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True Freedom

I usually do not give much notice to commercials (fast forwarding whenever possible), but recently an advertisement for the perfume, Miss Dior, did exactly what the producer intended – it caught my full attention.

In the film, Natalie Portman stars as a runaway bride. The wedding venue and dress exude absolute perfection. But the film is strangely black and white.

Portman is wavering, and as she reaches the end of the aisle her doubt turns into decision. “I am sorry, Dad” she says as the scene bursts in to vibrant hues and Portman tears off her gorgeous hand-crafted gown to reveal a black cocktail dress.

Feminist Janis Joplin’s power anthem, “Piece of My Heart,” cheers Portman on as she runs fast and hard away from her vows, her family, and fiancé.

A second later she reaches a precipice, and a helicopter appears and she leaps on. Her apparent lover (also co-pilot) kisses her on the cheek and they fly away into the sunset. Portman has chosen to be “Miss Dior” instead of a married madam.

As I observed the grandeur scene and message of “freedom” portrayed by Portman, it made me sad.

Not because she chose singleness. No one should marry the wrong person and singleness is an equally esteemed gift from God as marriage. No, I was saddened by her rebellion against the commitment of marriage and the glorification of a life free from marital responsibilities.

It is hard for me to remember that there was indeed a time in my life when the only person I was responsible for was myself (much less jumping on a helicopter with rose petals swirling all around).

These days my life is filled with responsibilities to my husband and children. I wish in that order. But the majority of my time is spent doing things like changing a diaper on a minivan floorboard, scrubbing up calcified play-doh, or saying things like “We don’t play with toilet water” and “No you can’t wear princess slippers to the grocery store.”

I’m a runner and I used to think logging miles was hard. Now hitting the road all alone sounds like a breeze. It’s the getting out the door part that is the real marathon.

Everywhere I go I have little “helpers” with me. Sometimes we go places and they are magnificent. Sometimes we go and they’re not, and I wonder why we even went.

Some people would look at my life and say that I have no freedom. I can’t go running when I want to. I can’t read a book when I want to. Sometimes I can’t even finish a task the way I want to.

Now I understand why my mom used to eat ice cream in the bathroom with the door locked.

Let’s be real, I live in a world completely different than that of “Miss Dior.” But as I watched Portman fly off into the sunset it made me wonder, “Does she feel free?”

It’s all hypothetical of course but then again maybe it isn’t.

Have we really reached a point where freedom is portrayed by such petty play things like a little black dress, a helicopter ride, and a man to kiss but not commit to?

Is freedom merely the absence of responsibility?

If that’s the definition of freedom, I don’t want it.

It has such an achy hollow feel it hurts.

No husband to laugh and grow old with. No knowing glances that span not just the room but the test of time. No one to love you when you’re just plain unlovable. No one who says, “I will never leave no matter what” or “You are the only woman for me in this whole wide world.”

No chubby cheeks to kiss. No baby to rock in the night. No pretend list for Santa or stick figure family portrait. No one to make you laugh over spilled milk, no one to whisper “You are the best mommy ever” even though you know you’re not.

Yes there is a staggering amount of responsibility that comes with being a wife and a mother, but oh how my heart is soaring!

Because true freedom doesn’t come in what I rebelliously cast off but in what I humbly accept.

For love to exist there has to be a taking on of responsibility.

It was the ultimate groom who taught us this when He bled for his bride, the church.

There was the deepest of pain, but the love.

The greatest and most beautiful love story.

It cuts me to the core every time because if “The Son sets you free you are free indeed” (John 8:36).

Because in the end being free isn’t about what you run away from, but Who you run to.

So Janis Joplin you can sing and Natalie Portman you can run, but I’m just not buying the message you are selling.

I want the good stuff, the love that spans the ages, the commitment that lasts a lifetime, and the true freedom that cannot be so easily obtained.

I originally wrote this post on December 28, 2015. While my responsibilities and family have grown since then, this post rings even more true to me now.

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one perfect life: no filter needed

In our social media culture, where many have developed platforms that project an airbrushed life, it can sometimes be difficult for us as women to embrace our ordinary lives. Our unfiltered lives. I think this is especially true for us mothers, where so much of our lives isn’t neat and orderly and put together because we are in the midst of raising children. As the Proverb aptly says, “Where no oxen are the manger is clean” (Proverbs 14:4).

I love a good filtered image as much as the next person. One that doesn’t alter the image but helps bring its color to life. Because there is something about snapping a photo that never quite captures the essence of the moment if you know what I mean? Take a picture of a sunset, and it never looks quite the same from an iPhone. But adding a filter brings back some of its beauty. It can add in some of that glowy goodness that cannot always be translated from real life into a still image.

