Manna For Moms

Devotions for Moms Like You!

Megan Breedlove

Love Them Now

Megan Breedlove No Comments

I love my kids. I love spending time with them, and I love being a stay-at-home mom.

But sometimes…I find myself wishing.

I wish…he would be more interested in using the potty.

I wish…she would stop deconstructing the house every time I turn around.

I wish…he would stop whining.

I wish…she wouldn’t argue.

I wish…they would let me have an entire phone conversation without interrupting.

I wish…they would eat what I put in front of them—without complaining.

I wish…I wish…I wish…

Do you have wishes, too? Do you, like me, earnestly wish some things about your child or his or her behavior were different? Are you, like me, working very hard in some areas to help bring about the day when the behavior is put aside, or outgrown?

Oh, we think, when she stops doing this, life will be so much easier. Or, if he would just start doing that….

There’s nothing wrong with looking toward the future. In fact, as mothers, we must look toward the future. We need a perspective that says that this too shall pass. We need a perspective that helps us realize what is truly important, and what isn’t. We need an eternal perspective that reminds us of what will be important ten, or twenty, years from now, and what will be forgotten.

But let’s not focus so hard on changing our children’s behavior in the future that we forget to love them in the present.

Yes, our children will probably be a lot easier to deal with once a particular behavior is under control.

But this doesn’t mean our children will be any easier to love in the future.

Easier to get along with? Maybe.

But not easier to love.

You see, if we find it easier to love our children once their behavior changes, it reveals that our love has been performance-based.

Saying we might be able to love our children more at some point in the future, once they begin or cease doing something, is the same thing as saying that our love is based on their performance, not on their intrinsic worth as a marvelous creation of God and our precious child.

What you and I must remember is that love is not simply a feeling of comfort with someone. It is not mere approval. It is not even necessarily warm and fuzzy.

Love is action. It is a choice. It is a choice that can be made in any situation, even right now.

No, I don’t know how your children are behaving. But I do know they deserve your love. Right now. As they are. They need to know that they are loved and accepted, no matter how imperfect they are.

It doesn’t mean you always have to accept their actions, their attitudes, or their words. It means you always accept them.

Aren’t you glad that God didn’t wait until our behavior was perfect before accepting us?

Scripture gives us the incredible truth that God loved us and accepted us completely from the very beginning.

Did he accept our sin? Of course not. But even while we were still sinners, God sent his son Jesus to die for us.

God didn’t wait until we were holy before he extended love, grace, and acceptance to us. He didn’t wait until we had reached some level of perfection. He didn’t even wait until we had stopped doing certain things, or started doing others.

Instead, He loved us from the beginning.

Yes, part of his love means that he disciplines us, just as part of your love for your children means that you will discipline them and try to turn them from ways they shouldn’t go.

But make sure your children know deep in their souls that no matter what they do or fail to do, you love them, and God loves them. Not in the future, but right now.

And not just a little, but with all your might.

After all, God has done the same for you.

Romans 5:8—But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

At Our Own Speed

Megan Breedlove No Comments

I love to read. In fact, I always have. When I was younger, I would become so absorbed in reading that I could sit reading for hours without getting up or changing activities.

My daughter Ellie is like that with computer games. She has certain sites she is allowed to visit and certain games she is allowed to play. She could sit for hours playing games, if allowed to, or maybe all day long.

One day, Ellie was sitting at the computer playing games when it so happened that Jessica needed her diaper changed. As I laid Jessica on the changing table, I remembered that her diaper stacker was empty of diapers. Fortunately, however, I had bought some more, and the box was right outside the bedroom door, which meant that it was in the computer area.

I called out to Ellie and asked her to bring me the package.

“Okay,” Ellie said.

I assumed she was coming, so I removed Jessica’s diaper and cleaned her up. I still didn’t see Ellie, so I called her name and looked in her direction.

Ellie was slowwwwly backing towards the bedroom door, her eyes still fixed on the computer screen.

She was obeying, but at her own speed.

I wanted her to obey me right away. The task I had asked her to do was important, even though it probably seemed like no big deal to her. I needed her to act immediately.

Instead, she took indifferent, slow action.

Friends, that’s the way we obey God sometimes, isn’t it?

