Repost: A little unasked for advice

A young girl asked me for advice the other day. Advice about BOYS. She met a nice young fellow at camp, and he wanted to communicate with her as a boyfriend. Now, I understand the young man’s perspective more than one might think. I know him, and he’s been saved for three months of his fourteen years. He’s excited about everything that has to do with church, and he’s lost all his previous ambitions; he only wants to preach. A young lady who wants God’s will for her life is something new to him, and it is attractive. (Nothing wrong with that) He doesn’t yet understand about how to have a Christ-honoring relationship with such a person, so he is relating to her according to the rules of his old life. At this point, I assume he doesn’t know any better, especially since I sent a similar young fellow packing in my first year of college right when he wanted to “go steady” with me. It wasn’t the time for me to be thinking about marriage, and I didn’t need any distractions with my first year of college. When God put me back together with that guy after we had both matured a bit, we knew it was His work! For more on this story, go here, here, here, and here!
I told the young lady these things, and also this: You are in a very important time of your life, and it is a time to guard your heart! These years, if you are submitted to God’s Holy Spirit, He is preparing you for His will. He’s building something precious in your life, making something beautiful. Your relationship with Him is being established, and you don’t need distractions. These years don’t come back when they are gone; don’t lose what God is doing in your life!
This is for the young ladies that read my blog. Those of you that I know personally, I want you to know I pray for you by name often! I know that God has a plan for you, that it is the best plan for you, and there is something in your life right now that can destroy you. I don’t know what it is, but our enemy always puts up something that we have to make a choice about. Am I going to trust God, or worry about my family? Am I going to make room for Him in my life, or am I going to seek my own interests, and let Him have my leftovers? Am I going to pour out my hurts to Him and leave them there, or am I going to get bitter and angry? One of these things that can turn us off the path God has laid for our feet is wrong thinking about romance, boys, marriage, and the future.
You see we ladies are full of dreams! Exciting dreams, dreams that make our heart go pitter-patter-pumpernickle! There is a powerful ton of emotion built up behind those dreams, and the hope that those dreams might be realized in this amazing person is enough to sometimes shut down our ability to reason. If you have seen the movie Bambie, think “twitterpated”. And I know whereof I speak. I have talked to a lot of twitterpated young ladies. You are a smart person, but emotion can turn the heads of the brainiest among us. For this reason I offer you my advice. (Yes, unasked for by you, but I love you all to bits, so you have to put up with it!)
• Keep your relationships Christ honoring.
• Make good friends, and keep your closest friendships at a spiritual level. (I'm talking about all your friends, not just guys, but especially guys!) Be aware that extra time with someone builds intimacy. If you run out of things to talk about, you will be tempted to start bringing up more personal things. Not a good idea!
• Always keep Christ first, and if any friendship is pushing away your thoughts of Him, step away from that friendship! Believe me, I speak from experience, Mr. Right, at Time Right will not push away Christ! I am so glad I told my “Mr. Right” to “just be friends” when I did! God's time was perfect. If he’s got a spiritual bone in his body, he will understand and appreciate what you are saying; if he doesn’t understand, you really don’t want to tie your heart up with him!
• Also, if God has placed authority in your life, honor it! Honor your parents, and don’t hide anything from them. Respect your pastor and consider his advice carefully.
• Find spiritual older woman who can hold you accountable, and pick their minds! Don’t worry about bugging them, they will love it. Just don’t say you are following my advice to find someone “older”, or you will get me into trouble!
Most importantly, keep your dreams and desires subjected to God’s will. Seek His face, and determine in your heart to never deny the Holy Spirit. You can’t afford at this point in your life to let something come in and mess up the amazing things He’s preparing you for!

Shout out! My Comfort Zone

Large Buckwheat Hull Pillow

I know I have many friends who are chronic pain sufferers.  This trial is something only another sufferer can truly understand.  It involves loneliness, because it's practically invisible, but has the power to take over one's days and nights.  I do not suffer from chronic pain, but my mother has for many years, and she has been an inspiration to me, as I've watched her struggle through questions, find God's grace, and grow in it under the burden of daily, continual, debilitating pain.  My mom has worked hard on her health, trying to find the right treatments.  Now she is starting a new business selling products that comfort. While these do not treat pain, everyone with daily pain understands the importance of comforting yourself in the midst of it.   I hope you will check out her website and consider some of these products!

