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The Misfit

3/27/2013

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Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?  Who would have thought God’s saving powers would look like this?

The servant grew up before God – a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field.  There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.  He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain first hand.  One look at him and people turned away.  We looked down on him, thought he was scum.  But the fact is, it was our pains he carried – our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.  We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures.  But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him – our sins.  He took the punishment, and that made us whole.  Through his bruises we get healed.  We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.  We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.  And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him.

He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn’t say a word.  Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence.  Justice miscarried, and he was led off – and did anyone really know what was happening?  He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people.  They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man.  Even though he’d never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn’t true (Isaiah 53:1-9 The Message)

I like the way this passage from Isaiah is paraphrased in the Message Bible.  It lays it all out on the table, nothing held back.  For one thing, the “servant” here is described basically as ugly.  He would never make it on the cover of GQ if he were around today.  If he wasn’t being passed over or ignored, he was looked down on.  He was mocked, he was tortured – whether physically or mentally – he was the “nobody.”

Have you even been in that situation?  I have.  All my life I’ve been made fun of for one thing or another.  I’ve never really fit in.  Most often it was for my physical aspects.  I wasn’t the prettiest thing you would see walking down the street, especially in junior high.  I was overweight, wore glasses, had a large gap between my two front teeth, and my hair needed some major work.  Thanks to people I thought were my friends I became the laughing stock of the eighth grade.  I felt like I had no one.  People I had considered my friends turned their backs on me.  I was no longer able to sit with my usual group at lunch because they were the ones who started it all.  Others I thought were my friends refused to let me sit at their table.  I was an eighth grader who found herself ostracized, forced to sit with the sixth graders at the other end of the lunch room.  I know, woah, but that was a big thing at that age, and I found myself mocked even more for it.  I had no place to go, no place to hide.  Everywhere I went I could hear them talking about me.  Not talking to me, but talking about me. This didn’t stop with the end of the school day.  It was waiting for me on the bus on the way home as well.  I was a big joke wherever I went.

I had no idea what I had done to deserve this.  Why all of a sudden was I the target?  What had I done?  It didn’t make any sense, and I was so hurt.

There have been other times in my life where I have been made fun of for my clothing choices, my physical appearance, etc, but nothing as harsh as that one year.  I’ve been scarred.  I don’t take compliments easily.  I always wonder what’s really behind them, when the one complimenting me is going to strike.  This is something I’m working on.

Though I’m way past eighth grade now - with high school, college, marriage and motherhood following behind, changing perspectives – my mind still goes back to those days.  Not often, but it does tend to take its journey to the past.

And then I read this passage.  It’s a prophecy about Jesus.  Despite what we all see in drawings of Him, Jesus was not the best looking man.  On top of that He was hated and rejected, even by His own hometown.  He walked around teaching about God, and about love.  He never hurt a soul.  But they chose to hate Him.  They chose to spit on Him, and they decided that He had to die.  For doing what?  He was innocent.  He was blameless.  And yet, still they came after Him.

Why do people do that?

I guess I shouldn’t talk too much.  I haven’t been the perfect example in this either.  I’ve done my share of mocking, of gossiping behind other people’s backs.  I’m not proud of it, and I don’t do it anymore.  But when I did?  I was no better than anyone else.  I was no better than those who were there hurling insult upon insult at Jesus, looking for an excuse to kill Him.  I was no better than them.

Isaiah doesn’t stop there though.  He finishes the chapter with the “why”:

Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain.  The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he’d see life come from it – life, life, and more life.  And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

Out of that terrible travail of soul, he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.  Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many “righteous ones,” as he himself carries the burdens of their sins.  Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly – the best of everything, the highest honors – because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest.  He took on his shoulders the sin of many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep (Isaiah 53:10-12 The Message).

Jesus had to go through all that suffering because of us.  Because God loved us so much He wanted to make a way for us to be with Him, and Jesus became the Way.  He had to endure so much just to save us.  There was a purpose to His life even if He didn’t deserve all the physical and emotional pain he received.

