Living Life for Christ Alone

Love. What is it like?   At times, it’s silent and lowly.   He quiets me and beckon s for me to look.   A baby is nestled up to me, asleep. She feels safe and loved.   She knows she is cared for.   She knows she will have her needs met by me if she cries.   Sometimes, it seems she can’t get close enough to me.   She hangs on tight with her little arm around my shoulder.   I fight the restlessness inside. There is so much to do.   I feel like I have accomplished nothing.   But He settles me again, and motions towards the baby.   “This is kingdom work,” He whispers.   “Why?” I ask.   I won’t walk away from this later and feel like I’ve accomplished anything.   I won’t have a checked-off to-do list to show for this day.   I won’t be able to talk about some grand daring feat I managed to pull off.   It doesn’t seem to matter much in the bigger picture of things, my feelings say.   But then, ...

"'That is the only really satisfactory way of dealing with evil, not simply binding it so that it cannot work harm, but whenever possible overcoming it with good.'" - (Hinds Feet on High Places) ---- "I realized that there is purpose in the pain," I said to my friend as we chatted about my life as a foster mom. I had just been explaining how sad I had been about the whole situation. How heavy the first couple months were.  I didn't know if I could keep living in it. It seemed too heavy for me.  But for some reason, the weight lifted when I realized in a deeper way that there is a purpose in the pain that comes with fostering.  A purpose that goes far beyond just the good that I imagine can come out of it.  --- The enemy is in the business of ripping families apart. I don't know if you've ever noticed that, but it is one of his specialties.  And we have waded into his territory.  Fostering isn't just ministry. It's warfare.  --- "You ...

Every day after lunch, we have a little routine. Ellie gets on the couch with some books while I get Avi ready for her nap, and then when she's ready, we stop by the living room where Ellie sits.  "Say, 'Nite-Nite,' Avi," I coax. "Ni-ni!" She says in her little squeaky voice. "Say, 'I love you, Ellie.'" "I da-du!" Avi says. Ellie looks up from her books, sometimes without my prompting and says, "Nite-Nite, I love you!"  This scene has special meaning to me and melts my heart. Doesn't it do that for you too? I want them to love each other. I want love to be what is pulsating through everything that happens in this home. I want our home to be where love is tasted, touched, seen...  So, we take baby steps in the learning process. We practice saying it to each other. We practice showing it to each other with kindness and sharing. And then there are those rare moments when my two-year-old, Ellie, voluntarily tells me,...