Able To Aid

Some mornings as I sit down to process through my readings, I get sidetracked. This form of sidetracking isn’t by glancing at e-mails or Facebook, texting with a friend, or anything like that (although I confess that does happen far too often). In this particular instance, I’m referring to getting sidetracked by a verse that isn’t really part of the “point” for the day.

Then again, maybe it is. God has a funny way of doing that.

This week, the distraction was a passing devotional reference to a verse in Hebrews. It’s easy for me to get lazy and just ignore passing references like that, so years ago I determined to be intentional about looking up those references every time. Here’s what I read when I looked up this particular verse:

For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Hebrews 2:18 NASB (emphasis mine)

As I read these verses, I realized that I’ve always had an incomplete foundation when it comes to temptation. Had I ever stopped to process my understanding of how we are to biblically handle temptation, I would have realized that my foundation lacked something. But, until this week, I never gave it a second thought.

Here’s the foundation I’ve always had:

• James 1 teaches that temptation is not of God, and I must flee it.
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 shows me that God will provide a way of escape from temptation.
• I still fall to temptation, but the blood of Jesus covers me, and I can come before Him in repentance and receive forgiveness even when I do not take the way of escape.

But, looking at Hebrews 2, there’s something else I was missing. Another crucial truth: I don’t have to run away on my own strength. I don’t have to find the escape with my own clouded vision. Jesus is able (and therefore willing) to come to my aid!

That is so logical. It’s so clear. It’s nothing really new. Yet, how often do I act on it?

I confess, often when I’m struggling against temptation, I feel too weak to even look for the way of escape. But my precious Savior has not left me to do it on my own. He is ready and able to help. I just have to call on Him.

He is my way of escape.

We cannot fight temptation on our own. We do not have the strength. (If we did, we wouldn’t need Christ’s salvation.) Only with the Spirit living within us can we walk through the escape provided. But in the ugliness of our temptation, we don’t feel able or worthy or permitted to call upon the purity that is Jesus Christ.

But oh how opposite from truth that is!

No, we’re not worthy. But even at our best we lack worth. And able? It only takes a plea for help! Oh, and the most glorious part is that we’re not only permitted, we’re invited. Welcomed. Encouraged. Admonished. Instructed. Commanded, even, to call upon Jesus.

And how do we remember that in the throes of temptation? How do we fight the darkness enough to convince ourselves that we can call upon Jesus for aid? By memorizing this verse now (and maybe a few around it - the whole context is powerful!), putting it in our arsenal so the Spirit can bring it to our minds in the moment of weakness.

He is able to come to my aid. Oh what a glorious truth!

What Works for Me: Flexibility

Just in case you don’t know this about me (which probably means you’re a new reader!), I love organization. To-do lists are my friends. Schedule and routine make me happy. Knowing what to expect gives me security.

And now you can just go ahead and laugh, because we all know how often life allows organization, completed to-do lists, uninterrupted schedules and routines, and fulfilled expectations. It just doesn’t happen.

So, how does a structured person maintain an attitude of flexibility and still stay sane?

Plan for it.

I know. That sounds odd. How do you really plan for flexibility? Well, as I take into account my personality, my family, the needs of homeschooling and ministry, and the typical flow of life in our household, here are some things I’ve discovered:

1. Planning is good. It really, really is. Believe it or not, our family stays more sane when we have a disrupted plan than when we have no plan. That goes for a menu plan, a school plan, an chore schedule, a typical daily routine, and on and on.
   
   
2. Never plan in ink. Okay, so I do use ink. But it’s erasable. (Frixion pens are my friends!) The point is that I have to plan to be flexible. Plans change. So, in my head, I need to allow opportunity for the change from the very beginning.
   
   That’s hard. But it’s possible. For instance, I do a lot of my long-term planning on the computer. Right now I’m using My Well Planned Day - a great resource for homeschool and life. If we need to adjust a lesson plan, all I have to do is click to change the date. Same with menu planning. It’s all in there, but it’s flexible.
   
   Once a week, I put everything on paper for the upcoming week (in erasable ink, of course!). I’ve planned long-term, but I can easily adjust on a week by week - and even day by day - basis.
   
   Now, I need to go ahead and take a moment to share a couple of things here:
   
   - As happens with most of the lessons I’ve learned in life, the root of this one is spiritual. You see, I have this tendency to be ruled by my plans or my to-do list. But the Lord wants me to be ruled by none other than Himself. To be centered on Christ, no matter my plans. I have to be open to the Holy Spirit’s nudges throughout the day, and if I’m so stuck to my plans that I HAVE to complete them at all costs, then I’m not being sensitive to the Lord’s leadings. So, He’s had to work hard on me to get me to throw away the ink pens and adopt a more flexible approach to my plans and lists.
   