Maybe there’s a reason behind what I’ve had to endure, though it pales in comparison with Christ’s struggles.  Or, maybe God is using those experiences for the good.  After all, He makes all things work together for good.  Though I’m scarred, I’m stronger.  And I know what to watch for with my own children.  I can be there for them if and when they have to endure tough times like that.

I can look back now and see how much has changed since then.  By my senior year in high school I was back to being friends with some of my “so-called” friends from eighth grade - we had all changed by then, grown up as best as grade school kids could do – and I still talk to them at times to this day.

Everyone is precious to God.  Remember that today whether you are the one on the receiving end of a lot of hurt, or the one who is handing out the hurt.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that I always remember that each and every one of us on this earth was created by You, and that we are all loved by You with depth unimaginable to us.  Help me not to create hurt for others, and help me to forgive those who have hurt me.  You sent your Son to save us, and though we beat Him down, He continued His task for us.  Thank You, Lord God, for never giving up on us.

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It's Not Because You're Good

3/13/2013

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Matthew 22:1-14: The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet tell them to come, but they refused to come.
    “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready.  Come to the wedding banquet.’
    “But they paid no attention and went off – one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged.  He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
    “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
   “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.  ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’  The man was speechless.
    “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
    “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This parable is not new to me, but I must admit it took me a while to really understand it. I had a hard time getting past the literal and delving into the allegorical.  But one Sunday morning this was being preached at church, and I had my own, “Aha!” moment.  I got it.  I could see how it all fit together, and how it emulated God’s Kingdom.  All good.

Except, unfortunately, for one thing.  If you’ve read my previous posts, then you know that I am a very visual person.  Everything comes to me in pictures, and I relate what I learn to those pictures.  So here I am, sitting in church, “watching” the scene play out.  My mind is going back and forth from the king’s banquet hall to our King’s pearly gates, lining everything up and how they fit together.  Everything. 

But I can’t help getting stuck with the one vision I have at the king’s banquet.  There is a very long table, many people sitting, eating, enjoying themselves at this celebration.  At the very end of the table, in a chair on the right side looking up toward the king (I’m not kidding about how visual I am!), sits a man.  He looks to be in his late thirties to early forties, he has a short, respectable hair cut, a little scruff on his chin, and his clothes, though not dressy, are nicely put together (modern times).  To me he looks like a nice guy who just got carried along with the crowd of people, none of his peers close by.  I don’t know his background, but I can tell he’s done the right thing his entire life.  He’s good.

Then the king notices him and approaches him.  “’Friend,’ he asks, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’” (v.12)  I watch as the man looks up at the king, embarrassed.  All he was doing was sitting there, quietly eating his meal.  He hadn’t expected to attend a banquet that night, but he was pulled in.  An awkward silence passes between the man and the king, as the story tells us, “The man was speechless.” (v.12)

And then the king gives the orders to have him thrown out.  He doesn’t quietly and politely ask him to leave, he doesn’t offer him a set of wedding clothes from his abundant closets.  He tells his attendants, “’Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (v.13)

My heart goes out to that man.  He was quiet, he wasn’t causing a ruckus.  He didn’t sit in a place of honor; in fact, he sat at the lowest place possible.  And yet, because of his clothes, he was singled out and thrown out of the house like a dog who had just ruined Christmas dinner.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

And to top it all off?  Jesus ends his parable with, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”  Well, what the heck?  What’s the point of inviting him only to embarrass him by having him kicked out in such a harsh manner?  What’s the point of it all?  I don’t understand!  And, really?  He was a good guy!  Jesus said earlier that anyone on the street was to be invited, both good and bad.  This guy didn’t fall into the “bad” category, so why was he singled out?  It’s not right.  It’s not fair.

