On Wednesday, I read my daily Bible selection, following the through-the-Bible-in-a-year schedule as set out by the good folks at One Year Bible.

Not my actual Bible. I use the online version, usually NIV or some other

I came across a passage in Luke that warns against complacency among believers, and encourages faithful servants of the Master to be ready for His return. I had tended to interpret this as referring primarily to the Second Coming, the time when Jesus returns in majesty, glory and power to claim His own.

One of the really cool things about reading the Bible is that, because it is the very inspired living Word of God, the Holy Spirit is able to interpret it to the heart of man in new and fuller ways, the more it is read and studied. This time when I read it, I thought in terms of the smaller ‘returns’ of the Master, as He calls to me in my day-to-day life:

“Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn. But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.” — Luke 12:35-38

Many non-believers play a deadly sort of game with God, knowing that He exists, but delaying their recognition of Him in their lives. “I’ll get right with God when I’m done with the ‘me’ phase of my life,” they tell themselves, not realizing that they are hardening their hearts against God’s influence, painting themselves into a corner where they cannot respond to His love, more surely than Ebenezer Scrooge forged his chains of greed. When the end of their life comes, often unexpectedly, they find that they never quite made the time or opportunity to turn their hearts to God, and so they spend eternity, separated from Him and all of His glory.

I think it is possible even for a Christian to play a variant of this game. “I’ll become a fully devoted follower of Jesus once I take care of [insert excuse here]”. It may be a job, wealth, family, marital status, schooling, personal entertainment or any other thing that I put ahead of the call of the Master in my life. And so they go on with their lives, not responding to the Master’s call in their daily walk with Him.

“But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.” — Luke 12:45-46

Surprise, surprise, at some point the Master will return in glory, and mete out rewards and punishments as promised. But along the way, there are also many rewards to be had, for those servants who are faithful to obey His voice.

I haven’t been sleeping very well of late, because of my allergies – averaging about 5 hours of sleep a night. When I finally saw an allergist on Monday, he gave me a steroid that almost entirely dealt with my symptoms, but (ironically) prevented me from sleeping the first night I took it. On Tuesday I fired off a note to the men I pray with on Wednesday mornings, telling them I may take a ‘pass’ if I was unable to get to sleep early Tuesday night. But before I slept that night, I asked God to wake me if He wanted me there. Then I carefully turned OFF my alarm.

About 25 minutes before we usually meet, Kathy woke up and went to the bathroom, waking me when she came back to bed. I looked at the clock, and realized that, if I took a quick shower and hustled, I could make it on time. Part of me wanted to go back to sleep, but a louder part of me remembered the prayer the night before.

“The Master is calling,“ I reminded myself; and so I got up, grumbling: “… but does He have to call ‘just before dawn’, just to fulfill the Scriptures?”

I’m not very gracious in my thoughts, early mornings.

As it turns out, it was important that I was there to pray, and my presence there opened up several other ways for me to serve. More and more I find myself listening for the voice of my King, and eagerly wanting to please Him, to demonstrate to Him that I am a good servant, not beating the other servants or getting drunk while ‘waiting’ for Him to return.

I was talking yesterday evening with a dear brother, about motivation in pleasing God. “Is it right to be motivated by a desire for reward, when obeying God?” he asked. Christians sometimes get caught up on this kind of thing, wanting to serve with the purest of motives, but not knowing how to get to that point.

“Well, God set up the whole idea of rewards for good service,” I told him. “I don’t think He has any illusions about our motives, and He doesn’t seem to have a problem with our mercenary greed, at least when it is put to His service.” I paused reflectively.

“In my life, I’ve found that the more I serve, the purer my motives become. Even when I start out obeying out of obligation, duty or even fear, I find (if I keep obeying) that my motives begin to joyfully skew toward obedience out of love.”

I’m sure I wasn’t quite that articulate, but, hey, this is my blog, and I can quote myself however I like. I went on at some length, trying to paint a picture of someone who starts out at Duty, and arrives at Love. Most people can identify with this at some level – parenting an infant is like that, or working at a new job (if it is a good one).

Every day that I go in to ‘the city’ to work, I drive past one of the ubiquitous coffee stands that infest our town. This particular one advertises, in a garish pink sign, ‘Bikini Barrista Babes’, and its chain has been featured in local news stories for the scanty nature of the ‘bikinis’. Every day I want to look over as I drive past and check out the girls who serve the coffee. It is a dangerous stretch of road, frankly, not the least because of that visual distraction.

