Read John 14
We forget how big God is. We make him small when we don’t call on him in the little things. When we say, “God has more important things to worry about than the meltdown I am about to have over this (third cup) of spilled milk,” we mitigate his power. He’s better at multitasking than any mom. It’s not a big deal for him to simultaneously keep the world spinning and reach down and put his hand on you when you need to feel him there.
I’ve found refreshment in some of the most bizarre places since becoming a mom. A sick baby makes me hold still and hold him--soaking in his body heat, breathing when he does, feeling the softness of his hair with my hand and my cheek. Yeah. Two minutes ago, I cleaned up some vomit. In three more, he will want to get up and play, leaving a cold spot where his fevered body sat a minute ago. But in that tiny time-span, I was rewarded for giving, serving and going down lower, literally on my hands and knees with a rag and carpet cleaner. I felt that “hitherto unknown delight” of being held as I surrendered my will to the act of giving.
“How can one abandon themselves in this way? Hannah Hurnard asks. "One cannot get a mighty and powerful fall of water if there is only a low place and a short way to fall. It is the “high places” of faith and obedience which make the falls of love possible!”
This blog is meant to be a starting point. A stop on the way to the high places Hannah talks about. Oh, how I wish I had this all figured out! I’m still on my journey. But I have learned a few things along the way. Moms don’t have time. We give and give and give. We serve and serve and serve. Sometimes we do it with a good attitude, sometimes we don’t. But claiming we don’t have time for God is inexcusable. We will continue to live unfulfilled, stagnant, discontent lives if we do not actively pursue a relationship with the heavenly Father.
But how?! There is literally no time. Well, for now, it means making the intentional choice to put in the big rocks first. It means opening your Bible and reading it. It means asking for His help when you want to throw a fit. It means taking His rest whenever, however and wherever he sees fit to give it and bask in it.
This idea sounds miserable. Hard. Dirty. Unfulfilling. Politically incorrect. But Jesus warned us to expect that sort of thing. (See John 14). He also promised to give us exactly what we need.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:30
This whole thing is a frightening prospect.
What if it doesn’t work this way?
What if I end up losing myself becoming so wrapped up in my family?
A waterfall might look like gravity working against water to the casual observer, but upon closer inspection…
“Perfect love casteth out fear.” Yes, that is what the water utters so exultingly as it rushes toward the great, terrifying rocky lip of the gorge and plunges over, utterly abandoned and unafraid of the dreadful depths into which it must fall, down onto the threatening rocks below.
… If one looks at the falls as a whole, they are marvelously beautiful. But if one gazes at one particular part of the water as it plunges over the lip, and then watches it as it falls right down, the almost crazy, blissful abandonment is staggering. I never saw motion so utterly expressive of joy! The movement looks like perfect rapture, fearless surrender to a hitherto unknown delight… The downward motion is light, adventurous, and perfectly happy. The water, after casting itself over the rocks, seems to be held up and supported as though floating down on wings! A glorious contradiction indeed.
We might be crushed. We might be held. But in obedience to God’s will for our lives we will find joy, delight, adventure and refreshment. We don’t have this all figured out, even if it sounds like we do. God set both Alysun and me on this path toward finding joy in serving our families and we are finding it to be an incredible road to walk. Full of really huge obstacles (like looming self imposed blog deadlines) and the most breathtaking vistas (like the love that threatens to swallow you whole the first time your little boy proposes marriage to you).
Come on in. The water is fine!
By Andrea
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