Manna For Moms

Devotions for Moms Like You!

2012

When the Time Comes

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

A couple months ago, my kids and I watched the Olympic Trials in gymnastics. This was the competition based upon which gymnasts would either earn a spot on Team USA for the London 2012 Olympics, or not.

One of the competitors was the then-reigning Olympic Women’s Individual All-Around champion, Nastia Liukin. As incredible a gymnast as her title would suggest, she intended to compete on the balance beam and uneven bars in hopes of winning a spot on the team for her second trip to the Olympics.

The only problem was that her decision to try out for the team had been made a mere few weeks before, and therefore, she had only trained seriously for about three weeks before the Trials. This left her unprepared to perform at the level of which she was capable, and it showed. She had repeated major errors on both apparatus, including a fall from the uneven bars. Her performances left me cringing in embarrassment for her.

Clearly, Nastia possesses the talent to do far better than she did. I remember watching her four years ago in Beijing, when she was at the peak of her performance ability. She was truly incredible. There was no other gymnast in the world like her. Everything she did was beautiful.

Not this time. This time, she wasn’t anywhere close to ready for the Olympics. When it came time to perform, she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t prepared, so she failed.

Obviously, things would have been different had she had more preparation time. But that was just the point. She didn’t, and there are some things in this life you just can’t do right without adequate preparation.

We all face trials in life. Some are small trials at which we could succeed with our eyes closed. But there are many that will be big enough—some will even be huge—that we won’t be able to pass without adequate preparation beforehand.

What are you doing to prepare for trials that might come?

Are you pursuing wisdom now so that when you need it, you’ll have it? Do you spend time not only reading God’s Word, but studying it? Do you attend worship services and really listen to the sermon? Do you read Christian books and think about what they teach, or talk about them with others?

Are you building an intimate relationship with God now so that when trials come, you’ll be close to Him? Do you spend time in prayer, which is simply talking with Him and listening to Him? Do you meditate on the spiritual truth? Do you record the things He tells you and bring them to mind periodically?

Are you building stamina now? Are you practicing hard work when the pressure’s off, so that when it’s on, you’ll have stamina built up?

Are you connecting with other believers now, so that when you need other people around you, you’ll have these relationships to fall back on?

If you don’t do these things now, then when a trial comes, you’ll be scrambling during the trial to catch up to where you could have been before it started. And you may not be able to do it.

God is always with us. But He expects us to diligently prepare for what might lie ahead. It’s not realistic for us to expect that we can fail to prepare for life and then have Him rescue us from the consequences of our lack of preparation. That makes about as much sense as it would if we were to show up at the Olympic Trials, never having practiced gymnastics, and expect Him to make us Olympic-caliber gymnasts.

Precious woman and mom, what are you doing to prepare? What are you doing now so that you will be ready when the time comes?

Proverbs 20:4—A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.

Counterfeit

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

I bet counterfeit-money-making operations are a lot more sophisticated than what I imagine.

Even though I know better, in my mind, I always imagine a few guys hunched over machinery in their basement, cranking out—literally, as in actually using a crank—sheets of fake twenties.

See what I mean? Real counterfeiting is probably a lot different. It’s a lot more complex, because the counterfeiters know they have to make a product that closely resembles the real thing.

Okay, so let’s say some counterfeiters did a really good job, and their fifties and twenties are hardly distinguishable from the authentic stuff. And let’s say there was a pile of this pretty-good counterfeit money right in front of you. A million-dollar pile.

Let’s also say that right next to the cool million in fake money is another pile. Only, this pile is made of real money. It not only looks real, it is real. And it’s a much bigger pile. There’s fifty billion dollars of it. That’s right, a 5, and 10 zeroes. $50,000,000,000.

One million in fake money. Fifty billion of the real thing. And you have a choice. You can choose either pile you want.

Now that’s what you call a no-brainer. No sane person would choose money minted in somebody’s basement over money minted by the United States Treasury Department.

Maybe not. Yet we make far more foolish choices every day.

We choose to seek the love of human beings (represented by the pile of fake money, because even the best human love is never fully authentic) instead of God’s love (the bona fide $50,000,000,000). We spend all our time and energies pursuing what appears to be real because it seems huge to us, when little do we realize that it’s a mirage.

