August 31, 2013
Have you ever stood in the
ocean with the waves crashing in on you every other second? By the time you
caught your breath from the last wave you had to prepare for the next. It
eventually leaves you so tired you feel that you must either succumb to the
waves or leave the beach entirely. Either way you must give up. That is, if you
haven’t been knocked down and dragged out in the undertow.
That’s a little like we
feel right now.
So much has been happening
to our family this summer that we have started to sit up and take notice. The
waves of difficulties have been non-ending. Just as we think we’re getting back
on our feet, here comes another wave! You tell yourself it is just for a season.
But you find the words ringing hollow after a while and you wonder if it sounds
like a lie to everyone else too.
What do the difficulties
of life have to do with discipling?
A lot actually.
How our children see us handling
the hardships of life testifies a lot about our relationship with God. Is there
worry? Fear? Stress? Anger? You betcha there is. But there is also faith, trust
and assurance. And God has brought us to a place where we have stopped focusing
on what is going on here and started focusing on what God has for us at the end
of this time.
Our children here us talk
about the problems that have been coming our way. They’ve heard us talking
about how we’re going to fix them.
And now they hear us talking about what God is trying to teach us through all
of it.
They see us counting our
blessings even as the cursings keep coming. But we are not perfect people and
at times we can also be caught complaining too. And as we struggle to deal with
everything some things are falling through the cracks.
Schooling has been one of
those things. I sat down the other night to get the paperwork for our first
week of school printed out and lesson plans completed and realized I am grossly
unprepared. I had fooled myself into thinking just because I had been planning
(albeit in my head) I was ready.
Panic started to set in. I
immediately went into ‘How Am I Going To Fix This’ mode. I stared blankly at my
computer screen, wrung my hands a few times, I think I may have even paced a
little. Finally, I put my head down and whispered “I give up”.
Then
God spoke. He had probably been speaking all along, but I was too
wrapped up in my own thoughts to hear Him. “Take a look at your plans again”,
he was saying. “So what if you don’t have language arts scheduled. So what if
you don’t have science and history planned out. So what if you don’t have the
math curriculum you wanted. Look at what you DO have.”
And what I had was a 32
week plan for studying the Word of God. Scripture verses for the family to
memorize. A calendar full of Jewish Holy Days and festivals to learn about and celebrate.
What I had was a plan for teaching my children life skills (a loose one but
still a plan). And what could be more important.
Once again I am reminded
that if we take care of the God thing, He’ll take care of the rest.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest.” – Matthew 11:28
