More Lessons from Job

So, apparently it seems that we're going to have a mini-series in Job. In my journaling time today God showed me some more wisdom for daily life in the life of our hero Job. Chapter 3 is basically Job lamenting his birth. He is in so much pain, and his trouble seems to be too much for him to bear. So much so that he is wishing that he'd never been born. He sees nothing of the good things that have happened in his life prior to this time, or the people he's touched or the lives that he's changed. He is only immersed in the pain of right now and that pain and struggle seems so severe that life for all would be better if Job had never been born.
Job's three friends hear his lament, and first to speak up is his friend Eliphaz. Eliphaz reminds him of the good things that he's done, the people that he's helped throughout his life.

"Behold, you have instructed many,

and you have strengthened the

weak hands.

Your words have upheld him who was

stumbling,

and you have made firm the feeble

knees."

                               - Job 4:3-4

Sometimes we are so deep in our own pain and daily struggles that we don't remember our purpose and the testimony that our lives give to others. Remember, "Man's chief end is to glorify God." Our daily lives can bring glory to God in many ways. Sometimes we need our own Eliphaz to stick his nose into our pain and remind us that we are in the business of doing God's work. That there are people whom we've encouraged, blessed, instructed, and strengthened by our presence and through our lives. That their lives were changed through our obedience. Job was so caught up in his pain, he forgot every time he brought instruction, strength and encouragement to those around him. He forgot about the lives he touched during the good times. And he forgot that even now, his pain could touch others, teach others, and encourage others. That he could strengthen weak hands through his life and by his obedience. He probably didn't even know all of the people and lives that he touched through the righteous life that he led. So many people learn about our lives and take those lessons with them into their own lives through observation. Often they don't even tell you how much you've influenced them, whether for the better or worse. 

Eliphaz reminded Job of the lives that he touched, and maybe even gave insight to the fact that he and his friends were even now observing Job and how he handled this, his greatest struggle, as an example for themselves.

Ask the Lord today to show you ways that your life has had purpose in building up God's kingdom and encouraging and instructing His people. Remember that how you handle the tough times can be a testimony to others about God's goodness and sovereignty. 

We can bring glory to God in every circumstance, and our lives always matter to God.

Heart of Worship

"Then Job arose and tore his robe and 

shaved his head and fell on the ground 

and worshiped."

              Job 1:20

The story of Job, whether taken as historical fact or allegorical parable, still brings these thoughts and questions from God. 

1. How can a man who has lost everything be blessed by God?

2. Will Job (you?) still serve God even when things go bad for you?

3. What does it mean to worship God in everything?

We have heard and read in Samuel that God does not judge by appearances, like man, but rather, God judges the heart. Here in Job, we see a man who is blessed with the favor of God, yet in that favor, he loses everything. Job is a mourning man, stripped of all of his property and his children, yet he is more blessed than any other. God himself calls him a blameless and upright man. 

In our society, we think that the favor of God means money, positions of power and authority, influence and perhaps even a "following". But being blessed by God can also mean homelessness, poverty, sickness, and pain. Because, as we see in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, Man's chief end is to glorify God, and we can glorify God in ALL circumstances, especially in the hard times.

Which leads us to my second point; Job's response to heartache and loss is to fall to the ground and worship God. Even his wife encourages him to turn away from God, to "curse God and die." But instead of turning away, Job turns toward God in worship. It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in life. I don't inherently consider myself blessed. I let the little things get to me. I get easily overwhelmed. I'm not great at trusting in Him. But even aside from the trusting, is my first response to heartache, loss, sickness and pain to worship? Or is that my last resort? Do I turn to everything else before I turn to the One who created all things? 

So, what does it mean to worship God in everything? What does a heart of worship look like? My bible has a devotional page on the first chapter of Job, and that devotion says this: 

"Worship sometimes looks like a broken man

shaving his head, wailing upon the

ground."