Even the best love a human being can give is only a shadow of what our heavenly Father offers us. And because it’s not the best, because it doesn’t originate from God Himself, human love will never satisfy us. Yet we think it will. We can’t imagine anything greater than a million bucks, so that’s what we pursue.

If we only understood that our other option is worth $50 billion (actually, it’s worth far more)! The mere million would pale into insignificance.

We are badly deceived. Satan and society have convinced us that human love is better than God’s. It’s more exciting, more comforting, more real. And we buy into the lie hook, line, and sinker, despite everything the Bible tells us. We keep insisting that we want the million bucks, and we have no clue that God is trying to offer us $50 billion. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

If we put all our energies to pursuing human love, we are destined for disappointment. If we pursue God Himself, He will pour out His love upon us in such measure that we can’t even absorb it all. In fact, He already has, and we haven’t fully recognized it! 1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” We’ve already received the fifty billion bucks, and we’re still looking for some Monopoly money.

If only we could truly grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is! If only we had more than the faintest inkling of what His love is like, we’d never again be satisfied with merely human love. Instead of expending our emotional energy trying to get people to love us properly, we’d be throwing ourselves into God’s lap, or at His feet, and wrapping our arms around Him the way a two-year-old wraps her arms around her mother when she doesn’t want Mommy to leave. We’d experience the love that is vastly more than what our mind can understand, but exactly what our heart was made to receive. And we’d spend the rest of our life and then eternity marveling that we ever thought we could be content with anything less.

1 John 3:1—How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Ephesians 3:16-20—I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This I Know

Megan Breedlove 2Comments

Jesus loves me; this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

For many years, I thought of this song as rather sweet but not terribly meaningful. At least, it wasn’t very meaningful to me. Yeah, yeah, Jesus loves me. Jesus loves everybody. Big deal.

But lately, this simple children’s song has become an eloquent and momentous expression of a truth that has only relatively recently begun to seep its way deep into my heart and soul.

You see…Jesus loves me. I mean, really loves me. Not just loves me because “For God so loved the world,” and I’m in the world, so He’s sort of obligated to include me in that. But loves ME. Me, Megan. Just the way I am, with my particular personality make-up, my interests, my abilities. Even my imperfections and all (though He’ll help me work on these). Jesus loves ME.

My friend, He loves you too. You, just the way you are, with your personality, your interests and abilities, your quirks and shining moments and imperfections. Not just because He “has” to—because He most certainly does not HAVE to love you, or me, or anybody. But because you are dear to Him. Because you have a special place in His heart. Not because of any quality you bring to the table, but just because you’re you.

There will be people in our lives who don’t love us the way we hope they would or believe they should. And that hurts.

When there is someone whose love we desire, but who doesn’t give us that love, we have a choice. We can either stay stuck in our grief and disappointment, or we can turn to the only One who can ever love us completely.

Even if that person in your life did love you as he or she should, you still wouldn’t feel completely loved. Why? Because only God can meet the innermost needs of your soul. Only He can truly fill your heart to bursting with all the love you have received. And only He always and forever, without fail and without fault, wants to do so.

We can either stay stuck in our emptiness…or we can turn to God.

If we choose the first option, we stay empty and sad. If we choose the second, we choose abundant emotional life.

I know which option I want, and I bet you want that option too.

So how do we turn to God? How do we get to the point in our relationship with Him where we feel His love so strongly that even when human beings turn their back on us, we know that we know that we KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we’re loved? And not just that we know it in our head, but that we feel it in our heart?

We spend time with God. We get to know Him.

I know that might sound like a too-simplistic answer, but I promise you, it’s not. I’ve tried it and found that it has worked in my life beyond all I’ve asked or imagined. That’s because when you spend time with God, you get to know Him. And when you truly know Him, the only possible response is to grow in your love for Him. And as you grow, your heart opens to Him, and somehow, He fills your heart with love in the way that only He can.

