Amazing Grace...

The husband came home from work the other day and asked me how my day had been. Now I know perfectly well that from the tone I was using, and the slightly heavy cupboard-door closing that was going on in the kitchen, that he could assess for himself how my day had been. And maybe that was what had even prompted him to ask.  

I proceeded to tell him my day had been rubbish and that I had been a rubbish mum. The husband deals very well with these slight over exaggerations of mine. Firstly he gives me a hug, because it's his love language. Secondly he asks the boys if they can think of any ways they may have caused 'fun mum' to turn into 'slightly crabby mum'. After they have said sorry, he then asks me if there is anything I need to repent of. And lastly he says "Grace". I'm usually slightly annoyed with him by this point. My pride doesn't want me to repent. And my self pity wants me to wallow and write the whole day off.

However the husband is right. And he's right because he understands Grace. He has read up on it and he has listened to Terry Virgo's four talks on it. http://kingschurch.org.nz/?s=virgo So after eating a little chocolate and thinking that might help me. And after wasting some time in front of the TV, thinking that might help me. I asked the husband to pray for me and I listened to the first talk.

Wow! The more I understand what living by grace actually means, the more releasing it is. The more freeing it is. The more wonderful it is. To know that God accepts and loves me completely as I am and that I cannot earn righteousness by being 'Super mum'. Neither can I lose it by being 'Crabby mum'. Righteousness is a free gift. I may have made a few bad decisions throughout the day which I need to repent of, but that doesn't change how my father in heaven views me. It doesn't mean I am a 'rubbish mum'. It means I am a sinner who needs grace. And that grace is available to me. (To be continued...)
    
"For if, by the sin of the one man, death reigned through that one man,
       how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace
and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."
                                                                                   Romans 5v17

"Aint No Mountain High Enough"

My boys are being taught many things by the husband. Two of these are climbing and risk taking, which seem to go hand in hand. My eldest will spot the highest part of a park and set himself the challenge to reach it and then wave at me. I then have to casually wave back without any fear on my face, take a photo and smile at the other mums who are relieved its not their child. Seeing as he's the eldest, he often sets the example to his three brothers. So I find the 5yr old at the top of the shed, the baby on top of the DVD cupboard, and when we drive past the new stadium being built, the 3yr old proudly claims that he will one day climb it!

It got me thinking that my eldest especially, doesn't really see the limitations in things. I recently heard Keith Hazel preach on limitations. And how we shouldn't allow limitations to restrict us. Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up in prison for years, but didn't allow these limitations to limit his belief in God or God's destiny for him.

I often hide behind limitations, and I see others doing the same. We hide behind limitations of our character, of our feelings, or how tired we are, or the impossibility of things in the natural, or how many kids we have. We hide behind the limitations the enemy may whisper to us. We hide behind the limitations of finance, or we let limitations direct our prayer life.

The bible is very clear on limitations. I've been reading Mark recently, where I've been struck by the way people refused to let limitations stop them from getting a touch from Jesus. When a paralyzed man wanted a touch from Jesus, he and his four friends didn't allow a busy room to be a limitation. They climbed on the roof and dug their way through and lowered him down in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He healed the man and forgave His sins.

God has been challenging me lately to pray through limitations. It's really helping me to keep my view point focused not on the hopeless situation or my limitations but on a limitless God.

        Jesus looked at them and said,

           “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

                                                                                                    Matthew 19v26

        Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

           nor his ear too dull to hear.

                                                                                                     Isaiah 59:1

The 3yr Old Crashed The Car; How Do You Tell The Husband?

Yesterday I spent the morning writing a comic with my eldest about Team Super; a group of Super heroes who save the world by firing bogeys onto a volcano to put out the lava. Followed by 2 hours at the dentist, playing 'I Spy' with the boys using the other people in the waiting room as topics for I spying;  like "N for that man's nostrils". This morning I spent an hour in a cold and wet park, running up and down the zip wire path, pushing my own kids and three random french kids, before bribing all four little people with doughnuts and drinks to do the supermarket shop with me. And this afternoon, I had to ring the husband to ask what the appropriate punishment was for a three year old who crashed our car?! He had climbed over the front seat and somehow managed to put the handbrake down with his foot, so the car quickly rolled down the car park into a metal bar. I then had to listen to the husband say it wasn't a punishable offence, as it wasn't an act of disobedience; it was an accident and accidents happen.

God is so good. But today I can't quite put my finger on the one particular God moment to highlight in this blog post, perhaps someone else will have some insight or a verse to sum it up?

Fifi shows me up!

I sometimes have the joy of hearing how Roary, Timmy, Harry, Charlie and Stingy are getting on. The delightful world of Children's Television! Yesterday, Fifi and her Flower Tot friends were making pancakes and having harmonious kitchen fun together. But Stingo, the slightly self absorbed wasp was stealing the pancakes! Terrible thing to do in the Flower Tot Garden! However, at the end of the programme Stingo had said sorry and asked if he was allowed to eat the pancakes with his friends. And good old Fifi let him share the pancakes and harmonious kitchen fun was resumed.

And then it hit me! Fifi, the pretend children's  T.V character had done a better job of forgiving her light fingered wasp friend, than I had done last night with one of my sons. He had done something wrong so he was disciplined. He said he was sorry, and I said he was forgiven. But over dinner I bought the incident up again and was still cross with him about it. I had not let go of it. I had said I had forgiven him, but it turns out I hadn't. I had not showed him what true forgiveness looked like, therefore I had not modelled Jesus' forgiveness to him.

