Becoming Chosen

The outline and majority of these thoughts (I have added a few of my own) were shared by Sarah Clarkson, Sally Clarkson's daughter, at the conference my sister and I were able to go to.  Because they were so inspiring and thought-provoking, I thought I would share them with you.

As we read through the Bible, we see over and over how God carefully chooses certain people for certain tasks - not just tasks but world changing events! What is it that God is looking for?  Why does He choose that person instead of this one?  Some of the people God chose were nothing like we may have chosen, but we must remember that God is looking at the heart - the inside part where no tricks or hypocrisy can be played.  As Sarah studied out several women in the Bible and the way God used them, she found four major themes that ran through each one's life, and these may just be the reasons why God chose them to play an exceptional part in His plan during their lifetime. 

STORY - Every person longs to know that their life has meaning, and we long to know that our lives are a part of a bigger picture.  God has called each of us to live a great part in His story, but are we willing?  God has written the story, but are we trying to rewrite it our way or play a part He didn't intend for us to have?  The way we can know God's story for us is by reading and loving His Word.  It is not just a book of rules and laws.  It is His story for our lives.

STILLNESS - In order to engage with God, we must cultivate quietness.  We must come away from the clamor of the world so that we can hear his still, small voice speaking to us.  Mary was a ponderer. Esther waited, prayed and fasted for three days before she approached the king. Mary of Bethany sat at the feet of Jesus.  All of these women remind us that we cannot be greatly used by God unless we come away from everything else and be still and hear His voice.

SUFFERING - Mary suffered much as the mother of the Savior of the world.  Esther knowingly risked her life when she could have easily hidden her identity.  Mary of Bethany followed Jesus faithfully and probably experienced ridicule and rejection from family and friends. Suffering will come to all of us, but we, like these women in Scripture, must meet suffering with faith. What does it mean to live godly in a broken world?  It means creating life and beauty and celebration in the midst of the dark times and suffering that comes.  It means believing always in a beautiful and good God who has your best interests at heart.

SENT - Each person ever to be used by God in an extraordinary way has always been willing to do anything and go anywhere.  Are you willing to live the story God has planned for you?  Are you willing to be chosen?  Because if you are, "the God of the universe wants to meet with you."

Wishing you a day full of blessings,

Christy

Homeschool Journal - 1/25

Now that it is January 25, I thought I would finally link back up to the Homeschool Mother's Journal!!! I have missed doing this, and I want to be able to keep a record of this journey so that I can look back on it in the future with a fondness that I may not always feel right now! :)

 

In my life this week...

I feel like I am beginning to feel our rhythm of life again.  I know! I know! It has taken forever, but I am thankful that life is slowing down.  I have also adjusted several things in my personal schedule and in our school schedule making things flow a little more smoothly.  

In our homeschool this week...

Because I was away for part of last week attending Sally Clarkson's conference, we were playing a bit of catch up this week.  We focused primarily on phonics, reading, math and history.  I have begun using The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, and the kids are enjoying it very much!  It teaches history in chronological order and comes with an activity guide that includes projects as well as suggestions for more reading on each subject.
  

Garrett and Madelyn began reading WORDS this week!  My babies are growing up on me!  It is still a very slow process, but their smile when they finally read the entire word all together is absolutely worth it! 

Our biggest homeschooling change this semester has been to finally switch over to year round schooling.  I've thought of doing this several times but was not completely sure of the capacity of my self-discipline!  (I still am not sure of it!)  However, looking at the schedule, there was just no way to teach 3 and possibly 4 different age levels, keep up with a baby, and keep up with home and the sweet Mr.  It has taken so much pressure off of me to focus on our larger subjects 3 days a week and our smaller subjects 2 days each week!  I can breathe again!  Now, if I can just keep it going during the summer months when we are so tempted to be lazy and enjoy the sunshine!

My favorite thing this week was...

Watching the kiddos all work together to plan and write a play about Samson - our Bible lesson this week!  They even had balloons blown up and shoved up Andrew's shirt for his "strong muscles" and then popped the balloons when his strength left him!  A+ for creativity!

I'm grateful for...

Being able to go to the conference last week!!! It was such an inspiring weekend, and I was able to go with my sister who I only get to see about once a year!  I'm also extraordinarily grateful to my sweet Mr. for watching the kiddos while I was gone.  He handled things quite well with the help of the second mom in the house, Evvie! (Who, by the way, received a bouquet of flowers from her Daddy for being such a helper!)