That's what a heart of worship looks like. It's not a fancy band that sounds perfectly in tune where all the members look and sound like rock stars. It's not always hand-clapping and dancing in the streets. Sometimes it's honoring God through loss and tears and pain. Sometimes worship sounds more like a wail than a song. But both bring glory to God.

OneWord365

Last year, my #oneword365 was #disciple I felt that God was calling me into a deeper discipleship with Him, as well as encouraging me to look at parenting as discipleship and really disciple my children, especially my teens. This coming year of 2016 the whisper in the wind has been that this will be a year of  #jubilee. From our pastor Mark, to the pope himself, this word is on the hearts and minds of many in the church. When praying about my one word, my personal word for 2016, God also led me to the word jubilee.

 In Jewish history, the year of jubilee was a year of restoration and emancipation. In the Catholic Church, it is about unmerited grace and mercy. For me, it is about all of this. It is about resting in the sabbath of God's provision while diligently working in His fields for His glory. See, in Leviticus, the land was not allowed to be sold and in the year of jubilee it was restored to it's owner, because God told the Israelites that the land was not theirs "because the land is MINE and you are my aliens, my tenants." This land, for me, is not where I live; it is the land that God has planted me in, the harvest He is asking me to reap, the soil He is asking me to till. It is where I am working, serving, and living in my "as you go" moments. Jubilee is about resting in the fact that as I am working His land, he is about redemption and restoration. I don't need to worry about where I will live, or where we will serve as God moves my husband and our family into ministry, God will place us directly where we are needed to further His purposes and His kingdom. I can enjoy a year of #jubilee because God is a God of restoration, freedom, deliverance, grace and mercy. Because God is sovereign, I am FREE.

Diligent Instruction

Or ... The Importance of Family Worship

"You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

- Deuteronomy 6:7

What does it mean to teach our children diligently? What are we supposed to be diligently teaching them? Well, if you read the beginning of Deuteronomy 6, we see that we're supposed to be teaching them God's Word. Verse six explains "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart." These words...His words...His word, his scripture, his law, his instructions, his story. We should diligenltly be instructing our children in the ways of the Lord. But, why?

Our church is going through a series right now entitled The Bride. We're looking deep into the book of Revelation and studying out God's instructions to the seven churches of that time and how they apply to us, the church, today. Our message on this past Sunday was regarding the Church at Thyatira and the messsage is a great place to start when beginning to understand why family worship is so very important. It is our job as parents to raise our children up in the way they should go, and in this age of technology they are bombarded with the ungodly practically from birth. 

As parents, my husband and I have several ways that combat the ungodly and pour diligent instruction into our children. First and foremost, we homeschool. I know that, practically speaking, this is not an option for all families, but it is an option for us. We go without a lot of comforts and live extremely frugally in order to do this, but diligent instruction is worth it. Secondly, we have a family worship time for an hour a day, every day. Yes, you read that right; for one hour every single day we spend time worshiping the Lord, pouring into His word and instructing our children directly from His word. Our family worship time culminates from several key aspects:

Prayer

We always begin our morning with prayer. This composes our hearts into a posture of worship and quiets our bodies as we prepart to focus on God. Our morning prayer comes from our homeschool curriculum and is recited as follows daily:

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous. 

Teach me to serve you as you deserve.

To give and not to count the cost.

To fight and no to heed the wounds.

To toil and not to seek for rest.

To labor and not to ask for reward;

save that of knowing I am doing Your will.

Through Christ, our Lord. Amen

Creed & Doxology

In addition to praying together, daily we recite different creeds and or historical prayers of our faith. We slowly add more as we learn them and then cycle through them throughout each week. Right now we've memorized and recite on alternating days the doxology and the gloria patri. Daily we also recite the apostles' creed as the first and most basic creed of the Christian faith. 

Scripture Memory

There are so many reasons for memorizing scripture that I can't possibly mention all of them here. Suffice it to say, the more of God's word that is in your heart, the more you can recollect it during the trials that most assuredly will come your way throughout your life. Our method of scripture memory has been so amazingly helpful to us. In the past year, we've memorized over 40 verses and passages of the bible together as a family. We mostly have been using the verse list found here. 

