"Fighting for your Family"

I started this blog update weeks ago, but due to the craziness that is my life (and maybe a little bit of laziness) I have yet to finish it, so now that I have some down time I figure I might as well finish it. 

Something that I’ve always been passionate about but am becoming increasingly more passionate about is family.  I am continually blessed by my family and truly consider them the greatest blessing I’ve ever received other than my salvation.  I think my family experiences plus getting to see others’ family experiences stem my passion for family, but the more I learn about the Bible, the more passionate I get about families, but not just families, biblical families.  Every family is different, but there are certain things that all families that claim to be Christians should do and so when I saw that last Sunday’s sermon was titled “Fighting for your Family,” I got really excited.  I was especially excited when I learned that the guy who would be preaching was the guy who had been teaching at FBC Forsyth’s Disciple Now Weekend, because it would allow me to have a glimpse of what the youth had been learning all weekend. 

The sermon was based on Deuteronomy 6:1-9.  The first point that really stuck out to me was that our spiritual walks are ultimately our own responsibility and others have a way of revealing our true character.  The next thing is that it is our responsibility to teach our children the truth.  I think this especially rings true because I’ve seen so often how people are so quick to blame others for their failures, myself included.   I’ve seen so many parents blame youth pastors, teachers, etc. for their kids not living up to what their parents think they should be.  We blame the church, the schools, and whoever else we can for our failures.  Well guess what, it’s not the church that has failed, it is the home that has failed.  (Now there are some things that I think the church could definitely be better, but that is a completely different tangent that you probably don’t want me to get off on right now.)  Seriously though, let’s just look at some examples of how the home has failed (and these examples come from me not from the sermon):  the fact that the divorce rate is practically the same for Christians as it is for non-Christians, the fact that so many people that were raised in the church walk away when they get to college, the fact that so many “Christians” look just like the rest of the world, need I go on?  Robert has what he calls the “Batman and Robin Principle” where parents should be Batman and the church should be Robin.  The church is here to help, but it is ultimately the parents’ responsibility to teach their children the truth.  Nehemiah 4:14 talks about how opposition will come but we should remember the Lord and fight for our family.  Robert made the point that fathers are not mentioned in that verse because they should be the ones fighting because it is the men’s job to be spiritual leaders.  (This is where I tell you that if you haven’t seen the movie, Courageous, you should go rent it today and watch it…) 

So there is my ramble about the family and some of what a biblical family should look like.  For those of you who are like me and are single with no prospects, you may be thinking, “How does this apply to me right now?” well let me tell you.  One thing that Robert said that really struck home with me was that if God is not the center of my life now, He will not be the center of my marriage nor my parenting.  I want Him to be the center of my marriage and my parenting, so He needs to be the center of my life now, and I want Him to be the center of my life.  I am nothing without Him and He deserves my everything. 

To go along with this sermon, Chad Hampsch gave a talk during the KI reunion about family and parenting.  It was a great talk and will probably prompt a blog update later on, but for now I’m heading out to go babysit those precious Hampsch kiddos.  Thanks for reading my ramblings… hopefully there will be more to come soon.

