A Mother's Reaction to the CT Tragady:

Proverbs 14:26
Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.

As a nation, it is safe to say that we are all carrying heavy hearts.  The tragic events of Friday, December 14th will not quickly be forgotten in our hearts nor erased from our minds.  The day when young, innocent life was brutally slain. Snatched from the hearts and stolen from the hands of loving parents...all in a blink of an eye.  

With those stolen lives, came the abrasive realization that we are not in control.  Maybe we never really were.

For mothers and fathers like myself, in an instant- a fear swept over us in grasping the truth that there is only so much we can do to protect our children.  Only so far we can hide them from the pain of this world.  Only so long we can cover their eyes, guard their ears, protect their hearts, and hold them close.  

I found myself carrying the sting of fear on December 14th.  Realizing that I had no control over the fate of my life and even darker still, no control over the fate of my children's life.  Yes, I can love them, hold them, and nurture them.  I can teach them, discipline them, and correct them.  I can guide them, lead them, and encourage them.  But at the end of the day...there is only so much that I can do.  The rest is completely out of my hands.

I found myself slipping into fear.  Drowning in it.  Gasping for breath.  Wondering how to live from here...

Then Jesus so graciously spoke these words into my aching heart,

"Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge."

I paused to soak in the reality of this truth.  

The reality is that as Christians, we have an amazing and eternal hope.  When we finally acknowledge that our children are out of our hands, we are opened to acknowledging that they are safely passed into His.  

Whether in this life or the next, those who give their children the fortress of the Lord have given them the greatest gift imaginable, here on earth and ever, ever, ever after.  

The Lord will be their refuge.  

When they face hard times...
When they feel afraid....
When no one else understands...
When they feel all alone...
When they don't know which way to turn...
When their parents have fallen short...
When they are standing before an important choice...
When they are confused, scared, and in need...

Parents, there is no greater gift to give our children.  There is no greater way to protect their little hearts.  There is no greater plan to keeping them safe...

Then to allow their safety to rest in the refuge of the God who knows them, loves, them, cares for them, and watches over them better than we ever can.  Better than we ever will.  

But it is our job to lead them to Him.  It is our job to model and exemplify his grace.  It is our job to introduce them to His love. It is our job to fear Him, to love Him, to honor Him, to trust Him...so that they can see, that they can believe, that they can live in such a way too.  So that they can find an eternal refuge. 

Here on earth, and forever...forever more.  

Oh Lord, may we know you so well, may we fear you so lovingly, may we love you so fearfully....so that our every breath brings our children one step closer into your loving, safe, and eternal arms. 





 

Day 3 to Contentment: Courage (Why Paul was NOT a Scaredy Cat)

Philippians 1:20

²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Courage.  That is the definite theme of day three of contentment: because it is courage that gives us the strength and power to move forward in times where the temptation is to cease, and it is courage that allows us to look ahead even when this moment is all that can be seen.

Paul was a man of courage.  Courage in his life, but even more so, courage in his death.  Courage that stemmed from the fact that this life was not the end of the road, but only just the beginning.  Courage that understood that though this world may fail him, there was a God who never would.  Courage that believed that the joys of this world were nothing in comparison to what was to come.  And that the suffering of this day would soon be drowned out by the beauty of the days to come. 

Because he always knew there was more to this life, Paul was able to really live.  Ironic, isn't it?  When you can see this life as just the journey toward the final destination, all of a sudden things look brighter.  All of a sudden you feel stronger.  All of a sudden the glimpse of the eternal erases the woes and worries of the temporal.  And you find yourself filled with an unexplainable strength.  Unfathomable joy.  Unexpected contentment.  

This is true courage.  The ability to live this life, content in the face of whatever comes our way...content because we see this life as but a moment in the scope of forever. 

May God grant us the ability to see past that which is temporal and look toward the eternal.  May He give us the grace to remember that this world really is not out home.  And may He give us the courage to live this life to its fullest- realizing that death is only the door to our final destination.

“Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee” -St. Augustine

Follow along on our journey to contentment: 

Day 1:  Confidence

Day 2: Competition

"The Everlasting Manna"- (Willy Wonka's Got Nothing on this One)

Exodus 16: 4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread [manna] from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

I was talking to a friend the other day who was discussing how incredible it has been watching God provide for her.  Every day- somehow and some way- she gets through.  Her days have been hard...dealing with some incredibly difficult things...yet, everyday God pours down the grace she needs for that day.

Maybe you, too, are going through a trying time in your life.  There may be moments, or even days when it seems like your body is ready to shut down and you wonder how you will make it through. 

What I find astonishing is that for many Christians...getting to that point in life brings with it a sense of shame and humiliation.  Christians somehow have believed the lie that we are supposed to be strong, smiling individuals 95% of the time.  As if God requires his children to be perfectly happy and strong every moment of every day. 

If you think about it, that is exactly the opposite of the truth.  What makes a Christian truly a Christian comes down to one basic thing: their need for a Savior.  This need doesn't end at the point of salvation- it begins there. 

All throughout scripture we are faced with men and women who are crying out to God every single day...crying for healing, crying for hope, crying for joy...and even crying out for food.  The bible talks again and again about a God who comes for the needy and the sick....a God who answers those who are broken and hopeless....a God whose strength is offered once our strength begins to run out. 

And that is where we should find ourselves day after day...crying out for our daily bread.  Crying out for our Savior.  There is something terribly wrong if you find yourself as a Christian with little need for God's intervention on a daily basis. 

But for the rest of you....rejoice.  Rejoice because the quantity of your needs will never supersede the quality of his desire to quench and fulfill your needs.  Every last one.  And He will always be just in time. 

You see, Heaven will be filled with needy people....people who have finally made their way to the ultimate fulfillment of their every need.  The one true source of everlasting manna.   

Inception Explained:

Ecclesiastes 3:11
[God] has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Movies like Inception tend to draw a huge crowd.  All in all there seems to be a growing trend of movies that are based on the concept of an alternate reality (Matrix, Memento, etc.).  We are drawn to the possibility of another existence, the chance that there is really something more than what we have come to know as our reality.

If you're anything like my husband and I, as much as these movies bring thrill and entertainment- there is a part of these concept that kind can of mess with a person.  There is a part of us so deep down that connects with these movies in such a significant way that it can be a little creepy at times.

As I was thinking about these things on the way home from watching this movie (which I, by the way, give two thumbs up) it struck me that there is a reason that so many of us enjoy these types of movies.  It made so much sense to me to consider the thrill that comes from considering an alternate reality when I realized that we were made for an alternate reality.  

Each one of us is created for something bigger than this earth can offer.  Each one of us was engineered in such a way that we must always long for something more, something greater than ourselves.  Each one of us, when we really slow down, finds ourselves groaning and aching for something or Someone on the outside to save us from our own realities.  Something to give us purpose and meaning.  Something to live for. 

The truth us, God has set eternity in our hearts.  God has set up for each one of us an alternate reality that we will reach someday, if we continue to follow the compass that He has placed within us.  It's no mistake that we find ourselves drawn into these concepts and ideas, because at the end of the day we were made for something more.  And at the end of the day....there exists something more.

The truth is, because of the the intense love God has for us, He longs to bring us in to His world...a world that we could have never found on our own.  A world where He promises no pain and no suffering.  A world where we will all be at peace with one another.  A world that our greatest imagination cannot even begin to fathom.  A world where we will be in the Presence of the embodiment of Love, and Joy, and Peace.  I don't know about you but I am looking forward to this alternate reality.


Movies like Inception just remind me that there is truly something more.  I'm following the compass of my heart to get there, and I hope you, too, choose to follow yours. 

For more information on life beyond this life: 
The Four Spiritual Laws
Let My People Think