Mamas*Little*Treasures

mamas*little*treasures has moved!

Over the past year, mamas*little*treasures and Ruby for Women have been growing at a rapid rate! In an effort to combine our projects and build our business, we have relocated both the mamas*little*treasures blog and the Ruby for Women website to self-hosted sites. You can find us at mamas*little*treasures  and  Ruby for Women.  You are also invited to join us at the Ruby for Women community  website where you can connect with other women who pray for one another, share recipes and crafts, frugal living ideas, home-based business opportunities, and more.

We will also be launching our brand-new subscription site at More from Ruby in September where you will have access to even MORE of the great resources, advice, devotionals, inspirational articles, health and wellness articles, craft and sewing tutorials, recipes and menu planning, financial advice, home and gardening ideas, frugal family living articles, family and parenting advice, relationship articles, and so much more! Please visit us at More from Ruby today!

To Be Carried Away by God's Grace

“The rush and pressure of modern life are a form,
perhaps the most common form,
of its innate violence.
To allow oneself to be carried away
by a multitude of conflicting concerns,
to surrender to too many projects,
to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence . . .” 

                       ~Thomas Merton

Perhaps it is only as we get older and are faced with the necessity of slowing down occasionally that we truly, finally understand this concept. Or perhaps it is just that certain personalities comprehend this truth all along, and others seem to be forever searching for that next "adrenaline rush" of activity, excitement, and adventure. Whatever the reason, it is such a common place in which we find ourselves: too busy, too stressed, too anxious, and far too weighed down with all of the responsibilities in our lives.

Of course, many of those responsibilities cannot be avoided, and should not be avoided. We can't just ignore our children for the sake of some peace and tranquility on a mountaintop somewhere. We can't simply pretend that the bills don't exist while we meditate in a quiet corner. We can't remove all of the noise and activity that is part of modern life . . . . but we can find ways to seek a place of rest and solitude in the midst of our responsibilities. And the other thing that I have discovered over the years is that I can also say "no" to some of the requests for my time and attention.

For many years it seemed that if I didn't "do" the task at hand, whether in our home, our church, or our community, then it was just not going to happen. Because of that incorrect assumption on my part, I would frequently take on way too many responsibilities! Because I was capable of running the parent group at school, and the summer reading program at the local library, and the arts committee in Our Town, I assumed that meant that I was supposed to do it . . . . all. So I tried. And, of course, eventually I failed, because I was so overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities of trying to do everything that everyone expected of me.

Eventually I realized that I am just not that important in the Big Picture! If it is in God's plan for something to happen, then it is going to happen, whether I am the one doing it or not. That was a difficult lesson to learn, and I frequently still feel the tug on my heart to do more than I should. That is why the truth of this quote is so significant - because there is an inherent, innate "violence" that we allow into our lives when we strive so desperately to do it all.

This is so difficult to accept when we are young, enthusiastic, and energetic, and we truly believe that we CAN do it all. At that time in our lives it never occurs to us that we will not always have that same level of youth, enthusiasm, or energy, and we will eventually have to allow others the privilege of taking on some of the responsibilities that we so sincerely believed we alone could handle. When you throw into the mix of life responsibilities, all that it takes to raise children and care for all the needs of a family, it is so easy to become burdened down with it all until the "violence" that invades our soul turns to resentment and exhaustion.

God's Word emphasizes the importance of resting in Him and trusting His plans: "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, . . . . refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret - it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:7-8 Perhaps it is just part of our modern-day culture that we, as women, have been convinced that we are responsible to "fix" everything and everyone in our lives. That is a dangerous belief upon which to build our lives. Partly it is dangerous because it will eventually destroy us, but it is also dangerous because it is God alone who is in the business of "fixing" broken hearts, homes, and lives.

As we truly strive to be the "virtuous women" that we believe God expects of us, we forget what is really required of us, first and foremost. Instead of the striving, the frantic activity, and the frustration and exhaustion of over-commitment, God requires our hearts. The rest will fall into place, without the "violence" in our souls of "a multitude of conflicting concerns," if we obey that one seemingly simple requirement.