Convictions

This past week was hard, plain and simple.  I have what I call my “flesh” days and by that I mean, the days where my flesh seems to be winning over my spirit.  Well, let’s just say that I had a number of those this week.  I’ve been struggling a lot with figuring out what comes after August, as I talked about in my last post, I hate the unknown, and that has been rearing its ugly head this week.  I’ve also been struggling with jealousy.  I know it’s stupid and I hate it, but it’s there.  There are times when something good happens to a friend and I’m genuinely happy for them, but in the back of my mind I’m going, “Ok God, when is it my turn?”  The last thing I’ve been really struggling with is the fact that I have these God given desires and yet it seems that God is never going to fulfill those desires.  I know that God gives those who delight in Him the desires of their hearts (Psalm 37:4), but it’s that waiting game which is so hard for me.  I know God’s timing is perfect and I know He has great plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11), but sometimes it’s just hard for me to trust Him even though I can look back on my life and see how God has worked all things for good (Romans 8:28).  I know all these things and I truly do believe them wholeheartedly, but as I said before, sometimes my flesh just seems to win.  Today at church we talked about 1 John 2:15-16 which says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”  I was so convicted of how I’ve put the lust of the flesh and eyes and the boastful pride of life, which are of the world, above God and the things that He wants for me.  I let my flesh (the things of the world) become more important than God.  It is because of those times that my flesh seems to be winning that I am so thankful for God’s promises such as the one found in Lamentations 2:22-23 “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness,” and Ephesians 4:22-24 where it talks about how we are to lay aside the old self and put on the new self “which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”  Yes, I am a sinner in need of God’s grace, just like everyone else.  I think I sometimes forget that.  I get so frustrated with myself when I sin, and yes, I should hate my sin, but how prideful of me to think that I won’t sin.  So let me say it again, I am a sinner in need of God’s grace.  So there will be times when my flesh wins out, but let us all take heart in the fact that Jesus’ blood covers it all, and we are made new.  As I type this I look at my ring that I got in Israel; engraved in Hebrew are the words “new creation”.  I got “new creation” engraved on my ring to remind me of 2 Corinthians 5:17 which states, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  I am in Christ, therefore I am a new creation.  I am not the same person that I used to be.  The sanctification process is hard, but it is a beautiful thing. 

Despite this being a hard week for me, God did some pretty cool things.  First of all, Wednesday morning Ansley Ruth Hampsch was born.  I’m so beyond excited for Chad and Cat; they are seriously some of the best parents I know.  I got to go over to their house Friday afternoon after Cat and Ansley got back from the hospital which was so great.  I got to spend quality time with now three of my favorite kiddos.  Ansley was sleeping when I got there so I got to play with Mylee until she went to basketball, then I got to hold Ansley, and then I got to play with Isaac.  I also got to stay for dinner which is always such a blessing.  Not only was it fun to get to see Cat and the kids, but Chad’s parents were in town and I just adore them and Cat’s mom was also in town and it was such a treat to spend time with all of them.  Also, Wednesday night when I got to AWANA, one of my girls told me about how she told a girl at school about Jesus and that girl accepted Christ!  Humbled by the way a 4^th grader (plus so many of the other kids) so willingly and boldly shares their faith.  Today when I was talking to her she was telling me about how she was going to invite the girl who accepted Christ to AWANA this week.  I know sometimes I complain and sometimes it’s hard, but I truly am blessed by my community here in Branson.  

Change

If you know anything about me, you probably know that I hate change.  I like order and structure and having a routine because if I’m honest with myself, it makes me feel safe.  I like knowing what to expect, because I’m a worrier.  Well change seems to be the theme of being back in Branson.  I knew that things would be different, but it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier.  Two of my fellow interns and dear friends are not coming back this semester.  While I’m so excited to see where God takes each of them and to see what He’s going to do through them, I hate that they’re not here.  I miss them immensely.  Branson just isn’t the same without them. 

I’m also starting to realize that I have absolutely no idea what I will be doing come mid-August, nor do I have any idea what I even want to be doing.  I think I would be ok if I at least had an idea of what I want to do, but honestly, when people ask me what I’m thinking for next year, my mind draws a blank.  I know that I want to serve God and glorify Him and to be faithful where I’m at, but as far as what I’ll be doing for a job as I do that, no stinkin’ clue.  At first it was slightly exhilarating, having nothing tying me down, and having a blank canvas, but now, as it usually does, that blank page is freaking me out.  I think it’s because part of me is saying that I need to start figuring out what I’m going to be doing, but the other part of me is thinking what is the point if I am committed through mid-August. 

There is a ton of other stuff running through my head at this point, but I’ll spare you.  But one thing that I want to stress through this change and uncertainty is that God is good and He will never change.  I am taking heart in the fact that God knows my future.  He has a plan that is so much greater than I could ever imagine and His timing is perfect.  While yes, in some ways I wish I knew what the future was going to look like, I know that He is in control.  Right now I’m reminded of something that we talked about last year during our Abraham Precept study.  We talked about how so often we want to know what’s ahead of us, what’s in store for us, but if Abraham had known everything that he was going to go through, do you think he would have gone as willingly as he did?  I’m not sure he would have, just like I’m not sure I would want to, but I do know that God wants what is best for me and so I trust Him with my entire being.  Is it scary?  Yes.  Is it worth it?  Definitely.