Tie a yellow ribbon

The masses have spoken, and I, people pleaser that I am, have heard your cries and I'm here.  For you.

Now, let's see if I can remember how to do this blog thing. It's been nearly two months and I'm feeling a little rusty, not to mention a little bit of pressure, because, after two months, surely there's something worthy to be said that I need to enter into blogdom. 

Of that I'm not so sure.  And I'm not so sure you will even care for this post. But that's okay, because when I sat down to blog today I told myself (I do that often) that I would simply write what is on my heart.  And there is this one thing that I am feeling rather passionate about these days... So here goes.

A few weeks ago Robert (with me tagging along) began to counsel a couple in our church body that is in marriage crisis.  Things have not progressed very well, and in fact, it seems to me that the marriage is worse off than it was before.  In fact, much of this situation seems so familiar after a similar occurrence in our church body about 6 months ago that sadly ended in divorce.

As Robert and I talked about it one night this past weekend, I realized that the one thing these two couples / four individuals all had in common was that even though they were part of the church body, their faith was not strong.  They were at that period in their lives that most of us who have been believers for a long time often, sadly, find themselves in - where you're going through the motions, withdrawing from fellowship and accountability to some degree, and not pursuing God through His Word.

There is no judgment there, because as I've said, I've been there, too.  I can relate, and I completely understand.  However, here's where the epiphany comes in.  (Are you ready?  I know you're on the edges of your seats!)

When we are going through the motions and not truly taking care of ourselves spiritually, we are at far greater risk of not withstanding attacks by the enemy.

(I know - you're all thinking duh, Beth! and I know, too, that sometimes I'm a little slow.)

But the key there is that although we are all at risk of being attacked by the enemy, we are far better able to withstand the enemy's attacks when we are rooted and grounded in Christ.  In the same way that we are more prone to physical problems, injuries, and illnesses when we don't take care of our physical selves, we open ourselves up to see Satan victorious when we aren't taking care of ourselves spiritually. 

Now, the whole reason God sent Christ to earth was to reconcile us to Him.  God is all about reconciliation - that's the heart of the gospel - and that reconciliation doesn't just stop there, with Him.  God's business of reconciliation involves healing hearts, marriages, and families.  And have you noticed that Satan is hard at work undermining that mission by working hard to destroy marriages and families?  Our culture is falling apart in these areas!

So the enemy looks around and spies a marriage that already has weaks spots because of many of the normal stresses that we all anticipate.  He starts to dig.  He starts to look at his target for areas of vulnerability, and what does he find?  First, there's tension in the money department.  And there's a lack of unity on how we discipline the kids.  Oh, and what's that?  They've stopped going to church consistently?  There's dust on their Bibles?  Their prayer life consists of saying grace before meals?  Prime target - and wham-o.

So growing up in the AV we're no strangers to wind, and a familiar sight in the spring and summer is strong winds blowing tumbleweeds across deserts, streets, yards, etc.  Satan comes in like that wind, gathers that tumbleweed up without very much effort, and it takes off in tumble of chaos.

Driving home yesterday I passed by this housing tract with a big ol' oak tree on the corner:  not the biggest I've ever seen, but with branches reaching high into the air, a thick trunk, and, simply put, majestic grace.  It reminded me of a phrase from Isaiah, how the Lord will call us "oaks of righteousness" when we establish ourselves in Him.  And what happens to that oak tree when the wind blows?  It stands firm; yes, the branches will sway and in a strong enough wind they could even break.  But generally that old oak tree can withstand pretty substantial winds, especially compared to the tumbleweed.

So how do we become oaks of righteousness, as opposed to tumbleweeds?  Psalm 1 says that the man whose "delight is in the law of the Lord," who "meditates day and night" upon it, "is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither."  Pursuing God through His Word results in a rooted life, a fruitful life, a strong and secure life.  In contrast, the man who doesn't "is like chaff" (or tumbleweeds!) "that the wind blows away."

