Understanding my Child helps me understand God.

As I relearn to experience the world through the eyes of my eighteen month old, I often envision God's feelings being much like hers. My toddler has minimal control of her world. Right as she is in the height of playing she is whisked away into the car so that she can be confined into her car seat and driven to a new place. I wonder if God gets frustrated the same way that she does when we place these same ideals placed on him. So often I find myself having Jesus time, bible study, or prayer then moving about my day on my own path. Or I put my hope in the Lord until it makes me uncomfortable with the ideas that God has in store for my life because they are out of my control.

I grew up in a tiny maybe two hundred member Methodist church. I was taught the ten commandments, that Jonah was swallowed by a whale, Noah built the ark, Jesus performed miracles, and many other rudimentary concepts of the bible. I was told that Jesus loves me and that we pray to God. I religiously went to church every Sunday to "find Jesus" (as we jokingly used to call it). We were often told about the omnipresence of God. Every summer I went to Christian camp and every fall I went to youth seminars where I experienced God's love over and over.
   

"Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God..." -Hebrews 6:1

It wasn't until I experience the power of the Holy Spirit that I realized about God's all encompassing capability and I realized that I had God comfortably in a box. Everyday I find myself struggling with the concept of letting him out or leaving him in. Each day I decide whether to accept his presence and favor with me or leave him in the box and take my own path. Most days, I quite honestly live and dwell within myself where I am comfortable.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. -Romans 8:9-11

I find my day looking like:
Wake up, check Facebook, read Twitter (I am newly a tweeter @mollymiser), change Clara's diaper, get dressed, make and serve breakfast, check Facebook, decide upon the activities of the day, etc.

WHERE IS GOD?

The same place that Clara feels. I can imagine he is probably frustrated that I left him in a box in the back of my head or in the bible I left on the shelf. I can envision him sitting in the back seat of my car waiting for me to engage him. I can see him watching me on the phone or texting or using checking social media. I can see him looking out the window and seeing his glory and pointing to me as I ignore his creation and talk on the phone. I can see him trying to feed me his knowledge as I continue cooking and saying, "no thank-you, I am busy."
        

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. -Revelation 3:20

Then when I am frustrated and Clara is screaming at the top of her lungs, I remember all of those times she extended her energy to me and I ignored it. While they may seem like tiny events in the day, every moment is precious to a toddler and every moment is precious to God. When Jesus came to the world you didn't hear about him walking around immersed in everyone else's story. He created his own. He created us to love him and nurture our relationship with him in the same way he created parents to cultivate their relationships with their children.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

I pray that you cultivate your relationships with God and your children with the love of the Lord and his desires.

Love  you.

Our kids are God's, not ours.

When people compliment me on my daughter's curls, her big brown eyes, her long eyelashes, her cuteness, her sweetness, her intelligence, or her well-behaved manner I am gracious to God her heavenly Father for giving her lovely assets. Everyone has heard the line, "I brought you into this world and I can take you out." I remind myself everyday that God brought her into this world. God chose to plant her spirit inside of her little body and God can take her home any day at any given moment. Some people may think I am morbid for thinking this way but this reminds me everyday that I am blessed.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." -Jeremiah 1:5

I view Clara as a gift from God to me and her father. It reminds me that God gave me an opportunity to parent her and an opportunity to show her His wonder and His glory. God gave me her so that I can mirror his grace to her so that she will love her eternal Father. God gave me her to protect her from the evil forces of the world, show her his love, guide her to my best ability down the straight and narrow and teach her when she falls from his will. God also inspired me to show her the unconditional love he shows us with any circumstance that arrises.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. -Psalm 139:13

So remember, God gives and he takes away (Job 1:21). It's so easy to take life for granted until they are not there and you are that parent holding your child for the last time as God calls them home for some foreseen or unforeseen circumstance. Anything can happen and we are living in the last days. Never take life for granted. Even when your little one seems unmanageable, while she's throwing a fit in the middle of floor at the grocery store because she wants candy, remind yourself to let their heavenly Father deal with them. Pour prayers over them. Speak words of life into their hearts. Mirror our father's love so that it is unmistakable to them in comparison to the world they are living in.

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

Love you.

Bored and need a good DRAMA? Hosea.

Ladies, we all love a little bit of drama in our lives! We all love a little bit of who's with who and who is causing what kind of drama updates in our lives sometimes. While we all would agree that we hate drama and wish there wasn't any in our lives, we all secretly carry a low level constantly.

IF you can have any level of drama have it Jesus-style. There is no need to go any further than the old testament to find a bumpy novel. Hosea has DRAMA!

