my Facebook post this morning...

Stand with me for a moment and pause amidst your full day to listen. Under this canopy of golden blooms, bees buzz in their distinct anthem of likemindedness and purpose. Though I captured only one furry creature from behind my lens, the power of the presence of this hive is unmistakable. There is a multitude at work! And what are they doing? Well of course, they are finding sweet nectar and pollen. From these brave determined yet fragile creatures comes an offering like no other...honey! Is there anything like it? The delicious, exquisite byproduct of their obedience to the task at hand is a treasure of sweetness, which fills and nourishes. Even the most bitter thing one must swallow can be transformed by a bit of honey. And as they spread provision in their dilegence, blossoms and fruit will also come, about which they don't even know! Today, the love of Jesus is transforming bitter things, through the hard work set before us as his hands and feet on earth. Do not be overwhelmed or afraid! There is much to do, and perhaps you feel small and alone, but you are powerfully equipped and the remnant is a mighty network! The equipping by God's Word and power of prayer are our mighty tools. And yes, we can sting, but that is our protection only when we must! Our main goal is to work in unity, to bring the sweetest love of Jesus to the world. It transforms everything!

Colors

         Last night Emmaus wondered how one could tell from where Daddy is. You see, Emmaus believes a person’s hair indicates a lot about their origin. He said, "Well, Ezra and I have curly hair, so we are from Ethiopia. Daddy is bald, so it is hard to know!"

             The day before he had asked, "Where is the black girl from in the movie, Courageous, her family is different from ours. Is she also Ethiopian?"  I answered that hers may be an African American family, who has a more similar hue of skin to each other than we do.

            Ezra announced, "Emmaus and I are black,” then she flipped her palms forward for me to see, "but I'm a little white."

            The movie, Courageous, has a sound track and theme song to match.  We listen to the title song EVERY day on the way to preschool, at Zion's request. These are the words, "We were meant to be courageous, we were meant to lead the way, we were meant to be the generation that finally breaks the chains...." then Casting Crowns goes on to sing, "Seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God...in the war of the mind I will take my stand in the battle of the heart and the battle of the mind...we were meant to be courageous!"  Well, God is good to do brilliant things under my radar, I didn’t even think about the meaning of the words our children sing every day at the top of their lungs until recently.   This is the theme song for their lives and ours.  God’s grace is equipping our children for battle, to lead in truth for their generation.

            The societal swing of the pendulum of racism is a dizzying torment to the heart our Creator gave us to love each other and rejoice in the beauty of our unique colors, cultures and preferences. The phenomenal layers of unique characteristics are celebrated amongst our children freely.  It is when they are told how to think with hearts held captive to manmade rules of correctness, laced with a guilt or victim mindset, that they enter a realm of confusion. Theirs are minds less fettered by man's tampering.  

            My daily goal is to fill our children with all that speaks life from God's Word; and the way they live their thoughts out-loud to us, is our daily portion of getting plumb line with who God is and how beautifully he created each of one us.  As if to have the last word on this subject Emmaus asked, “What color chocolate am I?”…the sweetest kind, most definitely!

An Evening of Beauty

A lovely invitation to “An Evening of Beauty” appeared in the mail.  The crisp white paper with silhouettes of daisies edged in sky-blue intrigued me.  Yet, as I read the winsome words, I felt the color flush to my cheeks.  Through my vulnerable mailbox, open to a myriad of requests, announcements, encouraging and frustrating words, I had been accosted by a cultural demand to enslave me to a definition, which lies to women. It demands us to believe that beauty is only as deep as flesh, pulled and manipulated to pretend that years have not aged us, and we are only as valuable as our judge, the world deems us to be.  It is not the way we live on the inside that matters, it is the way we look that is the most important of all.  Flesh will be dust, but the spiritual heart is eternal, which is worthy of investment?

Just two days ago I’d asked Malachi to pray for me to eat more healthfully and find time to exercise amidst our busy life.  He answered, “Mamma, maybe at spring break you can do that…or in the summer.  You don’t have time for that with taking care of us and writing.”

Last night Magdalene was dancing ballet late and Dennis’ evening required a welcome celebration for a colleague.  So the Middle Littles, Littles and I dined at Burger King.  Everyone wore crowns at the table, delighted to feast on delicious hot food and be served by a smiling staff!  Someone asked if Burger King and Dairy Queen knew one another.  I responded like a thirteen year old,  “They are probably star crossed lovers!”   Five -year-old Zion spoke wisely, “They’re standing opposite each other on a chess board!”

With no dishes to wash, snoozing dogs on places and cats in hiding, we entered our quiet house around bedtime.  Within ten minutes, pajama clad Littles snuggled at the opposite ends of the couches.  Malachi, Salome’ and I laid two blankets on the floor, set a bowl of trail mix on the coffee table and some sunflower seeds in a cup.  I poured a glass of wine and Malachi lit one bright candle while Salome’ shut out every other light.  We turned on CD #9 of the Mitford Series by Jan Karon, our current audio book and listened, our minds held captive to her story written with words of life about a community of people who love and believe in, and seek the best for each other.

Today on the way to pre-school a song came on the radio about orphans, “…boys will be kings, girls will be queens, wrapped in your majesty…when we love the least of these…” My eyes brimmed with tears, the least of these are the very best of me.  I’d had an evening of beauty with Kings and Queens by God’s invitation, His open invitation to all.