This is the Day: On Rejoicing and Being Glad

I've been trying to write this post for five days now. I wanted to tell you about an...ahem...adventurous trip to Wal-Mart with the girls that involved an obnoxious singing birthday card, open food in the cart (that we hadn't yet paid for), and a 4-year-old who insisted on singing the echo song (aka "This is the Day") at the top of her lungs.

I didn't feel very much like rejoicing and being glad that day. I just wanted to get the heck out of the store.

In retrospect, I was more than a little ashamed that I snapped at Micah when she asked me to sing with her, because really, nothing about my day was all that bad. I should have been able to praise God in the middle of Wal-Mart with her. Instead, I let my stress get the better of me, and I refused to sing.

So I was going to tell you all about that trip to the store, and I was going to be thoughtful and reflective and insightful and remind you that THIS is the day that the Lord has made. No matter what happens, we should rejoice and be glad in it.

But it just wasn't clicking for me. I couldn't find the words that I wanted to say. And so I've said nothing. Thinking that the words would eventually come. Thinking that I should save the post for a day when I feel more like praising God.

And then came yesterday. And I realized that if I waited until I felt like it to finish this post, we'd be waiting for a long time.

Yesterday didn't get off to such a bad start. I was mildly productive while Micah was at preschool, and Kendall was happy to play with blocks while I worked. I had big plans for the afternoon. Plans of catching up on some #LentChallenge reading, working on this here blog post, and designing a few new submissions for Minted if time permitted.

But time did not permit, because I picked up a sick little girl from preschool. A girl with a 102 degree fever, a sore throat, and an upset tummy. Instead of reading the Bible, I cleaned up vomit. Instead of writing a blog post, I held my girl. Instead of designing cards, I doled out saltines.

Not exactly inspiration for praising God.

But here's the thing. If I can't find it within me to praise God after a normal trip to the grocery store with a couple of kids in tow or an afternoon that went slightly awry, then how in the world will I find it within me to praise the Lord when something really goes wrong?

Because someday it will. That's just life.

God is good. All the time. When the sun is shining and when the rain is falling, God is good. He is good when the sun comes up each morning and when it goes down each night. He is good when everything goes as planned and when everything falls apart. His goodness isn't dependent on my circumstances. No matter how I feel, no matter what things look like, He is good. That's the truth of the matter, and that's reason enough to praise Him.

And so today, I will rejoice and be glad. Even though I spent two hours at the pediatrician's office with one sick kid and one toddler who's into everything. Even though I had to hold Micah down kicking and screaming while the nurse jabbed a shot of penicillin in her thigh. Even though our subsequent trip to Chick-fil-A was kind of a disaster.

Even though I don't feel much like praising Him, I'll do it anyway.

Because we have a good and kind doctor and affordable healthcare. Because we have access to effective medicine that does away with nasty things like strep throat. Because we have the luxury of stopping in for ice cream when we're having a bad day. And most importantly, I will praise Him because He is God, and He is good. Always and forever. He is good.

I suppose I could moan and sigh and complain about how nothing is going my way, but would that help anything really? I think not. Fake it til you make it, I say. Who knows? Maybe once you start praising, you won't feel like stopping. Trust me on this. It works for me.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Say Good-Bye To Excess and Give Your Stuff Away

It's consignment season in my little corner of the world, which means that two weekends ago, I spent nearly an entire Saturday cleaning out closets, sorting through clothes, and tagging all the stuff we needed to get rid of. When I sat back and looked at the mountain of stuff surrounding me, I was disgusted.

It sickened me to see such a gross overabundance of clothes, toys, and baby paraphernalia when there are so many who go without. My girls have so many clothes that they can't wear everything they own in one season. I can't tell you how many times I've resold clothes with tags from the original purchase still hanging on them. It's gross. And it has to stop.

Did you know that in the developing world, most people survive on less than $1 a day? What if your yearly salary was less than $400? Could you make it?

Several years ago, I went to Ghana. When I was there, walking through villages and observing the abject poverty around me, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the abundance in my own life. When I sit down to pay the bills each month, the last thing I feel is wealthy, but the truth is that compared to the vast majority of this world's inhabitants, we are quite wealthy indeed.

Don't you think that life would be simpler if you could just get rid of all the stuff? How much time do you spend cleaning up the explosion of toys in your kids' rooms? What if you got rid of half of it? How many hours of your life could you reclaim?

