The making of mudpies: What is our motivation for the things we do? There are so many things we do that look great in people’s eyes, but God knows the motivation of our hearts. We can be the leader in church, we can be helping the poor, we can even be evangelizing the lost. But really, all they are, are still mud pies. Sure we look great in other’s eyes but unless we are doing it out of love for God, it is just yet, a mud pie. I think one of my biggest struggles is examining my heart to see if I am doing activities, making choices, etc for the right reason. “Am I doing this so the pastor will see me and recognize what a model Christian I am? …So God can be pleased with me? …So that if I straighten up my life, He will see that my heart is in the right place and He will grant me the desires of my heart, because after all, getting pregnant could not be against His will could it? If I jump through this hoop, maybe I can gain His approval….maybe He will see to it that we don’t have another miscarriage.” Where is your heart? What are the motivations for your work? We cannot make Him love us any more, or any less by anything we do.
Isaiah 64:6 “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags”. (NIV)
Living life intentionally: In the end, a mud pie is a mud pie. Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” We were made from dust and to dust we will return (physically)-just like a mud pie. To number our days, to realize that we have an end and we don’t know how far or soon it will be, makes us live life more intentionally. I’d stop putting off sharing Jesus with my cousin. I’d not lose my patience when my child that seemed potty trained last week uses the bathroom on the floor for the fifth time in a day. I would not get so bent out of shape about….you fill in the blank. I would snuggle more with my children instead of rushing off for “my time” or to clean the house.
Second, third, fourth chances: If you mess the mud pie up, just add some water and do it again. The great thing about God is when we fail the test, we get to take it over again. We even get to take it multiple times and in different variations until we get it right. God is more concerned about our heart than our comfort. He makes our ways complete. He is sanctifying us and working in us to bring His good work in us to completion. We won’t get it right or perfect but thank God he loves us enough not to leave us alone.
James 1: 2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (NIV)
Comparing Mud pies: It may just be a mud pie but it sure looks a whole lot better than her mud pie. The truth is, again, a mud pie is a mud pie. They all look the same to God. If we compare ourselves to others, of course we will look better than others. You can always find someone that is “worse” than you. However, it is not other’s standards that count, or even ours. It is God’s standard. To understand this now, and compare your mud pie, take the “good person quiz”. You know we all love those quizzes in magazines, go ahead, take this test. See if your mud pie is good enough to get you into heaven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6t0s7fpg1M. This only takes 6 ½ minutes.
God has you right where you are supposed to be: Mud pies are mud pies no matter where you are. They look different because of the dirt/content, but they are still mud pies. Only difference is location. People tend to put us on a pedestal because we left our “comforts” of what we were accustomed to in order to move to a foreign land we knew very little about to serve God. Well, let me tell you, my dirt is no different from your dirt except in location. Dirt is dirt. God has us all right where He wants us. God may have you changing diapers and wiping snotty noses and rock babies to sleep telling them how much God loves them. God may have you . working a 9 to 5 job and has you near a person that needs to know how much He loves them. God may have you living in the dessert risking your life to share His love, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God may have you in a place where you can learn and grow so He can prepare you for what He has next for you. Is my mud pie different from yours, well yes in aspects, we are all different. But is it any more special because of location or perceived sacrifice, no. God has you where He does to use you and prepare you for what He has planned for you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ and are obedient to Him through His word, the Bible.
Are you still making the same type of mud pie or have you moved on to making real pies? Are you growing? Is your life producing fruit or are you like a mud pie that has been left in the sun, unchanged, un-pliable for shaping? Or are you just a variation of what you were when you became a Christian but with no real substance. Hebrews 5:12 “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (NIV). Are you growing or are you still pretending. Are you in the Word, or are you riding on the coat tails of what God told you a week ago, month ago, years ago. You don’t continue to give your children a bottle of milk; you give them solid food as they grow. They need a “meatier” diet, one with more substance. Evaluate your life, where are you? Are you growing or are you still making mud pies.