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." Hosea 6:6 We will always have willing hearts to do what God asks us to do . . . . but how long will it take for us to remember that it is not our job to do it ALL, and before we do ANY of the responsibilities that are before us, we must seek His face in the quietness of our souls. In that moment, we will be carried away by His Grace.

The giggling children will just have to go play somewhere else for a few minutes! Crying babies make it difficult, I know, but somehow we have to find the time, the quiet, and the peaceful place where we can BE all that God intends for us to be, and then we will have His grace and strength to DO the rest.

Have a great Tuesday and try to find a way to slow down and even say "no" once in a while! If you would like to participate in this week's "In Other Words" meme, please visit Emily at Imperfect Prose  and leave a link to your blog post. You can also find links to the other participants so you can take a minute and visit them!

 

Another Monday Monster

I'm pretty sure that YOU all have a perfectly clean and organized kitchen. And more than likely, your refrigerator is sparkly clean, smelling sweet, and thoroughly disinfected. No leftovers, nothing lurking in the back corner turning green, and certainly no long-forgotten yogurt that is growing fuzzy stuff. I'm happy for you! I'm also convinced that if I was the only person who ever opened the refrigerator door to take things out and put things back in, that ours might be a bit less chaotic. But with kids and a hubby who look at you like you just spoke to them in Swahili if you ask them to replace the lid on the catsup bottle, it is quite probable that "stuff" will be inserted in to any empty spot in the refrigerator that is currently available. That's how to grow a monster in your refrigerator!

After two weekends of having lots of fun activities planned for our family, leaving very little time for such mundane tasks as cleaning up the kitchen and putting things into the fridge in an orderly fashion, things had really gotten out of control around here. We had made a huge salad for a company picnic that was really good the day we made it. It was even still pretty good the next day or two. But then someone shoved a dish of leftover pork chops in front of the salad and it landed in a corner in the back. Where it sat for about a week before anyone ventured that far into the fridge to see what was the mysterious "stuff" in that dish.

Then there are all of the bottles of salad dressing. WHY do we have three half-empty bottles of Ranch dressing? We have bottles and jars of all kinds of sauces, dressings, vinegar, pickles, parmesan cheese, jellies and jams, condiments, and salsa. The problem is that when these jars and bottles get pushed to the back of the fridge by a more recent resident of our fridge, we can't see what's back there so we go out and buy MORE sauces, dressings, vinegar, pickles, and parmesan cheese . . . . and mayonaise, and cocktail sauce, and steak sauce, and picked beets, and catsup. So, today we finally decided it was time to tackle this refrigerator monster!

The girls hauled all of the stuff out of the fridge and put it on the counter. Then we started a sink full of hot, soapy water and I gave them each a clean dishcloth to start scrubbing. I washed out the drawers while they washed down the shelves in the fridge as well as the doors. I was amazed! They were actually having fun  ;o)  That's when we were able to have our little "mommy / daughter discussion" about how much better we all feel and how much more time we have to do all the fun stuff in life if we aren't wasting so much time trying to find stuff in our fridge. And how much money we will save if we aren't buying more of something that we already have, simply because we can't find it in that disgusting refrigerator.

They were having so much fun that they actually took all of the fridge magnets off the outside of the fridge, along with all of the coupons, notices, coloring pages, Sunday School papers, and last month's lunch menu, and washed the doors before replacing the magnets and a few of the more recent items of interest. Today we will have the rest of the leftover Chicken Pecan salad that we made yesterday for Father's Day lunch . . . . before it sneaks in the back and hides for a week or two. We also have a jug of lemonade that is right there on the top shelf, and we even put the bread in the fridge to keep it fresh a bit longer during these humid summer days. Bagels and muffins, fresh fruit and veggies, yogurt and cheese - now that we can find it, we just might have something else for lunch besides PB & J! How's your fridge looking today? Trust me, it is truly liberating to know that there is nothing growing inside your fridge, that might turn into a monster and eat YOU! Have a great Monday  ;o) 

Ruby for Women, April, 2011

Open publication - Free publishing - More crafts

In the Silence is the Answer

I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer.
You are yourself the answer.
Before your face questions die away.
What other answer would suffice?