Don't you think that you would feel better if you weren't chained to all your stuff? How much debt have you racked up buying stuff that you can't afford and don't need? What if you sold all the stuff and paid off your bills? Can you imagine that type of freedom?

Don't you think that it would be rewarding to stop acquiring and start giving instead? What are the needs in your community? Are you willing to say no to that new shirt that you don't really need so you have room at the margins to give to those who have real needs?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you're in the boat with me. Here are three tangible ways we can trim the fat and give out of our excess.

1. Sponsor a child (or two or three) through Compassion International.

After my trip to Ghana, I wanted to do something tangible to help alleviate the poverty in the region. So we sponsored a little boy through Compassion. We've been sending $38 a month to the ministry for the past seven years. He's 14 years old now, and because we took the money we could have spent on ourselves and sent it to Compassion instead, he's gone to school, learned about Jesus, gotten new clothes, received medical attention, and eaten good, nutritious food. If that sounds good to you, then hop on over to Compassion and sponsor a child today. There are hundreds waiting to get into the programs.

2. Get rid of your stuff.

There's a story in the gospels about a good guy (who also happened to be rich) who asked Jesus what it takes to live forever. He's lived a pretty good life and kept all the commandments, but when Jesus tells him to sell all that he has and give it to the poor, the guy walks away dejected. Why? He was too attached to his stuff. He had so much that he couldn't fathom giving it away. I relate a little too closely to that rich young man. I like my stuff. I want to keep it. And that's precisely why it's important to give it away. Have a yard sale. Clean out the closets and put the items in a consignment sale. Give gently used toys to foster families. Talk to the school counselor and ask her to give outgrown coats to kids who come to class without them. There is so much we can do - we just have to be willing to let go.

3. Create room at the margins.

Did you know that if you were an Israelite in Old Testament times and you happened to own a field, you weren't allowed to harvest the entire thing? You were supposed to leave room at the edges for the poor to come and gather what they needed. It's how they took care of the needy in their midst. Those who didn't have a field of their own came and reaped what they didn't sow (think Ruth in Boaz's field). Now, think about your own "fields." Where can you create some margin to help people who need help the most? Can you take some money from your eating out budget and put it in a "giving to others" fund instead? What about your clothing budget? Or your manicure budget? Or your vacation budget? Pray about it. Then take a good, long, hard look at the numbers, tighten up your belt, and give the excess away.

I'm going to be honest and say that this is an ongoing battle for me. No matter how hard we try to fight the influx of stuff, it just has a way of creeping in. But as Christians, we are called to give freely from what we have, and the truth is that we have so, so much. These changes may seem small. And it's true. There are much bigger, more radical things we could do. But let's start with baby steps. Never forget that if a bunch of us do a lot of small things, it will make a big difference. We're in this together.

I hope you'll join me in the fight against excess. If you do, make sure to leave a comment and let me know how it's going. I want to hear from you!

Until next time, grace and peace.

5 Things Parenting Taught Me About God

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: parenting is not for the faint of heart. It's hard, often thankless work, but it's also rewarding and so, so sweet. Outside of the marriage relationship (which deserves a post of its own) there are few things in life that have taught me more about the relationship between God and humanity than parenting. Here are just a few things I've learned over the past four and a half years.

1. Unconditional love cannot be earned or unearned.

"I will always love you. Always. No matter what. You will always be my baby, and I will always be your mommy." This is a conversation I have with Micah quite frequently. Usually after she's gotten herself in trouble. I remind her over and over again that even when I don't like her behavior I love her because she's my daughter. I couldn't unlove her if I tried.

It is much the same way with God. He loves us. He really, really loves us. Not because we've somehow earned His favor or worked our way into His good graces, but simply because He is our Father. The Bible says that He loved us when we were at our most unlovable (Romans 5:6-8), which comes as a great deal of comfort to someone like me.

He doesn't wait for us to get our acts together before extending His love to us. Quite the contrary. He loves us when we are vile, wretched sinners who have hit rock bottom. He loves us when we are as unlovely as you can imagine, which boils down to this: God's love can be neither earned nor unearned. It is a freely given gift of grace.

Here's the deal. I'm a sinner. I mess up. I do things I shouldn't do. Those things displease God greatly, and there are consequences for them, but it doesn't mean He has stopped loving me. Just as nothing my girls do can stop me from loving them, nothing I do can make God unlove me. What a relief that is. We'll get on to why in number two.

