Adam and Eve and Relationships

Relationships. I decided to take a look at Genesis last night, to start at the beginning and see where Adam and Eve were with their perfect relationship and see what the Bible had to say about the fall and how it effected relationships.

The first part that is interesting, is that prefall, both genders equally represent the image of God. (Gen. 1:27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Image here, refers not to structurally, but rather original righteousness. We were then able to use our own 'power' to mirror God's righteousness Once the fall happens, we loose that connection, and we are no longer righteous, no longer able to understand the things of God in our own power. We then need an intercessor to help us see and understand God as we have fallen.

The other point that speaks clearly to the importance of the relationship between man and women is the fact that man in 2:23 in the only time he speaks prefall, celebrates his wife's kinship and companionship with him. The fact that God takes time to include this simple statement shows he importance of the marriage relationship.

Once humans fell, for her role in the debacle, God told Eve, 'and your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.' The ESV study Bible notes state, that the marriage ordinance continues, but is frustrated by the battle of the sexes. The harmony, intimacy of the prefall marriage are marred by sin and corrupted by domination and enforced submission. The restoration of this relationship takes place through new life in Christ.

Women always struggle with a desire to dominate. Ever since our role in the Fall, we have wanted to step in and take control of relationships, churches, bible studies. Everyday tasks, if we are honest ,often take on tug of war mentality as we struggle to gain the upper hand. The world tries to tell us this mentality is fine, as strong dominate women are the ones that are admired and upheld in society. Now, I'm not suggesting that we become doormats, far from it. And, I do not believe that God requires us to be a doormat either. But, as women we have to be aware of why we react the way we do in situations. If we look at our behavior honestly and find we are reacting the way we are simply because it isn't being done our way, or so we can have the upper hand, we need to step back, ask forgiveness and submit. We need to look to the Bible, as long as the situation meets those standards we need to accept that our way isn't the only (or even the best) way.

Both man and women suffered consequences in the fall. God knew exactly what our weaknesses would be and how the fallen world would react to sin. We must look to Christ as the only solution to function as God created us to exist.

John 14;6

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me"

I always want to hit the disciples over the head when reading the New Testament. How much more clear did Jesus need to be? I know it is always easier looking back to see the obvious signs, but how much more proof do you need? They never really got who He was, or what He had come to do, until it was all over. For me, this is one of the most obvious symptoms of the fallen world. In a perfect world Jesus would not have had to come, but the depravity of man is shown to such a great degree in the disciples here, as they can't even fathom the truth when it is presented to them. Jesus goes out of His way to present the truth to them, and they simply, due to the hardness of their hearts, cannot understand what he is saying.

I wonder what we are missing in our walk on a daily basis due to a hard heart?

Our pastor preached a rather unusual sermon on Sunday that kind of hit home a little. He encouraged us to stay the course, even when church gets not mundane, but predictable, it is still important to invest in the church. I think he is referring to the middle of the mountain. There are valleys and peaks. But in some ways it is hardest to stay faithful in the middle of the mountain. In the valley we rely on God, on the peak we praise Him. But in the middle, when things are neither good or bad it is easy to just be along for the ride instead of striving to better ourselves in Christ. It was a good reminder for me.

Blessings.

Saturday Ramblings.

I have an attitude problem. I think most people do from time to time, but I would say that is my biggest weakness. Right now, I'm attempting to type with my son complaining he has to watch his little sister for me for five minutes. I love being a mom, I'm tired of being a mom. There are times when I feel so completely inadequate for the job of raising three children. How do I stay sane?

My husband in his wisdom got me out of the house for a hour and we went and ran some errands. I feel much better after a very grumpy start to the day. How do you not let a little ones mood effect yours? My littlest was in quite a temper earlier, and that set the tone for the day.

My husband is pushing to get his book done. Now less than a week until it is due at the publishers, he is going to be sick and tired of it by the end of the week. I think he is worried it won't be good enough. I'm looking forward to having life back to pre-book, but then another conference looms around the corner.

I think the warmer weather will help. Babies crying......

Veil of Anonymity

The internet allows us to hide behind a veil of self-righteousness which makes us seem more perfect, more spiritual, more humble than we actually are. I wonder how many people really strive to present who they really are on their sites, not just how they would like people to perceive them. I've thought about this a lot lately, as I've tried to determine the vein I would like my blog to take.