Well right now is my favorite time of year in Ireland. It is blackberry season. You can go on the side of the road anywhere and pick all the blackberries you want until your heart is content. I loved making mud pies as a kid, but now I am enjoying making blackberry pies. May God grow you into a great “pie maker”. Examine your heart, and make sure it is where God can grow you: surrendered, willing, humble, and obedient. Now go make some pies.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Big Red Bus Wishlist
Bus and kids material resource list:
Craft supplies:
Construction paper (assorted color)
Foam shapes with self stick back is always good to us.
Stickers (animals, stars, smiley face, bible verses)
Multi-Color Beads
Pipe cleaners
Crayons
Markers (washable)
Usually people get things for us from http://www.orientaltrading.com/ (just to give an idea)
Something that we really need is to replace our giant parachute (240" Diameter) ours is coming apart!! :-( And a book on parachute games would be helpful as well! We need new ideas! (same web site)
Pre-recorded puppet scripts, in CD format, would benefit us as well.
http://puppetsinc.com/prodspageeng.html
Kids songs DVDs (suggestion: Shout Praises Kids collection from Integrity Kids)
Youth songs DVDs (suggestion: WOW series)
Table games for youth ministry
Craft supplies:
Construction paper (assorted color)
Foam shapes with self stick back is always good to us.
Stickers (animals, stars, smiley face, bible verses)
Multi-Color Beads
Pipe cleaners
Crayons
Markers (washable)
Usually people get things for us from http://www.orientaltrading.com/ (just to give an idea)
Something that we really need is to replace our giant parachute (240" Diameter) ours is coming apart!! :-( And a book on parachute games would be helpful as well! We need new ideas! (same web site)
Pre-recorded puppet scripts, in CD format, would benefit us as well.
http://puppetsinc.com/prodspageeng.html
Kids songs DVDs (suggestion: Shout Praises Kids collection from Integrity Kids)
Youth songs DVDs (suggestion: WOW series)
Table games for youth ministry
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Mud Pies-Part 2: Inadequacy
Inadequacy-It doesn’t matter how much work I put into a mud pie, in the end, it is just a mud pie. Life is too much. There are too many needs to be met: overwhelming numbers of prayer requests, things to keep up with, ministry needs and so few workers, demands of marriage, kids, church needs, people needs, the list can go on and on. In the end, all I can make is a mud pie, which usually ends up in a mess of things. That is what keeps me reliant on my Creator, and humble. The only way anything good can come of what I do is because of God and His work in and through me.
Log in tomorrow and see how "my mud pie is better than hers".
Log in tomorrow and see how "my mud pie is better than hers".
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mud Pies and My Obsession with Them
I am obsessed lately with mud pies. I feel like Bubba on Forest Gump talking about shrimp, but for me it is mud pies. This theme of mud pies keeps popping up in my mind. I loved making mud pies when I was little. I could not wait to go dig in the dirt and get my tiny pans out and put mud in them and wait until the afternoon or next day, depending on the weather for them to cook in the sun and dry. There are so many things that God has been teaching me but for some reason I just cannot get mud pies out of my head. They relate to my life in so many ways.
The first thought about mud pies: Mud pies can symbolize our creativity and the blessing of fun on earth that God gives us. It is simply fun to get dirty-well for some of us. It is beneficial to let go and create, mold and make. It is fun to put everything else aside and work on a mud pie or as adults we would call it a project.
The second thing:
Life is like making mud pies because we were not ready for the real thing: it is a time in our lives for God’s preparation of us. (did that make sense-well read on, maybe I can explain myself). When I was little I made mud pies because I was not allowed to make real pies by myself. I was too little to use the oven, and although I knew what basic ingredients went into making a pie or cake, I did not know yet what order to put the ingredients in or how much of each ingredient to use. There was wisdom in my mom not letting me make a pie by myself at that stage of life-I would have burnt the house down. There are times in our lives that we have to sit and grow and learn a bit before we can be allowed to “play with the real stuff”-do what we feel God has placed on our hearts to do. We may be at a stage where it is time to grow so that we can be equipped to “make the real thing” when God calls us to do it.
