Homesteading: Why we have chosen to move to a home with land - Part 1

Since moving to a home where we have land, one of my goals has been to provide our family with all of our food right here at home. Why? I think first and foremost, my desire comes from the instinct to take care of my family, especially my children. For the past five years I have been learning about different food ideologies. There are many, including myself, who are very passionate about providing our bodies with the healthiest food we can. No matter where my research has lead me, one thing I could consistently take away is that our food today, whether organic or not, is void of much of its nutrients, caused primarily because of poor farming practices. So, what can I do? I could choose the route of adding supplements to our diet to help fill out was is missing in food. However, for me there is one problem with this approach. I don't believe we truly understand vitamins and minerals yet, especially how they work with one another within our body. It's why there is a steady flow of changing information on what to take for the best overall health. Instead I've decided I'd rather focus on growing the most nutrient rich food I can in a sustainable way and allow it to nourish our bodies.

Beyond the overall nutrition, I realize it's also not just enough to feed my children, I also feel it's important that they understand food; how it's grown, where it comes from and why it's so important for their bodies. I hope as they work in the garden, and this year start a garden of their own, they can begin to learn to appreciate nature and how God called us to be stewards of the land.

Walking With the Lord: Honoring the Sabbath

Sunday is my favorite day of the week, even with the stresses that seem to come with it. Trying to get kids up and out of the house and to church on time always is a bit overwhelming and both my husband and my patience is often challenged during this time. Even after church, kiddos can be cranky and tired, but what I love about Sunday is first, I truly do normally enjoy going to church. I think it's wonderful to be surrounded by fellow believers. More than that though, is that Sunday is the God ordained day of rest. It's the only day where I don't feel guilty if I don't get things done. It's the only day that, if the kids actually allow it, I can sit and read a book during the day and relax.

Yesterday was one of those more relaxing Sundays. The weather in Minnesota right now is more similar to weather we see in June instead of March. It was sunny, with a breeze and in the upper 70's. That pretty much falls into the perfect weather category in my world. After lunch was done we put kids down for naps. Thankfully our youngest actually fell asleep and even our oldest stayed in his room for a while quietly laying down. I took that time to sit down out on our balcony and read in the glorious sun. This pregnant, overly tired and worn out momma needed that. Needed it in the extreme.

We have a lot going on right now and it's been that ways for a while. It's been a period of time for us where we have so many directions to head in that we don't know where to go first. Not ideal by any means, nor something we like to see happen in our lives, but it is what it is right now and there isn't much we can do to pull back the reigns. Throw into the batch of things to do, illness that has been lingering in the family for over a week and even the toughest is going to get worn out. As much as we have to do, with certain deadlines creeping up very quickly, I spoke with my husband Saturday night and said we were going to set everything aside on Sunday and relax. In general we try and keep Sunday as a day of rest in our home. It's a time for family and for the Lord. However, the last couple of weeks we haven't been so good at following God's command for a day of rest and I've seen it reflect itself into our week(s).  It's easy to think that "we must get this done", yet forgetting to follow the guidance of the Lord. In doing so I have felt that the Lord has often pulled back some of His blessing on the week going forward. Mondays have started out far more stressful and by mid-week after not having any break I find myself short tempered and flat out exhausted.

Walking With the Lord: Christians aren't so perfect

Several weeks ago this topic came up at our church and I have to say that it's a point that I have found that I must remind myself of from time to time. Why? Well, first I should say, of course I know that Christan's aren't perfect, we are human after all, but I have a tendency to hold up born-again-Christians to a higher standard than others and when that standard is not met, it can be disappointing and discouraging. It seems like they should know better. At one point in my life I left Christianity all together, not because I no longer believed in God, but because I had lost all faith in the hypocritical Christians that I kept encountering. This is by no means to say that I was some fabulous believer, hardly so, but we don't always look at ourselves first. It far easier to judge another person's actions before my own or at least it was.

The reality is Christians are just people, like everyone else. They are plagued with the same temptations, the same difficult circumstances and same desires as everyone else. Walking with the Lord is a journey. A person does not stop, hand their life over to Christ and suddenly become a whole new person, without temptation, fully enlightened, filled with understanding of God's role in their life. In the beginning people can and do make major transformations in their life, but when life settles sinful natures rear their heads and everyone at some point, most likely on a daily basis, struggles with living a life for the Lord.