I've worked very hard so far in writing to try and make sure that I'm giving God the glory for the things he is doing in my life, but I also know, if you were to talk to me, I don't verblize it enough in my own life daily. In a way, I'm presenting a false view of myself. At the same time, I want to try and do this more daily and by writing it down, I can give God the glory for the things that are happening. I pray as I continue to write these thoughts down, I will begin to verbalize more how gracious God is in my life. I have deliberately decided to remain anonymous. I don't really want my friends and family to know that I'm writing. What I write isn't good enough, and I don't want to have to start to censor what I say. However, in that anonymity, I want to present a true picture of who I am.

Reading the book of Ruth has been very good for me. Ruth was so trusting. She also was very sure even in the infancy of her faith to give God the glory for what was happening. I also love the fact that she does not do this alone. She uses the counsel of an older, wiser women for guidance. I have often thought about my responsibility to teach my children, but there is a deeper reason I must strive to grow as a Christian women as well. As we get older, wiser, we are called by God to help guide those younger than us. Woe be to us who stagnate in our faith and are unable to help council other later in life! We would be missing such an opportunity not only to be used as a vessel of blessing for others, but we would also be denying ourselves an opportunity for personal growth as well!

Boaz and Ruth

There is so much in Scripture that points to Christ. The entire Bible sets up Christs' birth, life and death pointing to fulfillment of prophecy to validate Christs claim of deity. I love the fact that each part of Scripture carries so much meaning. You can read one chapter one day and God will use it to speak to you one way, and then the next day God will revel something completely different.

I had to take a few days off from Driscoll's series on Ruth, and going back to it today I wanted to redo the last section in order to get back into the swing of things. In doing so, something new popped out at me.

Driscoll, (quoting from Spurgeon) talks about how Boaz mimics Christ in redeeming Ruth. I find this a fascinating comparison. Driscoll talks about how Boaz, like Christ, looks after Ruth with love and care although he has no obligation to do so. How Boaz was extended to Ruth as a gift from God to sustain her life (physical, while God extended Christ for eternal life). I love how God drops little reminders in the Old Testament about Christs' coming. Even in the less obvious places. Boaz was Ruth's redeemer for her physical needs, but she never stopped looking to her true redeemer in God. Think of what a relief it must have been to no longer have to worry about survival, but instead of placing Boaz on a pedestal, Noami and Ruth thank God for his provision in the form of Boaz, not forgetting who is truly in control. A lesson we all need to remember!

On a personal note, the little girl down the street is home from the hospital. Doctors still have no idea what is wrong with her, which is a concern, but she is home, eating and doing better! We shall continue to pray that the doctors figure out what is going on and that it is not serious. I've been considering starting a prayer journal for each of my kids. I think it would be very good for them to be able to see how God is answering their prayers. Nothing fancy, just a simple chart. I'll have to play with that idea a little more. Blessings.......

Home again

I hate going away. Love being away. LOVE coming home . I did a mountain of laundry yesterday, and cleaned up. God was good while we were gone. I survived two 16 hour car rides with a 10 month old baby. I survived 7 days with 7 kids under the age of 7 without completely loosing my mind. God is tempering me as I age, which has been such a blessing. I hope to dive back into my study of Ruth soon. My computer broke while we were away, I hope it will be fixed soon.

I arrived at the bus stop this morning (taking my son to school) to find out my neighbors little girl (and my daughters playmate) is in the hospital. She has been, every three weeks for four months starting vomiting etc, for about 3-4 days and then gets better. No other symptoms. This one was particularly bad and she is in for I.V. fluids and to try and figure out what is wrong. We are praying it is not serious.

I'm off to finish up cleaning and am taking a meal to the neighbors.

Alone still- but managing!

Well, I'm doing it. My husband has now been away for four days, tomorrow makes day five and then he is back (briefly).

God has been gracious. My daughter has another cold, and cough, but we are managing quite well. We have had no major meltdowns. I am so thankful that He has extended me grace far beyond what I deserve!

We are busy packing, and are almost there for heading down to my in-laws place. 14 hours in the car with a 10 month old is going to be torture, but once again, I am praying for God's grace!

I haven't had time today to read anymore about Ruth, but hopefully, God willing tomorrow will be better.