At first, I didn’t look out of duty and obligation. How could I expect to be a worthy instrument of God’s grace if I disobeyed such a simple instruction, so early in the day?

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” — Matthew 5:28

“You shall not commit adultery.” — Exodus 20:14

It doesn’t get much plainer than that, I’m afraid. It is clearly not God’s intent for a man to lust after a woman who is not his wife.

This morning I was thinking about my heart motivations, and I realized that I was able to keep my eyes on the road, not begrudging the duty, but out of joy. “I make a covenant with my eyes not to lust after strange women,” I reminded myself, “because I love my Lord and want to please Him.”

“Women who wear bikinis at 5 in the morning to serve coffee are definitely strange,” I mused.

I’m sure my motivations will not always be good and pure, but I find that I am able to get to that point more and more as I practice obedience.

Still, it would be nice if the Master would return in mid-afternoon, when it is convenient for me.

Tim

It all started one normal afternoon. Rachel E. was sitting on ‘Big Blue’ like a good girl, reading her slightly dull, but historic school book, when she heard a very loud noise.

“Oh my goodness,” she thought to herself. “That sounded like someone dumped a load of wild elephants on our fount porch!” (Rachel has a tendency to exaggerate a little.) Then she heard a small and pitiful meowing that seemed to come from the same area.

“Well If its meowing I hear, a kitten must be near!”

Actually she thought, “Oh no, something terrible must have happened, I should go investigate!” So Rachel quickly ran outside. As she ran around the corner and down the stairs, a big brown cat slipped under her parents’ car and into the neighbors yard.

“Oh,” thought Rachel. “I wonder if that was the meowing I heard, hmm I’ll check just in case.” So she hurried down the stairs, and knelt in the dirt. There in the blackberry bushes was an adorable, perfect, completely terrified, little kitten. She reached her hand under to rescue the poor thing from its cold, and sharp surroundings, but the little imp clawed and bit her. Rachel decided it would be smarter to have gloves for this sort of rescuing. After rushing to gather the very large gloves, she gently lifted the tiny kitten from the thorns. She then showed it to the rest of her family. Some were just thrilled to see a real live kitten, but some were not as pleased.

“Now you may play with the kitten outside, but it does not come in to the house,” said Rachel’s beloved father.

“Yes sir,” Rachel replied but inside, she sighed.

Her mother chimed in, “Aww it’s so cute! Don’t let me get attached to it, or I might want to keep it.”

“And that’s the last thing we want!” Rachel thought. She reminded her mother of how little and sweet it was.

Rachel spent the next glorious hour holding her favorite and most sought after animal in the whole world. Then Rachel’s youngest siblings babied and cuddled the darling kitten. But eventually all good things have to come to an end, (Until we get to Heaven! There good things NEVER come to an end!! ) But in this story, Rachel’s good thing had to come to an end.

Rachel’s father said, “Okay, now take it back where you found it, so its mother can find it again.” This is a very logical statement, but at the time, Rachel thought she would be a much better mom to that little kitten. After all, the mother just abandoned its child! But Rachel knew she must obey, so sadly she took the kitten back to where she found it, but in a slightly more comfortable place, and went back to her school.

That is the end of our tale, Rachel has not rescued the kitten again, and she knows that she probably never will. Even though at this very moment she knows where her little friend is. (And one or more of it’s siblings) So, if anyone of you loyal blog readers think that Rachel should be allowed to keep, or at least attend the kittens, please comment!!

Thank you,
Rachel

P.S. if you don’t believe that this tale is true, just ask Sarah, she saw it too!

David, Daniel and Emma hang out by the pool.

Kathy used to ‘chase the sun’ by driving around town with our three oldest children, looking for blue sky and trying to get near it. East of Seattle, the sun can often be found near the lakes; she bought a detailed map and learned where all the parks were, in her search for sunshine.

Usually the month of June can be relied upon for some serious rain; summer may reign in other parts of the country, but June in Western Washington is often cold and wet. So I was skeptical when Kathy talked about joining the local pool association this summer.

We buy goggles in bulk at Costco.

“It’s not like we have a lot of extra money kicking around,” I reminded her. Between Kathy’s recent crown replacement and my allergy shot bill, we’re hard-pressed to meet our bills these days. “Besides, you’ll go to the pool, what, maybe four times? How often is it going to be sunny and warm between now and August?”