But at the same time, I’ve gotten weary of seeing filtered, touched up, and perfected images online. Because sometimes it just looks too filtered. It looks too colorful. Too perfect. It’s not the precise reality of who we are before God.

Because life isn’t lived with a filter on it. When my kids are running around the kitchen and there is spilled chocolate milk, bedhead, and I’m making pancakes in my pajamas, there’s really no filter that even could make that moment look perfect in a picture.

But on a spiritual level, there’s no filter that can cover up those daily moments of sin in our home. The bickering between siblings, the frustration present in my own heart over this or that, the selfishness that often arises in all our hearts as we live and move and breath together in the same space day after day.

This is why I am just so thankful to know Christ! Because I don’t have to pretend moments of sin or trials don’t exist in our home. I can look my unfiltered life in the face, head on. What I mean by that is, I don’t have to cover up life’s difficulties or only find happiness in my “perfect” moments. But I can find joy even in the face of life’s challenges and daily trials because of Christ.

One of the things the Old Testament teaches us is that atonement must be made for sin. This was the reason for the entire sacrificial system. We learn in the New Testament that the sacrifices of bulls and goats all pointed forward to and were fulfilled in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:4-5). There is only one thing that can cover the sin in my heart: the blood of Christ.

Instead of brushing over all my unfiltered moments, I accept them as God ordained moments. God put me here in this moment to teach my kids what forgiveness looks like. When my kids are bickering, instead of wishing away that moment, I can put down the laundry, and face head on what’s happening.

This is the beautiful thing about Christianity ~ a permanent atonement has been made in Jesus Christ in which we have the forgiveness of sins!

There were no filtered moments in His life. Jesus daily took up his cross. He touched the leprous and the sick. Yet, he truly was perfect. He needed no filters. No pretense of perfection. He fulfilled all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). A few years ago, a harmony of the four gospels was published. A harmony is a work that weaves the four gospels together chronologically in the order that the events and teachings of Christ’s life occurred. The harmony was aptly titled One Perfect Life. That helpfully sums up Jesus’s entire life and ministry. It was ‘one perfect life.’ He owned very little and the Scripture says He didn’t even have a place to lay his head that was his own (Luke 9:58). I cannot begin to imagine what it was like for Him to deny Himself daily and then one day take up His cross. But in all of it, He brought us forgiveness in Christ. Because of His perfect life, I understand that mine isn’t. And through His death and resurrection I have hope! The greatest hope I have ever known and my heart overflows with joy!

I have a framework for brokenness and sin in this world. I understand that I am a sinner and that my children are sinners and desperately need God. I understand that what we need most is God’s forgiveness and His gift of righteousness, not our own. I don’t want anything to cloud my understanding of this glorious truth!

There is no filter needed for a child who slides a note under my door that says, “Mom, I am sooo sooo sooo sorry, will you forgive me?” No filter needed for the giant smile that covers my child’s face after they have repented and found forgiveness. No filter needed when I creep into my child’s bedroom after the lights are out and tell her I am sorry for the way I snapped at her. No filter needed when my husband texts me back, “I forgive you. I love you so much. You are doing a great job.” There is no filter needed because there is One who lived a perfect life already. Because of Him, I can embrace my unfiltered moments and see incredible beauty. A real and raw beauty. Redemption. Sanctification. I can find joy in all my moments not because I’m looking through a filter, but because God has opened my eyes to the truth and “ In your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9).

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a work worth doing

I collapsed into bed last night, truly feeling like I didn’t have one ounce of energy left in me. It had been a great day, but filled with the normal challenges and joys of a day raising young children and running a home. My day had started extra early too with my five-year-old climbing in bed between his Dad and me, whispering about how if he didn’t have socks on his feet, his “toes would be scared.”

I stumbled out of bed and to the dresser, pulling out a pair of my running socks and donning them on his little feet. “You’re fine now, see?” He slipped back to sleep and I lay in the dark, unable to drift back off myself. Besides the extra cup of coffee I needed around 2pm, getting up early ended up being the biggest blessing of my day. I got so much accomplished even before the kids got up. Why don’t I do that more often?

But now, getting up early didn’t feel so glamorous as I felt overtired and exhausted climbing into bed after the extra long day. And in that moment, laying there, I caught myself thinking that it was a bad thing that I was tired. I worked so hard. I really pushed myself too hard. Today was long. Staying on task today was tiring.

