or: Temptations to Sin

Mark chapter 8, I think, has a heading called Temptations to Sin. Pleonast and Facebook were a part of that hand or eye that had to be cut off. Facebook still is in that category, but I'm going to try Pleonast again. I have gained some fantastic encouragement in my walk with the Lord through this site (thanks, Kennon!), and I miss my friends. :D

I saw an ugly picture of myself, and a horrible ending if I didn't change my ways. I sat, engrossed in my cybervoidworld, while my precious children, totally dependent on myself and my husband for their nurturing and upbringing to prepare them in the service of God, begged me for attention and love. My reaction? My kids were getting on my nerves, interrupting MY time, which had pretty well turned into most of the time I was awake. In His infinite mercy and grace, the Lord of all showed me myself in the mirror He provides. The end result if I did not change? My children could find me and my Lord a waste of their time; something to turn to only in emergencies, but never someone with whom to share intimate trust and love. My heart broke. I prayed for help. He led me away from the computer for an extended time.

Oh, the depth and the riches of God's saving grace...not just at the moment I was buried in the death of Christ, but each of these moments where He leads me on to higher ground. His steadfast love endures forever.

I prayed. I was frustrated; I was imprisoned and I didn't know it yet. Then the Lord sent a light into my life through an act of hospitality my family was grateful to show toward another family we had never before met. Through this, God Almighty put the tools in my lap to tear down strongholds--cages I had made with my own hands that restrained my freedom to dance in the refuge of the Almighty's security and love.

It has not happened overnight. In His infinite wisdom and gentleness, He has brought me through several stages of challenging growth during the time I've been gone from the cyberworld. Each one shook me hard, then acted as a trampoline to spring me up for the next challenge. He gave me rest between each one, then on I went to dig deep in His living, breathing Word, questioning things I formerly took for granted. He sent light into our lives. I no longer pray desperately. I pray humbly, boldly, and confidently. These mountains will be thrown into the sea! Yet, if they land where I don't expect, my confidence is not shaken in the Almighty Father. He knows where my mountains must go.

The result of this sabbatical? To the sole glory of the God of Heaven, my family is stronger, my children spontaneously praise God when good happens, and ask of Him when they worry, and we hope to expand our family in the future. Our lives are richer, our purpose is clearer, and the Lord is granting Andy and myself the vision I have been asking of Him. I still have a long way to go, but by the grace of God, I will pour out myself to Him, and I'm learning more and more the joy of sacrifice. He made us to thrive on service! He rewards our labors richly.

Today I feel blessed. I have so much! I've prayed for things like solutions to Isaac's constant colds, and He answers with opportunity. I crave specific knowledge of how I can be better, and the Lord gives opportunity. I pray for a great marriage, and the Lord gives me opportunity. I'm sensing a common thread here just as I'm typing this--opportunity!! He's not handing me the solution miraculously on a platter, but blessing me with the means and knowledge to act. This is going to be a great year!!




God is good!

Isn't it odd how one big change can feel like a lot of changes? Maybe because one big change usually requires several small changes. For example, to change a lifestyle of lethargy and obesity, I can't just wake up one day and say, "ok, now I will eat properly and exercise." I can, but essentially I'm saying, "I will plan my exercise each night, wake up early, exercise every morning, eat low-fat and high-fiber foods in correct portions with fruits and vegetables, then I will eat 6 times a day, drink water all day long, change my entire meal-planning strategy, get rid of junk food that's in the house, stop buying junk food, change how I respond to cravings, stay away from restaurants that excel at friend foods only, keep good snacks and water handy when we go out, etc." You get the idea. So this one big change in our lives is a lot of changes, and that can foster success when you fail to keep one of those changes for the day.

To keep it in perspective, I have to look at the purpose and the goal. The ultimate purpose in the activities I choose must be to glorify God, for that is why I'm here. If that is not my greatest purpose, then my work will fail in the end. My goal is to use the body God has given me more efficiently. The perks of that is comfortable-fitting clothes, fewer chins and rolls, lower grocery bill, lower risk of disease, being able to be active with my kids, etc.

The same is true with most sins, I think. It's too large to wake up one day and say, "I'm going to stop (sinful habit)." If broken down into smaller changes we can see success along the journey. Let's say that I have a problem with anger. The failure might be that today I stayed on the computer too long which always makes my fuse shorter. The success might be that before I could lose my cool, I removed myself to another room for prayer and general cooling off. Yay! Praise God! One habit out of the many factors involved can be changed! Over time, with my purpose being God's glory and being like Him, my goal is attainable--one small change leading to the big changes that reflect His workings in my life.

God gives us perks along the way, too. Just read the proverbs! The path of the righteous is so much easier, in general, than the wicked's path. He gives us healing, encouragement, and of course the hope of eternal life as perks that help motivate us to keep on keeping on.

Be strong and courageous, no matter what your own battles are! You can always have help in your fight!

I wrote this for a CNN Situation Room comment.

"Hurrah to Ron Paul for continuing to help Americans fight for limited government and sticking to the constitution. I'm sick of my freedoms taken away by the tyranny our 55 fathers of the constitution were trying to prevent when they wrote the framework of this country. But what good does that do if we ignore it? How many of us have studied it or read about its painful birth? We've put up with popular "what's in it for me" politics too long, sacrificing the very document we claim to hold so dear.

"I will no longer back a representative or senator that does not support the constitution in deed. It's not about party politics--it's about the fundamental freedoms that made this country uniquely appealing to all walks of life."

Fall is my happy place. Well, specifically crisp fall weather with clear, deep blue skies. Alas, we've had very little of that so far. The deep blue skies, anyway. Rain, rain, rain. Which I'm thankful to have, mind you. But it's not my happy place.

However, I was able to enjoy my happy place this past weekend. My family took a little jaunt to my hometown to go to the fair, get apples and play at the orchard, and romp among hundreds of pumpkins, winter squash, and indian corn at the pumpkin farm. It was cool, it was in the mountains, and we saw the occasional deep blue sky. My husband and I agreed that we were in our happy place.