Children

Last

/ Jodie / 1 Comment

Matthew 20:1-16 New Living Translation (NLT)

20 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage[a] and sent them out to work.

3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4 So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day.

5 So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing. 6 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’7 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’8 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9 When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. 10 When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, 12 ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

13 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14 Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15 Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

“That’s not FAIR!”

If you’ve raised children, or spent any time around them, you’ve probably heard that phrase exclaimed thousands of times.

From the time our children were young, Doug and I tried to be honest with them about life. When faced with a child’s sense of injustice, we would sympathize with how they were feeling, but follow it up with truth: “yep…life isn’t always fair (at least in the way YOU think it should be!)” This principle doesn’t just apply to the little people in this house though….it’s something I continue to struggle with too.

Injustice.

Jealousy.

Entitlement.

Years ago I was pretty focused on coveting my neighbors possessions. If they got new clothes, I deserved new clothes. If they bought a car, I deserved a car. If they went on a fancy smancy vacation I deserved one. If they had the latest electronic gadget, I deserved that too. Unfortunately, as I became a follower of Christ, my sense of entitlement didn’t magically disappear. Instead, it shifted to another realm of coveting: deserving the same “blessings” other Christians received. This attitude is a dangerous one because not only does it puff up my pride to enormous levels, it causes me to judge others wrongly and unfairly AND it questions the sovereignty and goodness of God.

“It’s not FAIR that…

-so and so got a big, new house and we have to keep repairing this old one!”

-I have to home-school my kids, cook, clean, be a taxi driver, clean the house, pay the bills while so and so gets a maid and can afford to hire a babysitter every week!”

-so and so gets free vacations and we have to save $ for 5 years to go somewhere!”

-so and so has all the gifts of the Spirit and I only have 3!”

-so and so’s church/ministry gets more attention than ours”

-I work all day and get paid as much as so and so -and they only worked an hour!”

When I fail to humbly come before my Savior with a heart of gratitude for His love, mercy and goodness I can easily fall prey to the lies of the enemy. The result of living in the kingdom of darkness is a life filled with judgement, entitlement, ungratefulness & pride……and in the Kingdom of Heaven, that will make me last.

Father,

Thank you for choosing me to be your daughter. Thank you for sending your perfect son to die in my place so that I could spend eternity with you. Thank you for the abundance of blessings you pour out on me every day: a loving husband, 4 extraordinary children, good friends, a supportive extended family, a beautiful home, fresh food to eat, cars that run, homeschool supplies, smart phones, computers, kitchen gadgets…….the list goes on and on. Thank you for filling me with your Spirit and loving me enough to discipline the areas of my heart that are not yet fully surrendered to you.

You are a kind, loving and just landowner.

Unforgiving Debtor

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Matthew 18:21-35 New Living Translation (NLT)

 21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[a] who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![b]

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[c] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[d] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[e] from your heart.”

If I had to choose 1 thing that has revolutionized my life and drastically changed my relationship with the Lord and others, it would be the principle of forgiveness. The more I study God’s word and learn to apply His truth to my life, the greater Jesus’ sacrifice for me is made real. Still, I cannot fully comprehend the depth of His love – and His willingness to carry the guilt of my sin; past, present & future on His shoulders. Just like Judas, I have betrayed Him over and over and yet, because His love is wider and deeper than I can fathom, He sacrificed His perfect life for mine.

I am forgiven.

My sins are washed as white as snow.

I owe Him nothing.

I am FREE to boldly approach His throne and worship Him for all eternity.

After my salvation, I began to catch a glimpse of the magnitude of God’s forgiveness and how it could change my life….but it took a great many years for me to be willing to forgive others just once- much less 70 x 7!

My first debtor was my husband. I believed he owed me for all the sins he engaged in while we were married because I had suffered the consequences of his actions.

When the king summoned the servant to pay his debt (vs 23-24) & discovered he could not, the king ordered him, his wife and his children to be sold into slavery.

What?!

How unfair!

How unjust!

When I first read this parable, I must admit- it ticked me off. This servants wife and children were innocent of this mans actions and yet THEY were going to have to suffer alongside him! What the Holy Spirit has since revealed to me is this: we don’t sin in a vacuum. Our actions aren’t self contained- they affect not only us, but those whom we are in relationship with. God designed husband and wife to function as one. When Eve sinned, it affected her and Adam- and unfortunately, their boys continued in the family legacy of sin and hiding. The same principle applies to my family. When I am deceived and begin to take matters into my own hands, my husband suffers for it and so do our children. Do I think that’s fair? Not particularly. But His ways are not my ways. I do understand, however, that in order for my family to advance God’s Kingdom, as He has called us to do, Doug and I and our children MUST love God and love each other….and when we are sinned against, offended, hurt, ticked off, disgruntled, you name it, we MUST be willing to forgive. Otherwise, we open up everyone in our family to the torture of the enemy- and a life of bondage.