~ C.S. Lewis  ~

Such a profound yet simple observation . . . . we question, we wonder, we worry, we sometimes even collapse under the weight of our pain, and we cannot understand WHY we are experiencing the darkness and silence of our pain. Ultimately, there are many questions that will never be answered, but there is one truth that we can hold with certainty: He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is there, He is enough, and He cares about our heartache.

In the midst of my days of seemingless endless sorrow and shattered dreams, all of these questions, and more, were relentlessly screaming through my brain. Why, after praying for so many years and trying to do everything that it seemed God wanted me to do, it all still fell apart. I still don't know why, exactly, although I know there are times when, no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you pray, no matter how much you desperately want it all to be right, the conclusion of a matter is not about "me" as much as it is about the other people playing out the drama of my life.

And if those other people do not want it to be right, God allows us all to make our own choices and live with the consequences of those choices. But the pain is no less for knowing that. It is in those moments, when nothing makes sense, there are no answers for the chaos and tragedy that is swirling all around us, that we must hold on to this truth: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He is there, and even though He does not remove all of our pain and struggles, He is always there to carry us through the darkness. He is enough. That is the answer when it appears there are no answers, humanly speaking. He, alone, is the answer to every question that ever can be asked, and truly in His presence all questions will disappear.

Hold on, no matter what is going on around you today. Sometimes that is all we can do is hold on, to Him, knowing that He hears, He cares, and He WILL uphold you in the midst of the raging floods of grief that we all must go through in our earthly lives. He is enough.



If you would like to participate in this week's In Other Words meme, please visit Jennifer at Scraps & Snippets where you will find links to the other participants' blogs and if you choose to write your thoughts on this quote, you can post your link there, too! Have a great Tuesday, walking in the light of His love!   ~~ Nina

This Mama Bird is Feathering Her Nest . . . . Again

There's just something about springtime that makes me want to fix things up around here. This is the time of year that I love to wash the windows and curtains, rake up all the left over debris that landed in our yard during the blizzard winds of winter, and clean out the garage. Not that I just love doing those things   ;o) but having them done is well worth all the hard work that makes it all happen. But, since the weather is still not acting very spring-like, I decided to finish up an inside project that I had wanted to do this winter and just hadn't gotten around to yet.

Although the sun is shining out my living room window, and we have even planted our tomato and dahlia seeds for the girls' 4H projects, it is still just a bit too chilly out there to get me motivated to pull the rake out of the corner of the garage. So, this weekend we pulled all the furniture into the middle of the living room and started the process of preparing the walls for a new coat of paint. Now, if you read about my painting adventure last fall when we redecorated the dining room, you know that we live in a rather small house on a lake . . .  but it is not a fancy "lakefront home." It is a cute little double-wide manufactured home (known as "Hoosier Huts" here in northern Indiana), that is set across the road from the lake with a charming wooded area in our back yard, a cornfield on one side and our really LARGE garage on the other side. So, I have a few challenges to work with, but these days I think we should all be grateful to have a house at all, so I'm not complaining!

Because this is a "Hoosier Hut" (if you know what I mean!), we have those strips along the walls where the edges of the wallboard come together - so I got out my little thingy that I can wedge in between the wall and the strip, and yanked all those yucky, ugly things out of there. Then, I got out a can of joint compound and slapped a bunch of it on all of those cracks in the wall and smoothed it all down as much as possible. Let it all dry overnight, and then took my sanding blocks and tackled those blotchy patches of gray. We had a respirator out in the garage, so my sweet hubby insisted that I wear it while I was sanding all that stuff off the wall. I looked like a martian (well, at least I looked like some depictions I've seen of martians), and there was gray dust flying all over the living room. Got it done, and then we vacuumed up all the dust with the shop vac.

