His Great Mercy

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. -- Titus 3:5

I love that verse. It's one of my son, Andrew's, favorites. The words roll off the lips smoothly and refresh me a bit. Once again I'm reminded that my salvation doesn't depend on me. Thank you, Lord!!!

I learned something interesting about God's mercy last night. Our weekly study group is working its way through Luke. The last time we studied Luke with a small group, it took almost 2 years to get through the first 11 chapters. Our group consisted of 5 couples and about 22 kids. Obviously some weeks we didn't study the Word much! Enter God's mercy, LoL!

So, last night we arrived at Luke 1:78 and ran into a word we didn't know. Doug's Bible is an NASV side-by-side (English and Spanish). Lupita's was "Dios Habla Hoy". I had my "Nueva Biblia de los Hispanos". It seemed like every Bible in the room used a different word to describe God's mercy.

Here's the verse in the King James version:
Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us.

Tender mercy. I like that. It brings to mind a man holding a wounded bird or something like that.

Lupita's version used the phrase "great mercy". That's good, too. It gives a different mental picture. Great mercy is what I need every day when I fall on my face, blow up at my husband, snap at the kids. I'm so glad that God's mercy is great towards me!

But my Spanish version uses the word entrañable to describe God's mercy. I didn't recognize that word, and the way Esteban described it made me curious about its use in this verse. This word has a deeper meaning which will forever change how I view God's mercy.

The adjective entrañable (en trahn YAH bleh) is translated as intimate, close, beloved, or dear.

The verb entrañar means to bury deep, to carry within or to become deeply attached.

The noun entraña means entrails. Guts. The deepest, most profound place.

Profound mercy.
Deepest mercy.
Mercy from the most intimate part of God.

God's profound mercy through which Jesus (the dayspring from on high) came to us. For what purpose?

Luke 1:77
...to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of sin.

The mercy which pours out from the innermost being of God is poured over us so that we can be forgiven for our sins.

God's profound mercy sent Jesus to die so that my willful disobedience could be forgiven.

Deep. Profound. The guts of it. Wow.

Today I want to be reminded of God's deep mercy for me. Maybe it will help me to be more merciful to those around me?

Praying you're blessed today!

Character Building Moments

Doug and I have been leading a parenting class over at the church for the past couple of months. It's been a really great study, although all three of the couples in the class agree that the topics we've covered have been "bien dificil" (VERY difficult!).

The book we're using is called "To Train Up a Child" by Mike and Debi Perl. Great stuff!

It's been beneficial to us to go through this book with our friends. We have been reminded (several times!) of things we used to be more faithful about in the training and disciplining of our children.

One thing which we feel we've become pretty lax on is "first time obedience". The idea is that when you tell your child to do something, from a simple request to a complicated job, he should obey without question. When the kids were little, disobedience was met with a spanking. When the kids reached 10, 11, 12 years old, we no longer spanked for disobedience and consequently the first time obedience ratio dropped.

Now, don't get me wrong. We don't feel like our kids became rebels overnight simply because we stopped spanking them. Generally speaking, all 6 kids do what they're told when they're told with a good attitude. The problem comes when you have 6 youth in the house who all have an idea of how a certain situation could or should be handled and also have a deep, burning desire to share that opinion with you. Usually, they want to share that opinion right after you've instructed them to do a specific chore or errand. At that point, their opinion can border on rebellion.

So, we began teaching first time obedience in our parenting class. Have you ever noticed that when you're teaching a subject -- from Math to History to a chapter in the Bible -- you as the teacher learn a lot, too? As we taught our students, we began to enforce it at home once again.

Our boys had a hard couple of days as they were reminded of the concept. We didn't just "spring it on them". They were all warned that from this point forward they needed to obey without argument or excuse, and they needed to do their daily chores without reminders.

I took these photos of the guys working, not to embarrass them or to laugh at them, but because God showed me a spiritual application I wanted to share.

Everything we teach our kids when they are young has an application when they are grown. For instance, we teach our kids to clean their room and put their belongings away so that when they are adults they will know how to keep their house in order and be good stewards with their belongings. We teach them to cook, sew, work with tools, play music and do their school work so that they will become responsible adults who can contribute to society, not be a drain on it. We require that they finish projects so that they will develop perserverance. Teaching honesty develops trustworthiness. You get the picture.

So what life lesson are we teaching when we require that our children obey us? On the surface, we are teaching them to respect authority, follow the rules, be "good". But what is happening deeper inside?

By learning to obey us without complaint or argument, they are strengthing their "obedience muscle" which will enable them to obey God more easily when they are adults.

If I don't obey my parents request to do my jobs every morning, I'll be pulling weeds for an hour in the blazing sun. If I don't obey God and spend time meditating on His word every day, sin will begin to creep into my life, and God will be doing the weeding.

If I disobey my parents and am unkind to my siblings, and cause them pain, I'll be cleaning cactus for an hour. If I disobey God and am unkind to people around me as an adult, the prickles I'll have to suffer may stick deeper and last longer than those of a nopal cactus.

If I ignore my father's instructions and try to do a job according to my own wisdom, fire ants might have my feet for lunch. If I turn my back on my heavenly Father's wisdom and decide to live my life on my own strength, more than just my feet will burn.

Teaching our children to obey us the first time, not because they fear us or the punishment to come, but because they trust us and trust that we do have their ultimate good in mind, will train them to obey God the first time also. They will (hopefully!) recognize that God also has His ultimate glory and their eternal good as His main purpose. When they hear God speak to them, they will respond with obedience, because that is how they were trained to respond.