At our own speed. Indifferently. Slowly.

Maybe when God gave the command, we responded instantly by saying, “Yes, Lord. I’ll do it.” But we remained caught up in our own interests, and the obedience we gave the Lord was distracted, at best.

Mommy friend, what kind of obedience do you want from your children when you ask them to obey?

Around our house, we have a saying that pertains to the kind of obedience my husband and I expect: “immediately, and with the right attitude”. You probably expect the same thing.

If we as parents believe that we can and should expect that kind of obedience from our children, how much better obedience must we acknowledge that God deserves?

And how much farther short of rendering him proper obedience must we acknowledge that we fall, even than our children fall short of obeying us properly?

Friends, we discipline our children for failing to obey promptly.

Do you realize that God disciplines His children for the same reason?

His ultimate goal is to conform us to the image of His Son Jesus. He knows that it isn’t good for us to determine the speed at which we will obey. We must learn to obey “immediately, and with the right attitude” for two reasons. First, He’s God, and He deserves it, and that should be reason enough. But second, we must learn to obey because it is good for us. If even Jesus learned to obey while here on earth, then why would we ever imagine ourselves to be less in need of learning to do so?

I wanted Ellie to obey me not only because I needed something done, but also because I know that she needs to learn to recognize my requests as more important than what she is doing, and to put them first.

It’s true that sometimes, I will make mistakes, perhaps even erring in how, where, when, or why I require her obedience.

But God never errs. Ever.

We know—you know, I know—that whatever God asks is right and good. Therefore, we should obey immediately, and with the right attitude.

It’s as simple as that.

Simple…but not easy. It’s not always easy to obey. But God even helps us do that. He gives us everything we need to perform that which He requires us to do. If we don’t obey, it isn’t His fault.

It’s ours.

Today, are your eyes fixed on God, waiting for His command? Or are they focused on your own pursuits?

Are you so deeply involved in whatever you’re involved in that it would be amazing if you even managed to hear God’s command, and to respond with a yes, much less to respond in a timely fashion?

Or maybe you hear God just fine. Maybe you know exactly what He’s saying. Maybe you’re just not willing to do it, or you’re too busy to do it, or you don’t care about doing it, so you let your own interests crowd out your obedience.

Oh, friend, if this is your situation, don’t waste another second. Get on your knees right now and ask Him to forgive you. Get things straightened out between you and God. Make sure both of you know Who’s in charge, and that it’s not you.

Then, get up and obey. Immediately, and with the right attitude.

Obedience to God will be far more pleasing to your soul than the pursuit of your own interests could ever be.

John 14:15—If you love me, you will obey what I command.

Sick

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My daughter Lindsey is a cuddlebug. In fact, she always has been. She has always enjoyed close physical contact.

Sometimes, she wants to play. She loves being tossed, flipped, or spun. She loves climbing all over me if I lie down. She loves being tickled or “eaten”, which is when I make growling noises and pretend like I am eating her shoulders, her ears, or her cheeks.

Other times, Lindsey simply enjoys being close. Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch talking to one of the other children, when I realized that Lindsey was sitting right next to me. She had climbed up onto the couch and snuggled against me so easily and quietly that I hadn’t even noticed when she came. We sat like that for awhile, with Kenny later joining us, and it was one of the best parts of my day.

When Lindsey is sick, she seems to feel a special need to cuddle. She wants to be held close as much as possible. The most recent time she was sick, she wanted to lie on me and be cuddled.

Did she want fun and games?

No.

Did she want me to take her somewhere?

No.

Did she want horseplay and tickles?

Definitely not.

She simply wanted to be close to me when she was feeling at her worst.

When a child is sick, her mother’s presence and touch are the most healing therapies in the world. They’re even better than chicken soup. They’re better than 7-Up and crackers. I think they even do more good sometimes than medication (though there are certainly times where medication is necessary).

God designed it that way. He designed the relationship between mother and child in such a way that when the child feels sick, she wants her mommy. And He designed cuddling during times of illness not only to help the child heal, but to strengthen the bond between mother and child.

Do you know something? God designed the relationship between Him and His children—us—to work the same way.

