Monday, July 29, 2013

A New Blog

Check out my new blog at www.aprildriver.wordpress.com

I will continue to update The Driver Journey. I plan to use my family blog for updates on the kids, family photos and funny Jack and Grace stories.

My new blog will be the new home for my thoughts and opinions on life, faith, writing, parenting, social justice and anything else that strikes my fancy. If you are interested, I would love to have you follow along. 

If you only want to see cute pictures of the kids and would rather skip my musings on other topics then I understand completely. 

I appreciate each of you. Thanks for taking this journey with me. 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Metamorphosis

Yes, I deleted some old posts. I appreciate your calls and questions about whether I will keep blogging. 

I do plan to keep writing but I am going to tone down the thoughts and opinions I share here. This is a family blog. The original intent was to share stories and photos of my children. 

I am in a state of metamorphosis. My heart is changing. My faith is growing. My mind is busy. There are so many things I could write here daily about this journey. But, I am not sure yet if this is a commentary I should share now with the public. 

It is good. I am good. Life is good. I am writing. And I will be posting here. My posts will be my original intent. Pictures of the kids. Milestones in their development. Fun family moments. 

Thanks for reading. I appreciate every comment from each of you about how my words have touched you. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A New Reputation

I do not want to be vague here. I am going to share these thoughts today because I believe I am not the only one who struggles. That I am part of a generation of women who are seeking. A generation who knows there is something more but can't seem to line it all up in a pretty little row.

In this week's Believing God Bible study, Beth Moore made a statement that hit me in the gut. She said that we can all get a new reputation. That we are all eligible for the change that comes with believing God.

Now I want to tell you a story about last week at Bible study. An interaction that has been on my heart all week. Last week we were grouped up to discuss ways that we use our mouths incorrectly. Each group took a topic like gossip, profanity, lying, etc. My group had profanity. We talked about naughty words and the possible negative impacts. Somehow as the discussion was winding down my little group got off topic. The lady next to me mentioned how homosexuality is now so prevalent on television. And y'all know me, and my mouth, and my views on same sex marriage. This is a big sticking point in my faith and I was offended. Offended that she would assume that just because it was Bible study that I would agree with her. But y'all I held my tongue. That is until she said, "they are ruining our marriages."

I ignored the poke from God that told me that maybe I should keep my mouth shut. Instead I said, "it is interesting to me how Christians don't think same sex marriage should be legal. 50% of marriages end in divorce. Why aren't Christians trying to make the laws change so that only divorce and remarriage as defined by the Bible is legal?" Well, you can probably guess this didn't go over well. She was offended. And of course she had been divorced.

But the worst part is I don't think divorce should be illegal. I don't think people should be shamed for it. I don't think anything bad about people who have been divorced. In fact, it is a miracle that my marriage has lasted nine and a half years with me in it. Seriously.

I was just trying to make a logical argument to prove a point. So why I am telling you this now? Why does this even matter? Because I was raised in church. I was in Bible study. And if I was offended and turned off because of a statement like that then what must people who have never taken the time to study God's word think? How many people are we losing because we want to prove a point?

Now I am not at all saying that Christians can't believe that the Biblical definition of marriage is a man and a woman. I am not even saying that Christians should or shouldn't believe that homosexuality is moral or immoral. That is not my place.

What I am saying is that I think Christians should think before they speak, like I should have when I countered with the whole divorce statement. I think that before a Christian argues a point like homosexuality they should stop and pray and seek God's guidance. Does He need you to say anything? Could making an argument actually keep someone from getting to know Him? Is it really worth it to feel justified? I am reminded of a few verses in the Bible:

Romans 14:13 - Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

Matthew 7:6 - Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside.

If our true goal is to follow God's commandments then we should trust him to deal with what He has said is sin. If our true goal is to lead others to God then we need to focus not on condemnation but on the miracle of Jesus.

If all of us that claim to be Christians started living the Word, then our world would look different. We are called to be disciples. We are called to love our neighbors. We are called to feed the poor. We are called to take care of widows and orphans. I am not sure we are called to sit on the mountain and point down in judgement.

Do I think that sometimes God uses people to speak out against the sinful behaviors identified in the Bible? Yes. Do I think the majority of bickering going on in the public square is really from God? No.

I want to be a woman who is believing God. I want to be a woman who is following God's will. I want to be a part of the generation that figures out how to change the world. I want a new reputation. One that demonstrates generosity, love, sacrifice, kindness. I want my life to be an example of how to love and live Jesus. I don't want my stubborn tongue to be a stumbling block for God's good work.