Ruth: part two

Excerpt from Mark Driscoll's sermon on the book of Ruth

"Scripture has much to say regarding the poor. There are both righteous and unrighteous poor people. The righteous poor include those who are widows, orphans, sick, elderly, immigrants, and hard-working people who struggle to make ends meet. The unrighteous poor include those who are poor because of sin, such as laziness, drunkenness, and foolish spending, as illustrated through Proverbs. God has an affectionate concern for the righteous poor and gives repeated and clear instructions throughout Scripture for how his people are to lovingly and mercifully meet the physical needs of those who are righteous poor. For example, God's people in the Old Testament were to allow the poor an opportunity to obtain food through the honest labor of gleaning. The equivalent today would be someone recycling cans to pay for groceries, or volunteering at the food back in exchange for groceries."


I had never really thought about he process of gleaning before, and how God gives this to people s a means to get food for themselves in Old Testament times. It is pretty clear here that God does not want us simply to give "handouts" to people who are capable of working. We are to help them, be generous to them, but not simply hand out food and money if they are able to at least on some level work and provide for themselves. If this was the case Boaz would have simply handed Ruth the sack of grain instead of making her glean it. Now, he is generous, telling his workers to give her the best spot to glean, providing meals for her. But, she works for a month behind his harvesters gleaning the fallen wheat. Driscoll says in Scripture that there is repeated and clear instruction to how people are to care for poor peoples physical needs. I am interested in finding out more about this. So often we feel that being generous to the poor includes simply giving them food or money, but this clearly is not the case. Hopefully, more on this later!

Ruth: a small look into a humble women

I have always found the book of Ruth interesting. I've never heard a sermon series on this book, and was interested when I came across Mark Driscoll's series. I started out to post about Ruth, but that may come another day, as there were a few details in the beginning of the book I found interesting.

I've never really considered before Elimelech's failings as a head of the household. Moving his family to a godless city, instead of staying put and dealing with the spiritual problems that were causing the famine (Driscoll states that the famine was God's judgment due to the spiritual problems at the time) caused many problems, obviously, leaving Naomi and widow, burying her two sons, and destitute. I had never really considered Elimelech's failings as a husband before and the consequences of his choices. Instead of trusting in God, Elimelech takes matters into his own hands with dire consequences. Naomi suffers.

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; [1] call me Mara, [2] for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

She lost a lot, and in a sense has a right to be bitter, but I do wonder at her attitude. Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill church did a series on Ruth, and I find his closing comments interesting.

"Naomi is to be admired for her brutal honesty. Unlike so many phony religious types, she speaks honestly and truthfully about her heart and does so publicly among God's people to whom she has run in hopes of being sanctified by the hesed of God and his people. In Naomi we see although we each may arrive at a place of bitterness, God invites us to be honest with Him and those in our church family if there is to be any joy at the end of our mourning."

Before I read this series by Driscoll, I was criticising Naomi's bitterness. I wondered how God could overlook her attitude. But as Driscoll pointed out, we can at least sympathize for her emotional state. She has lost everything, husband, sons, means of support, and she is in a godless land. Her bitterness is not right, but at least on some level understandable. While God does not condone Naomi's attitude, His grace shines though in this chapter, for He gives Naomi Ruth to help her in this huge trial that her life has become.

my hubby

My husband has now posted on his site for 1000 consective days. Daunting isn't it? He is know in Reformed Christian circles as the uber-blogger. But really God has given him a talent. Writing. or rather reading and writing. You see, in a given year Tim reads over 100 books, and reviews them all. Now these aren't dime store novels. Everything from Christian Living to Commentaries, Tim reads and reviews. He writes daily about things that catch his attention. It amazes me how easily it comes to him.

My husband is very comfortable with who he is, yet not so comfortable how others percieve him. See, he is becoming better known in the reformed christian world. He finds the attention overwhealming and is very uncomfortable with it. I think he feels that people don't know the real him, and in a way he is correct, the internet allows us to hide behind a veil of self-righteousness which makes us seem more perfect, more spiritual, more correct than we actually are. I wonder how many people really strive to present who they really are on their sites, not just how they would like people to perceive them. In a way I suppose Tim does that too. However, (and I may be slightly prejudiced) he is brilliant, humble and very much striving constantly to be the man God wants him to be. He need never be concerned with people finding out the real him, as it is even better than what is presented on his site.

