Don’t eat the dog food!

We were convinced Ella was going to skip crawling…she was just not the least bit interested.  Then, last week, while waiting with Dad at Miss Jenny’s house while Abby and Will were in piano lessons, she decides she is interested after all…and crawl she did (and thank goodness Dad had the forethought to record it for me so I wouldn’t feel sorry for myself for missing it!). Technically, it’s half a bear crawl and half a knee crawl.  She crawls with one leg straight to push off of and one leg bent with her knee on the ground, but somehow she propels herself forward and gets where she wants to go…

 

And now, 6 days later, she is getting faster and faster…and stealthier and stealthier…and her inquisitive nature has led to learning another new thing – the word NO.  No, no, Ella – you can’t eat the ashes out of the fireplace.  No, no, Ella – you can’t eat Daddy’s smelly shoes.  No, no, Ella – don’t eat the mulch out of the flowerbed.  And, my favorite – No, no, Ella – the dog food is for the dogs, not you.  Don’t eat the dog food,silly girl!!  You get my point…now that she has this new found freedom, she’s got to learn some new limits as well. 

 

And when we tell her no, her first reaction is to stop, look at us, and then try again – you know, to see if we REALLY meant it or maybe we were just kidding.  And when we again tell her no, she wrinkles up her face, sticks out her lip, maybe puts her hands to her face, and then what?  She tries again…and again…and again. The way we know it has REALLY sunk in that we aren’t going to let her have it is when her bottom lip goes down and she starts to cry like we are beating her and look at us like we have just destroyed her dreams…

 

It got me to thinking about how God “parents” us and how we handle hearing the word “no” from him…

 

With Ella, Dallas and I come in on different ends of the parenting spectrum and, thankfully, balance each other out.  He’s of the school of thought that we don’t move anything or put things away where she can’t reach them - she has to learn no and adjust to it – the inmates don’t run the asylum!  I’m on the other far end most of the time – I’ll just take this fireplace poker and put it in a closet.  It’s just too tempting for her and I’ll just take the temptation away so she doesn’t get hurt.  As I said, we end up somewhere in the middle with a nice combination of both schools of thought and somehow, our other two kids have turned out fairly normal so maybe Ella has a shot to make it. 

 

But what about temptations in our lives?  God doesn’t take them and hide them in a closet so we don’t know they are there.  We may hear the Holy Spirit whisper no to us, but sometimes, like Ella, we reach for those things again – you know, in case our Holy Spirit “tuner” was faulty or something.  And we have the free will to just ignore that no and go right ahead and grab on anyways. 

 

And we get hurt and sometimes hurt others around us…

 

And then we get mad at God – why didn’t you protect me?  Why did you let this thing happen to me and to my family?  What kind of a God are you, anyways? 

 

Well, the answer to that is He is a God who loves us so much and knows us so well that He lets us fall sometimes.  He lets us bear the consequences for our choices so that we will learn and we will grow and, during the midst of the sucky “learning” times, He holds us and wipes away our tears. 

 

There’s a line to a song that has been taunting me for over a year now – the song is called “Held” by Natalie Grant – and the line says “who told us we’d be rescued?” The song goes on to talk about what it means to be held by God when the rest of your world is falling apart…but that one line – who told us we’d be rescued – has been playing with my head for the past year….

 

God never promised to rescue us from this world – in fact, He makes it pretty clear through His Word that in this world, we will face troubles – we will be persecuted for being His followers (although it’s hard for us in the U.S. to really wrap our minds around the idea of persecution). 

 

We will face hard times, friends.  Some brought on by our own choices, some that are brought on by this world or choices of others around us….and through it all, our loving Savior is there and He will help us pick up the pieces and He will love us and hold us tight and He will make beautiful things out of the ashes and out of our lives…I know, I’ve lived it. 

 

You know, you’ve lived it.  God is faithful….even when we eat the dog food.

 

- Kacey

 

 

Believing Trust

Good morning! I’m glad to share a little bit of what’s been on my mind and heart lately. Even if you have not been able to attend the book club over One Thousand Gifts, I hope you are able to find time to read it. I was amazed at God’s perfect timing for opening my heart to read chapter 8. I hope you enjoy! – Cathryn

Spring can be a very hectic time. There is always something going on. Sports, school activities, parties. You name it, it’s happening. Calendars fill up, and everyone starts to feel the squeeze of time.

