My curl-up-for-15-minutes-at-bedtime-book this week is Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor. Last night I reached pg 165 out of 251 and came to this quote:
"I am no longer anxious about anything for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest position He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient. It little matters to my servant whether I send him to buy a few cash worth of things or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So, if God should place me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; in positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? No fear that His resources will be unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine -- for His is mine, and is with me and dwells in me."
Isn't that worth a good chew?
Hebrews 11:4 tells us "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks." Hudson Taylor has joined the crowd of witnesses along with Abel and a host of others who loved Jesus, body and soul. He (though dead) still speaks to me as I read about the unswerving commitment he had to praise and trust the Living God and to make Jesus known to as many as he could actively seek out.
I want to run the race of faith with endurance, looking unto Jesus the whole way. How thankful I am for the crowd of witnesses that have run before us who are kind of like coaches, instructing and cheering us on (do I have ears to hear?).
We went as a family to a basketball game last week and the winners played amazingly well as a team. We heard more than one person in the stands make the comment that the team was well coached. This morning I asked my kids what they thought it meant "to be well coached" and we had a fun little discussion about that. We concluded that it isn't enough to have a knowledgeable coach who sets out to teach his players all he knows about the sport. A winning team is made up of players who are wise enough to know they don't know it all, who trust they have much to gain from paying close attention to good coaches, and who put into regular practice what they are taught. A well coached team requires a good coach AND teachable players who will give it their all to taste victory by the rules.
Of course I helped steer the discussion to how that idea applies in our home school, which it definitely does (as anyone who has children knows, you can attempt to teach until you are blue in the face, but if your children have stopped up ears, you may as well be whistling to the wind). I used the tail end of our discussion as an opportunity to praise my kids because, by God's grace, they already know and put into practice these "winning team" principles so much of the time. I thank the Lord for this!
I was glad for my chat with my kids. I love being one of their chief cheerleaders, and count it a privilege to "coach" them along in life. But all day long the thought that continues to go through my head is my own need to subject myself (in a fashion that goes beyond curiosity about their lives) to the instruction of people like Hudson Taylor who, though dead, still speak. I'm too comfortable with mental learning...I need to LIVE by faith!
"Father, make me humble and teachable, and eager to put into practice what you teach me through Your Word and the faithful examples and instruction of Your people. Thank you for so many good "coaches" as I run the race You've set before me. And this week, thank You in particular for Hudson Taylor who reminds me on nearly every page of the joy of looking unto Jesus with all we are and have."
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Shema Class, part two
How many of you think "Jewish" when you hear the word "shema?" I admit I do. And that is self-consciously one of the reasons I chose "Shema Class" as our home school name. When I think of Jews, I think of God's covenant people throughout much of His story. But with all praise to God, Romans 11 tells us that wild olive branches were grafted by God into the olive tree representing His covenant people. Galatians 3, Romans 4, and other places tell us that it is the people who have the faith of Abraham that are the children of Abraham. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." That is adoption language, and very important for those of us who are not homegrown via Abraham's line.
Romans 8:14-17 says it even more plainly: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
Our God is our Father, our real Father, our 100% Father. We are joint heirs with Christ. Just try to wrap your head around that...it still boggles my mind in a fantastic sort of way. The story of God's people is our story...we've been grafted in. I want our children to hear "shema" and know that they too are called to hear their Father...they are a part of His story because of an adoption that is far better than the ones that took place in a human courtroom. We get to be the real children of God, children of the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords, by adoption. How cool is that?
Here is a picture of a cover sheet I wrote about last time:
Very simply, our goal is to train to do all that our Father puts into our hands to do for His glory with skill, discernment and proper aim. We want to encourage others to do the same. What a joy and privilege it is to parent and teach three beautiful children who desire to live out the words of Matt 5:16 which tells us to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
Shema...Jews...people of God...yes, we are a part of that story!