Walking With the Lord: My anxious and fearful thoughts

Over the past several months I have struggled with feeling anxious. Anxious for all the unknowns in both my life and in life in general. I am a person who likes to have life settled, needs to know where things are going and have some type of routine to my day. Since our move in the fall all of these things flew out the door and I have been struggling to grasp at the straws of life to once again make some order.

My anxious heart has left me sleepless (well close to it) on many nights as I've wrestled with issues that surround my day to day life as a mother and wife, personal relationships and interactions with church and fellow Christians and then branches out to what is going on in the world and especially our nation.

As I lay in bed, tossing and turning, fear wells up. Overall, I'm not an overly fearful person, but when tiredness overcomes me and darkness surrounds me, fear creeps into my thoughts and my dreams. I can become overwhelmed by the fear of the unknown. My brain begins to make scenarios for different situations I am trying to sort through in life and many a night has found me in tears with a racing heart.

Walking With the Lord: The child/Father relationship with our Lord and how we confuse it.

Photo Credit

This is a topic that has been on my mind for a long time and one that I received no greater understanding of until I had children of my own, because then for the first time I understood the love of a parent and the role the parent plays in a child's life.

When my son was born I was just beginning a journey back to knowing God and following His Word. In that first year as I held my son, cared for him, gave him everything he needed, a love for him developed that could never be broken. It was a love that as a child I could never have understood that my parents had for me. It's not that my parents didn't show love, its that the love was beyond my understanding until I had children of my own. With that love came the fact that I would do the best I could to protect him, to care for him, to provide for him and ultimately teach him what it means to be a man of God.

Now I am no one except a flawed human being who makes mistakes and sins daily, who does her best to follow the Lord, but in the end is far from perfect. Now on the other hand we have our Father, our TRUE Father in heaven, who is perfect, is all knowing, is our creator and designer, and ultimately the greatest parent who knows how to perfectly raise us. For me, while I called God my Father, I never really understood His true role in my life until I understood what it meant to be a parent.

As "mature" adults we naturally elevate ourselves to a position of knowing, for certainly we know more than children do. We have experience under our belt, we've been educated, we have greater understanding of how the world works. As we think this way, which isn't untrue, a danger can and does arise. We begin to put our understanding on the same level as the Lords. We think that we can break down His Word, the Holy Bible, and put new meaning into it and change it to fit our times, our needs, our wants. We begin to change the role of God and instead of keeping Him in the elevated position which He not only deserves, but demands, we bring Him down to our understanding.

Where is the problem in this? We are infants, if that, in our understanding of who God is and why He created the world as He did. He has given us amazing glimpses into understanding Him through the Bible and as we develop our relationship with Him and seek Him out in prayer and reading his Word it reveals to us greater and greater wisdoms, but we are no where on the same level as He.

Walking With the Lord: "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Several verses from the Bible have been laid on my heart over the last couple of weeks. I read them during my morning time in the Word, where I'm reading through the Bible in a year, something I highly recommend everyone to do to begin to TRULY understand what it means to be a follower of our Lord and Savior.

"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'" 

Matthew 16: 24-26

What has been most heavily laid on my heart is the idea of what it actually means to loose our life. I don't know that I've truly understood what this verse was saying until these last couple of months. As I look around where I live now, I know that I'm am beyond blessed to have a roof over my families head, that we are safe and protected, that we have been blessed with an abundance of healthy food, however if you had spoken to me a year ago and told me this is where we were going to be now, I would have had a very heavy heart. We are in the complete opposite place of where we wanted to be. Our goal had been to buy land and begin to homestead, growing our own food and living a more self sustained lifestyle. I wanted to be away from the city and be back with nature where I feel most relaxed and rejuvenated. However, the Lord has had another plan. When we began to seriously look into moving, it was the beginning for us to truly recognize what it means to hand EVERYTHING over to the Lord and trust in Him to provide us with ALL we need.

