I Grew Up Rich

I grew up rich.
Don't let the tattered hand-me-downs,
Or rusted out floorboards
In the sputtering Chevy fool you.
Where the best, if any, meat on the table
Was a deer or rabbit
Or maybe a squirrel caught in
The sight of Daddy's rifle.
The thin, cold sheets on the squeaky, shared beds,
Pinto beans and cornbread suppers -
Again -
Don't give the secret away.
For we were wealthy beyond measure.
Not just a Mama and Daddy
Who loved us, corrected us, taught us,
Modeled character and
Prayed for us each day and night.
But more relatives and friends
Than gold bars in Fort Knox.
Grandparents, cousins, Uncles and Aunts,
Even Great Uncles who teased us
And Great Aunts who made blue-ribbon jams
If the weather was good enough
To be blessed with berries.
Days spent laughing and running,
Hours spent in church and praying for others,
Minutes spent to purchase sweet memories,
Lessons of life that last beyond life,
Still usable and spendable after others are gone.
Passed on by will and choice
To the next generation.
Love from our Eternal Father,
Priceless gift of His salvation
And blessing of His Lordship,
Lived out in love by others,
The greatest treasure.
I grew up rich.

The Love of Jesus

The love of Jesus
Is what remains
When death takes from us
All of life's gains.
So if it's glory
That you chase
Remember the end
Of life's swift race.
Run for the prize
That does not fade.
The love of Jesus
Is why you were made.

The Heaviest Weight

I used to think that the heaviest weight was the pressure of "success" doing well at school, career, family.  Then I found myself expecting a wonderful miracle and thought "Oh, the heaviest weight is trying to do things "right" for this child so that I will not mess him/her up really badly."  That weight continued and multiplied with each child, added to the weight of "success" and "marriage", it is just amazing that my back wasn't crushed into "smithereens" (one of our second son's favorite childhood words).  Then you divide your time and energy between how you look/feel/handle stress, etc., subtract any sense of completion and you have the perfect equation for a screaming woman.

And that was life.  For far too long.  I knew I was supposed to remember and believe "..my yoke is easy and my burden is light", I knew I was not to "worry about tomorrow" and to trust the One who counts the numbers of hair on our heads.  I knew lots of scripture, and good advice, and knowledge which came with experience.  Over and over others would remind me what I knew myself - this was not the way life for a Christian was supposed to be.  So another day, another good ole college try, another frustrating look back over the hours.  Truly I loved my Lord and Savior.  Truly I loved my family even when sometimes I didn't especially like them (or them like me).  But there were two problems entangling and strangling me.  First, I thought I knew what love was but had no idea what true agape love looked like.  As I heard recently it was "sloppy agape", not really consistent, not even truly loving for the full benefit of the recipient instead of me.  Secondly, I still had a really, really heavy burden.  It is worse than kryptonite for Superman but it is the most real, most binding burden.  No, it's not sin.  That's the second heaviest.  It is only four little English letters long but it is so heavy, so saturating that there is no hope for us to ever rid ourselves of the weight.  S - E - L - F.  period.  That is the heaviest weight, and that is the one that we don't have to carry.  Turning myself over to the one whose "yoke is easy" is the most wonderful choice, the most freeing choice.  Unfortunately, it is a daily choice and sometimes I still forget and take that weight back on my feeble back.  Will you remind me?  Will we remind each other?  His yoke is truly, honestly, lovingly, a relief and very light.  It's our own selfish burden that is heavy.  Remind me, and I will remind you.  Together we can dance, maybe even fly we will be so light!

The Ultimate Oximoron

This past week our pastor said there were two words that could never be spoken together.  He read from Acts 10 regarding Peter's rebuttal of the Lord's command to eat "unclean" food.  How often I have said those words "No Lord" (or "Never, Lord" or "Not So, Lord").  He pointed out that we can say "Why Lord", "How Lord" or best yet, "Help Me, Lord" but two words that cannot be spoken together -
NO
LORD
We either say No or we say LORD.  Period.  (Ouch!)

Only One Life

"Only one life,
'twill soon be past,
Only what's done
for Christ will last."