These are life lessons. These are lessons which we parents are privileged to be able to share with our kids. So, from experience let me just say that requiring first time obedience from our kids is not a curse on them. It is a blessing.

I hope you're encouraged today to live your life in obedience to God and to teach your kids to do the same!!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Well, I have neither silver bells nor cockle shells, but my garden is growing quite well, all the same. It tends to do better when I don't mess with it.

For example, the happiest plant I have is the zucchini which sprang up all by itself about a month ago. That's one of the benefits of throwing all the compost into the garden area...volunteers!

The brussles are doing well, although they aren't as tightly bunched as they should be. Do you think it's 'cause they're a cold-weather veggie? I'm ready to harvest them anyway, even though the sprouts are only about a half-inch diameter. As soon as they grow bigger, they just open up. I'll let you know how they taste!

The green beans are happy, too. These plants actually grew up as a second crop from the ones I planted in October. We didn't get to enjoy the harvest from the last crop, although I heard that they were yummy! We should be here when this crop matures, Lord willing!


I remember when I was little, my mom always had to remind me to put shoes on (even though I seldom actually did it). I remind my kids, too, for a couple of good reasons. First of all, we have some really mean ants here. The general consensus is that we prefer to be stung by a scorpion rather than an ant.

The other reason is the guachapole. I have no idea if that's how you spell it, but here it is...

They love to fasten themselves to the hem of your skirt, the cuff of your pantleg or even the edge of your shoe.

This picture caused me to smile as the Lord gave me a spiritual application. Sometimes it's amazing the lengths we will go to to avoid the stickers in our life. Rather than walk the tightrope of old, buried tires to avoid stepping in the sand, wouldn't it be easier to just put on shoes?

So many times I find myself struggling through a frustrating situation and then realize that I really didn't spend any time in prayer about it beforehand. You'd think I'd learn by now!!!

Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."

If you're wondering what "all these things" refers to, let's read the context (the NI-me version -- King James with a little tweaking).

Verse 25 and following...

Therefore, I say to you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap, nor taher into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you much better than they?

Which of you by thinking about it can add one inch to his stature? Why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field; they neither toil nor spin; yet even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these!

So, if God dresses the grass of the field which is here today and burned up tomorrow, won't He take care of you as well? Oh, me of little faith!

Therefore, do not worry saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? How shall we get clothes? (This is what the world is worried about, afterall.) Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Well, that's how God is talking to me this week! I pray that you are encouraged to seek God first and not sweat the small stuff!

A Six-Word Tag

Marina from "Daughter of the King" just tagged me with 6 words or phrases about myself. AND since I do love to multi-task, I'm doubling it up with My Walk Monday (finally!).

Well, I tend to talk more about stuff going on around me than I do about things going on in my head or heart. I thought maybe I should use this tag to share a few things that God is working on in my life right now.

So here are 6 things that either God is planting, growing or pruning in my life...

Hospitality -- I have always loved to invite people into my home. I've found it easier to do that here in a place where it's not so important that the house be decorated correctly and the food "fashionable and expensive". Hospitality is about the home, not the house.

Teacher -- I've been a teacher forever (feels like!) and probably always will be. But God is showing me that #1 I'm teaching every moment -- even when I don't realize it and #2 Teaching is more than preparing my kids to enter college. Sarah just informed me a couple of weeks ago that she's not sure that she even cares to go to college. Gulp. Well...what was my point in teaching her all these years? Was it so she could go to a great university, graduate with honors and go get a high-paying job? No. Definitely not. [although, face it, isn't that in the back of every moms' mind at some point?] Our purpose in educating our kids is that they would learn discernment and have wisdom to know the plans God has for their lives -- and the faith to pursue those plans! As a teacher, I need to remember that purpose.

Learner -- Lest I ever become proud and begin to think that I've learned all there is to learn about anything!!! Last week I was humbled by a little girl who stated bluntly, "You don't speak Spanish really well." Like I needed to be told that! Well, bless her heart, I don't. I try, and I can make myself understood, but if you're comparing me to any native Spanish speaker that you know, I don't speak Spanish very well. Out of the mouths of babes...

Faithfulness -- God teaches us His faithfulness by allowing us to go through deserts and remaining faithful. By that I mean both that throughout our time in the desert we learn to remain faithful to Him, and also that while we languish in the wilderness, He remains faithful to not abandon us.

Quiet -- Now, this is not to say that I am quiet. Anyone who knows me, would not put "quiet" as a description of me!!! This would be one of those areas in which God is doing some pruning! The verse that is popping into my head is the Psalm which says, "Be still and know that I am God." Normally we see that verse printed as a caption for a photo of some guy in a fishing boat on a placid lake. Well, that's not the context of the verse (and it's not the whole verse, either!). In reality the context should read more like this: "Shut your mouth and listen up! Know this: I am God. I will be exalted among the nations." This is the way in which God is using the word "quiet" in my life today.

Joy -- I am learning to find the joy in every day -- just the way God made it! There is definitely joy in the journey! Some days, I have to scrape the junk off the top to find it, but I know that the joy is there if I dig deep enough. "This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!!!" That's not a suggestion! That's a commandment!!!

OK. There are my 6 words. Yeah!

Hmmm....who will I tag? I think I'll tag a couple of Mexican missionaries I know: Michelle from Ensenada and Sarah from Las Glorias (that would be my daughter!).

Have a blest day everyone!