Taking A Break

You will not be seeing anymore entries on this site. In the early part of 2009, a new website will be created with more consistent writing, devotionals, and info to help equip you to be a more effective and creative woman of God. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas and see you in 2009.

God Bless.

Carolina

It's Been such a Long Time

It's been such a long time since I have been quiet Lord. Forgive me. Have you ever said that to God? Recently, I have found myself involved in so many projects inside and outside of my home that being quiet, slowing down, and listening happens only if I do not fall asleep when my head lays down on the pillow at night. Thank goodness for the Grace of God. The bible tells me that His grace is sufficient for me, for power is perfected in weakness. I am thankful I am not completely deaf - for it is in recognizing this need that I can choose to stop the cycle.

Although we women may have our hands and minds in many good activities, perhaps we need to make the priority list a bit shorter so that the things God has us here for, whether for 72 years or 100, can be done in Jesus' name.

Say It. Think It. Write It.

My nine year old daughter has been reviewing her multiplication facts through the summer in order to be prepared for the new school year. I purchased her a workbook that is designed to strengthen her ability to understand numbers by having her say the math concept, think the math concept, and finally, write the math concept. My daughter did these exercises over and over again. Her confidence began to increase and now she recites her multiplication facts with ease.

I was amused as I observed the process. It was interesting that my daughter did not question this methodology. The workbook was the authority in her eyes, and willingly, she complied. To our delight, the process was a success. This process is not new and has been used in education for years. The Suzuki Method has been teaching music education by imitation of examples for decades. Small steps and the encouragement to learn within an unforced timetable, nurtures children into the love of learning.

That is why your baby loves to throw her bottle repeatedly out of her carriage. You may think it is because she knows you will play along and pick it up everytime she throws it (:-). The real reason is because she is learning by repetition and by allowing her to do it, you are encouraging her, nurturing her and helping her to "say it, think it, and write it".

Long before Suzuki began teaching music education, God imparted his teaching of repetition through Moses in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy in chapter 6 when the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. Moses taught the Jewish People that the most important commandment was "... to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deut. 6:5-9 NLT)

We must not highlight repetition before the commandment to love God, but the point is well made that God knew that in creating us, He also knows how we best learn. There are auditory learners, visual learners, and kinesthetic or tactile learners. However in creating you and your child, God knew that writing His word, saying His word, thinking about His word all lead to Him. We will know what He expects of us if we memorize His word, and we will love Him if we think about Him all the time.

Let's think about this the next time one of our children asks us the same question for the 20th time. It is how God created them. And for you dear Sister in Christ, whether it is writing the verses on stickies on your refrigerator, the dashboard of your car, or on a piece of paper in your pocketbook, God will honor this effort. I confess it is an area I still struggle with, but I am encouraged that even the people of Israel needed to be reminded. Sometimes it is too much to take the whole bible with you on the train, in the car, or to the grocery market, but what about a piece of the Word. Psalm 81:10 says, "... open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things." Take a piece of the word of God with you and He will fill you with His good things. Amen. God bless you. Nina

"Mommy, What Religion Are We?"

My nine year old daughter asked me the other day, "Mommy, what religion are we?" My reactionary first response was the obvious, "we are Christians". You can guess that this was not enough and so we went through buzz words like, "born again Christians", "baptists", and "those who love Jesus". But somehow, I still did not satisfy my daughter's question because she continued to ask me. As I began to probe, she shared that other kids wanted to know whether she was Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, or nothing at all.

I do not like to put labels on others. Republican, Democrat, Irish Catholic, Fundamentalist, Right Wing, Evangelical, Liberal, Moderate, Independent... all these have the ability to exclude others. And what if you share common ground with a few groups and do not want to pigeon hole yourself? So in the midst of my own frustration and dilemma, I took time to pray about her question and the answer I myself am seeking.

I journal about everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. But, when I am troubled, in limbo, and struggling to figure it out, I am silent. And so for days I did not write. I talked to a few others about my issue and I read the Word of God to make peace. I also needed to bring the conversation back to my daughter's nine year old understanding of who we are, and how she can begin to identify herself as.

