All in Spiritual Growth
I’m practicing deep breathing as part of daily relaxation disciplines. In my morning devotions I discovered a reason I actually can relax because it’s all going to come together—all this craziness that surrounds me. I feel relief just imagining this new reality.
Truth is ladies, we cannot transform lives; only the Spirit can. As promised, Jesus sent the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-17) to His bewildered band of followers at Pentecost, resulting in 3000 plus conversions that day (Acts 2:41). The spiritual regeneration of Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19) was astonishing. We read of many others living by the Spirit from the moment of their transformation. Apparently though, the Galatians had started along that path but were now out of step with Him.
Ladies, until Christ is formed in you is such a formidable thought to me. That Paul, a man, should wrap it in childbirth is quite intriguing. And yet Jesus Himself introduced the image of spiritual rebirth into Scripture: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). Certainly, on his initial visit to Galatia Paul labored to rebirth his friends into God’s family. He is now, again, in the pains of making sure these children of his grow up in the faith.
Our Girl Scout troop had enjoyed sliding down the largest slide at our city park. At noon we left to eat our picnic lunch in another area.
I loved to swing as a child. Our teachers would take turns swinging us on the playground. When I learned to pump, I became an independent swinger. How invigorating to soar higher and higher.
Strife and frustration describe my state of mind the year we tried to move to Lindale. We lived in Chandler. I taught in Lindale and had after school commitments in Tyler. This meant 30 minutes to work, 30 to activities, and 30 back home. My heart’s desire was for more family time in the evenings.
I am a wannabe gardener. I love all kinds of plants, flowers and trees. However, gardening doesn’t come naturally to me. I am so excited when something grows that I can’t stand the thought of cutting it back.
I remember getting some parenting advice as a newlywed — four years before we would have children.
We talked with a Christian family raising five kids. After praying and reading many parenting books, they decided to do church differently from their friends.
As my friend got ready for her garage sale, she found one lonely ski glove.
Who needs one ski glove? She thought and almost threw it away. After all, it’s highly unlikely that someone with one arm would ski.
We teach third-grade Sunday School each week, and we’ve been studying Joseph’s life. These Bible stories aren’t new. Yet I’m amazed at how practical they are for us today — no matter our location or stage of life.
I live in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Yep, you guessed it, surrounded by pine trees. The school district I attended from Kindergarten through graduation is even named Pine Tree Independent School District. I have to admit, I love the pine trees. I love walking in the woods, and I love the smell of these evergreens.
I watched my husband and our daughter paddle out into the surf in a kayak. They moved through the water to look at the array of fish under them. At times they stopped paddling, but they did not stop moving. Sometimes they drifted further away from where they wanted to go. It required intentional effort to move in the right direction. To go where they wanted to go, they had to pursue it. Just drifting was not going to be enough.
As tragic as the loss of the perfection of Eden was, as redeeming as Gethsemane and Golgotha were, as eternal as the garden party in heaven will be, today we live in the garden we are planted in ladies. How best to bloom where God planted me, I ask.
I’m a small-town girl. My hometown’s population hovered around eight thousand. My English teacher played the piano at church, the fire station displayed it’s life-sized nativity scene and the water tower emblem proclaimed “In God We Trust.” My mother taught school in a nearby community of three hundred citizens, and each year’s senior class consisted of ten graduates. Imagine combining my life experiences with a husband’s who grew up in Chicago! After years of marriage, we still share new tales with one another of growing up in our respective communities.
We used to think we could get more done by multitasking, but the latest research shows this to be false. According to numerous studies, multitasking causes more errors than focusing on a single task.
I know this all too well.
My friend was having trouble getting her 7-year-old daughter up and ready for school in the mornings. After repeatedly asking her daughter to do her morning routine, she decided she had enough. She asked her daughter to come to the bathroom to brush and style her hair, but she didn’t keep asking. Her daughter hadn’t come in to get her hair styled by the time my friend was finished in the bathroom. When the girl wanted her hair brushed, the mom calmly told her that she had missed her chance. She didn’t follow her mom’s instructions, so she would have to go to school with her hair as it was. Hair au naturel – the natural consequence.
The other day I was taking off my jewelry, and I must have pulled too hard on my ring. It flew off the end of my finger when I pulled it over my knuckle. I heard it hit the carpet. I immediately got on my hands and knees to look for my ring. I must have looked for 20 minutes before I decided to stop and try again later. After looking later, I still could not find my ring. I knew it was there, and I also knew that I would find it with continued searching.
Once my daughter and a friend of hers got into a little disagreement. As I asked the girls what the problem was, each girl began telling her side of the story . . . simultaneously. When they realized that neither was backing down, each girl spoke louder and louder. My son was standing right beside me, and his observation was, "That's too many words!" I laughed and had to agree.
How then shall we live, you and I, in the amazing grace of the Branch (Jesus) from the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1)? That’s the big question. It all began with the tree of life (Genesis 3:9); it will end with the tree of life (Revelation 22:14). In the interim, in this life, how indeed do we function like the trees planted by the streams of water that we now are, in Christ?
Have you ever listed the women who have most influenced your life? Luke’s list makes me wonder why Mary, Joanna, Susanna and the many others who served Jesus during his life were notable in first century AD. Surely these women suffered. I’m not sure if I could have endured an exorcism administered over Mary to cast out seven demons. Who would have the stamina to serve and live in the household of Herod?
