~A Mother's Love~

"Mother's Love" by Kolongi Brathwaite

Today, I watched one of my best friends baptize her little girl, who is eight years old.  What a beautiful moment to experience!  I've watched many dads proudly baptize their children over the years; I always find it very moving, and it always brings tears to my eyes.   But today, watching Ellie walk down into the water with Skye, it was somehow different from what I've seen before.  I almost had to turn away because the sacredness of the moment was too overwhelming for me.  Ellie loves her little girl with a holy fierceness that only a mother's heart can feel...a holy, glowing fierceness that was brought out and accentuated while they stood together in the baptismal waters.

Which got me thinking about the different ways God loves us. First, I'll start off saying that we are mostly all accustomed to viewing God as a father... Christianity has a history saturated with the patriarchal influence, which is all well and good. I don't disagree with the basic premise, even though I don't always agree with the practical application of the perspective. God chose to call himself the "Father," and I'm comfortable with that.

But sometimes it would do us well to remember that God also loves us like a "Mother."  Sometimes He loves us with a holy, glowing fierceness that can only be compared to the passion a mother feels for her child. This is the fervent love that promises God will never leave us or forsake us. This is the love that jealously protects us, quiets us, rejoices over us, and restores our strength.

Soon after I first became a mother, I heard or read somewhere that a mother's first instinct, in a life-threatening situation, is to protect or save her children, while a father's first instinct is to save the mother of his children.  In other words, a mother is more likely to give her own life to save her child's than a father is. Or, she will save her child before she saves her husband. I have no idea if this is true or not, but the thought has stuck with me through the years. I recently read an article about a mother's love bringing her dead baby back to life 2 hours after the doctors pronounced him dead! Undeniably, there is a mysterious bond between a mother and child that even  a father cannot enter into.

 There are times when Satan has had his way with me, when I have been devastated by my own sin and crushed by my own lack of faith, when I am weary with anxiety and broken in spirit.  I feel like a disobedient child who lives in fear of judgement and discipline. Do you ever feel this way?  These are the times that we need someone to remind us of God's mother-love. Read these beautiful words of the prophet Zephaniah and know that God loves you with an everlasting love:

Sing, O Daughter of Zion; 

Shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, 

O Daughter of of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment,

He has turned back your enemy.  

The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;

never again will you fear any harm...He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love, 

He will rejoice over you with singing.

The sorrows....I will remove from you;

they are a burden and a reproach to you...

I will deal with all who oppressed you.

I will rescue the lame

and gather those who have been scattered...

At that time, I will gather you;

At that time, I will bring you home.   

(Zephaniah 3: 14ff)

God loves us with a holy fierceness. This is the fervent love that promises God will never leave us or forsake us. This is the love that jealously protects us, quiets us, rejoices over us, and restores our strength. This is the love of a mother.

Chrissy

Goals for 2011

There's just something special about every January. With each New Year, we find ourselves wanting to do better, to improve at least some area of our life. Every year, I create lofty resolutions. And every year, by the time February rolls around, I've either forgotten those promises to myself or I've sunk deep into utter despair at the thought of completing even one. This year, I've finally realized why. I reach TOO high, I NEVER come up with a plan, and I LACK accountability! Hopefully, this blog will help me change all that!

This year is different. First of all, I'm going to take my time deciding what changes I really need to make in my life. I'm already spending time in prayer, asking God what areas He thinks I need to change. I've actually been doing that for a couple of months now, and I think I have some idea of the direction He wants me to go. So, in light of these thoughts, this year I'm making goals, not resolutions. And for goals, you've got to have plans.

First of all, I've got to get myself together...more organized-like. I've spent the last few years walking around in a fog, just waiting for things to happen. That's not like me, and I'm not going to do it anymore. So, I have three areas in mind that I need to work on: my relationship with God, housekeeping (along with everything that goes along with that), and organizing my time so that I can work on building relationships with others.

I'll be sharing my plans for each of these areas in this blog, so that you, dear reader, can join me on my journey. But please be patient and understanding, because I've never done anything like this since the time my parents read my diary when I was thirteen. (That was embarrassing and it's a story for another time...)

I've been reading other blogs, and I've noticed that some writers are encouraging their readers to take on a de-cluttering challenge. Like, for example, get rid of 750 items out of your house this year. That would be about 2 items per day, allowing you to miss a few days. I've decided to personalize that challenge because de-cluttering the house is one of my big goals. The first step in my plan for de-cluttering is that I will remove 365 pieces of clothing from my house this year. That should be easy...one piece per day, and since there are 6 people in our family, that will work out to about 60 pieces per person. That's a do-able item to start on my housekeeping goal , I think!

To begin working on my spiritual goal, I'm going to look for a one-year Bible reading plan that I like and start working on reading through my Bible in one year. I really believe that the Word of God is powerful and I think that's the best place to start. I would also like to challenge myself to read one spiritually encouraging book per month.

Finally, in my third category...improving my relationships with others....I am going to start keeping a detailed calendar, so that I always know what's going on. It seems like lately, I can't keep track of what is going on, so I'm constantly trying to catch up with my schedule. Not anymore! I bought a nice calendar to use, and I'm also going to put together a organizational notebook. More on that later!

Thanks for reading, and I pray that I can be a source of encouragement to you!

~Chrissy~

~Happy 14th Birthday, Jonah!~

Isn't this kid handsome? I might be a little bit prejudiced, but all the girls seem to think he is, so I must not be too biased.

~The. Worst. Blogger. In the world.~

Wow. I'm a terrible blogger. Really...the worst blogger in the world. It's been four years since my first and last post. But that is all about to change, my friend, it is all about to change. And well, lucky you. You get to come along for the ride.

So what am I going to blog about? I have no idea.

~Why I Do What I Do~

There is one question I hate to hear. This one question is all it takes to pretty much shut down any conversation with me. I just can't answer it anymore.

This used to be my favorite question. At one time in my life, not so long ago, I could talk about this subject all day long. I thought I had all the right answers, and I loved to share them with anyone who was willing to listen. I didn't pull any punches and I used it all to prove my point: God's Word, statistics, public school horror stories, whatever it took to get my point across.

I was a cheerleader: "Look what I do! You should do it too!" (Now picture the self-righteous pharisee praying loudly in front of everyone.)

But I won't even answer the question anymore. The most you'll get from me is a smiling shoulder shrug.

Maybe I've finally realized that most of the people who ask you this question have already made their minds up about you, for good or bad.

Maybe I've finally realized that just because this is right for me, it doesn't mean that it's right for everyone. In fact, there are some people who definitely should not be doing this.

And maybe, just maybe, I've finally realized that I don't need anyone's approval (human, that is).

So why am I blogging about it?

The same reason I homeschool.

Because I want to.