When we feel at our worst, He is the One Who can (and will!) bring us the most comfort. Just as you welcome an ill child into your warm, comforting embrace, so does our Heavenly Father welcome His hurting child into His arms.

Had Lindsey refused my comfort when she was sick, she likely would have gotten better anyway. The difference is that if we refuse our Heavenly Father’s comfort, we may not get entirely better. We may wind up with unresolved pain that lingers long after the onset of the original hurt—sometimes years.

So why don’t we seek His comfort?

It could be that we’re afraid to face the pain, and we don’t realize that the pain will hurt worse apart from the Father.

It could be that we blame our Father for the fact that we hurt in the first place, and we let our anger keep us far from His comfort, when what we don’t realize is that with Him or without Him, the hurt would have happened, and what makes the most sense is for us to ask Him to comfort us through it.

Or, it could be that we anticipate a negative reaction when we come to him. Sometimes, we get this idea that we as Christians aren’t really supposed to hurt. We’re supposed to be able to bear everything with a smile on our face. If we can’t, we reason, it must mean we don’t have enough faith. So we don’t come to God for comfort because we can’t come “correctly”—that is, having handled the problem on our own first, in order to show Him…what?

Friend, if this is what you’re afraid of, then you’re misunderstanding God’s very nature.

When Lindsey was sick and came to me for comfort, I didn’t lecture her on how she should act when she is sick. I didn’t tell her that she was being a wimp and send her off to get better by herself. I didn’t even give her any reassurances on how she would get better eventually.

I simply held her and loved her.

If we can be so loving toward our children, and God is so vastly more loving than we are, why would we ever think we would receive anything less than a perfectly loving welcome? If we know how to comfort our children when they are sick, why would we think God wouldn’t comfort us in the way we need?

Oh, friend, how do you need comfort from God today?

I don’t know what is happening in your life. I don’t know the ways you might be hurting.

But I do know that God knows, and that He cares more about you than you could ever imagine.

Let Him comfort you. Climb up into His lap, and lay your head on His chest. Feel His everlasting arms around you as He simply loves you through your hurt with the nearness of His presence.

Matthew 7:11—If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Luke 13:34—How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

Not Very Much

Megan Breedlove No Comments

One particular Christmas when I was about ten years old, I had my heart set on getting a camera. It was one of those cameras where you bought flash cubes to click into place on top of the camera and filled it with a C-110 film cartridge. No batteries were necessary, because nobody’s camera took batteries back then. Everybody’s was manual. You would stick your film cartridge in, close the door, and wind it up. If you needed a flash, you would stick the flash cube (some had flash bars) into a spot on top of the camera. If you didn’t want a flash, you left the flash cube off.

I wanted a camera so badly that I made sure Mom knew all about it. I wanted there to be no mistaking the fact that I wanted this camera. I just knew she would get it for me if she knew how badly I wanted it. So I told her—plenty of times, I’m sure—and then waited for Christmas to arrive.

Christmas morning finally came, and we sat around the Christmas tree in my grandparents’ living room, opening Christmas presents. I had opened all but one, and still, no camera.

It must be in the last box, I reasoned. It had to be. I had to have that camera.

I unwrapped the last box and beheld the back of a package. It said “MagiCubes.”

At the time, I didn’t know that that’s what the flash cubes were called. All I knew was that I had opened the very last package, and instead of the coveted camera, Mom had gotten me something called MagiCubes, which I didn’t even know what it was.

I still remember that moment of shock when I realized that I hadn’t gotten a camera. There was a numb disbelief as I mechanically turned the package over and pulled some more of the wrapping paper off.

Then, I saw the camera.

Relief and joy flooded my heart. I had gotten my camera! Mom hadn’t disappointed me after all!

It’s okay to be ecstatic over a Christmas gift. But here’s the point: that camera was not the only gift I received that Christmas. I had gotten many other nice things, chosen for me with love. Yet when I opened that last package and thought I hadn’t gotten the one thing I really wanted, all those other gifts didn’t matter to me.

Yes, I appreciated them. Yes, I was thankful for them. But the abundance I already had still wasn’t enough to keep me from being devastated over what I thought I hadn’t gotten.