It’s not an instant process. It’s not even a quick process. If you’ve been hurt badly, it might take years of getting to know God and asking Him to help you receive His love before you truly begin to feel it. But even before you begin to feel it, it’s there all the same. And it always was.

You see, God loved you from before the world began, He loves you now, and He will love you throughout all eternity. First, you’ll come to believe it. Then you’ll ask Him to help you absorb it. And then, finally, you’ll begin to feel it, and you’ll know that even when the people on earth who should have loved you, didn’t—Jesus did. Even now while they don’t love you, He does. And even if they never come to love you in the future, He always will.

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

No love from any human being on earth could possibly be more perfectly deep and complete than that.

Psalm 27:10—When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up .

Smells Like Breakfast

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

Recently my husband had to attend a work-related conference in our state capital. Since the conference lasted only one day, and since his employer was paying for the hotel the night before, we decided that the kids and I would accompany him, and we’d stay a little longer and turn it into a mini-vacation.

For three nights, we stayed in a nice hotel. In the mornings, the hotel served a hot breakfast downstairs. One morning, Phil took a kid or two down to breakfast, and I followed later with the remaining kids once the rest of us were ready.

The elevator arrived, and my kids dashed on (good thing nobody was trying to get off). I followed them, and as I turned to tell Jessica which button to push, I noticed a delicious aroma. It was the smell of hot and sizzling sausage patties with fluffy scrambled eggs on the side. It was warm, golden-brown buttermilk waffles, sugary maple syrup, and melting butter. It was orange juice and ripe strawberries and fresh black coffee.

“Mmmm, this elevator smells like breakfast,” I said.

Perhaps the aroma had wafted up from downstairs; perhaps people who had been to breakfast had also been in the elevator. Maybe it was a combination of both. Either way, that delicious food was giving off the aroma of, well, food.

Obvious, right? After all, what else would a delicious breakfast smell like but a delicious breakfast?

And that’s the point. If it is, in fact, a delicious breakfast, it will smell like one. It will give off the aroma of yummy food, and it will cause those smelling it to become even hungrier. If, on the other hand, the foods are not fresh and healthy, the breakfast will smell quite different. Rotten eggs give off quite a different smell from fresh ones. Stale coffee smells terrible. Waffles cooked a little too long smell burnt. There’s no way to disguise a breakfast like that as anything someone would want to eat.

Did you know that you and I give off an aroma too? I’m not talking about smelling a little funny because you’ve been working out. Nor do I mean smelling floral because you are wearing perfume. I’m talking about the kind of aroma referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:14 (see below), wherein God desires to spread the knowledge of His Son to everyone with whom we come in close proximity.

The only problem is, we may not be spreading the right aroma.

Instead of spreading the aroma of Christ, His love, and His ways, it’s entirely possible to be spreading the stench of hatred and impatience. Instead of emanating a beautiful aroma of sacrifice, truth, and uprightness, we can instead emit the stink of selfishness, falsehood, and disgrace.

You and I spread an aroma to everyone with whom we come in contact. That’s a given. The only thing to be settled is what kind of aroma. When people step into the elevator of our lives, will they be pleased and want more of what we have? Or will they get out of the elevator, hurry back to their room, and vow never to eat breakfast again?

Take some time in prayer before the Lord. Ask Him to show you what people sense when they are around you. Do you spread the pleasing aroma of Christ, or do people retreat from you?

Breakfast gives off the scent of, well, breakfast. What scent results from your life?

2 Corinthians 2:14-15—But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

The Motherhood Olympics

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

I absolutely love the Olympics. I normally don’t watch much TV, but when the Olympics are on, I watch all day long. Doesn’t even matter what sport it is (though my favorite is gymnastics). Anything Olympics-related is simply awesome.

I love the sports aspect of it. I love the pageantry. I love the emotional highs and lows. I also love what a wonderful opportunity it is to teach my children. You can teach about everything from sports to geography, science to foreign languages to math. But the best lessons of all are about character.

From watching and discussing the Olympics, children can learn about diligence; endurance; being a good sport; how to deal with discouragement; how to act around people who are different from you; and how to determine what really matters in life (the answer’s not “being #1”).

