Are You Fit for a Manure Pile?

This morning I read Luke 14 and was stunned by Jesus' words. Of course, I've read these passages plenty of times before, but this time, so many things stood out. I was stunned by how far we've veered from Jesus' mandates. I think, in today's society, we have tweaked and bent His commands as much as we possibly can to fit our modern lifestyle (and still appear like "Good Christians"). For example, vs. 12-14 says,

"When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

I immediately thought of our Thanksgiving dinners. Ours definitely qualified as a feast. We had enough food to feed an army. But, like most of yours I'm sure, there were no crippled, lame or blind people in sight. Because that would be.... uncomfortable. Of course, it's nice to celebrate with family. But what if we invited someone less fortunate to also enjoy our blessings....

Then in vs. 16-24, Jesus tells the story of a man hosting a banquet for many honored guests. But all of them gave excuses for why they couldn't come. So, he invited the poor, the crippled and the blind instead.

"I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet," he said in verse 24.


How often is that us? We make excuse after excuse of why we can't "dine with the Lord" and enjoy all that He has for us. But Jesus says that if we refuse Him, we won't even get a taste of what He has for us.

The next thing that stuck out to me in this chapter was Jesus' words in vs. 26 (a verse I often try to avoid). It says,

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my disciple."

In comparison to my love for God, does it look like I hate my mother and father, my sister, my husband or my child? No, I can honestly say it doesn't. It looks instead like I worship them, especially my daughter! Like so many people today, I fill up albums and blog posts and baby books about my daughter. I make sure she is dressed to impress (always with a matching hairbow!), and I show her off every chance I get. But how often do I "show off" my Lord? Do I make Him known, like I do my daughter? Sadly, I'm afraid I don't.

Now listen to this. Vs. 33 says,

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."

Have I given up everything to follow Him? Better yet..... have I given up anything? After racking my brain, I can think of virtually nothing. What about you?

And rounding out the chapter is a blunt statement about our worth if we lose our saltiness (stop shining our light for Jesus).

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out."

Ouch.

May I work harder at shining my light, being salt, and following Jesus' commands, especially during this Holiday season. Maybe I'll volunteer at a soup kitchen or reach out to a needy child. And I pray I'll never be discounted as something to be thrown in a manure pile but instead would stand out as a true disciple of our Lord.

In Jesus' Name.

Adventure of a Lifetime

Yesterday my best friend called me. She lives out of state now, and we don't get to talk that often. so when we do, it's always a breath of fresh air.

"What have you been up to??" I ask.

Her response:

"Well, we've been traveling a lot lately. We went to Illinois a couple weeks ago, and this weekend we went to Memphis for a wedding, and next weekend we're going to East Tennessee for another wedding. And there was a possibility of us spending the summer in New Zealand, but it looks like that may wait a while now..." (They also went to Cincinnati earlier this year)..."What have you been up to?" she asks.

"Ummm..................................................."

My mind races for one remotely interesting thing to say.

"Eden's getting a new tooth" was the best I could come up with.

We both laugh at my meager update on life, and she assures me that hers isn't always that interesting. But I was stunned by the stark differences between us. My friend and her husband don't have kids, and they work for a college ministry that requires some travel. So they're here, then they're there, and they'll probably move soon... My husband and I, on the other hand, haven't been outside of a 60-mile radius in far too long. And we're still trying to scrounge up enough pocket change just to get away for a date night.

But quite honestly, I haven't even noticed. I know it sounds cliche, but I feel like I am on the Adventure of a Lifetime as a mommy. There is NO GREATER joy than hearing my daughter learn a new word, or get a new tooth, or watching her play chase with her daddy. If you don't have kids, you think I sound lame. If you do, you know that not even New Zealand can compete with that.

editor's note:: many, many attempts were made to get a photo of this "new tooth." All were utter failures.

Turning A Corner

I imagine I will have lots of these moments as a parent. Moments where you kick yourself and think, "Man! If I would have just __________." But you don't always get it right the first time, and that's life. And life has taught me what NOT to do if you ever want your baby to sleep through the night.

When Eden was born and wouldn't sleep, plenty of people (who are now smiling, shaking their heads and saying "I told you so") told me to implement BABYWISE into our lives. But I was too stubborn in the beginning to give it a try. I didn't want to be bound to a schedule that I thought would run our lives, and I kept telling myself, "She's going to start sleeping anytime now...." week, after week, after week.

But she didn't.

And when Eden turned one year old, I hit a breaking point. "How long am I going to let this go on?" I asked myself. Just in time, someone threw me a life preserver.

Eden and I had spent the day with some friends and their kiddos, and I couldn't help but notice how well-behaved this one baby was. He never whined or whimpered and was so pleasant and happy throughout the whole, long day. Finally, after several comments about the baby's demeanor, his mom told us her secret...

"Have you ever heard of Babywise?"

I tried not to roll my eyes. Here we go......

She went on to tell us that she had read a book, actually called "Along the Infant Way," which taught the same strategies but from a more Christian perspective. And by following its principals, her baby started sleeping through the night at SIX WEEKS and was this well behaved during the day.

http://www.amazon.com

As much as I had tried to fight it, I was realizing that this was something I should've tried. There I was with a one-year-old still waking up multiple times each night. And what had I accomplished by refusing a schedule? Nothing.

The friend ended up giving me her copy of the book before the day was over, and that night I got to reading. My number one goal, obviously, was to get my daughter sleeping through the night. We had, by this time, developed a fairly regular schedule during the day, but nighttime was pure chaos.

It didn't take much reading to convince me I had crippled my daughter (so to speak) by running to her rescue and not letting her cry at night. The book talked A LOT about how crying will not hurt your child and how it is necessary for them to put themselves to sleep. And of course, the other major thing I was doing wrong was putting her to bed with a bottle. I knew this was wrong all along but just couldn't bring myself to take it away and listen to her cry (for what I thought would be hours) before finally going to sleep.

The book gave me the strength.

I took the bottle away and laid her down without it for the first time that night. She cried for about 30 minutes and it was torturous. But guess what.... the next night she only cried for about 15 minutes.... and then less... and less.... and NONE!

And magically, as soon as she learned to put herself to sleep without the bottle, she learned to STAY ASLEEP during the night. ((CUE THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS!!)) It has now been about two weeks, and I feel we have turned a corner into the FUN part of Mommyhood. The part we should have entered long ago where you get to enjoy being a Mommy without being exhausted 24/7.

I'm not saying she's a perfect sleeper now. She still wakes up occasionally. But I don't run to her room when I hear her cry.... I wait a few minutes..... and she goes back to sleep!

I genuinely feel like a new person.

Like I can take on anything... the world! a hard day! .....or dare I say it...... another baby????

 

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