Then it was finally time to start painting! I had chosen a shade of brownish gray that matches the border that I picked out, to complement the border that I put in the dining room. It is rather a dark shade for such a small house, but the other day when we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, I saw their recent paint job using a dark green. It was beautiful! But they only put it on one wall, so I'm still not sure I want the whole room painted that darkish shade of brown / gray. It is really a pretty color but it just might be too much for the entire room. I'm thinking of just painting the bottom half of the walls in the darker color, and then getting a lighter shade of the same color for the top half, with the border in between. I think I need to be kind of creative to fix up this little house!

Once I get this project finished, and if the weather warms up in the next week or so, I am so ready to get going on some yard projects. One of the things that I want to try this spring is learning about rose bushes and planting a couple out here. We have great soil (we are right in the middle of farm country, with that corn field right on the west end of our house) so I just need to do a little research to see what else rose bushes need. We're also planning on a small vegetable garden, and I'm really looking forward to creating a few perennial garden areas around our house. I had perennial gardens all around our house in Michigan that I had worked on for almost 20 years, but now I'm starting all over with my gardening adventures. We have some shade and some sun, so that will be a new gardening experience for me. In our yard in Michigan, we had almost all shade so I got to be quite familiar with the plants that would do well in the shade.

But until then, I've definitely got plenty to keep me busy with painting the living room. If I can save up a little bit here and there, we might even be able to replace the carpeting later this summer. You know, I guess you don't have to live in a mansion to fix up your little corner of the world. And since this is where we live right now, I'm pretty sure that it's a good thing to bring some sunshine into our home. I just keep reminding myself when I think about everything that our girls don't have . . . . I grew up in a house smaller than this one, and I survived! I guess they will, too   ;o) 

Have a great Monday!

~~ Nina

 

Where have all the young girls gone? Long time passing . . . .

Those of you who have read my blog over the past few years know that I am a Vintage Mama. Not quite antique yet, but totally vintage! Some of our daughters' friends have parents that are actually younger than our oldest kids  ;o) but that's not hard to accomplish, I guess, since I was a "child bride" and was a first time mama at the age of 19. So for you younger moms, the song reference in my title will not connect with you like it does with this Vintage Mama who was a young teen during the waning days of the Viet Nam War. During that time, lots of the music we heard back then was about the horror and tragedy of war, in every generation and through all time. The song started out by asking "Where have all the young men gone?" and concluded that many of them had "Gone to graveyards, every one." And then the eternal question: "When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?"

In reality, wars have been waged throughout history, and you and I will probably never sort out all of the political and historical implications of that reality. But as a Vintage Mama, I am suddenly confronted with my own reality of how different it is raising young girls in 2011 than it was back at the end of the last century. Now that our daughters are ages 8 and 10, I'm looking around at the way some of the girls in this age group are dressing, talking, and acting, and it is apparent in so many ways that I am from a different century! As I observe what's going on in the world around us, I was struck by the words of that old hippie song that asks not only "where have all the flowers gone?," and "where have all the young men gone?," but now I want to know, "Where have all the young girls gone?"

It appears that our "little girls" emerge one day into the harsh daylight of edgy womanhood, with no transition time in between. So what's a mother to do, if she is convinced that it is not particularly healthy for a ten year old to dress, act, and talk like a 19-year-old (and a rather rowdy one at that!)? Is there a way to find / create cute, stylish, feminine clothing for tween girls that allows them to transition gracefully into womanhood? All of the images I have reposted here are from websites that are geared specifically to girls designated as "tweens," which I believe is the technical term for girls ages 9 - 12 or 13. Even early teens should have some options!

I know I'm an "old fashioned" mom, and not just and "old mom," but I also have talked to many younger moms who are very uncomfortable with this level of indiscriminate flaunting of a young lady's sexuality. Let's teach our young ladies to be modest, and help them develop a healthy sense of self-worth and self-respect that honors not only their own heart, body, and soul, but also honors the God Who made them. They are "little treasures," and I am determined to figure out how to keep them that way while teaching them how to grow up to be women of God. What do you think?

~~ Nina

Where are YOU going?

