Breakin' The Law

I have begun to think that legalism must come to us naturally. I like to think I am not legalistic. Yes, the thoughts come to me, as I'm sure they do a lot of us. However, it's not what I live by. I try really hard not to communicate to my children that we're living under the law. But based on what I've heard coming out of their mouths, maybe I have some work to do.
Twice in the last few months, riding down the road, my five year old son has made comments that broke my heart. I can't remember all of the first conversation. In the second one, he said, "Mom, I want to pick you some flowers." I, of course, melted and said, "You do?" He said, "Yes. I want to pick you some flowers so you'll love me more." My heart sank. My first thought was, "Do I not love him enough? Does he not feel loved?" I asked him, "Sam, do you not think that I already love you?" He answered that he knew I did. I then explained to him that nothing he could ever do for me or to me would make me love him less or more. That made him happy. Then I explained that God is the same way, only more so, because His love is perfect. We can never escape His love.
Just a few days ago in the car, again not sure exactly what we were discussing (we have some good conversations in the car), Lauren made the remark that we are all sinners. Indeed Romans 3:10 says, "There is no one righteous, not even one". However, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." I explained that to Lauren, and she said "Yes, I know that. But compared to God, we are horrible." I want her to understand that yes, God is awesome and majestic and worthy, and we can never come close to being Him. But I also want her to understand that when He looks at us, He sees righteousness. Another opportunity came when reading her bedtime story to her. A character in the book said that she wanted to something, "so that I can earn more grace." I said, "Huh? Lauren...if we have to earn it, it isn't grace." She said, very confidently "I know." So maybe I'm not doing too badly after all. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit fills in the gaps where I miss it. Meditating on the subject of law vs grace the other day, this is what the Lord spoke to my heart: He is calling me to a place where I have and show more grace for others than ever before, while at the same time, calling me to a place of more personal holiness and integrity than ever before. I think that's how it has to work. Man, isn't He good.

Get Real

Tuesday night I hosted my Mom's Encounter Group at my house. Jeremy agreed to take the older kids out for some fun. I had this image of my guests arriving to my clean, quiet serene home where they smell yummy food and comforting candles, and hear worship music playing. Reality: I forgot to put my CD in until the guests had already begun to arrive, forgot the candles altogether, Libby had dumped 2 baskets of toys in the middle of the living room floor, and the best part was that Jeremy and the kids didn't leave until the ladies started getting there. The garage door was wide open, and we all know what most of our garages look like. And Sam was crying. I started to feel embarrassed and stressed, but then I sort of got tickled. I told the ladies, "This is real life." We had a great time. And nobody cared about any of that stuff. Probably an hour into the meeting,  there was a knock at the door and a friend let herself in. She was dressed in sweats and commented on the fact that she wasn't dressed for the meeting,  and brought no food, because she wasn't expecting to get to come. She ended up being able to drop in for an hour or so. She said she knew it was ok because we loved her. I just thought,  "You know, it isn't that my home and children are perfect,  or anyone else's in the group.  But we have love for each other." They will know us by our love for each other. Find yourself a group, small or large, doesn't matter. What matters is that you're real with them, and they're real with you. You can talk about the hard stuff. You can show each other grace. You can do life together. It's vital.