Meditating on the Mundane

"If God doesn't rule your mundane, then he doesn't rule you.  Because that's where you live."  Paul Tripp

Often times I think that I need to get through the mundane tasks in my daily life to really meet with my Father and commune with him.  What a lie!  God is teaching me in the mundane tasks.  That is where he is sanctifying me and molding me more into the image of his Son.  My motivation for the mundane should be God's love for me and Jesus' love for me by his death on the cross to pay for my sins.  I don't always have the right attitude in my service to my family and those around me, but my Father is teaching me that by focusing my thoughts and intentions on who He is and what He has already accomplished for me, then I can experience great joy in the mundane.  Because of His love.  He is interceding for me and pleading my case.  I have no guilt in life and no fear in death.  Praise His Name.  

The time it takes just to live life

I could write a book on that one.  If you are wondering where I have been lately, and I know that some of you are, I have honestly just been living life making it through one day at a time.  My normal everyday routine is busy and takes a lot of time.  It takes more time to run errands since most of it is done on foot with two beautiful little kids, more time to cook, more time to do laundry and hang everything up because we don't have a dryer, cleaning is done more often from living in a place where you need the windows open all the time and dust and dirt often fills the house more quickly, more time and effort to talk, study, meet people, etc.  Not to mention that I still have a baby who is nursing.   It can get overwhelming at times.  There is never enough time in the day to meet all the demands placed on me either from myself, family, or others.  I could go through my days feeling like a failure before they even begin, living in tyranny of the clock, or I could focus my efforts on the praise of my King and what is accomplished or done that day is done for Him.  My, how I need this shift in my attitude on most days!  That is why I am so thankful for the Word to remind me and point me back again to my need of the gospel and it's power in my everyday life.  I have been encouraged lately in the gospel and asking God to break me again and again, to humble me and remind me that I cannot prove myself to others or to him.  I don't need to earn approval because Jesus has already earned the favor of the King for me.  I need to live in His power and strength everyday and I want to live a life that His praise is always on my lips and in my actions and then that would naturally flow out from me to others.  Ministry is not something that has hours set to it.  It is a lifestyle.  It is everyday situations.  It cannot be compartmentalized.  It is an overflow of our hearts.  I am letting the gospel rain down afresh over me, and I hope that it will flow out from me to others I am around and come into contact with.

"The gospel is a word; so the church must be word-centered. The gospel is a missionary word; so the church must be mission-centered. The gospel is good news. It is a word to be proclaimed. It is a message. You cannot be committed to the gospel without being committed to proclaiming that gospel.

The church exists both through the gospel and for the gospel.

The problem is the gap between our rhetoric and the reality of our practice. The continual challenge for us is to apply this principle to church life and ministry without compromise." Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis

I don't want there to be a gap in my life.  I want to put to action what is already true in my own life.  I want to put feet, and hands, and lips, breath, and voice to it.  Please pray this over me and our family.

Here is a song by Sara Groves that has also encouraged me lately as well, it is called Finite:  It is a great reminder that I am finite and I will come to an end.  It helps me to keep the most important things in the forefront of my mind.

I'm not every woman
It's not all in me
I’m proud and guarded
When it comes to my needs
Try to keep the whole thing rolling
Try to keep an on time train
This frenetic fascination's
Really driving me insane
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?

What God meant by woman
I’m hard pressed to find
I'm chasing paper dreams
And a guilt undefined
Fighting to stay younger
Trying to stay thin and in control
Searching for a magic formula
A thing to soothe our souls
Wonderin' where the peace went
Wonderin' where the peace went
Wonderin' where the peace went

I'm finite I come to an end
I'm finite I come to an end

Try to keep the whole thing rollin'
Try to keep an on time train
This frenetic fascination's
Really drivin' me insane
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?
Anybody feel that?

I'm finite, I come to an end
I’m finite, I cannot pretend
I'm finite, I come to an end
I’m finite, I cannot pretend

Stuck in a Rut

Friends, do you ever get stuck in a rut?  Why do we like to wallow in self-pity?  I can find excuses galore as to why I just laid in bed for half the day, or why I just spent my daughter's entire nap time on the Internet, but the truth is, it's just plain 'ole ugly sin.  The sin of selfishness.  I can call it escaping, culture shock, cultural stress, being 9 months pregnant and hormones raging, or I can just call it what it is, SIN!