Oh, Master help me
   be wholly Thine,
Only a branch 
   to Your Holy Vine.
Help me, O Christ 
   as I work for You,
Only your Glory 
   in all that I do.
Each waking thought,
   each action and deed,
Only Your will,
   wherever You lead.
If this is the day
   that is all that is left,
Only Your praise
   be my final breath.
Refiners fire 
   cannot be tamed
Only true gold
   withstands the flame.

"Only one life,
'twill soon be past,
Only what's done
for Christ will last."

HE

HE cannot be described, 

   but HE can be shared.

HE cannot be understood,

   but HE can be felt.

HE cannot be seen,

   but HE can be followed.

HIS Love cannot be duplicated,

  but It can be our example.

HIS Mercy cannot be measured,

   but It can be accepted.

HIS Wisdom cannot be contained,

   but It can be gathered.

His Grace cannot be ended,

   but It can give us eternity.

What's Your Mission?

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

Lewis Carroll

Now, I am not a big fan of Lewis Carroll (that's for another post on another day), but he certainly said the above correctly.  I'm afraid that too often I have lost the forest for the trees in both parenting and homeschooling.  At the beginning of the year, I have grand plans, can clearly see the long-term goals we have for our children (namely, to become God-glorifying adults), and think that all the planning will lead us to the ultimate victory.  But this year I am again reminded of how very, very easily I get sidetracked, distracted, off-the-track, --- what was I saying?  Oh, yes, sticking with goals.

Since the first year we began homeschooling (back in the Dark Ages), I have kept our "Mission Statement" in the front of my teacher's notebook.  Coming from the business world into homeschooling, I knew that we would never reach the ultimate vision we set unless we clearly stated our "Mission" in writing.  It is amazing to me how many parents have no idea what their "Mission" for homeschooling might be.  As I talk with them, I am sometimes discouraged to find out that the real reason they are homeschooling is a fear of public schools, a fear of what their children will be exposed to, a fear of how they will be bullied, what they will be taught, how long they might be away from a doting mother.  Now, realistic fear is healthy, but 2 Timothy tells us "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."   If the only reason you are homeschooling is out of fear, you should pray about whether or not you have truly been called to do this!

Even more amazing is how much of life we use up, waste away, let slip by, or just forget our own goals or mission in life.  We fill up the hours, even the minutes, with busy-ness sometimes not even realizing that we are running from that all-important question - "Why am I here on this earth?"

There are a lot of things wrong with businesses today, and there were many poor or bad habits I learned being in the business world for so many years.  But as with all things, we can learn from the positive elements (and the negative, but again, that's another post!).  One of these is the fact - yes, fact - that if you want to see your vision become reality, you need a clear understanding of your Mission and Goals.  As I look back over the past 15 years, I realize that although we started some school years with a clear mission and goals, most years I just got lost in the trees of curriculum, activities and life pressures; not a great model for my children and not working diligently to make sure they understood how very important it was to us that they knew Christ in a real and all-consuming way.

As we go about each day and get overwhelmed with the details of life, we are constantly drawn away from the real, meaningful actions.  We get lost in words and activities, and miss those precious points of true connection with friends and family.  We hurry and scurry about to get "it" all done and ignore the quiet tug in our souls to get alone and quiet with the One who is sweetly calling our new name.

What is my "Mission"?  Sure, I could say "To raise Godly children" and that might be very true.  But that is a vision - a "big picture idea", not a mission - and it will never help me to achieve the vision.  "To use XYZ curriculum" might be the thing on my heart and mind right now - but that is an action to support the mission and goals, not the mission.  Totally confused yet?  Stick with my rambling, please - I hope you will be glad you did.

God through His Word tells us: "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord." The Message says it this way: "Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word.  Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good.  Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place".

Too much of what I have done and continue to do is based on "whatever looks good".  Too little is based on what IS good - deep down, cleansing, healing, changing, molding that only the Holy Spirit through the Word of God can do.  My "Mission" in life and in our school is to allow the Savior to be LORD of all - for HIM to rule and reign in every nook and cranny, cleaning out the cobwebs under the laziness of my heart, shining His light into the damp, stinking corners in the basement of my soul to bring fresh life, and to cleanse the layers of grimy selfishness away until they are sparkling clean.  My mission is to be a follower, a disciple, a servant.  And then if I can just let GOD be in charge, it will be pleasing to Him, which is all any of us can ever desire as our mission.