Mother's Day
Mother's Day is not celebrated here in Nicaragua for a few more weeks but naturally, I found myself (Jeff) thinking about and appreciating my mom today. This morning, as I was thinking about my mother, I found myself appreciating a particular value that she holds, and has passed on to me: Obey God, even if it looks harder than disobedience. I was thinking through this lens as I read Joshua 5:14 this morning..."I am at your command." Joshua said (to the Lord). "What do you want your servant to do?"
Growing up, my mother modeled this character trait of "sold out" obedience to the Lord. Without being fully conscience of it, I pursued this same value in my wife. When I describe what I appreciate most about Bethany, this is #1. Bethany will do whatever God asks of her with faith-filled, joyful obedience (this is different than happy-happy-yay-yay obedience, but that is a different blog).
Naturally, this is having an impact on our children. On our morning drive to school, we use the time to "walk" through the stories of the Old Testament. This week we were discussing the poor decisions of some of the kings of Israel, and in particular, their marriages to women that distracted them from obeying God. I was able to quickly point out what their grandmother had taught me...and how I had been attracted to this in their mother...and now I was encouraging them to live this way as well...and to seek spouses with the same value...and to pass it on to their kids...
Do you see here, how my mother is affecting her grandchildren and has the hope of affecting her great grandchildren as well? So, I would encourage you to appreciate those who have been good examples to you, and especially if you are a parent, to be intentional about modeling this type of Godly obedience for your kids as well.
Thank you mom! I love you! Happy Mother's Day
Enjoy a 1970's picture of my mom.
Growing up, my mother modeled this character trait of "sold out" obedience to the Lord. Without being fully conscience of it, I pursued this same value in my wife. When I describe what I appreciate most about Bethany, this is #1. Bethany will do whatever God asks of her with faith-filled, joyful obedience (this is different than happy-happy-yay-yay obedience, but that is a different blog).
Naturally, this is having an impact on our children. On our morning drive to school, we use the time to "walk" through the stories of the Old Testament. This week we were discussing the poor decisions of some of the kings of Israel, and in particular, their marriages to women that distracted them from obeying God. I was able to quickly point out what their grandmother had taught me...and how I had been attracted to this in their mother...and now I was encouraging them to live this way as well...and to seek spouses with the same value...and to pass it on to their kids...
Do you see here, how my mother is affecting her grandchildren and has the hope of affecting her great grandchildren as well? So, I would encourage you to appreciate those who have been good examples to you, and especially if you are a parent, to be intentional about modeling this type of Godly obedience for your kids as well.
Thank you mom! I love you! Happy Mother's Day
Enjoy a 1970's picture of my mom.