Catechism

A catechism is a series of fixed questions, answers, or precepts used for instruction; in this case instruction in the Christian faith. As a family we've been memorizing the Westminster Shorter Catechism for Children. Even our youngest daughter, who is only two-years-old has memorized several of the answers. Learning the catechism together gives us daily reminders of what we believe and why which will hopefully prepare our children for apologetics (defending their faith intellectually) as they get older. Our family devotional also goes through the Heidelburg Catechism. It breaks each series of questions and answers down, provides real-life application even for our youngest family members, and scriptural references. It is available for purchase here.

Scripture Study (SOAP Journaling)

Finally, in concordance with our devotional, we read scripture. We use a method for journaling called SOAP. We encourage each of our older children who can write well (from Jubilee - 10 and up) to have their own SOAP journal and to have their own personal daily time in the Bible in addition to our family worship. Our middle-aged children (Lily 9 & Isaiah 7) usually will draw a picture and write a sentence or two about what they've read. Everyone in our family owns an ESV Bible. This is Jeremiah and my preferred translation of the Bible and we've found it to be wholeheartedly enriching to our children to have their very own copies of the Bible to read along with us. 

Worship through Song

Finally, our worship time includes singing praise and worship songs. We include both hymns and contemporary songs, as well as scripture memory, books of the bible, creeds and more. We often listen to worship songs throughout the day and have found it imperative that the songs we listen to, memorize and sing be theologically and scripturally affirming to our faith. This is yet another way we are able to diligently instruct our children in our faith. 

We take our faith very seriously. We take God's instruction to teach our children diligently daily, very seriously. I hope you've found this post helpful and encouraging. If you've found different ways to instruct your children in the faith diligently please feel free to share in the comments below!

diakonos - Make Me a Servant

serv·ant

ˈsərvənt/ - a devoted or helpful follower or supporter

What is a servant? In the most basic sense, a servant is one who serves. Usually, in this day and age, we think of servants as those who serve in someone else's home. In Christian speak, the term servant has weight. A pastor is a servant to his congregation. A volunteer is a servant, a missionary, a worship leader, a youth director. Servant, within the Christian community, is synonymous with leader. It's a public position, not a private - within the home- position. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all, and everyone must KNOW that you are their servant, so that greatness can ensue. Being a servant isn't simply a state of being. It is action, and acknowledgement and reward. If people don't know that you're a servant, then you aren't really a servant. This is the world in which we live in American Christianity. 

Once, my husband was accused of not having a servant's heart by someone whom we held in high regard. It not only came as a shock to both my husband and I, but it truly broke his heart to hear that. And, it felt wrong. Wrong because my husband is always serving. Wrong because it felt like an unfair judgement call by someone who truly doesn't know him. Wrong because a servant is exactly who my husband is and who he desires to be. Not a servant of a particular church. Not a servant of the masses. Not someone built up and lifted up and applauded for how much he DOES. Because serving is not what he does, but who he IS; and, more importantly, who we should strive to be. 

We are all called to be servants, servants of Christ. Note the definition that started this post. A servant is a devoted or helpful follower or supporter. Are you a servant of Christ? It's not about being lauded for accomplishments. If you're a really great servant, rarely does anyone even notice you. But it's about being helpful to God's kingdom. Lifting our leaders up in prayer. Encouraging the single mom. Bringing the new believer under your wing and quietly mentoring them. Being an example of good stewardship regardless of your financial means. Being a listening ear even when wisdom isn't required or requested. Being a servant of Christ means that sometimes you will go for years and years without being noticed, or acknowledged. Sometimes, sometimes it also means that someone will even accuse you of not serving. Maybe that just means you are serving God's kingdom so well that only HE is getting the glory. May I be that kind of servant. The kind who desires no fame, no glory, no honors, no rewards. The kind who is always first and foremost bringing glory to God as a devoted follower.