Walking with the Lord: My meandering thoughts for this Monday morning

I have much to do this day as we enter final stages of packing and selling a good portion of our things. We are hoping to move in a week and have decided instead of putting things into storage we are going to sell as much as possible so we can be more flexible over the coming months as we figure out where the Lord is leading us. We have found a temporary place to live, which I am beyond thankful for. Not knowing where we were going to live has been very difficult for our family. We have had to keep handing over our questions, our concerns, our worries to the Lord. The summer has been a huge test in our faith and trust in the Lord. We have held on tight to our Father in Heaven and He has again shown us just how faithful He is to His followers. It's been an amazing experience in many ways and I feel that it's only brought us closer to our Lord our God, however, that doesn't mean it's been easy.

~~~~~~~~~

I often lay in bed pondering issues, processing insecurities, wondering what the next steps are or as of late, how can I demonstrate what it is to be a believer and follower of the One True God, the God of the Holy Bible and the Father of Jesus Christ. This can be a hard one for me. Why? Not because I am ashamed of the Lord, but because satan is an excellent manipulator and he knows how to play on my weaknesses and when satan is perhaps not involved, then I take over for him and allow myself to become defeated, offended and hurt. What does this have to do with demonstrating a life of a believer in Christ? I'm a person who often feels disliked, left out and at times down right hated and when I feel like this it's my natural tendency to want to separate myself from everyone. I love people, but for various reasons have always been rather terrible with small talk, or conveying my thoughts/emotions in a way that others understand my true intent. It's an easy downfall for a straight forward person like myself and a person who tends to be more serious then light hearted. I have always felt like I was lying unless I simply told things as I see them. Add to the straight forwardness, the terrible tendency (in my opinion) to talk first, then stop and think about how I stated things after, only gets me into more trouble. Ugh... In the end I get down in the dumps and want to run away, not from my life, actually I am very content with my life and where things are moving. I love my children and have a wonderful husband. I just want to run away from everyone else. If you don't interact with others then you are a whole lot less likely to offend, hurt or cause misunderstandings. At least that's what I tell myself in those darker moments.

Walking With the Lord: His blessings this week

Our week has been incredible, both in good and bad ways and frankly pretty darn exhausting. We have a lot on our plate right now. It's all good, but it's still a lot. The biggest item we are trying to sort through is finding a home to move to. I wrote last week, that we are seeking the Lord in this process and truly trusting Him to provide for us.

The home search has been pretty interesting thus far. We are focusing our attention on homes that have at least 2 acres with them, so we can grow a large garden and hopefully have some chickens and a couple of goats and sheep. There is plenty of properties out there to buy, just need the money to buy them! :) It's very, very important to us that we purchase well within our means. With that all said (or written in this case) we found a home we liked about two weeks ago. We started jumping through the hoops to put an offer in on it and let me tell you, there were a lot of hoops because the house needed a serious amount of work. In the end, we were unable to make an offer on the house because another offer got in first. This really wasn't a huge deal, like I said, we are trusting the Lord in this process. What was discouraging though was we found out we had been misinformed about all the "hoops" we had jumped through and actually we could have done a simple, straightforward offer to start. Hmmm, okay, that would have been helpful to know a week ago before we hired a contractor to come out and give us a bid for the work needing to be done. A contractor who we really liked and appreciate the effort he put in to get us the bid, but who still costs money, several hundred dollars actually. We are watching every penny right now and spending close to $300 because someone else told us wrong info. didn't make me happy. Forget about all the stress all the hoop jumping caused.

Then Monday night our sweet cat Jazz became very sick. He started throwing up all over our basement and was having a hard time breathing. We hoped it was something that would pass by morning, but it did not. By Wednesday, he had gotten so much worse that I took him to the vet. After an x-ray, the vet saw that there was an abstruction in his intestins. He needed surgery. A surgery that was likely going to cost $2500. This would have been on top of the already $300 I spent to have him checked over. There was simply no way we could afford to do this. So the vet encouraged me to take him home and hope that somehow he might pass whatever was causing the problem. I was broken hearted. We love our cat. He's our only pet that actually tolerates our children well and lets them pet him. He's such a sweet old boy and we had just been saying how much we enjoyed him, the day he got sick.