“If you don’t change the direction you are going,
then you are likely to end up where you are headed.”

~ ~John Maxwell ~

 I am directionally challenged. That is just something that has been a nuisance to me all of my life. There are a lot of things that I AM good at, but knowing where I am at is not one of them. Mostly it seems that I am rather oblivious to where I am going because I am so focused on the people and the events that are going on around me, or perhaps it is because I have always had a tendency to "live in my head." I guess that's what you do when you have an over-abundance of ideas in your brain . . . they kind of trap you in your head and the stuff going on around you sometimes just fades into the background. Well, unless it is kids under your feet giggling and rolling around on the floor. That usually gets my attention. There have been many times in my life when I had to pull myself out of my thoughts and look around - and it has not been uncommon to discover that I was headed somewhere that I really did not want to go!

Even though I understand significant geographic directions such as north, south, east, and west, that information doesn't always come into play when I'm thinking about other stuff. One day, when we still lived in Michigan, I needed to get on the expressway headed east. So, I was driving along, just having a great time listening to some beautiful music and rejoicing in the spring sunshine, when I noticed a sign that indicated I was headed towards Lake Michigan. Hmmmmm . . . . how long had I been driving west when I thought I was headed east? Oh, well, no matter, I just turned around and eventually made it to my destination. At least no one was in the car with me to realize just how easily I get turned around!

Then there was the time when I was in one of the really big stores in the midwest, Meijers, and I was wandering around buying groceries, probably looking at other stuff like baby clothes, or shoes, or towels, or something. After a while I realized it was time to head home, and as I looked around me, I couldn't figure out which way I needed to go to get out of the store. Really, it is a very BIG store, and I didn't want to walk all the way to one end of the store only to figure out that the doors were on the OTHER end of the store. I am not making this up. Eventually, I found my way back to the produce department and right there by the carrots and celery, I asked a young man who was stocking the cucumers, "Excuse me, but can you tell me which direction I need to go to find the front of the store?" He smiled kindly and pointed me in the right direction. Escaped again!

But the worst ever is going into a mall . . . . and the parking lot, well, I might just as well be on a deserted Pacific island. I avoid malls whenever possible, partly because I do not like to get lost, but I'm not great with crowds, and I'm really bad about spending money that I don't have to buy one more "thing" that I really don't need and eventually will have to either wash it, feed it, paint it, or babysit it. But the few times that I have ventured into a mall, especially when my older children were teens, I was completely distraught because just about every time we would walk out of a store, I'd just wander off in the direction that seemed right to me, and one of my kids would say, "Mom, that's the direction we just came from." Oh, sorry, I guess I had something else on my mind. "Here, this way, Mom . . . " I wonder what it's going to be like when I'm old and senile - at least then I'll have an excuse for being so confused about where I am going!

When I think about the direction I am going in life, however, I am getting better at having some sense of what will get me where I feel God is leading me. We all need to re-evaluate our direction occasionally, and of course, this is especially true for those who are running away from the God of the Universe. But even after we have "turned around" and our lives are committed to Christ, it can be a struggle to move beyond simply looking like we are doing the right things and actually doing them, and having the right heart attitude.

One of the things that I personally have struggled with over the years is the fact that I stayed in an abusive marriage for many, many years because I believed that God wanted me to do everything possible to make it work . . . . and of course, I wanted to protect my children. Eventually, when I realized that the abuse was never going to stop, and that staying there was actually harming my children, it seemed to me that my inaction had harmed my children more than if I had made a decision to "turn around" sooner. But the past is in the past, and it is what it is. So making the decision to "turn around" and go a different direction in life is rarely easy, but it is sometimes necessary.