I got the message, but that part still baffled me.  A couple of nights ago I was reading my Bible, and, of course, one of my readings happened to be Matthew 22.  Back to the parable of the wedding banquet.  Okay.  I was bound and determined to figure it out once and for all (no, I didn’t look deeper into this at that time) what the end of this parable meant.  So I read, finished up verse fourteen which ends the parable, and still didn’t get it.  Great.  The same exact scene played out in my mind with the same outcome, the same, “Huh?”

Finally I decided I had to figure this out, so when my husband walked into the bedroom where I had been reading I talked to him about it - I typically am able to figure things out when I talk to him, whether he leads me to the answer or I figure it out just by talking it out.  I explained my dilemma to him – and of course he laughed at just how visual I was about it – and then he explained to me that he just never accepted Christ.  Plain and simple.  Oops.  Am I the only one who missed that?  Probably.  But there it was.  He never, in all his life, accepted Christ.  The wedding clothes come when you put on Christ, when you are covered with His blood.  I started singing a line from a song we would sing at my old church when adults were being baptized, “You have put on Christ.  In Him you have been baptized.  Alleluia, Alleluia.”

So I finally got it.  Maybe this came up the Sunday it was being preached, but I had missed it.  But I told my husband - since I was still trying to fight for this guy – that maybe no one actually talked to him about it.  Maybe he never knew Christ because no one took the time to tell him.  And there was “Aha!” moment number two.  Or was it three?  Anyway, writing all this out in my notebook I realized that there are going to be many people waiting their turn to get into heaven, but many of them will be turned away because they missed one step.  They never accepted Jesus.  In John 14:6-7a, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.”

“No one comes to the Father except through me.”  That’s it in a nutshell.  We must accept Christ in order to be accepted into the Kingdom of heaven.  But what if that person didn’t know?  That’s when it came to me.  It’s our job to tell them.  Yes, this is something that Christians are told time and time again, and new Christians are one of the first to want to rush out and save the world, but do we really understand the call?  Some, yes.  Others, maybe not.  Why was my heart hurting so much for that one man who was thrown out of the banquet?  Because I personally need to take that step.  I admit I like to hide behind my writing, and my words do come out much easier when I put them down on paper (or type them on a computer).  The written word is a gift that God has given to me, and I can use it to share His Gospel.  BUT…that doesn’t excuse me from sharing it by word of mouth when I’m out and about.  I can’t use the “I’m shy” excuse.  It may be true (more than I’d care to admit), but it’s not an excuse.  It’s actually selfish.  I can’t say, “They would never listen to me,” “They’ll just roll their eyes and walk away,” or even, “So-and-so would be able to do this much easier.   I’ll just let them save the world.”  Yeah, that’s not what we’re called to do.  We’re not called to shirk our duties as Christians.  We need to immerse ourselves into God’s work.  Regardless of where we’re called.  We are all called to different avenues; we just need to find out where those are, what those are.  We can all make a difference when the day of judgment comes if we all do our part now.

And it doesn’t matter if the person is “good” or “bad.”  A bad person can accept Christ and turn his or her life completely around.  A good person can do so much good, but if they don’t except Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they don’t have a chance.  Being good (like the man in my visualization) doesn’t give you a free ticket into heaven.  Isaiah tells us that “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6a)  So then how are we to become clean?  By accepting Christ and being “washed in the blood of the Lamb.”

“And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” (Revelation 7:14-17, emphasis mine)  Doesn’t that sound amazing?  Some of us are already guaranteed this.  Now we need to help others take the step that will also give them this gift of eternal life.

Last night in my small group a question in the book we’re reading asked, “Why does your tomorrow depend on today?”  Well, what would happen if we left everything for another day?  What if we knew where we were supposed to be, and by being there we could bring more people to Him, but instead we find something “more important” to do, or we’re too tired, or we just don’t feel like it.  How are we ever going to win a war just sitting back doing nothing?  We can read the Bible ‘til we’re blue in the face (and we should always be in His word), but we have to put it all into action somehow.

