It seems as if I am always dealing with the same struggles over and over again.

Discontentment is one of those struggles for me.

I know in my heart that my life is so good…I have been blessed immensely.

I am able to stay home and school my children. This is a privilege that many don’t get.

But, yet, I let the responsibility of that privilege weigh me down.

I see others living out different choices, and discontentment creeps in.

This has been a week of struggle.

A week when discontentment has ruled my thoughts.

Tonight as I wrestled with those thoughts, I heard the words written by Paul resonate within my spirit.

He had much to be discontent about, He truly suffered for the cause of Christ. Yet, he learned to be content. He learned contentment in whatever situation, whatever circumstance.

He learned the secret to facing any of life’s circumstances…good and bad…is to rely on Christ.

I can do nothing on my own.

I can never be content on my own.

But through Christ, Him who strengthens me, I can do all things.

I can even find the contentment that my heart so yearns for.

Have you learned the secret to contentment?

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The current read-aloud in our home is “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White.

It is the story of a beloved pig named Wilbur who is saved from a Christmastime death by the friendship he has formed with a spider named Charlotte.

As we were reading, my girls were aghast at the first mention of Wilbur’s coming fate,

“There are a lot of things Wilbur doesn’t know about life,” she thought. “He’s really a very innocent little pig. He doesn’t even know what’s going to happen to him around Christmastime; he has no idea that Mr. Zuckerman and Lurvy are plotting to kill him.”

EA and MC responded with sad expressions and exclamations of “oh, no!” and “Fern’s going to be so upset!”

And then MC came up with a solution to Wilbur’s problem.

She said, “Well, Mr. Zuckerman is going to have to find another pig to kill so he doesn’t have to kill Wilbur.”

My husband took this opportunity to point out our own redemption story that is so similar to Wilbur’s.

You see, like Wilbur, we’re all destined for death.

We’re destined for this because of who we are.

We’re sinners.

We’ve fallen short of God’s perfection by our own nature and by the choices that we make every single day.

The Bible says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” ~Romans 3:23

Just like Wilbur we don’t want to die.

Later in the story Wilbur finds out that his death is being plotted.

He is devastated. He cries out.

He pleads for help.

Just as Wilbur was loved, so are we.

We’re loved by God.

Loved beyond measure.

Loved unconditionally.

Loved sacrificially.

And just like Wilbur, a way for our salvation has been provided.

MC was onto something when she suggested that Mr. Zuckerman should kill another pig in Wilbur’s place.

God gave Jesus, his one and only Son…His perfect and beloved Son…to die in our place.

Jesus took upon himself the death that we deserve.

The Bible says in John 3:16

God loved the world in this way; He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

This is a very familiar verse of scripture.

I pray that it is not so familiar that we lose the meaning and the wonder of it.

So, what do we do with this?

We have two choices, really…

We can continue on in our sin, ignoring the wonderful gift we have been given.

Or we can accept this gift of salvation.

In accepting this gift we must turn away from our sin and turn to Jesus as our Savior.

The Bible gives us wonderful news in Romans 10:9

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

You will be saved from your fate of death!

We all have the opportunity, like Wilbur in the story, to avoid the death that we are destined for. We only have to accept the sacrifice that God provided through his Son’s death.

Who knew that a simple read-aloud story could so clearly demonstrate God’s redemptive story of grace. I am so thankful for the time that we spend as a family reading together. It has provided so many wonderful conversations and opportunities to share!

Last week in school we did an experiment that demonstrated that an empty water bottle wasn’t truly empty.

In actuality, it was full of air.

It was during this experiment that I decided that there is no “glass half-empty” or “glass half-full”.

In actuality, the glass is always full. All full.

That’s how our life is like in Christ.

We’re never empty.

We’re never half-empty or even half-full.

With God’s spirit living inside of us, we’re always full.

Full of Him.

I am so thankful that He fills me.

I can live a life of thankfulness and of grace because God’s spirit dwells within me.

Always.

Post linked to Five Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama where she asks us to take some time to just write.

Wanna join in? Here’s how:

1. Write for 5 minutes flat with no editing, tweaking or self critiquing.

2. Link back and invite others to join in.

3. Go and tell the person who linked up before you what their words meant to you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the kind of speech I use, especially with my most loved ones.

Last week I read this verse states that a “gentle tongue” is a tree of life.

I want my speech to give life to my children, my husband, my family and friends.

I desire to have a gentle tongue for this purpose.

This verse also says that “perverseness in it” breaks the spirit.

Perverseness in what?

The only “it” referred to here is a gentle tongue.

Can a gentle tongue be tainted with perverseness?