Unfortunately, it is just too easy to do all the right things on the outside, or when we are in public, but we also need to "turn around" in our hearts. It is not enough to go through the motions, pretending to be something or someone that we are not, all while hiding a disobedient spirit in the darkness of our sinful souls. God will forgive every sin, but the Bible makes it clear that we need to "turn around," not just for our salvation and the gift of eternal life. That is, of course, the place to start. But we also need to realize that, even if we are believers in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, He must also be Lord of our life. And then, not only will we eventually get where we want to be, but God will bring blessings and peace, because after all, He alone can give us beauty for the ashes of our brokenness:

"Therefore this is what the Lord says: If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman. . . . I am with you to rescue and save you, declares the Lord. I will save you from the hands of the wicked., and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel." Jeremiah 15:19-21

If you would like to participate in this week's "In Other Words" blog meme, please post your link here so we can visit you and then you can also visit the other participants. Have a great Tuesday, and I hope you are headed the direction God has for you today! 

~~ Nina

 

What are YOU Waiting For?

Learning to wait on God's timing - and having the patience to follow his lead rather than running ahead of him - is essential for those who are committed to seeing their faith journey through to the end. God seldom rushes things along. Getting used to his pace will help you in the long run.

~Marcia Ford - Essentials for Life for Women~

Our vision is so limited. In our human frailty, we simply cannot see or understand the "Big Picture" of God's plans for us, or for the world around us. That's actually a good thing, because if we could figure everything out on our own, we wouldn't need our loving Heavenly Father. As women, we are always waiting for something: we are waiting to grow up, we are waiting to finish our education, we are waiting to get married, or not, we are waiting for our first baby, then we are waiting (anxiously) for that first baby to hurry up and make his or her entrance into the world, then we might be waiting for baby two, three, four, and so on . . . . then we are waiting for them to walk, talk, and tie their shoes. We are then waiting for them to start school, to learn to drive, to graduate from high school, to go to college, to come home from college, to get married, or not, to get a job and start their own family. In the meantime, we are waiting patiently for our children at soccer practice, piano lessons, at dance class, at football or basketball practice, at cheerleading practice, at choir practice or at rehearsals for the spring musical. As women, we find ourselves waiting for lots of things, for long periods of time, because we love the people we are waiting for.

Waiting . . . . patiently. Or maybe not always patiently. But that is the life of a woman. We wait for everything in life that is worth the investment of our time, our energy, and most of all our love. But it is so difficult to wait for God to answer; to wait to know, to understand, to resolve conflict, to settle disagreements. But whatever we are waiting for, today right where we are living this minute, God has not forgotten us. He has a plan for our lives, but we need to remember that His plan also includes the lives of other people, and it really is not all about "me." Think about the prophet Habakkuk, when he was desperate to understand what God was doing among the His people:

"How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?" (Hab. 1:2a) His impatience with God's seemingly slow response to his cries for help was reaching a boiling point: "I cry out to you, 'Violence!' but you do not save . . . . Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (Hab. 1:2b-3) Are you facing something in your life that seems intolerable, unjust, unimagineable, and humanly unbearable? You just might be surprised at what God has planned for you! When Habakkuk was complaining to God about all of the evil that he had witnessed all around him, he expected God to do an amazing thing and strike down the evil-doers in the midst of His people. So Habakkuk was surprised when God revealed His plan:

"Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." (Hab. 1:5) Habakkuk was most certainly astounded then to hear God's plan: "I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor . . . .guilty men, whose own strength is their god." (Hab. 1:6-7, 11)

Waiting for God to move in our lives frequently leaves us in a place of uncertainty, confusion, and fear. We must remember that even when we cannot see WHAT He is doing, we can rest in the truth of His Word and the grace in His heart, knowing that He IS doing the very best for us, because He loves us: "O Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish." (Hab:1:12) And with renewed confidence that God knew all about the evil-doers in the midst of His people, Habakkuk realized that even though he couldn't SEE what God was doing, it was nevertheless taking place just as God had ordained that it would. With that confidence, Habakkuk could then rest in the knowledge of God's sovereignty and say, "I will stand at my watch, and station myself on the rapmarts; I will look to see what He will say to me and what answer I am to give to this complaint." (Hab.2:1)

Then God reveals to Habakkuk that, even though he may not understand or be able to see what God is doing, He is trustworthy and will use even the "ruthless and impetuous" Babylonians to take care of the injustice and evil that is being perpetuated among God's people: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay." (Hab. 2:2-3)

What are you waiting for? Do not be discouraged, because God is working, whether we see it right now or not. And even if you feel that the time that you are investing in "waiting" is wasted, you must know that often times God uses these "hidden" times of waiting to create in us His fully-formed plan for our lives. Patience is difficult, but at least we are not left hopeless, wondering about the outcome of our waiting. He is in control, and EVEN the tragedies of life, just like those nasty ol' Babylonians, are used by God to turn our ashes into His beauty. Trust Him . . . . because He love you more than you can imagine.