   - The second thought is just as important. Being flexible does not excuse me from being reliable. I always need to be ready and willing to receive and extend grace when plans change. But, I also need to honor my commitments, choosing not to use that handy eraser, even when it’s inconvenient or difficult to stick to the plan.
   
   
3. Don’t make a big deal about changes. Yes, I often process through changes verbally with my family. But we don’t make a big deal about it. We just make the changes. It wasn’t always this way for me. There was a time when any change in plan threw me into a tizzy, and I would make it clear that my plans were being disrupted. That only causes tension. It’s so much better to just go with the flow!

There’s so much more to being a flexible planner, but most of the “much more” branches off of those three practices. So, now it’s your turn. How do you handle either being a structure person needing to learn flexibility or a flexible person learning to honor the fact that working with others requires planning?

A Light to My Path

How many of us memorized Psalm 119:105 as children?

Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

I can hear the lessons that go along with it, too. “Remember children, if you follow God’s Word, your path will always be lit.”

Yet, as with many verses we snag and cling to, it’s so easy to miss the bigger context. Even though context has been drilled into my head, I still make that mistake. I jump on the familiar and miss the fullness of what’s being said.

It’s especially easy to do that with Psalm 119 because it’s a long chapter with so many great nuggets. But this psalm - actually one of my all-time favorites - is more than just a long chapter full of one-liners. In reality, Psalm 119 is a Hebrew acrostic celebrating Scripture.

Have you ever noticed the little heading above each section? Headings like “aleph” and “beth” - all the way through to “tav” at the end. Those are the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight-verse sections, when read in Hebrew, starts with a different letter of the alphabet. Each line in that section starts with the same letter. So, Psalm 119 is a poem celebrating God’s word - a beautiful poem with twenty-two stanzas.

Recently, I read back through this psalm again, two or three section a day. This slow reading forced me, once again, to ponder the relationship between the lines - the connection and flow of the poem. Psalm 119:105, for instance, is the first verse of the “nun” stanza. This verse ties in with the next seven verses to create a single train of thought regarding Scripture.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it,
That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your ordinances.
109 My life is continually in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even to the end.

Can you see the image of a heavily burdened child of God as you read these verses? He’s attacked and overwhelmed by enemies. But, God’s word alone keeps him on the path. God’s word strengthens his heart. God’s word prevents him from allowing his troubles to derail him.

When I consider verse 105 in this context, I realize that it does not say that God’s word is a lamp to our feet on a well-trodden, familiar path that just looks a little strange in the half-light of dusk.

No, this is a completely strange path. Our feet have never been here before. They have no idea what to anticipate with the very next step. Will they land in safety? Or is there a trap? Will we trip on something? Or will be continue on with solid footing?

Oh, and it’s dark all around us. So very dark. The only true light we have is from God’s word. Period.

But here’s the best part: God’s word is enough. More than enough, in fact. His word is the only light we need to keep us from going astray from His precepts.

May we never stop with our childhood memories of well-known Scripture. May we instead dig ever deeper, discovering the power of gems like Psalm 119:105.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Pruning or Chopping?

I’ve always loved hydrangeas. They fascinate me. I’m typically not a flower gal. I’m not great at keeping plants alive anyway, and as pretty as flowers are, I just don’t have what it takes to maintain them.

Black irises and hydrangeas are the exception. Black irises grew wild in Jordan, and we would go on wild flower hunting trips every spring, coming home with trunks full of irises and poppies. So, although I have not yet managed to get mine to bloom, I’m still determined to successfully grow and tend black irises.

Hydrangeas are another story completely. They fascinate me because of their color. So many little things can affect the appearance of the flower - sometimes with multiple colors growing on a single bush! I’ve always wanted to try to grow hydrangeas, but have just never gotten around to it.

Needless to say, I was quite excited to discover two large hydrangea bushes in the back yard of our new house.

The only problem with the bushes was that they’d been untended for quite some time. For a couple of months, we tried to just trim out dead branches, tackle the weeds and vines, and help the bushes thrive again.

But, ultimately, we had to give up. Over the weekend, we realized that all we could do was cut down the bushes and plan to start from scratch.

It was so sad. But, the more we worked, the more we saw that the problem was too big to tackle any other way. Parasitic vines had wound their roots all around the bushes. So many dead branches protruded from one bush that it was hard to find the source of the live branches. And weeds we couldn’t even begin to see before we chopped began to reveal themselves.

We also discovered that it wasn’t just two bushes. Four bushes - two large and two small - were actually planted there. The small ones were so overwhelmed by the larger ones and the weeds that they could hardly grow - and definitely could not grow straight!