Sounds like lessons we as moms need to learn, too, especially since we participate in our own kind of Olympics—the Motherhood Olympics.

In the Motherhood Olympics, there are some team sports and some individual sports. Each of us is enrolled in some events in each category. There are some things we must have the help of others to do; there are some where we’re largely on our own.

In either case, we have to train for our events. We need to work at being able to do well in motherhood. An Olympic athlete doesn’t win her event by accident. It takes training and endurance practiced over a period of years. Likewise, we moms won’t succeed at parenting by accident. We need to put effort into it. This should include, first of all, staying close to the Lord and seeking His wisdom. But it might also include things like reading books, listening to sermons, consulting others, being proactive, and making plans.

But there are two important differences between the Motherhood Olympics and the traditional Olympics. The first difference is that moms don’t pursue a gold medal; they pursue the goal of hearing Jesus say, “Well done.” And unlike the traditional Olympics, women in the Motherhood Olympics are guaranteed to win. Will they be perfect? No. But they can be faithful. In the traditional Olympics, perfection or near-perfection is what wins you the medal. In the Motherhood Olympics, what wins you Jesus’ approval is faithfulness.

The second important difference is that unlike the traditional Olympics, in the Motherhood Olympics, everyone can win. When you’re an Olympic gymnast, swimmer, or runner, it’s technically possible that someone else could share the gold medal with you. But it’s highly unlikely. Even if it does happen, the odds against more than two people sharing first place are astronomical (unless it’s a team sport).

In the Motherhood Olympics, however, billions of moms can win. That’s because, as we said earlier, all that’s required to win is faithfulness. Be faithful with the husband you are given (if you are married), the children you are given, and the resources you are given, and you will win.

It’s simple, though not easy. But then, training for an Olympic event never is. Yet you never hear an athlete standing atop the podium saying, “You know, this wasn’t worth all that work.” Hardly! They all say, “It was worth it…all the long hours…all the effort…all the exhaustion…the money…the pain….”

Likewise, you never hear a mom who receives Jesus’ approval say, “This isn’t worth it.” Instead, she says, “It was so worth it… all the long hours…all the effort…all the exhaustion…the money…the pain….”

You’re in the race, mom, like it or not. You are at the Olympics. The crowd—which consists of others who have gone before you, not to mention your precious family—is watching you. How will you run? Will you give it everything you’ve got?

I guarantee you that nothing is worth more than winning this one.

Hebrews 12:1—Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Pigeons on the Diamond

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

I love baseball. I can’t tell you the stats of every player or which team does what, but I love the game. I could watch it every day and never get tired. That’s why receiving the generous gift of front-row tickets right behind home plate at our local ballpark has been one of the highlights of my summer for the past three years.

This year, I was sitting in my leather-padded seat watching the opening moments of the game. My husband and baby son Timmy sat to my left; two friends sat to my right. The players were right there on the field getting ready at home plate, so close that if I had called out to them, they could easily have heard me.

Then I noticed that the players weren’t the only ones on the field. A couple of pigeons strutted around not too far from the plate, stopping now and then to peck at something in the turf. I found this amusing. While the ballgame was going on all around them (with 46,711 people in attendance), while important human things were taking place just yards from them, those pigeons just went about their pigeon-y business, oblivious to the spectacle.

 

That’s why I found it amusing—the incongruity of the pageantry of a sold-out major league baseball game juxtaposed against a a couple of pigeons who didn’t care.

They were a great illustration of how we human beings sometimes get too full of our own importance.

That’s one of the things about being a human: it’s really easy to focus on ourselves. We build ourselves up in our own minds until we deserve all the hoopla we surround ourselves with. We come to think we deserve the adulation of crowds of people (or at least the members of our family). Whenever we step up to the plate, people should take notice. Everybody should care.

When we discover that there are pigeons in our lives—that there are people who aren’t impressed with our greatness—we often become irritated. That person doesn’t appreciate me, we say to ourselves, and we feel that we are righteously angry.

There’s only one problem with that: we aren’t playing for the pigeons.

Josh Hamilton, one of baseball’s greatest players, played in the game that night. He stood at the plate while the pigeons ignored him. But He wasn’t playing for the pigeons. He wasn’t even playing for the fans either, really. Josh is a Christian, and he understands about playing for the Audience of One.

