Is He Your Son? A Foster Mom's Dilemma

Me with our biological son, Josiah,
 when he was about 6 months old

Recently, my husband and I welcomed two foster children into our home. It's a unique and complicated situation in a few ways, but the end result was that we now have two beautiful children (ages 2 and 1) to care for as our own for the foreseeable future. As you could imagine, this has added both joy and chaos to our lives!

Foster care also adds an extra layer of complication to matters that really shouldn't be so complicated. Our family's trip to the park a few weeks ago is a perfect example! While playing with the almost 2 year old boy we're caring for, a little girl innocently asked me "Is he your son?" I hesitated for a split second- how should I answer? If she were older I might try to explain. Instead I just answered, "Yes". 

But the question stuck with me. Is he my son? If you ask different people, you'd get different answers. Some would say yes, because he's currently living as part of my family and in my care for now. Others would give a resounding no, because he doesn't share my DNA and our goal is to return him to the care of his biological parents. 

In some ways, he's not my son. I didn't carry him for nine months. I didn't nurse him. I didn't get to spend sleepless nights with him as a newborn. I wasn't there when he crawled for the first time or took his first steps. I most likely won't be there when he goes to his first day of school, brings home his first homework assignment, gets his driver's license, or goes on his first date.If everything goes as planned, he won't even remember the time he's spent in my home. So in those ways, no, he's not my son. 

In other ways, he is indistinguishable from my biological 3 year old son. I've changed his diapers, cleaned him up after he got sick at 3am, and held him while he cried. I've been his comfort and his constant when he's confused and scared. I've sung him to sleep and woke up to his laughter. I've cried for him, prayed for him, been joyful with him.

I've learned things from sharing life with this little boy. He has revealed things in me that are both commendable and detestable. He is making a forever imprint on my heart, and I hope I'm making one on his. 

In short, I have loved him and he has loved me.

So to me, in all the ways that matter, he's my son. I won't get to have him forever, he may not remember me, and we will never share DNA. But he has changed me and I will never be able to change back. 

So, when someone asks if he's my son, I may not always say yes out loud. But in my heart, I always say yes. 

Because really, family is so much more than biology and blood. Family is love, sacrifice, and commitment. 
 
And those are things that time, location, and even lack of memory, cannot change.

The Merit of Another

"In Jesus Name, Amen."

If you're anything like me, you say the above phrase at the end of your prayers largely because you know you're supposed to. Am I right? (Don't worry, no judgement. ;) 

In my world, a lot of times I gloss over the "In Jesus Name" part.  It's something I say quickly to get to the "Amen" so I can move on with my day. It gets tacked on the end of my prayers with no real thought or appreciation. 

But then one day, I was listening to a sermon by Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. And I noticed something about his prayers. Most of the time, Alistair says "It's for Jesus sake we ask it" instead of "In Jesus Name". These two phrases really mean the same thing if we boil them down, but the uncommon wording caught my attention. And then I started to really think about what it is I'm saying at the end of my prayers- 

The God of the Universe came down to earth in the Person of Jesus. 
 
Jesus lived on this earth and led  perfect life. 

Then He chose to sacrifice Himself on the cross- a perfect, holy and righteous sacrifice.

Why? So that our sins could be covered by His blood. When He died on the cross, all my sins and failures were placed on Him and He received the punishment for them. When I put my trust in Jesus and believe that only His death could pay the punishment for my sin, then I receive His perfection as a free gift. 

When I say "In Jesus Name", I'm encapsulating all of those facts into one phrase. I'm asking God to answer my prayer because of what Jesus did on the cross. I'm claiming His perfection as the basis by which I can approach the God who dwells in unapproachable light.

Hmmm. Taking time to think it through really puts that whole "In Jesus Name" thing in a different light, huh? 


This was mind-blowing enough, and then one day I heard myself saying this at the end of my prayers- 

" In Jesus Name and on His merit I ask it..." 


WHOAA!!! 

