Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

What a wonderful post to encourage mothers!
"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3

Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.

Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.

Our culture is simply afraid of death. Laying down your own life, in any way, is terrifying. Strangely, it is that fear that drives the abortion industry: fear that your dreams will die, that your future will die, that your freedom will die—and trying to escape that death by running into the arms of death.

Run to the Cross
But a Christian should have a different paradigm. We should run to to the cross. To death. So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.

Death to yourself is not the end of the story. We, of all people, ought to know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, life that cannot be contained by death, the kind of life that is only possible when you have been to the cross and back.

The Bible is clear about the value of children. Jesus loved them, and we are commanded to love them, to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. We are to imitate God and take pleasure in our children.

Hands Full of Good Things
When my little girl told me, “Your hands are full!” I was so thankful that she already knew what my answer would be. It was the same one that I always gave: “Yes they are—full of good things!”

Live the gospel in the things that no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.

Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone.

To continue reading click the link:

Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)

Divided: Is Modern Youth Ministry Multiplying or Dividing the Church?

Counter-Cultural, Controversial, Challenging, Life-Changing

To watch DIVIDED the movie, now for free, click HERE

God Gives the Increase

"So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor." -1 Corinthians 3:7-8

Funny how an ordinary little thing like canning Green Beans spurs me to ponder something deeper and much more significant than the art of canning. I love that the Scriptures are filled with metaphors which compare the simplest of things to the most extraordinary of truths, drawing our attention constantly to the power of the LORD. Yes, we can plant the beans and water the beans, but without God, all of our labor would be for naught because He is the one who provides the growth. Without that growth there would still be only a seed under the soil. Amazingly, we benefit from the reward of fresh, delicious Green Beans though we can take no credit for the harvest.
It is the same way when we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We may plant the Gospel Seed. We may water the seed. But it is God who gives the increase and grows deep-rooted faith in the "soil" of the heart. It is good to be obedient in the sharing of the Good News, but just as with the green beans, we can take no credit for the growth in a person's life. Still, each one receives an award according to his labor. I cannot fathom, that we, undeserving servants, should receive an award more than what we have already received by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. How grateful I am to my wonderful Savior for the ordinary and the extraordinary things in life!


Our cans were filled with Green Beans!


We filled the cans with water, leaving 1" of space at the top.


With three quarts of water in the bottom of the canner, we put on the lid and turned the heat to high. When the steam escaped steadily for ten minutes, we put our pressure regulator on top, with ten pounds of pressure for 25 minutes.


When the canner depressurized and cooled on its own, we removed the lid and took out the jars. (I just love the smell that escapes from the canner! The aroma of freshly canned Green Beans is such a summertime smell!)


Our final product!

Oh the Delights of a Family Roadtrip!

Six hours. Six people. One minivan. We are spending the first day of our holiday weekend in this incubator for sanctification. Skies are blue and the sun is illuminating the mountaintop trees as we cross the Tennessee line on our trek to the Smoky Mountains. Soon we will arrive at Smoky Mountain Christian Village, greeted by a woodsy lodge and a sweetly missed sister. Adventure and relaxation await and many memories are ready to be made. Oh the delights of a family Roadtrip!

Kristina and Jessica (from the backseat)