Absolutely it can!

Gentle speech that is lined with sarcasm and condescension is perverse.

It is so easy to mask a perverse intent and underlying anger with this kind of gentle speech.

I have been on the receiving end of this. And it hurt to the very core of my being.

Perverseness in gentle speech has three harmful outcomes.

It crushes the spirit,

damages morale,

and causes injury.

The last thing that I ever want to do is to break the spirit of those that I love.

I wonder if my speech, even my gentle speech, conveys that message.

I am seeking to have gentle, life giving speech devoid of perverseness for the sake of those that I love.

Seek with me…

Credits: Time to Play template, papers, elements and alpha by Connie Prince.

Our entire family {excluding my husband} got sick over Christmas.

It began on two days before Christmas and didn’t completely end until New Year’s.

One by one, each of my children and myself developed a fever and lingering cold with all its symptoms.

Will was the last one of the bunch to get sick.

I knew it was his turn when I found him asleep on his bedroom floor in the middle of the night as I was checking on Jenny.

He watched as each of his sisters and I dealt with this cold.

But throughout the entire time, he refused to admit that he was actually sick.

When I asked him how he felt, he responded with “good” or “fine”.

When I asked him if he was sick, he responded adamantly with “No, I not sick!”

This continued even though he was running a high fever and slept all day, not even showing an interest in watching a movie in bed.

Obviously, he was sick.

He just didn’t want to admit this fact because if he did, he would have to take medicine.

And he wasn’t about to do that!

I had to practically hold him down in a headlock to get the medicine he needed down his throat and into his system.

Will’s refusal to admit to being sick reminds me of the refusal we all give at times to our own sin, our sickness of soul.

We don’t want to admit that we are sinners.

That we are selfish.

That we are in need of a savior.

Even though it is blaringly apparent that we are just that, we still refuse.

We refuse because we don’t want to receive the medicine that God has for us.

It may be painful, it may cause some discomfort in the short-term, but in the end it will soothe and sure and heal. Only, we’re just too head strong to admit our need for Him.

As I watched Will struggle against the good medicine I had for him, I became utterly frustrated.

I had an answer to his problem, something that would make him feel better.

Something that was good for him.

But he stubbornly refused the good that I had for him.

How must our Heavenly Father look at us with similar frustration as we struggle against the good that He has for us, for our lives.

He has good gifts waiting for us, if we would just let go of our stubborn ways and admit that we are sinners in need of a savior.

Instead of adamantly proclaiming that we are NOT sick, let’s call out to the One that can make us truly well.

Yes, I am sick!

Yes, I am a sinner!

Yes, I am willing to take the good medicine that you have for me!

Are you ready to admit your own sickness?

Are you willing to take the good medicine that He has for you?

At Jenny’s four month well baby visit, the pediatrician informed me that I should begin her on solid foods.

He said to begin her on rice cereal mixed with water (because she is breastfed) and stage one baby foods. I knew this from my previous babies.

I also knew from my other babies that this could take a while….and it has.

She is five months old now and still doesn’t *love* eating solid foods just yet.

Over the last month I have taken several breaks from it, waiting until she is more ready.

The last time I began trying her on baby foods, she seemed to be more ready and we’ve been “practicing” more. I have noticed that the more I work with her on this, the better she becomes. Each meal is a little easier, she sticks out her tongue a little less, and enjoys the food a little more.

One morning last week, I read this passage in Hebrews that reminded me of my time of starting Jenny on solid foods.

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

~Hebrews 5:14

The solid food described here is not baby food coming out of a jar. It is the deeper meaning of scripture and doctrines of our faith.

There are many similarities between the new experience of starting a baby on solid foods and taking in the “solid food” of God’s Word in our faith as Christians.

It is for the mature.

In starting babies on solid foods and in taking in the “solid food” of God’s word, we have to be mature enough to handle it.

There are several ways that you know that babies are ready to move forward with solid foods, such as losing the tongue-thrust reflex, being able to sit up, and showing an interest in food.

There are also several ways that you know that you as a Christian are ready to move forward to the “solid food” of God’s word, such as an acceptance of Christ as savior, demonstrating fruits of God’s spirit, and a desire to grow in one’s faith.

Training Comes by Constant Practice

It is through constant practice that I have been able to help Jenny move forward with eating solid foods. At each meal, she takes a little bit more.

In the same way, it is only through the constant practice of reading and studying God’s word that we as believers in Christ are able to move on to the “solid food” of God’s word.

I have to ask myself the question…

Am I ready for the solid food of God’s Word?

Are you?

The only way to become ready is through constant practice of reading and studying.