While I haven't been stressed about everything going on because I truly do trust the Lord that everything will work its way out or that He will give us the ability to deal with things that don't turn out as planned, I have been exhausted. I don't like being pulled in so many directions (more on some of these things in the next couple of weeks) and often what happens is I can't work on even one project because all the others keep popping up for one reason or another and distract my mind from doing what it needs to do. The only thing that has been keeping peace in our home is praying to the Lord. My husband and I have started praying together in the morning before he goes to work and I love it. It starts the day on the right foot. We also have been trying to read a small passage in the Bible. Then he heads to work and has his own personal Bible time there (he goes in early to beat traffic) and I have my personal Bible time at home. It truly is a blessed way to start the day.

The last couple of days we've been praying over our cat. Asking for a miracle, for him to be saved. Then yesterday afternoon rolled around and I was going to put the kids down for naps and quiet time. I went to check on our cat first, who had been huckered down under one of the beds. He had refused to come out and no longer wanted to be petted. I knew this was a bad sign. When I went up to check on him, he was laying very still and on his side. I checked to see if he was breathing and didn't see his chest going up and down. I then went to the other side of the bed and his eyes were open, but glazed over and he was starring at nothing. I called his name several times, but nothing. He was dead. I broke down in tears. We had already made an appt. to euthanize that evening, but he couldn't make it that long, which in many ways was good, because I certainly didn't want to have to euthanize him, but we also didn't want to see him in so much pain. I called my husband, unsure what to do and balling at the same time. He left work and came home to help me move our cat from under the bed.

While I waited for my husband to get home, I got the kids ready for naps, all the time trying to explain to my 3 year old why I was so sad and what it means to die. It had been about 20 minutes and I was just walking out into the hall from trying to get my daughter to bed when our cat Jazz walks out of the room he had been in. Um, yes, I about jumped to the ceiling. I was just in aw. What in the world just happened. I quickly called my husband and told him what was going on. He was 5 minutes away. I followed our cat as he walked down two flights of stairs to the basement and went behind the furnace where he likes to hide. When my husband got home we encouraged our cat to come out and to our complete amazement he started purring and rubbing up against our legs. He hadn't done that since this all started Monday evening. He then came back upstairs, fully alert. While it was obvious he still didn't feel good, it was a vast difference than how he had been. Before we knew it, he wanted to go outside and wonder around, then he wanted to be pet more... Guess what, he's still here and walking around the house, he drank water for the first time today and is purring all the time. It's simply amazing, better yet, it's a miracle. We have been praying over this cat asking for the Lord to heal him and I truly believe He has. It will be interesting to see how Jazz continue to progress. If we happen to still loose him, I am happy we at least got some more joyous time with him, but honestly at the moment he seems to much better I am hoping and praying that he'll pull through it.

Now for the second truly awesome blessing. Yesterday we found out we are receiving the money we need to pay off the rest of our credit card. I can't even begin to tell you the joy that this brings to my heart. We have never not had credit card debt since my husband and I have been together. That's 9 years now. It's been such a heavy burden and we've been working very hard to see the debt eliminated. I am just in aw of the Lord right now. He took such a difficult couple of weeks and turned them completely around all in one day. First by healing our cat and second by providing an amazing amount of money through several very, very generous hearts. The Lord is good and He is so faithful!

I feel like we've been praying about so many different things lately, but in the process trying our best to hand our lives over to the Lord. This has meant not fighting the Lord and doing as we desire, but listening to Him and following His lead, cause guess what folks, the Lord DOES talk to US. We just need to learn how to listen and obey. There has been so many times I have prayed over something and nothing has happened or the issue has not resolved itself as I have hoped. Sometimes you can begin to feel like the Lord isn't listening. Yesterday, to me, was like the Lord was saying yes I am listening, but you must TRUST ME, you must OBEY ME and be okay if things don't go the way you think they should, like perhaps with the house. I'm telling you yesterday was simply to surreal between the healing of Jazz and the blessing of the money, to not be from the Lord. It's such an amazing affirming moment/day while mixed with a dozen different emotions.

For those of you who take time to read this post, I encourage you to seek the Lord, hand your life over to Him. Be willing to let Him move and guide you. Be ready and open to what He has in store for you and know that what He has for you might not be what you had for yourself. Be a willing servant of Christ Jesus and give Him GLORY through it all, the good and the bad. He is a truly magnificent Father. He loves us so much and I am beyond thankful that I know Him as my Lord and Savior.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart." 

Psalm 32:8-11

"I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness with in my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation." 

Psalm 40: 9-10

"My souls waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken." 

Psalm 62:1

"Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord id good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations." 

Psalm 100:1-5

 

Walking With the Lord: Faith and trust in Him with our decisions

Having faith and trust in the Lord is a topic that touches very close to home for my husband and me right now. About a month or two ago we decided we were not going to renew our lease on the town home we rent and since then and actually since January when this topic first came up for us, we've been contemplating what our next step is to be. We have a lot of possibilities, but with those possibilities comes the burden of trying to figure out where we are supposed to go and what we are supposed to do. This is actually a longer story then I will share, one that has had us looking to move to another state or us considering purchasing a small home that could potentially be turned into a rental property, or purchasing a home for the right price and later try to flip it after a lot of hard work on our end. As the Lord has closed some doors and swung open others we have landed on our the path that would lead us to buy a home with some land, with it coming the commitment to stay in the state we are in and make it a permanent home. (Neither my husband or I is from MN, and it was our desire to move south to first be closer to our family and second to live in a warmer climate where the winters aren't quite so harsh.)

Those closest to us have known of the burden that has been on our hearts that we make the right decisions for our family. In the past, when decisions of this nature have come before me, I have become overwhelmed with the different options and knowing what is right to do. I am a person who's mind travels down every road of possibility, trying to think about all the different scenarios we may or may not encounter. Honestly, this thinking can become debilitating because it can cause an overwhelming burden to make the right decision, what ever "right" may be. More importantly though is it can cause me to focus on me and what I want versus handing it over the Lord and having faith and trust in Him to provide us with the right home in the right location.

We have asked many friend who are close to us to be praying with us through this whole process. Not praying that the Lord will grant us a larger home, or all the land we may desire or open up the perfect opportunities. Those are certainly all fine things, but they are things that our flesh desires and they aren't necessarily what the Lord desires for us. So, we've asked that our friends pray that we have open eyes and willing hearts to follow the Lord's lead. We've been praying that the Lord would make our path clear to us and that He would lead us to the home that He knows is best suited for us, our finances, our family and ultimately our long term goals.

By handing our burdens over to the Lord and trusting in Him to provide and having faith that He will guide us in the right direction, we are releasing ourselves for the anxiety that Satan would use to overwhelm us. I know this because it's happened to us many times before. The number of times I have been reduced to tears because of the overwhelming burden of trying to do it on my own and do it my own way are countless. Honestly, this is probably one of the first truly huge decisions my husband and I have had to make together where we are seeking the Lord through the whole process and what an amazing, I mean truly, truly amazing difference it is making.

I am still working at not being anxious. Why? Because trusting in the Lord, having true faith in Him isn't a one time prayer or a one time thought, instead it's a daily, hourly, even minute by minute step that requires me to hand my burdens, my thoughts even, back over to the hands of the Lord. It's reminding myself that His timing is always the best timing and it's knowing and trusting that He will provide for us, even if it's not in the way we were expecting.

Matthew 6: 25-34 are excellent verses to remember during times like this.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? Any why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow, they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will car for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Walking With the Lord: A glimpse at the perfection of our Father

There are two children. The first has a parent who loves them unconditionally. When this child does not desire to listen to their parent and instead does as he/she wants, the parent corrects the child. With great wisdom the parent knows that the child can not be allowed to do everything he/she may desire. The parent has the understanding that in order to keep the child from harming or hindering themselves or others, certain restriction must be in place. When the child chooses to disobey instead of heed the rules the parent has put in place, the loving parent corrects the child and disciplines them in an appropriate way.

The second child also has a parent who loves them unconditionally. However, this child does not have a close relationship with their parent. When the child does something wrong and pushes the boundaries too far, the parent chooses to not correct the child, but allows them to do as they desire. The child must learn the hard way that there are consequences to their choices and at times those consequences can cause life altering changes.

Which parent would you rather have? The one who is attentive to you and even if it's difficult, will correct you when you are wrong or the one who allows you to do all that your heart desires, but also allows you to deal with the consequences of those desires on your own?

