Fury of the Oppressor

For all of us Kansans out there... the sun is out! Can you believe it? I think my eyes have never been happier to see such bright light as they are today. Seriously, the past two weeks have been bleak bleak bleak!

And has it really been two weeks since my last post!?!?! Gracious me alive... I guess with the end of school, I didn't feel like I had much to say. I still don't, but God is nudging me to share so I will be faithful.

I recently finished the Beth Moore Bible study, Breaking Free (updated version). It was a great study, but, as always, I wished I had had more time to really dive into Scripture and spend time meditating on what I was learning. Not having anything new to really study for quiet times, I decided to go through portions of the study that I had marked as especially powerful. I landed on a passage in Isaiah that has been on my heart and in my head all week; it's a simple phrase, but it's really causing me to think. In Isaiah 51:13, it says, "That you have forgotten the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth, That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy ? But where is the fury of the oppressor ?"

The phrase is "fury of the oppressor." I've been thinking about it and praying about what God is saying. Fury is such a vivid word; it really stirs up a lot of images and emotions as well as the word "oppressor." These aren't everyday words. They describe, to me, the notion that I'm living my day in great busyness and haste which causes me to be under such oppression instead of living in freedom as Christ calls me.

Isaiah is speaking to the Israelites in this passage because they had forgotten their first love, the Lord God. How often do I go about my day as if I am the one who has caused the sun to rise, the wind to blow, the rain to fall (lately that's all it's been doing!), my kids to be born, their personalities formed at my whim? Who do I think I am? And when I go about my day in this manner, I feel pressed and rushed in everything I do. There's little peace, but if I recall that God has given me everything as gifts to be offered back up to Him, then I find the oppression lifted and liberty lauded.

I wish I could tell you that this poignant thinking about the fury of the oppressor has caused me to release myself to God's strength, but it hasn't. And yet, I bow my knee and whisper a prayer that God will allow me to let go of the chaos that ensnares my day with little ones demanding my attention. In release, the fury simmers down, and a gentle, yet strong, breeze blows in and seems to bring the peace that can only come from Abba, Daddy, Father God.

Blessings!

Ice Cream in the Morning

Today is a momentous day at our house. J and Mom just finished preschool for the year! Wahoo! It's a big day, and yet, I realize that I have two other children who will achieve that milestone in a few years... as well as the celebratory child starting Kindergarten in the fall. So, how did we celebrate? We went to Chick-fil-A to get ice cream. J's first choice was Dairy Queen, but as it was 10:30 in the morning, DQ was not quite operating yet for the day.

With a strawberry shake in hand and a vanilla cup in the other, J delivered our goodies to our table. We thanked God for a great year of learning and then enjoyed this treat at 10:45. I was really hoping that it would be 11:00 by the time we ate the sugary goodness because, somehow, 11:00 seems more like "lunchtime." I got over my fear of being labeled a bad mother as soon as I saw the smiles on the kids' faces. Such simple things to make them so happy... sometimes I wonder why I can't be more like them in the simple pleasures of life!

To top off the dessert, I let the kids play in the playground area for a few minutes before schlepping them home for a light lunch... they can't possibly be that hungry after devouring the icy treats! This freedom to play, in and of itself, was a treat as I usually am "too busy" to let them play at restaurants. That, and I get tired of the loud noises when encased in the play area, watching them; however, the restaurant was fairly deserted which made for a quieter experience in general.

What a good Friday! I enjoyed, for the most part, this first foray into home schooling with J this year. I realize it was just preschool, but it showed me his strengths and weaknesses, mine as well, and how we need to work on a few areas in order for us to effectively be student and teacher in the fall. He's learned how to read, do simple addition, write with legibility his numbers and letters (and now knows his phone number and address!), sit and listen to lengthy stories without pictures, and so much more. Most importantly I've begun to see how God has uniquely shaped him for purposes yet to be seen and how glorious it is for me to be able to encourage him to fulfill God's plan for his life. Wow!

Happy summer everyone... okay, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, but break has started at our house!

Blessings!

So many things

Hello. Is anyone still out there? I've been quite delinquent on my blogging responsibility, and I've missed it! Darling hubby has a deadline at work this Friday so he has been putting in MANY hours over the last couple of weeks; I, in turn, feel as though I'm on overtime with the kids in the evenings! I don't know how single moms do it. By God's strength!

Today is Wednesday so I'm "supposed" to write about being a wife. Honestly, that's a hard subject for me, today. I feel disconnected from Ben since he's been working so much. It's not just the physical hours that he's away from home, but it's the emotional and mental stress I put on myself to be on top of everything when he's so busy. When he's home at night, he's working on his college prof stuff, and I'm exhausted from a full day with the kids... hardly a formula for connecting with each other.

However, I had an idea today... put there only by God because I really didn't need any more stuff on my to-do list... why not make him a treat to encourage him and bring it to his office? So in between school with J, cleaning the bathroom downstairs, dusting, and generally watching the kids, I made a chocolate chip pecan pie. I don't like pecan pie so this was entirely for him. I even remembered to have whipped cream for him. I packed up the kids and we headed off to his office.

We were cruising down the road when I saw the dreaded orange signs on the street... many construction trucks and "oooooing and ahhhhing" from the backseat crew later, we arrived and delivered our goody. He was pleasantly surprised. And we returned home via the same route out of deference to my son. He loves the big trucks!

So, in the end, did it make a difference to Ben that I made him a pie? Maybe... but probably not a long term effect. But what it did to me was to show me, once again, that it's not all about me. HA! Like I can even think that it is! Sometimes I have to act my way into doing something so that in the end, I'm glad that I did it.

I don't share my story with you to point at me and say, "Wow... what a wife!" Hardly... especially if you could have seen the tornado in the house and some of the "short moments" with the kids. But I took the nudge from the Holy Spirit to do something that honors another... especially my husband. And do you know what? It wasn't really for Ben. It was for me; to put me back into the right perspective of what life is about. It's about giving and shining the light of Jesus and sometimes that light needs a little shaking before the battery clicks into place and the bulb turns on!

Blessings!