AWAKING WONDER - CHAPTER 5-6

AWAKING WONDER - CHAPTERS 5-6

Forgive the business of the background, but I am in wonder of butterflies and moths right now! Their beautiful coloring. Their fluttery journey across the yard. The Joe Pye Weed is in full bloom and the butterflies are congregating on the large, dusky pink flowers. We stopped to check the milkweed the other day for monarch caterpillars. My sister-in-law and daughter found 2 that were obviously newly hatched. They were tiny, but already bearing their beautiful striped pattern. When I see things like the caterpillar that are a work of art, I am reminded that God is in the littlest of details! Hallelujah! The "eyes of my heart" are opened!

These chapters have so much meat in them that it's hard to choose which direction to go in my posts.

 I was so touched with the opening letter. At some point each one of has or will walk a difficult path in life. As much as we wish we could shield our children from this, they will as well. When the treasure chest (their soul) is filled with the choicest of jewels of God's truth, evidence of Him in creation, evidence of Him in their lives and the lives of loved ones, love of their family, etc they have an abundance of truth to fall back on. No matter what is happening, they can pull out those jewels and examine them knowing that God is with them, holding them, loving them.

I highlighted in my book that "Faith in God must be passed on in every generation as a foundation of how to live, how to see life, how to serve God if our culture is going to keep Christianity alive. And the fragrance we leave with children must be something beautiful and authentic. " We are seeing the evidence all around us of losing that faith. The baton is not being passed to the next generation. Mommas, I know that life can be tiring. It is not easy to be on duty 24/7. However, if we are not faithful, eternal souls are at stake, because as we read about on chapter 6 the goal is not to keep the "jewels" I mentioned above to ourselves. It is to give our children (and ourselves) purpose by reaching out and sharing with others. Something just struck me as I am writing this. Two of my children are in college. I have a third in high school and 2 more behind that one. A constant question the older 3 are asked is, "What do you want to do with your life?" One had a clear direction. One found a clear direction. One is uncertain. (The youngest 2 aren't to that point yet.) None of that matters! What the answer to the question is is I am going to serve the Lord. The path in how God is going to use me may not be entirely clear, but my job is service to my King and others. The "how" is secondary. We are surrounded by a society steeped in hopelessness! Grasping at anything and everything, they try and fill the cavernous hole inside, but there's only one thing that fits, and we know what it is! It is our purpose to share it!

The last thing I want to hit on (and then you all can take this into whatever other direction you want) is a true, life-giving relationship with Christ. The alive and thriving versus the dead or dying. There are commands that we are to follow in God's word, but they are commands that are for our benefit. Think about it. If we are to have no other gods why would that be? Because there is only one true God that can love us and help us. Therefore our focus should only be on Him. He alone is worthy. We shouldn't lie or steal or covet. Why? Because it destroys our relationships with others. Trust cannot flourish. Why should we obstain from sex outside of marriage? It protects us from disease. It keeps the birth of children in the designed unit of a family. On and on it goes! We must help our children realize that the commands are from a loving Heavenly father, not a controlling dictator.

So what have you "wondered" about this week?