I’m sorry to say that I’ve reacted the same way in regard to gifts from God. I suspect that you have, too.

Most of us have plenty of material things. Even if we don’t have as much as our neighbors, we have plenty. Yet often, we spend more of our time and emotional energy focusing on what we don’t have than on what we do have.

Do we sometimes get so obsessed with what we want that we won’t appreciate anything else? Do we decide that anything different from what we want is lesser? Do we take for granted the myriad blessings God has poured out upon us, both spiritually and materially, and focus on the one thing we haven’t gotten that we want?

What is it that you want today?

Maybe it’s a house in a better neighborhood. Maybe you want your children to behave better. Maybe you want applause or recognition.

What if you never get it? What if, in His infinite wisdom, God decides not to give it to you? What then?

Will you look around at what you have, and say, “I already have so much more than I deserve. It’s okay if I never get (whatever your desire is)”? Or will you not even bother looking around at what you have, because what you have doesn’t mean much compared to the absence of what you want?

Maybe you—maybe I—need to start thanking God for what you do have instead of wishing for what we don’t.

Philippians 4:11-12—I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Help

Megan Breedlove No Comments

Before I became a mother, I had only two arms.

Or maybe a better way to put it is: before I became a mother, my two arms performed the functions of—well—two arms. Now, four children later, my arms perform at least as many functions as those of an octopus. They’re about that flexible, too.

For instance, one time, I was on my way to or from somewhere my van. I only had my youngest child, then-four-and-a-half-week-old Jessica, with me at the time. Jessica’s carrier was strapped onto the bench seat behind the space between the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

As I drove down the road, blissfully immersed in my own thoughts (instead of having to talk to anyone) and the silence of the CD player (instead of kids’ music), Jessica began to fuss. Without looking backwards, I reached behind me and into the carrier to replace the pacifier in Jessica’s mouth.

You can imagine how it went. As I was trying to drive and replace the pacifier by feel, Jessica was whipping her head from side to side with her eyes closed, waving her little arms up and down. She was seeking the pacifier, but her arms kept getting in the way of my hand’s bringing the pacifier close. Even had I been able to get close, it would have been difficult to hit the moving target of her mouth. I finally had to gently brace her head still with some of my fingers while the rest of my fingers located her mouth and stuck the pacifier in.

It would have been much easier had Jessica simply remained still and waited for me to insert the pacifier. But of course, she didn’t do that. She was so anxious to get what she wanted that she was seeking it with all her might. The only problem was that in trying to help herself, she actually kept herself from receiving it.

I wonder…how many times have you and I done the same thing with God?

How many times have we screamed desperately for relief, doing everything within our limited power to grasp it, thinking that God was slow in responding, when all the while it was our flailing and thrashing about that prevented us from receiving the relief God was trying to offer?

I know there have been times in my life when I have begged God for an answer but then not really listened for it.

There have been times when God required something from me in order to receive relief, but I didn’t do it.

Then, there have been times when I simply wailed out my anger, frustration, or pain, and never really asked for relief, preferring instead to complain.

I could give other examples. You probably could, too, of times in your own life when you interfered with the relief that God was trying to give.

Why do we do this?

Jessica interfered with my attempts to help her because of her immaturity. At four and a half weeks, she had no way to understand that if she would just sit still, I could help her sooner. Even if she could understand, she probably couldn’t control her raging needs well enough to comply.

Could it be that we, too, are immature sometimes?

Sometimes, we don’t know how to respond so as to receive the help we need most quickly. Sometimes, we know what we should do, but we can’t control our raging emotions well enough to do what we know we should.

Let me suggest something you can do the next time you’re there—“there” being a place where you are desperate for relief and either don’t know how to get it, or can’t calm down enough to comply with what you know you should do.

A simple prayer is enough: “God, help.”

Fortunately, God does not require that our prayers be long and flowery, or articulate. He accepts simple prayers that come from a right heart. And even when circumstances, or emotions, are swirling so fast or strongly around us that we feel overwhelmed, we can at least pray, “God, help.”

You see, what you and I need most is to be in communication with God. Amazingly, God has promised to hear and answer our prayers, and he will do so in any and every circumstance.

So pray. “God, help.” And then do your best to get out of the way.

