The Least of These

Jesus came for the sinners.  For all of us who know we are not perfect.  Who recognize that we ALL have work to do, and that no matter how hard we try, we will never attain perfection.  But it's our job to work on ourselves nonetheless. 

He didn't come for the Pharisees, so were so certain that they were perfect.  He knew that their over-confidence in their own beliefs and rules made them pretty much a lost cause.  And so he focussed on those who really needed his help. 

The woman at the well.  No one else would associate with her.  She was such an outcast that she often chose to get her water in the heat of the day, when no one else would be at the well because it was probably better to suffer the heat than the judgement of all the other townspeople. 

The man with leprosy.  No one would touch him, except for Jesus. 

The unclean woman, who for 12 years was kept separated from all of those in her family because of a physical disease that no one else could heal but Jesus.

All those people that had been cast out because they were so far "below" everyone else.  He came for THEM. 

The Bible quite often uses people who are looked down upon, who aren't considered as "good" as others, to do great things.

                      

So maybe the next time you look down on that person in the pew across from you, or on that street corner, begging for a meal, you should try to remember all the people who came before you.  The "least", and remember that God has a funny way of raising them up so much higher than you could ever imagine.

And if you ever feel like one of the "least", please, please, please do not let that become who you think you are.  All of those people knew that with God, anything was possible.  And they have gone down in history as powerful, life changing, admirable people. 

In God We Trust

My amazing, kind hearted, beautiful little dude is heartbroken. And I am too. He's almost 4 years old now, and he has lost his Grandma. We lost her to cancer just over 4 months ago. And he is still trying to process all of this.

He actually asked his other Grandpa today if he already knew that God took his Grandma to heaven. Bless his poor little heart. He feels so much!  And so deeply!  And it is so amazingly difficult to walk this path with him. Especially when I have the same questions as he does.  I don't know why her journey ended when it did. I don't know how God decides who to take or not to take.

He finally really cried for her last night. And told me he is angry with God that he took her. And that he thinks it's not fair that God can just take people. I'm assuming he's also a little scared that he might lose someone else, and that he has no control over that. And I get that. I'm angry. I don't think it's fair that she had to suffer. And I don't know who I will lose next, or when. So while I can certainly sympathize with him, I cannot provide any answers.

I can assure him that I will love him every single day of my life.  I can pray with him.  I can share memories of Grandma with him and remind him how deeply she loved him.

But the best thing I can do?  I can pray FOR him.  I can trust that God will fill in all the gaps in his understanding. I can trust that He will give us both peace when we so desperately need it.

I can share how I know that even though this hurts, we will see her again. And all the other people we have lost in this last little while.

I can share how I know that somehow, some way, we will learn how this is part of a bigger picture.  A beautiful picture. And that this plan is so much better than we could ever even imagine.

And I can remember in those tough, angry, sad and agonizing moments that he is hurting because he loves so much. And feels so much. So I need to ask more questions, kiss. Ore cheeks and hug must a little bit longer. And who doesn't love long hugs?

Like a Brick

You know, some days are just nice, quiet, normal days.  Those days that nothing really stands out. Then all of a sudden it hits you. Like a brick. An entire month has just disappeared. I survived it. But did I cherish it?  Was I intentional with my minutes?  Because while every once in a while, you remember days, when you look back in time, it comes down to minutes that you treasure. Minutes that you spent with the special people God has gifted you with.

I am part of the launch team for "Hoodwinked" by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk. In it, Ruth points out that while it may seem like you have all the time in the world, you really don't. And she does the math!  Suppose my children stay home until the summer they turn 18. That means that I have just under 13 years of my oldest being at home with me.  So 13 years x 365 days/year = 4,745 days. I am already sentimental at the graduation pics I see each year, thinking that before I know it, that will be here.  She will be an incredible woman, ready to conquer the world, and my chance to breathe that love into her each day will already be over.  Almost the entire month of October has flown by, with very few "moments" that seem like they will become those special moments.  Do I really want to squander those I have left?  I have less than 4,700 days left to build up, lead and encourage my daughter.  I need to be intentional with that time!

So ladies, while it is important to lead our children, to teach them, to make sure their homework is done, it is even more important to impress on them the unshakable love they have in us.  The unflappable love of the Lord, who even goes so far as to say that NOTHING we do can ever lessen the love he has for us.  We are loved more than we can ever fathom, and more than anything, I think our children need to know that. They don't need to know they are the best at sports, or music.  Or that they are a genius. They need to know they are loved. That they are always going to be loved.   That they will never have to earn love.  They simply are loved.

You may have 4,745 days left. You may have more. You may have less.  Let's use whatever days we have been gifted to the absolute best of our abilities.

You are loved!#nomorehoodwinkedmoms, #hoodwinkedbook, love, unconditional, count your days

Just What I Needed

If you've been reading my posts over the last few years, you know that life has felt kind of overwhelming at times.  It has even felt at times like there was no way to get out from under this huge cloud over me.

Here's a quick recap for those who dont know:  I had a miscarriage, then had a really hard time physically while my body tried to go back to "normal", then I got pregnant again fairly quickly (can you say hello hormones?!?), and was quite sick.  Then my Aunt passed away after a short 6 week battle with cancer.  It was a difficult time for me, and the kids as I tried to figure out how to explain death, heaven and how God can take people away from us, but still love us.  Then their GGPa was in the hospital most of the summer.  Then their Supergran passed away.  Then GGPa passed away.  And then we had a baby girl (an amazing gift), but their lives were turned upside down all over again.  And then they lost their Great Grandpa. And then they lost their Grandma to breast cancer after a short hospital/hospice stay.  And then 6 weeks later, their Grandpa remarried and they had a new Grandma.

Wow, it tires me out just typing that, much less thinking what the last little while has been like for us. It has been emotionally, physically and spiritually draining.

I'm not saying great things weren't happening.  It just felt like as soon as we'd get a little good, we'd be buried in difficult.  We managed to show love to a lot of people, we got to hear amazing stories about lives that have been changing our little world for over 90 years.  We got more family time.  We lost some family, but we gained some too!  And while it was difficult, it has to be part of his plan.  All of it.

This week we had some challenging days.  You know those days when you feel like you should just crawl back under the covers and try again tomorrow?  And so while I was bathing my beautiful little baby, I was on my knees praying too.  I was praying that His strength would get us through.  I was praying that I have such a hard time letting go of control and that I need His help to just let go.  I needed to now that He has this.  He has me in the palm of his hand, and it will all be okay.  It will be better than okay.

And you know what?  The very next day, the things that were broken got fixed.  Easier than we thought they could.  At no monetary cost to us even!  And I got to spend some extra time filling up my children's memory banks.


And then I checked the mail and got a advanced reading copy of a book from one of my favourite authors.  A funny, down to earth, relatable woman who just loves God, and her family.  And now I have the privilege of spending some extra time with God, while I preview this book.  A book all about how I don't have to do it all.  I will be blogging my way through the book, so follow along and see what I learned.

Just what I needed!!