One of Kathy’s great strengths is that when she thinks something is important, she pursues it tenaciously. She began assembling her money and marshalling her reasons:

“Let’s see, if I join before the 31st, the price will come down from $425 to $395. If six of us go to the pool at least 20 times, that brings the price down to less than $3 per person, per visit.”

Rachel spent quite a bit of time this afternoon, teaching Sarah diving tips.

Kathy and I are fundamentally different in this respect: the idea of being somewhere away from home to relax appeals greatly to her, and not to me. My home is where I want to be, most of the time – but ‘home’ for Kathy comes with an associated burden of laundry and dishes and a need to ‘tidy up’. The image of reclining at the pool with her friends proved a strong lure to my beloved:

“OK, so I’ve got $120 from our exercise challenge, and $150 from setting up that checking account (some of the banks in our area have begun incentivizing new customers). If I refer Michelle and we split the referral bonus, that’s another $25.

Two of Kathy’s friends gave her the $45 ‘Diet Fund’ to which the three of them had contributed as an incentive in their weight-loss program, which brought her to $340. Add a bit from the anniversary check that Kathy’s folks gave us, and the pool membership was paid for, all with guilt-free money!

David is surely ready to join the swim team!

In spite of my gloomy weather predictions and Eeyore-like shaking of the head, now Kathy and the kids spend the afternoons at the pool, soaking up this unprecedented June sunshine, as our hot, sunny weather persists into a third week of record-breaking temperatures. The pool deck area has tables and two propane grills so that you can eat a picnic dinner right there at the pool with minimal cleanup and fuss.

“I better break out my Grilling cookbooks,” Kathy remarked smugly.

Tim

You have to ask yourself, what I’m not sure, but something.

Sigh.

Okay, surely I jest.

David managed to get outside for most of the day.

We had a wonderful afternoon! The children and I set off for points south/west, leaving Tim at home to run errands and work on the car. We picked up Joshua’s team mate and enjoyed the gorgeous sunshine, windows rolled down and music blaring.

Rachel is a very determined swimmer. She rocks!

Along the way we met up with some friends and dropped off David, Daniel and Sarah. They had a glorious time playing all afternoon with dear friends who moved out into the country several years ago. Thank you, Jennifer, for letting the kids descend upon your home and disrupt your relaxing Saturday.

First stop into town … Starbucks! Whew, nothing like a morning without coffee to whet the appetite for some caffeine. We found the YMCA without any problems. Hooray for GPS technology! I’ll have to work much harder to get lost. Of course, I’m talented that way.

Daniel and Adam had knives, bows/arrows, and the makings of a fun day.

I managed to secure a front-row spot on the pool deck. Rachel and Joshua each swam in four events. They did great! I’m so proud of them. They are cheerful participants, respectful kids, supportive teammates, and good sports (whether they win or lose). I prayed hard during each of their events that they would swim with strength and endurance.

Joshua challenged himself in this meet. Great job, Joshua!!

What a privilege it is to be a mom of these 5 blessings!

On the way home we stopped back through Starbucks.

“Hey, this is just like deja vu,” the barista said to me, “except it’s later in the day.”
“Um, yeah, I’m faithful customer,” I mumbled. Just hand me the coffee, sir, I’ve got a long drive home.

Ah, we’re smiling easy, now that the meet is over.

More sunshine and mountain views on the way home, this time minus the extra swimmer (parents picked him up), but with the addition of Sarah’s 6 year old buddy (for an unexpected overnight). Everyone was hungry and tired. Signs of a full day?

Kathy

AWANA
Mother’s Day
Parties
New bread recipes
And so on…

But first, let’s look at some highlights from AWANA.

Joshua and Timothy were awesome leaders for the 1st and 2nd graders.

Our busy activities are winding down. Homeschool co-op finished several weeks ago. Whew! My Thursday nights are unbelievably stress-free without the teacher prep scramble for co-op. The kids miss seeing their friends every week as do I, but it’s delightful to have a break from the responsibilities and extra work.

AWANA also ended this month. Last night Tim, Daniel and Joshua went to a “Thank You” dinner for the leaders. Joshua helped all year with the Sparkies and Daniel worked in the games. They have beautiful servant hearts. It’s a joy to see them develop their gifts and minister to others. I’m proud of them!!