I stopped praying to think about what I'd just said (which must have come out of my mouth simply because of the Holy Spirit's leading), and was astounded once again by the implications of it. 


I was talking to God because of Jesus. I could bank on God answering my prayers and fulfilling His promises because of Jesus. Not because:

• I'm a good person who tries really hard
• I serve God 
• I'm organized
• I'm good at my job
• I'm a good mom
• Or anything else I do!

 What really hit me that day was something I already knew, but that took on another layer of meaning for me. See, I can be a prideful person (I can feel all the eye-brow raising as people who know me really well are thinking "Can be?!") It's easy for me to start comparing myself to other people and see only how good I'm doing in comparison to them. This is folly for a few reasons, but the one that stuck out to me that day was this:

It doesn't matter how good I'm doing in comparison to other people. What matters is that I'm a sinner, and the only reason I can even talk to God is because of the merit of another. 


That "another" is Jesus!!!! And hallelujah, I can pray on His merit and not my own!


Now when I'm ending my prayers, I savor those final phrases. I let the impact of what I'm saying wash over me. "In Jesus Name, on His merit, and for His sake I ask it." And you know what? I always end my prayers with a smile on my face. :) 


Give it a try sometime! I promise, it will put all your prayers and worries into perspective and will leave you with a smile that just won't go away!

Here's my song version of everything I just said. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

An Open Letter from One Working Mom to Another

Dear Working Mom,

             Life gets crazy, doesn't it? Between work, kids, husband, church, and everything else in life, I'm sure your time is scarce. So I'll try not to take too much of it- I just wanted to share some things I've learned as a working mom and wife.


1. Don't Push Your Children to the Side

I know when you get home from work, the last thing you really want to do is make dinner, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and start a load of laundry. But if life is going to happen and the practical needs  of your family be met, that's exactly what you have to do. Perhaps the only thing that could make it more exhausting is doing all of it while playing catch with your toddler! How much easier and faster everything is if you put on a movie for your toddler while you finish up! Easier and faster, yes. But is it the best? 

Remember that your toddler will only be a toddler for only a while. He will only want you to to you and you alone for a while. So dig deep and play catch while you brown the hamburger for dinner! Delight in the fact that you child wants you and isn't content to settle for anyone else. That time will be gone before you know it. After all, doesn't it seem like yesterday that you were still carrying a newborn everywhere? So play catch with as much joy as you can, and remember it's a sign of how much your child loves you, and how much they missed you while you were gone. 

2. Don't Keep Score with Your Husband

Please don't ever keep tally marks of how much you've done and how much your husband has done! Nothing will kill your relationship faster than bitter feelings and resentment over who's done more dishes or worked more hours. Start everyday with a clean slate, and don't fill it up! Resolve every day to love, serve, honor and respect him to the best of your ability that day- and don't remember what you did for him yesterday! Love keeps no record of wrongs, and I don't believe it keeps a record of rights either.  

Does it matter in the end if you worked exactly 3.82 hours more than he did this week or did the dishes 5 more times than he did? No, it doesn't. I know it feels like it does, but it doesn't. Look instead at his heart= does he love you and God? Does he desire your best? If the answers are yes, you are blessed beyond measure! 

Your husband is human, and there may be times you need to gently remind him that you need his help, that you want his help. But always do so prayerfully and respectfully! I bet that sometimes he doesn't realize you want his help, and simply doesn't want to get in your way. Love always hopes- so trust your husband's heart. He wants your best, and he will respond with grace. So obey the Lord, put your husband before yourself, and pray for God to work in you as well as him. 


Oh, dear working mother, your plate is full! But so is your heart, your joy, and your love! Remember that, and keep perspective! 


Love,

A Working Mother Who Gets It

Pizza and Stitches: God in the Ordinary!

