Sometimes You Fall

Dear Lissy,

I have a good plan for Sundays.   

Clothes, crisp, hanging on the backs of your doors by Saturday night, ready for church on Sunday.  Shoes polished and set beneath.

A nourishing dinner in the oven by 8 a.m.  Fresh bread.  The once-a-week dessert carefully prepared and waiting in the fridge.

Junior church tote bag and special music set by the door before I go to bed on Saturday night.

The house tidy, waiting for Sunday afternoon fellowship.  The car vacuumed and re-stocked with a fresh trash bag, full gas tank, and Kleenex.

 I didn't do any of it.

I wasn't busy on a project, or spending quality time with you.
I wasn't helping a friend.
I even forgot the snack for the boys Sunday School Class.

I didn't do any of that, because I didn't "feel" like doing anything at all yesterday.


Instead of heading to a quiet place and praying out my ennui to my Savior who could have filled me with the power and motivation for maintaining the household rhythms, I frittered away my day, waiting to "feel" motivated.  Then I went to bed.

Part of wisdom is knowing and doing the next right thing...


I repented to the Lord, and apologized to your Dad that I had neglected my tasks.
I got up early, and ironed clothes.
I gathered my props for Junior church, and made the boys' class a bag of popcorn.
We had to get gas on the way home from church.
The car and house are feeling a little grungy around the edges today, and will stay that way until tomorrow.
I planned a quick, nourishing lunch which I put together after church.  I made up box brownies as soon as lunch was over (after all, we only have dessert once a week!)

We didn't skip church.
We didn't skip our family dinner.
We didn't go out to eat, and destroy a carefully planned budget.
I didn't try to make up my housework on a day God has set aside for rest and fellowship, even though that means I probably won't get to take Wednesday off this week from housework like I usually do.

Sometimes we fall.  

When you do, run to Jesus.  Humble yourself before those you've failed.  Correct what you can, and learn from what you can't.  Accept the consequences with grace.


Pr 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again


In His unfailing love,
Mom

Gods Best Secrets, Part 2

Dear Liss,

I left off my last letter on our relationship to Christ with the thought that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of the path.  When we finally apprehend God's power and presence in our lives, we are humbled at his goodness, lovingkindness, and righteousness, and we long to place ourselves under his care and protection.   That still leaves us with the question "how?"

Become a woman of the Word.

The Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ are inextricably linked.  You cannot know Christ without knowing the Word.  Saturate yourself with it.  Memorize it.  Meditate on it.  Allow the Word to penetrate your heart and mind so deeply that your secret thoughts become the words on its sacred page.

• Saturate yourself with the Word:  Some years ago I heard a message on the fear of the Lord from a man that I greatly respected.  He spoke of reading quantities of God's Word as being vital for maintaining the sense of God's presence and power in his daily life.  Being a word girl, that struck me as odd.  Deeper was better, in my mind.  Didn't Paul exhort Timothy to "study to show thyself approved?"  It was many years before I started reading large portions of the Bible on a daily basis.  I chose Grant Horner's Bible Reading System but any regular plan will work.  After just a few weeks I began to experience the "blessing of kings" recorded in Deuteronomy 17:19-20.  Daily, mindful reading of God's Word is now my top priority.
• Search for Christ in His Word:  What do I mean by mindful reading? I keep one question as my focus every time I open God's Word:  "What does this passage reveal about my God?"  I'm not reading just to run my eyes over the words, or to find "something for today", I'm looking for Jesus!  When I read Ephesians 4:32, I'm not thinking "Rule number 407:  Be Kind.  Check."  Instead I'm seeing kindness as an integral character trait of my beloved Lord.  He's shown me kindness time and again, even when I didn't deserve it.  His kindness shines in the Gospels, when He walked among us as a man.  He values kindness in His children.  Because kindness is important to Him, it becomes important to me. 
• Meditate on the Word:  There are dozens of effective methods for meditation.  Because this is such a vital topic, I'm going to save it for another letter.  Training your mind to think biblically is one of the most important disciplines you will ever undertake.  I'd encourage you to take the time to read Soul Nourishment First by George Mueller sometime in the next day or two.
• Memorize the Word:  The Holy Spirit uses the Word to search and speak to your soul and spirit.  The more of that Word you have stored in your brain, the greater His latitude for working in your life.  You will use the Word to defend your heart and mind from attacks from the Evil One and to share your faith in Christ.  Know your sword.  Keep it sharp. Keep it polished.  
• Obey the Word:  There is great danger in knowing the Word, and not keeping it.  God doesn't measure our input, he measures our output.  We'd like to think that reading, meditation, memorization, and church attendance are what God is most concerned with, because those are fairly easy tasks to check off a list. These are, instead, seeds.  When we allow God to turn up the soil of our hearts, these seeds have the potential to produce a rich harvest.
• Place yourself under the authority of a Bible-preaching church:  Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is vital, but so is our corporate relationship as a member of a church.  You need the preaching of the Word, an opportunity to minister the Word, and the fellowship of others committed to becoming women of the Word to continue to grow in grace.  I love to listen to sermons on the internet, but that isn't church.  Christ has an eternally deep love for his bride.  Don't snub or neglect her because she isn't particularly beautiful in your eyes right now.   The church isn't a restaurant with a tantalizing menu and trained staff to meet your every need, it's a family dinner.  Pitch in.  Cook.  Do dishes.  Hold a baby in your lap.  Sweep the floor. Surround yourself with the love (and craziness) that is family.

