not you

Have you ever had a banner pop up and flash on your computer screen?

This is the banner that popped up in my brain yesterday. And I thought to myself, Okay.

Okay wasn't good enough.

Do we get it? It's not about you! It's not about me.

God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heaven. He placed Christ above all rule and authority and above every title. God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Christ fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:20-23.

Don't we get it? It's about Jesus Christ!

Related post: Crazy Love

discipline of the mind

Minds and computers are very similar. The biggest difference is that our minds are God-made, and computers are man-made (and only man-made because God made the mind). Minds and computers both have processes. We could even go so far as to say that they both have task managers. Seriously. If you want to check this on your computer, just press Ctrl/Alt/Delete. Click the Processes tab, and you'll see where all your computer's energy is being channeled.

A few years ago, when I thought I knew a lot about computers, I happened to see the CPU (Central Processing Unit) numbers going crazy on my computer. My initial thought was, "I don't recognize that image name. Why is that taking so much of my computer's CPUs?" So I zapped it. By the way, removing unrecognizable programs on man-made computers can sometimes be dangerous, especially when you truly don't know a thing about computers. We had to get a new computer.

This morning I was wondering how many CPUs my brain allotted for God thoughts.

Holy Habits, my latest book selection, challenges us to discipline our mind. Here is an excerpt that made me laugh...only because it described my thoughts exactly:

I broke the day into fifteen-minute segments and used a timer to remind myself to make a note of what I had done and thought during that period. I was appalled by what I thought. I would hear a siren while vacuuming the house before Cal came home from work and would immediately wonder if he had been in an accident and was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. What would I do if he were killed? How could I work with small children to care for? Who would watch them? Before long, I had worked myself up to a panic about how I would cope without Cal. By the time he walked in the door, I had his funeral planned and even knew what I would wear to it! . . . . Planning a funeral all day takes a lot out of you! . . . . My mind was undisciplined in spite of the fact that I had invited the great and holy Yahweh into my life.

I STEW and RANT and RAVE in my mind with no discipline whatsoever. Many of the thoughts are trivial and meaningless, just like Mimi Wilson's above.

Seriously, how many CPUs are running toward God throughout the day? I'm not sure I'm ready to set the timer every 15 minutes to re-evaluate my thought processes, because I know I'd be appalled - more so than Mimi was. At least I could press my mind's Ctrl/Alt/Delete just a few more times during the day to reassess whether I'm following God's standard or not. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8

our purpose....so what does it matter

We all want our kids to succeed and do well. But what exactly does that mean? Both of our kids walked well at 10 months old. Of course, we were so proud when they beat the walking-at-1-year standard. I'm sure our faces were beaming as they followed us like Frankenstein from room to room.

Years pass, and there are new milestones and standards to meet. We enroll Carly in tee ball and help her practice. We pitch to her, play catch, and play our own little tee ball games at home so she has some sort of idea of what's going on. We want her to do well.

Carly also started swimming lessons this week. She has never been a natural fish in water, but she doesn't mind it when we dump pitchers of water on her head in the bathtub either. One battle we face with beginner's swimming lessons is the fact that she does not like to go under. Maybe it's because we didn't dunk her when we took her swimming as a baby. Maybe it's because she's witnessed Isaac's wide-eyed "I'm drowning" face several times. (See the fish pond blog for one example of this.)

As parents, it's so easy to compare our children with others. Other kids her age are doing this...or that. We subconsciously try to form our kids to be the best. But what does it matter?! Sure, it is important that we teach our kids the necessary skills for survival. Swimming is one of those things that might be necessary. Tee ball is helpful in that it teaches our kids to work and play with other kids and listen to a coach's instruction. But wait, was the battle I picked yesterday with Carly at the pool really necessary? I strongly encouraged her to go under...to the point of her whining and crying. She's gone under twice at swimming lessons, but she didn't go under this time. My "encouragement" probably made matters worse.

This morning as I was re-evaluating that pool situation and every reason for signing kids up for activities. I was reminded of our real p.u.r.p.o.s.e. in life. Have you ever noticed that the Bible does not instruct parents on how to teach their kids to swim? It talks about patience. It doesn't say a word about batting techniques. It doesn't even tell you what to do if you feel like your $60 on swimming lessons might be wasted. God's Word teaches us how to live. It teaches us HEART issues. It teaches us our real purpose - knowing Him and glorifying Him. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3).

The questions were asked to us on Wednesday night: How many years have you spent gaining knowledge (schooling, studying, etc.)? How much time / effort / money has gone into being physically healthy? How many years have you made money? ........... And the question of the day: If your ONLY purpose is to know God (and glorifying Him goes hand-in-hand with that), HOW DOES THAT COMPARE to the amount of time and effort you've taken to know God?

We can parent our children as best we know how, but that better include working on their heart a whole lot more than their motor skills.

God's painting in the sky was breathtaking this morning. No camera or editing program can record the immense beauty of it, so this photo remains unedited.

God spoke to Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?....Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this....Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens...." (Job 38:4-5,18,35-37)

Only our powerful God.

Our Creator.

holding people high

We all have our favorite people: authors, Bible figures, publishers, etc. We could all list them, and we'd probably start judging each other based on that list. Some of my favorite authors and theologians are Elisabeth Elliot, C.S. Lewis, Martha Peace, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Elizabeth George, Jerry Bridges, Frances Chan, and Francine Rivers, just to name a few.

Maybe it's my personality or my own mere humanness, but I've been finding myself holding these people high. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? But yep, it is. Do I dare call it idolatry? Yes, I do. There are even people within a 10-mile radius of our home whom I'd consider as favorite people.

The truth is...people are people. Human. Sinful. Fallen. Just like me. Anything good coming out of these people isn't from them at all. Anything good, righteous, or true is from God. "Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?" (Psalm 15:1) Obviously, we don't measure up. And neither do these authors and theologians. If we did measure up, there'd be no need for a Savior. We never will meet that standard.

But Christ does. We are to clothe ourselves with Christ. He is our righteousness. It does me no good to hold people or ideas high. It only does me good to look away from myself and this world and rest in Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2 challenged me this morning. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Click here for more comments on Psalm 15 by Paul Tripp.

gardening for kids

The kids discovered seeds in their green beans at supper-time. They found it quite amusing to pull every bean apart. Big plans were made to plant these seeds, as they piled them up on the sides of their plates.

Carly wondered if we needed to space the seeds.

Then, they decided to pick weeds among the corn. Only one stalk was stepped on. Isaac came in and confessed. He said it just needed more dirt to set it straight again.