Monday, December 14, 2020
Sunday, February 3, 2019
I am Supermom
You are incredible!
Kudos to you!
Wow 8 kids? You deserve a medal!
You must have so much patience!
I could never do it. Good for you!
These are all comments I hear from total strangers everywhere I go. But the one I hear most is:
"Wow, you are a super mom!"
Why is it at first glance I appear to be a super mom. Is it the smile I share with others when I meet them? Is it the fact that my children are polite in public? Is it just such an oddity that one would have so many kids that they automatically must have super powers?
To be honest, the last thing a mother of 8 feels like is a super hero. Unless its referring to a scene such as when Samson is in his weakest moment, consumed by humility and failure that in his last breath he calls out to God and destroys the wicked people with his last ounce of strength, pulling the palace balcony down upon himself. Or perhaps a hero people are more familiar with when Superman flies into the centre of the sun, absorbing all its energy in exchange for his own, in order to stop it from exploding and destroying the galaxy, saving those who are for, and against him and finally...dying for them.
That is the kind of super hero this mother of 8 feels like. Weak. Lost. Alone. Shamed. But there is hope within this winding path of motherhood. Like Samson, I feel like I'm seeking that 'one last ounce of strength' constantly from the Lord. I basically live on that one last ounce of strength. And then the next 'one last ounce of strength' and then the next and then the next and the next. This mother's tank is never full. I stop at the gas station every day. And maybe that's the way it's supposed to be during this time of chaos and uncertainty.
As I'm writing this, the most important story of all comes to mind. When my Lord was put on the cross by his own children. His past, present, and future children. With our sins. We betrayed him. Sent him off alone to die for something he never did. What is the image of christ you see when you think about his last moments alive on earth? Weak. He was beaten, whipped, crushed, pierced. Lost. He came to a world where his own people didnt accept him. Cried out to God "why have you forsaken me?". Alone. He hung there alone. Carrying the burden by himself. Shamed. Mocked, spit at, cursed. No other could have done what he did. What a man for a mother to walk in the footsteps of. Our own Lord and God did it first. Felt the same feeling we do as mothers. Of course in a much grander way. He is the father of billions. And in 1 moment in time, carried all of our hurts, struggles, curses, and tempertsntrums the way a mother ought to. Never putting herself above them.
I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Even if right now it's just a top up day by day. I dont think He will let me run dry. A deer may run all day through the woods in hopes of finding a stream. Exhasted, he finally arrives and the stream he had been longing for all day. Quenched with thirst, the deer drinks. As the deer thirsts, so I thirst for the water God gives me. I make it to his stream every day and then run the race again. And again. And again.
He is my super power. I have none by myself.
When people ask me "how do you do it?" My answer is always the same. "Its only because of Jesus."
Kudos to you!
Wow 8 kids? You deserve a medal!
You must have so much patience!
I could never do it. Good for you!
These are all comments I hear from total strangers everywhere I go. But the one I hear most is:
"Wow, you are a super mom!"
Why is it at first glance I appear to be a super mom. Is it the smile I share with others when I meet them? Is it the fact that my children are polite in public? Is it just such an oddity that one would have so many kids that they automatically must have super powers?
To be honest, the last thing a mother of 8 feels like is a super hero. Unless its referring to a scene such as when Samson is in his weakest moment, consumed by humility and failure that in his last breath he calls out to God and destroys the wicked people with his last ounce of strength, pulling the palace balcony down upon himself. Or perhaps a hero people are more familiar with when Superman flies into the centre of the sun, absorbing all its energy in exchange for his own, in order to stop it from exploding and destroying the galaxy, saving those who are for, and against him and finally...dying for them.
That is the kind of super hero this mother of 8 feels like. Weak. Lost. Alone. Shamed. But there is hope within this winding path of motherhood. Like Samson, I feel like I'm seeking that 'one last ounce of strength' constantly from the Lord. I basically live on that one last ounce of strength. And then the next 'one last ounce of strength' and then the next and then the next and the next. This mother's tank is never full. I stop at the gas station every day. And maybe that's the way it's supposed to be during this time of chaos and uncertainty.