Another analogy would be a ship sitting in the harbor. You would not think of boarding a ship that is not sea worthy or stocked for a long journey. When you are ready for your journey, you will be thankful for the preparations that were made for the journey. The journey would not be successful without them.
I see things that God has used years before we this point in my life as a preparation for what I would need on this journey. If God had not brought me through certain trials, or fed me in certain areas, or shown me my sin in areas of my life, then I would have packed up and gone home long ago. I also would not have been able to speak into other’s lives in the certain situations, had it not been for God’s preparation. (And those certain people wouldn’t have listened to me either) Life is real and life is hard, ….and life can be full of blessings. We need to take advantage of the opportunities He provides for us to prepare us.
Philippians 1:6 “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
To find out how mud pies relates to inadequacy, log on tomorrow.
The first thought about mud pies: Mud pies can symbolize our creativity and the blessing of fun on earth that God gives us. It is simply fun to get dirty-well for some of us. It is beneficial to let go and create, mold and make. It is fun to put everything else aside and work on a mud pie or as adults we would call it a project.
The second thing:
Life is like making mud pies because we were not ready for the real thing: it is a time in our lives for God’s preparation of us. (did that make sense-well read on, maybe I can explain myself). When I was little I made mud pies because I was not allowed to make real pies by myself. I was too little to use the oven, and although I knew what basic ingredients went into making a pie or cake, I did not know yet what order to put the ingredients in or how much of each ingredient to use. There was wisdom in my mom not letting me make a pie by myself at that stage of life-I would have burnt the house down. There are times in our lives that we have to sit and grow and learn a bit before we can be allowed to “play with the real stuff”-do what we feel God has placed on our hearts to do. We may be at a stage where it is time to grow so that we can be equipped to “make the real thing” when God calls us to do it.
Another analogy would be a ship sitting in the harbor. You would not think of boarding a ship that is not sea worthy or stocked for a long journey. When you are ready for your journey, you will be thankful for the preparations that were made for the journey. The journey would not be successful without them.
I see things that God has used years before we this point in my life as a preparation for what I would need on this journey. If God had not brought me through certain trials, or fed me in certain areas, or shown me my sin in areas of my life, then I would have packed up and gone home long ago. I also would not have been able to speak into other’s lives in the certain situations, had it not been for God’s preparation. (And those certain people wouldn’t have listened to me either) Life is real and life is hard, ….and life can be full of blessings. We need to take advantage of the opportunities He provides for us to prepare us.
Philippians 1:6 “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NIV)
To find out how mud pies relates to inadequacy, log on tomorrow.
Monday, July 19, 2010
The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlestick Maker
Well I don't have a picture for this post. Sorry.
There are things that I just love about living in Ireland and one of them is the fresh local produce and ...the butchers. When we came here when Ruthie was 3 months old to visit where we would be living, we stopped at a local butchers to ask for directions. He stopped and talked with us about the area, what things there were to do here with the kids, etc. His name was Tom and we have never forgotten him. Well, for our anniversary we decided to have a nice dinner in. Ruthie is now 2 1/2. That tells you how much of an impact that one conversation had.
Anyway, Ludie went to see Tom and buy some steaks. They were wonderful. Definitely fresh! You could tell this by the taste. Then we hosted the Immersion Team Farewell Party and went to see Tom again and just got prices and quality you could not match in a store. So now, we get all our meat through Tom at Madden Meats (just in case you are in Roscommon and reading this, you will know where to go).
Today we (the kids and I) prepared for our first visit to the butcher! Even Ruthie was excited to take a nap because she knew that when she woke up, we were going to see Tom the butcher. (She has no idea who he is or what a butcher is but it is exciting none the less). And so, today, for the very first time in my life I bought meat at the butcher's.
