Jan
26
52home
Filed under Biblical Womanhood | 52home 10:36 a.m.
In addition to tuning out our fears and turning up the volume on truth, we must fight fear with laughter. Sound ridiculous, even a little irreverent?
Irreverence is precisely the point. We must not dignify our fears—sin-generated, false predictions of a graceless and God-less future—by giving them the attention and obedience due only to God and His Word. Laughing at our fears is entirely appropriate, because up against God’s promises they not only look, but actually are, ridiculous.
The Proverbs 31 woman doesn’t take herself, or her fears, too seriously: “She laughs at the future in contrast with being worried or fearful about it” (ESV Study Bible note, Pr. 31:25). This may sound flippant or naive if we don’t already know her to be a woman of diligence, wisdom, and strength. She trusts God, and so she laughs.
“One of Satan’s great lies is that God—and goodness—is joyless and humorless,” explains Randy Alcorn:
“In fact, it’s Satan who’s humorless. Sin didn’t bring him joy; it forever stripped him of joy. In contrast, envision Jesus with his disciples. If you cannot picture Jesus teasing them and laughing with them, you need to reevaluate your theology of Creation and Incarnation. We need a biblical theology of humor that prepares us for an eternity of celebration, spontaneous laughter, and overflowing joy.”
Laughter, not fear-filled wonderings, will properly prepare us for our future: our immediate future and our eternal future full of celebration and overflowing joy. So thank God for His promises today and “laugh at the days to come.”
—from the archives, because this is where I’m at today.
At eighteen months, my sweet baby MJ is “coming into her own.” Theologically speaking, the doctrine of sin is on full display in her little life. Despite a limited vocabulary, she has no trouble communicating her demands or displeasures. Screams will suffice.
So when Mom shared this quote with me the other day, I had to smile—and thank God for the transforming effect of the gospel:
“Oftentimes parenting can feel like a battle. And the “enemy” is your two-year-old who’s just thrown their dinner on the floor (again); or your fifteen-year-old, who’s just slammed the door on you (again). But still your job is to show them what our Father in heaven is like. Yes, they need to learn to live under authority. But they also need to learn of a God who welcomes His enemies, loves His enemies and gives His life for his enemies.” (Gospel Centred Family by Tim Chester and Ed Moll)
As you march toward mothering battles today, may God give you grace to welcome, love, and give your life for your little (or not so little) “enemy”—as Christ first loved and gave Himself for you.
So says Naomi, mother of four little ones:
“I discovered this blog a week or two ago and clicked on this 5’o'clock club wondering what it was about. People committing to getting up at 5am to have their quiet time?! Wow! Simultaneously, I thought ‘I could never do that’, and, ‘I want to do that’. The next day I tried and failed. I couldn’t drag myself out of bed. The rest of the day I felt so disappointed, but I also prayed many times that God would get me up the next day. He did, and every day since. I am astounded at just how wonderful it is. I am able to spend two hours every morning with the Lord. I am a mother of four young children, and that amount of time seemed totally out of the realms of possibility a few weeks ago. And yet it is something I always longed for. I am not a morning person, and it does hurt to be up that early (until I’ve had my cuppa), but every morning when the kids start waking up, I am dancing inside, exclaiming ‘I just spent two hours with God!!’ I am discovering new things in his Word, contemplating them, systematically reading his Word, praying for myself and my family and lots of other people and singing praise. I consider it the craziest thing I’ve ever done. But I figure Jesus deserves a crazy commitment.”
We couldn’t resist giving this “Pick One Spot” entry an honorable mention. The Bice sisters, Becca and Grace, will receive $50 to their favorite home store.
Becca described the project to reorganize their sewing room: “Six hours, five bags of things to give away, four new IKEA boxes, three vintage patterns, two bags of garbage, and one messy room later, we have a clean and organized sewing room that we can now enjoy!”
Congratulations, girls!
Nicole for Carolyn, Kristin, and Janelle
...Cindy Watson! As always, it was a difficult decision; but we think you’ll see why she is the winner of our $100 gift certificate to her favorite home store. Cindy writes about her “spot”:
Here’s one messy entry! This is a room that serves as our laundry room, sewing room, storage room, kids crafts and games room, and even a small section for things that won’t fit in our pantry. So as you can see in the first 3 pictures, it was clean up time.
After 2 days of work, we threw out 4 large black garbage bags full of stuff we don’t use. I am so excited that I actually want to get in there and do laundry, sew, and just stare at my clean shelves. You’ll also notice that there are a couple of empty shelves too—room to grow!
Congratulations Cindy!