As I'm writing this, the most important story of all comes to mind. When my Lord was put on the cross by his own children. His past, present, and future children. With our sins. We betrayed him. Sent him off alone to die for something he never did. What is the image of christ you see when you think about his last moments alive on earth? Weak. He was beaten, whipped, crushed, pierced. Lost. He came to a world where his own people didnt accept him. Cried out to God "why have you forsaken me?". Alone. He hung there alone. Carrying the burden by himself. Shamed. Mocked, spit at, cursed. No other could have done what he did. What a man for a mother to walk in the footsteps of. Our own Lord and God did it first. Felt the same feeling we do as mothers. Of course in a much grander way. He is the father of billions. And in 1 moment in time, carried all of our hurts, struggles, curses, and tempertsntrums the way a mother ought to. Never putting herself above them.
I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Even if right now it's just a top up day by day. I dont think He will let me run dry. A deer may run all day through the woods in hopes of finding a stream. Exhasted, he finally arrives and the stream he had been longing for all day. Quenched with thirst, the deer drinks. As the deer thirsts, so I thirst for the water God gives me. I make it to his stream every day and then run the race again. And again. And again.
He is my super power. I have none by myself.
When people ask me "how do you do it?" My answer is always the same. "Its only because of Jesus."
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
What Child is This
Dec 6. It comes but once a year. It's a day of remembrance in our family. The focal point of our lives being a husband, a wife, a child, and a Christian. For most of us it is a solemn day. A day with tears and short laughs of remembrance. A day with lots of pictures looked at and a day of refection on the worth of any given life.
I can't believe it's been 9 years. Almost a decade since loosing Ellie. It feels like a lifetime away. Like we were living in a completely different time all those years ago. I remember flashes of the day it happened but I can't feel it anymore. I don't remember the physical pain I felt in my body after loosing her but I remember the memory of the pain. It was as if a part of me broke. It was hard to breath at times. It was hard to even stand at times. Everywhere hurt.
The night she died God did a miraculous thing. Though I felt broken all over physically, my spirit started to revive. My desire for God grew. My desire for my husband and children grew. My need to share the gospel exploded out of me. I had never been so bold in my life, to be able to share the Lord with so many people without hesitation. Every person I met for quite some time after Ellie's death lead to a conversation about life. Ellie made me bold and courageous. She reset my soul on fire for the Lord and His gospel was being shared everywhere I went.
What a child! That she could touch so many people without even knowing. That she could bring people to know the Lord through her short life is a miracle to me.
I've been pondering these things for a little while now leading up to the anniversary of her death. Thinking about the wonderful things that came from the beauty of her life and I couldn't help but think about another baby. Another baby far more precious than mine. A baby who fulfilled the desire of the word to be saved from condemnation. A baby who left the heavenly places of perfection to be part of this world of sin to love on us, comfort us, laugh with us, cry with us. To walk with us and teach us. Those things in themselves are amazing but the best part is, he went to the cross without a word. The world yearned for someone to save them and so that's what he did. He bore the cross and the crown of thorns. He bore the brutal whippings on his back and the nails that were driven through his hands and feet. And finally with his last breaths he bore the sin of the whole world. The Earth itself shook with the pain of the Saviour and the sun ceased to shine in sadness. And we fell down and acknowledged he really was the son of God. The Saviour of all those drawn to him.
I am so proud of my daughter, Immanuelle Silk Willis (Ellie). Though she could not speak or walk or do anything for herself, she accomplished the great commission. She brought so many to the Lord or at least got them asking hard questions. I love her so much. I wish she was here with us. I wish I could see her beautiful face that is still clear in my mind. And see her smile smack open when she was overjoyed at the sight of her loved ones. I wish I could hear her cry again and hold her a little longer when she wanted me too. But she's on the better side now. She's fulfilled the purpose God set out for her and she did an amazing job.
This saying has always baffled me, as if we can have multiple hearts but there's no way else to describe that I love Ellie with all my heart. And in the words of 4 year old Jenny "thank you God, that she could live so long."
I pray that I would continue to be courageous the way I was when she left us all the way until the time I leave this world to be with the Lord. I pray her life would continue to do the work of the Lord and bring people closer to him. I pray for those who read this that your passion would be ignited this Christmas season and go out boldly making disciples of all nations. Remember the baby who saved us. He is far more precious than we can ever imagine.