We talked about Fifi's example of forgiveness, which to my shame had been better than my own, and I said I was sorry. My son forgave me properly, and harmonious kitchen fun was resumed.

     "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked,  

           “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister

       who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

           Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

                                                                  Matthew 18v21-22

    "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,

           your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

     But if you do not forgive others their sins,

          your Father will not forgive your sins."

                                                                  Matthew 6v14-15

The Tonka, Me and a Boy of Three

I sometimes find myself trying to find a serene tranquil moment so that I can pray. Afterall, the Bible tells me to, 'Be still and know that He is God'. Then I remember that I live with four boys aged seven, five, three and 18months. And these boys are just not the serene types. I'm pretty sure they came out of the womb, playing percussion, and living life to the fullest. Neither am I married to a serene type. The husband isn't known for his peace and calm. If anything, he hypes them up. He's one of those 'rough and tumble' types. He plays dodgeball at them, which they seem to thrive on. He encourages them to act out "The Walls of Jericho" and have dance battles with him. We once had to bring in a rule of 'no roaring at people', because it just got too much. We also had to stop watching the classic, 'Shark Boy, Lava Girl', because one of those not-so-serene sons of mine, was biting ankles!

Because life is a bit like that, I live with the daily challenge of Urgent vs Important. When the baby goes down for his battery recharging nap and his much needed break from the 3 year old's constant fun, I wonder what I should do? Should I empty the dishwasher so it's ready for the next load of dishes? Should I hoover the carpet, so it is ready for the next set of crumbs?Should I play with the 3 year old so he's less ready for his brother to wake up? Should I tidy the toys so they are ready to be played with again? Should I pray so that I am ready for the next part of the day?

Today I decided to walk up and down the kitchen and pray for twenty minutes. It seemed like an active way to be still.  As I paced the kitchen praying out loud, I was a little annoyed to soon be followed by the noise of a Tonka truck and an ambulance. I just wanted peace and quiet so that I could press into God's presence. With each step I took, I was followed by smaller steps and I realized that actually it was a special moment. Yes there was the noise from the Tonka and the Nee Naw from the engine, but there was also a son, following his mum, and both of us were in God's presence. He was listening to my prayers, and as I fell silent for couple of paces, a little voice prayed his own little prayer. A reminder again to demonstrate to my children, that my relationship with Jesus is just real in the every day moments of life and the importance of the following verse:

       "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds...

        Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home

           and when you walk along the road, (or the kitchen)

           when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 11v18-19

                                                    

Knickers!

I was recently challenged by one of my friends. She is one of those friends that God has put in my life who is the “Iron sharpening Iron”  type from Proverbs 27. I have a few of these. They are the friends who listen to my sighs. And after the understanding nod or two, they lovingly tell me to stop sighing and be grateful. They are the ones who gently point out the sin in my life, the ones that tell me to love my husband selflessly, the ones that listen but wont allow me to wallow, the ones that remind me why I am to keep training my kids and these friends are a blessing, even if its through gritted teeth at times.

So my sharp friend asked me how i was planning to be lovely to my husband on that day. And I hadn't really realized, but I was subconsciously planning to be a little mellow dramatic and needy when he got home. Afterall I'd been with the kids all day and now it was his shift; his turn to care for me and deal with the little people. But when I received her text asking such a question, it changed things around. It helped me have a different mindset. It made me actually plan to be lovely to him. And not to be selfish as if my needs were a higher priority. I was very grateful for my friend's gentle prompting. (And the husband was grateful too!)

In a women's prayer group recently, someone had the following picture;  "Imagine you came out of the toilet with your skirt tucked in your knickers - Hopefully no one in the room would let you walk around for the rest of the day like that. Hopefully they would be brave enough and compassionate enough to point it out to you." In the same way, we should be brave enough to say when we see each other with missing parts of the Armour of God. We should be able to tenderly point out to a friend, that they are letting themselves be exposed and remind them to put on each part of The Armor of God talked about in Ephesians 6. Of course there's the other side to the challenge... I do want to be the friend brave enough and compassionate enough to point things out to my sisters, but i want to also be willing to allow someone else to talk into my life, and tell me when i'm about to walk out with my skirt tucked into my knickers.    

                   "As iron sharpens iron,
                       so one person sharpens another."

                                                  Proverb 27v17

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made...that's me!

I am not known for my knitting and sewing skills like some of my friends are. They have days out at craft fayres and have knitting evenings. They produce wonderful quilts and cute little animals.  I once made a puppet out of a sock, but i'm not that counts as skillful workmanship!

I am reading through Exodus at the moment and I am struck by the attention to detail in how the tabernacle was designed and made. The curtains of fine twined linen, the blue and purple yarns with cherubim skillfully woven into them, the cubits, the gold, the Acacia wood... It is an amazing design, so precise in colour and size and numbers of clasps and hoops.

And it causes me to dwell on God's beautiful creativity. He is the ultimate in Grand Design. He is by far the best at the finishing touches. He uses the best material. He takes His time. (Or He does it in a miraculous moment). He carefully considers what is to be made. He cares about the smallest detail whilst keeping the end result in His mind. I see creation around me and it causes me to worship Him. And then i am encouraged to dwell on the fact that He created me. How loved and special i feel that the Lord who required the tabernacle in Exodus to be made with such beauty and detail, also designed me!

     "For you created my inmost being;
             you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
       I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
             your works are wonderful,

      I know that full well."

                                   Psalm 139v13-14