While again, I do not suffer chronic pain, as her daughter I have enjoyed some of these items, and would love to tell you how they comforted me!  The flexible microwavable hot pack filled with rice was used during the birth of a couple of my children to help me through labor.  I've also used it many times for muscle pain and a few "out of adjustment" backs.  The pack forms to you so you can absorb the soothing heat, and it is wonderful and relaxing.  I would not want to be without it in my house.

I also have two of the buckwheat pillows, and they went with me all over the Western United States, and some areas of Canada on deputation.  (The pillows pictured are these.)  I took them into every hotel I went to, and they kept my neck from straining after many long hours in the van.  For traveling, it was invaluable, and I honestly can't sleep well with a different pillow.  It's so much better than a fluff-filled pillow that squishes down  gets out of place.  They also form to the body and provide support without applying pressure.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!  I'm excited about my mom's new business venture.  She's makes wonderful products, and her heart is for others.  The site is still under construction, but here it is!

http://mycomfortzones.com/

Where is your joy? Why the 1963 version is way better than the 1954 original

So Send I You, written in 1954, has been referred to as the greatest mission's song of the 20th century.  I can't argue with history, but the words of the first verse always stick in my throat a little when it's sung in a mission's conference. "So send I you -- to labor unrewarded, To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown..."
Unrewarded?  Mark 9:41  "For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward."
Unpaid? 1Pe 5:4 "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."
Unloved? Jeremiah 31:3a  "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:..."
Unsought?   Jeremiah 31:3b "therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."
Unknown? Mat 10:30  "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Jesus said that, if a servant of God is not willing to lay aside all his ambitions and desires, his very life even, and take up his cross to follow Christ, that servant is unworthy of Christ.  I get that.  But it only seems to be that one is unrewarded, unpaid, unloved, etc, if we forget our primary relationship with God.  Well then, yes, we are of all men, most miserable!  That is because in order to serve God in a way that would please Him, (at home or abroad) one must relinquish one's claim to earthly benefits and blessings.  That is not to say we don't receive them, but that they are not ours to claim, but to manage for Christ.  He can remove blessings and bestow them as He sees fit.  Then, we are completely dependent on that relationship with Christ for our joy and peace, not on our earthly circumstances.  If our focus is earthly,  we will be depressed pretty quick, but if our focus is on Heaven, we see that we never made a sacrifice at all.  This is what God desires for everyone.

There is a great truth in this old song.  "So send I you to lose your life in mine."  this thought is an excellent meditation for the servant of God.  Jesus put it this way,   " If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24b Paul put it this way,  " I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."1Corinthians 15:31

So while I acknowledge the truth of emptying yourself, I hesitate to sing this song.  It sounds a lot like my heart sounds when I'm having a pity party.

The author of So Send I You, Margaret Clarkson, recognized this, since she wrote it in a time in her life when she was feeling isolated and sad, and later learned more about what missions is all about.  She rewrote it, and hoped that the churches would take up the new words in place of the old, saying, "Above all I wish to be a biblical writer, and the second hymn is the more biblical one."  I think so too!  Here are the words:

Margaret Clarkson, 1963
So send I you -- by grace made strong to triumph O’er hosts of hell, o’er darkness, death and sin,
My name to bear and in that name to conquer -- So send I you, My victory to win.
So send I you - to take to souls in bondage The Word of Truth that sets the captive free
To break the bonds of sin, to loose death’s fetters -- So send I you, to bring the lost to Me.
So send I you -- My strength to know in weakness, My joy in grief, My perfect peace in pain,
To prove My pow’r, My grace, My promised presence -- So send I you, eternal fruit to gain.
So send I you -- to bear My cross with patience, And then one day with joy to lay it down,
To hear My voice, “Well done, My faithful servant -- Come share My throne, My kingdom and My crown!”
“As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you.”