Isaiah 65:24—Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Pink Icing with Sprinkles

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Recently, a new bakery opened not too far from our house, on a street we travel frequently. Every time we drove past it, my husband or I would say, “We really ought to try them out one day.”

One day, it was time. My husband was driving past it with the three older kids with him, and he decided to stop in. They parked and went into the store.

The bakery was filled with all kinds of luscious Mexican pastries and baked goods, the likes of which the kids had never seen before. The cases were stocked with delicious-looking treats, with fancy designs and colors of icing. Our kids looked around at all the beautiful things, trying to decide which they wanted.

It was then that they came to the case in the back. In that case were relatively plain, cake-looking pastries with pink icing and sprinkles on top. No exotic colors or artistry, just plain, we’ve-seen-this-before, pink icing and sprinkles.

So, faced with the choice between something elegant, fancy, and new, and something plain that they were used to, our gourmet kids chose…that’s right…the cake with pink icing and sprinkles.

When my husband came home and told me about it, I thought it was kind of funny. In the wonderland of baked goods, the kids had chosen traditional.

Then, I realized something that wasn’t so funny.

We are lot like that, spiritually speaking.

You see, our Father has prepared a vast array of delights for us. He’s prepared things we’ve never seen before, things that would fill our spiritual senses and delight us, if we would just try them.

Instead, we ignore his treasures spread out before us, and we choose what we’re used to. The same old stuff is good enough, so why would we want to risk trying something more?

Friends, we often don’t experience even a fraction of the pleasures God has for us because we think what we are used to is good enough. After all, it’s rather pleasing, so why risk stepping out on faith and trying something new? We might not like it.

The analogy ends there, because in the case of my kids, it’s entirely possible that they wouldn’t have enjoyed a different treat, had they selected one. But it is not in the least possible that we would not delight in the spiritual treats God has for us, if we would just be willing to try them.

Risk speaking to someone God directs us to speak to? No way. What if they rejected us, or worse, laughed at us?

Risk taking a new job, or a new position at church, and doing something we’ve never done before? No way. What if we failed? That might make us look bad.

Risk obeying God’s instructions to the fullest, even if that causes us to suffer in some way? Never. Who wants to suffer?

It’s all about priorities. Of course, no one enjoys suffering, or rejection. But if our priority is to experience the abundant life God has for us, we need to realize that it may not look quite like we would design it.

Would we rather live safely, sure of acceptance, or would we rather experience the joy of knowing what it’s like to stand alone for Christ?

Would we rather live comfortably, free from as much suffering as possible, or would we rather know the pleasures of being right in the center of God’s will?

Would we rather have the pink icing with sprinkles, or would we rather taste one of God’s myriad spiritual treasures?

You see, pink icing with sprinkles is tasty. It’s good enough. But it will never lead you to pleasures beyond anything you’ve ever imagined.

Ephesians 3:20-21—Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

Mommy, You Can Do It!

Megan Breedlove No Comments

I enjoy running. I like to run through my neighborhood or in one of a couple special locations nearby. I love the way it taxes my body and the sense of accomplishment I feel when I am done. Basically, I love almost everything about it.

Ellie and Lindsey like to go with me when I run. If they are at home when I go, they always ask to go with me. Of course, at five-and-a-half and two-and-a-half, they can’t keep up the pace I can. This means I have to push them in our double stroller.

It is definitely not a jogging stroller. It is heavy, and it doesn’t steer well. With the weight of the two girls, combined with the stroller’s weight, I’m probably pushing an extra hundred pounds when I take them with me. Needless to say, this makes my workout quite a bit more difficult.

One morning when I decided to go running, Lindsey was at preschool, so I took only Ellie. I may have taken the baby, too. In any case, I was pushing close to a hundred pounds and trying to improve upon my previous run. It was tough.

One thing you should know about Ellie is that she is a great encourager. She is quick to see that someone needs encouragement and to come alongside them. In this case, I was the person in need.

I had made some comment about how I still had five minutes to go. I don’t remember if I specifically mentioned that the run was difficult, or if she must have heard it in my voice. In any case, Ellie said, “Do you need some encouragement?”

“Yes, I do,” I said.