So when (not if) the wind blows, when Satan attacks (because he will), we must be prepared by being rooted firmly in God's Word, or we will be tossed about like nothing by his path of destruction.

Is your life better compared to a tumbleweed, or an oak tree?  And if it's like a tumbleweed, what are you going to do about it?  If it's like an oak tree, how can you help it to grow even stronger and more fruitful?

They sure make me laugh!

1.  Joshua, after discussing the difficulty he has been having with a teacher:

Me:  Do you know that one of the things the Bible says to do to our enemies is to show them kindness?  It even says that it's like heaping burning coals on their heads!

Josh:  So if I'm kind to Ms. E, she'll die?!?!

~~~

2.  Grace, on the way to Bible study this morning:

Me:  So what do you think you'll learn about in class today?

Grace:  I don't know.  Maybe Isaiah.  Maybe Hehu.

Me:  Hehu?

Grace:  Yeah, you know - the one the song is about?  (Singing) He Who began a good work in you...

~~~

3.  Josh, after school:  "Hey Mom, you know how every day in Ms. M's class, I go through the lost and found to see if there's anything I want?"

~~~

4.  Josh, after school today:

Me:  I told Dad yesterday how you told me you look in the lost and found for stuff you want...

Josh holds up a book proudly and smiles.

Is it a sign of old age, or simply stupidity...

... when you crap yourself and don't even realize it?

Today has been a busy day, and one that started with a killer headache.  So after waking up late and groggy from the meds, breakfast out with my sweet four lovies, and resting a bit, I began to tackle the seemingly never-ending task of re-ordering the basement while Robert napped.

From time to time I would get a whiff of something unpleasant.

Something... poo-ish.

I looked around for a pile of dog poo, knowing that dear Wookiee surely knows better, but you know, maybe he had an accident.

Finding none, I looked around for a dead animal.  Unlikely, sure, but you know we had a mouse run in the house one time, and... who knows?  Again, I found nothing.

I worked for several hours.  Again, and only occasionally, I would smell it.  I even joked to Ro when he came down, "Maybe it's just me.  Maybe I have bad BO."  But this didn't smell like BO. It smelled like crap.

Eventually I went in to use the potty.  Pulled my pants down, sat down, and OH.MY.WORD. found that at some point during the day I had managed to crap my pants!

I had no tummy issues, no juicy farts, no squishyness or that warm, wet feeling that you would expect would tip me off.  The only clue I had was the smell.   And obviously Nancy Drew I am not.

Go ahead and laugh.  I did.  I'm horrified, of course, and thankful that I didn't smell poo while we were at the restaurant or that I wasn't doing a show for my unspecified business endeavor smelling like that.  I'm thankful that Ro and I weren't on our way to romance, or that I wasn't in a car wreck or something which is why grandma always said to make sure you have on clean underwear.

Which I do, at the moment.  In fact, I just checked.

Slowly, but surely, we're getting there.

It may be our second full week home, but we are just beginning to settle into a routine.

Correction:  I am just beginning to settle into said routine.  I suppose it could be said that the kids settled when they went back to school, Ro when he went back to work.  But I've had kind of a hard time settling in, actually. 

Although the kids and Ro went back to school and work right away, I've yet to make it back to church.  And I went back to BSF today for the first time since before Christmas.  That, actually, did me a lot of good.  It was good for fellowship and even better for chewing on God's Word, and it makes me hungry for more.  Church this weekend, definitely.

Deb helped us move our bed from the basement to our bedroom right away... but much of Pop's stuff has been piled here and there, and the rest of our stuff from the basement has been piled here and there ~ ie all over our bedroom floor.  Ro and I dug in today and got our bedroom in order... tomorrow I think I will try to move our basement bathroom stuff back upstairs and maybe tackle the basement.

Or maybe not.

It makes me tired to just think about it.

One of the nicest things, though, has been sitting around the table at dinner, the five of us, for dinner the past two nights.  It's been pleasant, relaxing, stress-free... awesome.

Too much thinking now... time for bed.