The description of this blog is "An ordinary person in search of the divine workings of an extraordinary God in the midst of very normal circumstances." Last week, I had such an excellent example of God showing up in the ordinary that I just have to share it with you! Ready? Grab some popcorn and let's go. :) 


It all started 2 years ago. Yes, 2 years ago. Let me explain. 2 years ago, Logan and I were helping with a week long Bible Kids Club at an apartment complex. There were LOTS of kids and 3 teachers. Oops. 

Me and Breydin at the Kids Club.

So, to make that arrangement work, the three teachers asked two teenage boys, Tristan and Breydin, from North Valley Bible Church to help with crowd control. They said ok, and did a great job helping. Logan and I said we were going to take them out to dinner to thank them for their willingness and excellent

Tristan (right) and Josiah at the Kids Club, with another helper (Sarah)

service. We budgeted the money, promised to set something up, and looked forward to it.


Fast forward two years. Life gets busy, changes happen, and we never get around to taking them out. But, we still have the money budgeted! Some of the changes that happened result in Logan and I taking over the youth group at North Valley Bible Church, which consists mainly of Tristan and Breydin. :O 



Every week, Tristan and Breydin come to our house for dinner and a Bible Study. So we say to each other, "Why not take them out for the dinner we promised them for doing such a great job helping with the Kids Club?" Perfect! We'll finally fulfill our promise and they'll be properly thanked for their service. 



So, last Friday we took them out to Pizza Pie Cafe, a delicious all-you-can-eat pizza place that our family loves. Being a Friday night, the line was waayyy long so we ended up waiting for awhile. While we're waiting, Josiah starts hanging out with some other kids around the little "vending machines". You know the kind. The 25 cent money stealers that attract kids like Elsa attracts ice. 



This particular money stealing attraction featured rubber bouncy balls which are Josiah's kryptonite. He immediately started begging for one of these balls and was told no. For starters, I didn't have a quarter. For enders, even if I did I wasn't going to buy him anything from those money sucking machines. That's not a path I'm walking down. 

Not the bouncy ball, but similar.

As I was explaining to him that he would just have to deal with the heart break of not obtaining the coveted rubber bouncy ball, one of the little boys he'd been standing with walked up.

 This little boy held out his hand to Josiah and offered him what his heart so desperately sought- the rubber bouncy ball! I looked to the left and saw a beaming mother, obviously the master mind behind the whole thing. I smiled and said thank you, while inwardly thinking, "Really? Come on! If I wanted my son to have a bouncy ball, I would have bought him one myself!" But let me tell you, I was thankful for that little bouncy ball before the night was over!

All of us at Pizza Pie Cafe!

The little boy returned to his mother, I went back to our youth group, and Josiah clutched his prize triumphantly in his little hand. It kept him busy for the next 15 minutes while we waited to sit down, and he actually did a fairly good job of not throwing it at peoples heads. Not too hard, at least. 


Fast forward an hour and a half. We pull into our driveway (which is made of asphalt and has little pebbles sticking out of it) and start waddling like overstuffed toads into our house. Josiah is walking with Logan, still exclaiming over his good fortune in getting his rubber bouncy ball and still waving it about happily.

In one of those inexplicable "How did that even happen" moments, Josiah trips over something. (Was it his foot? A tiny pebble? An invisible cat?)

The Injury!

 He does a little half turn and smacks the side of his head against the asphalt. Blood starts pouring out of this tiny little piercing on the side of his head, and the wailing starts.


Logan and I cleaned him up as best we could and discovered this tiny little cut was deep. We made our first parenting decision relating to an injury- we're going to the ER to get stitches. 


So we went to the ER and spent the next four hours waiting in various locations of the ER. Josiah clutched his little rubber bouncy ball through the whole ordeal of getting his cut cleaned, having a syringe stuck inside his open cut, and having two little stitches put in.

 

Waiting room faces!

If you know my son (or any two and a half year old, probably) you'd know that he never goes anywhere without a toy. He finds security and peace in having one, and occupies himself with it while I'm hauling him around running errands. 

Seriously, we waited a long time.

