'Make them happy Mommy'

It's not that I don't like to or don't want to write on here...it's just that life gets in the way. I have notes and small thoughts all over the place with inspiration to create posts. But then two super cute little boys or their handsome daddy needs me and the blog takes a backseat to my real life.

But one thing stands out in my mind.

My 2 1/2 year old is a talker, a thinker, and a questioner (Not sure that's a word?). His little mind goes so fast, it's incredible! He is not one I can blow off while he talks because he expects I will answer him correctly, appropriately, and timely!

So...as we pulled out of the garage the other day, I was mentally running through the essentials (shoes - see original post!, coupons, list, snack/drink, stroller, diaper bag, change of clothes, etc....). I could hear Graham talking and the questions starting, but I couldn't listen wholeheartedly and focus on what I needed to have with me. So I quickly said a prayer that Graham would forgive me when I had to ask him to repeat his question. As I finished this quick prayer, Graham was almost hysterical telling me I had to 'make them happy, you have to make them happy'. Giant tears were forming in those beautiful hazel eyes as I struggled to figure out whose happiness I was apparently now responsible for. As I clicked the garage door opener to close it, the tears fell. So I threw the vehicle in park and turned around in my chair trying to get the critical information I was missing out of my crying son. I re-opened the garage door (the neighbors probably think I'm nuts by now) and the tears lessened.

He finally staggered out these words in between breaths and sobs. You...have...to...make...the...lights...happy.

Ok...the lights. Say what? Come again?

Mommy, when you turned the lights off you made them so very sad. They are only happy when they are on.

OK God, I hear you.

The overhead lights in the garage needed to be on to be happy. (Relative term depending on if you are talking to my husband or to the power company!). But nonetheless, there is a lesson in that.

When we shine God's light and we are 'on' for Him, we are in so much of a better place than when we are trying to hide our light. When you are acting out of His calling, we will be happy little lights.

As I tried to explain the power bill to Graham, I simply quit and we starting singing "This Little Light of Mine" together as we drove off (and yes, left the garage lights on and happy!).

Until the next MOMent...
Rachel

Tangles and Job

My two year old son's hair - it has a life and a mind of it's own and I love it. It is a little on the longer side and wouldn't fly in the marines, but it works for him (and me!). It's straight as a board in the front, has some curls in the back, and when he really gets moving, he gets wings that come out behind his little ears. It just works for him and I'm sure his grandparents would agree...it makes him pretty darn cute!

(Just wishing for those warmer temps again...)

So...with these longer locks, curls in the back, and what seems like tumbling passes while he sleeps he wakes up with some wild tangles. I'll be honest and on some of these subzero days where we have no where to go and don't have to leave him, I just wait until bath to comb them out!

On the days I do comb that beautiful head of hair, it hurts him. He stands there brave, but his mommy can see those tears brimming. I am as gentle as I can be and I hate causing pain to help him. He stands there on his stool and usually leans his head into me, in towards the comb, the source of the solution.

And then my Father showed me something...that's exactly what He wants me to do - to lean into him while He combs through the tangles of my life. I can stand there chest puffed out and brace, but He sees the tears brimming in my eyes. He tells me to lean into Him while He sorts through the tangles and junk life throws my way. He wants me to pour my broken heart out to Him. As my mom always says, "He can take it!".

I am currently reading through Job...talk about pouring your broken heart out to our Father. Man...those are some tough pages to get through.

But as I dive into His Word, I realize that the darker the pages of Job are, the brighter His truth will shine.

Strip away all the garbage of fakeness and masks, and you see right into the heart of man.

The heart that longs to know and understand God.

The heart that cries out in true agony.

The heart that is earnestly looking for truth.

The heart created by a Father God to be desperate for and united with a Savior.

As I walk through my tangles, I pray I lean into the one combing through it for me. And like I do with my son, there are lots of hugs and kisses and just pure love when the combing is done!

From one tangled MOMent to the next...
Rachel

bouillon cubes

Graham and I were baking the other day. Well, I was trying to throw the correct ingredients in the bowl while my 2.5 year old tried to not let me complete my task on time. You get the picture...