As followers of Christ Jesus, we have the parent who is attentive to us, watching our every step. He allows us to make our own decisions, but when those decisions begin to lead us astray and threaten our relationship with Him, our all knowing Father reigns us back in, correcting and disciplining us and giving us greater wisdom for why His laws must be obeyed. Those correction can be difficult and are different for every person, however as you overcome you grow in wisdom, in knowledge, in understanding and in strength.

I am continuously amazed at the life of the Jews of the old testament and how much their life mirrors our lives today. Perhaps life looks different on the outside as we drive cars, fly airplanes, shop at major retailers, but the basics of life, the struggles, the temptations are all the same. The discipline the Lord uses for His people is also the same. There came a time for the Jews, when they continued to fail to listen the God and did as they desired, that God stepped out of the picture and allowed the Jews to do whatever they wished. When He stepped away, He also took away His wisdom, His knowledge, His understanding and His protection. The Jews were left to fend for themselves. It was not that the God stopped loving them, it just that sometimes when there is such great rebelliousness, there is perhaps nothing left to do, but let the rebelliousness play itself out and let the consequences of those actions speak for themselves.

It's the Lord's amazing loves for us and His ability to be the most perfect parent that He corrects and disciplines us. What would we do if He did not? Look around do get a glimpse of what happens. Read through the old testament and see what happens to the Jews when the Lord steps out of the picture and allows them to do all their hearts desired. The Jews were His chosen people. The Lord set them a part and gave them laws, guidelines and rules to follow. Not because He wanted to put restriction on their life and make their life more difficult. Just the opposite. By being the perfect parent and not allowing His children to be rebellious, He was actually allowing them to have more freedom. The Jews did not have to be caught up in the trappings of the world. They were healthier, wealthier and more provided for then everyone around them.

The world and all the desires that come with it are certainly enticing, but when you take a closer look and really see what happens when people live lives that cater to their current whims and desire, are they truly better off? Are they truly happier? Perhaps for a time, perhaps even for a generation, but each step that is taken further from the Lord and His commandments leads to greater consequences. Our society today is a perfect example of this.

When we say that we are followers of Christ Jesus and say that we are Christians, this is not the lite (almost a mockery) title as so many have made it. This is a confession to all to know that we have chosen the Lord and the Bible to be our guide and rule book. We are not left having to try and conform to the ways of the world, instead we are actually free from the boundaries the world would have us restricted by. While the learning process can be an up-hill battle in the beginning as we fight and struggle with obeying the Lord, just as it's hard for a young child to learn that they must be obedient to their parent. There comes a time when we can recognize that, hmmm, these "laws", "rules", "commandments" aren't so difficult and actually when I follow them I am happier, more complete, content and free do to so much more with my life. 

Each of us has a choice. Do we want to live our lives the Lord's way or do we want to live by the finicky ways of this earth? It's truly is an excellent question, because it gives you the starting point of which direction you should be heading in and where you should be going for guidance.

A beautiful reminder, or perhaps something to strive for, for us married women

An excellent wife, who can find?

For her worth is far above jewels. 

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

And he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil 

All the days of her life.

She looks for wool and flax

And works with her hands in delight.

She is like merchant ships;

She brings her food from afar.

She rises also while it is still night

And gives food to her household 

And portions to her maidens.

She considers a field and buys it;

From her earnings she plants a vineyard,

She girds herself with strength

And makes her arms strong.

She senses that her gain is good;

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hands grasp the spindle.

She extends her hand to the ppor,

And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household,

For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes coverings for herself;

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,

And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

Strength and dignity are her clothing, 

And she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

"Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all."

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Give her the product of her hands,

And let her works praise her in the gates. 

Proverbs 31: 10-31

Walking With the Lord: Having the right response towards others

My thoughts have been wondering in many directions as of late as I continue to look towards the Lord and try to sort through what it means to live a life for Him. There is the internal aspect of our relationship with our Heavenly Father and there is also the external. The external has been at the forefront of my thoughts as I ponder the idea of what it means and what it looks like to have a righteous response in all situations. I wish I could share all the reasons this has been on my mind, but I don't believe I would know where to begin, as there are so many layers to my thinking and far to many situations in the past couple of months that have caused me to take a closer look at this subject.