          The Israelites had to train and outfit themselves for battle, but God won the battle for them every time.  When they refused to go to battle, God didn't wipe out their enemies on their behalf. When they went to battle in their own strength and ran ahead of God, they were badly defeated.  The same is true in our lives.  

We practice these disciplines not to work ourselves into God's favor, or even because we can accomplish the work of grace in our life, but because that is where Christ meets us and changes us into His image. 

I'll write you another letter soon about meditation, and it's twin sister, prayer.  Those are vital topics that are an integral part of our relationship with Christ.

I love you, my little French horse!

Mommy

Crustless Quiche

Dear Lissy,
Today was filled right to the brim.  I have just a few minutes before bed, so I've decided to send you the recipe for crustless quiche.   This has been a favorite of yours for a long time.   It makes a quick and easy Saturday brunch along with muffins and fresh fruit.  I use what I have on hand, so I've tried to include the most common variations.

Crustless Quiche
8 slices

Line a well-greased 9" pie plate with:
12 oz bacon, fried crisp or 8 oz shredded cooked ham or about 3/4 cup cooked veggies (spinach, mushrooms, broccoli...swiss chard is my favorite)  You can also mix meat and veggies.

4 oz. shredded cheese (Gruyere or the bags of pre-shredded 4 cheese Mexican blend both work well, but straight cheddar is too greasy.  I've even melted cream cheese and whisked it into the egg mix below in a pinch.)

Whisk together well, and pour over meat and cheese:
4 Eggs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion or 1 Tbsp. onion powder or 2 Tbsp of Knorr's Leek soup mix
1 tsp. salt (omit if using Knorr's)
1/2 cup flour, reduce to 1/3 cup if using whole wheat
1-1/2 cups light cream or 1 can of evaporated milk + 1 Tbsp melted butter

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  Let stand 5-10 minutes before slicing.  Serve hot or room temperature.


My favorite is bacon, swiss chard, gruyere, Knorr's Leek soup mix, and the evaporated milk.
Dad likes broccoli and ham or chicken with the 4 cheese blend, Knorr's, and cream.
As children, none of you cared for veggies in this quiche.  If you're serving kids, bacon and cheese with onion powder is usually a safe choice.

May the Lord watch and keep you, my love,
Momma

Managing Your Home and Time Wisely

My Dear Lissy,
Another storm has gone, and we're digging out from about 15" of snow.  We're expecting two more storm systems in the next week, so we'll be getting plenty of exercise!  We're looking forward to dinner with friends and then a missionary speaker from Israel at church tonight.

I wanted to share my philosophy of home management with you today.   Home management in my mind occurs in three dimensions.
2-D management is how you plan your days and work on paper.
3-D management is how you organize your physical space and belongings.
4-D management is how you utilize your time and energy.
These three interlock to create a system of checks and balances so that our home runs smoothly.

The basis of 2-D management is a set of tools that includes a calendar (virtual or paper), a tickler, a weekly plan, and a scheduled to-do list  These require very little discipline or time to create and maintain -- literally minutes a day.  Without them, life becomes  helter-skelter.  The bigger and busier your family, the more you'll depend on each of these tools.  When they are faithfully used, they free up a great deal of time, save substantial amounts of money, and allow you to serve and bless your husband, family, and community.

The basis of 3-D management is the acronym S.P.A.C.E. created by Julie Morgenstern.  SPACE (Sort, Purge, Assign a Home, Containerize, Equalize) describes the process of keeping our belongings from overwhelming our homes and lives with clutter.  There is a great deal of discipline, work, and time required to keep your belongings thinned out and in their proper place.  The rewards are time and tranquility, both of which are of great value to our family, as well as the opportunity to bless other families who may have a genuine need for an item that we no longer wear or use.

The basis of 4-D management is routines and that scheduled to-do list.  Routines are lists of tasks that you implement every day or week at about the same time.  While they take discipline to implement, they require very little effort to maintain.   A to-do list should contain one-time tasks (or tasks that repeat very infrequently).  I know a few diligent homemakers who because of their discipline and motivation at the 3-D and 4-D level are able to devote time to providing additional income or ministry opportunities for their families, just as the virtuous woman did in Proverbs 31.

A homemaker is much like a clock.  A clock has dozens of gears spinning in all directions simply to keep the two hands moving in a prescribed rhythm day after day, year after year.  Our families, our communities, our entire society rely heavily on that structure.  Even in places where there is no man-made clock, God has set the sun, moon, and stars to determine the rhythms of life.  God has given us the task of managing our homes under our husband's loving leadership.  We are to provide the structure and order that allows our family to live lives that are glorifying to God.  It is an awesome responsibility, but can often seem (when our faith is small) that we are simply "going around in circles".

Once again I've used up my time.  I have so much I want to share with you!  I'll try to expand on these thoughts in the days and weeks ahead and link those letters back to this one when appropriate.

I love you just because you're you,
Momma