Matthew 28:16-20
I can't believe it's been 9 years. Almost a decade since loosing Ellie. It feels like a lifetime away. Like we were living in a completely different time all those years ago. I remember flashes of the day it happened but I can't feel it anymore. I don't remember the physical pain I felt in my body after loosing her but I remember the memory of the pain. It was as if a part of me broke. It was hard to breath at times. It was hard to even stand at times. Everywhere hurt.
The night she died God did a miraculous thing. Though I felt broken all over physically, my spirit started to revive. My desire for God grew. My desire for my husband and children grew. My need to share the gospel exploded out of me. I had never been so bold in my life, to be able to share the Lord with so many people without hesitation. Every person I met for quite some time after Ellie's death lead to a conversation about life. Ellie made me bold and courageous. She reset my soul on fire for the Lord and His gospel was being shared everywhere I went.
What a child! That she could touch so many people without even knowing. That she could bring people to know the Lord through her short life is a miracle to me.
I've been pondering these things for a little while now leading up to the anniversary of her death. Thinking about the wonderful things that came from the beauty of her life and I couldn't help but think about another baby. Another baby far more precious than mine. A baby who fulfilled the desire of the word to be saved from condemnation. A baby who left the heavenly places of perfection to be part of this world of sin to love on us, comfort us, laugh with us, cry with us. To walk with us and teach us. Those things in themselves are amazing but the best part is, he went to the cross without a word. The world yearned for someone to save them and so that's what he did. He bore the cross and the crown of thorns. He bore the brutal whippings on his back and the nails that were driven through his hands and feet. And finally with his last breaths he bore the sin of the whole world. The Earth itself shook with the pain of the Saviour and the sun ceased to shine in sadness. And we fell down and acknowledged he really was the son of God. The Saviour of all those drawn to him.
I am so proud of my daughter, Immanuelle Silk Willis (Ellie). Though she could not speak or walk or do anything for herself, she accomplished the great commission. She brought so many to the Lord or at least got them asking hard questions. I love her so much. I wish she was here with us. I wish I could see her beautiful face that is still clear in my mind. And see her smile smack open when she was overjoyed at the sight of her loved ones. I wish I could hear her cry again and hold her a little longer when she wanted me too. But she's on the better side now. She's fulfilled the purpose God set out for her and she did an amazing job.
This saying has always baffled me, as if we can have multiple hearts but there's no way else to describe that I love Ellie with all my heart. And in the words of 4 year old Jenny "thank you God, that she could live so long."
I pray that I would continue to be courageous the way I was when she left us all the way until the time I leave this world to be with the Lord. I pray her life would continue to do the work of the Lord and bring people closer to him. I pray for those who read this that your passion would be ignited this Christmas season and go out boldly making disciples of all nations. Remember the baby who saved us. He is far more precious than we can ever imagine.
Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Happy Mothers Day
Someone who I have certainly unappreciated over the years is my very own mother. We have had our ups and downs however it seems the downs have blinded me a great deal over the years to all the good she has done for me but also throughout her entire life.
This past weekend I got to road trip with her to Toronto. We've done this before and it's always enjoyable but as we passed buildings that were familiar to her she started telling stories of her childhood. Fond memories of her siblings, parents, places where she grew up. I saw how happy she was telling me all about these memories so I literally grilled her for half the trip home on anything and everything. I told her "I need to start writing these things down" with the hope of writing something about her to honour her in the things she has done over the course of almost 60 years of life.
My mother has always given it her all. In everything that she has done. That is what was so fascinating to me as I heard all about her life. One of my favourites was a story she told about when she was about 14 years old. She had borrowed her uncles bike to enter a huge bike race. 33 miles I believe. She was the only female to enter the race. That didn't stop her. She didn't care that she was the only girl among men. She finished dead last....but she completed it. What courage.
Her dad bought each one of the kids a ticket for a draw once, to win a big kid bike. 28 inch wheels. SHE WON! She ran back to the park in her baby doll PJ's to collect her prize. Didn't even take the time to change before racing out to claim her prize.
Age 18 she entered a crocheted afcan into the huge fair in Toronto. "The little old ladies got ousted by a young whipper snapper!" She said. This was her first crochet project!
When she was a kid she and her sister Kathy collected the bread wrappers off the toast master bread. They didn't just collect 10 wrappers that they could have used to purchase a small gift. No! They collected for an entire year and won themselves a box of cinnamon buns. She got to eat one for dinner.