Daniel was given the Sacred Whistle for his role as Game Assistant.

David and Sarah had a great year in AWANA. They both worked diligently to memorize their verses and complete their books. I’m impressed with their ability to learn God’s Word and hide it in their hearts. I pray that it will be a blessing to them their entire lives.

Sarah LOVES Caedie and Jaalah.

One of the sweetest things in parenting is to watch the children develop close friendships with each other (as siblings) and with other families. We have been extraordinarily blessed over the years to have wonderful friends. I do not take it lightly, for granted, or without a significant measure of THANKS as I think of the amazing people God has brought into our lives.

Eli and Emma are some of our bestest friends.

Alex and David ruled the Yellow Team!

I am so grateful for our church and all the faithful servants who give of their time, energy and devotion to the youngest members of the congregation.

Kathy
More to follow soon (I hope).

An awesome birthday gift from Daniel’s favorite cousin.

No, I didn’t take any pictures. Sigh. Completely forgot my camera. I did remember coffee and snacks for the kids, so you can obviously see where my priorities lie these days. Ha!

An ice cream pie creation by Tim and Daniel for the birthday party.

I think I need some fresh inspiration in my photography. Any ideas? Perhaps a class. I wonder if I could fit that into our crazy schedule. Oh, did I mention that Daniel has recently joined Rachel and Joshua in being a member of the YMCA swim team? Lots of swimming going on in our family. Never a dull moment!

Despite our clouds and cool weather, the garden has begun. We’ll have tomatoes and lettuce this summer!!

Kathy

Rachel found swim team to be very challenging at first, but has overcome, and now enjoys it.

The Swim Team Sleepover was held at the Y, and included a meal, an award ceremony, and many games and activities. Kathy and the older two stayed until midnight, while the younger three and I made our exit after the ceremony (and the meal).

Joshua nearly had to go down on one knee to receive his medal. He towers over the landscape, these days.

Joshua and Rachel were both honored with medals for participation, and Joshua was given the ‘Golden Goggles Award’ for being the ‘Best Male All-Round Swimmer’. As the coach commented, Joshua’s discipline, commitment and willingness to give 100% at practices, distinguished him among the others and he was singled out for the coveted Golden Goggle award.

As it turned out, the ‘gold’ was spray paint, but this award is none-the-less cherished.

I was very proud of him, and of the significant effort he has invested into the team, with three weeknight practices each week, and additional swimming time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Joshua and Rachel have both worked hard to improve their swimming skills and physical fitness, and they are an inspiration to their parents in the areas of discipline and ’stick-to-it-iveness’.

Earlier that same day, Joshua played the role of Duke Orsino in an adaptation of Twelfth Night, performed by a group of players from our homeschool co-op. As he rattled off line after line of Shakespearean verse, I couldn’t help wonder to myself: “Where did this versatile man-child come from?”

I remember when this boy was a pipsqueak. Now he gathers honor by the bushel.

Kathy and I shake our heads a lot, watching our children surpass us in a variety of ways. “I didn’t teach them that,” I’ll confide to Kathy. “Me neither,” she’ll agree. But for all their discipline and accomplishments, I think the thing that makes me proudest is that each of my children, to one extent or another, has given their heart to Jesus and is working hard to be a worthy and devoted disciple.

As the apostle John said in his third letter: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. “

This goldfish is a goner.

Okay, so not all of the signs of Spring are positive.

Glorious sunshine is one aspect of the season that we all adore. Perhaps in other parts of the US a sunny day in April, with temperatures in the mid to high 70’s, would signal the beginning of summer. I’ve heard of such places.

Not so in western Washington. Pretty much what we can expect is … rain. Oh we have wonderful, beautiful sunny days in the spring and summer, but you’re better off planning on clouds and gray weather.

Sand, beach and buddies, ah life is good.

Every ray of sunshine is an unexpected delight and sends us rushing outside to savor the warmth. Some of us rush a little too far and end up in the water.

The Puget Sound is a cold body of water, but there are spots with warm sand.

Yesterday there was a terrible rumor that our warm weather (70’s two days in a row, a near miracle) was coming to an end. I received a desperate email from a friend begging for suggesting an afternoon outing at the beach. Who was I to deny a mom in need of sunshine? We called/texted/emailed around, inviting others to join us. Off we went with chairs, snacks, and bathing suits.