You're Blessed

I orginally posted this about 6 years ago on my old blog. The message is still relevant today. You are BLESSED. Lord, today thank you for reminding me of how blessed I am because when there is less of me, there is more of You.

Matthew 5 (The Message)

You're Blessed

1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:
3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Why We Choose to Homeschool

This post was originally posted on a former blog that Tikatia had. It has been updated to reflect our journey since then.

When our family was just beginning our family we never questioned that our children would go to school.  We sent Cali to public preschool, and then public kindergarten.  Her first year in Kindergarten, we place Shiloh in the same public preschool.  This is when we started noticing problems.  Cali had been diagnosed in preK with a Sensory Processing Disorder.  The school thought she had ADHD.  She was actually diagnosed with ADHD due to the school's form (though less "symptoms" on the parent form).  She was placed on meds.  The first meds did nothing, so they tried another, Adderall.  She lost 5 pounds within two weeks, she was talking about hating herself and wanting to die.  Remember, she was also only 6.  This led us to bring her to an ADHD specialist, who evaluated her, and talked to us more in depth.  The result, she does not have ADHD, instead she is a very bright and gifted child who is bored.  We brought the results to the school asking if they could challenge her more and were told that there were several children just as bright as her in the class and that she just needed to learn to listen better.

Our pediatrician suggested homeschooling.  We'd never considered homeschooling before.  Neither of us had been homeschooled.  Would it be a lot of work?  I didn't think I would be organized to do it.  We had 3 children at the time, so we also wondered, should we just homeschool Cali or both her and Shiloh?  Was it okay to send Shiloh to preschool and homeschool Cali? 

Well, I researched, and I prayed, and I researched.  I knew of a few families within our church who also homeschooled, so I asked them questions and spent months observing them and their children.  I got excited. It thought that this would be a great choice for Cali.  DH wasn't as completely on board as I was, but I convinced him to let me try.

For my first year homeschooling, I just homeschooled Cali.  Shiloh continued at his public preschool, Juby was a baby.  By the second year homeschooling Cali, I loved it.  But I knew that Shiloh had special needs and that in a public school he should be able to get services.  So, I homeschooled Cali, who was in 2nd grade but doing 3rd and 4th grade work, and sent Shiloh to the same public Kindergarten.  I fought with the school for months.  They insisted that there was nothing wrong with him and that he was fine, his speech was fine and he didn't need services.  He was missing school all the time and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.  Finally, I got tired of fighting with the school.  Cali was excelling in homeschooling and she loved our homeschool co-op.  I withdrew Shiloh from school in February.  I continued to homeschool Cali, Shiloh and eventually Jubilee for a total of 3 years and I loved it.  

Circumstances changed for us after Number 5 (Isaiah) was born. After 11 weeks of bedrest and then dealing with a colicky newborn, I felt like a failure as a mother, let alone a homeschooler. Isaiah was born in April of 2008 and by that September we were ready to enroll them into school. Cali started fourth grade and Shiloh started second. We weren't quite ready to try a preschool, so we kept Jubilee home with us for that year still "homeschooling" just her. 

The kids were enrolled in public school for three years. In that time we saw Cali go from a precocious, curious and engaging little girl to a sullen and apathetic preteen. She left for the bus before sunrise, arrived home just in time for dinner and to lock herself back up in her room to do homework. We missed our kids. We missed seeing them learn new things, and being involved in their lives. And mostly, we missed the godly character that we'd been cultivating since their birth. When you don't see your kids more than a few hours per week, it is impossible to fully reinforce faith at home. So, after the end of the school year 2011, we took the kids back home. Cali had completed 4th-6th grade, Shiloh 2nd through 4th and Jubilee K-1st grade in public school. For two of those years, Lily also attended free public preschool. 

After our experience with public school, we started doing a lot of research into government schooling and our role as parents. Continuously, God brought me to Deuteronomy 6, particularly verse 7.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

In this verse, we saw that God's best plan for our children was that we educate them at home and so we made the decision to homeschool all seven of our children through high school.