Good Enough

I am a very good planner.  I love to make lists.  I’m even good at getting started on projects.  But, I am not always successful at finishing them.  Two things that come to mind in this area are my backyard and laundry.

Every spring, I see my backyard gardens (our landlady LOVES to garden) and I think, “This is the year.  I’m going to get all the weeds out and keep them out.”  I get started.  I’ve even made it around three of the four sides.  But without fail, the weeds come back before I can get all the way around and I feel defeated.  I give up.  August comes, and my backyard is overrun with morning glories and knee-high “volunteers”.  Bah.

Twice a week, I attempt to conquer the laundry in our house.  It’s my least favorite chore.  And so, when I’m done, I want to be all the way done.  (I’ve been known to tell my husband he has to put his clean pajamas on so I can wash the clothes he’s wearing.)  And yet, more often than not, the last load just doesn’t make it out of the dryer.  BAH!

Sometimes, these things make me feel like a failure.  And, truth be told, I am.  I fail miserably at all the tasks that I’m given.  I’ve never played the organ perfectly for church, I leave food on the counter over night, I forget to feed my kids (not for very long, as they are very good at whining when they’re hungry), and I don’t always respect my husband the way he deserves.

 I am thankful, though, that God helps me see my failures.  If I didn’t see them, I would start to think that I don’t need him.  God uses my failures to show me how much I need his perfections.  Here’s the stark contrast:  where I am all too often quite willing to say, “I give up!  That’s good enough,” God kept going until he could say, “It is finished.”

Last Wednesday, a miracle occurred in our house.  I got all of the laundry done in one day.  Of course, the next morning there was already more laundry to be done.  And don’t hold your breath for my backyard, either.  But, I know that for all my miserable failures, God came to my rescue!

Homesick

I’ve been homesick lately.  For all of you who know where I’m from (Minnesota), know what the weather is like there right now (snowy and cold), know where I live now (northern Virginia) and know what a wonderful spring we’ve been having, you may find that odd.  But, yes, my frozen friends and family, I miss you enough that, if I could, I would be right there with you, sludging through the endless winter you’re having.

There’s just something about being close to the ones you love, isn’t there?  Knowing that they’re there for you, no matter what the weather, outside or in your life, makes you feel special, loved and important.

Today, I was homesick for my church family.  My husband and I took our three kids to the church where our eldest son attends preschool.  We are quite pleased with the school—he is in a Christian environment, learning about God every day.  We appreciate his teachers—they are dedicated to serving their Lord and his little lambs.  Today, we enjoyed listening to the preschoolers sing praises to Jesus in church.  And we were welcomed by very caring Christians into their church.

But, as much as we like all those things, it still wasn’t home.  I missed praising God with my brothers and sisters in Christ who I’ve shared my life with.  They have been my family away from Minnesota for almost six years now.  They have rejoiced with me over the births of my three blessings from God.  They have encouraged me when I’ve struggled as a mom or a wife or a Christian.  And they’ve shared their personal blessings and struggles with me.

As we drove home after church today, my husband and I discussed what a blessing our church family is.  Today we heard God’s word read from the Bible and we heard the Pastor’s message encouraging us to take comfort in our Good Shepherd.  And yet, we missed confessing our sins to God and being assured of his forgiveness.  We realized how truly blessed we are to be part of a church family that realizes the importance of all of God’s word—that the gospel is not powerful without the law.

I pray that you had a blessed Sunday in the Lord.  I pray that you may enjoy the blessings of your family and friends, wherever they may be.  And I pray that you have opportunity to appreciate the blessings of your church family.

New Glasses

A couple months ago, as I was “risking it all” (read: taking a shower while my kids were awake), I heard my daughter say, “I didn’t mean to, Mommy.”  As I emerged from the shower, my trepidation was confirmed.  My daughter held in her hand my broken glasses.

Now, my prescription was almost two years old, my lenses were scratched, and I had been planning on going in for an eye exam soon.  However, she forced the issue, and in a big way.  For me, eye exams and new glasses and contacts run about $500.00, and my husband and I had just had to make a major car repair.