She competed in fiddle competitions into adulthood, many times claiming the prize and even competed in the North American Fiddle Championships. Once she won 2 rolls of wall paper. Now that's not a prize you see being given out anymore. Her dad wallpapered the stair way with it. :)
My mom worked in nursing homes as a profession for most of her pre child adulthood. She put everything into it! She came up with a program that was soon being recognized in all sorts of districts to help non moving residents gain more movement. She'd travel around teaching this to nursing home staff. She wanted the best for the residents she worked for.
She has been part of the Kiwanis groups fundraising for cystic fibrosis.
My mom is an avid quilt maker. So much that she has had dozens of quilts ready at the asking to give away to different charities. She has guessed she has given away over 42 quilts. Do you know how long it takes to make a quilt? Not to mention the countless quilts as gifts she has made. We alone as a family have received 6 or 7 quilts from her.
My mom used to work as a travel agent. Like I told you before, she put EVERYTHING into what she did. She has been rewarded throughout her life because of this. She saw many rewards through being, at times, in the top 30 agents in North America, that she has traveled all over the world. She named at least 30 countries she has been to on account of winning trip because of her hard work and earning them.
She has done countless amount of hours raising money for women's shelters in this area and across Canada. Just last year she raised, single handedly, $7200 for Nelson House. People sometimes ask me "is your mom retired?" The answer is always a long "NOOOhohohoooo". I'm not sure she will ever be retired. Even if she's done work she will always be doing the good work of the Lord.
The last thing we talked about on our drive home was how she came about to be elected as 1 of 12 members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. There are 3000 agents in this area and the board picked her to become the next board member. No one stood against that decision. What an honour. And all because of hard work!
My mom sets the example of hard work. When I look at her I see the Provers 31 woman. She doesn't do the same things as the lady in scripture but she certainly works just as hard in many other ways.
I am so proud of my mother. I can't wait to share this blog post with all who know her and all who know me!
Love you Moooooooder.
This past weekend I got to road trip with her to Toronto. We've done this before and it's always enjoyable but as we passed buildings that were familiar to her she started telling stories of her childhood. Fond memories of her siblings, parents, places where she grew up. I saw how happy she was telling me all about these memories so I literally grilled her for half the trip home on anything and everything. I told her "I need to start writing these things down" with the hope of writing something about her to honour her in the things she has done over the course of almost 60 years of life.
My mother has always given it her all. In everything that she has done. That is what was so fascinating to me as I heard all about her life. One of my favourites was a story she told about when she was about 14 years old. She had borrowed her uncles bike to enter a huge bike race. 33 miles I believe. She was the only female to enter the race. That didn't stop her. She didn't care that she was the only girl among men. She finished dead last....but she completed it. What courage.
Her dad bought each one of the kids a ticket for a draw once, to win a big kid bike. 28 inch wheels. SHE WON! She ran back to the park in her baby doll PJ's to collect her prize. Didn't even take the time to change before racing out to claim her prize.
Age 18 she entered a crocheted afcan into the huge fair in Toronto. "The little old ladies got ousted by a young whipper snapper!" She said. This was her first crochet project!
When she was a kid she and her sister Kathy collected the bread wrappers off the toast master bread. They didn't just collect 10 wrappers that they could have used to purchase a small gift. No! They collected for an entire year and won themselves a box of cinnamon buns. She got to eat one for dinner.
She competed in fiddle competitions into adulthood, many times claiming the prize and even competed in the North American Fiddle Championships. Once she won 2 rolls of wall paper. Now that's not a prize you see being given out anymore. Her dad wallpapered the stair way with it. :)
My mom worked in nursing homes as a profession for most of her pre child adulthood. She put everything into it! She came up with a program that was soon being recognized in all sorts of districts to help non moving residents gain more movement. She'd travel around teaching this to nursing home staff. She wanted the best for the residents she worked for.
She has been part of the Kiwanis groups fundraising for cystic fibrosis.
My mom is an avid quilt maker. So much that she has had dozens of quilts ready at the asking to give away to different charities. She has guessed she has given away over 42 quilts. Do you know how long it takes to make a quilt? Not to mention the countless quilts as gifts she has made. We alone as a family have received 6 or 7 quilts from her.