God revealed to me in His word that it is not about me, and I believe that is why I struggled to answer the original question. The answer is found in who God is and what He has done for us. Psalm 100:3 says, "Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." 1 Corinthians 8:6 says, "But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life."

So now I am saying, 'Ok Lord, I am yours and I believe by faith that You are who You say You are. Help me to answer this question for my daughter'. This is how I believed He answered me and gave me peace.

1) A Christian is someone who bears fruit, or proof of her salvation (John 15:16).
2) A Christian is someone who "obeys God's word and really loves him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did." (1 John 2:5-6)
3) A Christian is someone who "lives a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins." (Ephesians 5:2)
4) A Christian walks in obedience because she is free from the power of sin and now chooses to obey God, and thus is led to holiness and eternal life. (Ephesians 6:22)

Do you belong to a church that teaches these principles? Do you teach these principles to your children? If you answered 'yes' to these questions, then it shouldn't matter what mainline church you belong to. Perhaps I still do not have an answer that will satisfy all of my daughter's friends' questions, however I can answer with confidence what we believe in and how we should live our lives instead of the label others put on me.

Let's ask God to take away our unbelief and replace it with genuine faith. "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 John 5:13) What religion are you? BFN, Nina

The Struggle to Become Perfect

Do you ever find the goal of becoming mature so unattainable? Having been a parent for 15 years now, I am more than ever aware of the need to walk the talk. My kids are expected to obey, respect, and be on their best behavior, but what about mom? I am daily reminded of my need to wear the armor of God, for alone I can not walk the talk. "Talk is cheap", the saying goes. All eyes are on mom and dad to see who we are when the going gets tough. And the going will get tough as your kids grow into young adults. They will seek your approval for only a few years, and then they want their own identity, their own successes, and their own lives. So how do we attain this perfection that the bible so boldly tells us seek? The book of Ephesians, chapter 6 tells us to "stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness...In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you.... Pray at all times times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit."

Lord, give us the grace to teach and live worthy lives. I want to live fully for You God. I want my kids to see an imperfect mom, willing to take chances, failing alot, loving alot, praying alot, and having faith in not myself but the God of the universe. Bless us as we seek to have the right words as we boldly live out God's plan. Until next time, Carolina "Nina"

Make the Time in May

I don't know about you, but May is busy for our family. A friend of ours called the other day about gettting together with us sometime over the next month. It took several attempts to find a date that worked for both our families. I am a stay at home mom and yet my kitchen calendar is completely packed with everything from orthodontist appointments, recitals, to tennis tournaments. How can we trim the fat and still have a healthy diet of activities, rest, and time with family and friends?
I wonder if God feels frustrated with us because we have filled our lives with activities which keep Him at arm's length. Does it take him several attempts to find a date which works for us? I am a type A person who has to have things just right before I feel I can sit down. But friends, in this way, it never worked for me to find time with the Lord, because things were never just right enough. I had to work through that and find time; for me it is around the midday hours when I sit down to eat. I try to schedule my meetings at breakfast time and keep the noon hours free. I also realize that flexibility is key. When the noon hours fill up, I schedule some time before my children come home to read His word, journal, and pray.
I will pray that today you will make the time to see the world through God's eyes. God bless you. You are in my thoughts...... Nina

Families

These days the meaning of family is changing. When our children were young it meant hugging and loving them, feeding them, playing and reading with them, and packing them up to take them with my husband and me wherever we were going. Now that they are 15, 11 and 8, all that is changing. We continue to hug and love them, and feed them, but the playing, reading and packing up and going is not the same. Everyone has a different concept of what fun is, what they want to read, and where they want to go.

At first, seeing my children growing up was not easy because that meant I would need to clip their wings, have less control over their lives and eventually let them go to the world. Would this mean that my husband and I would someday be alone? Was I ready for that? Well no, I am not ready to do that quite yet, but as the parenting coach, Tim Smith has said, "parenting goes from control when they are young, to coach when they are teens, to consultant when they leave adolescence."

As you kiss those little noses today, and change those diapers, think about what great a consultant you one day will become, remember that each day is an opportunity to lead those babies toward independence.

Remember to pray for them - God needs to hear from you.
BFN. Nina