All these things were running through my mind as I was trying to decide how to react to my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.  As I looked over at her, not quite sure how to express my frustration and disappointment, she climbed off the toilet and ran into my bedroom.  Curious, I followed her.  She reached onto my dresser and grabbed…my glasses repair kit.  “Here, Mommy, I’ll help you fix them.  You can do it.”  She realized, without me saying anything, that she had done something big, something that needed to be fixed immediately.

This situation has had me thinking.  Life for us as sinners is like that quite a lot.  We do something, something big, that needs to be fixed right away.  And we say, “Here, God, let me help you fix it.”  And so we try to make amends for whatever action we have taken.  And we keep trying and doing, wanting the guilt to go away.  And yet, it doesn’t.  So, what are we to do?

The truth is, there really isn’t anything that we can do.  God has done it all for us.  He forgives us and completely blots out the memory, the stain, of our sin.  Instead of trying to fix our problems, we need to let God wipe them away.

For my birthday, two days after my daughter broke my glasses, I got to spend $500 on new glasses and contacts.  And, for the last two months, my daughter has occasionally looked at me and said, “Mamma, you have new glasses.  Why?”  When I respond by asking, “Why do I have new glasses?” she looks at me and says, “I broke your old ones.  I’m sorry, Mamma.”  I always assure her that I have forgiven her, and Jesus has, too.  And while I don’t want her to break my glasses again, I pray that she is able to let go of her sin and trust that I won’t remember her sin forever.

Top ten reasons moms should never attempt to shower*

10.  Water gets all over the floor when your two-year-old decides to play peek-a-boo with you.

9.  Someone always knocks on the door just as you’re stepping out.

8. Your two-year-old reports to you, mid-shower, “Mom, I said sorry to the baby after I hit him with the golf club.” (Don’t worry, it was a plastic golf club.)

7. Your three-year-old parades in as you step out covered in makeup from head to toe.

6. You are going so fast (to prevent any major catastrophe) that you forget to shave one of your legs.

5. Cheerios.  Everywhere.

4. You emerge to find all three of your children in the baby’s crib.  And none were in the crib when you got in.

3. Your helpful four-year-old brings reaches your phone into the shower, saying, “Mom, it’s Grandma!”

2.  “Mom, the baby is stuck in the wall!”

1. Not showering makes it easier for your child to say, “Mom, I thought I lost you.  But then I sniffed you out with my nose, like a dog.”

*Author’s Note:  I cannot take credit for all of these.  However, I have heard all of them said.

Shine Like Stars

When I was young I learned the song, “This Little Light of Mine.”  Now that I have kids, I’ve been teaching it to them, too.  It’s a good reminder to us to let our lights shine to those around us.

But, do you ever wonder what that means?  How can I let my light shine to my friends, neighbors and even to strangers.  I know there are many excellent suggestions out there, but I stumbled across one this past week as I was reading Philippians.  Ironically, it was in the section that is headed Shining as Stars in my CSSB.  In verse 14 of chapter 2, Paul writes, “Do everything without complaining or arguing…”  In the past, I’ve been so focused on the “shine like stars” part that I miss the command Paul gives. 

Isn’t it easy for us to get wrapped up in the world’s self-pity party?  We want to say, “Feel sorry for me, I’ve got it so bad.”  In reality, though, we always have many, many blessings!  And when we resist the temptation to complain, we can let our light shine to those around us.

As a family, we had the chance to practice recently.  On the way to the beach during spring break, our van broke down necessitating a tow and costly repair.  We could have been upset over the time we lost or the money we had to spend unexpectedly.  Instead, we tried to find the positives.  First, we were at a rest area when our van broke down, so we weren’t in danger from highway traffic.  Second, we got to ride in our van on a flatbed tow truck—every kid’s dream!  Third, we found the small-town gas station with the AWESOME coffee we had thought we had lost.  I could keep going about all the blessings we discovered as we waited for our van to be fixed, but I think you get the idea.  It’s all a matter of perspective.

And that perspective is JESUS.  He lived, suffered and died for us.  How can we do any less than to shine like stars for him?