For our family, the evidence of “torture” is exposed in a few ways:

Anger

-bickering over stupid stuff

-sibling rivalry

-complaining

-constantly pointing out others faults

-sarcasm

Avoidance

-not wanting to engage in conversation with anyone

-hiding in our rooms

-escape through electronics (tv, video games, iphone, ipod, etc)

We stop it by choosing to forgive the debtor. We don’t ignore that there is a debt. Instead, we willingly release the debtor from paying it back (whether they acknowledge or apologize for it- of not). By an act of our will, we chose to extend mercy where punishment is required. As a result, we are released from the clutches of the enemy and are FREE to receive an abundance of blessings from the King!

Since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of Christ, it can be concluded that all of us need to be forgiven- and need to forgive. We must, therefore, humble ourselves before the King of Kings and confess our sins against Him, receive His forgiveness, then ask Him who we need to forgive (we shouldn’t be surprised if the list is very long…the Holy Spirit is very thorough & He wants us to walk in TOTAL FREEDOM, not just see the prison door open & remain trapped inside).

Forgiveness.

It’s a difficult principle to understand and apply, for it requires us to willingly lay down our “rights” to show love to another. Jesus is the ultimate example- and the Holy Spirit, whom He sent to help us, is the only one who can enable us to forgive our debtors… whether that be our spouse, our children, our parents, our in-laws, our friends, or our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. But I can tell you, in all honesty, it CAN be done!

Rest for my Soul

/ Jodie / 1 Comment

Matthew 11:25-30 New Living Translation (NLT)

25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!

27 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Last night, as Doug and I walked around the track at the soccer field, I began reciting “The List” to him (“The List” is anything and everything having to do with our lives, our marriage, our children, the job and the ministry that needs decisions made or things done). He patiently listened and empathized with my struggle, but in the end he offered several points of wisdom and encouraged me to pray- and wait.

I don’t like to wait. I want an answer NOW, because when I have “The List” all checked off, I can rest!

This, however, I am learning, is not true rest.

On New Years Day 2012, the Lord gave me a vision of myself in a yoke with Jesus. I was leading…running ahead, straining myself, and I was completely exhausted trying to navigate the road ahead. Even more frustrating was trying to decide which road to take!

Almost immediately, I knew what God was trying to show me. I was failing to humble myself before the King of Kings and allow HIM to teach – and lead me. Instead, I was striving to do everything by myself. The consequences for my actions were heavy burdens, which did not belong to me, and a yoke that was impossible for me to carry.

This morning as I was praying, this same passage of scripture came to mind…and I was reminded of the vision.

“Surely, this must be for someone else, Lord….not ME again?!?” (flash back to last nights conversation with Doug…and how overwhelmed I was feeling).

Uh….yeah….it’s me.

Once again, as the demands of life have begun piling up, I’ve inadvertently started picking up burdens, which aren’t mine to carry, and the weight of answering & fulfilling the “The List” was beginning to crush the yoke around my neck:

-Doug hasn’t been paid for multiple weeks of consulting work….and the bills keep rolling in.

-Our oldest is starting High School in another year. How will I be able to teach her and ensure she meets all the requirements she needs for college?

-Our middle 2 daughters want to be involved in theatre, but lessons are costly and I want them to honor God in all that they do, without having to compromise their beliefs.

-Should I plan more play dates and extra-cirricular activities for our son (so he stops pestering his sisters)….or should Doug just take him outside every day and body slam him!?!

-We have a mound of paperwork and scheduling that needs to be done for the ministry… …when am I gonna be able to get it all done?!?

God promises that if I surrender myself to Jesus’ lead, within the yoke He designed for me, I will be able to pull the burdens He gives me to carry with ease. Even when the road ahead seems treacherous and difficult to maneuver, I can trust Him to lead me, and I will find rest for my soul.

Jesus beckoned me to come to Him again this morning…..and when I did, He lovingly showed me that I had not submitted “The List” to Him. Once I realized this, I repented for trying to carry the burden on my own- and not trusting Him to lead. The result was a miraculous and instantaneous one: my burden was lightened and my yoke was made easy.