So for the next five minutes, she sang, “Mommy, you can do it,” over and over, to the same tune, one which she had made up.

I have finished runs with more energy left, but I have never finished a run feeling more uplifted.

“Mommy, you can do it,” she sang, over and over and over.

I can still hear her sweet little voice singing to me.

When it came time for my cool-down period, I slowed to a walk. I let my breathing slow down a little, and then, I said, “Ellie, thank you for encouraging me. You really made me feel better, and you helped me finish running when it was difficult.”

“You’re welcome,” she said.

“And Ellie, I want you to know something,” I said.

“What?”

“I want you to know that just as you encouraged me when I was having a difficult time, God can and will encourage you when you are having a difficult time. All you have to do is ask him.”

Dear mommy friend, the same thing applies to us as mommies. Yes, God sometimes encourages us without our asking for it. But sometimes, he waits for us to ask him for what we need.

As I told Ellie, if we ask, God will be there, and he will encourage us. Maybe the encouragement won’t come in the way we were hoping for or expecting, but it will come.

There are times when God chooses to let us walk by faith without the specific word from him that we are looking for. But even in those times, we have the encouragement found in the Bible, and we can know that it is true even if we don’t have the emotions we would like to accompany it.

As I ran those last five minutes, I heard Ellie’s song over and over. Its sweetness flowed into my soul and gave me the endurance I needed to press on joyfully.

Was the run still difficult? Yes…and no.

Physically, it was still difficult. Those hundred pounds hadn’t gotten any lighter. But mentally, and in my heart, the rest of the run was a breeze.

I ran joyfully.

I wonder…is it possible to run the race of life joyfully even when things are difficult?

It is.

With God’s encouragement, his strength, and his joy, we can run well even when we’re pushing a hundred extra pounds. Maybe we can’t run fast, but we can run well.

That last five minutes was probably the slowest part of my run, but it was the best. My attitude was even better then than it had been at the beginning, when I ran with little difficulty.

The same can be true for any of us in any situation.

Maybe your situation, maybe someday mine, is difficult, tragic, even agonizing. That part may not change, just as the weight I was pushing didn’t change.

But what can change is the weight of your soul.

You can’t do it on your own. But God can, and will. How do we know? Because he’s promised.

From the front seat of the stroller, Ellie’s encouragement helped me finish my run.

From alongside you and within you, God’s encouragement will bear you up and carry you home.

Isaiah 40:31—But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Nehemiah 8:10—The joy of the LORD is your strength.

Isaiah 46:4—Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Fourth Place

Megan Breedlove No Comments

When I became pregnant with my first child, I was ecstatic—not only because I was going to have a baby, but because this pregnancy came after infertility treatments. Throughout my pregnancy, I continued to rejoice. I did all the things many moms do: I registered at Babies “R” Us and Target; I told everyone I knew about my baby; I was given six baby showers; I made arrangements to quit work three weeks before she would be born, in order to become a stay-at-home mom; and I even joined a prenatal fitness class.

Perhaps one of the most meaningful things I did, however, was write letters.

I don’t remember where I had gotten the idea, but I began writing my baby letters shortly after I knew there would be a baby. I wanted to tell her everything, about all the preparations, all the excitement, all the things that happened, and other people’s reactions.

Most of all, I wanted to pour out my love to her.

You see, I loved her even before she was born. As soon as I found out she existed, I loved her with all the mother-love my heart could hold. As my belly grew, so did my love for the little one living inside me. When she was finally born and they put her into my arms, I was amazed at the intensity of the love I already felt for her.

I remember vividly one day in the hospital, holding her in the crook of my arm as she slept, and thinking that if anyone came into my room and tried to hurt my baby, I would defend her with my life.

Why? Because I loved her so much.

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, I was again elated. But this time I had a new concern.

Would I be able to love my second child as much as I loved my first?

I couldn’t comprehend how I could love any other child, even one of my own, as much as I loved my daughter, considering the all-consuming love I had for her.

You know what happened. When my son was born, I loved him, too—just as much as I loved my daughter. Oh, it took some time for our relationship to become as close as that with my daughter, considering that I had spent eighteen months with her, and had barely known my son. But I loved him every bit as much as I loved her. I don’t know how it happened, but my love for my daughter didn’t lessen. Instead, I somehow had an equal amount of love from my son. I know, of course, that God had put this love in my heart, enabling me to love more than one child.