When we have been hurt (physically or emotionally), wronged, offended, left out, lied to and so on, we have our own contributing role to the situation through how we choose to respond. The response of a Born Again Christian who is able to fully hand over their life to the Lord should look differently than the person who still lives in the flesh or follows the world's view of how to react. So then, how do we handle all the difficult situations that inundate us, the situations that leave us broken or even the ones that aren't necessarily a big deal, but weigh down our spirit and hearts all the same?

We can turn to the Lord and to the Bible.

From the very beginning, in Genesis, we see the way the nature of man wants to respond once sin has entered the picture. In the story of Adam and Eve, sin entered man when the fruit from the tree of "knowledge of good and evil" was eaten by Eve (Gen. 2: 17) She then took the fruit to her husband and he too ate the forbidden fruit. (Gen. 3:6)

 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the tees of the garden. 


"Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, 'Where are you?' He said, 'I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.'

"And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?'

"The man said, 'The woman whom You have to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.'

"Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me and I ate.'" Genesis 3: 7-13

The very first response to being wronged, was placing blame on the other. Adam first placed the blame on Eve and then Eve placed the blame on the serpent (Satan). Forget the fact that it was Adam's own decision to eat the apple. Eve did not and could not have forced him to do so. He was willing, but then blamed her because she placed the temptation before him. Eve in turn did the same, but did so with the serpent instead.

We can often fully justify the many types of responses, like blame, anger or running away, that we may have when we've been hurt. The world certainly wouldn't see our response as being wrong, it's what we're taught in TV shows, books, news and even churches. This is one of the reasons why having a righteous or right response can be so difficult, because we fail to recognize that we are responding by the world's terms instead of by God's.

The very cliché phrase "WWJD" or "What would Jesus Do?" has become a joke today, but in all reality, it's an excellent question to ask ourselves, especially in situations where a response is necessary. We can turn to the Bible and read throughout the New Testament, the many ways Jesus chose to respond to those who apposed Him, hated Him, wanted Him dead, lied to Him, spread rumors about who He was. They did every single thing you can do to a man to break him and yet Jesus always had an amazing, yet often simple response. His response was different and dependent on the situation. His response was not to prove Himself right or put Himself above others or cause others pain. His responses required the utmost humility, because He did not fight back, yell, scream, act aloof, talk behind others backs, spread rumors, say words to offend. When He chose to speak, He did so with intelligence, knowledge and with a profound wisdom. When He chose not to speak, His silence was equally profound.

It doesn't matter what the other person(s) has done to you, to strive to live more like Jesus means we respond in a way that would make our Father in Heaven proud of us. If we live our life for the Lord first and foremost and concern ourselves with how He would have us live, as we die to our own will and follow His, our perspective can change. Our response then is not about the other person, about proving ourselves right, finding a way to escape, or justify how right we are, it is instead about doing what God would have us to do and following the example of Jesus.

This is not easy, actually for some of us and for some situations we find ourselves in, it might be the hardest thing we can do. Even once we have had the right response, it does not mean that things will be easier. It's not about easier, or better, or anything along that line. It's about doing what is right before the Lord.

"Breaching the Veil" by Alan Kregness

 Yesterday I shared the short reading "The Garden Prayer" that Alan Kregness prepared for our church as our pastor shared several sermons about Easter over the past couple of Sundays. Today, I share the second reading he wrote.

If you live in the Twin Cities area and are desiring to learn more about Christ Jesus, please feel welcome to come to First Baptist's Good Friday service this evening at 6:00 PM. Click HERE for driving direction.

He had heard stories from the ancient high priest. Beyond the massive curtain lay the Holy
of Holies, the very dwelling of Yahweh, though he dared not utter the name. The old man spoke in
hushed tones of breaching the curtain and of light, thick and tangible, pouring into the Holy Place.
He whispered about seeing fire and thunder and a pillar of cloud forever billowing in on itself.

Although the young priest had occasional doubts about some of the stories, he always
maintained a distance from the curtain. He may have doubted the stories, but he did not doubt The
One who resided beyond the veil. On most days he even avoided eye contact with it if possible.

Today, the young priest stood motionless, his eyes locked on the wall opposite the curtain.
What had begun as a minimal dot was now a pillar of white radiance. He stole a furtive glance at
the curtain. It was closed, protecting him from The Divine Presence. His shuffling feet were now
