this parenting gig
2011's word was contentment. God taught me this by removing things - stuff rather- and uncluttering my life (ie. house, furniture, cars, etc).
"godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."
1 Timothy 6:6-7 NIV
2012's word was trust. God taught me how to trust by shaking up my normals (ie. homeschooling, relocating to a tropical rainforest in a land far far away from family, etc).
"In you, Lord my God, I put my trust."
Psalm 25:1 NIV
So, what for 2013? There is already a one word theme happening. Even 13 days in. One word that God keeps gently throwing in my face: grace.
"to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it."
Ephesians 4:7 NIV
Check out this quote from A Holy Experience that God sent my way this morning:
"This parenting gig’s an experiment in radical grace and the work of every parent is to fully give to the child.
And it’s the work of every child to fully forgive the parents. This is how it turns, the torch passing from one to the next.
Remember that we made meals and beds and mistakes and memories – look hard for the good ones."
(Urban Dictionary defines a gig as "A live performance, either musical, theatrical, or physical." and "A job, usually in the entertainment industry." Just had to throw that definition in there for the fun of it!)
I so agree with the idea that parenting requires RADICAL grace. Never do I feel more insufficient or ineffective at life than when I mess up with my kids. And I do. Mess up. (For example I just stopped writing AGAIN and threatened my redhead's social existence if I have another interruption from her!)
Another reason I love this quote is that the author refers to parenting as an experiment. There is no perfect way. Experimenting in radical grace must be the way that we walk through each day. Especially as a parent.
"The work of every parent is to fully give to the child." Fully give grace. (But, I am not quite sure I am as good at it giving grace as I am receiving it.)
"And it's the work of every child to fully forgive the parents." Fully forgive. (Even tantrums that are a result of constant interruptions!)
The part that really grabbed my attention when I read this was the part about beds and meals.
Why the bed part? See, a huge part of the past three weeks of my life has been to make beds. Why did it take me three weeks? We are now living in a seven bedroom house. Those bedrooms have a total of 13 beds. 13 beds that after three weeks all finally have clean sheets. Quite a task for a lady living in a tropical rainforest without a washer ("em i bikpela bagarap. em i bruk." or "it's bad messed up. it's broke." times three weeks) or dryer and in the midst of a crazy rainy season with very limited access to sunshine!
Why the meal part? See, we live way far off the beaten path here in Ukarumpa. Our missionary community has a store that does a phenomenal job of keeping yummy things that we are accustomed to eating on the shelves. But, way far off the beaten path multiplied by import fees etc... equals very expensive to shop in bulk in our store here in Ukarumpa. (Please read this blog post about meal planning and cost in Ukarumpa.) Planning ahead and attempting to shop in bulk for newbies to PNG is quite a task (if you ask me, the PNG newbie). By the way, food is uber important in a hostel. Nothing says home in my book more than three yummy meals a day!
"we made meals and beds" was just like God tapping me on the shoulder saying, "Eh hem, Sara. Pay attention. This is the important part. This is for you."
I mess up as a mom. We all do as parents as we walk through this experiment of radical grace, struggling to fully give grace as our children (hopefully) fully forgive us through it all.
Tomorrow is another new beginning for me as a mom. Now I am mom to my babies and hostel mom to other people's babies. Woswers. Good thing "grace has been given as Christ apportioned it" or this parenting gig would be a total flop.
"Remember that we made meals and beds and mistakes and memories - look hard for the good ones."
Lord Jesus, please keep my eyes, ears, and heart aware of the good ones. And thank You for using this mom as an instrument to extend Your radical grace. And thank You for using my mom-ness to impact Bible translation. May You be glorified in all things.
"godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it."
1 Timothy 6:6-7 NIV
2012's word was trust. God taught me how to trust by shaking up my normals (ie. homeschooling, relocating to a tropical rainforest in a land far far away from family, etc).
"In you, Lord my God, I put my trust."
Psalm 25:1 NIV
So, what for 2013? There is already a one word theme happening. Even 13 days in. One word that God keeps gently throwing in my face: grace.
"to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it."
Ephesians 4:7 NIV
Check out this quote from A Holy Experience that God sent my way this morning:
"This parenting gig’s an experiment in radical grace and the work of every parent is to fully give to the child.
And it’s the work of every child to fully forgive the parents. This is how it turns, the torch passing from one to the next.
Remember that we made meals and beds and mistakes and memories – look hard for the good ones."
(Urban Dictionary defines a gig as "A live performance, either musical, theatrical, or physical." and "A job, usually in the entertainment industry." Just had to throw that definition in there for the fun of it!)
I so agree with the idea that parenting requires RADICAL grace. Never do I feel more insufficient or ineffective at life than when I mess up with my kids. And I do. Mess up. (For example I just stopped writing AGAIN and threatened my redhead's social existence if I have another interruption from her!)
Another reason I love this quote is that the author refers to parenting as an experiment. There is no perfect way. Experimenting in radical grace must be the way that we walk through each day. Especially as a parent.
"The work of every parent is to fully give to the child." Fully give grace. (But, I am not quite sure I am as good at it giving grace as I am receiving it.)
"And it's the work of every child to fully forgive the parents." Fully forgive. (Even tantrums that are a result of constant interruptions!)
The part that really grabbed my attention when I read this was the part about beds and meals.
Why the bed part? See, a huge part of the past three weeks of my life has been to make beds. Why did it take me three weeks? We are now living in a seven bedroom house. Those bedrooms have a total of 13 beds. 13 beds that after three weeks all finally have clean sheets. Quite a task for a lady living in a tropical rainforest without a washer ("em i bikpela bagarap. em i bruk." or "it's bad messed up. it's broke." times three weeks) or dryer and in the midst of a crazy rainy season with very limited access to sunshine!
Why the meal part? See, we live way far off the beaten path here in Ukarumpa. Our missionary community has a store that does a phenomenal job of keeping yummy things that we are accustomed to eating on the shelves. But, way far off the beaten path multiplied by import fees etc... equals very expensive to shop in bulk in our store here in Ukarumpa. (Please read this blog post about meal planning and cost in Ukarumpa.) Planning ahead and attempting to shop in bulk for newbies to PNG is quite a task (if you ask me, the PNG newbie). By the way, food is uber important in a hostel. Nothing says home in my book more than three yummy meals a day!
"we made meals and beds" was just like God tapping me on the shoulder saying, "Eh hem, Sara. Pay attention. This is the important part. This is for you."
I mess up as a mom. We all do as parents as we walk through this experiment of radical grace, struggling to fully give grace as our children (hopefully) fully forgive us through it all.
Tomorrow is another new beginning for me as a mom. Now I am mom to my babies and hostel mom to other people's babies. Woswers. Good thing "grace has been given as Christ apportioned it" or this parenting gig would be a total flop.
"Remember that we made meals and beds and mistakes and memories - look hard for the good ones."
Lord Jesus, please keep my eyes, ears, and heart aware of the good ones. And thank You for using this mom as an instrument to extend Your radical grace. And thank You for using my mom-ness to impact Bible translation. May You be glorified in all things.
But He gives greater grace.....think of all that weighs on you (yesterday's regrets, today's demands, tomorrow's plans)....and be filled with those 5 words. He is enough. You have no idea how often I've prayed & will continue to for y'all. Your being a hostel mom makes me smile.:0)
ReplyDeleteDriggers is a direct descendant of a African man, Emmanuel Rodriguez, best known as Emmanuel Driggers.
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