My mom used to work as a travel agent. Like I told you before, she put EVERYTHING into what she did. She has been rewarded throughout her life because of this. She saw many rewards through being, at times, in the top 30 agents in North America, that she has traveled all over the world. She named at least 30 countries she has been to on account of winning trip because of her hard work and earning them.
She has done countless amount of hours raising money for women's shelters in this area and across Canada. Just last year she raised, single handedly, $7200 for Nelson House. People sometimes ask me "is your mom retired?" The answer is always a long "NOOOhohohoooo". I'm not sure she will ever be retired. Even if she's done work she will always be doing the good work of the Lord.
The last thing we talked about on our drive home was how she came about to be elected as 1 of 12 members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. There are 3000 agents in this area and the board picked her to become the next board member. No one stood against that decision. What an honour. And all because of hard work!
My mom sets the example of hard work. When I look at her I see the Provers 31 woman. She doesn't do the same things as the lady in scripture but she certainly works just as hard in many other ways.
I am so proud of my mother. I can't wait to share this blog post with all who know her and all who know me!
Love you Moooooooder.
Sunday, January 24, 2016
Developing a Love for Birthing Pains
I love labour.
Some of you women right away will say "she's crazy!" I've heard it so many times. I've had looks of wonder and disbelief when I tell people I love labour days. For me it's a day of pampering from my family, awesome food and in the end I get to lounge in bed for at least a day. Doesn't every woman want to be pampered like she's the most important person in the world? Or eat whatever she wants? Or get to lie in bed for hours without interruption being served breakfast lunch and dinner in bed?
Those are all sweet things but they are not actually the true highlight of labour and delivery for me. What I love most about it all is the excruciating pain brought about bringing new life into this world.
"okay now she really is crazy".....keep reading.
In the beginning God created everything and it was good. In summary. And then the people God made, who represent all of humanity, who act as every one of our representatives, broke a promise they made to their maker ("no we will not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil") and as any good father would do, he gave them the discipline they needed. He told man he would toil in his work and he told woman her pain in child bearing would increase greatly. So what? I love the curse? No. I love the promise. Mankind is cursed until the day when we are reunited with God in heaven. How is the curse broken? Through the sacrifice of Jesus. Who took our place on the cross, sent our sins to their father in Hell, was raised from the dead, perfect and blameless and stands before our father in heaven just for us so that we may stand before God in the same way. Perfect and blameless in his sight.
Some of you women right away will say "she's crazy!" I've heard it so many times. I've had looks of wonder and disbelief when I tell people I love labour days. For me it's a day of pampering from my family, awesome food and in the end I get to lounge in bed for at least a day. Doesn't every woman want to be pampered like she's the most important person in the world? Or eat whatever she wants? Or get to lie in bed for hours without interruption being served breakfast lunch and dinner in bed?
Those are all sweet things but they are not actually the true highlight of labour and delivery for me. What I love most about it all is the excruciating pain brought about bringing new life into this world.
"okay now she really is crazy".....keep reading.
In the beginning God created everything and it was good. In summary. And then the people God made, who represent all of humanity, who act as every one of our representatives, broke a promise they made to their maker ("no we will not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil") and as any good father would do, he gave them the discipline they needed. He told man he would toil in his work and he told woman her pain in child bearing would increase greatly. So what? I love the curse? No. I love the promise. Mankind is cursed until the day when we are reunited with God in heaven. How is the curse broken? Through the sacrifice of Jesus. Who took our place on the cross, sent our sins to their father in Hell, was raised from the dead, perfect and blameless and stands before our father in heaven just for us so that we may stand before God in the same way. Perfect and blameless in his sight.
Romans 6:3-11 says that we died on the cross with Jesus:
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We toil through pregnancy and sometimes we get to the end and wish it to be over and done with; we are so tired of being tired. and then labour hits. It comes out of nowhere. We women know that we are pushed to the point where we don't know how we are going to make it through the next contraction. How could this pain get any worse. And then it does. And it gets even worse and still gets even worse before it's over. And then all at once, with one final push of exasperation your body is limp, you lie back, close your eyes and hear the cry of the new life you were waiting for. Nothing matters anymore. You have received the prize.