Yes, the destruction was necessary.

I’ve heard that hydrangea bushes will regrow after a couple of years. Maybe these will survive. Maybe they won’t. But they’d gotten to the point that they could no longer be maintained as they were.

Are we careful to keep our marriages from reaching that point?

We tend the growth, but do we make sure to actively work against the harmful things? Do we trim out dead branches of anger, bitterness, frustration, and dissatisfaction? Do we actively combat the weeds of distraction, disillusionment, and temptation? Or do we just try to nourish the good and ignore everything else?

Marriages, like plants, must be tended. And they cannot be tended in a tunnel-visioned manner. We have to actively combat the negative as strongly as we nourish the beautiful. We can’t ignore it. We can’t hide it. We have to deal with it.

Neglect eventually catches up to us. And when it does, the work needed to overcome the neglect can often leave us chopping our marriages down to the roots. As we chop, we discover just what damage we’ve done to those around us, like our children, forcing them to grow oddly because of the strain our neglect has put on them.

And the more we have to chop, the more uncertain our future becomes. Will our marriages regrow? Or will they die?

Let’s not neglect the issues that pop up in our relationships, issues that will force drastic measures later. Let’s instead tend our marriages now, pruning and weeding to keep them growing healthy and strong.

What tending do you need to do this week?

When You Hate to Cook

Okay, so I can’t say that I absolutely hate to cook. I really don’t. But, picture this scenario:

I have just wrapped up the “together” school times with each of my children and have moved to the next stage of my day, either writing or school planning/prep. I really enjoy teaching my children, writing, and planning, so my morning usually flies!

Suddenly, I look up and it’s noon - or after! I know I need to get lunch on the table by 12:30 because Doug and I both have a tight lunch window.

Thirty minutes, at the most. That’s what I have, start to finish, to get a meal on the table. There are plenty of things I can cook in thirty minutes, but suddenly I am paralyzed. I can’t come up with a single idea. Or, if I can, it’s something we don’t have the ingredients for. Or we had it yesterday. Or it’s another chicken dish, and our red-meat needing family has had chicken three days in a row and just can’t do it another day without throwing us all out of whack.

So, the minutes tick by and I’m thrown into a tizzy.

My amazing hubby works best in a situation like that. He starts grabbing ingredients from here and there and produces an amazing meal.

I, on the other hand, freeze up.

So, how do I combat this problem? Well, I have several tricks up my sleeve.

• Menu plan. That, really, is the best trick. Plan a month at a time, go grocery shopping for as many ingredients as we can possibly store for that length of time, and have the hard part done for me. Even on the days when I don’t want what’s planned, I at least have a plan. It’s much easier to change the plan than to not have one.
  Unfortunately, I am not always diligent to menu plan. In fact, I don’t have a plan more frequently than I do. So, while planning is best - and is always my intention - I need a few more tricks.
  
  
• Buy meats in bulk and cook ahead. Meat is usually cheaper in bulk. It takes a little shifting of the grocery budget, but it can be done. When we return home after a bulk shopping trip, we subdivide the meat, freeze some as is in meal-size portions, and prepare the rest for specific meals.
  
  Here are are few of our favorite preparations:
  - Pre-brown ground beef with favorite seasonings for making quick spaghetti, tacos, or other such meals.
  - Cut up chicken breasts into bite-size pieces and fry up some homemade chicken nuggets. About the same price as a bag of processed nuggets, and MUCH better.
  - Flay some small chicken breasts, place a small piece of Swiss cheese and ham inside, fold it over, dip it in flour/egg wash/bread crumbs, and bake at 350 for 40 minutes (flip halfway through). Cool, wrap each breast in plastic wrap, seal in a freezer bag, and pull out, thaw, and reheat for a great chicken meal!
  - Boil or crock pot a whole chicken. Debone and divide into 2-cup portions (standard recipe amount for most cut/pulled chicken meals) for freezer storage.
  
  
• Double cook as many meals as possible. Making a lasagna, spaghetti, pot pie filling, chicken & dumplin’s, soup, or any number of other meals.? I go ahead and make enough for two or three meals. I used to buy disposable pans to place in the freezer. Then I snagged enough glass baking dishes that I could freeze those instead. But, as my plastic storage containers started falling apart, I needed the glass baking dishes more and more for other things. That’s when we switched to just storing meals in freezer bags. 
  
  When we have an exceptionally busy day (or on a Sunday), we just snag a bag from the freezer, fill the crock pot with water, and let the meal defrost and reheat right there in the bag. Quick, easy, no-mess meal.