Thank you FATHER.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Shema Class
We, along with a couple other homeschooling families, have been thinking, talking, praying about, and planning for joining together one day a week to do some cooperative schooling...and this week we started to actually do it. Yippee for "Friday School!"
One of the two other women came this week with a booklet of reference materials she had kindly made up for each of the students. It was suggested that we could make up cover sheets for these booklets for our own kids, incorporating the names we've given to our own home schools. So that is what I set out to do this morning and just finished. Yeah!
Year's ago, we named our home school "The Meyerdierk's Shema Class." The word Shema comes from the Hebrew word which means "to hear." The word Class is akin to Calare (Latin), which means to call. For those of us who are prone to be wise in our own eyes, we need the daily reminder that instruction originates outside of us...we must submit to Another...we're called to hear God.
In addition to our name, we will have Deuteronomy 6:4-9 written nicely on our cover because it is the passage we've chosen to remind us continually that we've been called to hear and love the Lord our God with all that we are and have.
Well, I am big on making plans and working them so I decided to incorporate a mission statement of sorts for my notebook cover (the kid's will not be this crowded, but I thought it would be good to have it on mine). Over the years I have practiced plotting the benchmarks of each subject for each child that I am schooling by term, along with revisiting the overarching goal of how we might enjoy and glorify God in all we do. So pulling from those plottings, I came up with this abbreviated mission/philosophy of education.
Our mission: We are called to worship the one true God, to know Him (not just in the sense of intellectual assent to His existence but in the sense of being intimately related to Him as His children in a loyal, love-besotted way), to treasure Him, indeed to love Him with all our heart soul, mind and strength...HE is our subject.
Every arena of study is like another facet on a diamond, each one highlighting His glorious and manifold perfections. Through art and science and history and geography and math and languages, etc., we are given opportunities to behold the glory of God's wisdom, power, love, mercy, justice (and on and on)...we see how He has ordered all things according to His own good pleasure; how He is Provider, Sustainer, Deliverer; how He fulfills His promises; how He is ever mindful of His gracious covenant; how He is unswervingly committed to upholding the glory of His name, etc.
The two great commands, in summary form, are to love God and love our neighbor. We are called to take every thought captive unto Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5 says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..”). We are called to make use of every discipline, every resource, and every sphere of influence God gives us to love Him and to encourage others to love Him (that is what loving others is about...it is not about having warm fuzzy feelings towards everyone you meet, but rather doing what you can to help every one you meet to taste and see the goodness of God so that they'll join you in making much of Him, for He is infinitely worthy of all our praise). Love glories in Christ and casts down anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Love imitates God...is kind, patient, compassionate, rejoicing in the truth...lifts burdens, shares the Gospel with others, feeds the hungry, ministers to widows and orphans, remembers the outcast, etc, with the aim of glorifying the One who does all this perfectly. Education helps us do these things, and everything else God puts into our hands to do, with skill and discernment and proper aim.
We are called to this (individually and corporately), and we are called to this generationally...we are to have God's words written on our hearts, and we are to teach them diligently and passionately to our children, training them to teach them diligently to their children. Our “Shema Class" is committed to loving God and loving our neighbors. This is who we are by God's design, and oh how thankful we are to be HIS.
Knowing our labor is in vain if the Lord does not build our house, we hasten to pray: Father, we ask you to give us and our children to the last generation that lives on the earth ears to hear You. Call us to Yourself and give us minds transformed by Your word. Make us discerning and loving people who practice righteousness and hate wickedness. Grant us hearts that are not in love with this world, but 100% loyal to You so that in all we do, think and say we will live in the likeness of our Savior, Jesus. Make us unswervingly committed in body and soul to living for Your glory. Make us humble, grateful, merciful, quick to forgive, patient, servant-hearted,cheerful giving, sold-out-to Jesus kind of people. We ask this by faith in Jesus for Your glory and the joy of Your people. Amen.