Here is the beautiful parallel that I get teary eyed thinking about. I have been tired of sin. Have you? Thinking I'm so tired of making the same mistake over and over again? Just like our tiredness by the end of pregnancy. Then comes labour itself. The sacrifice. JESUS. Without a sacrifice, we can not stand before God our Father. He can't dwell with sin. Labour is like what life would be like without God. Hopeless. Painful. Longing for it to be over but it still gets worse. No end in sight. Despair. Only it doesn't end. And finally after a life of struggling through sin and being separated from God we receive his salvation. Just like when our baby is finally here. Nothing else matters except the new life God has given us.
It's a small picture. But I am grateful for the examples God gives us of his salvation through worldly experience. I can't wait to experience salvation to God's degree. What about you?
Friday, September 25, 2015
The Importance of older women to the younger.
I look forward to being an older woman. Getting old has never frightened me or gotten me down. It means that with every year that passes more opportunity arises for me to mentor a younger woman. Titus 2:3-5 outlines the joy I look forward to: Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. At this point I don't have much I can offer a younger married woman with children since I'm in the same boat with many little children and not many big ones. But what I can say is at this time of life and many years preceding this point, an older woman is and can always be appreciated.
In this individualistic society we live in today I believe there may be a lack of courage in this area. I say this only because when ever this has come up in conversation I have with older woman the reply is almost always "I'm not sure how to start." or "I don't know if they would appreciate my advice." or "I wouldn't want to offend someone if they don't wish to hear my advice." or, the biggest one is "I have nothing of worth to share. I have made so many mistakes." Perhaps the best way to teach us is through your mistakes.
Conversely, I have discussed the same topic with younger women wondering if they have or would like a mentor. Older women who are reading this, please read this part very carefully: Every young Christian woman I speak to about this has the very same longing as I do: to be brought up in the faith and desire to learn better how to love their husbands and children.
Over the years I have had women speak into my life. There have been times of much fruit given to me personally by other women and I have also experience great famine in that way as well. But I can tell you for every moment I have of an older, wiser woman in the faith is such a cherished blessing to me. I'm not sure you older women know just how much your life experience, good or bad, are worth. I want you all to know that you are such a gift to us younger women. But we need you to raise us up! We need to learn better how to love our husbands. We need to learn how to love our children more. If there is someone in the stage of life preceding yours in your reach, you are able to fulfill this great calling.
Help ladies. I speak for all the ladies who say any of these words:
Why doesn't my husband understand?
I seem to lack joy throughout the day.
We're fighting so much.
Why doesn't my husband want to spend more time with me?
Why can't I just teach my child to be ______?
I've tried a million things and they still don't get along?
They whine, they scream, they don't listen etc. etc.
I love you all so very dearly my older friends. I hope this message was a refreshing blessing and if you are a younger women, feel free to comment in agreement :)
In this individualistic society we live in today I believe there may be a lack of courage in this area. I say this only because when ever this has come up in conversation I have with older woman the reply is almost always "I'm not sure how to start." or "I don't know if they would appreciate my advice." or "I wouldn't want to offend someone if they don't wish to hear my advice." or, the biggest one is "I have nothing of worth to share. I have made so many mistakes." Perhaps the best way to teach us is through your mistakes.
Conversely, I have discussed the same topic with younger women wondering if they have or would like a mentor. Older women who are reading this, please read this part very carefully: Every young Christian woman I speak to about this has the very same longing as I do: to be brought up in the faith and desire to learn better how to love their husbands and children.
Over the years I have had women speak into my life. There have been times of much fruit given to me personally by other women and I have also experience great famine in that way as well. But I can tell you for every moment I have of an older, wiser woman in the faith is such a cherished blessing to me. I'm not sure you older women know just how much your life experience, good or bad, are worth. I want you all to know that you are such a gift to us younger women. But we need you to raise us up! We need to learn better how to love our husbands. We need to learn how to love our children more. If there is someone in the stage of life preceding yours in your reach, you are able to fulfill this great calling.
Help ladies. I speak for all the ladies who say any of these words:
Why doesn't my husband understand?
I seem to lack joy throughout the day.
We're fighting so much.
Why doesn't my husband want to spend more time with me?
Why can't I just teach my child to be ______?
I've tried a million things and they still don't get along?
