Smol tok nomo |
Smol tok nomo |
He gave his life for Christ. Where does our mind automatically go when we hear this? Perhaps your imagination takes you to the same well played out scenario I had envisioned as a young Christian - a man with a mask and gun walks in and says "deny Christ or I will shoot you." Of course each time I was so certain that in that moment I would do it, I would die for Christ. In fact, I would often tell Him, "Lord, if you asked me to I'd die for you." Seemed like such valor, an honorable way to die, a hero, and surely each who die this way are. But I might argue this act of valor might not be the only picture of what giving your life for Christ can look like.
Its in the moments. The day to day. Sometimes giving your life for him looks like getting up every single day and saying as Paul stated so beautifully, "I die to myself today," It's saying I give you this moment and every moment after. I no longer seek my happiness, I lay my dreams aside to chase yours. We may proclaim on day 593 that we are sold out to the cause of Christ, on day 3,396 we declare unabashedly that we are completely yours God, but what about day 5,983 or day 10,434? Does it seem heroic when the days run into months and years and no one is watching our act of bravery as we choose to remain faithful and give our life to Christ day after day for a lifetime? We each have a story, and His is the hand with the pen that writes it. How beautiful a faithful life becomes as moment after moment we surrender to the author and finisher of our faith. Human nature desires the splash! The pizazz! The quick and the well noticed. Heaven isn't watching for your accomplishments, God does not need you to do His work, He wants you. Its in the quiet and the unnoticed, the times you think matter the least that we fulfill our greatest calling. God can use anyone to complete His work, He has proven it when He used Pharaoh, a pagan king or a donkey that He made to speak. We fool ourselves if we think God notices our big accomplishments or that we amaze Him with our works or mighty acts. How ofter we are guilty of running around trying to impress Him with our best? Perhaps the most impressive thing we will ever do is run to Him daily and hide in His bosom, surrendered to the task at hand. Could it be that it is as we are faithful, and fully engaged in complete weakness that we surrender our life so in His strength He Can control the pen that writes the story of a life given to Christ. May it be said of each of us "He gave His life for Christ."
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We want what's best for our children, but what if that has nothing to do with "things"? We are constantly bombarded through movies, social media, peer groups, and, well, everywhere. We hear classic statements like, "my little girl is gonna have the best money can buy?" or "our little man is gonna have all the toys we didn't." Often with good intentions we set out to give our kids the world, but are our intentions and our actions the same? I would consider myself a minimalist or rather a practicalist (can that just be a word for now?). Thats why I found myself surprised that only six months after returning from the mission field I was already having to box up stuff to REMOVE from my kids room. Granted, they do share a small room, but we came back to the U.S. with little more than the clothes on our backs, how did this happen? All the "stuff" cluttering up our lives. While in Vanuatu a Ni-Van sister of mine became pregnant and I walked with her through her pregnancy and the birth of her sweet little boy. I watched her carefully and saw how few things she had to give him, yet he was happy and healthy. When I became pregnant with my sweet girl, I determined I too would fight the American urge to provide all these unnecessary things. Tonight I had a little envy, while on a facebook page dedicated (I kid you not Dads) to bows, I came across a Mom asking a question about which bows to add to her hundreds. To bring attention to her post (so she could get responses to her questions) she added pictures of her babies room. It looked like something out of a dream! A full size pink and white play house, bench swing, slide, vintage cooking station, riding horse, fluff and pink for days! I looked over at the little portable bassinet that was on loan and my baby was already growing out of, I thought about how much less this baby has had than even her sisters who didn't have much. Was I making a mistake? Then I begin to think a little deeper once I forced my eyes away from all the pretty things, was all the fluff for the child? How many six month olds care if they are wearing name brand tennis shoes? Or is it all really for us? Ouch. My mind went back to the last several years in Vanuatu. If the beautiful beaches don't capture your heart then the sweet smiles of some of the happiest kids on earth will! Many sleep on woven bamboo mats that lay across dirt floors. No pink, no fluff. As far as clothes go, if it isn't Sunday you are likely to find that under a certain age they don't really wear any at all. Usually around school age they will wear a pair of cool cotton shorts. So how is it they are some of the happiest kids on earth? As an American myself, I understand as my kids get older they will have pressures to keep up with other kids their age. I don't plan on spending our years in the U.S. sending them to school wearing potato sacks, but I am probably still gonna buy their clothes at thrift stores along with "watching for sales". They may get angry at me that they won't have cell phones or all the latest toys and technology, but what I hope, I really hope, they walk away with is memories. Memories of the time I cook with them, or play a board game, not the things I bought them. I hope they see and learn from their years in Vanuatu, the happiest place on earth, and they are brave enough to break the cycles of materialism and pressures for bigger and better things. I know they will find happiness in the richness of time being given to them rather than time spent working to buy them more things. I get it. I happen to love pretty things. I love the latest styles I can't afford and imagining putting all the pretty clothes on my kids. I am by every right an American female, but I am also analytical and I have observed the Vanuatu Mamas closely. They work hard for their children and they are so much happier without the clutter, without the demand for more things. The pressure to keep up is exhausting and its a pressure we don't need! We don't need to teach our children to try and keep up by watching our own attempts to have all the pretty things. Train them to be confident even with less, and teach them to see others for who they are, not their possessions Don't work over time to give them more things, instead give them the greatest gift of all - your time. You can do it. Give them what they need most - you. |
AuthorWife, Mother, Missionary, Teacher, Friend ... just a few of the many titles I gladly wear. Never dreamed this is the journey God would take me on. Archives
July 2022
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