The spring of my junior year in high school, I certainly was feeling that squeeze. I had regional and state competitions for gymnastics, AP testing to prepare for, and grades to keep up. I was also set to take a national French exam. I had taken one the year before and done well. However, this year, I felt that I had to take something off my plate, and the French exam was optional. So I headed to Madame Dossett’s classroom. She was truly a fiery French-American with frizzy black hair and more personality than our school could hold. I just loved her, and I was so afraid that I would disappoint her. I was already frayed by the anxiety of gymnastics and trying to make it to my first state competition, working to excel academically, seeing college in the future and the need for scholarships, and AP exams with all the additional Saturday study sessions and expectations. I had allowed all these circumstances and their pressure to make me anxious and fearful.

As I began telling Madame Dossett that I would not be able to take the exam, I began sobbing. Totally uncontrollable sobbing. Madame Dossett, tough as she could be, wrapped her arm around my shoulders and calmed by crying. She told me it was fine that I was not taking the exam, and that I did not need to worry about anything else either. She then opened her desk drawer and pulled out a key chain of a headless rubber chicken. You know, the kind they would use on the Muppets, G-rated. She gave me this rubber chicken to remind me to not run around like a chicken with my head cut off. No longer crying but laughing at the realization that I had been doing just that, I left her classroom.

While I still have that rubber chicken keychain, I, unfortunately, have often forgotten to not run around like a chicken with my head cut off, letting circumstances sweep me away into a frenzy of anxiety, fear and worry. Recently, this has been an almost daily battle. I had found ways to manage it. Words of encouragement, reminders of God’s faithfulness in the past, lots of prayer, but I kept finding myself with my heart racing and my mind spinning about the events of that day and the next and the next. The “what ifs” and the “if onlys” tormented me.

One evening I picked up One Thousand Gifts to begin the chapter “how will he not also”. I had not idea that I would find a kindred spirit there, a woman who had allowed her life to be filled with fear and anxiety, too. She, who knew fear well, reminded me that we really have nothing to fear. Even if everything in our lives, jobs, families, finances, hopes, dreams, falls apart, we cling to God, who is good and loving, never falling apart. I especially love this passage on page 161:

“All fear is but the notion that God’s love ends. Did you think I end, that My bread warehouses are limited, that I will not be enough? But I am infinite, child. What can end in Me? Can life end in Me? Can happiness? Or peace? Or anything you need? Doesn’t your Father always give you what you need? I am the Bread of Life and My bread for you will never end. Fear Thinks God is finite and fear believes that there is not going to be enough and hasn’t counting one thousand gifts, endlessly counting gifts, exposed the lie at the heart of all fear? In Me, blessings never end because My love for you never ends. If My goodnesses toward you end, I will cease to exist, child. As long as there is a God in heaven, there is grace on earth and I am the spilling God of the uncontainable, forever overflowing-love-grace.”

 Learning to trust God has not been simple. I can intellectually understand the logic of it, but living the belief is another story, and yet, how can I not live this belief. How can I look to God who has given me so much in my life, precious giggles, tiny fingers, strong arms, calming hugs, snuggle time, priceless conversation, good, good friends, and enduring family, how can I saw to that God, I don’t think You can take care of me or provide for me everything I need? You can do some of it, but not all of it or You can’t do it the way I want it done. I have to take on some of it, and in doing so, I will carry a burden I was not every created to carry and make a complete mess of it in the process.

No.

I will not run around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I will no longer live the fear that tells me God is finite and ending.

I will not just know that God can provide.

I will live the trust that knows God will provide exactly what I need, exactly when I need it.

I will live the trust that knows that God is good…always.

I will live the trust that counts the gifts and gives thanks for the big and the small.

I will live in trust so that fear has no room in a heart that is full of His unending love.

How will you live your belief today?