2. Disobedience is almost always personal.

The other day, Micah sneaked a piece of gum after I had forbidden it. She willfully disobeyed me, choosing to place her personal desire for gum over my clear instructions to the contrary. When I discovered her disobedience, I was heartbroken. I know, I know. It's just a piece of gum. But I took it personally because her actions showed that she lacked respect for my authority as her mother and cared more about satisfying her temporary craving than pleasing me.

After I calmed down, I thought about how many times in the past 31 years I've disappointed the Lord by willfully disobeying His clear instructions. I've put my own desires over His commands on countless occasions, showing that I care more about my personal (and fleeting) satisfaction than living a life that honors and pleases Him.

I wonder how often I have been a source of grief for the Lord. I would like to think that the grief has been minimal, but the truth is I've disappointed Him on countless occasions. That's why I'm so thankful that the unconditional love of the Lord cannot be earned or unearned. That leads us to number three.

3. Tough love is sometimes necessary.

Disobedience demands discipline, and I can guarantee you that it's not fun for anyone involved. As much as it broke my heart to do so, I couldn't let the gum incident go by without addressing the disobedience. After discussing what happened, Micah chose her punishment, and I doled it out. Neither of us enjoyed it, but I did it because I'm more interested in shaping her character than making her happy. Sometimes that means that the love I show her is tough indeed.

God loves us too much to leave us the way we are. It is true that we can't unearn His love, but it is equally true that He disciplines disobedience because of that love. He won't overlook our sin just because He loves us. He will do whatever it takes to shake our hands loose from the world so that we'll cling to Him instead. Seriously. It only takes a cursory reading of the Old Testament to discover that God sent the people of Israel into exile as a last-ditch effort to get their attention when they had wandered away from Him. If that's not tough love, I don't know what is.

4. Timing is everything.

I knew we were having supper in about 10 minutes. That's why I told Micah she couldn't have the gum. Besides, she doesn't like spearmint. Every single time she tries it, she spits it out in disgust, but that's beside the point. The point is that not knowing the plan doesn't mean that there isn't one.

A lot of disobedience boils down to a lack of trust. If Micah had only trusted me to know what was best, she wouldn't have gotten into trouble. The same thing is true for us. So many times, we make a mess of things because we didn't just wait and see what God had planned.

Abraham is the perfect example. He spent 25 years waiting on God to fulfill longstanding promises. Along the way, he lost focus and took matters into his own hands, which, as you can imagine, didn't turn out so well. In the end, the promises are fulfilled on God's timetable, and not a moment sooner.

The "not right now" of God doesn't necessarily mean "never." We would do well to remember that the Lord knows what He's doing even when we don't. That's what makes the last point oh-so-sweet.

5. Sacrifice comes with the territory.

As hard as this parenting business is, and as frustrating as it can be, this one thing I know for certain: I love my children so much that I would die for them without a moment's hesitation. I wouldn't have to stop to think about it. There would be no weighing of the pros and cons. I would just do it, because that's what love does. It sacrifices itself for the good of others.

Any parent knows well the sacrifices that come with the job. From giving up countless nights of sleep to leaving behind dream jobs to making sure that all of their little needs are met before you even begin to consider your own, you know what it means to lay aside your own needs/wants/desires to make sure their needs/wants/desires are taken care of.

Think about all the things you would do to protect your children from harm. Now multiply that by 10 million. Those are the kinds of lengths God went to when He died for us. He knew that we would never be able to reach Him on our own, so He did the only thing a loving Father could do. He came to us. He made a way for us to reach Him. He sacrificed Himself for us. Without hesitation. Simply because He loves us.

I didn't really understand that kind of love before I had kids. Intellectually, I grasped the concept, but I didn't really get it until I became a mama and realized that I would gladly throw myself in front of an oncoming train just to shove my baby off the tracks. That's exactly what happened on the cross. We were standing in the middle of the tracks completely oblivious to the locomotive bearing down on us when Jesus stepped in front of us to save us. Now that's love.

These are just a few things that parenting has helped me understand about God and His love. There is really SO much about His character that I understand more clearly now that I'm a mom. Surely I'm not the only one. What about you? What have you learned about God since becoming a parent? Speak up and join the conversation in the comments!

Until next time, grace and peace.