I'm praying for...

Wisdom in the area of managing my time!  I have sooooo many things I want to accomplish in this life, and it seems like there is never enough time!  I need wisdom to focus on what is most important right now and to know what I should save for another day.  

A quote (or few) to share:

A few more quotes from Sally's conference:

"We (moms) will never be good enough, but God is more than enough."

"If you do not have a large vocabulary, you cannot think profound thoughts."

"We do not have heroes because people do not live by God's purpose."

"Hope believes that my life will matter."

"The difficult times that come into your life will be what allows your children to see your faith.  They will remember what it looks like to serve God in difficult circumstances because they saw you do it."

Wishing you a day full of blessings,

Christy

More Thoughts from Sally for ALL Ladies!

Although I have written this post in the context of motherhood, it truly can apply to anyone!

I still have so many thoughts swirling around in my mind from the conference, and I have been trying to put it all into practice as well!  I have to remind myself - a little at a time.  No one ever changed the world overnight, but I would sure love to! :)  I thought that today I would share a few things that stood out from all the rest.  One of the biggest differences I have found in Sally has been her emphasis of her quiet time.  I have always heard so many moms talk about how having babies and preschoolers is such a physically exhausting time (AMEN!) and how during this season of life we may not have time for long quiet talks with God or for saturating our lives with His Word.  Because of this, I have always felt that I should long for those quiet times, but a quick read and prayer off and on throughout my day is fine too.  Sally, however, emphasizes that we as moms cannot live a holy, set apart, noble life if we do not have a close and intimate relationship with the One who is holy.  As Sally reminded us life is not perfect - it never has been, and it never will be.  I need to stop waiting for my life to slow down, and instead, I need to make my relationship with Christ my priority.  If I do not do this, how can I expect my children to?  Do I always manage to have a wonderful, uninterrupted quiet time.  Not always.  But by dying to myself and my own selfish desires, I have begun to make more time for DAILY quiet times.  Now, before anyone accuses me of being a legalist (because we do fling that word around quite a bit, don't we?), let me say, I do not believe that this is something I must do in order to prove I am saved; nor do I believe that if I miss a day, I need to beat myself over the head about it all day.  I do believe, though, that the best gift I can give my children is to have a real, living, wholehearted, want Jesus more than anything relationship, and that takes TIME!  "If you're not engaging your heart with God, you are dying."

The second big thought that stood out to me during this conference was that God made women for each other - to encourage each other and to teach each other.  We women have become enemies to one another in an effort to outdo the other or to look better than the other.  We need to put aside our pride, and ask God to help us accept the wisdom other women have to offer while also reaching out to encourage them.  Sally pointed out how the midwives banded together to help protect the Hebrew boys from the cruel Pharoah.  God blessed them for that!  She reminded us of Ruth and Naomi and how God used Ruth who was considered to be "out of the circle" to encourage and lift up Naomi at one of her lowest times of life.  Even though Ruth was not who we would have chosen for this job, God chose her because she had a heart that longed for Him.  The relationship that Mary and Elisabeth had enabled Mary to walk through what was probably an emotionally difficult and lonely pregnancy.  Lois and Eunice appear to be the primary faith builders in the life of Timothy, and from the little God gives us in Scripture, we can assume that they accomplished this task together - helping one another and supporting each other.  "When women walk together with God, history is changed."  

The last thought that I heard Sally repeat several times was that we are in a spiritual warfare.  (You can see another post on spiritual warfare here.) As Christians, we many times forget that we are walking in a world of darkness - a world that longs to snatch our children from us.  We cannot forget that the family is Satan's biggest enemy.  If he can cause the fathers to quit leading, the mothers to quit caring, and the children to quit listening, then he has conquered.  Christians have been so consumed by the world that we do not even realize how much worldly philosophy we carry with us!  The most important question is not "What will my child be when he grows up?"!  It is, "Who will my child live for when he grows up?"  We must fight for our children's hearts, and it is a hard fight!  BUT, with God, all things are possible, and we can win the victory through His strength!  

God made women for a purpose, and sadly, our generation of women have forgotten, or possibly never even knew, what that purpose was.  If you will live your life God's way - whether you are  a mom or not - you will find purpose and beauty and rest.  No other way will do.  Seek God with your whole heart, place Him first in everything, center your entire life around Him - every decision, every thought, every action - and then you will find that all your emptiness and expectations will be filled.

Wishing you a day full of blessings,

Christy