Eddy Jordan

I met Eddy Jordan last spring during the LTYM show. A group of women sat around a conference room table reading our motherhood stories out loud to each other for the first time. Eddy was the lone male. Only a sophomore in college, he had an inside view of the inter-workings of a group of ladies.

I sat waiting for my turn to read my story. Eddy read his two before me. He left me crying like a baby, completely undone by his imagery. His story captured love, loss, humor and a mother's dedication perfectly. 

Eddy's was my favorite LTYM story. 





I want to be that mom. The mom whose grown child knows he was loved deeply. The mom whose children do not doubt that she will move mountains to keep them safe. The mom whose absence gives a man a mission to tell her story. 

Eddy is an inspiration. His mom must be looking down proud of the man he has become. Honored that he is telling her story.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Listen To Your Mother: Boulder 2013


Check out this video. The Listen To Your Mother show I participated in during May is now available for viewing on Youtube.

I hope you enjoy my little story.




Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Convicted

If you follow this blog or know me personally, it is evident I am going through a spiritual transition. I am changing internally and in the process God is convicting certain areas of my life.

The most obvious is my actual faith. As in believing God is who he says he is and that Jesus is the path to salvation. My faith was damaged in hypocrisy witnessed at an early age. The damage has been a convenient excuse to rebel against God.

Last night as I read my Bible study, it was revealed to me that I am being given a peaceful moment in life right now. At this time, I believe, God is giving me space to study and contemplate his word. The message I am getting is clear: Let go of rebellion and stubbornness and follow me.

As I work to develop my faith two other areas are standing out where I need victory in order to truly follow God and get over the hurdle of unbelief. Money and Mouth.

I am usually not a spender. I do spend money but usually in moderation. However, lately I am rearranging our house and hoarding supplies from Costco. Seriously, it is silly. As I am being shown that Christian's are commanded to sacrifice self (including our wealth) to serve the poor, my desire to buy stuff for me and my family is almost irresistible. We can afford to buy stuff but we don't actually need more stuff. And, I know that God is calling me to share my privilege.

The interesting concept this is touching is the hypocrisy that roadblocks my faith. You see, I struggle with the picking and choosing of sin that I see in "Christians". One area that really bugs me is the wealth of our nations and the disparity throughout the world. We don't even realize we are filthy rich. Yet, we are. Including you.

I believe God is convicting me in the area of money because I need to understand I am a hypocrite too. I need to understand the power of temptation to serve ourselves and our selfish desires instead of doing as God commands and loving our neighbors and giving our comfort to lift up the truly poor.

As for mouth, I probably don't even need to explain my struggle here. But, lately my mouth has been hard to control. I am not even being true to what I believe in half of what I am spewing. This is one reason I stopped using Facebook this summer. It offers too much temptation to misuse my words.

I am praying hard to have the wisdom and discernment to control my tongue. But it is not easy! Often I end up frustrated with myself for giving in to the temptation to run my mouth. Words are powerful. What we say and how we say it is one of our greatest examples of our faith. We can destroy God's work in others in a minute with harsh and unloving words.

Right now, I am not winning in any of these areas. My faith is weak, I am not resisting the temptation to spend for self and I am not controlling my tongue. But victory only comes through God.

The external of my life is peaceful but the internal is in conflict. I know victory in faith, money and mouth will bring me closer to living out God's purpose for my life. The struggle is hard but victory will be sweet.


Monday, July 1, 2013

Homemade Fizz Eggs

A few months back Jack found this video on Youtube. I am not a crafting momma, but science experiments I can do. Science is fun! 

Here is our version of homemade fizz eggs. Combine one cup baking soda with 1/4 cup of water and stir. The mixture will become a paste like consistency. Jack and Grace enjoyed using their hands to do the mixing. Then select a few small plastic oven safe toys (we used Angry Bird Star Wars toys). Cover each toy in the baking soda mixture until it is in a circular shape. Grace was a little young for this step but Jack did an excellent job. 

Place the baking soda covered toys on a baking pan. Bake at 170 degrees for one hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. I did not let my kids go anywhere near the oven. This is a step for the parent, but all other parts of this experiment should be okay for your average four year old to handle. 

Pour distilled white vinegar into a big bowl. You may want to place the bowl on towels because our eggs made a big mess. Place the cooled fizz eggs in the bowl of vinegar and watch the magic happen.















My kids LOVED this! In fact we just made more to let Daddy see when he gets home from work. 

Directions:
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup water
about 3 cups vinegar

Mix baking soda and water in a bowl. Cover a small oven safe object with baking soda mix. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in oven at 170 degrees for 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool completely. 
Once cool, put vinegar in a large bowl. Place fizz eggs in bowl. Have fun!