Read more about this neat Christian lady here.

Camp pictures

The setup

Beautiful spot

Quiet, calm

A small lake, with a path around it.

We rested!

:)

Ice Cream, Mexican Style

Took the kids out to ice cream today.  David had mamey flavored ice cream, Elisabeth had grape, Rebecca had mango with swirls of hot chili paste, and Ruth had Beso de Angel, or kiss of the angel.  It came with multicolored candy pieces, marshmallows, maraschino cherries, several different kinds of nuts, raisins, mango and mamey pieces, coconut, and chocolate chips.  I told them that most of their friends in the States have never had anything like this ice cream.  They looked sad for a minute, then said, compassionately, "We need to have them come and visit!"

Grumpy Finds a Cure

I was grumpy today.  I felt awful, dizzy, foggy, and just wanted to go to bed.  So I did four things.  I took a ten minute nap, drank a full glass of water, ate a banana, and got out my song book.  You might see how a nap, re hydrating, and a natural sugar boost from the banana would help, but a song book?  Yes!  Music makes me feel better, pulls my mind from its obsession with how I feel and focuses my heart directly on the message of the song.

The problem with doing this is, I have to do it by faith, because singing is the last thing I want to do when I feel so rotten.  In fact, for a little while, I don't like it at all.  But then something happens, and it happened today.  I started singing a beautiful song, "The Cleansing Wave";  a song from 1872 about the fountain that not only cleanses our sin for eternity, but also gives us a right to spiritual victory over sin today, when we allow God freedom in our lives.  God used the song to speak this sweet truth directly to my heart.

"I see the new creation rise;I hear the speaking blood.It speaks! Polluted nature dies!Sinks ’neath the cleansing flood.The cleansing stream I see! I see!I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me!Oh, praise the Lord! It cleanseth me!It cleanseth me—yes, cleanseth me."  Phoe­be Palm­er

As I sang, the gross way I was feeling became unimportant.  This is one of those songs that fits perfectly with its melody.  Victory cries out along with the words, lifting the heart to the truth in the words.  I am so thankful that God made such a clear avenue to my emotions and my spirit through music.  When they are out of order, I can use this gift to turn them to the One Who deserves their focus, and I can give Him glory in this moment.  While I remained somewhat fuzzy and tired mentally, I did not have to respond with sinful attitudes and actions.

 Next time you are in a "grump", grab your song book!

Here is a link to the cyberhymnal page where you can read all of the song if you want to, and video of a beautiful piano solo of The Cleansing Wave.

What should I do?

What to do when my daughter tells me she just saw a giant hairy spider the size of her hand go under the couch.
A.  Run screaming from the house, never to return again.  Maybe we can sell it fully furnished?
B.  Cancel all appointments for a week while sterilizing every last item in the house.
C.  Burn the couch and be done with it.
D.  Tell the child to leave the poor spider alone and keep the house quiet while I go take a nap.

I hate to say facebook is eclipsing my blog, but my life has accelerated to the point that I only really have time to spit out facebook-size little blurbs on what is going on.  It's been great fun, living the past year!  Between ministry, laundry, homeschool, and caring for an insane, large pet, I rarely get the chance to prepare something interesting (to me) or thoughtful.

Should I put facebook-size blurbs on my blog? Or should I wait for something profound to hit me?

Happy Second Anniversary!

Don't be afraid!

The other day, I was watching the Sound of Music with the kids after dark.  There was a thunderstorm raging, and the electricity snapped off, leaving us in darkness.  This happens a lot around here, and the kids know they must not all panic and scream.  (What happened the first few times the electricity popped off when they were much younger.)  Nevertheless, I could hear timorous tittering all around me, as I groped for the lighter to light a candle with.  I could hear my seven-year-old nervously telling our dog, "Don't be afraid, Shasta!  Don't be afraid!  Just don't be afraid!"  When I held up the small flame, there she was on the floor with our rather large dog, arms clasped around the dog's neck in a stranglehold.  "Don't be afraid, Shasta!"