What Coupon will you give to God this Year???

Our family has a few unique traditions that we do for Christmas. One of those is our "Christmas Stocking Coupons."  It is one of the most anticipated part of our Christmas day for the sweet savages. Let me explain:  Around December 1st, we hang up 11 stockings along our stairway. Everyone works for the next 25 days to create at least one coupon for each member of the family....sometimes more (or many more) than one.  The coupons are gifts or acts of service for each other.The younger kids love to make coupons that say things like, "I will play any game with you 10 times"  or "I will go on a hike with you in the woods."  Older kids/parents give coupons for outings to lunch, or bowling, or doing chores for them or a day off math.  Sometimes a coupon to buy gum or ice cream etc.

As I was filling in my coupons for the rest of the family this year, I was stuck on what to write on Chris'. He likes quality time...it crossed my mind to just give him a blank coupon since I wasn't coming up with anything....but then I thought of a fun date I could take him on. As I was pondering though, the thought struck me....if I were making a coupon for God, what would I write?  Would I try to think of a way on my own that would please Him, but keep it on my terms, or would I be willing to give him a blank coupon that allowed Him to fill in the blanks however He wanted to?  Was I willing to trust Him to do that in my life?

What if He wrote something in the blanks that I didn't want to do? Something I didn't want to give up? Something that I didn't want to stop doing?  Pondering...

It is much easier to decide how I want to serve the Lord...it's less scary, and leaves less of a chance of Him asking me to do something outside my comfort zone, isn't it?  I was reminded of a challenging book I read a while back called Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Basically, fans are people who like to be called a Christian.  They like to say all the right things. They think that most of Christianity is a good thing, but when it comes down to it, they are not truly followers. They want to do what they want to do and are only willing to follow Christ so long as it doesn't cost them too much or make them uncomfortable. A true FOLLOWER of Christ is willing to follow and obey God regardless of what it costs them.

So...back to coupons. I think that what coupon you are willing to give to God reveals if you have the heart of a fan or a follower. Are you willing to give God a blank coupon? What if He called you to do something really hard? Something like, sell your house and move to Nigeria? Something like spending time in a prison ministry? How about quit buying all the "stuff" you think you need and instead sponsoring one or ten Compassion children? Or how about something REALLY hard like stop yelling at your kids, truly, unselfishly loving your husband, stop gossiping, reading the Bible every single day?  Are you living for yourself or for God?

Luke 14:33 says, "...those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."

and Matthew 7: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it...  Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ "

Those are some pretty sobering verses. Our culture is FULL of fans of Christ. Fans who write their own coupons for God. These verses are talking about FOLLOWERS of Christ. Those who are willing to say "Yes, Lord," even before He asks. You don't care what it is, your answer is always, "Yes!"   because you are a true follower.  I have heard it called the "predetermined YES!"  

If I read Scripture correctly, you cannot be a Fan and be a true Christ follower. That would be "luke-warm" which Revelation clearly says that the lukewarm will be spit out of God's mouth. 

If you aren't a follower. If you aren't willing to give God a blank coupon with your life to do whatever. Then may I challenge you to truly assess if you are a genuine Christian? A Christian is a Christ FOLLOWER.  Don't be one of the many who walk through the wide gate that Matthew talks about thinking you're okay, only to find out that you succeeded in all the wrong things, and God says in the end, "I never knew you."

I challenge you to make up a coupon for God and sit there and decide if you can give it to God blank. If there are things you don't want Him to mess with, then may I encourage you to spend 2015 seeking what it means to be a sold-out true follower of Christ? May 2015 be the year that you were never the same again!  

Feeding the 5,000....instead of hiding in the bathroom....

This morning, I was reading a Bible story to the younger sweet savages. I've read this story probably hundreds of times, but today was different. Images of parenthood and how Jesus was teaching us moms through this story leaped out at me for the first time. Here is the excerpt that I learned from: Matthew 14:13-21, and the feeding of the 5,000.

 13Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.

      15When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” 17They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, 20and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. 21There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Some background.  John the Baptist was just beheaded.  Jesus loved John and was upset about this, so verse 13 explains that when he heard this he wanted to be alone for a while.  (Understandable, right?)    How often to we, moms, feel overwhelmed and feel like we just need to go to a solitary place.  So we run to the bathroom to hide. Surely, the crowds won't bother us there.  Well...wrong.  It says the "crowds followed Him."   (Can you relate yet?)

In verse 14 it doesn't say he got frustrated and yelled at them saying, "I just need ME time, go away!"  Nope..it says (even in his grief and NEEDING to be alone) He "had compassion on them."  Not only did he not yell at them or throw a tantrum, but he went above and beyond and showed love by "healing their sick."   If He was a mama, it would look like this:  He was headed to the bathroom for some solitary time, but the kids ran after him needing a drink of water, help with a math problem, help buttoning up pants, needing a coloring page printed on the computer....so He had compassion on them and patiently met all their needs, not even frustrated that His own weren't being met.

It seems He met their needs all day cause in v 15 it says it was evening now.  Surely Jesus had gone above and beyond showing love.  It was reasonable that the disciples would tell Him that it was time to send them home so they could go feed themselves. It wasn't a selfish request since there was no food there to feed them all.   Jesus, not thinking of His needs, but wanting to love these people decided to keep meeting their needs....by taking 5 loaves and 2 fish and feeding thousands of needy children  people.   No doubt, all through this day, He was not living by His fleshly, selfish desires but pouring Himself out with the strength that was given to Him by his Father.      He not only met their basic needs but gave them even more food than they needed.  (Going above and beyond what even the people expected.)   The people ate "and were satisfied."

There are plenty of articles out there encouraging us moms to have "me time."  And to "take care of yourself so you can take care of others."      I'm not saying to never do that, but another article about that is not what we need.  We need to understand how to NOT rely on our own strength in the midst of the demands of the "multitudes,"  to learn that we CAN keep going if we allow God's strength to work IN us, and that we can meet all the needs that our family requires, patiently and unfrustrated because in Christ we have all the fruit of the Spirit at are disposal: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Gentleness, Goodness, Kindness, Faithfulness, and Self Control. (Galatians 5).

So, if you are a bathroom-hiding, frustrated, feeling-overwhelmed mama, then I thought this well-known story might show you that Jesus is the perfect example of a godly parent.    Follow His example and let God's nature overwhelm you as you love those needy little-people and show them God's love through your life.

Living 2 Peter 1:3

Had to chuckle today as I realized I was nursing my newborn daughter while helping my oldest son with his capstone/dissertation paper for his BA in History...not to mention the 7 in between that I was helping with school and/or refereeing. Chuckling because it is such a God-sized reality that I'm living. I was a very selfish only-child growing up...who needed lots of "me-time." I never babysat...except once when the kid bit me...that was all til Aslan was born....Aslan completely freaked me out as a baby...had no clue what to do with him..and Chris said a few months into parenthood, "Babe, we just aren't cut out to have a lot of kids." And I shook my head and totally agreed. I'm a living testimony of what God can do to transform a life if you let Him. The Bible says that in Christ we have ALL we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3) It is true, folks. What are you facing that seems impossible on your own? Let Christ take over your life, and He will do things that you never thought possible...He truly will work through you to live the impossible life. Just felt like giving God all the glory for what He is doing...and has done..