silent, and in the distance he could hear the crowd, restless upon the hill. Darkness had crept over
the city only a few hours ago, a midnight in the afternoon.

"The Garden Prayer" - A beautiful short story by Alan Kregness

As Good Friday draws near I want to share the first of two readings written by Alan Kregness, which were created for the Easter series our pastor has been sharing at our church (First Baptist Church of Minneapolis).

Alan is a wonderful writer, as you will be able to see below and does a beautiful job of forming a simple, but moving image of what it may have been like as Jesus prayed in the garden before the time of His imprisonment and crucifixion.

Photo Credit

The Garden Prayer

            He returned to the small clearing. They had fallen asleep again. Even as he roused the disciples, he felt waves of fatigue washing over him. Now, as he knelt again in the waning moonlight, a terror seized his heart and chased the weariness out. The burden of the impending hours was heavy on him. He nearly wretched at the thought of the cross, even as he was aware of the glory beyond.

   

Walking With The Lord: Reading God's Word, the Holy Bible

I have had a very heavy heart as of late, as I ponder and evaluate what it means to live as a Born Again Christian in today's world. My heart is broken as I look at our culture, at our country and at those who consider themselves apart of the Christian Body, even if in name only.

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

Hebrews 3: 12-13 (NAS)

Christianity is destroying itself. Where, for a time is was a slow erosion, this is not so now. Our world is moving at an insanely fast pace. There is always one more thing to do, to accomplish, to be apart of, to learn, to engage in, to distract us from what it most important. Christianity is no different, we are following the dogma of the world. We are working so hard to spread the knowledge of the Word of God, which is awesome and should and needs to be done, but in the process, I'm worried we are no longer focusing enough on each individual building up a truly strong foundation in the Lord.

The two most important ways we develop a personal relationship with God, our Lord in Heaven, is first through times of prayer and times of focusing on Him. Second, we do this by reading the Bible. There is no other book like the Word of God, the Holy Bible, the True Living Word. Fundamentally it's where the ground works of Christianity exist. It guides us through the steps of how to lay a foundation down in the Lord that is so strong that nothing in this world can shake, erode or destroy it.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4: 12-13 (NIV)

Yet, as we build this core foundation, where is it that we seek our information about how to live as Christians or learn what it actually means to be a Christian? Often, we turn to man for the answers, we fill our free time reading books or attending lectures and talks about every subject under the sun. To a certain extent this is fine and a necessary part of learning. There is no problem in reading other works and certainly there is not one of us who can claim we know it all, so then we should learn from one another. Where there is an issue though is when those other books, people and so forth, take precedent over the Bible. Why is it that we are rarely taught to turn to the Lord for our answers. I am often amazed how much the Lord God can reveal through prayer with Him and reading of His Word. I am also amazed at how many answers exist in the Bible.

Walking With The Lord: Taking Time to Pray

My life has been transformed in many ways since the moment that I was standing around my friends kitchen table, enjoying the snacks provided for the evening Bible study and she shared the simple thought that I must trust the Lord. (Please read my testimony for more information.)  It was in that moment that I realized that I had not been trusting Him and it came as a bit of shock.

I have loved the Lord for as long as I can remember, but as I grew up, there became a disconnect from Him. I do not know exactly when or how it happened, but at some point I stopped seeking the Lord in prayer. While yes, I was praying, I don't know that I was seeking to know Him, to know Him intimately. I think I was more focused on what He could do for me, how He could help me. It was a me focused prayer.

There is no greater relationship than our personal relationship with the Lord. He is our God, our heavenly Father and He knows us to such a great depth that He can tell us the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12: 7) or our deepest desires, ones that we have yet to recognize. He knows our strengths and weaknesses, our temptations, our wants and needs. He knows all of this because He made us. Yet, how do we get to know and understand Him? Is He to be a stranger to us or simply the God of the Bible whom we pray to because we are called to do so, yet our prayers are hollow and empty.

Our relationship with the Lord must be the most important aspect of our lives. It must come before all else. How then do we nurture and strengthen this relationship? I believe two of the most important ways are by talking with Him and then reading His divine words in the Holy Bible. I will write more about reading His Word next Monday, but today I want to focus on learning to talk to the Lord.

Walking With The Lord: My Testimony

It's a little after 6 in the morning and I sit here, thinking. Thinking about what to write, what to share.

Why am I sharing my testimony? Starting today and each Monday going forward I hope to bring to you some thoughts, scripture and encouragements about walking with the Lord. My testimony is a starting point and shares how my faith in the Lord has transformed through some difficult, but eye opening experiences.