In this case, he clutched his little rubber bouncy ball as comfort through what was probably a pretty scary experience for a very tired two year old, and distracted himself from needles, nurses, and pain with it.

Brave faces!

Post-stitches. Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

Reflecting on it later, Logan and I were amazed at God's goodness to us and a little two year old who loves bouncy balls. God knew I wasn't going to buy Josiah that little rubber bouncy ball (which is a fine decision), and He knew that Josiah was going to go to the ER without having time to go home and get a toy of his own. So, He moved in the heart of a beaming mother and her son to give Josiah a little rubber bouncy ball to get him through the experience. The result? Blessings all around! The mother and her son got a good memory of giving a toy to a cute little boy, Josiah got the comfort of his favorite kind of toy in the ER, and we got to see how much God loves us and our son. 


See what I mean about the Divine Ordinary? God loves to bless us through things that seem so ordinary we may not even notice them unless we're looking for them.

God blessed us through a little rubber bouncy ball this week- how has He blessed you? 

Are you Valjean or Javert? Click here to find out!

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here's something I wrote a few years ago right before the movie Les Miserables came out. Are you more like Valjean or Javert? Read on to find out! 

As I am sure the whole world is aware, the musical movie Les Miserables opens on Christmas Day! Oh, you didn't know that? Must just be us theatre geeks then... Regardless, this theatre geek is beyond excited! First off, Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean? Does it get better than that? Next on the excitement scale is Russell Crowe as Javert. I know he's not the singer we would picture Javert being, but he's a wonderful actor, and him playing opposite Hugh Jackman will be epic, even if the songs aren't everything we would hope them to be. So all in all, I fully expect this movie to be awesome!
 
Now, like any good theatre geek would be doing before the opening of such an anticipated movie, I've been listening and re-listening to the Les Mis soundtrack, contemplating the character's individual situations and personalities, and singing random bits of the songs throughout the day (I think my son's first words will be “I stole a loaf of bread”). And as I've done that, I've been struck by the similarities between Valjean and Javert. No, not in everything, but in the show they share one major experience: an experience of grace.


 Grace, in case anyone was wondering, is defined as “unmerited favor.” It means that someone did something nice for you that you didn't deserve. Like your parents feeding you dinner right after you mouthed off to them (if your parent's didn't feed you dinner after that, don't complain- you didn't deserve it anyway. (:) Both character's have a pivotal and defining moment during the course of the musical that shows two diametrically opposed ways to respond to the same experience of grace. 


You may be thinking, “So what?” Well, I always like to look for things to learn from theatre rather than just being merely entertained. Actually, the literal meaning of the Greek word for entertainment is “to inform with delight”. So when I look for life lessons in my entertainment, I'm really just living up to the original meaning of the word. But I digress... back to Valjean and Javert.  

I think we can learn an invaluable lesson about human nature, God, and grace from Valjean and Javert.


Valjean's experience of grace occurs near the beginning of the show. After being released on parole from the prison hard labor camps, in which he served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread in order to save his nephew from death, Valjean learns a hard lesson- people don't give ex-convicts the same treatment as others. After doing the same work as another man, he is paid far less than he deserves and only half as much as the other man. He grows bitter that his past follows him and people treat him like “the dirt beneath their feet.”  


Enter the Bishop. He is, you guessed it, a bishop with the Roman Catholic Church. He invites Valjean to spend the night at his home and treats him with kindness and love. He gave Valjean food, wine, a warm place to spend the night, and treatment as an equal. In short, he gave Valjean everything he wanted the rest of the world to give him.


 But how does Valjean react to this treatment? In his own words, “...the old fool trusted me....when the house was still, I got up in the night. Took the silver and took my flight!” He used the Bishop's kindness against him, robbed him, and ran away- the very picture of what the rest of the world said Valjean was like and the very reason no one else would trust him. Well, what goes around comes around, and Valjean's latest crime is discovered by the police and he is rearrested for his crime. In desperation, Valjean tells the police that the Bishop gave him that silver out of “Christian goodness”. The police drag Valjean back before the Bishop to answer for his crime. 