I wonder if you and I really understand that, and I’m afraid we don’t. Too often, we play for the pigeons. Even more often, we play for the people in the stands. Granted, we may need to serve those people in the stands, but they’re not our ultimate audience. Our supreme Audience is Christ. Or at least, He should be.

Mom, you’re going to be called to step up to the plate today. Several times, in fact. You’ll have to approach the plate repeatedly and take your best swing no matter what life throws at you. If your swing isn’t what the crowd is hoping for, there might be silence. There might even be boos. Either way, the pigeons won’t care.

What will you do then? Will you throw your bat to the ground and yell at everybody in the ballpark that they should have appreciated you more? Or will you focus on your Audience of One, knowing that He always loves and appreciates you?

On the other hand, perhaps you’ll do something the crowd likes, and they’ll cheer you. Will you run the bases and then stop at home plate, your hands in the air, acknowledging the crowd’s approval, but forgetting all about your other Audience?

Mom, think about Whom you’re playing for. It’s not the crowd. It’s certainly not the pigeons. It’s the Audience of One. The only One who really matters. Any cheers you get from those around you are just background noise—nice, but not all that important. What matters is what the Audience thinks.

Whom would He say you’re playing for today?

Colossians 3:23-24—Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Dance Now

Megan Breedlove 2Comments

One of the best things about having children is that you get to do goofy, fun things with them. You have an excuse for singing at the top of your lungs while you’re driving, making the person in the next car over wonder about you; you’re totally justified in seeing who can make the best zebra noise; and you have every reason in the world to crank up the CD player in the kitchen and dance like crazy until you all fall over.

The other day, I was standing in the dining room holding Timmy when a neat song came on the radio that was playing in the kitchen. I wanted to dance! So I gripped Timmy’s right hand with my left hand, held him close with my other arm around him and his around me, and danced. Gently, of course—not crazily—because Timmy is still young. And as we danced, the thought hit me: someday, I will dance with you at your wedding. Only then, you’ll be taller than I am—probably much taller. I’ll still hold your right hand with my left, but my other arm won’t be around you holding you up, and yours won’t be helping you cling to me for dear life, lest you flop over backwards. You’ll put your hand on the small of my back to guide me, because you’ll be the leader, not I. I’ll look up into your eyes instead of down. And we’ll dance.

I know that if this time ever comes (because he might not choose to have dancing at his wedding, or might not even get married), it will be many years in the future. Time and life may intervene in unexpected ways to prevent that day from ever taking place. I have no guarantee that I’ll ever dance with Timmy at his wedding.

That’s why we dance now.

Do you dance with your children? Maybe not literally (although it’s a great activity), but at least figuratively? Do you do things with them—silly, random, fun things—that you can look back on later and remember, not just the activity, but the fun, laughter, and love you shared?

Often, we think about doing the big things, like vacations, Christmas, and birthday parties. But do we make the most of the little moments of each day with our kids? Yes, the big events can bring big memories. But so do the little ones, the special moments you make out of nothing, the moments that almost pass by as ordinary until you make them something special.

Timmy will never remember that we danced that day in the dining room. But I will. And if we have enough of these moments together, he will at least grow up knowing that home, and Mommy, were fun and secure places to be.

Both fun and security are important, but one is foundational. Security is foundational to fun. If you don’t feel secure, you won’t be having fun. But when my children say things like Ellie has said a few times—“I never want to grow up, because being a kid is so much fun”—I know they feel secure as well.

So by having fun in the everyday moments, I not only get to hear my children’s contagious giggles, I also get to know that I’m building security into them. We may not have crazy-fun moments every day, but the everyday moments can be crazy-fun, if we’re willing to seize them.

How about you? Do you have fun with your child? Does your child get to experience the precious gift of having fun with you? Because that’s what family fun is: a gift from God, designed to knit together the hearts of the parents and the children.

None of us knows what tomorrow will bring, or if there will even be a tomorrow. If tomorrow does come, we don’t know whether it will be filled with joy, tragedy, or something in between. Put simply, you can’t count on tomorrow, either to exist or to afford you the opportunities to have fun and bond in silly ways with your children. So don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

Dance now.