It was the same way with my third child—that additional love was there, available for her.

It was the same way with my fourth child, too. I don’t love the fourth one less than the first, or the second or the third. She’s not in fourth place. I love them all equally.

Aren’t you glad God loves in the same way? Oh, I’m not saying that I love as perfectly as God loves. Far from it. What I am saying is that I’m very glad that with each additional child that comes into His fold, God has more than enough love to love them, too. He doesn’t love me less than my mom, just because she was “born again” first. Nor does He love my daughter any less than He loves me, just because she was born again later.

Praise God and His magnificent love, He loves us all with the same intense, all-consuming love, no matter where we fall in the birth order.

Think about that for a minute. God’s love is so great and so vast that He has enough love to completely, totally cover every one of his children from the beginning of time up until now, and from now until eternity begins.

Isn’t that an amazing amount of love? And it’s never going to be all used up. No matter how many people become God’s children, His love will never have reached its limit. There is no maximum capacity for God’s love.

I ask again: isn’t that amazing?

Take some time today and meditate on the vastness and completeness of God’s love. Marvel that He extends that love to you, and that He has plenty to extend to your children.

And then pray He will help you to love as He does—completely.

May your love be all the love a child could ever want from an earthly parent, just as God’s love is more than we could ever imagine.

Strategy

Megan Breedlove No Comments

Usually, I’m not much for playing computer games. There is one I really enjoy, however. It’s called Peggle. Basically, you shoot a little ball at an array of pegs, and you try to knock out all the orange ones. It’s simple, clean, and fun.

My kids really enjoy it, too. Ellie, at five-and-a-half, is old enough to play on her own. She also likes to watch her daddy and me play, as do the others—even the baby. If I’m at the computer, and one of the kids comes by, he or she will frequently ask, “Will you play Peggle, Mommy?”

When I play, I usually have at least one child watching, and often more. Kenny offers advice such as, “Win, Mommy! Win!” Ellie will say, “Get that one, Mommy,” touching the screen to point to a particular peg, thereby blocking my view of it. As I play, she’ll dance around in nervous tension or suck in her breath as she waits for me to make a shot, especially as the number of balls in the ball-o-tron runs out.

When I win, the kids are excited. They will grin and cheer loudly and enthusiastically. “You did it, Mommy!” “Yayyyyyyyyyyy!”

Sometimes, however, my ideas of what it is going to take to win differ from their ideas.

I usually have a particular strategy in mind in trying to clear the orange pegs, or sometimes, the whole board. Ellie has her own ideas of what I should do, and she generously shares them with me. “Mommy, get that one. No, that one.” (Big sigh.) “Mommy, you—” (Sighhhhhh.)

Clearly, how I’m playing doesn’t match up with her idea of how I ought to be playing, and this frustrates her. It frustrates me, too, that she gets frustrated with my playing when actually, I understand the game better than she does.

If she just knew the game better, I think to myself, she’d understand what I was doing and wouldn’t try to offer me advice.

Sounds like something God could say about us, doesn’t it?

It’s the same answer God gave to Job when Job was questioning him. Instead of directly answering the question, God pointed out that Job wasn’t present when God created the world, Job didn’t have the ability to create the world, and Job didn’t really understand how creation worked.

In other words, who was Job to question God?

Dear sister in Christ, do you question God’s strategy? Do you give him demands loosely disguised as suggestions regarding how the world—or just your life—should be run?

Maybe you would never directly tell God what you think he should do. Maybe you are always careful to add the phrase “Lord willing” after your requests. If you are sincere, that’s wonderful. But consider this: when life doesn’t work out as you think it should, do you get angry?

We don’t get angry at someone we think is doing the right thing. We only get angry when we think someone is doing something wrong.

Friends, I’ve been there, too. I’ve been angry at God. I’ve questioned his strategy pretty directly at times.

That’s sin.

Asking God “Why?” is okay, if we’re really asking for information. If we’re questioning his right to do something, or his wisdom or goodness in doing it, that’s not okay.