One of the two other women came this week with a booklet of reference materials she had kindly made up for each of the students. It was suggested that we could make up cover sheets for these booklets for our own kids, incorporating the names we've given to our own home schools. So that is what I set out to do this morning and just finished. Yeah!
Year's ago, we named our home school "The Meyerdierk's Shema Class." The word Shema comes from the Hebrew word which means "to hear." The word Class is akin to Calare (Latin), which means to call. For those of us who are prone to be wise in our own eyes, we need the daily reminder that instruction originates outside of us...we must submit to Another...we're called to hear God.
In addition to our name, we will have Deuteronomy 6:4-9 written nicely on our cover because it is the passage we've chosen to remind us continually that we've been called to hear and love the Lord our God with all that we are and have.
Well, I am big on making plans and working them so I decided to incorporate a mission statement of sorts for my notebook cover (the kid's will not be this crowded, but I thought it would be good to have it on mine). Over the years I have practiced plotting the benchmarks of each subject for each child that I am schooling by term, along with revisiting the overarching goal of how we might enjoy and glorify God in all we do. So pulling from those plottings, I came up with this abbreviated mission/philosophy of education.
Our mission: We are called to worship the one true God, to know Him (not just in the sense of intellectual assent to His existence but in the sense of being intimately related to Him as His children in a loyal, love-besotted way), to treasure Him, indeed to love Him with all our heart soul, mind and strength...HE is our subject.
Every arena of study is like another facet on a diamond, each one highlighting His glorious and manifold perfections. Through art and science and history and geography and math and languages, etc., we are given opportunities to behold the glory of God's wisdom, power, love, mercy, justice (and on and on)...we see how He has ordered all things according to His own good pleasure; how He is Provider, Sustainer, Deliverer; how He fulfills His promises; how He is ever mindful of His gracious covenant; how He is unswervingly committed to upholding the glory of His name, etc.
The two great commands, in summary form, are to love God and love our neighbor. We are called to take every thought captive unto Christ (2 Cor 10:4-5 says: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..”). We are called to make use of every discipline, every resource, and every sphere of influence God gives us to love Him and to encourage others to love Him (that is what loving others is about...it is not about having warm fuzzy feelings towards everyone you meet, but rather doing what you can to help every one you meet to taste and see the goodness of God so that they'll join you in making much of Him, for He is infinitely worthy of all our praise). Love glories in Christ and casts down anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Love imitates God...is kind, patient, compassionate, rejoicing in the truth...lifts burdens, shares the Gospel with others, feeds the hungry, ministers to widows and orphans, remembers the outcast, etc, with the aim of glorifying the One who does all this perfectly. Education helps us do these things, and everything else God puts into our hands to do, with skill and discernment and proper aim.
We are called to this (individually and corporately), and we are called to this generationally...we are to have God's words written on our hearts, and we are to teach them diligently and passionately to our children, training them to teach them diligently to their children. Our “Shema Class" is committed to loving God and loving our neighbors. This is who we are by God's design, and oh how thankful we are to be HIS.
Knowing our labor is in vain if the Lord does not build our house, we hasten to pray: Father, we ask you to give us and our children to the last generation that lives on the earth ears to hear You. Call us to Yourself and give us minds transformed by Your word. Make us discerning and loving people who practice righteousness and hate wickedness. Grant us hearts that are not in love with this world, but 100% loyal to You so that in all we do, think and say we will live in the likeness of our Savior, Jesus. Make us unswervingly committed in body and soul to living for Your glory. Make us humble, grateful, merciful, quick to forgive, patient, servant-hearted,cheerful giving, sold-out-to Jesus kind of people. We ask this by faith in Jesus for Your glory and the joy of Your people. Amen.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Who is Jesus...looking toward the new year
In Mark chapter 8, Jesus asked His disciples what others said about who they thought He was....John the Baptist, Elijah and one of the prophets were among the answers. Then Jesus asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered "You are the Christ."