Proverbs 3:27, 28—Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow”—when you now have it with you.

Proverbs 27:1—Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Smiley Guy

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

Guy SmileyRemember Guy Smiley, the Sesame Street character who was a game show host? He talked in that “game show host” voice, and he always had a huge smile. Hence the name.

Timmy’s a lot like him in that Timmy always has a smile, too. In fact, just yesterday morning, Ellie woke up and came to find him in hopes of catching him having his morning smile-a-thon. So, while Timmy doesn’t host any game shows and therefore can’t be called Guy Smiley, exactly, he definitely earns the title of Smiley Guy.

Last month, when I took Timmy with me to the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference, Timmy charmed everyone with his desire to be cuddled, his sweet nature, and—you guessed it—his smiles.

Timmy SmilingEllie seeks Timmy out, knowing the odds are good she can catch him smiling or make him smile. Friends and even strangers seek Timmy out, hoping for the same. That’s because Timmy has a reputation. At not-quite-four-months old, he’s already known for his happy demeanor. And I love that.

What are you known for? What am I known for? When people think of us, what do they think of? Smiles and a sweet spirit? Or…something else?

We are all known for something. For some of us, like Timmy, it might be for our sweet and always-ready smile. I have a friend like this. She is beautiful, both inside and out, and her smile lights up my day.

Others of us might be known for our sense of humor, our willingness to work hard and serve others, or our encouraging nature.

But it’s possible to be known for negative things, too, such as constant negativity, frequent complaints, or lack of sensitivity.

Which group are you in? The first group or the second?

Granted, we all have occasional bad days. I’ve had days where I complained more than I smiled, and you probably have too. But what are you known for on a consistent basis? When people think of you, what do they think of?

If you’re not sure, you can ask your husband and your children (children, especially young ones, will be brutally honest), or a friend who is brave enough to be honest with you, even if she thinks it’s something you wouldn’t want to hear. Ask them to tell you what they think of when they think of you. Let them be free to give their true answers, and listen to those answers.

The reason why it matters what you’re known for is this: Jesus said that people will know we are His disciples if we love one another. He also said that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments. In other words, if we truly love Him, we will be best known for doing something He commands us to do, not for a negative quality.

Find out what you’re known for. Perhaps people’s answers will be encouraging. Perhaps they will be enlightening. Either way, you need to know. If you’re known for something that would please Jesus, thank Him for shining through you. If you’re known for something that doesn’t please Him, repent. Confess what you’ve done wrong. Ask His forgiveness, and ask Him to pour His life into you so that it spills over to others.

That’s what being a Christian is all about.

John 13:35—“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 14:15—“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Earprints

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

My son Timmy is now 3.5 months old, despite the fact it seems like I gave birth to him only yesterday. He’s lost that newborn look and is turning into, well, a little boy. He’s full of smiles, and he’s learning to reach out and grasp things (and then bring them to his mouth and gnaw on them with his drooly, toothless gums). Not too far in the future, he’ll be walking and talking. One day, he’ll start school, and all too soon after that, he’ll be asking for the keys to the car. Some days, I can feel time slipping through my fingers, and in those moments, I wish I could simply stop time forever and keep him just like he is right now.

Oh, I know he needs to grow up. I just don’t want him to do it too fast. So as the days sneak by, I try to hold a little piece of each one in my memory for later.

One of the things I most want to remember is the feel of him in my arms while he sleeps. I love cuddling him close as he rests, utterly secure and at peace. And I really love it when he leaves ear prints.

Timmy SleepingWhat are ear prints? They’re indentations in my arm, up near the elbow, in the shape of his ear, pressed into my skin by the gentle weight of his head lying trustingly against me. Why do I love them? Because they’re visible evidence of the moments of bonding and love my son and I have shared. Because they remind me of how much I love my Timmy, and how much he loves me.

This devotion could have been about how we can lie securely in God’s arms, trusting in His care and comfort. But it isn’t. It’s about the marks.

