"Their children are a blessing"

We're making a big breakfast for the family this morning.  It's a lazy morning and a breakFEAST (as my teenagers call it) sounds like a great idea.  French toast is on the griddle, bacon is cooked, and eggs will be done soon.  Banana bread is in the oven.  Yum! 

Better than all of the delicious foods listed above is the fact that Mark and I are fortunate to be called children of God and along with that privilege comes this promise:  The godly always give generous loans to others,and their children are a blessing." Psalm 37:26

Do you know what that means?  That means that our children, all five of them (and the others that we consider children) are blessings regardless of the day, their attitude, our attitude, their address, their state of life in this very minute, our frustrations, busy schedules, whatever.

God has promised us this in His word.  They are blessings - encouragements, special favors, mercies, and benefits (www.m-w.com).  They are no accidents in our lives.  God has given them to us for reasons that He had in mind and part of that reason is blessing.  They are favors or gifts bestowed by God (www.dictionary.com). 

Take a look around you at the children placed in your life.  God has given them to you; they are blessings. Be thankful.  Enjoy them today. 

The Scars of My Past

If you know me or have met me you have probably noticed that I have a tattoo on my chest.  Actually, I have a rather large tattoo bat emblazoned across my chest.  The "battoo" (as I am fond of calling it) comes from another lifetime, a part of my life that is so distant that I seem to recall reading about it in a book and that the life belonged to someone else, not me. 

Me & My Silly Husband & the Bat

Alas, when I look in the mirror in the mornings, the bat looks back.  He has not moved over the last 11 years.  His eye is still fixed unseeing on the same object that he has been looking at for quite some time.  And there are days when I see him and I hate him.  I resent the time that brought such a scar to my life.  I loathe the reminder of who I was.

On these days, Satan is whispering fiercely and steadily into my ear, "Look who you are, Michelle.  Look at your life.  No one can change who you are.  Did you think you could really change?"

If I'm not careful, I'll buy these lies of the enemy, these subtle words so carefully crafted and made personal for me.  If left to stand on my own I will fall prey to these horrible things that Satan says. 

Thank God, though, that He sent the cavalry in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  I am not left to my own.  And God loves me enough to have written His truths down for me so that I can combat the enemies lies.  The scripture below is one that I cling to regularly: 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified Bible) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

God has transformed me into a new creature and He calls me His daughter.  I am His own.  I am different than that girl that sat in a tattoo chair a long time ago. And God, in all of His goodness and wisdom, has taken the battoo and made it something beautiful.  Romans 8:28 (NLT) tells us, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

The battoo has made me easy to relate to for teenagers.  It has made other adults feel at ease because they see it and see that no one around me judges me because of it; they are possibly more comfortable with the scars of their own past.  Little children are curious and want to ask questions.  My bat opens conversations with strangers when they comment on it. 

I'll take the scars of my past and offer them up to Jesus every day.  He can use them to do great things! 

Do Over

In the first grade I was a leggy little girl with dark brown hair, big brown eyes., and the glow of summer still on my skin. And I loved to talk.  At Easter that year I had a beautiful dress in baby blue and it had a crenelin and I knew that I looked fancy and grown up in my dress.

After Easter, I wore my beautiful, blue, snazzy dress to school I was convinced that I could not possibly get in trouble for talking that day. I looked too good! Alas, before I could say "back to school" I was in the corner.  How did I end up there?  I looked the part of a well behaved girl but I hadn't changed my habits and my talking was still my talking and it landed me in trouble.

Fast forward to today.  I promised you that I would give you an update on my direction from God to be quiet and I have to tell you honestly that so far, I've been a dismal failure. Oh, I celebrate victory in the first day or two but then as the directive has become commonplace I've slid back back into my chatty old self.

Thank God for do-overs.  

Just like my first grade teachers (there were actually two of them) didn't make me stand in the corner forever and they didn't berate me for talking too much, God doesn't give up on me.  He takes me in His gentle yet firm hands and lets me know that He has given me a direction and that He will be best served if I pay attention to it and put it into action in my life. 

Do you need a do-over today?  If you do, tell your Father about it.  Be open.  Be honest.  Let Him know that you have messed up and you are willing to do it again on His terms this time. 

Your do-over day could be the best day yet of your life.  I know I'm finding that mine is!