Easy Street

I think I began my journey into motherhood with somewhat distorted expectations.  Part of it was from being an only child.  Really, my life was pretty easy in many aspects.  No rules, no accountability, not much authority in my life.  Throw clothes on the floor and mom picks them up.  Ask for whatever I want and get it almost immediately - cost not even a factor most times.

But, lessons not learned when young, do have to be learned at some point.  Life isn’t easy.  And, the most rewarding moments come after trials and suffering.  Paul says in Romans 5:3-5, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Each day I am pulled in many directions.  I have 7 beautiful lives I am responsible for.  For their care, their training, and their education.  I so often feel I am falling short.  I feel like I can never give each one what they need.  And then God reminds me that I won’t ever give them all they need, but He will.

It is so interesting.  There really is a street called “Easy Street” in Hawaii.  The first sign is an actual photo of it from a real estate in Hawaii.  I heard a preacher on the radio speak about it.  He went to see it when he was on a trip to Hawaii.  As he drove down the street in the residential area, he saw another sign….”Dead End”.

So, I encourage myself and I encourage you, Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith.” — 2 Timothy 4:7

Blur

Abigail rushed in, “Mom!  Can you come down?”  I was putting Nathan in his crib for his afternoon nap.  As I turned the corner from the stairs, she asked, ”Can you come out for a minute?  I have to show you something!”  I said, “Sure.”  I put on a pair of her boots and grabbed my coat.  She took me to the backyard and said, “Watch!”  She laid on her back as the snow gently landed all over her bright pink coat.  “Look, Mom!  They’re perfect!  They’re beautiful!”  It is true.  The snowflakes were perfect, beautiful.  Abbie asked me to take a photo of some of them.  The first photo above is all we could get….blur.

It made me think of how God is so awesome, so perfect, so beautiful.  His creation, the snowflake being one of them, is intricate, detailed, gorgeous.  His plans are perfect too.  He is sovereign.

We can try with all our might to capture that perfection, but in my mind, even great cameras don’t do justice to the snowflakes in their soft, white, delicate intricacy.

We can also try with all our might to figure out the mind of God.  We ponder why things happen or why things don’t happen.  We can think until it hurts and we can come up with cleverly invented explanations.  A great Bible teacher of mine gently told me that every time we try to explain away or justify what God does and how He chooses to do it, we are diminishing in our mind the sovereignty of God. 

I need to rest in the fact that He made the snowflake and I can’t even take a picture of it.  He is God.  He is always good, always right, always faithful, always trustworthy, always just.  He is.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!  But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (The Message)