All in faith
As a homeschool and stay-at-home parent some days begin to feel monotonous. Maybe even a little like the movie Groundhog's Day.
It can be easy to lose joy in the journey of monotony and begin to define joy by my circumstances.
But what exactly is joy? Is it happiness? A feeling? An experience?
Trust. Such a small word with a BIG meaning.
Over and over again God reminds us to TRUST in the Creator. Trust in the one who knows all. Trust in His understanding and not our own. I am not sure about you, but this part of “not trusting in my own understanding” that the book of Proverbs speaks on can be hard. We want answers. We want to know the WHY or WHY NOT in what God is doing. In fact, sometimes we, in so many words, demand an answer. And it is in these moments when my own understanding, my own ideas jumble up Truth.
I love to garden. Every summer we plan out what we want to grow, till the soil and break it up, remove as many weeds as our eyes can see and prepare it for seed. Gardening is super therapeutic for me. Although, I have to admit, I hate the part after planting seeds. I hate the waiting.
A little over a year ago I joined the Women’s Bible Study at my church. But I need to confess, this was my first Women’s Bible Study that I have attended. Ever. If I really look at the heart of it, pride was keeping me from joining. Pride that I didn’t need “that.” And sitting around a table of women just wasn’t my “thing.”
We live in a loud busy world.
The moment our head lifts off the pillow, the grind of the day floods in. To-do lists, family lists, agendas, school sports, work meets, work lists…etc. it is all there waiting for you when you wake up. And if you are a homeschooling family like ours, school curriculum and daily chores are there drumming their fingers waiting to begin.
We ALL know that words have power. They have the power to give life or tear it down. They can bring joy, comfort, encouragement, or they can sting like the pouring of salt water on an open wound. They can build others up, or they can bring death literally and figuratively. We ALL know this. Why? Because we have been affected by the power of words.
Fear is a four letter word.
What if we had said no? Said no to adoption? Said no to his file? Said no to his medical needs? What if we said no out of fear? Because when it really boils down to it, it is fear that would have kept us from him and nothing else. Fear that our comfort would be disrupted. Fear that we couldn't handle, take on, or "deal."
My daughter, particularly at bedtime, loves to ask us to tell stories. Stories from our childhood and from our past. She LOVES them. She even has some favorite neighbors she likes to visit and they too will tell her stories. The more detailed they are, the better. And when one story is over she will say, “Tell me another!” or “Tell me more!”
What is faith? A belief system? Hoping? Wishful thinking? Anything you choose it to be?
In this post, we will look at what our culture says about Faith and cross examine it with Truth. Because if we profess to be Christians and believe that the Word of God, the Holy (and only) Bible is Truth - this is what we should absolutely be using as our MAIN reference tool for life. Period. Then when other things start to seep in, other ideas, voices, opinions, we check them by the Word and if they are NOT Biblical - we throw it out. One of the big ideas about Faith is that Faith is wishful thinking. A hope, desire, feel good feeling... However, Faith Is NOT Wishful thinking.
Faith.
My faith in Christ began at a young age. Not because I fully understood what Christ did for me on the cross, but because I saw my parents live out their faith and knew that whatever they believed in MUST be real.
Wow! What an incredible weekend! I was extremely humbled and so blessed over throughout this entire event! God moved and spoke to each individual woman right where they were, and to have been given the opportunity to speak at Cascade Church’s Spring Women’s Retreat was a true honor.