The other day, Clara was sleeping so I picked up my bible and decided to get a little reading in during her nap. I opened my bible and thought, "I wonder what the old testament even talks about." I usually sway away from the old testament because of the names that always throw me for a loop but Hosea some how caught my attention.

http://www.twoedgegraphics.com/pages/BibleClprt.html

First, it opens by talking about his harlot of a wife. A thesaurus says that a harlot is also a floozy, tramp, hussy, etc. Apparently this is a more formal term for...well a girl who sleeps around.

Then God tells him to stay with her!

Then somehow because of her hussiness, this ends up cursing Israel who renounces the presence of God and the wrath that God has for them. He starts talking about women's uteruses being cut open, fire and other craziness. DRAMA!

You should read this.

Here are a couple of tidbits and take homes:

Hosea 2:19-20 (NIV): I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.

Hosea 4:14 (NIV): ...a people without understanding will come to ruin!

Hosea 6:3 (NIV): Let us acknowledge the lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear.

Hosea 10:12 (NIV): Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.

Hosea 11:10 (NIV): They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.

Hosea 12:6 (NIV): But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

Hosea 14:9 (NIV): ...The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Good News for us!
Love you - read it. Good little tidbits! LOTS of DRAMA! A fun little roller coaster.

Who do you follow?

There was a point in my life when I realized that a lot of my friends on facebook weren't actually friends. I had Negative Nelly, Worrying Willy, in Constant Crisis Cindy and many other friends that weren't moving in the direction of my life. It is so important to have people in your life with the same values and momentum as you. If you are a facebook-aholic like me, and everytime you open facebook there is Negative Nelly and Put-you-down Patsy, it is time to either A- UNFOLLOW these people or B- Simply UNFRIEND them.

Proverbs 13:4 says, "He who walks with the wise grows wise."

http://www.troll.me/2011/09/21/thumbs-up-
jesus-says/hmu-on-twitter-i-follow-back/

Your friendship are not and should not be constructed by a social media network. If it is, you need to develop those relationships or let them go. There are so many people that are friends with me on facebook that I have simply unfollowed because I am not quite ready to let them go but have no interest in their posts. I want positive energy following in my life, the fruits of the spirit and encouragement. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Let's not ever EVER give up on encouraging one another. All in the same breath, if someone is not encouraging you, it might be time to let them go. You are the light of the world, don't let people blow it out, drag it across the bush or hide it with their negative commentary. Hide them! Hide them in your heart, pray for them, but don't let them get in the way of the message of God you have for your fellow friends.

If these people aren't encouraging you, yoking with you, professing their faith and the word of God with you, praying for you and lifting you up. Seriously consider unfollowing them.

Here are some AWESOME people to follow:

• Joyce Meyer Ministries
• Kimberly Jones-Pothier
• Susanne Cox
• Upworthy - not necessarily Christian but I enjoy seeing the positive news
• Humans of New York - Definitely not Christian or conservative but people's stories are so powerful (Revelation 12:11)
• Grandma Betty33 - if you ever need a sweet grandma, consider adopting her
• Heather Lindsey - A sweet christian lady who loves Jesus

Girls, Ladies, and Pals: If you arent being encouraged find you favorite Christian band, speaker, author, and pastor and friend/follow them. Fill your wall with God's word and his define appointments!

Love you!!!

I will NOT..

I will not conform to American Parenting. I will not.

Alot of my friends who have kids are buying their kids the newest trendy toys and clothes, stressing out about having a matching bow with each corresponding outfits and making sure that they conform to society's view of what a kid should look and act like.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Hand me downs, second hand toys, thrift store hot finds, and creative deals are what surround my child's world. We spend a lot of singing, dancing, and discussing things she can be learning. I spend alot of time encouraging and talking to her. Her face may not be clean 100% of the time; but she gets a bath. Her clothes may not be brand new and trendy; but she is definitely my picture of what a kid should look like. Her hair may not have a matching bow; but God gave her amazing curls and a smile that outshine any bow.

We have this push in America for every parent to be a professional entertainer, monogrammer, crafter and personal chef for their kids. While it is our job to train a child in a way that they will not turn from (Proverbs 22:6), we are the leaders in the household and should train them this way.

I will educate my child. I will teach her her early literacy skills, early math skills, her colors, and shapes. I will encourage her to be imaginative and give her avenues to be creative.

As a parent, I want her to be a successful, contributing member of society as well as nurture into her a passion for Christ. I constantly want to challenge her to be more than she is as well as cultivate her already strong, independant spirit.

I constantly pray over her, love on her, teach her, and grow with her. There are too many resources out there to be reading to take the, "I came out ok so this is the method I am using" parenting method. Ok is not enough.

Parents:
God gave you a mighty gift. The world did not give you this baby; God did. Act and seek accordingly.