Just like that, I felt the Lord nudge my heart and bring the words of Titus 2 to the forefront of my mind, “So train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

Working at home. Working.

The day had been hard work. No doubt. Being self-controlled and exercising patience with my children in some moments had pushed me beyond myself to really rely on the Lord.

Instead of negativity, my heart was filled with thankfulness. God, thank YOU that I have such meaningful work to do. Thank you that I barely had a moment today to be idle or lazy, but that I am healthy and able to work hard at work worth doing. What a privilege and a gift to raise and teach my children! Thank you that I am utterly exhausted because I did what you called me to today.

Besides battling against my own desire to often choose the easiest route, instead of the most faithful route (regardless if it’s hard or easy), the world often sends the blaring message that when it comes to motherhood, I should do my best to avoid anything that is difficult or challenges me to my limits.

But God’s Word reminds me that meaningful WORK is what He has called me to do. And also that His grace is readily sufficient, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

And just like that, exhausted and tired, I felt rest too. Being tired, working hard, laying it all on the line, coming to God again and again for His inexhaustible grace, that is where I want to live. That is how I want to lay my head down. I am so thankful!

This morning His mercies are new, and I thank Him for the work He has given me. A work that exhausts and exhilarates me. A work that is not for this life only, but will last forever. A work worth doing.

“I have one desire now — to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” – Elisabeth Elliot

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Bible Reading for the Whole Family

As we begin the new year, I wanted to share a few resources our family is using to read through the Bible.

Of course, there is no greater resource in the world than God’s Word! Having a plan is just a tool we use to help keep us on track. Years ago, I wrote a post about reading God’s Word with little ones. It was basically an explanation of my own discovery that as a mother my time in God’s Word will not always be “quiet”. I don’t need quiet to read God’s Word (though of course it’s nice!). I just need God’s Word!

I posted on my instagram that I am heading into the new year asking the Lord to help me put Him continually before me (Psalm 16:8). The main way I am doing this is setting God’s Word before me each and every day.

That being said, I want to quickly break down what plans we are using to read God’s Word.

MYSELF ~

A couple years ago I started reading through the Bible during the school year (September~May). It’s helpful for me to not start from scratch in January. This also gives me the chance to do something different in the summer. Last year I used Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan. I kept it in my Bible and used it as a checklist. This year I am using the To The Word Bible reading plan. My favorite aspect of this plan is that it is connected to the Youversion Bible app. On days when I don’t have enough time to sit down and read six chapters, I will play the audio version. I’m also reading with a friend, and we hold eachother accountable by commenting through the app every day!

GRANT ~

Grant loves the M’Cheyne plan. He cuts out the linked printout and tapes it on opposite sides of the front pages of His bible. He always starts it sometime in the fall too. He likes getting a jumpstart so he won’t get behind if he misses a day. He never listens to it on audio and no matter how late at night it is, if he hasn’t done his reading, I will find him in his chair reading God’s Word. This is also a great compilation of some excellent reading plans.

THE KIDS ~

Our oldest two children are able to read God’s Word on their own now. This year they are using Tune My Heart’s 5 day narrative Bible reading plan. With this plan, the kids will read through all the major narratives of Scripture plus Psalms and Proverbs in a year. They use this Bible. This one also looks GREAT and is one we may buy next.

Grant printed and taped it in the front of the girls’ Bibles so they can check it off as they go along. We alternate reading with our eight-year-old to help her with challenging words and navigate to the right passage (our nine-year-old reads first thing in the morning on her own). This is not only special time with our eight-year-old, but we are sneaking in a little homeschool time too (her reading has come leaps and bounds already!). There is also a daily devotional guide for this plan which is great for older children.

We put the third page in the back cover pages

BIBLE and FAMILY DEVOTIONAL

I have absolutely loved the Bible curriculum we are using for the kids this year. I do Bible with all the kids together 2-3 times per week. If you are looking for a no-fluff resource that helps children understand the entire Bible this is it! I have even learned so much! We do not memorize the catechism questions, but just by reviewing it consistently, the kids know all the answers. It’s helped them understand God’s promises and the fight of good against evil from the very beginning of time.

Lastly, Grant reads to the kids often from different children’s Bibles before bed. The kids are currently loving The Action Bible as well as Catherine Vos’ The Child’s Story Bible.

I know that many of you already have a Bible reading strategy for 2021, but since I had been asked several times what we were doing, I wanted to compile this for you. May we all say with the Psalmist, “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word” (Ps 119:16).