Do these tips always help? No, they don’t. Why? Because every last one of them requires at least a smidgen of planning ahead. And I don’t always do that well. But, when I do, it makes all the difference in the world!

Review: Marie Durand

I have officially dubbed this month “Crazy July.” The craziness is resulting in a pushing of the limits on just about every deadline on my calendar, including this review of Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr. But, I must say that this is definitely a book worth making time for!

My family has grown to greatly love Simonetta Carr’s Christian Biographies for Young Readers series, published by Reformation Heritage Books. The beautiful picture-book style format makes them great for use with young children, but the depth of content engages older students – and even adults - as well. Although none of these books will offer the extensive details of a full-length biography, they are perfect for challenging glimpses into the lives of Christian heroes. And those glimpses will, in many cases, drive readers to further study.

Marie Durand introduced me to a name I’d never heard before. Born in France to a Protestant family in an age when Protestants were not tolerated, young Marie’s life was anything but easy. Marie’s mother was arrested for allowing her property to be used for a Protestant worship service. That same night, Marie’s brother Pierre had to flee for his life for actively recruiting worship attendees. Marie was only seven years old.

Ten years later, Marie’s father was arrested in an effort to force Pierre, now a pastor, to come out of hiding or stop preaching. Only two years after that, nineteen year old Marie and her new husband were both arrested simply for being related to Pierre. She would spend the next thirty-eight years in prison.

Marie Durand chronicles the conditions Marie and other Protestant French women endured during their imprisonment. Over the years, Marie wrote many letters in an effort to attract the sympathy of officials and the public and secure the prisoners’ release. She also bolstered the confidence and spirits of her fellow prisoners and their children.

Aimed at a target audience in the seven to twelve age range, Marie Durand deals with tough topics, yet keeps the content appropriate for the age at hand. I love this, because it stretches the minds of young children, presenting age-appropriate content while not talking down to children. The book is also divided into manageable chapters and includes interesting additional time-period information, making it easy to turn this book into a short daily reading or even a unit study.

Bottom Line: This most recent addition to the Christian Biographies for Young Readers definitely lives up to the quality established from the beginning of the series. I heartily recommend it for readers of all ages.

Going On

We’ve all heard the stories of the church growing dramatically. Sometimes the growth results from gospel being heard for the first time. Other growth comes in response to persecution. Still other growth begins when hearts that have been simply going through the motions are suddenly revived.

I love hearing - and experiencing - any such growth stories. But, my favorite stories remain the earliest ones. The biblical ones. Like this one:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Acts 9:31 NASB

Do you see the amazing information packed into this verse?

1. The church enjoyed peace.
   
   This was really the first time of peace for the church. It started under mild persecution, as the Apostles were threatened by the Jewish leaders who thought their problems had ended when they got rid of Jesus. Surprise!
   
   For the most part, though, it seems as if the persecution relaxed a bit and preaching, teaching, meeting, and growing occurred without too many issues. But, if you’ve ever been in a growing church, you know there are other issues. Internal issues. Growing pains. We see a glimpse of these issues in the argument between the Hellenistic and Jewish widows. I have a feeling that was not the only growing pain.
   
   Then came the massive persecution at the hands of Saul following Stephen’s martyrdom. The believers were scattered, and the gospel spread.
   
   Only after Saul traveled that life-changing Damascus road did peace come.
   
2. Being built up.
   
   Consider the beginning of the chapter. Saul was trying to tear down the church. Now, the threat from Saul is gone, and it seems like the rest of the Jews have lost their steam - or that they’re more focused on Saul than the whole church.
   
   So, what once was being torn down is now being built up. It is interesting to note that this verb refers not to something that the church was accomplishing on their own. They were not building themselves up, but were being built up. The action of the Lord Himself accomplished this growth. He’d established His church in challenge. Now He was growing His church in peace. He acted. They received.
   
   
3. And going on.
   
   This is the one I really love. The church went on, acting on what they’d learned in the time of challenge.
   
   So often, we see the opposite in the lives of individual Christians and churches as a whole. We band together and lean on Christ in the challenge, but when the peace comes, we relax. We separate. We do not go on, persisting in the foundation established during the challenge. Instead, we act as if those foundational behaviors are only for the times of challenge, waiting for us to return to if the need arises.
   
   But the early church had no concept of that. Perhaps it was a side effect of being established in challenge. They knew nothing else. So, they continued in what they knew, and they “continued to increase” because of it.

We often discuss emulating the early church in order to be truly biblical in our methods. I think right here is the first place we need to look. We need to choose to go on “in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,” no matter what our circumstances.

Then, my friends - oh, then! - let’s just hang on. Because the growth will truly be glorious!