"My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh." Song of Solomon 1:13
Sunday, September 20th, 2015
In Christ this sinful mother has been raised to new life.
In this new life I receive Faith. A faith that sees through this dim mirror of temporal life and into the eternal life to come. In this temporal life I only see dying, struggle and futility. I am tempted to believe that Sin and death have the final say.
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014
This has been a year of learning more about what it means to live under the cross. We have not suffered death or other great loss. We have not been imprisoned or beaten. Perhaps we suffer a more ‘gentle’ form of suffering than others, we do not get to chose our crosses, we are only to take them up and follow.
Suffering isn’t a pleasant thought during Christmas, it’s the most wonderful time of the year after all. But as I listen again and again to the “Christmas Story” I see suffering wrapped all around it.
I read of Mary’s rejection by Joseph and shame as an unwed pregnant girl. I can’t help but wonder how she was treated during her pregnancy and perhaps ever after. Then there was a journey to undergo being “great with child” and no room in the inn once she and Joseph arrived. Mary gave birth to God’s Son in filth and noise and later they fled for their lives to Egypt. Joseph and Mary endured the nightmare of losing track of a child in a large crowded city searching for days to find Him. Then finally she watched as her son was betrayed, beaten, mocked and murdered.
And for all this Mary was still called “Blessed.” I don’t know if I would have felt very blessed. Under the cover of all this suffering God’s plan, His great gift to man was still glorious. To our eyes this glorious plan just looks cruel and wrong. Our flesh and this World are scandalized by such suffering. How could any of this be good?
The Christmas Season goes on for 12 days highlighting more blood and death with Stephen’s slaying, the slaughter of The Innocents and Jesus’ circumcision.
And in all this God says “A light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
We expect that our Christmas be merry and bright, not full of load after load of barfy sheets, sinus infections and miserable crying babies. What if we have to shuffle through the day sick, unable to rest, still having to make meals and wash dishes?
What if our Christmas is less than ideal or if we bury a loved one 2 days before the 25th. How do we still sing Joy to the World?
Only through faith, because we know that the Lord has come. Come to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray. Our service has been completed, our sin has been paid for, we have received from the Lord’s hand double for all our sins.
And in that do we find tidings of Comfort and Joy.
Sunday, November 16th, 2014
There are good ways and bad ways at going about sharing your views on child prevention aka birth control. I’ve addressed it a bit on this blog, but I don’t do that much because I believe it’s an issue better left in the hands of theologians and the Holy Spirit. Obvious to most of you is the fact that Phil and I do not use any forms of child prevention, I did write on that here, but when it comes to discussing it with others, this topic is an emotional land-mine I pretty much avoid.
My series on Fertility in a Fallen World was started as a way to gently open discussion on the issue and as a way to encourage all women who have deeply struggled with procreation. As anyone who is married knows, we must all make some hard decisions about procreation, there’s no way around it.
So with that said, I wanted to share a paper with you all that Phil wrote on the issue titled: “The Logic, Ideology, and Ascendancy of Child Prevention.” He presented this paper at the Nebraska Lutheran Confession Series at Good Shepherd, Lincoln this past Thursday.
It deals with Margret Sanger and her program of family planning and how her influence has changed how Americans talk and think about children. And how Christians are called to view children.
Here is the edited audio:
Here is the same, with a download link to the mp3:
The full paper is here if you’d prefer to read it while you listen which is what the original audience did:
Monday, November 3rd, 2014
Be Still and Hold Tight: On Children and Grief
(A guest post by Emily Cook)
The autumn breeze beckons us outside. I force them to live, to breathe in the blessed cool air, to let the breeze fill their souls and lift their hearts. But the little ones choose naps over fall joy- so be it.
I join the older children, and I brought pillows and books and blankets to help prolong our stay.
I am restless in the staying- shouldn’t I be doing something more productive?
Sometimes the weight of it presses down and I don’t know what to do with myself;
I want to fix it all, but who can fix a week with three funerals?
Who can help relieve the grief?
Who can uphold the weary pastor?
My hands prepare comfort food,
and then I don’t know what to do next: shop, eat, nap?
I overestimate my role in these things, I think.
I content myself with gathering blankets and good books, with holding my loved ones close.
It is enough.
It is enough for you too, weary friend who wants to fix it all.
It is enough to hold your babies close, to hold tight to Jesus, and to wait in hope.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to spur one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:23-25)
We wait, and while we wait we are given this task: encourage one another.
I almost missed it this weekend–my chance to encourage the ones that matter most to me. I almost missed it because unscheduled time makes me restless. I almost assigned a task to myself, filled the afternoon lull with one more productive thing. But for some reason, this time, I didn’t. And this time, it mattered.
Weary of books, we rested on pillows, and my big kids welcomed the snuggles. Do they struggle with the weight of this week like I do? I see myself in one child, the one who keeps busy, and cries about minor things. Does she think the emotions will suffocate if she sets them free? Oh my dear, I understand.
Hoping to nap, I put on some quiet piano music as I held them close. But I had forgotten the magic of music; what soothes a weary heart triggers a flood in a heavy heart. The flood overcame one child, with hot tears and questions and hiccuping, gasping grief, all poured out in the arms of a mama who almost answered emails instead of being still.
I do not remember what I said. I murmured words about Jesus, things they already know, and I held them close.
It is enough.
In the days to come, there will be more moments like this.
May God help us to be still and to be ready.
Your children need you to be still with them, even in grief, especially in grief.
Be still, even without the answers.
Be still, listen,
Hold your loved ones close, and be comforted together.
2 Peter 3:13
But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth,
in which righteousness dwells.
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If you liked this article, you may enjoy Emily’s newly released book: Between Seasons: Devotions for those who wait for Spring. It is available for purchase on Amazon, along with her other books: Tend to Me: Devotions for Mothers, and Weak and Loved: A Mother-Daughter Love Story.
Emily Cook is a tree-climber, child chaser, author and blogger. She is a woman growing backward, a mother-child, messy with sin, but rejoicing in the constant love of her Heavenly Father. She lives with her husband and their six children in the arms of the church where he is a pastor. For more by Emily visit www.weakandloved.com