After I rested in Him for a while, I began asking questions pertaining to “The List” and wouldn’t ya know it- He answered some of them immediately, and others, He said “wait….”  That’s exactly what the man who leads me- and our family- said last night! (there’s probably another lesson here that Jesus wants to teach me about trusting my husband, and following his lead, huh?!?).

Foolishness

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Proverbs 10:1 New Living Translation (NLT) 10 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child brings joy to a father;
 a foolish child brings grief to a mother.

After a recent incident with one of our children, I was surprised to find myself completely overcome with grief. As I retreated to my prayer corner (otherwise known as my bedroom) my tears quickly turned into sobs. I then began crying out to God about all the things that were breaking my heart about this child…

Once I became quiet, the Lord began downloading the following revelations to my soul:

He loves me sooo much that He sacrificed His perfect son to be with me.

He loves me sooo much that His heart grieves when I disobey Him.

He loves me sooo much that He disciplines me when I act out of a heart of foolishness.

He loves me sooo much that He expects me to discipline our children when they act out of a heart of foolishness.

Proverbs 22:15 New Living Translation (NLT) 15 A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness,
 but physical discipline will drive it far away.

As I began re-playing the “incident” in my mind, I quickly realized that the action was not a result of sin. It was just a mistake. Mistakes happen- and although there may be natural consequences to them, discipline is usually not needed to correct them.

Why then was I still so grieved?

Foolishness.

fool•ish*ˈfu lɪʃ(adj.)

1. resulting from or showing a lack of sense.

2. lacking forethought or caution.

3. insignificant or paltry.

When confronted with the consequences of the mistake, the child in question became angry and began blaming me for the mistake. To make matters worse, she never apologized. Instead, I was left to suffer the consequences of the action, because the mistake included a personal item of mine. My grief was not about the item, but of being falsely accused AND not being shown compassion for the loss.

When our children were toddlers, “physical discipline” was easy to comprehend & administer. If mommy said “no” or “don’t touch” and was not obeyed, a smack on the hand or the rear end usually changed the behavior. As our children have grown, this type of discipline became obsolete. We realized that “physical” discipline needed to be changed from corporal punishment to a loss of something they wanted (privileges). Now-a-days, the loss of an electronic is a devastating blow to our teenager, pre-teen, 10 & 6 year old. Not having their gadgets IS physically painful for them! They also don’t appreciate giving up their free time to perform extra family chores (scrubbing toilets is also physically painful for them!). Of course, all of these disciplines wouldn’t be very effective if we didn’t administer them out of a heart of love. We don’t always get it right, but Doug and I both try to talk to our children before or after the discipline about the foolishness in their character that we are trying to eradicate. Of course all the discipline in the world isn’t effective if Doug and I aren’t willing to model the godly character that we expect of our children. Kids are very resistant to the “do as I say, not as I do” attitude.

I’ll be 38 years old in October, and it has taken a good majority of those years to come to realize why God disciplines me. It’s because I am His beloved daughter…and He loves me…. more than I can fathom. So now, when He rebukes me, or sends others to rebuke me, I don’t throw a complete hissy fit (well, at least not ALL the time!)

Proverbs 3:11 New Living Translation (NLT) 11 My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,
 and don’t be upset when he corrects you.

Instead, I humble myself before my Father who loves me, repent of my foolishness & seek His forgiveness….as a result, my character is refined and our relationship is restored.

Just a few moments ago, our child repented, apologized and sought my forgiveness….as a result, her character is being refined and our relationship is restored.

 

 

Yes or No?

/ Jodie / 2 Comments

Matthew 1:18-24 New Living Translation (NLT)

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement[a] quietly.

20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,[c]
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife.

 

When Joseph “considered” what to do about the embarrassing situation with Mary, I assume he didn’t ask God: “Do I marry her? Or do I call the whole thing off?” Hence the reason the Lord used another method to relay His will to Joseph..… disturbing his sleep! God answered the question that was never posed: Yes, Joseph…you should marry her. After hearing the message from an angel, Joseph changed his mind about Mary. Despite the possibility of being falsely judged for fathering a child out of wedlock or marrying a woman who appeared to have been unfaithful to her betrothed, Joseph chose to obey God. His actions proved that he was more concerned with pleasing God than pleasing others.