We just celebrated Christmas, the time of year Jesus' birthday is celebrated all around the world. But who is this Jesus? Some deny His existence altogether, placing His story in the genre of fairy tale. Some say He existed but was nobody special, just the son of a carpenter. Some say He was crazy/out of his mind (like those we read about in Mark 3). Some say He was a good teacher, or holy man, or a prophet, someone who we would do well to learn from the example of. Some say He was and is who He claims to be (here is a very partial list):
* Immanuel (which is translated "God with us"...Matt 1:23)
* Jesus, the one who saves His people from their sins (Matt 1:21)
* The only mediator between God and mankind (1 Tim 2:5)
* King of all kings (there will be no end to the increase of His government and peace...Isa 9:6)
* Phil 2:9-10 tells us He is the highly exalted One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
I am like many people who reflect at the end of the year upon life and how I'm living mine, and what changes I'd like to make in the new year. I unashamedly believe, by God's gift of faith, the claims Jesus makes about Himself. Honestly though I think that this side of glory, I will always be confessing "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (just like the man in Mark chapter 9 who brought his son to Jesus to be healed). The question I am asking myself right now as I reflect on the past year and look forward to a new one is not so much what my mouth would say if Jesus asked me "Who do YOU say that I am?", but what answer does my life give?
We just celebrated Christmas, the time of year Jesus' birthday is celebrated all around the world. But who is this Jesus? Some deny His existence altogether, placing His story in the genre of fairy tale. Some say He existed but was nobody special, just the son of a carpenter. Some say He was crazy/out of his mind (like those we read about in Mark 3). Some say He was a good teacher, or holy man, or a prophet, someone who we would do well to learn from the example of. Some say He was and is who He claims to be (here is a very partial list):
* Immanuel (which is translated "God with us"...Matt 1:23)
* Jesus, the one who saves His people from their sins (Matt 1:21)
* The only mediator between God and mankind (1 Tim 2:5)
* King of all kings (there will be no end to the increase of His government and peace...Isa 9:6)
* Phil 2:9-10 tells us He is the highly exalted One before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
I am like many people who reflect at the end of the year upon life and how I'm living mine, and what changes I'd like to make in the new year. I unashamedly believe, by God's gift of faith, the claims Jesus makes about Himself. Honestly though I think that this side of glory, I will always be confessing "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief" (just like the man in Mark chapter 9 who brought his son to Jesus to be healed). The question I am asking myself right now as I reflect on the past year and look forward to a new one is not so much what my mouth would say if Jesus asked me "Who do YOU say that I am?", but what answer does my life give?
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Blessed by my kiddos
I heard a quote by Cotton Mather last night (Doug Wilson quotes him while debating Hitchens in the movie Collision)...he said "Faithfulness begat prosperity, and the daughter devoured the mother." It made me pause and ask: "Am I using the prosperity with which I've been blessed to devour or display faith???"
Pastor Tuuri, one of the pastors at our church, taught in a recent sermon about how godly feasting includes remembering those who are less fortunate. Not just thinking about them, but remembering in a way that alleviates their need. Yes, enjoy the good gifts God has given, AND share those good gifts with others. As you have freely received, freely give.
There are all kinds of opportunities to share and give. We're bombarded regularly. Here is my question...how do we respond when asked? Do we see each asking as a bother or an opportunity? Do we stop and consider if we're in a position to help?
I was so blessed this morning by my own kids. We were sitting around the breakfast table and we were talking about the Facebook-athon going on TODAY for our friends (the Shubins and Walsers) to raise funds for a mission trip to Ethiopia. These are folks who love Jesus and want to share Him with people in Ethiopia, giving tangible help and sharing Christ with those He brings them into contact with while there. I had already sent some funds, but my kids wanted to know if they could pool their money and send more. Of course!
