Through high school and college I enjoyed researching and writing papers, but I never considered becoming a professional writer until I wrote Praying Through Your Adoption. 

What inspired you to write Praying Through Your Adoption?

Author: Michele C. Scott

I've been talking to God in prayer for as long as I can remember. I turned to prayer during our infertility, and I had planned to pray through a pregnancy if that had been God's plan. While adopting our 

son from Russia, we experienced painful delays and obstacles, such as increased fees and additional paperwork. At a particularly low point in the adoption process, I participated in an online prayer vigil that directed me to pray for very specific aspects of adoption – from government officials to waiting children. I realized the power of prayer specifically in adoption and saw the need to help other families pray through their adoptions as well. 

Unraveled

Do you have that favorite something that you collect? I rifle through the back rooms of resale and antique shops for needlepoint pillows. Don't ask me why I'm drawn to rugs and pictures and pillows created stitch by time-consuming stitch.

I don't know. I've collected many beautiful treasures over the years. I trade them out with the seasons around my house. I have these works of art with angels, bunnies, collies and flowers on them. 

Sometimes I sit and ponder all of the time that went into them. I wonder what the woman's life was like as she sat and created the beauty I now enjoy. 

I know the time it took. I used to spend hours making birth announcements or anniversary stitchings to give away. I don't seem to find the time anymore. 

Whenever I gave stitched items away I hoped nobody would look at the backside. Have you even looked at the back of a needlepoint canvas? 

It's hard to believe that mess can be so beautiful on the front. My stitchery usually had bumpy knots, unraveling frayed ends and single threads reaching inches across the backside to make just those last few stitches in the same color. I wanted the front to look just right and "together". 

Looks kinda like my life feels sometimes—unraveled. 

I dash about driving my kids, throwing dinner on the table, rewashing the mildewed laundry that I forgot in the washer. Will that plant I neglected revive when I remember to water it?

I sit in my chair, the favorite one. I grab up my One Year Bible that I'm having so much fun reading and marking—only it is taking a year, seven months and counting. The Word washes over me and I am still.  
My life seems unraveled at times but as I sit silently in His presence I know His heart toward me. I am fully accepted by Him when I come and offer up my mess. I don't have to pretend and hope He doesn't look at the underside with all of the frazzled ends. 

Thank you, Father, that I don't have to pretend or hide from You. Nothing can separate me from your love...not messiness, not burned meals, not mildewed laundry, extra pounds or wilted plants. I love you, Lord. 





THE WEAVER

My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride
forget He sees the upper but I the under side.

Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needed in the Weaver's skillful hand,
as threads of gold and silver in the pattern life has planned.

Benjamin Malachi Franklin (1882-1965)

Hound of Heaven?

God has been referred to as the Hound of Heaven in a poem by English poet, Francis Thompson. That phrase made the poet famous. 

The name Hound of Heaven is odd and frightening at first. It makes me think of the mysterious creature on the moors of England in Conan Doyle's Sherlock tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Spooky!!

I have a better story of a hound—one from my own home. We had an amazing sheltie early in our marriage that showed me the power of the dog's ability to track and find that which is lost. 

Dogs have a tough time moving to a new home. They are territorial and they get downright confused with the new smells and the new area to protect. 

Our sheltie was trying his best to do his dog-thing when we moved across the country. We drove into our new hometown late in the evening but our furniture had not arrived.  Instead of moving into our new house, we stayed at a friend's home. 

We tied our dog to a long line outdoors for the evening. Two days later we put him in the car and drove 7 blocks to our new home. Double confusion set in. 

At the new home, he had an entire new backyard to explore and make his own.  Day three in the new home, the gate to our backyard was left open and he disappeared. I panicked.

Would we be able to find our pet in this new town? Surely he couldn't find his way home on his own. 

I called the home of our friends where we had stayed for two nights. My daughter had spent the night with their daughter and I suggested they walk in the neighborhood and look for our lost pet.

No need! When my friend walked back to her daughter's bedroom she heard barking from outside the window. Not only had our dog found his way seven blocks to their home BUT he also found the window of the room where my daughter was staying. He ran in circles outside barking to get her attention. 

Finding this hound was indeed heavenly. 

The poet Francis Thompson never meant anything scary by describing God as the Hound of Heaven. He only referred to God's steadfast pursuit of His own children when they stray from His presence. 

In Luke, Jesus tells the parable of the woman who searches for the lost coin and the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to seek out that one lost sheep. He searches for His own and doesn't quit until they are back in His arms. 


If you are feeling lost or distant from God, I know He is pursuing you. He is relentless and steadfast in His desire to have you in His arms again. 

A Future and a Hope

 

My daughter’s high school graduation fell on the very day a pastor proclaimed in a national campaign the world was going to end: May 21, 2011.

 “At least by 6:00 p.m. I will already be a graduate and the whole family will be together at the restaurant,” my daughter pointed out.