Is it just me or do their lips look blue?

Crazy children! It’s NOT summer yet, dear hearts. Still, we did so enjoy our first day at the beach. I have hopes (dreams) of many more to come.

Kathy

I still have some presents to wrap and streamers to hang. Yikes! I love sleep as much as the next person, but it’s awfully inconvenient the way it cuts into the day (or night).

These two look so peaceful.

Thank goodness the house is sparkling clean and I have the birthday meals all planned for tomorrow.

Oh, no, wait, that must be someone else’s house and life. I have visions of a clean house and a delicious birthday breakfast. See, I do sleep, it’s proven by the fact that I dream.

Let’s see if I can describe some of the chaos of the house. There is a stack of dvds next to my computer. I’m not sure which child thought there would be time to watch movies tonight. I put the younger ones straight to bed and the older ones to work. Silly children.

There’s a strange mixture of stuffed animals and unmatched socks tumbling off the couch in the family room, topped off with some winter hats and mittens from a family skit we did on Saturday. Another dvd sits forlornly on the edge of the couch. Wow, I count six dvds in total. Someone has a serious hankering for a movie night. Sounds good to me!! Let’s abandon all this work and watch movies instead.

Some treats to take to the neighbor.

On the table is a few birthday presents for Daniel that need to be wrapped, along with a small collection of things Tim wrapped for me. In Christmas paper. Yes, Christmas paper. It’s reversible, does that redeem us?

In the kitchen is a Happy Easter balloon Sarah was given at the grocery store along with bags of groceries I have yet to put away. Nothing frozen (thawing), I hope. Oh, I forgot to mention the 50 pounds of whole wheat flour in the family room. It’s sitting there because I haven’t decided what exactly to do with it. 50 pounds of flour is a bit bigger than I imagined.

Wrapped in Christmas paper it would be very impressive. I’m not sure Daniel would really think that a funny joke, so I’ll pass on that little late night joke.

Why, you might wonder am I blogging at this hour of the night when I have so much work to do? Well, see my 13 year old daughter’s friend glared at me today. Glared through the cell phone. She’s a very impressive glarer. She told me firmly to get blogging. I guess it’s been too long since Tim and I filled the cyberspace with our babbling and she missed us.

“I’m trying to work with you, Mom!”

So there you have it. What is a girl to do? I’m nothing if not attentive to the needs of our readers.

Oh, and it’s easier to sit and blog than get up and actually clean the house and hang streamers. Daniel will be sad, however, if there isn’t some sort of celebration awaiting him in the morning, so I probably should get working.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!! We love you!!

Kathy

There is a beautiful little girl who lives in my house. She has long golden hair and delicious chocolate eyes with lashes that sweep up and down with her smiles. Her older sister is rushing out to face the world, but this princess stays close to home, often tucking her small hand in mind.

“Would you do my hair, Mommy?”

Today I caught a glimpse of this baby of mine swimming in the pool; her hands carefully holding on to a slip of plastic, moving down the lane with confidence, turning her head aside with every other stroke to breathe. Goggles pressed up against her face. Later, when I wrapped her in the sunshine colored towel, I smelled the lingering wisps of chlorine in her tangled hair.

“Could you put it up in curls, Mama?”

Every day I open my Bible to find new treasures - words of comfort, encouragement, conviction. My reading is vast and varied, and more and more I am holding within my heart the richness of the Word of God. I hear Him speaking into my life, I beg Him daily for wisdom and understanding.

“Would you renew my heart, Father?”

In the face of my youngest there is purity and sweetness. She looks to me, trusting and hopeful. Her faith in me is sure, her love true. She is comforted by my hugs, reassured by my words. She has confidence I can create beauty out of tangles. When she is rebuked, her heart is eager to restore our friendship. When we open the Bible together, she soaks in the precious words of life. She delights to know more about the King of Kings.

“And in the morning, Mommy, I’ll be beautiful, because you did my hair.”

When I am jaded and cynical, my faith wavering in the face of an unjust world, I cling to the Word. I renew my hope through this living book. I remember the child-like faith of my precious six year old. I pray that my eyes would look to the Lord with this same confidence and belief, placing all my trust in Him.

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
Psalms 145:16-19

Not curly yet…

“And in the morning, Heavenly Father, I will be beautiful.”

Kathy