It’s my dear Mum’s birthday today and I am always so grateful to the Lord for this Mum of mine. .
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I had no idea how much living under the same roof with them as a little child in our village home in N.Ireland was preparing me for a life of missionary service to the far end of the world. They taught me how to live the mundane and the ordinary with a heart for the eternal. The conversation in our house as they lived their daily lives was forming my heart, soul and mind to love Jesus with all my heart. Nothing is too much bother, when you are living a life to love and serve the Lord. .
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My Mum has helped my worrying heart to give all things over to the Lord who does all things well. I have a little card from her on my room which simply says, “Everything will be alright.” She lives this way, we tease her about her optimistic outlook that, “everything will be alright in the morning.” I may have even rolled my eyes at it a few times, but I’ve come to learn it is more than optimism, it’s from a true and firm belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and some fine morning all really will be well when we are with the Lord for all eternity. My Mum and Dad live backwards from that day and it is probably the mindset, the heart posture that has formed my life the most; an eternal perspective. .
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She is light hearted, funny, joyful, an amazing shopper who still sends me most of my clothes and a fabulous Granny. We talk on face time every single day, she and my Dad have visited every place that we have ever lived and having their support has been the one of the greatest gifts of my missionary life. As their only child they never once held me back in any way when I set off as a 19 year old to train to be a missionary. They encouraged me to keep stepping out, obeying the Lord and trusting Him. I have such a heart for missionary parents and a great appreciation for the sacrifices they too make. .
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So all that to say, “Happy Birthday Mum!” I know you will scold me for this public post and a picture of yourself, but sure you’ll be alright in the morning!!😜
Some of you may remember weeks ago we were studying about the tabernacle with the kiddos. We talked in depth about God having a certain plan and purpose for each item in the tabernacle. Then this past week or two we have been in the New Testament, explaining how our bodies are now are the temple of the Holy Spirt and God still has very specific plans and purposes for how He wants us to use our bodies; our words, what we watch, how we live - it’s all worship to bring Him glory. His purpose, His way and what a gift and privilege that is that we now have His presence with us. .
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Sometimes, when we are talking, they are distracted, ask off the wall questions, answer with random facts and you can wonder....”Are they understanding any of this?” .
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This weekend, while doing our grocery shopping, Judah passed the apples and stopped dead, looking at the sight before him. “Look Mom! It’s just like what you and Papa were saying. All the apples are like the world, then we who are saved have been lifted out of sin, we are holy and God has set us apart to live away from sin and be be a light for Him.”
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I stared at those apples and could have kept staring all day and would probably never have thought that in a million years.
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But it reminded me and I wanted to pass on - keep teaching, keep bringing the Word before them, even if they never answer the questions or seem disinterested - you never know what God can do with His Word. We can’t bring understanding, or conviction, but the the Holy Spirit can do that as we faithfully teach. .
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And you never know what the Lord will use to remind our children of truth. It may be on a random moment in Walmart when clarity comes and truth is seen, but wherever it happens, it’s so worth the patience and the commitment to keep bringing them to the Word.
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So don’t give up, or set the Word to the side if you feel what you are doing isn’t working, the Holy Spirit can remind, convict, teach and challenge on a totally different timeframe than ours. His Word is alive and we are never wasting our time to explain it and pray it over our little children.
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And what a joy when we see fruit of it- literally! 😊
This morning, Danny was doing his daily reading on the couch when Judah slipped over beside him and asked his Daddy to read it out loud as he often does. .
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Danny read. It was the portion from the Old Testament where the people are not bringing the sacrifices the Lord had requested. They were bringing animals to the priests, but sick ones, injured ones, the ones that come at no cost for them to bring. .
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I slice the cheese for their sandwiches as I listen to them discuss the verses. .
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“God wanted them to give Him the best, the perfect ones, not the left over ones.”
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They rolled their eyes at the stupidity of the Israelites until it got personal. Do we do that today? .
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What does God want from us today? In light of the perfect sacrifice given for us, God wants our love, thankfulness, worship so often shown and presented to Him as our perfect offering of obedience. .
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“When we obey half-heartedly, or on the outside, but our hearts aren’t happy about it, it’s the same as bringing a sick cow to God.” Izzy and Judah. .
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I pause in the middle of their turkey and cheese sandwiches - even this a moment to live in full obedience to the Lord. How easily we forget. How easily we can wander far from the Lord desires for us. We give Him the leftovers of our time, our thoughts, our attitudes, our money and it really is costing us nothing. He wants our whole heart and when we give Him our whole heart it affects every part of our life. We are willing to count the cost..joyfully. So often we do the things we need to do, half heartedly, even grudgingly or out of guilt and performance. .
It’s like bringing a sick cow to our Almighty God. .
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It’s such a gift to think through scripture with our children. I love how they see things, say things and connect things. So many times, it is me that walks away from our time in the Word having learned something new or been reminded of something old. Maybe the Lord has that in mind in Deuteronomy 6 when He commanded the children of Israel to commit themselves wholeheartedly to His conmands. To pass it on to their children as they were at home and on the road. He knew children needed to learn and parents needed to remember.
This weekend, a group of college students are here at the Missionary Training Center for a weekend of exposure about missions and what Ethnos360 is doing around the world. .
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Last night, Danny spoke from Luke 14; on being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Challenging the students with questions like; “What is your life?” “Are you willing to count the cost for the worthy Lamb of God?” .
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I had the opportunity to share a little of my testimony and how I set off to count the cost for Jesus - but in so much fear of what that would mean. And what a joy the past twenty years has been as I learned to also count on the faithfulness, the grace and love of my Shepherd. While I was committed to reach the unreached with the gospel, Jesus was still committed to reaching all of my heart, too. In the going, the surrender and the sacrifice, the abundant grace of God was taking away the fear and replacing it with a confident faith in His sovereign goodness. .
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Sitting front and center last night were our two little kiddos. So many questions when we got home, so many big thoughts for little kids to wrestle with - and yet they are, they can, they should be. .
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This morning, one of our co workers here at the MTC shared more on world missions. Izzy and Judah sat fixed on his every word. Statistics of the those dying and going to hell, the reality of those being persecuted around the world and the need, the great need for laborers to go forth, counting the cost for Jesus so others can be brought into the family of God.
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It hit me afresh this morning, the great responsibility we have as parents to be instilling in our children the foundational truths of scripture. The authority of God, His greatness, obedience required out of love to Him for all He has done for us. Surrender to His will as an offering to be gladly given to our loving Father. .
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Are we building these foundational truths into their lives by the way we live? Or are we mixing it with the message of the world, to live your best life for yourself? .
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It’s a sobering thought to consider the impact we may be having not just in their lives, but for the Kingdom of God and His glory.