So, how are you going to make a difference?  Will you be able to stand before God and know that you helped even just one person pass through His gates into His Kingdom?  Will God look at you and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”  I know I want that.  I want to stand there and watch people entering, not being kicked out.

Lord Jesus, I understand now that it is my responsibility, my duty, as a Christian to help grow your Kingdom.  When I sit idly by I’m doing nothing.  Please help me to remember that I am saved through the blood of the Lamb, and I need to share that gift with others.  Lord Jesus, thank You.

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A Pebble in the Pond

2/2/2012

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           When you throw a pebble into a pond it creates ripples that flow from its center, outward, one after another after another.  That one small pebble changes the surface of the water for as far as the water is wide.  This is also true for every choice, every decision, that we make in life.  What we may see as small may make a big impact somewhere down the road.  We may never be aware of its affects.  I’ve also heard this referred to as the “butterfly effect.”

            I remember the first time this concept was brought to my attention.  I was a staff member at a retreat my church at the time did every year for teens.  In fact, this was one of the sessions I was helping out with.  We filled a small blowup pool with water and provided small rocks that we had collected beforehand.  We stood in front of the group and explained to them how each person makes a difference just as each pebble (or rock) makes ripples.  And one ripple leads to another for who knows how long.  We then gave them an assignment for the weekend: each time they found someone making a positive difference at the retreat, they were to go up to them and let them know.  Then both of them were to go to the pool, and the one who was singled out was to drop a rock in the pool.  Everybody makes a difference somewhere.

            Imagine what would have happened if a daughter-in-law, after losing her husband, went back home to her family as her mother-in-law had asked.  If that had happened, then two great kings would never have been born, and a chunk of the Bible would be missing.  That woman was Ruth.  Naomi was a widow, and her two sons, after being married to Ruth and Orpah for ten years, also passed away.  At that time Naomi told her daughters-in-law to go back home.  “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.  May the Lord show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me.” (Ru 1:8)  At her insistence, Orpah did decide to leave, but Ruth refused.   “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.  Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.  May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ru 1:16,17)

            From that day on Ruth stayed with Naomi in Bethlehem where they had traveled to from Moab, back to where Naomi had lived with her husband and sons before the famine.  Ruth made another decision at that time.  She chose to listen to whatever Naomi told her.  Because of that choice she married Boaz, and together they had a son.  “Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.  The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son.’  And they named him Obed.  He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” (Ru 4:16,17)  So, if Ruth, like Orpah, returned to her home, she never would have gone to Bethlehem, never married Boaz, and King David, the man after God’s own heart, never would have been born.  And from the line of David came Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, King of the Jews.

            Another woman in the Bible also made a decision that changed life as we know it.  Ruth started the line of David, and from there Mary and Joseph were born.  The decision Mary had to make when the angel Gabriel came to her was not an easy one for she would not only be putting her reputation at stake, but she was also risking her life.  If no one believed her that she was still a virgin and had not slept with another man, she could have been stoned to death.  But the only question she asked of Gabriel was, “How?” (Lk 1:34)  And when he explained it to her, finishing with, “For nothing is impossible with God,” (Lk 1:37), she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. […] May it be to me as you have said.” (Lk 1:38)  And because of that decision Jesus was born.

            Both Ruth and Mary had decisions they needed to make, decisions that may have seemed small to them at the time, and through those decisions many people, many nations, have been blessed.  If you read through the Bible you will find examples of this all over the place.  If you look in today’s world you may also see different examples of this.  Look around, see what’s making a difference now, and see if you can follow it back to the first person.  How far do you think you would have to go?  Mary made the decision to say, “Yes,” but before that could happen, Ruth had to make her decision to stay with Naomi and do as she was told.