I was trying to teach Graham about helping and listening to directions. I might as well have been speaking Klingon. 

Instead of cocoa powder, he brought me bouillon cubes.  I doubt the church's concert goers would like Bouillon cube brownies.  Graham's mind works about 100 miles per minute, which means mine needs to go at least 101. And it's not exactly a fair fight since he gets 11 hours of sleep and I get 5 broken into two 2.5 hour stretches. But, I racked my tired brain and opened my heart to listen for a lesson I was sure to come. And my God is faithful. Teaching through bouillon cubes, and I am thankful. 

The ingredients...the body of Christ...the importance.

I need every ingredient in my pantry to make certain foods. Every spice jar, every powder, every baking supply is useful in baking. We don't leave out a certain spice just because - no, we head to the store for 1/4 teaspoon of the rarest jar of spice we can find. My recipes are like the body of Christ. All   ingredients are useful and helpful. Some are simply in there to draw out and improve the flavor of other ingredients. I think back to the 'we are the salt of the earth' phrase we hear. But salt alone? gross. 1 cup of salt replacing 1 cup sugar and you have a problem. We, as salt, need the other pieces in each recipe of life. We all get thrown into the oven of life after being mixed and beaten together and somehow we are to come out as one piece of great tasting food on the other side! Salt can't just decide to be a delicious soup all by it self - it needs the broth, the meat, the veggies, the bouillon cubes and yes...even then onions we all have to deal with!

So, the next time you are out of an ingredient, pray for your church body of Christ, there might be a few missing ingredients that could bring out your flavor. 

So...more MOMents of baking to come...

Rachel

Mary - The Hostess with the Mostess

I love the Christmas Story. There is something new every time you dive into those timeless words read by so many fathers, pastors, children over the years. Several years ago, as my husband and I struggled to conceive and were constantly praying for children, God spoke to me through His word. This time, he used the characters and their stories to teach me about mine. Two women - pregnant. If you have ‘Hannah’s’ or ‘Elizabeth’s’ in your life - women with a deep longing for a child but struggling to conceive, that can be some of the worst news possible. To hear of another’s pregnancy and feel your own loss ever so much more greater. So as a women praying for a child, I dove into the Word to read about babies leaping in the wombs and the delivery of these little babies. 

So...what did God speak into my heart five Christmases ago? That two women who by all human accounts shouldn’t be pregnant, were in fact pregnant. The simple truth I found? That I was praying to a God who cares about desires and pregnancies and babies! He had shown His might in both Mary and Elizabeth. I serve a God who can absolutely give my husband and I our child in the right time if He so desired. 

Now, flash forward to today as we approach Christmas with two little boys. Our God is so incredibly faithful! And the truth in that statement? That he is still faithful even if He hadn’t answered our childless prayer. 

So...my younger son is now 6 months old. Thinking back to May of this year and June of 2011 when I brought two beautiful baby boys home from the hospital, I have a new respect for Mary this year. I heard a blurb on a radio station this season about Mary and her post partum guests. Well, that got me thinking. After we welcomed out sons, we had company. Grandparents, Great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends all made the trek to visit our little treasures. Granted, they used mapquest, GPS, or iMaps and not a heavenly host or a bright star. 

Setting aside the delivery and post partum recovery in a barn, Mary was a champ. Even delivering the Christ child had to hurt - He was fully human. And then to top it off, she had to host strangers. Dirty strangers. Shepherds who had their animals, wisemen that had traveled many dusty miles. Add to that nursing a newborn, recovering from pregnancy and a many mile donkey ride just a few days before the birth, you can see my respect for Mary. 

How can I apply this to my life today? I need to be a better host. I need to be ready for ‘dirty strangers’. Those that I’m afraid to offend by the hope of Christ. Those that need something but can’t give anything in return this Christmas season. If Mary can host, I can host. 