So off they went to gather their change and when they came back it added up to a little over $8. These are kiddos who do not get an allowance...this is a chunk of change they wanted to cheerfully give. Talk about bless my soul! We talked about how often times we cannot give a lot, but the question is whether or not we're willing to give what we can, trusting God to add it all up as His body works together to make the whole. What a blessing it is to see God at work in their hearts! What an encouragement to me as a parent to see them bearing this kind of fruit in their lives...as God prospers us, may we use that prosperity to display our faith in Him.
Enjoy His good gifts, and share them with those in need. If you can help, even just a little, please join the efforts going on today at Reckless Abandon . Thanks.
Pastor Tuuri, one of the pastors at our church, taught in a recent sermon about how godly feasting includes remembering those who are less fortunate. Not just thinking about them, but remembering in a way that alleviates their need. Yes, enjoy the good gifts God has given, AND share those good gifts with others. As you have freely received, freely give.
There are all kinds of opportunities to share and give. We're bombarded regularly. Here is my question...how do we respond when asked? Do we see each asking as a bother or an opportunity? Do we stop and consider if we're in a position to help?
I was so blessed this morning by my own kids. We were sitting around the breakfast table and we were talking about the Facebook-athon going on TODAY for our friends (the Shubins and Walsers) to raise funds for a mission trip to Ethiopia. These are folks who love Jesus and want to share Him with people in Ethiopia, giving tangible help and sharing Christ with those He brings them into contact with while there. I had already sent some funds, but my kids wanted to know if they could pool their money and send more. Of course!
So off they went to gather their change and when they came back it added up to a little over $8. These are kiddos who do not get an allowance...this is a chunk of change they wanted to cheerfully give. Talk about bless my soul! We talked about how often times we cannot give a lot, but the question is whether or not we're willing to give what we can, trusting God to add it all up as His body works together to make the whole. What a blessing it is to see God at work in their hearts! What an encouragement to me as a parent to see them bearing this kind of fruit in their lives...as God prospers us, may we use that prosperity to display our faith in Him.
Enjoy His good gifts, and share them with those in need. If you can help, even just a little, please join the efforts going on today at Reckless Abandon . Thanks.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Time together...a good gift from God
This year we made our first attempt at creating a gingerbread house from scratch.
The next night my dear hubby brought us home a Christmas tree and the delightful squeals that are associated with decorating sprung into high gear. On went the Christmas music while lights were strung and ornaments hung.
And the next morning, while most of us lounged around enjoying the sparkly lights flashing in the still semi-dark living room, my Bekah cheerfully went to work to make us all French Toast. God has created us all in Christ Jesus for good works, and I love to see the fruit-bearing children He has given me at work serving our family, and others.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Gingerbread cookies
I am listening to an audio book this week titled Just Courage...it starts with a rebuke of sorts to those of us who are all to often guilty of "going on a journey but missing the adventure." In a recent post, I somewhat disjointedly thought out loud about fighting the good fight and mining for what is valuable, and I am finding this book resonating so far with the same encouragement I've had in my meditations of late to do what God puts into my hand in such a way as to get the value out of it, in contrast to just going through the motions. How's that for a bona fide run on sentence?
With that said, my girls and I had a deliciously delightful time together yesterday making Gingerbread cookies...laughing, talking, singing, nibbling, creating...so fun! Here is the recipe we've been using for years for those of you who may want to dig for some golden times with your kids :-).
Gingerbread Cut-out Cookie Dough
(One batch makes an average of 2-3 dozen cut-out cookies, depending on factors such as the size of your cutters and how much dough you snitch, etc)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup softened margarine
3 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
3 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
In a large bowl, beat sugar, marg., and molasses until light and fluffy. Add egg and water, blend well. Stir in dry ingredients, mixing to form a smooth dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or more) for easier handling. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness, using just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the board and cutters. Bake at 350 for 9 minutes. Remove to cooling racks and cool completely.
Don't "just make cookies";
Dig in to these golden pleasures together!
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