connecting

Every year, my husband always makes sure that our kid’s have a gift to present to me on Mother’s Day. Even though I appreciated a box of one of my favorite chocolates this past Mother’s Day, I was more thankful for the gift of some words my oldest son shared during the children’s presentation at church.

My son wrote a letter thanking me for being a great mom and listing why he thinks I am a great mom. I was surprised and overwhelmed at how specific he was. He read those words in front of the church and I sat in my seat listening with tears welling up in my eyes.

As a mom, not only do I feel I fall short many times because of poor decisions I make, but there are times when I wonder if what I’m doing is making a difference in the lives of my children. I don’t do things for my kids so that they will acknowledge me (although it does feel nice once in a while), but it is because I love them that I accept the daily routines of life in caring for them. In the midst of the daily routines, year after year, it’s a challenge to be faithful in all that I do, whether big or small, trusting that God will bear good fruit in the lives of my children.

My son’s words encouraged and reminded me to keep being faithful each day because I don’t realize whose lives the Lord can touch through me.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Recently, my roommate came home with free movie tickets. We all decided to watch Prince Caspian - the newest in the Narnia series. Having been a little disappointed by the first one, we were eager to have our impression of the movie series be redeemed. We were more than impressed by the movie and each came away with our favorite parts.

*Spoiler alert: don’t read any further if you haven’t seen the movie yet and plan on watching it*

My favorite part of the movie was when Lucy faces off with the enemy on the bridge. She is the lone figure on her side of the bridge and on the other side is an enormous army. Lucy pulls out her little sword, which is more of knife, all the while looking as though she is taking a stroll and enjoying the day. There is a moment of confusion as the enemy attempts to figure out how to do deal with this young and somewhat unarmed little girl. Next, Aslan steps into the scene and stands next to Lucy and is able defeat the enemy.

This was my favorite part of the movie because it gives us a picture of what faith is to look like. Lucy is the one out of the four who is able to see Aslan, whereas the rest feel as though Aslan is being elusive throughout the movie. Lucy represents a faith that has a childlike certainty and purity to it. She knows that so long as she has found Aslan and so long as she is by his side, everything is going to be ok. I love this scene in the movie because it shows that even when you are facing a raging army and the odds seem completely against you, when you put your faith in God, there is a certainty and peace that comes with knowing that He is in control. In the end, Lucy didn’t even really need the little sword that she pulled out.

As I experience more in life, I find that it becomes harder and harder to maintain a childlike faith in God. I tend to become more calculating and “realistic” in my approach to life. At times it seems counterintuitive to me to have to become like a child in order to mature in my faith. But time and time again, whether it is facing new challenges, jumping off the cliff into the unknown or being stretched in my responsibilities, I feel that tug in my heart to deepen in my faith and to do so by becoming more and more dependent on God…like a child.

We recently had a multicultural cook-off at work, where we brought in dishes from different cultures. I committed to bringing an Indonesian dish, so the night before the contest I was searching online for recipes. The problem is, all the recipes involved ingredients that I’d never heard of, and probably wouldn’t find at 11PM in the international section of Kroger. But then, I finally found the winner: Lapis Legit, or “Thousand Layer Cake.”

The thing with this cake is that I’d never made it, seen it, or tasted it before. I’d never even heard of the spices that went into it: Anise Seed? Cardamon???

You’re also supposed to literally babysit it. You bake it one layer at a time, taking the cake out of the oven every 2 minutes to add another layer.

And the biggest risk is that I wouldn’t get to taste or even slice the thing until the actual time of the contest. I was just taking Rita for her word that this really was an amazing recipe. (Rita’s the woman who submitted the recipe online. Come to think of it, Rita doesn’t sound like a native Indonesian name. Hmmm…)

What I learned about doing something I’ve never done before is that it REALLY helped to stick to the recipe - to follow each measurement, ingredient, and step, word for word. Despite it being my first time, as long as I had faith in Rita and the instructions that she gave, I was confident that I wouldn’t poison anyone.

Lately there are a lot of things that God is calling me, and people around me, to do for the first time ever - things that we’ve never done before, things that involve risks and give no guarantees. I realized that if we just follow the instructions God has given us in His ‘recipe book’ (a.k.a. the Bible) and have full confidence in the author (God, not Rita), we can have peace and confidence along the unpaved way.

Oh yeah, whatever happened with the Lapis Legit? It won 1st place!

I was reminded of the importance of passing on stories and testimonies to future generations recently when I attended my fifth grader’s heritage day presentation at school. I had such a great time listening to the student’s stories, and looking at their scrapbooks (talk a/b the difference b/t the boy’s and girl’s scrapbooks!) and family heirlooms.

Listening to the student’s share, you could tell there was a general feeling of thankfulness for the stories (funny and serious) that were passed down from their parents, grandparents and ancestors. There was one girl who was a direct descendant of William Dawes Jr., one of the riders (you will probably be more familiar with Paul Revere, the other rider) who alerted the colonial minutemen of the approach of British troops at the outset of the American Revolution.  There were also several children who had bibles that were passed down from their ancestors from the 1800’s. Not only were they thankful and proud of their heritage, but they especially enjoyed the stories that were passed down to
them.

Driving home from the heritage presentation, I recalled how God told the Israelites to teach about what God had done for them to their children and to the generations that follow (Deuteronomy 4:9) so that they will not forget, but always remember the Lord and to follow in His ways. I began to think about my own children and younger sisters and brothers in the faith and was challenged on various fronts:

• Do I live my life in such a way that there are testimonies of God’s love and faithfulness to share about?
• Do my stories direct their attention to God or to earthly things?
• Do my testimonies encourage them to love and obey God?

I hope you, too, will take time to reflect on what you are passing on to the next generation.

My fifth grader is the second one from the left.

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  I’m aware that V-Day stirs up a lot of different reactions within all of us.  This is a day dedicated to couples to share their love for one another in original, special and expressive ways.  It is also a day, that unattached singles out there pray will pass by swiftly and painlessly.  For singles, V-Day is a day when they are confronted with the reality that they are indeed, still single.  Some of my unattached girl friends joke that they feel the worst on V-Day because they realize that they are still in the “waiting line” of singlehood.

As a single woman myself (past the quarter of a century mark), I can understand this undercurrent of loneliness.  However, while I acknowledge the reality of what it means to be single, I am also learning to embrace the gift of singleness that God has given to me at this stage in my life.  There are certain things that I love about being single which I think even my married/attached friends miss at times.  The greatest thing about being a single woman for me, is the freedom and flexibility I have to live out God’s calling in various, creative and adventurous avenues.  While I do long for the gift of building up my own family in the future, right now I’m relishing the opportunities I have to study something that I’m passionate about, befriend many genuine and special people, travel and see what God is doing in other parts of the world, spend late nights talking with and counseling people, and believe it or not I even relish being able to eat a meal by myself and enjoy the sweet solitude when I am alone.

I’m not certain what your picture of singlehood looks like, but on this day when what is celebrated is love between couples, don’t neglect the opportunity to appreciate the gift of singleness that God has given to many of us during this season of our lives.  Before you know it, your time will be up in the waiting line and your life stage and responsibility will change faster than you may be ready for.  Just ask your married friends!

So, whether you are married, single or in between, may you know the perfect, all-consuming and complete love of God in your lives.

Happy Valentines Day!