There will be Trials

Just a quick thought today from my Bible study last week. I re-read the book of Acts. It had been a while because I’ve spent so much time soaking up prophecy lately; I felt almost like I was reading about the early church with fresh eyes. It was both humbling and inspiring to stop and ponder what life would have been like for those first evangelists.

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:22-24

It struck me the other day as I read this passage that Paul knew he would face trials and tribulations as part of his ministry, yet he went forward joyfully.

Why do we act surprised when we face trials and tribulations in our own ministries? Why do we take that as a sign to head in a different direction or use it as an excuse to stop short of God’s best? If Paul had been waylaid as easily as some of us are, then the gospel wouldn’t have reached the Gentile (which is us!) Some might argue that God’s will be done despite our disobedience, but I can’t imagine a world where we all sit on our duffs waiting for someone else to do the good work set before us by God.

From Heather

Christmas Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I'll be honest - this is my fifth attempt at writing this blog post. Every time I sit down at the computer, I end up frustrated and with nothing to show for my efforts. This blog post is kicking my butt.

And not just because I can't come up with a compelling (and hilarious) opening line.

I've tried to tackle this post from a few different angles, but they're all falling flat. I think the problem is this: Whenever the topic of "What Christmas Means to Me" comes up, it's very easy to write something flat and generic. Or even worse, something that falls into the "look at how pious and adorable and wonderful and spiritually advanced my family is!" category. 

As I sit here writing, it's now the day after Christmas. And I'm still struggling with putting into words what this Christmas has meant to me and my family. But I think I know the best way to get across what I want to say, and that's to let my children's actions speak for me.

On Christmas day, my kids brought joy and smiles to friends at a homeless camp in downtown St. Louis. Not just by bringing food and presents, but by being enthusiastically engaged and happy to be there; by excitedly not only giving but also receiving gifts; and by taking the time to play a game of "Go Fish" and make sure that plenty of hugs were had. And on the way home, their choruses of "I'd been looking forward to that all week!" and "That was so much fun, can we go back soon?" rang in my ears and brought joy to their mother and my hearts.

On Christmas evening, our family gathered around the computer and took part in another family tradition: Deciding which gifts to give from the World Vision gift catalog. After some back and forth debate, we decided that this year we wanted to support the relief efforts in the Horn of Africa; seeing some of the pictures of kids and families starving and reading their stories really resonated with our family. And as we were entering our credit card info, our boys asked us a question that will stick with us forever:

"Can we give our great-grandma money to the people in Africa?"

A little family history: Every Christmas, the boys are given a generous giftcard from their great-grandmother. Every year, they look forward to how they are going to spend this money. Throughout the year, they make plans for their "great-grandma money" and look forward to that moment when it's time to make the trip to the store.

But this year, sitting around the computer and reading stories of people thousands of miles away, they decided to give it all away.

Now, for those who think that this post long ago crossed into "look at how pious my family is" territory, please consider this: While I'm usually the first to point out how awesome my kids are (I may be slightly biased), they're the first to point out that they're just normal kids who allow the Holy Spirit to move in and through them.

So that's what Christmas means to us. Amid all of the meals and presents and time with family and singing along to carols in the car and countless hours spent freeing toys from their cardboard and plastic packaging and assembling and unscrewing and frantic searches for the right batteries, a glimpse of what's truly important:

Sharing the message of Christ's love through words and actions. Spreading love and laughter. Sacrificial giving. Gracious receiving. Bringing light to the dark corners of the world.
  

As the Christmas season wraps up and the decorations are put away and a new year dawns, may the true spirit of Christmas remain in your heart always.

From Adam

Friday Night Light

Friday night, I told the boys to get ready for bed and about five minutes later, realized they had completely blown me off. Instead, they were on the computer. I told them they’d directly disobeyed me, reiterated the order to get ready for bed, and informed them they’d just lost computer for the entire weekend.

This time, they scurried to do as they’d been asked, and five minutes later they were sitting in the living room ready for family Bible study.

Through no contriving of my own, it just so happens that we were in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” No, seriously, I didn't plan it that way. We finished out the book of Ephesians that evening, and I sent the younger two off to bed, promising to be along soon to say prayers.

When I got to their room, it was to find Christopher grieved to the point of tears. I asked if he was upset about losing computer privileges. His reply humbled me. "I did the exact opposite of what the Bible told me to. I disobeyed my parents.”

I began to talk to him about grace, assuring him that God (and Mom) loved him even when he makes mistakes. The thing is, he understood that. He was still grieved to have disobeyed the Bible because he loves God so much.

It made me wonder how often I take grace for granted. When was the last time I took obedience to God that seriously? Even as I write this, I start wanting to back-pedal or assure my readers that I don’t take sin lightly… but honestly, when was the last time I truly grieved because I’d disobeyed God?

In that moment, my youngest son’s devotion to his Creator was so simple and pure, it gave me something to aspire to.

From Heather

Netflix Lesson

It’s Thanksgiving morning, and even my homeschooled children are thrilled to have the day off. They bounded out of bed early to watch the Phineas and Ferb movie. Well, the younger two did, anyway. The pre-teen doesn’t bound eagerly in the morning anymore.  But the younger ones have been planning this a.m. movie-fest for a full 24 hours, so they were excited.


I was looking forward to sleeping in, but shortly after the boys did their bounding, they came back distraught because Netflix wasn’t working like it usually does. “Something happened, and we don’t know what to do.”


I went to check out the catastrophe, quickly realizing Netflix was merely prompting them to download a new version. This new version includes Netflix for Kids, which my boys have now decided is the coolest thing on the planet. What started off confusing and even distressing actually wound up being pretty fantastic.


And the whole thing gave me a moment of clarity. I’ve been a bit of a crab for the past day. I started off on this leg of our life journey enthusiastically, feeling like we’d finally gotten “our call” from God. All the stuff that caused other people to look at us like we were crazy suddenly made sense; it all fit so neatly into this new venture we’re on fighting human trafficking, helping the homeless, reaching people with a message of love and redemption through unlikely heroines in romance novels. (Well, I write the novels, but the whole family has rolled up their sleeves to help with the rest. And they tolerate me writing the novels. I can be fairly useless when I’m elbow-deep in a book.)


But nothing is going like we thought it would. Life is confusing and even distressing at the moment, and that’s making me testy. I’m tired. This past year is starting to wear on me.


Once my boys were happily watching their movie, I walked away with the distinct feeling God was trying to tell me something. He even put a few verses in my brain to clarify the point. Here they are, in the order that they came to me:


“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV


“God is not man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will he not make it good?” Numbers 23:19 NKJV


“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 NKJV


God used the Netflix incident this morning to remind me to trust Him. There’s a reason for this moment in my life, and He’s working it for something pretty fantastic.


From Heather