I still find myself struggling with this. Often times I don’t inquire for an answer from God before responding. When someone asks me to do this or that or tells me I should or need to do this or that, my natural reaction is to say “yes!” because I don’t want them to feel rejected. The result of my knee jerk, put my foot in mouth, lack of self control decisions usually leaves me feeling angry, over committed and overwhelmed. Almost immediately I experience “buyers remorse” and then try to find a way to manipulate the circumstances to be able to give an excuse and then say “no.” As a result of my disobedience and cover up, not only do I suffer, but so do the people whom I was trying not to hurt or offend.

Recently, God spoke to me (again) through a few wise women who reminded me that although I am supposed to love my neighbor- and serve them, my FIRST & greatest “yes” is to God. When I ask Him what to do (or not to do), He will give me the peace to say “no” without guilt and the tools necessary to say “yes” without feeling like my world is spinning out of control.

There is no decision too mundane or miniscule to ask Him about. He wants to be my constant companion- and helper for EVERYTHING in life!

God, how do you want me to respond to this request?

Lord, should Doug and I go on a week vacation next month?

Father, do I need to show grace to my child in this situation?

God, should I join this small group?

Lord, should I teach a home-school co-op class this semester?

Father, do I need to volunteer to serve on this team?

As God continues to bring revelation to the areas of my heart that are not yet fully surrendered to Him, I pray that I will have the faith and courage to do as Joseph did- despite what others may say. May my “yes” be His “yes” and my “no” be His “no.”

Family Order

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1 Samuel 3:13 New Living Translation (NLT)

13 I have warned him that judgment is coming upon his family forever, because his sons are blaspheming God[a] and he hasn’t disciplined them.

“Don’t let your desire to do God’s work cause you to neglect your family. If you do, your mission may degenerate into a quest for personal importance & your family will suffer the consequences of your neglect.” –Study Bible

If the enemy can’t stop us from accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, he will stop at nothing to high jack God’s purposes for our lives- especially if they include a spouse & children.Unfortunately, I have often fallen prey to the enemy’s deception…. and re-ordered God’s plans based on how I feel- or how others treat me in regards to them.

My 1st call? God

Jeremiah 1:5 New Living Translation (NLT)

5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart…”

Luke 10:27 New Living Translation (NLT)

27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’

God chose me to be His child- before I was even born. He sent His son to die in my place so that I could spend eternity with Him. My response is to love and obey Him. THAT is my life’s purpose- all the rest of my callings are an extension of this one.

My 2nd call? Doug

Genesis 2:24 New International Version (NIV)

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Ephesians 5:22 New International Version (NIV)

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.

After God, my relationship with my husband is my most important. In order to be and remain ONE, Doug and I must be- & stay connected spiritually, emotionally & physically. When rightly ordered, my marriage is a beautiful example of Christ giving himself up for the church and the church submitting their will to the Father, just as Jesus did.

 My 3rd call? Our children 

Proverbs 22:6 New Living Translation (NLT)

6 Direct your children onto the right path,
and when they are older, they will not leave it.

This is a difficult one to keep in order for most mom’s. After all, we are the ones who carry these children for 9 months, deliver them, nurse them, spend every waking (& sometimes sleeping!) moment taking care of their every need- and, depending on how the husband/wife roles in the home function, spend a majority of the time training them. I haven’t always gotten this one right, but years ago God corrected me—the family order is: Him, my husband….then our children. Don’t misunderstand me, I love our children – and would give my life for them (in fact, the majority of my days are spent serving them), but my love for my husband is far deeper, far greater, far more powerful than it ever will be for our children. For one day, they too shall leave and cleave…and it will just be he and I, again.

 My 4th call? Home-school

For those of you who know me, you’ve heard me say that I RAN from this one as long as I could! I did NOT want to homeschool our children. But, once I finally submitted to the call, I realized that this call  is just a re-enforcement of the previous one: to train our children in truth, wisdom AND knowledge. Our desire is make Bullard Pack disciples and to help them identify God’s call on their lives-encouraging them to run after God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

 My 5th call? Married Couples

Matthew 28:19 New Living Translation (NLT)

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

God has called Doug & I to be transparent with other couples about our failures- and successes. We are to speak God’s truth to them and show them how to apply that truth to their lives, marriages, parenting, etc. Serving the couples God sends to us is an extremely rewarding journey. But, if we aren’t careful, the enemy will use “ministry” to steal our time with God, each other and our children. Again, we have to continual be reminded that God is a God of order- not chaos! “Ministry” is also an area where pride can easily emerge, since others- outside our family tend to praise us in our “accomplishments” more frequently. As with all praise, however- we must quickly give credit where credit is due- to the ONE who gave us the ability.

