Raising Warriors
Hey All, what a crazy year it has been. In the past 12 months we've added a sweet baby girl to our family, Todd changed jobs, and we've joined a new church. It's been a year full of ups and downs, heartache and rejoicing, but through it all God has been abundantly faithful to us. Through all of this time God has been doing alot in my life, kicking my tail, stretching my faith, and blowing my mind. I am excited to share with y'all what He has been teaching me and the journey He has me on right now. It's been a year of change for sure and writing has kinda been put on the back burner, however I'm looking forward to getting into a routine so that I can write more regularly.
Today I want to share with you a revelation that I had Sunday morning. It was a Sunday morning like most, hurried and trying not to be late to service. Todd sipping his usual Dr. Pepper while I steal a sip or two here and there on our drive to church, Aleighna babbling in her carseat drooling on whatever she could get a hold of and then I look back to see my beautiful five year old. Bree was sporting her sparkly heart shaped sunglasses with her new purple seek and find ESV Bible opened in her lap. I asked her what she was doing and she so matter of fact stated "reading the Bible...I'm looking for the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis". Wow at five years old she was reading the Word of God. Now at the moment I did not have any great revelation but instead grabbed my handy dandy Iphone and snapped a pic. It was certainly much to precious a moment to not grab a quick pic, and posted it to facebook. I added the phrase "Live Like a Warrior" to that photo. I don't know why exactly but at that moment it seemed to fit.
Later, as I sat in service our pastor began to preach on grace and that is when my revelation came. I AM RAISING A WARRIOR. My daughters right now are in training...training to wage war in a very intense, brutal, dark battle ground. What I do, what I say, how I live, and HOW I LOVE is preparing them for war. Am I living and loving in such a way that is heaping coals, kindling and dousing their hearts and minds with gasoline preparing them for the day that the Lord chooses to light the fire of the Gospel inside of them? Is what I am putting in them, the way that I am training them, preparing them to burn bright in the darkness? Or am I laying aside the kindling and gasoline of the Gospel and instead raising a banner of perfection, obedience, and Lord help me... some common sense. Now hear me there needs to be these things, but my question to myself is how often is that my only pursuit, or how often am I measuring my success as a MOM by how "GOOD" my girls are being. Am I full out seeking order, structure, a glimmer of sanity or am I dousing my children's hearts with the Gospel of Grace, Love, and Forgiveness? If I only serve my children a spoonful of moralism, seeking only obedience (because I said so), order, and compliance, when the Holy Spirit does light that flame will it struggle and fight to burn bright and long and far? It could possibly fade to just burning ashes exhausted by the "trying" and the pursuit of perfectionism. I as their Mom...as a Christian must allow the fresh wind of the holy spirit to blow through my household, my relationships, and through my everyday encounters in life, the breath of the Gospel of grace. A gospel that is not based in the trying or pursuit of being "GOOD" but a Gospel based in the Grace of the Lord Jesus. I need to pursue the Truth and Love of the Gospel not the rules and regulations of try better and do more. I need to not be living in the mire of to-do's but reveling and teaching the joys of Relationship with the Almighty.
How though??? John 10:10 says "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." One thing Bree, my five year old has no lack of it seems is LIFE. The girl can wear me out with the amount of life, energy, and excitement she exudes in a span of five minutes. Everything is new and exciting. She lives in a world of constant AWE and WONDER. Her heart leaps for joy over the simplest of things. She revels in the littlest of details. She has an abundance of life. DO I??? Set before me is a life...His Life. My Savior's Life. Do I revel in it daily? How can I begin to conceive the possibility of laying the kindling around the hearts of my children if I myself am doing nothing or very little for myself. How can I serve my children the life giving soul reviving grace of the Gospel when I myself am not partaking of it DAILY!!! God has given us our Daily Bread why the heck are we not eating it, savoring it, and serving it to those around us. I am more concerned with how well behaved my children are being, how tidy my house is, or how many likes my most recent pic of facebook got. Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." We must daily taste so that we can show our children how good the tasting is, how to come to the table for themselves and just eat. We must be the ones to teach them what grace looks like first, what it tastes like, and how to take hold of it for themselves. Let us not be so consumed with rules, regulations, and rigidity, but teach them the freedom, grace, and love of the Gospel. Let us together revel in their life, allowing them the freedom to dance in the grace that has be so lavished upon us. Let us train a warrior generation how to do battle not with weapons of "try harder", "do more", but of GRACE, LOVE, FREEDOM, AND FORGIVENESS.
Ephesians 1:7-8
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight"
2 Corinthians 12:9
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."