Monday Meds - Delighting

in the law of the Lord...

My continuing study from John Piper's Future Grace encouraged me to delight in the law of the Lord just as the saints of old loved His precepts and commands (Psalm 119).  We sometimes forget that 'Jesus did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it' (Matthew 5:17).  I am blessed to be a part of a local church that is not only strong doctrinally, but also emphasizes life-style discipleship as we come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ to support and spur one another toward love and good deeds.  However, many churches today do not seem to place much focus on righteous acts.  Our righteous obedience matters now as much as the Old Testament prophets who walked blamelessly before the Lord their God.  Piper reminds us that Hebrews 11 lists those, who by faith, BELIEVED God and it was counted as righteousness.  These imperfect people, through faith in God's promises of grace, delighted in the law and their obedience and acts were pleasing to the Lord. 

This should be a great encouragement that our Father in heaven is not impossible to please.  In fact, like every person with a very big heart and very high standards, he is easy to please and hard to satisfy.  We would  would not want it otherwise.  We want the smile of his happy affection and the fierce sparkle in his eye that we can-and one day will-do, O, so much better.  With this understanding of how we are accepted by God through faith in our Redeemer whose perfect obedience counts as ours, and with a grasp of how genuinely worth obedience of our own is possible by faith in God's promises, the saints were able to say, "Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day." (152)

Back to Matthew 5, verse 16 admonishes us to shine so clearly that our good works are visible to men that they in turn give glory to our Father in heaven.  Come with me today, as I...
 

delight in

 the beauty of enduring grace.

The Joy of Mother Culture

‘Mother Culture’: n.  an atmosphere or attitude which exemplifies a consciously active pursuit of development toward the whole person and being of motherhood. 

Karen Andreola is credited with reviving this term and speaks and blogs about creative ways of being a mom and an individual-simultaneously.  Imagine that! 

Perspectives are so important-how we see ourselves, others, our situations, or seasons in life.  Remember last time we talked about that ‘comparison trap’ when we emphasized that we are all different people with different perspectives, and yet we share so many things.  We are all complete persons-not just MOPS moms on Friday mornings, not just accountants or homemakers or human resources executives, not just wives to our husbands, not just Christians on Sundays.  We are a whole person with all of those things bringing to bear on our uniqueness.  We can’t compartmentalize ourselves and imagine we are complete, healthy souls.  We know that the only completeness we have is through Jesus Christ.  Joy spills over in our daily life with this perspective - When our love for Jesus is so consuming that nothing can displace him in our affections. We see and understand more of his beauty. Our true joy is found only in him; yet because of this love, it allows us freedom to enjoy all he gives in an abundant life!  We need an abundant life perspective!

True joy in Christ gives us the freedom to see the beauty of God.  The overall atmosphere of our homes can be a reflection of that truth. As moms, we often set the tone of our homes, and an abundant life perspective can be a blessing to our families.  A great gift to give your children is to keep learning and growing.  Take time to look at things from a new view. Don’t just watch your little ones – enjoy it yourself.  Learn along side.  Don’t miss the joy!  After all, who doesn’t enjoy Pooh stories and Robert Louis Stevenson poems, spotting the Barred owl, or watching squirrels race?  Practice Mother Culture! Think outside the box.  OK, so maybe this isn’t the season of dedicated time on some personal pursuit, but you can learn amazing things with your preschool child!  There are some really profound thinkers in our midst.  They ask the most amazing questions and wonder about truly worthwhile ideas.  Don’t you wonder why that girl with the pearl earring Vermeer painted is dressed in such unusual clothes?  Why do Bach fugues sound like they belong to medieval castles?  How do those squirrels know which limbs will hold their weight when they jump to the next tree?  Why do candles look so bright in a dark room?  What makes Grandma’s quilts so heavy?  You can’t know things you don’t think about.  You need things to think on just as much as your children. What discoverers we can be together.  It starts with a Mother Culture attitude and a consciously active pursuit of knowing, creating relationships with things and ideas.  If we forget to enjoy the same things our children do, we miss so much fun and learning.  To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, we are old enough that it’s time to start reading fairy tales again.