Humility: Not Quite What I Expected It To Be

Last night, our book club met and discussed Chapter 9 of “One Thousand Gifts.”  Through events in her life in the last week and through the topic of that chapter, God has given Rachel Engler something to share with us today…so, without further ado, here’s Rachel:

 

Ann Voskamp discusses humility in the chapter we discussed for the Women’s Ministry book club this week. She writes of being brought down to your knees by awe and thankfulness that comes from a place of humility in the presence of God.

 

For me, humility is something that has always scared me…a feeling I have not gone looking to experience.

 

Just a few of the synonyms a thesaurus provides for the word “humble”:

shame, mortify, demean, crush, degrade, deflate, etc. (EKKKK!!)

 

And this is where God stepped in the last few days to really show me what humility is and to experience that in awe and thankfulness.

 

Recently, God led me to a place of being humbled by the unconditional love and grace of another person in order to completely blow my mind by the immenseness of His love and grace. He did not force me to my knees -the way I had always assumed “being humbled” worked- rather, I fell to my knees in awe, in gratitude, and in utter humbleness.

 

If a person who has no obligation to do so can love me so deeply then how can I not fall at the sheer amount of God’s love for me? How is it that I have devoted so much of my life to Him and touted His love and grace to both myself and others and yet never allowed myself to fully experience all aspects of that love?!?

 

For me the key was vulnerability. There was a place in my heart that I had kept so tightly closed, a place where I allowed myself to believe that parts of me might be unlovable, imperfect, even ugly.

 

When I was completely vulnerable, completely stripped and exposed in that place, God gave me someone to love me right through that. He gave me a relationship that could mimic my relationship with Him and be made Holy by that.

 

It is not that I had not experienced love or that I ever doubted God’s love for me. But this love, this grace was different. It was not that giddy, ecstatic, affectionate, sweet, happy sappy love.

 

It was HUMBLED ON-MY-KNEES EUCHARISTEO LOVE.

 

A love from My God that came from a place of being wholly and exhaustively thankful – thankfulness that, as Ann would say, preceded the miracle – the miracle being humility- and realizing that it is not the defeated place I had imagined and feared it to be.

 

It seems so simple now and yet I am altogether in awe by this gift of being brought down low by God’s love and grace…

 

– Rachel

Attitude Reboot

Getting out the door on Sunday mornings is not easy…in fact, some days you have no idea what a miracle it is that all of my kids have shoes on their feet and their hair combed when they get to church – so if you happen to see them and their clothes don’t match, just smile and give them a hug. 

 

This last Sunday, my careful calculations of how long it would take to get everything done went awry…not sure where the breakdown was, but nevertheless, we were running late for Sunday school…by the time we got in the car and pulling out of the driveway, Abby, Will, and I were all flustered and mad and snappy…Ella was pretty happy – which was a good thing!

 

So, as we drove away from the driveway, I started thinking about Chapter 7 of “One Thousand Gifts” and some of our discussions at book club the previous Tuesday night – specifically about how you can choose to replace all of these yucky feelings with thankfulness – so I tell Abby and Will that and we all take a deep breath and try to reboot our attitudes.

 

Abby and I proceed to just rattle off all kinds of things we are thankful for – with one rule – you can’t just say “I’m thankful for everything”…

 

Me:  “Thanks, God, for that green light so maybe we can get to church a little faster!!” Abby:  “Thanks, God, for blue – the blue in the sky is so beautiful today!!”  Me:  “Thank you, Lord, for a car to get us there!”  Abby:  “Thank you, God, for the trees starting to bloom!”  And we go on and on….

 

Will hasn’t said a word – so I prod him “Will, let’s hear it – what’s something you are thankful for?”  His response – “I’m thinking…”  So I leave him be and Abby and I keep going…a few minutes later, I ask him again…and I can tell he’s frustrated because he can’t think beyond “everything” or “the world”….

 

I then think of something I had read – probably on pinterest or facebook – but it said:

“What if you woke up today

and the only things you had

were the things you

thanked God for yesterday?”

I shared that idea with Abby and Will…and the lightbulb went off in Will’s head.  Suddenly, he won’t be quiet – he’s thanking God for everything from his baby sister and her carseat to baseball and football and his shoes.  In the next 8 minutes it took us to pull into the parking lot at church, I think Will came up with a thankful list of about 50 things, no joke. 

