Challenge, Contentment, Change...and Grace
We have been going through the most incredible series on marriage and parenting in our small group/Sunday School at church. I walk away every week convicted and inspired and I love it...as in, cannot-miss-a-session, love it. A lot of it is hard to hear because I know I fall so short...I know I will fall short but I am falling shorter than I think I ought to! We are weekly reminded of who the Lord is and what He wants from us and in my desire to know Him more and become more obedient to Him, I find myself just pouring over the information and desperately wanting to draw near to Him and become the person He wants me to be. Today, we started a section called "Inability" as in our inability to be adequate without the Lord. Here are a couple of points I starred and underlined in my notes:
1. Parenting is not about exercising power for change in your children. Parenting is about your humble faithfulness in being willing to participate in God's work of change for the sake of your children.
2. God has given you authority for the work of change, but not granted you the power to make change happen.
3. So, our job it simple: It's not to create change, but to be a humble and willing instrument of change in the hands of the one and only author of change, God.
4. Representing the God who gives us grace for change means looking for daily opportunities to communicate that grace, helping our children to see how they need that grace, and modeling that grace in the way that we speak and act toward our children...and with that said, children need boundaries and structure and the authority of their parents but is must be founded in a relationship with them and through instruction.
Wow!! So powerful! Through the parenting instruction, we have talked a lot about being an ambassador of Christ versus being an "owner". This is an area I struggle greatly with. I do feel such ownership over my children and I can see how my thinking needs to change to viewing myself and my relationship to them as an ambassador of Christ.
And then the Sunday Sermon...
We have been working through the book of Hebrews and focused on Hebrews 13: 5-6, which tells us:
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
6 So we say with confidence,
We then read through Mathew 6:24, Philippians 4: 10-13, Psalm 62: 1-2
God's unfailing presence is the basis for unconditional contentment!
It is easy to find "contentment" in the areas that we are comfortable in and satisfied with but true contentment is being comfortable and satisfied that God is enough even when our circumstances try and tell us different.
I got to thinking a lot about our house and contentment. For Phil and I both, God just swept us up in a title wave of change that at first, was a bit scary. We feel so blessed and so gifted with how he has just "given" us something that we don't deserve and something that we technically "don't need". We could have stayed in our little house on a town lot for the rest of our days. In fact, we had planned to. We thought maybe, someday in the future, when our children were grown or nearly grown, that perhaps a slightly bigger home on an acre or two could be a possibility but we never expected it. We are so blessed to have a roof over our heads, food on the table, a job for Phil who provides for our family, our health, and each other. What more could we possible need or want? And yet the Lord says, I am giving you more. I think this is where there is a little "flip side to that coin" situation...we can become too comfortable in our contentment...thinking that contentment means doing what is easy, familiar, and not changing because change can be scary. I think this is where the Lord stretches us to find contentment in Him even through His blessings. Phil has invited his men's group to come to the house as soon as we take "formal" possession and walk the grounds and pray over the house and the property...cleansing it, asking for the Lord's blessing, asking for it to be used for His purposes. We want this to be a house in which we can raise our children for Christ, extend out fellowship and ministry, and to give opportunities that will bless our children (maybe even grandchildren) and others. We are so excited to see what He has planned for us. It feels like just one more little glimpse into the grace (unmerited favor) that He has for us.
Children can find toys in just about anything...like plastic tubs and cups.
This is really a mountain of food!
The boys replacing damaged tile in the bathroom.
Incidentally, Phil and I both really want the selling of our current home, the packing, the fixing of our new home, and the final move (as well as country/property life) to be a family affair. We want to teach our children the process of buying and selling a home; the skills required to fix things up; the teamwork involved in moving; and managing the stress of lots to do, messes, unforeseen situations that might arise, wacky routines, etc. by showing patience and forgiveness as we love one another through the process.
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