Living Books for Little Ones

Dear Amber and other mamma friends with young children,

We recently talked about how children are whole persons-just as we are. As persons, we aren't compartmentalized into what we do in certain places or at specific times.  It is the bigness of ALL of life! Children should spend time out of doors learning about all the curious things God has placed around them. All children are amazing observers and explorers when in the habit of spending time outside in nature.  Music and art should be part of their everyday world. They should be given truths directly from scripture.  The atmosphere of the home should be about natural relationships and “is thrown off… from persons and things, stirred by events, sweetened by love, ventilated, kept in motion, by the regulated action of common sense.” (Charlotte Mason) 

And... don't forget those good books! Little ones are quite capable of understanding and enjoying great ideas from stories; sometimes they glimpse an idea that we miss! Beauty and honor and magnanimity are worthy ideas found in the best stories! These are considered Living books. The careful consideration of issues of life (like those found in fairy tales) and the joy of words well written (like classic literature and poetry) can begin to excite the mind of the young and cultivate a love of literature. Reading quality literature with our little ones is just as important as choosing quality literature for our older children and even ourselves! Poetry and books with narrative stories resonate with us all!

You can find some good book lists when you google "living books", but beware that all those in the category of children's books are NOT Living books. There is quite a lot of nonsense and just plain unworthy reading disguised under the label of children's literature.  Test them; do they contain real ideas, important thoughts? Are they well written? Do they connect directly with your child? Then start collecting! OR Are they abridged to include only the editor/publisher's politically correct choices? Are they 'brought down' to a 'child's level so they can understand them'? Better to pass on those!

Some good resources for children's book titles I have found reliably "Living":
  
Five in a Row curriculum utilize great books. (They are unit studies built around literature and have plans that go with each book. I would personally adapt for a more Charlotte Mason educational philosophy if applying the curriculum. You can read more about Charlotte Mason methods and approach in many of my other posts-check out the 'Labels' section.)
Ambleside Online YR0 has a great list which is for about 5yrs. 
Penny Gardner's website has some living books and other resources for all ages.

Some of my personal favorites to share:

A Culture of Noise

I read a sad but insightful commentary this morning.  Janie Cheaney with World Magazine in the Campus edition writes thoughts about families in Broken Music.  I find that when I am surrounded by the noise of our culture, the vibrations can be overwhelming, and it is so easy to be absorbed and become immune to what our societies call 'normal'.

As I read through my new study in Future Grace (John Piper), I am reminded that our power to live godly lives is bound up in the grace that the Holy Spirit gives for today.  If we are too distracted by worldly noise that comes with daily life in this fallen world, we forget that our strength comes from a relationship with Christ and his Word.  Knowing God takes work and discipline just like any other relationship.  Without that time and effort our joy dissipates and we are no longer holding out to others the future hope we have as Christians; it isn't even recognizable in our own lives.  Let us instead therefore choose to live joyfully today!

As we strive to become more like Christ and cultivate beauty and love in our homes and families, we CAN act, live, and be different-we are different! Because of a personal relationship with Christ.  Friends, it is vitally important to our families, our culture, our relationship with our gracious God that we spend time learning to know him more though his word every day; he provides the power we need to hear the music over the noise!

Here are the words to one of my favorite hymns: Jesus! I am Resting, Resting by Jean Sophia Pigott...

Jesus! I am resting, resting In the joy of what You are;
I am finding out the greatness Of Your loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon You, Your beauty fills my soul,
For, by Your transforming power, You have made me whole.

REFRAIN:

Jesus! I am resting, resting
In the joy of what You are;
I am finding out the greatness
Of Your loving heart.

Oh, how great Your loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea:
Oh, how marvelous Your goodness, Lavished all on me!
Now I rest in my Beloved, Oh, what wealth of grace is mine,
Standing safe within the promise, that in You I find. (Refrain)

Simply trusting You Lord Jesus, I behold You as You are,
And Your love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart,
Satisfies my deepest longings, Meets, supplies my every need,
Love that showers me with blessing, Love that carries me. (Refrain)

Ever lift Your face upon me, As I work and wait for Thee;
Resting ’neath Your smile, Lord Jesus, Earth’s dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father’s glory, Sunshine of my Father’s face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with Your grace. (Refrain)

The Comparison Trap, a talk for MOPS: Follow up Q's

I am a child of God,
I ought to do His will.
I can do what He tells me,
And by His GRACE, I will.

• Do you know for certain that you are a Child of God? (I am)  
• When do you most often find yourself in the ‘comparison trap’? (by His GRACE) 
• What is a useful distraction for you (and/or your child) to use when you find yourself in those situations?(I will) 
• In what ways you can obey God more as you pursue holiness? (I ought) 
• What is a practical way you can incorporate the Word of God into your everyday life? (I can) 

Read The Comparison Trap posts...