I'm amazed how God works. To look back and see his hand on everything that has happened in Tim's life over the last three years has been remarkable. From losing his job, (laid off twice the six months) to starting web design (self taught, three years now a growing business) to challies.com which has caused him to grow and mature into a stronger leader, better husband and father. God has directed all of that, no doubt, and chosen to bless it beyond measure. Why is it so much easier to see God's hand in someone else's life and not your own??

I love my husband and am very proud of him... Happy 1000th post honey!

Live Blogging Conferences

My husband flew off to sunny California today to live blog the Shepard's Conference. He has accepted 8 conferences this year alone to live blog, and while it doesn't sound like a lot, 6 of those fall in 4 months. I'm getting used to being alone with the three kids, but am praying that none of them get sick. That is where life gets hard. As long as everyone is healthy and I'm sleeping I do o.k.!

The phone woke me up at 7:30 this morning. I was sound asleep. It was bad and good that it woke me up. Bad in that I really needed the sleep, but good in that my son had to get to school! As it was we were quite rushed!

It is freezing here, around -35 degrees C. with the wind. It is awful for March! It hurts to be outside! But by the weekend it will be up to 5 degrees...crazy Canadian weather!

Being a Stay-at-Home Mom

For any stay at home mom, and for me especially, I find my self assuming that people are judging me and I end up defending my decision to be at home with my children. But, I never defend it in the right way. I feel that God has given me these children, and I need to raise them to honor and obey Him. The best way for me to do that is to be a home with them, being there when they leave and come home from school. By providing a safe and loving environment for them. If they are sick, I'm there. I hate the fact that many of my neighbors send their kids to school sick and feverish, drugged on Tylenol because they HAVE to work. My children are my responsibility and I do not want anyone else raising them.

Most people never say anything, but I end up feeling inadequate. I ramble on stating that I run a successful eBay business, or that I have a English degree. It is so frustrating to me as I find myself falling to the level of the world! These are the sorts of things that the world values, and I bend to it instead of stating proudly and with conviction that I choose to stay at home with my children as this is what God has called me to do.

Perhaps it is because I also feel inadequate as a homemaker. I do not fit into the traditional role of a homemaker. My sister-in-law loves to decorate and make her home pretty. It really doesn't interest me. I like my home to be nice, I just don't agonize over paint color and wall decoration and furniture arrangement. Nor, do I feel I have to in order to be a successful homemaker. But, I then feel that I'm not really doing what I am supposed to do to be considered a successful homemaker either. After all, what makes a successful homemaker? I hate laundry, (and tend to let it pile up by the machine until the kids NEED socks) I like to cook, but not complicated stuff- 30 minute meals are my favorite! As for cleaning- well my house won't win any awards there either! So how do I blend these two extremes? I don't fit into the new age working women role, but don't feel I fit into the traditional homemaker role either. Often I simply end up feeling completely inadequate! I've been reading Proverbs 31, and while I have a long way to go I've reached a couple of conclusions.

As moms we need to strive to be a Proverbs 31 women. This I find overwhelming. I want to be a women that honors God, and in Proverbs he has clearly outlined how we are to do so. My first reaction always in reading that is HOW on EARTH does she do all that? Talk about well rounded! There is so much that has been written about the Proverbs 31 women, there is little I can add. I will tell you, however the couple of things that stand out to me. " She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." How often I miss this with my children! I go through the motions of running a household and forget to teach them with wisdom and kindness. While the Proverbs 31 women does not let her house run down, that is very clear. It is also clear that her relationships are of equal importance. So often we can get caught up in running the house smoothly we forget to TEACH as well. We have our children for so few years. The other thing that stands out to me is how the Proverbs 31 women in active outside her house as well. It talks about her working so hard for the benefit of her family, clothing them feeding them and even selling things she has made! I am encouraged and challenged by this. It is clear that while inside the home is important, the outside (including what appears to be her own little business) is important as well! We all have strengths and weaknesses, but we are to strive to be well rounded.

I know we are a work in progress. I pray that God will humble my heart and allow me to become the person he wants me to be. I pray that he will help me to stop comparing myself to other moms and help me to understand he has made me unique . I pray he shows me how to become, within the parameters of who I am, the Proverbs 31 women He wants me to be. See, I don't think we are supposed to become carbon copies of the outline in the Bible. I think God will take each of us and mold us into different forms of the Proverbs 31 women. I pray God gives me the grace to accept who he has made me, and grant me the wisdom to see how I can best serve Him with what he has given me.