We were still at the table after the bill was tallied and the dessert plates polished off—well after the deadline for the world’s time clock to stop.

Visit Heart of the Matter {Online}  to see the conclusion to A Future and a Hope, my latest contribution to their parenting blog. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day was particularly special today for me. I attended the baby dedication of my first granddaughter. 

I admit that I cried. 

I am thankful that my daughter and son-in-law are raising my granddaughter in the faith. I have heard them read the Bible together aloud as one of them rocks her to sleep on a shoulder. They haver her special music list on the iPhone with songs full of scripture and praise.

I have no greater joy

than to hear that my children 

are walking in the Truth

3 John 1:4

I also cried thinking of all of the praying grandmother's on all sides down through the generations. Some are still praying for this celebrated little one and others are before the throne in Heaven. How overjoyed they must be to see their legacy of faith. 

I once wrote about my daughter in For My Mommy Told Me So. The little girl who rocked her doll baby 23 years ago is now rocking my granddaughter and telling her that Jesus loves her. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Little Schoolhouse on Highway

Are you dreading a long family car trip with kids this summer? Take heart. It can be one of your best experiences. 


Check out my latest post, "Little Schoolhouse on the Highway,"  at Heart of the Matter Online for tips for traveling with kids and enjoying it.

Behold, the Lamb of God

Jesus hung on the cross suspended between heaven and earth. He cried out, "Abba, Father, why have you forsaken me!" God was not silent or still.

He sent a great darkness to cover the whole land. At that very moment of Christ's death, earthquakes rocked Jerusalem and the dividing veil was split between God's Most Holy Place in the temple and the people that came to worship.

I often wonder what it must have been like in the temple that day.....


Simeon looked out the door of the temple sanctuary. In all of his twelve years, he had never seen a dark night sky at noontime. Pigeons, doves and lambs stirred uneasily in the surrounding colonnades around the priests' court. Lightning flashed in the distance. The rumble of thunder could be felt as well as heard.

"Come away from the door. We have work to do. What happens out there is not our concern," Simeon's father said.

Simeon was of the tribe of Levi. His father and uncles served in the temple and Simeon often helped. On this holy week of Passover it seemed everyone in Jerusalem needed them. The visitors from surrounding villages and towns thronged the streets bringing their offerings to the temple. As the hour for the daily sacrifice of the lamb approached, many more people would fill the courtyard.

Simeon loved the festival days. Today would be almost perfect if it had not been for Jesus. Simeon heard him preach often around the temple. He liked Jesus' words. He liked Jesus. He made Simeon think about God in a new way--as a person--a loving father. In Simeon's family, God was a business, an endless list of chores and sacrifices.

Why did they have to arrest him? Why did they choose to crucify him?

"He was a trouble-maker," Simeon's uncle said.

Simeon's father nodded, "It is best for the people. He stirred fights between the people and Rome."

Simeon glanced up toward the Hill of Golgotha before turning back inside the temple sanctuary. He could not see the hilltop through the darkness but he had heard about crucifixions before. Jesus did not deserve that kind of end.

Simeon took his place at the doorway between the open Priests' court where the lamb would be sacrificed and the sanctuary where the oil lamp glowed and sweet incense burned continually before the Most Holy Place. His job was to make sure the incense continued to burn. The aromatic offering must not falter on this day of all days. He watched the priests and worshippers gather in the outer court around the massive altar.

The law prescribed the exact hour for the lamb's throat to be cut for the sins of the people each day. It was at this very moment that Simeon heard thunder rumble closer. His hair stood on end and the air grew tense. He looked about the courtyard. Men looked uneasy as they glanced to the open sky.

Simeon looked over his shoulder through the doorway to the inner sanctuary. The smaller altar table with the candles and show bread stood in their place. The rich brocade of the veil protecting the people from the Most Holy Place hung just as it should.

As long as he had been coming to the temple with his father, Simeon had been warned not to enter the Most Holy Place. He knew the story of Aaron's sons who were struck dead by God when they disregarded the Ark of God's presence.

His father had entered the Holy of Holies once, when it was his turn by lot. A priest entered only once a year as prescribed by the law of Moses. "One day, son, it will be your turn. Until then do not go near the entrance."

Simeon always hid his eyes when he witnessed the priest enter behind the veil each year. He did not want to risk even a glimpse beyond for fear of instant death.

The bleating of the young lamb drew Simeon's attention back to the Priest's courtyard. His uncles led the spotless one-year-old lamb up the ramp to the raised altar table in the center of the yard as onlookers gathered to watch. His father stood ready with the knife. Another uncle held the brass bowl to collect the lamb's blood. Simeon, himself, had prepared the hyssop branch to be used in sprinkling the blood on the altar. They must make the sacrifice at exactly the third hour as prescribed by the Law.

Lightning increased as flashes from the open sky overhead created hideous shapes on the walls of the courtyard. The thunder grew nearer and rumbled louder until it seemed to come from beneath their feet.

