One of Nick's Facebook friends is a very outspoken atheist. Since I do not have a personal relationship with him I have no wish to talk to him or really about him except to bring up his "verse of the day".
Recently this man posted some verses of the day intended to make the Bible look foolish and to make God look uncaring. One that struck me was from Genisis 22:2 'Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, who you love-Issac- and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on the mountain I will show you."' Try to think of this verse from the eyes of a non believer. Who is this crazy God that would ask that of his servant? What a terrible, uncaring thing to say. Where is the loving, kind, just, merciful God Christians claim to follow? The good news is, the story doesn't end there.
Abraham obeys and takes Issac to the mountain. God was pretty specific about who to bring. Remember Abraham didn't techinally have only one son. Ishmael, born of a servant Haggar was older than Issac but he was not the son God planned for Abraham and he was not the beloved son and he was not who God asked for. God asked for Abraham's legitimate son who he loved. He asked a lot of Abraham. Walking out the door with your child knowing God asked you to kill them would take a lot. But Abraham knew who God was. God called Abraham (then Abram) OUT LOUD in Gen 12 promising to make him a great nation if he would follow God and leave his father's household behind. God made a covalent with Abraham in Gen 15 to give him offspring as numerous as the stars. God gave Abraham and Sarah a child despite their very old age. Abraham knew he could trust this God who had been faithful to him and had walked with him for years and years.
When Abraham and Issac got to the mountain, Issac asked where the offering was and Abraham answered that God would provide. That sounds like a man who knows who God is and that he expects God to keep his covanent. How could his offspring be like the stars of the night sky if he had no heir?
God did provide an offering, a ram. Issac was spared, it was a test for Abraham. God keeps his promises and doesn't ask us to do anything he wouldn't do himself. Genisis 22:2 is hard to explain if you read only this verse. If you read on though, you will see the beautiful story of faith and faithfulness only God could write. Christians- We need to know why we love God. We need to seek knowledge of his character. Non-Christians- God is so much better than we know or can explain and he shows himself throughout His Word. I am sorry we fail at showing his goodness so that you would want to know Him. We need to be the most loving, giving and faithful people to do justice to the character of our Lord.
Oh Lord, You have been good. You have been faithful, to all generations. I am striving to know the Word to better know my God. I am working to work it into my days and to be able to truely say I live out what I profess to believe.
I continue sharing despite the fact that it is hard for me every time. It is so easy to share funny stories about my kids but hard to share my very personal faith. i share because I think there is a need for people to hear honesty about Christianity and struggles and growth. I hope to be an encouragement to others as they challenge their beliefs and desire to grow in God.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
And then I realized, I'm a real mom
My life as a grown up- I graduated college, started my first job and got married. I loved moving in with the hubby and setting up house. We saved up and bought a home together, did a terrible job painting, changed jobs, bought furniture and got pregnant.
Having one baby is cute. People tell you you are a precious pregnant lady, you decorate a precious nursery and buy precious clothes. You lose your pregnancy weight by the time baby is 6 weeks old and look adorable toting around this little bundle of joy in your gender specific stroller.
Having two babies is less cute. My sweet, funny wonderful daughter is all of those things but she is no longer a baby. She picks out her own clothes (usually leggings or sweats) , pulls the ponytail out of her hair leaving it looking messy and unkept, and talks ALL the time. My cute baby son this afternoon was sitting crying in a purple Bumbo waiting for me to finish feeding him while I was helping his sister go potty. God, please help second children. And firsts. And parents too.
Also moms of two are less cute. I reflected on this though this afternoon as my cool skinny jeans from Ann Taylor #notactuallycool #idontevenhavetwitter are covered in sidewalk chalk and I have my phone in my back pocket and tennis shoes on. There are a lot of problems with that sentence. 1) Why do all my clothes have baby food/ play dough/ chalk on them? 2) Since when do I wear pants with pockets big enough to hold a phone. Can these possibly be both mom jeans and dad jeans? 3) I wear tennis shoes every day. Today I was wearing cute boots because flats and skinny jeans is not something I do but when we got home Addy wanted to play hopscotch and hula hoop and run down to the river so the boots were out and the sneakers were on. Wow. And this is totally normal for me.
Also this conversation happened today. I asked my best friend Aubra to lunch.
Aubra: Where do you want to meet for lunch?
Me: Well, I was thinking we could grab food from Jason's Deli and then go eat at the Jumpy Place so we can talk instead of me having to try to keep everyone calm in a restaurant. They have picnic tables there.
Sweet Aubra who loves my kids went with it like that was a normal request. When did this happen? I say this laughing because I adore my kids and love being a mom but I never knew how much work it would end up being to get everyone out the door with brushed teeth and hair in the morning. I manage to pull it together most days and I haven't become yoga pants mom (yet, but a third would probably drive me to it) but what happened to the well rested and well dressed girl I used to know? I guess she will come back in a few years but she won't be me, she will be my daughter. And when she does I hope I will be my mother, giving up things for myself so that she can have the cute new clothes and fun ski trips and naps on a Sunday afternoons. Actually I sincerely hope we can both have the naps.
Having one baby is cute. People tell you you are a precious pregnant lady, you decorate a precious nursery and buy precious clothes. You lose your pregnancy weight by the time baby is 6 weeks old and look adorable toting around this little bundle of joy in your gender specific stroller.
Having two babies is less cute. My sweet, funny wonderful daughter is all of those things but she is no longer a baby. She picks out her own clothes (usually leggings or sweats) , pulls the ponytail out of her hair leaving it looking messy and unkept, and talks ALL the time. My cute baby son this afternoon was sitting crying in a purple Bumbo waiting for me to finish feeding him while I was helping his sister go potty. God, please help second children. And firsts. And parents too.
Also moms of two are less cute. I reflected on this though this afternoon as my cool skinny jeans from Ann Taylor #notactuallycool #idontevenhavetwitter are covered in sidewalk chalk and I have my phone in my back pocket and tennis shoes on. There are a lot of problems with that sentence. 1) Why do all my clothes have baby food/ play dough/ chalk on them? 2) Since when do I wear pants with pockets big enough to hold a phone. Can these possibly be both mom jeans and dad jeans? 3) I wear tennis shoes every day. Today I was wearing cute boots because flats and skinny jeans is not something I do but when we got home Addy wanted to play hopscotch and hula hoop and run down to the river so the boots were out and the sneakers were on. Wow. And this is totally normal for me.
Also this conversation happened today. I asked my best friend Aubra to lunch.
Aubra: Where do you want to meet for lunch?
Me: Well, I was thinking we could grab food from Jason's Deli and then go eat at the Jumpy Place so we can talk instead of me having to try to keep everyone calm in a restaurant. They have picnic tables there.
Sweet Aubra who loves my kids went with it like that was a normal request. When did this happen? I say this laughing because I adore my kids and love being a mom but I never knew how much work it would end up being to get everyone out the door with brushed teeth and hair in the morning. I manage to pull it together most days and I haven't become yoga pants mom (yet, but a third would probably drive me to it) but what happened to the well rested and well dressed girl I used to know? I guess she will come back in a few years but she won't be me, she will be my daughter. And when she does I hope I will be my mother, giving up things for myself so that she can have the cute new clothes and fun ski trips and naps on a Sunday afternoons. Actually I sincerely hope we can both have the naps.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)