March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, right? I think that’s how the saying goes for this month, but we’ve enjoyed a few nice days of spring weather last week. It was a glorious feeling to feel sunshine, hear birds singing, and ...then it’s back to much, much colder temperatures this week!
But we did enjoy the few days of warmer spring temperatures last week, and it gives me hope that spring is somewhere on the horizon! Last Sunday, 3/7, I played the piano for an area church again. This past week was a bit easier for me as it was mostly hymns. Give me a hymnal, and I can probably play and sing just about any song in it. Give me some newer music, and I’m likely to mess it up several times before getting it right! (And then I still might mess it up!) I’m thankful for people’s kindness and graciousness towards me.
Roger was working last Sunday, (3/7) and with being at the church early to practice and then two services, it was a bit of a crazy morning for the kids. While there are a lot of hard things about raising teenagers, and children in general, I’m thankful that we are at the place where the children can supervise themselves for periods of time. Some of our children are definitely more self-sufficient than others, but they do fine on their own. Roger and I have taken several “dates” to the local hardware stores as of late, and it’s nice that the boys (and Emma) are responsible enough to leave at home. I remember thinking that I thought theses days would never come, and now in the snap of my fingers, these days are here!
We enjoyed bowling this past week as a school, and that’s something my boys enjoy too. Emma isn’t always crazy about it, but it’s something different. The man who runs the bowling alley spoke to me about the possibility of Garett and Chandler playing on a junior bowling league. They have a lot of power in the balls they throw down the lanes, and he was fairly confident that with some actual practice they could get better. I’m not sure if anything will come of it, but it’s always nice to hear that your kids are good at something.
I had the opportunity to present a short devotional thought to the Sunday school kids on Sunday, and I talked about faith. It’s definitely something that I’m needing in my own life these days, and I’m so thankful that God promises that He is the God of the impossible! I brought some mustard seeds, and we talked about our confidence being in God and God alone. While I brought the devotional for the kids, it’s definitely a lesson that God has been teaching me in the past few weeks.
Do you remember what you were doing a year ago? Yes, nothing. That’s right! Remember “two weeks to flatten the curve?” It’s been a long year with disappointments for every American that is a patriot. We’ve struggled through more corruption that we would’ve thought humanly possible to occur in the United States. We’ve seen governors take advantage of their executive powers. We’ve seen churches shut down, never to reopen. We’ve seen propaganda shoved down our throats at an alarming rate, and many people unable to discern truth. We’ve all warred within ourselves with how much to tell our children about the “news”, and we’ve wondered if we will ever hear of good news again. Yet, here we are...and I know that God designed us for such a time as this! While I am concerned about the future of America for our children, I don’t have to be stricken with fear for them. I can rest in the promise that God created my children for this generation. I firmly believe that God can send a mighty revival across our land, and I want to be a part of that. I want our children to be “steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord”...oh, that’s the cry of my heart.
One of the things that I am thankful for every.single.day. Is the opportunity to go to school in person. We have about thirteen weeks left of school, and it’s hard to grasp all that our students missed last year. Other schools in our area have struggled with cases of Covid, but God has protected us in abundant measures. We are forever thankful for your prayers! Please continue to partner in prayer with us!
March often seems like a long month, and the last few weeks have felt long. I’m not sure if it’s because we are all looking forward to spring, if we are just tired, or if the stresses and strains of life are wearing us down, but wow, it’s been some long days! Does anyone else every wonder about their children? Sometimes I wish I could get inside their brains and just see what they are thinking!
Here’s something else I’ve been wondering. For those of you that either homeschool your kids or they go to Christian schools, and church services, and Sunday school, and teen group, and church events, and family devotions, and personal devotions ....do you every wonder about over-saturating your children? Recently, I had a conversation with two of my children. We were talking about church, school, home life, etc. One of my chicken made the comment that if he could pick one church thing that he didn’t have to go to, it would be Sunday School. Of course that led to a whole discussion about why, etc., blah, blah, blah. But the fact of the matter is that it got me thinking about a whole myriad of thoughts. Clearly we don’t go go church to be entertained and often I tell our children that it’s okay to be bored! Life isn’t fair and sometimes we just have to live with it! However.... Is it possible to “over-church” our children? Instead of driving them to Jesus we drive them away because it’s just so much overload? I’m way more concerned with the heart issues of our children than I am about checking a box out of duty or obligations, but sometimes it does feel like box checking! And I know that yes, we don’t base our lives on “feelings” or what we “want to do”, but I want our children to passionately love and serve Jesus, and not just do things because well...it’s a box checked. Box checking is not what is going to make our children servants of Jesus! And yes, it’s a heart issue! And no, I don’t have any answers, I’m going to keep mulling that over in my mind for a while. How about those of you that have adult children? Anything you wished you would’ve done differently with them during their younger years? (Obviously we have lots of things we wished we would’ve done differently! I’m referring specifically to church, people, and the ministries we are involved in.
I told Roger that lately I feel like every day I get up thinking, “Today will be different, better, etc” and it seems like the attacks of Satan have been pretty fast and furious lately! If it’s not our family, marriage, school, church, it’s something else! One thing I know for sure...the devil knows how to attack our weakest, most vulnerable areas, and that’s something that I’ve been feeling on a regular basis these days. I’d surely appreciate some extra prayers!
I apologize if this post seems “heavier” than normal. It not my intention to be a “negative Nellie” but sometimes I just need to write things down, get another perspective and cry out to God for wisdom.
The theme verse of the church that I recently attended to play the piano was Lamentations 3:22-23
“It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
I hope I never failed to be amazed by the mercies of God, and aren’t you thankful that His mercies are new every morning?