When I die & stand before my Creator, I do not want to hear, as Eli did, that I neglected my family and the order of His call on my life. Instead, I long to hear “well done, good and faithful servant……..you have run the race (in the lane I put you in)…………you have loved your neighbors (in the order I placed them in; Doug, your children, others)….and you’ve made disciples, baptizing them in My name. Come- worship Me for all eternity and I will reward you for your faithfulness to my call.”

 

 

Root Bound

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1 Timothy 6:10 New Living Translation (NLT)

10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

This morning, as I was banging the roots of my herb plants on the ground, struggling to separate & pull them apart for transplanting I was reminding of how many times I’ve made fun of my husband and friend who “hear from God” while they work in the garden. And then…I heard from God!

Roots. Bound roots. No longer producing life-giving plants- instead winding further and further into themselves, being held captive by the pot that contains them.

In many marriages, money is one of the top stressors in the relationship. Doug and I have not been immune to the damage the love of money can cause. As newlyweds, we lived the typical American lifestyle. DINK’s my dad called us: Double Income No Kids. We made pretty good money- but I still wanted more, so when my company began offering bonus incentives, I jumped at the chance to become one of the top earners. Still, our output was greater than our input and deeper and deeper we wound ourselves into debt.

Wanna new car? Sure- just get a car loan!

Wanna go to the mall for some retail therapy? Absolutely- just apply for a store card!

Wanna new surround sound system? Why not? We can take a little out of saving to pay for it!

Wanna take a vacation? No problem- they take credit cards there!

Wanna buy another round of drinks for our buddies at the bar? Start a tab- we can pay for it….later!

Wanna buy a new house to put all our “stuff” in? Just borrow some more money- this time, we don’t have to pay it back for 30 years!

Wanna buy some new furniture to fill up that new house? Take out another loan- 2 years, same as cash, no money down!

After all- we worked hard…didn’t we deserve all this?

We lived in this cycle of entitlement for far too many years. During that time we also engaged in far too many arguments about it and far too many blame games went on as well.

So what changed? We began obeying God in the area of our finances.

1)   We starting giving to the church (notice I said “giving”- not “tithing”…we had to work our way up to the 10%, then 10% of our gross income because we were concerned that we couldn’t live without all those Benjamin’s every month)

2)   Then came the tough part- at least for me….allowing God to show me that I wasn’t worshipping Him…but my “stuff.” I justified my wants as needs. So, in order to put things back in their proper order, we had to:

-sell our car

-stop taking trips to the mall

-stop going to the bars with our friends (really, they weren’t our “friends” anyhow…and eliminating all the drunken festivities not only eliminated some of our overspending…it also eliminated other kinds of evil that came along with it)

-take no more vacations (that weren’t saved for)

-stop “retail therapy” at Target or Bed Bath & Beyond…

-turn off cable TV (no more HGTV, TLC, Food Network!!)

-stop going out on costly date nights

-stop scheduling massages, manicures, pedicures….

-stop getting my hair colored!!!

For years this went on- especially after we went down to ONE income and 4 kids! These eliminations more often happened in my mind, before they went into action, as I struggled to compare myself with other families, and what I thought our kids would be doing “without.”

-no private preschool

-no elite sports teams or dance classes for the kids

-no professional photographers snapping pictures of our beautiful babies

-no shopping at the hoity toy tie stores in the mall for the latest fashions for our little ones

-no birthday party bashes at the skating rink, bowling alley, indoor play place….

At first glance, it looks like God wasn’t being very loving to us. But you have to look below the surface of the dirt and see that the roots that were once bound have been banged out and in their place, new, healthy roots have emerged…producing life-giving plants. The truth is, what God requires is always for our good. During our root banging process, He blessed us immensely. It wasn’t always through more money in the bank, though….instead, His blessings were:

-love for God

-joy in giving to others

-peace

-restoration of our marriage

-4 children born (w/ no medical debt)

-hand me down clothes

-plenty of food (including others having our family for a meal, or giving us leftovers/food from their garden)

-a home (this is the last debt we owe)

-3 cars (paid for)

-Curriculum & books for our homeschool

-recreational dance & sporting programs for our kids

-co-op classes

-dream vacations (paid for with cash)

-provision of every kind during a lay off, 1 year of unemployment & periods of no cash flow when contracts ended sooner than expected.

The list goes on and on….but the “things” are not as important as the ONE who gave them. We have all that we need- and God has graciously given us many of our wants. Our roots are no longer bound in darkness, sucking the life out of our lives…and our marriage. And that, my friend, is worth all the money in the world.