 

So, here’s my challenge to you today – what if you woke up today and all you had were the things you thanked God for yesterday?  You’d be alot more thankful, wouldn’t you?  Those joy/thankful lists would be overflowing….well – go get to it! 

Beautiful

So, when we, as the women of The Springs, started the book club on “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp, our intention was to get someone different each week to talk about the chapter we were discussing on the blog to share with others who may not have made it to book club – as you can see, we haven’t exactly got that off the ground yet….

 

But, tonight, as I just got home from discussing Chapter 3 with some pretty awesome ladies, God’s impressing upon me to sit down at my trusty keyboard and talk…er, type.

 

Chapter 3 introduces us to this idea of making a list of one thousand things we love…and in doing so, you are naming those things, giving God thanks for them, and acknowledging His heart in creating them…This chapter has a TON of great stuff in it, a TON – but tonight, as I sit here, I’m sharing with you where God is stirring me….

 

As I’ve been on this crazy eucharisteo/joy journey, I have found myself getting a much more intimate, up-close view of God’s heart – how God knows me so well, how He loves me so very much that He has taken the time to create these things on my gift list that bring a smile to my face and then goes to the trouble of placing them in my life! This idea, this thought that He knows me so intimately that He KNOWS the smells, the colors, the simple small things that make my heart smile….well, that blows me away and makes me fall even more head over heels in love with our Savior. 

 

I know of no other way to put it than to just say – it is beautiful. 

 

He is beautiful…

 

His heart is beautiful…

 

So what about you ladies?  Anyone else have thoughts from Chapter 3 to share?

- Kacey

And the winner is…

I know I made it REALLY hard on all of you to enjoy your chex mix and fudge and peanut patties, just wondering who could have possibly won the giveaway last week…my apologies.

 

But, we have a winner!!  Random number generated was:              13

 

Ummm….to be honest, I thought about re-generating.  I mean, it didn’t seem like the luckiest number, but it was indeed a lucky number for:  KIM DAVIS!!  Woo hoo, Kim!  You won a $25 iTunes gift card!   And no, you do not have to share it with your boys.  It is all yours.  Tell them to get their own. 

 

Don’t forget – we will be starting our book club on “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp the 2nd week of January.  Monday mornings, 10 – 11:30 a.m. at the home of Cathryn Wright and Tuesday evenings, 7 -8:30 pm at the home of Fran Orson….we will cover a chapter a week!  Seriously, though, if you don’t have a chance to read the chapter for that week – come anyway!!  It will be a great time of discussing and sharing.  We are going to attempt to take notes from those discussions and post them on the blog for those of you who can’t attend so perhaps we can continue the conversations thru the blog as well. 

 

And, if you need a copy of the book, it is available at Mardel, Lifeway, and online thru amazon or other retailers.  I would be glad to pick one up for you, if you will let me know you are interested and need a copy. Melody, Christina, and Jerri, I still have your copies and will get them to you ASAP!!!

Hope all of you have had a wonderful Christmas season…

 - Kacey

It’s the Most Wonderful Time…of the Year!!!

“With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer!”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all. . .”

  Come on, I know you are out there singing along in your head.  I love Christmas songs…I’m not sure if it’s because they are so familiar and bring back memories or if it’s because we can sing at the top of our lungs and nobody cares if you are particularly out of tune or what…

BUT – in honor of Christmas this week, we are doing a GIVEAWAY – woot woot!!!  Been awhile, I know, folks…

Here’s the script – Leave a comment telling us your favorite Christmas songs – new or old – by midnight on Thursday!!!  That’s it.  Then, on Friday, we will use a random numbers generator to pick the winner of – drumroll please!!!……a $25 iTunes gift card so you can download as much music as your little heart desires (insert fine print: limited to $25)

 

Here goes – my favorite Christmas songs:

 Traditional:  The First Noel, O Come All Ye Faithful, Do You Hear What I Hear?

For Dancing Around Like a Crazy Person:  Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Newest faves:  Sing by Josh Wilson (this is the one we’ve been singing in church the last few weeks!!)

Here with Us by Joy Williams

And – did you know that Santa has a secret agent bird?  Abby and Will’s favorite:  James Penguin by Brad Paisley

YOUR TURN!!! 

- Kacey