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How God Uses Hard Things

I never even saw the car coming. It was around 7am on a Saturday and I had jumped in my minivan to drive five minutes down the road to pick up Starbucks coffee. 

I never even saw the car coming. It was around 7am on a Saturday and I had jumped in my minivan to drive five minutes down the road to pick up Starbucks coffee.

Grant had a grueling schedule that year. He was juggling seminary classes and two jobs, I wanted to surprise him with hot coffee and breakfast. 

“Mom can I come with you?” my oldest begged before I left the house. 


“No, stay here with Daddy” I whispered. “I promise I will be right back.” 


“Mama!”, my other toddler came out of her room wanting me. I picked her up to snuggle her and immediately realized she had wet the bed. 


I sighed. Again?! I had just put fresh sheets on the night before and now I would have to do it all again. And had I put the waterproof mattress cover back on yesterday? No I hadn’t. It would need a good mattress scrubbing and airing out too. 


“Go snuggle with Daddy, I will be right back” I told her.


My girls ran into the bedroom to snuggle their dad and I slipped out the door. 


I connected my cell phone to the speaker system after I got in and cranked up the heat. A song I had been listening to last time came on, MY GOD, MY FATHER, BLISSFUL NAME. “Whate’er Thy sacred will ordains, O give me strength to bear; And let me know my Father reigns, And trust His tender care.”

I sang the words as I approached the red light and sat for a few moments, praying and singing in my heart. It was cold out. It was beautiful out. The light went green and my singing heart didn’t check both ways before I pulled out into the intersection. 

Next thing I knew my world was swirling. All I could see was brown spinning. What was happening? Lord am I dying? After a moment I opened my eyes.

Where was I? Things began to come together as my mind raced into clarity. My van was in the middle of the intersection. Someone was at my door banging on the glass.

“Ma’am! Are you OK?” Someone else was screaming. “She ran the red light! That woman was on her phone and she ran the red light.”

I saw a woman in another vehicle get out of her car. People were yelling at her. I felt a tingling sensation and reached up and touched my hair and felt blood but no pain.

Then I realized what had happened. Someone had run the red light and hit me. I looked behind me to see my car had been tossed. Tears streamed down my face, God thank you I left the kids at home. It hurt so much to imagine my three little ones in the back seat. But they weren’t in the backseat.

Someone was standing at the car trying to ask me something, “Miss, are you okay? I see blood. Miss?!”

In that moment I couldn’t speak or answer. I only had one thought, “God please let me go home and change my little girl’s sheets.” 

Those sheets. Those precious wet sheets. How had I ever scorned them? How had I ever dreaded changing them? I would do anything to be there right now. God please give me more years to change wet sheets!

With the help of a paramedic I managed to get out of my van and call Grant as I got into the ambulance. “I’m OK,” I said as I tried weakly to describe what had happened. “I’m going to the hospital but I’m OK.”

And I was OK. Three staples to the head later (ouch), and a mild concussion, but no permanent physical damage. Just permanent heart change. 

I realized that day in the intersection that I hadn’t been grateful for the mundane tasks of mothering. I was taking the joy of having little ones to care for for granted. 

I wish I could say that day washed away all my pride and that I never dreaded a mundane task again, but I can tell you it was a good start. 

That incredibly hard moment forever changed my perspective of the mundane. 
And that’s how God works so often doesn’t He? 

He uses the hard things to change our perspective. To grow us. To show us our sin and help us realize His blessings. The hard things are what soften us when we are willing to let Him work and accept what He is doing in our lives. 


2020 has been a hard year for so many. But the amazing thing for the Christian is that we know that God uses the hard things to do great things. He uses hard truths to soften our hard hearts. He uses difficulty to smack us on the head and wake us up and help us realize that He hasn’t given up on us, He is changing us.

I don’t have to pretend the hard things aren’t hard, but what I want to do is allow God to change me through them. To soften my heart like never before. To help me see in a way I never have before. To serve in a way I never have before. To love in a way I never have before. And most days, that begins with the mundane.


For isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Our God made low, to lift us up. Emmanuel God with us.

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The God of No Limits

Months ago, back when the pandemic was just beginning, we visited my parents (a few days before states shut down! Remember that?!).

After a full day, one of my kids was struggling. Struggling with attitude and tears and everything just seemed difficult. My mom pulled her into her lap and told her that everything was OK. “We all have limits,” she told my girl. “God is the only one who doesn’t. And it’s important for us to understand that. And,” she added, “things always seem more difficult when you’re tired.”