And this is when the pivotal moment occurs. 

 Valjean fully expects the Bishop to send him packing right back to prison- but he doesn't. Instead, he does the most unexpected thing imaginable; he corroborates Valjean's story that the silver was a present! Even more amazingly, he proceeds to give Valjean a set of silver candlesticks worth a fortune to go with the silver Valjean stole.
 

And here is Valjean's experience of grace- unmerited favor. The Bishop showed Valjean unmerited favor in choosing not to condemn him for his crime and, on top of that, blessing him with something even more valuable than he took. A free gift; something Valjean definitely had not earned. In fact, what Valjean had earned was a ticket back to prison, fair and square. He broke the law, he repaid kindness with evil, he betrayed a trust. It would be perfectly fair for the Bishop to send him back to prison without a second thought. But instead he chooses to give Valjean a second chance (third, technically) and allowed him to go free, with one condition. “You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the passion and the blood, God has raised you out of darkness. I have bought your soul for God.” And with that, the Bishop leaves Valjean to make his choice- Would he do as the Bishop asked and become an honest man, or take the gift and continue to live an unlawful life?
 

Valjean decided to honor the Bishop's request, and he used the silver to become a very honest man. In fact, he became the mayor of the town in which Javert lived. He allowed the Bishop's gift to change him and to affect his life for good. He accepted the gift he knew he could not have earned, and became a totally different kind of man. Valjean's whole life was changed by the Bishop's act of unmerited favor- by grace.
 

Javert also has an experience of grace. Ironically, it is Valjean who shows grace to Javert. Near the end of the show, Javert has snuck into the rebel's barricade as a spy and been discovered. Valjean asks that he be allowed to take care of Javert. Thinking Valjean intends to kill him, the rebels allow it. 



After years of running from Javert, it seems that Valjean will finally get his revenge, kill Javert, and reclaim his life. But instead of killing Javert, Valjean sets him free! Javert cannot seem to grasp the concept of grace. He accuses Valjean of trying to trade Javert's freedom for his own. “Once a thief, forever a thief! What you want you always steal. You would trade your life for mine, yes Valjean, you want a deal. Shoot me now for all I care, if you let me go beware, you'll still answer to Javert!” 
  

Javert cannot grasp the fact that Valjean has changed; he is no longer a thief, simply a man trying to help another man. Valjean attempts to explain to Javert what he has never been able to understand- that not everything has to be earned or traded. “ You are wrong, and always have been wrong. I'm a man, no worse than any man. You are free, and there are no conditions, no bargains or petitions. There's nothing that I blame you for. You've done your duty, nothing more.”  

Valjean wanted and expected nothing from Javert in return. He knew Javert would continue to pursue him and attempt to imprison him once more. Valjean even tells Javert where he is currently living in order to show Javert he has no ulterior motive or plan to escape. Javert leaves the barricade, but struggles to accept Valjean's grace.
 

In Javert's final climatic scene, he wrestles with this experience of grace that is contradictory to everything he believes and views as important in life. Javert is characterized by law; nothing is free, favor and freedom are earned by our obedience to a set of rules. One instance of breaking the law, even set against a lifetime of keeping the law, is enough to condemn us forever. 



Valjean has just shown Javert grace, and grace and law cannot co-exist. If we live by one, we cannot live by the other. Javert himself admits this when he sings, “ I am the law and the law is not mocked. I'll spit his pity right back in his face....There is nothing on earth that we share. It is either Valjean or Javert!”  

Javert is incapable of seeing Valjean as anything but a thief, though Valjean has not lived that way for years. And actually, Javert is justified in seeing Valjean this way. Valjean did break the law and according to the law he deserves to go back to prison. But Javert fails to account for grace. Grace has the power to change a person's character, the very essence of who they are. 