They whine, they scream, they don't listen etc. etc.
I love you all so very dearly my older friends. I hope this message was a refreshing blessing and if you are a younger women, feel free to comment in agreement :)
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Get Out of That Well
I'm on a mountain top.
I am not writing this to make you feel even deeper in a pit if you are in one but to encourage you that if you keep reaching out in what feels like pitch black darkness eventually you will find the rope God has thrown down to you. If you are standing up in the bright sunshine with the Lord look around. There might be a well with a rope thrown in. Grab on and pull you brothers and sisters out of there. You're either in the well, at the bottom on your knees, reaching out or climbing up OR you are out of the well in awe of your Lord.
People ask me often how I have been doing since the big day in February when I nearly met my maker. To tell you the truth had God's will gone the other way I would have been happier than I could have imagined shortly before this trip. I could have been in eternity with my Lord and saviour, brother, Father and friend. I can't wait to see Jesus face to face. Like a bride on her wedding day standing before her bridegroom. Her veil lifted and they embrace with eager anticipation of the life that is about to be had. Oh how I long for that day when I meet him.
But I am still here. And for that I am not sad to stay. I am forever grateful to Him that he is willing to wait for me until I am not needed here anymore. I feel the embrace of my husband throughout the day and see the kind eyes of my children gaze up at me and I wonder at this.
James has always been my go-to book when there are hard trials coming my way or in my way. And I always come out strengthened by it. In my life Joy has always been the thing I have craved and longed for. I was incredibly sad in my teen years, entered into motherhood early only to find more sadness out of lack of confidence, have felt distant from God intermittently throughout my walk with Him, have struggled hard with my husband (as is normal), have longed sinfully for times in my life that were more fruitful and fulfilling, and even fell into despair not too long ago. Joy is what I have been longing for all of my life. So everytime I feel this way I turn to James and read through it. Often several times. And every time the same message pops out: Trials are joy. Testing makes you persevere. Perseverance leads to perfection and completion in Christ. Trials are joy. Trials are joy. That's James 1:2 for you. The same message comes up in 1John 4:12 too.
As a Christian, we should never fall into despair. It's easy to throw that word around though isn't it. Recently we had a girls Anne of Green Gables marathon and Anne would throw this word around flippantly, "I'm in the depths of despair." This isn't a true depiction of this word. Despair is not being with God anymore. Having no hope. I remember in recent months weeping on the floor many times feeling like I was truly in the depths of despair. I felt that if I were to die at this moment I would suffer for eternity in Hell and the mere thought of this drove me lower and lower. I was face down on the bottom of a deep dark well with no hope or thought of a rope. God wasn't going to throw me one and no one else was picking me up.
It was all a fallacy. I can see that very clearly now that I am standing upright. God loves me. He did not abandon me. I abandoned him. I continued in my prayer and study during this time but decided God was never going to help me.
Lies
Lies
Lies
James 1:13 tells us he does not tempt us. God wasn't tempting me to turn from him. James 4:4 says when we love the world God becomes jealous of the spirit which he put in us. I was succombing to the sin in my life and he was jealous for my spirit. James 4:7 tells us to resist Satan and he will flee. Come near to God and he will come near to you. I wasn't resisting the lies Satan was fusing deep into my soul. How could I come closer to God? After this, in James 4:9 he goes on to tell us "grieve, mourn, and wail, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. HE WILL LIFT YOU UP...out of that well. You won't even need the rope. He'll scrape your limp weeping body up off the ground and place you up in the sunshine. That is how I got out. That's what it took to get out of the depth of despair.
Life is full of trials. Peter reassures us of this in 1 Pet 1:6-7. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith...may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
But the point of these trials should technically result in praise, glory and honour to Jesus. That is a genuine faith. Isn't that what we want? To have a genuine faith in Jesus? To give Him glory, honour, power, praise? Then we should endure our trials joyfully. But this doesn't mean put a smile on your face when your dog dies because you are supposed to supposed to be joyful. It means get your focus right. You should feel a peace in your heart when you're joyful in your suffering. This is persevering.
For those on the mountaintop or just out of the well in the sunshine: You know this truth. You know that trial you just went through crafted you a little more into your true self coming closer to God. So it's your duty to help your brothers and sisters out. The end of Jude says Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
Lord thank you for the trials I have faced. Especially this last one. I love you more than life and although I can wait to see you I am really looking forward to you.