 

May we all remember that a decision we make today may make a difference in time yet to come, no matter how big or how small it may seem.  And may all our decisions be with selflessness, and with trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

1/26/2012

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           I was reading Matthew chapter 18 which starts out with the disciples asking Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (v. 1), and Jesus replies, “...whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (v. 4) He then continues to talk about the children who believe in Him, and the importance of not leading them astray.  “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (v.6).  Jesus was definitely not fooling around with this teaching.  We are responsible for the children in this world.  As adults God put us in charge of them.  It is our responsibility to put any evil, any sin, we may hold onto out of our lives. And we need to make sure that we do not influence them in any way that will lead them away from the Lamb of God.

            Children are helpless at birth, but as they grow they learn.  It has been amazing watching my children go from birth to where they are now.  They surprise me daily with what they have learned, how much they know, and my oldest is only eight.  They pick things up very easily.  When my oldest son had cancer (he was five) we dealt with a lot of terms, and my youngest, who was two at the time, came out with the word “lidocaine.”  I don’t even remember why we were talking about it, but I remember sitting in my room with my husband and my kids, and we were talking something having to do with the cancer, the medicines, and his broviac, and out of the mouth of my baby came that word, very nonchalant.  We never know what they’ll pick up from us, what they catch onto even when we don’t think they’re paying attention.  With that in mind we have to be sure that they are learning what should be learned.  Being an “adult” does not give us the “right” to do whatever we want.  We need to be an example to them; a good example.

            But being a good example is not enough.  We need to teach them in the ways that will help them grow in their faith.  We need to teach them right from wrong.  They need to learn what the Bible tells us; the “rules” set up for us to follow, and we need to show them where they can find these “rules” so that as they continue to grow they can return to that book over and over again to seek God on their own.  We need to teach them that being in the world is good, but being of it is not.  Social “norms” are not always what we should follow.  Just because it’s accepted in society today does not mean it’s approved by God, and His way is the only way.  It’s our job to teach them to stand up for their faith, even if it means not “fitting in” with their peers.  And we need to let them know that they can come to us for anything, and with any question, because life is not going to be a smooth ride.

            What happens if we do lead them astray?  As they get older they are more capable of making their own decisions, but those decisions are subconsciously made by what they’ve experienced, what they’ve learned, up until that point.  Then what?

            As I continued reading Matthew chapter 18 I came to the parable of the lost sheep. (Mt 18:10-14)  I’ve heard it before, and, thanks to Veggie Tales (I love Big Idea Studios!) and other teachings of it, I’ve really grasped what it was about.  If we stray from God He will find us and guide us home.  He will help us return to Him and all that He has promised.  And He will rejoice for the one who returns.  I love this parable and the imagery it projects.  If we fail, there is always a way back to Him.  He will always welcome us back, and we need to let them know.  No one can do anything bad enough to keep God from them.  He will not turn His back.  In the Bible we’re told that there is only one sin that is unforgivable, and that’s sin against the Holy Spirit.  “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” (Mk 3:29)  I doubt that is something many people do.

            But we should do our best not to fail.  What I had missed in my previous experiences with this parable was the last line in the section which says, “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” (v. 14)   “These little ones.”  The children who believe in Him.  If they wander off God wants to bring them back again, but He does not want them to get lost in the first place.  And that’s the responsibility He has placed on us.  Therefore we need to strive to be the teachers He wants us to be, the role models we need to be.  We need to be like Jesus.  He was the greatest role model who ever walked this earth.  If we set our eyes on Him and follow Him always, then we will be able to help the children in our lives walk this way as well.  This is what I strive for in my own family, and though I am not perfect, I will continue to teach and guide.

 

May we all set our eyes on Him and be the models He wants us to be and not what society says we should be.  May we teach the children in our lives to love and follow Christ Jesus, and may they continue their faith journey always.  In His name, Amen.

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Leaving Our Mark

1/19/2012

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_             I have been looking up my genealogy for about a year now.  Thanks to my grandfather I have information on my mom’s side of the family back to my great great grandparents; and thanks to my cousin I have information on my dad’s side.  But of course there are holes, and I’m trying to work through those.  I want to know who these people were; where they came from; what they did.  They don’t have to be famous or anyone of great importance.  They’re the people I came from, and I’m interested in learning all I can about them.  I got excited one day because on one of the census forms I found I was told what job someone in my family had.  I also love listening to stories about different family members (sometimes over and over).  It’s the little things that matter most to me.