I’ve thought about that little conversation so often as we have faced the months since and the pandemic swept our country. God has used those words from my mom to my child to remind me of an ever important truth that continues to sustain me.

The God of No Limits

“The God of no limits” is a phrase I’ve repeated to myself often these past six months. I’ve reminded myself of it when I’m folding laundry or when my children all need something different from me and I’m not sure exactly what to give. I’ve reminded myself of it when I read the news or feel the weight of how different things have seemed this year.

And here is the honest truth: I am a woman of limits.

I get weary. I stumble. I run dry.

But the amazing truth is that I don’t have to conjure up the answers. I don’t have to escape reality or constantly remind myself of how self sufficient I am or believe in myself to get through.

I have a Savior. A heavenly Father who has no limits. He never has a bad day or even a bad moment!

Psalm 121 says:

I will lift my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps Israel will not slumber or sleep.

Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber or sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade on you right hand.

This world may be tumultuous, but the Christian has a Keeper.

Jesus slept on a boat in the midst of the storm because He knew the world was upheld by His Father.

I can sleep, because I have a God who doesn’t. I can trust because I have a God has ordained every event. I can come to Him empty and He fills me up.

When I acknowledge my limits, I am in good company, for this is how the saints of old gained their strength.

They lifted their eyes to the mountains. To the One who formed the heavens and the earth with a word. Like a weary child they knew just where to turn ~ they lifted their eyes to the God of no limits.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power.

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Rare but Real

It has been way too long since I posted here! I’ve had so many things I’ve wanted to write about, but they haven’t gotten from my head to paper!

But I have been wanting to share a conference that my sisters-in-law and I had the privilege of speaking at in September.

The conference is entitled, “Rare but Real” and in these days, I can’t think of many things more important than being a woman of the Word (which is rare) and being real (walking humbly and openly before the Lord).

I share about what being a rare but real woman looks like in everyday life. My sister-in-law, Maureen, shares what it looks like to walk through the most heartbreaking trials of life. My sister-in-law Chesed shares on walking joyfully right where God has you! We ended the evening with a Q & A time with my mom!

I would love to hear how God is working in your life this year and I hope these talks encourage you!

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The Lord’s Day: A Delight For Our Children

IMG_0018When I was a little girl, my favorite day of the week was Sunday. This was for several reasons that I remember in my childhood mind. For one thing, Saturday was a day full of chores. I can remember many a Saturday, cleaning away the bathrooms, while wistfully looking forward to the next day when my parents never expected me to do any chores.

Sunday was also a day free of schoolwork. I didn’t have to write in my journal that same phrase I wrote daily, “I can’t wait to finish school so I can play outside.” But then there was also the fun of putting on my best clothes, going to church, and usually eating a delicious lunch, typically a nicer one than we had any other day of the week. The afternoon was filled with being in the outdoors, sometimes watching a family movie, or playing with special activities reserved just for Sundays.

 

Now, as my own family is quarantined at home, I have found myself thinking deeper about what sets the Lord’s Day apart for us. For now, gone is the aspect of getting dressed and going to church to worship with God’s people. And because of that void in our lives, it’s causing me to think of other ways our family sets the Lord’s Day apart. I want to think hard now, so that when this quarantine time is over, I will be selective about the routines we add back into our lives and continue ones we started.

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When my children are grown and look back on the Lord’s Day in our home, I want them to have the best memories. I don’t want them to remember it as a boring day, but a day they looked forward to all week long. And even now, at their young ages, I would love for them to say that the Lord’s Day is their favorite day of the week.

Grant and I are seeking to teach our children that The Lord’s Day is special—not only because it’s the day that the church gathers in worship and adoration of God— but it’s a day to be treasured because Christ is our treasure. Not only is it a day to worship and rest, but a day to be reminded that God loves and delights in us, His children.

I will never forget a couple years ago when our children were younger and Grant and I were talking with some friends after the church service. Our children started running and playing tag in the foyer. I quickly pulled our kids aside and began correcting them for running inside. Grant came up and whispered in my ear, “GraceAnna, this is a happy place and I want them always to remember that church is a happy place. Let them run since the church is basically empty now.

A happy place. A happy day. A day to be treasured and be reminded of God’s love. A day to rest. One day out of seven that is different. Worship, as Grant has been teaching the kids this week, is Coram Deo, “before the face of God.” It’s living a godward life and seeking to honor the Lord in all that we do. Sunday is a day to reset in our worship. And rest is a change in our occupation. A pause on what we normally do, our usual labors

As I seek to set rhythms in our home, those principles for the Lord’s Day are my guide: joyful worship and rest. I want my children to have special memories of the day as we focus our hearts on the Lord and experience His goodness.