True, some things that happen to us are not “good”. But we must not allow the bad things in our lives to make us question God’s character or sovereignty.

You see, we don’t have the big picture. We don’t know everything God knows. We don’t have the pure and holy motivations God has. We can’t see eternity.

Why, then, would we think we are competent to question his strategy?

Sometimes, life hurts so badly that we cry out to God. Crying out to him and begging him for answers is okay. God expects and encourages us to seek him desperately when the world is falling down around our ears.

But we must always remember that he understands in ways we are incapable of. And we must make the choice to trust him to have the right strategy for running his world.

Is it an easy choice to make? No. It’s simple, but it’s not easy, especially in the face of suffering and agony.

But trusting him is the only reasonable choice to make.

You see, either he is God, or he isn’t. Either he is capable of determining the best strategy for running the world he created, or he isn’t. Either he is good all the time, or he isn’t.

What do your emotions say that you believe?

Isaiah 55:9—As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

More Rocks

Megan Breedlove No Comments

My third child, Lindsey, is usually the last one to the minivan. This is because the older two, Ellie and Kenny, have to have a race to see who can get there first. Lindsey, on the other hand, is content to get there when she gets there.

Usually, Lindsey comes directly to the van. Sometimes, however, something distracts her on the way, and she takes a detour, or simply stops along the way to do something.

On one particular day when she was almost two-and-a-half, Lindsey’s attention was captured by the rocks in our gravel driveway. She was going through a phase where she would squat down, carefully examine the rocks, and choose one or two before moving to the next spot in the driveway and doing the same thing.

This day was no exception.

Ellie and Kenny got into the van, and I lifted the baby in her car carrier and snapped it into the base. Lindsey was still busy checking out rocks. “Come on, Lindsey,” I said.

Lindsey clutched her rocks in her two little fists and obediently got into the van. Then, she opened her fists to show the rocks to Kenny. “Look, Kenny!” she said. “More rocks!”

I tried to be patient as I stood there waiting for her to finish showing off her rocks and get into her seat. After all, I had four young kids to manage and places to go. Rocks were not on my list of priorities. They were not important to me.

They could have been.

Instead of trying to get Lindsey to hurry up and get in the van, I could have taken a few seconds and squatted down with her to admire her rocks. I could have shown her that what interested her interested me, instead of failing to see what she valued as important.

Even before Lindsey reached her seat in the van, I realized how glad I am that God takes more of an interest in my interests than I sometimes do in my kids’.

God is not impatient with my interests because he has other things to do. God doesn’t see the things I am interested in as boring—something he might have been interested in at one time, but not anymore.

No, God involves himself in my life and my interests because he is interested in me.

God’s ways are higher than my ways, and his thoughts than my thoughts. God knows far more than I ever will about everything—in fact, everything that exists, he either created or gave mankind the ability to create. Yet amazingly, astonishingly, God still squats down to my eye level to share my life and my interests with me.

Stop and think about that a minute. And think about the wonderful, profound ramifications of that thought.

When you or I have fun creating something delicious for dinner, God enjoys the experience with us. When we get a “well done” from our supervisor, God is glad with us. When our child takes his or her first steps, God rejoices with us.

How do I know?

Over and over throughout the Bible, God reveals himself as an emotional Being who responds emotionally to the things that happen to his people. True, his emotions are not entirely like ours—his are never capricious or inappropriate, never out of proportion, never sinful. But he does feel. He does react to the things that his people experience.

In fact, Jesus says that anything we do to one of his children, we do to him. In other words, he takes the things that happen to us very personally.

The things we experience matter to him.

How incredible is that? That Almighty God cares about the smallest details of our lives? That he interests himself in the things that interest us? That he is moved by the things that happen to us?

Beloved, as you go through your day today, I encourage you to try something.

Several times, stop and remember the fact that God is with you (if he is in you). Ask him to show you his perspective on your day. Ask him how he feels right then about what you are experiencing. Ask him what have been his delights—or what has been his sadness—about your day.

Then thank him for his magnificent love that cares about you and about your experiences.

See if you’re not drawn closer into an incredible, loving relationship with the precious Lover of your soul.

Matthew 10:29-31—Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

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