            Documenting genealogy is nothing new.  If you’ve read the Bible then you know it’s filled with it.  This person begot that person who begot that one, and so on.  I confess, I actually like reading through those.  As I read more and more of the Bible more and more names pop out at me in these lists, and I have an idea of who they are.  Some names mean nothing to me because they don’t really have a prominent role.  Regardless of who is in it though, they all had their part to play.  If they were in the genealogy line in the Bible, then they had a hand in creating some of the most prominent people.

            From our readings we have an idea of who Abraham came from, and who Moses came from.  And we know the line of Jesus.  They kept some great records back then (I’m kind of jealous).  Some of the people in those lines may have been pretty important at one time or another.  But what about all the others?  Some of those lines are pretty lengthy.  There are people in there who will never have a book written about them, and I’m pretty sure we’ll never remember their names, but each and every one of them helped create the most amazing people who did amazing things.

            And even though we ourselves may never become famous, and we’ll probably never have a book written about us, we are important.  We’re important in the lives of our children and our grandchildren, and so on down the line.  And if we never have children, then maybe we’ll be important in the lives of our nieces and nephews, or the little boy or girl we help out.  In some way we will all impact someone’s life, and we need to decide just how we want to do that.  I remember my paternal grandmother.  She died when I was ten, and she didn’t live nearby, so I never really got to know her.  When she did visit she didn’t leave a good impression.  I can honestly say I never really liked her.  I wish I had known then what I know now.  I would have talked to her more and found out more about her life.  But at that time all I could think about was that one thing she said to me, and how she overstayed her welcome.

            We do have those people in our lives, in our line, who we don’t have the best experiences with.  They may have hurt us, or just made us angry.  They may not have chosen the right way to impact our lives.  But we have the choice.  With my own kids my husband and I have made the choice to be better parents to them and make sure that they know they’re loved, and that we love each other.  We’re trying to give them a healthy environment in which to live.  “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” (Col 3:21)

            And we try to make sure that they know Christ.  We will answer any of their questions as well as we can (and we’ll tell them if we’re not really sure about something).  We bring them to church, and we do devotions with them every night.  We say grace at the dinner table, and we pray together every night when devotions are done.  We want to give them a firm foundation in who He is, but we don’t shove it down their throats.  There’s a happy balance.  My hope is that through the tender teaching we try to give them they will make the decision to accept Him fully, and that when they have kids they will teach them in the same way or even better.  Moses told the Israelites, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Dt 11:18,19), and Paul wrote to the Thessalonians comparing how he, Silas and Timothy treated the church in Thessalonica in the same way a father should treat his child.  “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1Th 2:11,12)

            We’re trying to start the ripples by throwing a little pebble in the pond, ripples that will make a good impact on the lives of our family yet to come.  Years down the road, when we’re dead and gone, I would love to have my children’s children telling their families positive stories about us, and telling them how much we all loved Christ, and how one day we’ll all be able to meet up in heaven.

 

 

I pray now that each and every one of us chooses the right way to impact a child’s life.  I pray that through Christ Jesus we are able to walk and spread His joy, His hope, His peace, and His love to the generations yet to come.  May we all gain souls for Christ even when we are no longer on this earth.  Amen.

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    Imperfect
    Reflections

    "And we, who with unveiled faces all
    reflect the Lord's gory, are transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
    2 Cor 3:18

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    I am a wife and a mother of four children, a girl (15), and 3 boys (14, 11 and 3).  I am a Christian and attend a local church which I enjoy.  I've learned that nothing matters if it takes you away from your focus on Christ, and the boundaries we set, keeping Him out of certain areas of our lives, are useless.  Christ should be in every thing, and without Him we are nothing and have nothing.

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