A Blessed Interruption

“We’ve got no sound,” my husband said as I made my way over to his spot in the sound booth.

Our pastor was doing his best to string sentences together into the mic so the tech team could troubleshoot.

“It was good and then it made a pop,” Josh continued. “Now the mid-range isn’t working…ha, we’ve got ten minutes to fix it.”

Well, there was no fixing it and I sat down feeling pretty giddy. The thought of unplugged voices and instruments, followed by our pastor having to project for the crowd… I tried to find some sympathy for everyone’s to-be-stretched vocal chords but instead found myself praying they’d be stretched and strengthened.

“Good morning everyone,” our pastor’s wife hollered (in a beautiful way, in case you’re reading this ;)). “Our sound is out, so we are going to do this old-school which fits because this building is just as old. Would you all please move forward and get close and comfortable?”

I moved up a few rows with the kids, and everyone else did their own shuffling. A blessing in disguise, to get a bunch of New Englanders squished together to worship. We tend to like our space.

With a piano and a box drum, we began singing praises to our King. What joy, and what gusto! We all were there for Him, unified together in our desire for Him. We shared communion and continued worshiping.

Our pastor came to the front, opened in prayer, and got right into Philippians. He preached a fantastic sermon on sinners and saints, our standing before the Lord, and how this applies in our daily life. If only I could transcribe all that he said - it was so, so good. Convicting, encouraging, truth.

I looked around the room and noticed eyes glued to the front, faces of people deep in thought. My heart swelled with gratitude. To be in a room of people who desperately want Jesus, and want to live according to His Word… to be with other parents who want to raise their children according to His Word… to see strangers-turned-friends sitting nearby… All of us, there because we want to take our faith seriously and see God glorified. What a wonderful little interruption, to have to manage without the normal equipment. Worshiping the way many of our brothers and sisters do across the world. Oh, what a gift!

The sermon ended and we finished* with this song, which fit so well.

“Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom pow’r and love
Our God is an awesome God!”
- Michael W. Smith

Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in His Church! I know our local church is not the only one He is knitting together tighter. Praise Him for the stripping and re-prioritizing He has worked in us over the last year. He is strengthening His Church and drawing us closer to Himself. Hallelujah, we are here for His glory!

If you are local to Southern NH/ME, come join us!

*Edit: It was brought to my attention that we sung the above-mentioned song earlier in worship, and ended with All I Have is Christ. Both songs are excellent, and fit perfectly with our time together Sunday morning.

Stopping Up Drips

“The beginning of strife is like releasing water;
Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.”
Proverbs 17:14

What better example of this than toddlers?! Whether you have multiple children or one, you have probably seen how strife can quickly escalate. It starts as a little thing, and before you turn around there are fists and angry words being thrown.

A little strife is like releasing water – how forceful and damaging it can be! Best to stop up a drip before it turns into a spraying hydrant. Or worse, an ongoing waterfall!

Such practical advice for us moms. When we see strife beginning with our children, we need to be faithful to stop it up quickly. Show them how to de-escalate and think through the situation. If an argument or fight can be avoided, great!

Sometimes the fight has already begun and needs to be addressed. Bringing peace doesn’t mean covering over problems – that would ultimately be detrimental to our children and our households. But it does mean taking the time to assess the issue, help everyone communicate, and lead the children to a good conclusion. Our kiddos need to know how to control emotions and problem solve, taking others’ desires into account. And as our children work through these situations, they will see how they can avoid contention altogether. They will learn how to share, how to talk things through, how to deal with hard things without automatically resorting to an argument or fight.

Easier said than done sometimes, but remember the Proverb. Stop the drip before it becomes a rushing torrent! Think of how this can serve them: handling disagreements in marriage someday, in a healthy and productive way? being able to communicate with a challenging boss? maintaining good sibling relationships instead of drifting away because of a petty miscommunication?

Take heart, God has given you the tools you need in His Word. There will be times a fight cannot be avoided, and you can teach your children how to handle that well. Even when they do their best in a situation that still ends ugly, you can praise them for a good job and help them find comfort in Christ.

Keep their futures in mind as you plod along faithfully. One step at a time, one day at a time. Stop up those drips!