This is a power the law could never have and it is not something Javert can reconcile with his worldview because from his perspective based entirely on law, it doesn't seem possible. 



Javert is now faced with much the same choice Valjean was faced with at the beginning of the show. Would he accept Valjean's free gift of grace and realize that there is a power greater than the law, one that can truly change men's hearts, or reject the concept of grace entirely?
 

Sadly, Javert's story does not end as happily as Valjean's. Javert is so accustomed to his world of rules and regulations, of rigid laws and unchangeable consequences, that he chooses to reject Valjean's grace entirely. Grace is incompatible with the way he has chosen to live his life, and he cannot accept it. “And must I now begin to doubt, who never doubted all these years? My heart is stone and still it trembles! The world I have known is lost in shadow. Is he from heaven or from hell? And does he know that granting me my life today, this man has killed me, even so?” 


Not only can Javert not accept it, he decides he can't even live in a world where Valjean may no longer be the thief that Javert has deemed him to be. “I am reaching, but I fall...as I stare into the void of a world that cannot hold. I'll escape now from that world, from the world of Jean Valjean. There is nowhere I can turn, there is no way to go on!” 


And with that Javert jumps from a bridge and ends his life, effectively rejecting Valjean's gift of releasing him and saving his life. In Javert's mind, justice has been served and he is no longer indebted to Valjean.
 

We too have a choice much like Valjean and Javert's choice. God has extended to us the free gift of salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth as a human, lived a perfect life, and was killed on the cross as a payment for our sin- yours and mine. That might seem kind of gruesome, but God is just. When sin is committed, a price has to be paid. God can't simply overlook it. 



The payment that must be made is death. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death...” Just like Valjean was required to serve his sentence as a penalty for his crime in order to fulfill justice, so a death is required as a penalty for sin to fulfill justice. 



But God is also a loving, gracious God who doesn't desire us to die and be separated from Him. And so He provided a way for the penalty of sin to be exacted in its entirety and for us to be able to live with Him eternally. That way was through a perfect, sinless man willingly dieing for us, taking our punishment so that we wouldn't have to. The rest of Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.” 

And now the choice is ours- we can accept this free gift by placing our trust in Jesus Christ (meaning that we acknowledge our inability to earn salvation and agree with God that Jesus' death is the only thing that will enable us to have eternal life with God) or we can reject God's grace and attempt to earn His favor by living according to a set of rules.
 

Let Javert's mistake be a lesson to you; not everything can be earned or traded.  
Accept God's grace in Jesus Christ and let that grace affect your life- both now and for all eternity. As all of us theatre geeks crowd into the movie theater on Christmas Day, I pray we'll all remember that God's grace is a free gift and it is available to us at any time we choose to accept it!
“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, so no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9


“For He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21


“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31

The Tension Between Running and Resting

Do you ever just get sick of people? I do!


Sometimes, between the demands of everyday practical life and the emotional demands of relationships, it just doesn't feel like we have anything left to give to anyone. These feelings  infect and affect all of our lives. And left unchecked, they tear down the people and relationships we love the most. 


But what do we do with those feelings? Do we just throw up our hands, slam our doors, and tell everyone to take a hike? Do we pretend that we're fine when we're not, and continue to run on emotional fumes? What are we supposed to do? 


 Being there to help and serve other people is a good thing, and taking time to care for yourself emotionally is a good thing. But both of them end up being bad if we take them to extremes. And it's here we find the tension between running and resting. 

My husband and I were blessed to have a night away together last week to celebrate our anniversary! We went to an awesome hotel, The Anniversary Inn, (which has a ton of amazing, themed rooms. We stayed in the "King Arthur" suite) and had a great time simply being together.

Logan in our "castle"!