I want to encourage you to think about the rhythms of your own home and seek to make the Lord’s Day the most special day of the week for your family.

The Lord’s Day shouldn’t be filled with drudgery, it is a gift! Grant and I came up with the following ideas for our own family, and I would love to hear some of your ideas too!

 

  • More chores on Saturday. I’m sure our kids won’t appreciate this one much, but we want Saturday to be a day where we do extra so that the Lord’s Day truly can be one of rest. If you have young children, you know how difficult it can be to keep a house picked up! Training our children to join in the responsibility is not only helpful to us as parents, but teaches them the value of hard work. If Saturday is a day of play all day, then it may end up being their favorite day of the week and Sunday afternoon may end up being filled with leftover chores that didn’t get completed before the start of school on Monday. We want our children to associate the joy of Sunday with a rest from their usual chores just as God set the example for us by resting on the seventh day.

 

  • Cocoa pebbles and Captain Crunch for breakfast on Sundays. Okay, this may seem like a funny one! But the Castleberry kids love some sugar cereal! They would eat them 7 days a week. But for now, we’ve reserved these special ones for breakfast for the Lord’s Day. They can’t wait for Sunday to eat their cocoa pebbles! I also heard of another family in our church who had “Sunday Sundaes” as a family when their children were young.

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  • A Sunday box/treasure chest. Grant and I are just beginning this tradition. This is one my parents did for a period of time when my brothers and I were younger and comes from H. Clay Trumbull’s book, Hints on Child Training(Trumbull was Elisabeth Elliot’s great grandfather. You can purchase the book from several retailers but there is also a free PDF version).  On Easter, Grant and I began the Lord’s Day treasure box.  It’s filled with special toys and activities that our children can play with just on Sundays. We want them to look forward to playing with this all week. We are slowly building this collection, but we hope this will be a tradition they always remember. These are special activities only for the Lord’s Day. When Sunday is over, the toys are put back in the “Sunday box.” For some families, this may mean cutting back on indulgences they give their kids during the week. Maybe instead of gifting their child a special toy on a Wednesday, they reserve it for the Sunday box. I will share a peek into our current treasure box, but I think what this looks like will differ depending on the ages of your children/your budget, etc. I am trying to slowly build our box with new items as well as put some forgotten toys inside and family games.

 

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  • No chores for mom and dad on Sunday. For me, housework is what I do 6 days a week, so besides a little general upkeep on Sunday, I want to be available to play with my kids freely or sit on the porch and talk with Grant. Rest looks different for everyone. Maybe mowing the grass brings you great joy and rest on a Sunday. But I think the point is setting rhythms of rest and activities that help your heart worship the Lord.

 

  • Family walks ~ this is something we try to do a lot anyway, but the freed up time on Sunday gives us more time to do this!

 

The Lord’s Day is to be treasured because Christ is our treasure. Therefore, we should teach our children to treasure it.

 

I will leave you with a quote from C.H. Trumball’s book on the sabbath ~

 

“Where the [Pg 153] Lord’s day is counted a dismal one by the children, it is obvious that the parents have failed to train their children to hallow that day, as the day which is peculiarly sacred to the love of their loving Father in heaven. Whether at home, or at Sunday-school or any other church service, the children should be helped to realize that the day is a day of brightness and of cheer; that while differing in its occupations and enjoyments from all other days, it is the best of them all. When a little boy, out of a home thus ordered, heard one of his companions express, on Sunday, a wish that it was already Monday, the little fellow said, with evident heartiness, “Why! don’t you like Sunday? I like it best of all the days.” And so it ought to be in the case of every boy and girl in a Christian home.”

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Posted on by castleberryhearts · 5 Comments

mothering is discipleship

I snapped this photo a couple weeks ago at the end of a busy day. In that moment my heart was weary from the mothering tasks of the day. When I came around the corner to this scene, my heart was so refreshed.

I stood at the corner and listened as Grant read to the kids, explaining to them about the Tower of Babel. He was asking them questions and telling them about the sin of those people, wanting a life lived for their own glory.

He was discipling our children.

In that moment, the weariness of the day seemed to wash away and I realized I had gotten caught up in the doing and lost sight of my true calling.

It can be easy for me at times to do that. To get caught up in the tasks I need to complete. And when I do that, I often find my heart weary because I have reduced my role as a mother to just caring for the physical needs of my children.