Loneliness

Do you ever find yourself lonely? Physically, and spiritually? Over and over I have read comments and desperate pleas for advice from moms who find themselves struggling to cope with their current loneliness. The past year+ of shut downs and restrictions has amplified the isolation many of us are feeling, though I wonder how many were already familiar with loneliness.

Even before 2020, we may have had challenges of finding friends we “click” with. We may have struggled finding groups for our children to spend time with, or other moms we can talk to beyond a surface chit chat. And now, in our current upheaval of “normal,” we are seeing the Church being sifted and people choose whether or not they will hold fast to Scripture. I don’t know about you, but this has been the hardest part for me – seeing so many friends and acquaintances walk away from the Lord and embrace our culture’s wickedness. It’s heartbreaking, and while it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of friendships it does cause separation to one degree or another.

We can often find ourselves in seasons of loneliness. And it begs the question – what to do?

One morning I was reading 1 Kings and the chapters for the day were so fitting. Chapters 17-19 share some of Elijah’s life, and his work for the Lord. God used him to do miracles and save lives! He walked closely with the Lord and was obedient to Him. Yet he was lonely and hard-pressed, and finally begged God to just let him die. “It is enough!” he cried (19:4). “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life” (19:10).

Who else but the Lord can refresh us? He took Elijah out of his cave, and showed Himself to him. He told him what was to come, and then reassured him: “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have now bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (19:18). Elijah was not actually alone.

We need to remember this in regard to our own lives. We may feel lonely, and things can look bleak, but the Lord always saves a remnant. There are always other faithful believers who have not bowed to pagans, who will hold fast to Scripture and refuse to deny their Savior. They may not be in our neighborhoods, or even in our counties – but they exist, spread out where the Lord has placed them. We are in good company.

With that in mind, here are other actions I hope you will find helpful:

1. Read the Word and pray – We know this! Wallow not; be fed by His Word, then get up and do the next thing. Pray all day as you go about your tasks. You will find He is an ever present, close Companion.

2. Keep friendships in healthy perspective – The Lord is good to bring friends in due season. Sometimes those seasons don’t last long, sometimes they last decades. Sometimes friends overlap seasons, sometimes they don’t. Yet we can trust that He knows what He’s doing with us, and with our friends. Learn to cherish them but not hold them too closely. Friends are not our end-all; only He can satisfy as a Friend who knows us better than anyone else.

3. Get to know people – Holding friendships loosely doesn’t mean not having any at all, or not trying to build some! But instead of trying to find people that fit your criteria, work to get to know the people around you. Be a multi-generational friend, not an only-my-age friend. We learn from and can be edified by people of all ages and backgrounds. This may be a challenge right now, but I also encourage you to get together with people and build relationships. It’s a necessity! Go to church, get together with other believers to pray, host someone for dinner. Make it happen.

4. Journal – write everything out. I have kept a journal for close to two decades, and I can testify to how helpful it is. Putting all of your thoughts on paper can help you sort through them. Looking back may be cringy (it really is), but it is a testimony to God’s goodness for carrying you and growing you. It is a private space to pour your thoughts and emotions out to the Lord, and it brings maturity!

5. Read biographies of other Christians – there are so many! I recently finished Becoming Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn; highly recommend it. A Chance to Die is another great one; it’s a biography about Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot. Read about Gladys Aylward, missionary to China. Read Found Faithful by Elizabeth Skoglund, a compilation of stories about Charles Spurgeon, CS Lewis, Amy Carmichael, Ruth Bell Graham, Andrew Murray, and others. Reading about others who have gone before us is so encouraging and inspiring. They will remind you of the greatness of our God and leave you knowing you’re not alone in this marathon of faith!

Ultimately, we know that our loneliness and challenges are temporary. We endure for a moment in the grand scheme of things. Our God is forever on His throne, and darkness cannot overcome His light.

Even in your loneliness, keep your eyes firmly fixed on His Word. There you will find satisfaction for your soul. May we be the remnant, and the remnant that multiplies.

Ever Want to Be a Missionary? Here's Our Chance

Have you ever wanted to be a missionary?