Looking for a MOMent to host...
Rachel

Plugged In (in a wireless world)

Plugged In

(in a wireless world)

I am not a 'techy' person. Case in point, I have an iPhone 3. It is my first 'smart (-er than me) phone' that I have ever owned. My advanced education and minutes of technology research has taught me one important thing - the power button. Yes, I am a turn-it-off-turn-it-on person. 

So…my phone and what can it show me about our Great Big God. 

As smart as a phone can be, it needs to be connected to power. Watch the battery indicator fade to red and the most genius of phones will no longer work. 

Now…me. I am not brilliant. I am thankful for the knowledge and gift of wisdom God has entrusted to me, but I do not have an IQ to be envious of or intimidated by. But, like my phone if I am no longer plugged in to my power source, my battery will fade. If I remain apart from Him, I will no longer be of any use. 

"Remain" - take anyone else back to Sunday School lessons? If you aren't familiar with church and the Bible…let me show you the verse coming to my mind!

John 15:4 - Remain in me, as I also remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 

So…like a branch or a smart phone, I know I must remain connected to the source of life and power. I faithfully charge my phone ever night (and throughout the day when I see my battery needs some refreshment!). But do I faithfully pull out my Bible every night? Am I in the word like I plug my phone in?

Ouch. 

Plugging in for a MOMent…

Rachel

Shadows and Light

Shadows and Light

My 2 and (almost) a 1/2 year old is now both interested and terrified of shadows.  He will both look for shadows and tell me they scare him. 

Shadows can scare me too baby!  As I'm trying to explain this to him with both very shallow and yet a somehow deeper explanation, God spoke to me. (See my previous post, He speaks grandly through the simple!). I'm racking my brain to remember the Scripture about darkness fleeing in the presence of light.  I can't remember even old or new testament, but I know it's there! 

James 1:5 - The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. 

This point was illustrated multiple times in our house, much to the pleasure of our power company and not so much to my bill-paying husband.  :) People outside must have wondered what was going on with our lights as they flicked on and off multiple times. Little did they know, I was imparting wisdom on my child. You see, I had to show that in darkness, there are shadows and yet as soon as the light comes on, the darkness immediately is gone. Darkness doesn't have a choice, it can't dilly-dally it's way away when the lights come on. The reaction is immediate and my child's fear was gone! So, in the true presence of our Light (Christ Jesus), darkness (evil, death, sin, sadness) immediately is gone! (AMEN!)

Another hope I learned is that with scary shadows, there is the promise of light, somewhere. You see, to create a shadow, light must be close. Yes, darkness is closer, but light is near. With complete darkness, there are no shadows, yet with even a sliver of light, shadows are created! 

So…to quote one of my favorite versus (so much so, we named our second son after this very scripture!) ---- James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Light, who does not change like the shifting shadows. 

Looking for light in the MOMent of shadows…
Rachel

This Little Light of Mine

God speaks…quietly at times and usually in very simple words. But He knows how to get through to me. Use simple words, simple illustrations in my every day life. Give meaning to the mundane and routine. Make extraordinary out of ordinary and I'll bend my ear. 

We had a Yankee candle glowing away in our dark kitchen the other night. Being a super responsible adult, I put out the candle before we headed up to bed for the night. I have always enjoyed putting the lid on a candle like this and watching the light quickly burn through the remaining oxygen and go out. This way also eliminates that dreadful post-candle smell that I do not enjoy. 

Mundane and ordinary…right? 

Well, all of a sudden, I realized I better pay attention. 

Life is like the lid of a candle. We are living for Jesus, just shining or flickering away, but hanging on to our ability to shine! When all of a sudden, life comes along and we burn through our 'spiritual reserves'. We are relying on quickly fading prayers and last Sunday's sermon. We have lost our source of ongoing oxygen - the giver of life, the one who breathed man into existence. 

Sometimes I feel like can be suffocating…the every day can drag us down. I need my every day to consist of a refueling of oxygen, a constant check in with my Creator and my source of Life! 

Like a Yankee candle flame, I'll yearn for that oxygen, the Words that come from above and speak directly to my soul. 

Taking a MOMent to fan the flame…

Rachel