I sit here, convicted, as I reflect on how much of my attitude as a wife and mom effects the state of our home.  If I am lazy, my family suffers.  If I am unmotivated, unscheduled, and unplanned my family pays the price.  To tell you the truth, the past two months have been hard.  We have been traveling, living in new places, and preparing for our second child.  Our routine and schedule has been interrupted every 3 months since we moved in January.  Well, to tell you the truth, we have been living like gypsies for over a year now, and it has been hard to keep up with.  It is exhausting.  How do you plan activities with a toddler when you can only travel with the bare bone necessities?  She only has a few toys and activities that she can bring with her.  How do you stick to a routine and schedule when you have to learn a new city and transportation system, and it takes at least 2, but probably 3 hours to go grocery shopping?  How much of what I feel that I need to do as a wife and mom is biblical and how much is still hanging on from a cultural "American" influence? Or from comparison? These are all questions that I am working through right now.  So far, the only thing I've got is to go back to the basics.  Keep it simple.  I was encouraged by this post over at  Passionate Homemaking on Keeping Your Soul Refreshed as a Mother.

As I sit here, listening to some worship music, I am reminded how amazing it is that we can cry out to our Father, to come and MOVE, to illumine our hearts and minds, and that HE WILL meet us right where we are.  Praise God for His love and the blessings of grace and mercy that he has freely poured out for us in Christ.  Praise God for forgiveness and for renewing our hearts and spirits.

Well, here I am crying out for more of YOU, Lord come and move in my life today, in my midst and in the lives of my brothers and sisters all across the world.  Come and move in the lives of those who have never heard of you before.  Use us Lord.  

The Waiting Game

It's Sunday here.  I woke up at 6:00 this morning, thinking, hoping, praying and wishing that this slight uncomfortable feeling might be labor.  We will just have to wait out the rest of the day and see.  That has been the new theme in our lives for the past two months.  We are in a season of waiting.  Our family has been in a holding pattern.  We have greatly been anticipating the arrival of this new baby, as well as, waiting on God to show us our next steps.  Often, in times like these, I am reminded of how impatient I am and how easy it is to lose that "eternal perspective" that I so desperately need.  I too often get lost in my circumstances that I miss the ONE who controls those circumstances.  It is so easy to want the pleasures of this world; comfort, ease, security, stability, answers, etc.  Is that what I am supposed to be living for?  Sadly, too often, that is what I find attractive when I should find my Savior more attractive; which likely means, the loss of comforts that I once knew, the loss of ease, and the loss of security and stability in a worldly sense.  But, have I really lost anything?  Or did I just gain the whole world?   I have been reminded afresh these past 8 months of living overseas what true contentment means and looks like.  I have been reading "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow and learning so much about contentment.

In an excerpt from her book, she says, "The apostle Paul makes an amazing statement in the book of Philippians.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)." "Paul lived an extremely difficult life.  He was beaten almost to death, constantly misunderstood, deserted by friends--Paul's life was anything but perfect and controlled; yet he said, "I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."  Incredible!  This means you and I can learn to be content.  Paul followed his extraordinary declaration about having learned to be content in all circumstances with the secret of how (Philippians 4:13).  This often-quoted verse is translated literally from the Greek as, "I am able to face anything by the one who makes me able [to do it]."  Have you ever wondered why this verse immediately follows Paul's bold statements about contentment?  Paul recognized that the source and strength of all Christian contentment is God Himself."    

This is so encouraging to me because too often I am looking for some formula or some way to make myself feel content, when all I really need to do is look to God, the ONE who is in control.  Do I practice this perfectly? NO, not even close!  But, do I need to remind myself everyday of what it means to look to the Controller of all things?  YES!  What seems so uncertain to me is not uncertain to HIM at all.  I need to be reminded of a fresh and eternal perspective, God's perspective.

Although, there are some things we can remind ourselves of when we are tempted to not be content.  Dillow speaks of her friend, Ella, in her book.  She writes out Ella's prescription for contentment; or we could call it Ella's perspective adjustment:

*Never allow yourself to complain about anything--not even the weather.
*Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
*Never compare your lot with another's.
*Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
*Never dwell on tomorrow--remember that [tomorrow] is God's not ours.

Wow, Ella's prescription humbles me.  I need this perspective adjustment everyday.  These are some good points to remember and remind us of WHO is in Control.   Are you looking for contentment in your circumstances or are you looking to the ONE who controls those circumstances, to find your peace, comfort, joy and satisfaction?

So here I am, being reminded afresh that God has already numbered this baby's days.  He already knows how many hairs will be on his head, and therefore, he for sure knows when he is going to be born.  His birthday has already been decided.  God will give me the strength to make it another day carrying this precious gift.  

Another new blog

Well if you know me, then you know that this is the third, yes third, blog that I have now started.  I may as well be the worst blogger of all time.   Here is some fresh new perspective for all you readers out there, "Keep your expectations low." ; )  I am learning all about expectations in our new culture .  We hope to share our lives with you, our funny stories, our life lessons, our hardships, and all about learning to live in a new culture.  Perspective is sure to be gained and sanctification is sure to be had.  Join us as we learn more about trusting our great God!

Standing in the hot springs at Hierapolis (Pamukkale), Turkey!