I don’t downplay that role at all. I consider it a great privilege and incredible honor that I get to be home with them and fold their laundry and fix their meals and help them get dressed and keep our home… I love that role! It’s my favorite in the world! I love growing in it and that my love for my family and for God is lived out in daily tasks.

But when I reduce motherhood to just that, I find myself worn down and not enjoying my days. Because that is not the fullness of what God has called me to as a mother.

And often, when the world looks in at motherhood, I think that is all they see. They see just the physical tasks that comes with mothering. Isn’t that tiring? All the unbuckling and buckling and the sweeping and the repetitious mundane? Couldn’t anyone do that for the kids?

And I think it’s good to even ask myself that question, why me? Why is my role so important?

Because godly motherhood (and fatherhood too) is so much more than caring for the physical needs of my children. I am not my children’s babysitter. I’m not the hired help. My role cannot be delegated. I am called to so much more than that.

I am called to disciple my children and to pass on my faith to them. To help my children understand the world and their place in it. To share the otherness and greatness of God with them. To listen to their questions in ways that others won’t and don’t have time for and answer the best that I can or try to find out the answers. To stop in our daily moments in the car and explain why bad things happen, what it looks like to trust God, and how faith in Christ changes everything.

That can’t be done in 15 min before bedtime or just on Sunday mornings. It’s a daily calling. It’s a lifelong calling. It’s a high calling. And it’s done in the everyday moments. And somehow the physical and the spiritual are intertwined (Duet 6:7).

When Paul commends his disciple Timothy for his faith in in 2 Timothy 1:5, he commends him for his “sincere faith” which first dwelt in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

Two things strike me to the heart about this passage. First, it was that Timothy’s faith was sincere. It was genuine. Real. Not just words. Not pretending. A real love for God. In a world of multicolored filters and flashy entertainment, how desperate is our world for something that is real.

It reminds me of the faith that Jesus commends one of his first disciples Nathanial for, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile!” (John 1:47).  Nathanial’s heart was laid bare before the Lord. A simple and believing faith. Not hiding anything. Just believing.

And the second thing that hits me from this passage is of course the women who passed on this faith ~ his grandmother and mother. This was a faith lived out. A gritty faith. A true faith “which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice…”

These two women who raised Timothy weren’t commended for caring for the physical needs of Timothy, though assuredly that is of vital importance. But I think that is just assumed. No, the commendation came for something more, a genuine faith.

One day, when it’s all said and done, I cannot imagine hearing greater words spoken of my children and in regards to my mothering than what Paul said to Timothy about his faith. That my children had a “genuine faith.” A faith that first dwelt in me and now dwells in them. A faith passed on. A faith lived out.

My children will not find a perfect faith in me, that is for sure. But I pray they will find a real one. A laid bare one. A genuine one. A faith that points not to how hard I am holding on, but Who is holding on to me.

So today, I’m going to care for the physical needs of my home and children, but I’m going to remember that many tasks can be left undone if they get in the way of my greatest task.

I’m not here today to just keep the house tidy.  I am called to disciple my children. It’s not a complicated task, but I can often let myself get in the way of it and it takes time.

It’s not a task that follows a certain formula, but is one that is lived genuinely and dependently. 

It won’t be seen in shiny floors or folded laundry today, and it for sure can’t be captured in a filtered square. It’a found on my knees and in humble dependence. It’s found in time with my children…laying on a blanket and looking up at the clouds and talking about the creator, going for an undistracted walk and holding their hand, laying down with them at night, cleaning the kitchen together, or picking up sticks in the yard. The physical and spiritual intertwined.

So I pray today, you won’t let any voice whisper in your ear that you are not important or this day is not important or that your role isn’t important. Because it SO is. It’s a high calling. Don’t let yourself believe that you’re just a housekeeper or a sandwich maker or a bedmaker, though I pray you value those things.

NO, by God’s grace, you are a disciple maker.

You are a mother.

And one day, may the greatest thing be said of your mothering, was that you passed on a genuine faith. Pass it on with all your heart and let God do the rest.

 

Proverbs 1:8~9

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Posted on by castleberryhearts · 1 Comment

mothering in the deep

IMG_2481Lately I have been thinking of a phrase Grant mentioned in his sermon a few weeks ago, God for God. Last summer, God brought us our son, Patrick.  This little boy’s presence in our home has brought such joy. I cannot contain myself from documenting and enjoying and thanking God for all the moments with him!