Simeon ran from the courtyard into the sanctuary when he realized that it wasn't thunder but the ground actually groaning. The floor rolled slowly at first then faster until it heaved. Simeon tried to secure the incense bowl and candles on the altar but was thrown to the ground. He huddled under the altar table until the floor stilled.

Cries filled the air as thick dust hung everywhere. The lamb that was to be sacrificed bleated as it scurried around the courtyard looking for a way of escape.

Simeon raised his head. Before he could look away he saw the veil to the holy of holies--torn--from the top down. Simeon looked straight into the forbidden inner sanctuary. The only light in the room glowed from within the Holy of Holies. The candles from the outer sanctuary lay snuffed out and scattered about the floor.

Simeon arose. Drawn to the glow within the Most Holy Place, he no longer felt terror. He peered within for the first time and lived. Was that an audible voice he heard or did it come from his own heart?


"For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed."
1Corinthians 5:7

"We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" Hebrews 10:10


Have a blessed Easter weekend as you draw near to Jesus and celebrate His life given for us. Join Spiritual Sunday for more Easter refreshment.

Gods of Play-Doh and Glitter

Would you ever consider getting out your kids' play-doh and fashioning your own god? You could top it off with glitter to add shine. 

It sounds crazy but the Old Testament prophets talked about this constantly. Israelites who had been taught about the One true God would go out and cut down a tree and carve an idol. They would overlay plain wood with gold and silver then bow down and ask it for things. 

They attempted to breathe life into powerless wood carved into the likeness of a god they created from their own desires. 

Although men turned and bowed down to his idol, the statue had no strength to move or breath of life. Yet, the man creator continually cry out to their own handiwork in vain.

What good is an idol carved by man,

or a cast image that deceives you?

How foolish to trust in your own creation—

a god that can't even talk!

What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols,

'Wake up and save us!'

To speechless stone images you say,

'Rise up and teach us!'

Can an idol tell you what to do?

They may be overlaid with gold and silver,

but they are lifeless inside.

Habakkuk 2:18-19 New Living Translation

Do I have idols, Lord? 

Idols take many forms. They are defined as "manmade, false, and a replacement for the one true God".

I've heard one definition of idol: anything or anyone that you regard as more important than God.

Do I have idols, Lord?

What vies for my time and devotion each day? Who do I turn to first when I hurt? Whose opinion do I value most? Where does my money go?  


Oh, Lord, you are the creator—not me. Create in me a clean heart, renew a loyal spirit within me.  May I be completely yours, worshipping you alone.  Amen

I AM Still Is

I hear two things from the people I talk to when I am out around town. The prices are too high and this crisis in Japan is so scary. There is much to worry about. 

I hear parents recently question what the world will hold for their young children. Will they have a future to look forward to? Will there be war, available energy, or enough food and jobs? There is much to worry about. 

A group meeting in our home for a Bible study also talked about the world events. The oldest couple there said they had never seen these weather phenomena or turbulent prices before in their lifetime. 

It can be a scary time if you do not know Who is still in control. 

The God who said His name is "I AM" still IS. He is still on His throne in the heavens. He still guides the stars and planets on their course. He still determines how far the waters wash on the Earth. He still is our provider financially, emotionally and physically. 

God is our refuge and strength, 

   an ever-present help in trouble. 

 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way 

   and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 

 though its waters roar and foam 

   and the mountains quake with their surging.

He doesn't promise to take the trouble away. The mountains will sway and the waters will roar. He promises to be our refuge and our strength through each crisis. We can walk through these times without fear because we know who still IS regardless of what we are called to endure. 

Lord, calm us. Help us focus on your sheltering strength and present help in every trouble. Let us be a light to those we encounter who are full of fear. Give us your words to speak that we may be shining lights in a darkening world. AMEN

Got Needs?

Ever have that heartsick feeling when you fail—again? There is a weakness you can't seem to conquer? 

I did recently and I wanted someone to pray with me. I couldn't seem to handle this need on my own. I scrolled through the names in my text messages. 

I considered several friends: 

• No, she wouldn't understand
• No, she is always too busy
• Yes, now she is a person who prays alot!

I punched in my message to my prayer warrior friend but she didn't respond. Apparently she was busy that day....

I turned back to my Bible study homework on Revelations chapter 4—the throne room of God. Glorious! 

Jesus is "there from now to eternity 

to save everyone who comes to God

through him, 

always on the job

to speak up for them

(Hebrews 7:25)" The Message

"God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.

If we don't know how or what to pray,

it doesn't matter.

He does our praying in and for us,

making prayer out of our wordless sighs,

our aching groans.

He knows us far better than we know ourselves,

...and keeps us present before God.

(Romans 8:26-28)" The Message

It hit me; I had my prayer warrior. He sits at the right hand of His Dad always, ready to speak for my needs. I don't have to text Him, or wait through His voice mail message to ask Him to get back with me. That's Glorious!