Encouragement for Moms

My wife Nancy wrote this today - I thought I would share it with you all:

Hello my friends who are moms!

I was reading in my Bible and came across this verse:

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the oxen."
Proverbs 14:4

You may look at this and say "so what, I don't have oxen or mangers (feeding troughs)". We can still get the meaning of the verse -- if your manger is clean then you aren't using it to feed oxen and therefore have no animal to help produce your crops.

As I read this verse I changed the words a little to read:

"Where there are no children, the house/minivan is clean,
but abundant joy comes from a home filled with children."

As a mom I sometimes get overwhelmed with the mess and clutter that my kids can make in the house and in our minivan. It seems as though a large amount of my time is spent either cleaning up after them or, in the case of my older two, staying on them to clean up after themselves. This verse reminds me that without my children I could have a wonderfully clean house and minivan but what JOY would I miss out on. The time will come too soon when they will be older and will move out on their own. That is the time when my house will be clean and I may drive something other than a minivan. I am sure that then I will miss the mess!

So as an encouragement to you I say, enjoy the mess and remember the JOY your children bring. Life would be so boring without them. What a blessing from God they really are!

Have a great day,
Nancy

I'm a Father!

Yesterday I was at the Christian bookstore. I picked up a couple of books. One of them is called Sexy Girls: How Hot is Too Hot. As the father of a 12 year old girl, I thought it would be a great way to help her understand the importance of how she dresses and looks.

As I was checking out, the lady behind the counter scanned the books, and when she saw the Sexy Girls book, she paused. Then she looked at me and said, "Are you a youth director?"

"No," I said, "I am a father."

She looked at me with a look of disbelief, then said, "O really? What church?"

I told her I was with Southbrook Church. It wasn't until I was walking out the door that I realized why she gave me that funny look. She must have thought 'priest' when I said 'father.'

Next time I better say 'dad!'

Is Your "System" Working?

I am reading a book by Dallas Willard called The Divine Conspiracy. I read something today that really caught my eye, and although it may seem obvious, I bet we don't usually think about it this way.

"Your system is perfectly designed to yield the result you are getting."

Willard is dealing with the question of the gospel -- as presented in the Bible compared with the way in which many churches present the gospel. There seems to be some kind of disconnect between "faith in Jesus" and "real life." We teach that we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But what does that mean? That we know we are going to heaven when we die? What about life right now? Why doesn't a relationship with my Creator have any impact on the way I live my life here and now?

"Your system is perfectly designed to yield the result you are getting."

In Willard's book, he is referring specifically to the system of preaching the gospel in churches. There's a lot we could say about that. But I was struck by this comment in a much broader way. Am I happy with the outcomes of my life so far? Am I pleased with the way my family life works? Am I satisfied with my finances? The bottom line is I have a system set up that yields results. If I don't like the results, then I need to challenge, and probably change my system.

If you attend a church that hasn't baptized anyone in the last year, then no matter what your purpose statement says, your system is broken. Maybe you need to check your system? I know I do. There are a lot of results in my own life that could/should be different. And as much as I would like to blame it on my parents, our culture, or even my dog, the problem is my "system."

Do you have the guts to change your system? I dare you!