You see, just as Timmy leaves marks on me because of our relationship, so we have left marks on the body of Almighty God because of our relationship with Him.

God doesn’t have a body, you might say.

True, the Father doesn’t. But Jesus does. And upon His body, He still bears visible signs of His bond with us.

Jesus had nails driven through His hands and feet so He could hold us in His arms. He had a spear thrust into His side because of His love for us. And now, even in His risen body, He bears permanent reminders of the price of our relationship Him.

So yes, rest trustingly in His arms. Yes, be secure in Him. But don’t forget His wounds. It cost Jesus something to love us. In fact, it cost Him everything.

Isaiah 53:5—But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

Two Kinds of Best

Megan Breedlove 0Comment

Sometimes, it seems as if motherhood is about settling for less.

We want to stay in shape, but we don’t have time, so we settle for buying an aerobics video and working out with it three times before we consign it to obscurity in the DVD cabinet.

We’d like to travel the world, but we settle for going to the grocery store by ourselves.

We want to develop our intellectual abilities, but we wouldn’t be able to get to a class, much less fit study time into our schedule or pay tuition. So we settle for memorizing the drive-thru orders for four different children at each of three different restaurants.

We’re frustrated, particularly when we feel we have a gift or ability in a certain area but no opportunity to develop that talent. We chafe under the limitations imposed on us by our circumstances.

I understand that feeling. I’ve been there too, wishing I could further develop the area of my gifting. I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes when I’ve done well and performed at a high level. But right now, furthering this interest is simply not possible due to, well, life.

I was thinking about this the other day. I felt frustrated that I wasn’t able to progress to the level of which I am capable. Sure, I’m working on the subject at a lesser level now, and I’m doing my best at it, but it’s not as good as my “real” best. At least, that’s how I saw it at the time.

I was wrong.

What God taught me when I was longing for what it’s not possible to have right now is this: there are two kinds of best. The first kind involves doing the best of which I am capable, considering my God-given abilities and interests. The second means doing the best of which I’m capable, considering the circumstances God has placed in my life.

The first kind is what I had wanted, what I had thought would excite me. The second kind, I learned, is what will satisfy me.

I know it can be disappointing not to be able to pursue an interest or skill. Sometimes, it’s extremely disappointing. But we make a terrible mistake if we assume that doing what God has said is not possible right now would be more satisfying than what He has said is possible.

We’re wrong if we think that doing our best at what we want to be called to would be more satisfying than doing our best at what we are called to.

How can I say this? How can I claim that pursuing distinction at a once-a-week class is more satisfying than excelling at full-time study? Or that making an awesome PBJ sandwich can be more fulfilling than going to culinary arts school?

Because if God’s design for your life right now is sandwiches made to the specifications of a two-year-old, you will experience His presence more fully when you get out the peanut butter than you would by going beyond His boundaries and enrolling in school. And that’s what satisfaction is: God Himself. Not better skills, increased knowledge, or more excitement. God Himself.

It’s not wrong to want to learn more or pursue a favorite interest. Not at all! The problem comes when we assume that God has given us the less-satisfying portion and denied us what would really make us happy. If that’s what we think, we’re finding happiness in our circumstances rather than in God’s presence.

Where do you find your happiness? In participating in things you enjoy? Or in being in God’s presence? If it’s the former, you’ll be disappointed every time things don’t work out or God says no. If it’s the latter, you’ll never be disappointed. Ever. Because His presence is always available to you, regardless of the circumstances.

This is what Jesus was talking about when He told the Samaritan woman that she should be asking for living water, not just the regular stuff in the well. He was making the point that earthly things do not ultimately satisfy, but that God’s presence does.

Do you want certain circumstances, or do you want God Himself? Do you spend more time praying that He will give you certain things so that you can be satisfied? Or do you spend more time praying that He will give you Himself?

For me, it’s often the “circumstances” option. But I don’t want that to be the case. I want God’s presence to be more important to me than anything else in life. I want to draw my satisfaction from a well that will never run dry. I want to experience true fulfillment, not just temporary excitement.

I pray this is what you want too.

Hebrews 13:5—Be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Psalm 142:5—I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

John 4:10—Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

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