And you know what I discovered? In the midst of all my practical everyday running, trying to do my best to serve him, I had lost sight of actually loving him.  I had allowed the errands, cleaning, and tasks to cause me to forget that I love this man. (Don't judge, you know you do it too. )

When Logan and I got married, I made a vow to serve him, submit to him, and help him carry out God's purpose for his life. And I was excited to make that promise because I loved him. But 3 1/2 years down the road, as the practical outworking of that vow continues, it's easy to allow dedication to a vow eclipse 

There was a sword in the room! 

dedication to a person. And when that happens, we lose the joy of the relationship. It becomes monotonous drudgery, or worse, something that causes resentment in our hearts.

But when we took time away from the practical pressures of life and just enjoyed one another, I remembered why I committed my life to this man in the first place- because I love him. I have an awesome husband who loves me more than I can ever understand (he proved it on our getaway by memorizing and reciting this Shakespeare sonnet to me :O). But it's easy to forget how much he loves me when I don't take time to allow him to remind me.

They brought breakfast to our room! 

I came back from our getaway refreshed in his love for me and ready to jump back in to practical life. And you know what? Sweeping the kitchen floor doesn't seem as much like drudgery as it did before. I've been reminded that I do it because I love my husband, and not because of obligation.

The same principle applies to our relationship with God and other people. At the beginning of our relationship with God, we're serving him and others because we love God. We can't get over what God has done for us, what He's saved us from, and what He's given us in Christ. And so we serve Him from the overflow of our hearts!

Serious face....

But a few years down the road, some of the magic of what God has done for us has been forgotten. We've gotten so caught up in the practical outworking of our salvation that we've forgotten that we love the One who gave it to us. Our service to God and others becomes monotony, or worse, a cause of resentment toward them and God.

When that happens, we need to take time away and refresh ourselves in the love God has for us. We need to remember why we started serving Him and others in the first place- because we love Him. 


Don't allow the running of life to rob you of one of God's greatest gifts: Resting in His love. Take time to allow Him to show you His love, and remember why you committed your life to Him in the first place.


Resting in love, whether it be God's love or the love of another person, is The Divine Ordinary- God showing up in the middle of our ordinary lives. Take it for the gift it is, and cherish it. 



 

Have you had a similar experience? Share it in the comments!

The Divine Ordinary- Searching for God in Every Day Life

Errands. Groceries. Menus. Work. Diapers. Laundry... the list goes on. If you've ever looked at your life and thought, "Where is God in the midst of this ordinary stuff?"-You're not alone!

Who am I? (If your mind just jumped to Jean Valjean, we are kindred spirits. If it didn't, I'm sure we can still work it out. Anyway....)

Here's my glamor shot! :)

Who am I? That question can be answered in many different ways. My name is Rachel. I'm a wife, mother, employee, missionary, and friend. I love acting, directing, musicals, plays, and movies. I love writing (hence, the blog), singing, and organizing things.                                                                 

Above everything else, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. He has saved me from my sin through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Everything else about myself pales in comparison to this one thing- Jesus is my Savior, and I want to know Him more.


 In fact, that's where the name of the blog comes from. I have to give credit where it's due, my wonderful husband Logan (over to the left!) came up with the name "Divine Conclusion" a few years ago. We've been using it as the title of our missionary newsletter ever since, and it has branched out to become an umbrella name for every area of our lives. 

The title comes from 2nd Corinthians 5:14-15. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this: that One died for all, therefore all have died. And He died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

So, who am I? I'm an ordinary person, who is loved by an extraordinary God. My hope is that through this blog, you and I can find more and more how our ordinary lives intersect with the divine- that is, with the working of God in this world and in us. 

The inquisitive 2 year old!

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I'm doing the dishes for the 127th time in one week, or making dinner for the 233rd time in one year, or answering the same question my two-year old has asked for the 76th time in one day, the divine working of God seems pretty far away. 

And yet, what I'm learning is that God is in the ordinary. He loves it because He created it- and it's in the ordinary that He most often dwells. We just have to learn to look for Him there. 

So I'm an ordinary person in search of the divine workings of an extraordinary God in the midst of very normal circumstances. Will you join me so we can search together? 


To learn more about me, click here.