But I don’t want to just love God for the blessings He brings, I want God for God. It can be easy to talk about God as a means to an end ~ wanting God so I can be a better wife, a more loving mom, or have more well behaved children. So much of this conversation focuses on what God does for me.

This is a shallow faith. A faith that focuses on the external and the temporal. A faith that can easily put Jesus in a tag line, as if He is the same as other loves.

I want something more than that kind of faith. I want something deeper. I want something deeper for my children.

For in the deep is where our children learn about God. It’s where they learn that they are small and God is big. In the deep they learn that there is a great Creator who made all things and holds their very life and breath.

Motherhood is not about playing in the shallow end. Godly motherhood is about going deep.

But how do we do that?

I think the only way to go deep with our children and disciple them the way we ought, is by going deep ourselves.

By loving God for God.

Because here’s the thing, we can’t take our children places we’ve never been.

Here is what I am realizing about myself: I am prone to a life of superficial shallowness and it takes intentionality for me to go deep with my children. It takes commitment and a discipline to use ordinary moments to take them deep.IMG_2307

And to do that, I have to be willing to go deep with God myself. But realistically, how do I do that in the chaos? How do I make that happen when there are little ones to feed, interruptions, and messes? How do I go deep with God in the mundane day-to-day?

First, and absolutely the most important thing is to be in a church where the Bible is taught every week and Christ is at the center. The church is where Christ ministers to you. It’s where you encounter the Word of God outside of yourself. It’s where you encounter Christ’s body. If you aren’t in a church like this, share with your husband your desire to be in a Christ exalting, Bible believing church. If you aren’t faithful to be in a body of believers where the Word is taught, you will dry up spiritually. A great place to start is right here. I look forward to Sunday all week. Some weeks I feel like it’s Sunday that sustains my Monday through Saturday.

Secondly, be in God’s Word daily. There’s no other way to hear from God than through His Word. This is God speaking to you. So to go deep with God, you must hear His voice. I think too often as women we let this slide because there are so many needs around us to attend to. But this is something we cannot live without. Just like you need physical food to power through your day, so you need God’s Word. I’ve had to let go of my expectations of how this time will look for me. Sometimes, I’m reading with children on my lap. Sometimes I’m reading with kids running around the house. Sometimes I’m reading in the car or listening to the Bible on audio while I get ready for the day. But whether it’s fast food or a sit down and enjoyable dinner, God has shown me how desperately I need His Word. If you don’t know where to start, this is the plan I use. I use it like a checklist and worry less about the date, and more about the fact that I am moving forward in His Word, and I am being nourished.

IMG_4850Third, I listen to sermons and podcasts during the week. Paul instructs us in Philippians 4:8 to set our minds on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent. He also says in Colossions 3:2, “Set your minds on things above.”  I do my best to grab pockets of time when my children are working on an assignment, having rest time, or I’m folding laundry. My favorite thing to do is listen to a pastor expound a text that I just read in my morning Bible reading. There is so much I read that I don’t understand. I have been amazed by how the Holy Spirit has grown me through this practice! I also love listening to old Elisabeth Elliot’s broadcasts or listening to hymns to feed my soul on doctrinal truth.

Fourth, reach out to godly women for help. This is why Titus 2 is so important for us as women and as mothers. We can’t do it on our own. We desperately need older women to teach us what it looks like to swim the depths of life. We need women we can pick up the phone and call when we feel like we are drowning. We need to see what it looks like to be ALL IN with our kids in whatever season we are in. We need women in our lives who aren’t content to sit on the sidelines, but have spent years diving into the depths of God.

Fifth, prayer. Prayer is more than me making my requests known to God. Prayer is communion with God. Prayer is intimacy with God. Prayer is knowing God. To strive to be a woman of depth, but fail to be a woman of prayer, is to fail all together. The deep women of God, pray. As I grow in my walk with the Lord, prayer has become easier. I notice that I’m using more Scripture in my prayers. That when I pray, I mean it. A couple weeks ago I read the book of Jonah. Before I knew it I had prayed with my kids, “Lord, just like you caused that great fish to vomit out Jonah, will you answer this prayer?” (my kids thought that was pretty funny too). But wherever I am and whatever I am doing, there is an opportunity to go deep in my prayer life with the Lord. That the God of the universe, maker of heaven and earth would heard my prayers is truly amazing.

I want to go deep with God and I want my children to go deep with God. I want to go to places I’ve never been in my relationship with Him, and I don’t want to leave my children in the shallows. I want to take them with me. I want God for God.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33

 

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PS ~ trying to post here more, but you can find me the most on instagram, @castleberryhearts