I have. I thought I’d be a missionary elsewhere - specifically Belize, where I got the coins above - and I had a picture of what it would look like. The things I would spend my days doing, the boldness I would naturally have to tell everyone about Jesus (because becoming a missionary automatically means you’re bold, right? ;))

Maybe you’ve thought the same thing, or maybe you are a missionary right now in a place outside your birth country. I’m writing this as an American to fellow Americans, but hopefully those of you in other countries will benefit as well.

We are living in a time that’s unfamiliar. It’s nerve-wracking, uncomfortable, strange, and sometimes plain ol’ scary. We’ve gone from normal to not-normal pretty quick, and if you haven’t come to grips with this yet I’ll be the one to tell you: it isn’t going back to normal. Because God is always Lord, not going back to normal will be okay. But it has been and will be quite an adjustment.

Look around, what do you see?

Fear? Panic? Lust for evil? Addiction? Injustice? Hatred, betrayal, anxiety?

This year, the great 2020, people have been pushed to limits and stretched out far. When we are pressed, what’s deep inside is that which comes out. If people don’t have Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit is not what comes out!

As we wonder what things will look like in our country, and as we see what is unfolding, I want to encourage you.

The balm for all of this is not our government. The government has a role, but it is not savior. Jesus Christ is Savior, and the balm that we all need.

So while we fight for good politics and leaders, we also need to realize that people desperately need Jesus. We are missionaries - here, right now.

I believe we will have more opportunities to share our hope than we’ve had before. It is very evident now who is truly at peace and who is not. What’s the reason for your peace? How can you have hope and purpose as the world is falling apart?

We have a Savior who strengthens us through even the hardest challenges. We can feel the panic and shed the tears, but we can continue on knowing that we are safe in Christ. We can do our daily duties knowing that they are worthwhile to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed (Titus 2:1-5).

This exhortation doesn’t change with the times! Are you an older woman? Hopefully you know how this section applies to your life, and if I may say - we younger women need you to follow this! We desperately need Godly women in our lives, and we need you to take your role seriously. Reach out, invite us over, offer to stop by with coffee and chat. Many of us want to learn and have Godly examples. Encourage us with your testimonies of God’s faithfulness in your life!

Are you a younger woman, like me? Let’s not push the older women away or roll our eyes at their suggestions and stories. Let’s invite them in where appropriate, and learn to appreciate their wisdom and God-given role in our lives. Along with this, we are given the rest of that passage; love our husbands and children, be self-controlled and pure (ESV), homemakers, kind and submissive to our husbands. This is where our faithfulness and duty to the Lord starts: with our families. With the world around us fraying at the seams, it is ever more clearly important that we serve wholeheartedly in our homes. Our days of prepping meals, teaching math, doing laundry, and listening to our husband’s challenges are not in vain, they are faithful service. They truly are beautiful deeds if done for the Lord.

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward (Matthew 10:42).

How many drinks do you hand out during the day?! We know God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7) and one who gives freely without expecting anything in return. When you pass out drinks and plates of food, do it cheerfully and with thanksgiving! The Lord has given you opportunities today to serve on His behalf.

Beyond the walls of our own homes, we have friends and family and neighbors who desperately need the goodness of the Lord. They need to know that all of us have fallen short of God’s standards, and we need a Savior. We need a Savior to rescue us from our bondage to sin - and those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord know that He is the most wonderful, gracious, complete Savior!

Here is our chance, friends. Talk with your neighbors and get to know them. Let the neighborhood kids come play in your yard, and pass out cups of water to them too. Bake goodies with your kids and deliver them to elderly men and women, or to families who haven’t left their houses in weeks. We don’t all have to be on the same page politically to be able to serve and show Christ’s love. Let others see the freedom you have in Christ, and that they can have it too.

Invite people over for meals with no strings attached. Help with someone’s yard work, and do it joyfully. Call relatives you haven’t seen for a while, just to chat.

Yes, it’s work. But we are called to reach out on behalf of Christ, and it is good work! It is sanctifying work, work that makes us more like Jesus and blesses others at the same time. It is living out the Gospel, and it is rough and messy and absolutely beautiful. Don’t be afraid to spend your life for the sake of the Gospel. In fact, do it!

In this trying time, may we cling more to the Word of God and be people who do what it says. Now is the time for us to be missionaries, right where we are and with increased fervor.

I am praying for you, reader, as we go at this together!