I am not writing this to make you feel even deeper in a pit if you are in one but to encourage you that if you keep reaching out in what feels like pitch black darkness eventually you will find the rope God has thrown down to you. If you are standing up in the bright sunshine with the Lord look around. There might be a well with a rope thrown in. Grab on and pull you brothers and sisters out of there. You're either in the well, at the bottom on your knees, reaching out or climbing up OR you are out of the well in awe of your Lord.
People ask me often how I have been doing since the big day in February when I nearly met my maker. To tell you the truth had God's will gone the other way I would have been happier than I could have imagined shortly before this trip. I could have been in eternity with my Lord and saviour, brother, Father and friend. I can't wait to see Jesus face to face. Like a bride on her wedding day standing before her bridegroom. Her veil lifted and they embrace with eager anticipation of the life that is about to be had. Oh how I long for that day when I meet him.
But I am still here. And for that I am not sad to stay. I am forever grateful to Him that he is willing to wait for me until I am not needed here anymore. I feel the embrace of my husband throughout the day and see the kind eyes of my children gaze up at me and I wonder at this.
James has always been my go-to book when there are hard trials coming my way or in my way. And I always come out strengthened by it. In my life Joy has always been the thing I have craved and longed for. I was incredibly sad in my teen years, entered into motherhood early only to find more sadness out of lack of confidence, have felt distant from God intermittently throughout my walk with Him, have struggled hard with my husband (as is normal), have longed sinfully for times in my life that were more fruitful and fulfilling, and even fell into despair not too long ago. Joy is what I have been longing for all of my life. So everytime I feel this way I turn to James and read through it. Often several times. And every time the same message pops out: Trials are joy. Testing makes you persevere. Perseverance leads to perfection and completion in Christ. Trials are joy. Trials are joy. That's James 1:2 for you. The same message comes up in 1John 4:12 too.
As a Christian, we should never fall into despair. It's easy to throw that word around though isn't it. Recently we had a girls Anne of Green Gables marathon and Anne would throw this word around flippantly, "I'm in the depths of despair." This isn't a true depiction of this word. Despair is not being with God anymore. Having no hope. I remember in recent months weeping on the floor many times feeling like I was truly in the depths of despair. I felt that if I were to die at this moment I would suffer for eternity in Hell and the mere thought of this drove me lower and lower. I was face down on the bottom of a deep dark well with no hope or thought of a rope. God wasn't going to throw me one and no one else was picking me up.
It was all a fallacy. I can see that very clearly now that I am standing upright. God loves me. He did not abandon me. I abandoned him. I continued in my prayer and study during this time but decided God was never going to help me.
Lies
Lies
Lies
James 1:13 tells us he does not tempt us. God wasn't tempting me to turn from him. James 4:4 says when we love the world God becomes jealous of the spirit which he put in us. I was succombing to the sin in my life and he was jealous for my spirit. James 4:7 tells us to resist Satan and he will flee. Come near to God and he will come near to you. I wasn't resisting the lies Satan was fusing deep into my soul. How could I come closer to God? After this, in James 4:9 he goes on to tell us "grieve, mourn, and wail, change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. HE WILL LIFT YOU UP...out of that well. You won't even need the rope. He'll scrape your limp weeping body up off the ground and place you up in the sunshine. That is how I got out. That's what it took to get out of the depth of despair.
Life is full of trials. Peter reassures us of this in 1 Pet 1:6-7. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith...may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
But the point of these trials should technically result in praise, glory and honour to Jesus. That is a genuine faith. Isn't that what we want? To have a genuine faith in Jesus? To give Him glory, honour, power, praise? Then we should endure our trials joyfully. But this doesn't mean put a smile on your face when your dog dies because you are supposed to supposed to be joyful. It means get your focus right. You should feel a peace in your heart when you're joyful in your suffering. This is persevering.
For those on the mountaintop or just out of the well in the sunshine: You know this truth. You know that trial you just went through crafted you a little more into your true self coming closer to God. So it's your duty to help your brothers and sisters out. The end of Jude says Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
Lord thank you for the trials I have faced. Especially this last one. I love you more than life and although I can wait to see you I am really looking forward to you.
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