Inheritance (Moms e-mail: April)

Hello mom people!
How does this Tuesday find you? Well, I hope. I'm not too excited about the snow flakes I see daring to appear in this second week of April! I laughed as I did it, but I'll admit to having asked God if He would /please/ make it be warmer than the weather people were predicting. I'm sure He laughed too!

Anyhow, there is this theme that has popped up repeatedly in my life this past week. It's come to me from a book I'm reading, from the BGC World publication, from a chat I had with a friend, and maybe even other sources. I think God may be trying to get my attention. :) That theme: inheritance. I'm not talking dollars and "stuff". I'm speaking spiritually. As a mother, I'm challenged to think about what I want to pass on to my kids. What are the most important things I can teach them? What do I want to stick with them into adulthood and after I'm gone. What do I want to fill the blanks when my kids say to their friends, "Yeah, my mom always says (or said), '_______________'." It's easy for me as a mom to get absorbed by the daily routines--eating, dressing, sleeping, eating, playing, disciplining, grocery shopping, eating, sleeping... I'm often living in the moment, sometimes just "surviving" moment. But, lately, I've been compelled to consider what I want, or what God wants, my children to inherit from their mom. It's not that I've never thought about it, but I don't know if I've ever nailed down a top five list or created tangible goals. How about you? Have you thought about it? If so, would you be willing to share some of your thoughts? How about we think we think about this inheritance question this week and share some thoughts when we meet in person next Tuesday. Or, if you you're dying to share now, go ahead and post your thoughts. Also, if you know of or find some Bible passages that relate, share those too!

In His Grace,
KP

Blessings in Christ (Moms' E-mail: January)

Hello moms, grand-moms and moms-to-be!

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:2-3)

Wow! That IS cool! Christ has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ! To find out more about what Paul was speaking of, crack open your Bibles to Ephesians 1. Good stuff! I, myself, have been reminded in tangible ways the last few days of Christ's amazing love for me, and His grace that He joyfully lavishes upon me.

Let's continue to share the love that Christ has overflowed us with and uphold one another in prayer, eh?

In His Grace,
KP

Still Creating? (Moms' E-mail: March)

Hello moms, grand-moms and moms-to-be!

I'm enjoying the sun and Springy weather today. Thank you God for making the sun!

Genesis 1 1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 *God saw that the light was good*, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. *And God saw that it was good*. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Sometimes I like to dwell on God as THE Creator. Thinking how I enjoy the sun and its warmth made me think of it today and hence to include these passages from Genesis. I highlighted the "good" parts. Isn't it interesting that those lines are included? He seemed rather pleased with His creation. I like to think that God is still in the business of creating. He did it in a big way with Jesus. There was a darkness from sin over the whole world, and God sent Jesus to be THE [spiritual] Light of the World--and He is goodness personified! In the hearts of us who know Jesus, God is still creating and doing His "good" work. He is looking at the formless, empty, and dark things in us and saying, "Let there be light!" AND, I'll bet He thinks it's pretty cool, or shall I say good. I find that very encouraging. I love picturing God creating as He did in Genesis. That was so HUGE! If He can do that, surely He can create anything He wants to in little old me!

In His Grace,
KP

Miracles? (Moms' E-mail: February)

Here is my thought for the week: Have you ever thought much about miracles? Sometimes it seems we don't see too many, but sometimes I wonder how many miracles God performs that we are just never aware of. Like, how many times has He prevented a car accident that you didn't know was about to happen? How many unsavory characters has He diverted from your life path (or your children's)? How many illnesses has He kept you (or your loved ones) from catching? I'm starting to see more of these "hidden" miracles as I look back at my life, though I'm sure I have only a small glimpse of what He's been up to.

We often ask "why" when we do encounter difficult challenges in our lives. Why did ___ get cancer? Why did God let ____ happen? We've all been there. But, do we thank Him for taking care of all the things we aren't even aware that He is taking care of? Something to think about. I'll give you an example from my life. Just over a week ago, I was toasting some bread in my toaster oven. I was scrambling to feed and clean up both my kids while hoping to get a bite in somewhere myself. You know the drill. Amidst the chaos of the breakfast affair, my ears tuned in to a quiet "click" that signaled the end of the toasting cycle. I just happened to turn around and look up from my multi-tasking fiasco in the dining room toward the kitchen and was surprised to behold a FIRE burning in my toaster! I ran to the kitchen and stood there like an idiot for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to squelch the flames and mentally estimating how much time I had before the wooden cabinet beneath would catch fire and then the kitchen and my house... Suddenly, a made a dash for the fire extinguisher which we had located under the kitchen sink. Dash is stretching it a bit, since I had to maneuver a child lock to access the cabinet and finagle a bit to get the extinguisher out of the never-opened box it came in. I pulled the pin, aimed and the trigger wouldn't depresss! I was beginning to feel a bit anxious--and was it my imagination, or was the fire growing?!? It turns out the mounting bracket was still attached to the extinguisher. Once I removed it, I aimed once again and--Josiah instantly materialized under my left elbow and asked what was going on. I yelled, "Get back!" and then "PSHHHHHHHHT!" The fire was out. Fwew! There was a nice coating of yellow powder covering most of one end of my kitchen. I could have been grumpy about that, or the fact that I now needed a new toaster oven, or that my toast was, well, toast. But, I have no idea what kind of disaster was avoided then. I trust that God was there helping me through the whole situation. My toaster was lost, but my kitchen was spared, my house was spared, and much more importantly my children and myself were completely unhurt! I think this verse applies here and speaks to the tough times we've had as well as those we've avoided. We can trust Him, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it's much worse than a fire in our toaster. That's good news!

Romans 8:28 28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Take a moment to thank God for working for our good in all things--even we are completely unaware.

Have a great week.

In His Grace,
KP

Mom's E-mails

I've been writing little ditties for the Moms' Prayer Group at my church. Almost every Tuesday, I send one out to encourage, challenge and inspire. On the third Tuesday of the month, we meet in person, share prayer requests, pray for one another, eat and chat. It's great fun. If you are a mom and live near south Minneapolis, MN, you should come! We have a GREAT bunch of mommies!

Anyhow, I thought I'd start posting some of my little messages on my blog in case there were any folks out there who might enjoy them.

God Bless!