I made cajun hamburgers for supper (and might I say they were "lovely"). :)
The thing I am most excited about is that I found a mock recipe for Jimmie Dean sausage. I MISS patty sausage and cannot wait to eat it-if the recipe works out. Now I love many things about Ireland but I have to say the sausage here is, well, not good. It is linked sausage with no herbs or flavorings that I can tell. You know what is so cool, is that Tom said that when I get the recipe the way I want it, to give it to him and he will prepare it for me. Oh, how exciting. I know...I am just too excited about this but I just think it is the little things in life that make life fun. So today, I am excited about the ability to continue my love affair with pork.
To just give you an idea of how much I love patty sausage I spent an hour trying to read and find a loop hole in getting sausage sent over from the US, and even emailing Bass Farm to see if they could ship sausage over (it cannot be imported here from the US), so if we can't get it.....we will make it. (I hope it works).
There are things that I just love about living in Ireland and one of them is the fresh local produce and ...the butchers. When we came here when Ruthie was 3 months old to visit where we would be living, we stopped at a local butchers to ask for directions. He stopped and talked with us about the area, what things there were to do here with the kids, etc. His name was Tom and we have never forgotten him. Well, for our anniversary we decided to have a nice dinner in. Ruthie is now 2 1/2. That tells you how much of an impact that one conversation had.
Anyway, Ludie went to see Tom and buy some steaks. They were wonderful. Definitely fresh! You could tell this by the taste. Then we hosted the Immersion Team Farewell Party and went to see Tom again and just got prices and quality you could not match in a store. So now, we get all our meat through Tom at Madden Meats (just in case you are in Roscommon and reading this, you will know where to go).
Today we (the kids and I) prepared for our first visit to the butcher! Even Ruthie was excited to take a nap because she knew that when she woke up, we were going to see Tom the butcher. (She has no idea who he is or what a butcher is but it is exciting none the less). And so, today, for the very first time in my life I bought meat at the butcher's.
I made cajun hamburgers for supper (and might I say they were "lovely"). :)
The thing I am most excited about is that I found a mock recipe for Jimmie Dean sausage. I MISS patty sausage and cannot wait to eat it-if the recipe works out. Now I love many things about Ireland but I have to say the sausage here is, well, not good. It is linked sausage with no herbs or flavorings that I can tell. You know what is so cool, is that Tom said that when I get the recipe the way I want it, to give it to him and he will prepare it for me. Oh, how exciting. I know...I am just too excited about this but I just think it is the little things in life that make life fun. So today, I am excited about the ability to continue my love affair with pork.
To just give you an idea of how much I love patty sausage I spent an hour trying to read and find a loop hole in getting sausage sent over from the US, and even emailing Bass Farm to see if they could ship sausage over (it cannot be imported here from the US), so if we can't get it.....we will make it. (I hope it works).
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Picture update
Well a lot has gone on the past two weeks. Impact Ireland finished today! People from all over the world came to Ireland for OM Ireland's biggest annual outreach. (you will see a picture of Whitney with the boxes of tracts that went out all over Ireland!), We celebrated the 4th of July with a people from all over the world (here you see Colm from Ireland and Ernie from S. Africa). We are still amazed by the sun not setting until after 10pm (when this picture was taken). My sister and her family came to visit (we took a Viking boat tour on the Shannon River).
Picture update
Well a lot has gone on the past two weeks. Impact Ireland finished today! People from all over the world came to Ireland for OM Ireland's biggest annual outreach. (you will see a picture of Whitney with the boxes of tracts that went out all over Ireland!), We celebrated the 4th of July with a people from all over the world (here you see Colm from Ireland and Ernie from S. Africa). We are still amazed by the sun not setting until after 10pm (when this picture was taken). My sister and her family came to visit (we took a Viking boat tour on the Shannon River).
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