If you would like to participate in this week's "In Other Words" blog meme, please visit Debbie at Chocolate and Coffee: Heart of a Pastor's Wife, where you can leave a link back to your blog post on this week's quote. Have a great Tuesday! Nina

Where are the Bread and Circuses?

"The littleness of Christians of this age results from the littleness of their consecration to Christ."
C. H. Spurgeon
Samson Conquered, sermon from November 21, 1858

 

How does this observation make me feel? We've all seen it, experienced it, and often are guilty of it. It reminds us that when we are confronted with truth, we have a couple of options: we can make excuses and blame someone else, we can just ignore it and go about our daily business, or we can face it boldly, courageously and own our part of this reality and make a determination to address it. The problem is, that this is a reality that needs to be addressed every day, probably every hour and every minute of our lives, because we live in a world that bombards us with so many distractions that it is very difficult to stay focused. Even if you are truly committed to following Christ in every area of life.

 

We live in a part of the country that has numerous Amish communities nearby. Just a few houses down from us, there is a house that is a "summer cottage" for an Amish family. They come out to the cottage sometimes on a Friday and Saturday, set up their lawn games and picnic table in their front yard, go swimming and boating, and cook out on their charcoal grill. How do they get there, I wonder? I've never seen a horse and buggy out front or in the garage, and yet there they are, most weekends in the summer, wearing their distinctive "plain" garments, their windows thrown wide open even on the most oppressively hot days when I've got my AC running full blast. What's up with that?

 

I don't know, and it really doesn't matter, except that I find it interesting and curious . . . . . because somehow, whether we agree with all of their theology or not, the Amish people have established a culture of being "separate" from modern society that allows them the peacefulness, the quiet, the structure and the routine that helps people devote themselves to their faith. I admire them for that. The Amish communities that I have observed express a deep, consistent, and enduring determination to live a life that expresses the "largeness" of their consecration to Christ. Of course, they are just people like the rest of us, with a variety of real-life struggles, relationship and parenting concerns, and community conflicts. But the overall approach to life that I've observed among the Amish people here in our area offers the kind of environment in which a person can more readily develop a life that is wholly devoted to God.

 

Now, the next question logically follows: Does one HAVE to live a life of complete separation from the modern world to achieve the kind of complete devotion and dedication to our faith that we are seeking here? And the answer, you know, is of course not. But there are definitely some advantages to living a life of simplicity, peacefulness, and order that provides more opportunities for achieving that goal. So how do we address the reality of the "littleness" of our consecration to Christ in the midst of a world that constantly is screaming at us? How can we escape the incessant noise that surrounds us, calling us to this distraction and that excitement, telling us that we "deserve" to be entertained every hour of every day?

 

Perhaps it is a choice. When we look at ancient history, there was a culture that had become the greatest in all of humanity to that time. And yet, that culture was destroyed from the inside, not by the barbarians clamouring at their borders . . . . when they had become convinced that they had a "right" to their "bread and circuses." Just entertain us and feed us. Maybe we DO need to take a look at our consecration to Christ; at our determination to become people of honor, justice, devotion and commitment to becoming all that God would have us be. Sometimes I wonder if we might have to follow the example of the Amish communities, just so we can find a place where it is quiet enough to think about all of this!

 

Please visit Miriam Pauline's blog today, Miriam Pauline's Monologue, to find the links to the other blogs of this week's IOW participants. And, of course, leave a link back to YOUR blog so we can come and visit you! Have a great Tuesday  ;o)