Our little boy loves soccer. He’s been playing Timbit soccer, a local league for little ones in our town, all summer. On any given Tuesday, we begin counting down from the moment he wakes up to the time soccer begins.

As his team started their warm-up this particular Tuesday, our son participated in the practice drills, but I could tell something was wrong. A few minutes later he came running off the field, tears in his eyes.

After much coaxing, I managed to get these words out of him, “I want to go home.”

“Go home?! But you love soccer.”

“I want to go home,” he repeated.

“Why?”

He buried his face further in my lap as the tears continued to come.

He’s never been one for telling me how he feels. Usually I have to drag information out of him. Determined to find the cause of this unusual outburst I told him that we would not go home until he told me why.

Eventually he stammered, “I’m afraid they will laugh at me.”

Not sure where that was coming from, having never heard those words come out of his barely five-year-old mouth, I again asked the obvious question, “Why?”

He wouldn’t answer. Apparently he had told me enough.

After more convincing, resulting only in more tears, we packed up and mounted our bikes to ride home.

Hubby and I disagreed all the way home about how to handle the situation. His solution was an early bedtime for our son, as obviously he was overtired. My approach was much more feminine, wanting to talk the matter through with him. The former happened.

Later, as we were continuing to disagree about how the situation was handled, getting nowhere in our discussions, he stopped us short.

“Instead of arguing, let’s just pray.”

Holding hands, united as a parental team, even though we disagreed over this matter, we asked for wisdom in parenting. We asked that His presence would fill our home, fill our conversations with our children, and our lives as we model faith in front of them. We asked that each of us would appreciate the approach of the other, recognizing God has given us different perspectives to balance our parenting techniques. And we asked that God would strengthen our little boy, giving him the confidence that even if other kids did laugh at him, he is loved by us and the God who made him into the special person he is.

We are instructed in the Word to make the most of every opportunity. We are told to talk about God with our children when we get up and when we go to bed, when we are at home and we walk along the road. Teachable moments with our children happen every day and we can take advantage of them, if we keep our eyes open. But when one is overlooked, prayer covers the missed opportunity. It is the most powerful parenting technique we have.

I definitely feel ill-equipped for my role as a parent. Unfortunately, my children didn’t come with instruction manuals. I’m not always sure how to handle situations as they arise, and often feel I didn’t respond as well as I could have. I fail many times. But the most effective thing I can do as a mother is pray, asking for wisdom in raising the next generation.

And the God who gives generously, will supply.

Don’t you wish we could pick and choose? Choose the parts we like; the parts that are easy and then stubbornly ignore the rest?

But we can’t.

If we believe one word of the Word, we must submit to it’s authority in its entirety. If one word is true, the whole counsel of the Scriptures is complete truth, divinely inspired by God Himself.

And yet I still find myself wishing that those words weren’t there.

We talked as the little ones slept in the back seat, making our way to the farm. I didn’t like what he had to say, challenging me in my attitude and behaviour. He even quoted scripture. There was this thing rising in me, making me want to escape the conversation, and now I can identify it for what it is: rebellion. I felt my very soul rebelling against everything he had to say.

Later that night I tried to sleep, but his words mixed with the Word weighed heavy on my mind and heart.

At dawn I crack open the Word to continue with my Bible reading plan, as I do most mornings. And sure enough, in God’s amazing timing, the passage for today was the exact words he had used to confront me with the truth. There it was in black and white, convicting me as only the Word can.

I spent some time on my knees asking God why. Why did he include something that seemed so hard to do; something every part of me wanted to rebel against? I asked Him to remove my rebellious spirit and replace it with a submissive one. Next the hard part: I need to actually live out the truth of the Word. Submit to its authority. Because despite all my stubborn defiance…

the words are actually in there… and I can’t ignore it. 

I love the feeling of a new haircut, or of wearing a new outfit, so I thought a change here in blogworld might be equally as exciting.

I’ve been blogging for five months now – not a very long time, I realize – but it’s been long enough to get a sense of why I’m doing this and the message I hope to convey. Hence the change in name to go along with the new look.

‘Reflections’ more accurately describes what my words are about.

See and reflect the glory of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

Like the scripture the name is based on, it has two-fold meaning:

Seeing the glory of the Lord:
Thoughts disentangle themselves through the written word – at least that’s how it works for me. As the words flow and my fingers fly to record these humble reflections of my life, the process adds clarity. This is a place where I can unscramble my thoughts to reflect on how God is speaking, moving and working in this mist of my ordinary. It’s always in the everyday moments of life I find Him.

Reflecting the glory of the Lord:
As my life gradually reflects His glory more and more, my hope is that this small corner of the web is not unlike a mirror – an ever-increasing reflection of His glory. My prayer, as you peer into this mirror, is that you will see Him here and be inspired to use your own ordinary moments to reflect Him in ever-increasing splendour.

Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (MSG)

Still the same simple words, still the same humble author, hopefully a sharper focus. As always, thank you, dear reader, for sticking with me.

I’d love to hear from you. How have you seen His glory in your life lately? How can you reflect His glory today to a watching world?

We drove through the night as the sheet lightening illuminated the sky – weary, but happy travelers on their way home from vacation – two of them asleep in the back, the other two sharing earphones. Little did they know their lifestyle was about to be radically challenged.

Similar to my food obsessions, my infatuation with Bible teachers goes in spurts. The Joyce Meyer phase accompanied the Honey Nut Cheerios addiction. The Beth Moore phase went with the popcorn addiction (this one still may be ongoing!). Now the Francis Chan phase is simultaneous with my obsession with ketchup flavoured chips.

So there we were, riding through the night toward home – chips in hand – listening to a message from Francis Chan.

Francis is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley California – he wrote Crazy Love and Forgotten God. I really like the way he takes the Word of God and challenges people’s lives with the literal truth of the scriptures. His teachings may appear radical to some, but I’d be so bold as to say they are closer to the truth then what many churches teach.

This particular message was called Living to Display the Gospel. If you can spare the time, listen to the entire message. It’s worth it. 03/15/09 Living a Life that Matters – “Living to Display the Gospel”

Francis was speaking about how we must never forget the poor. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for widows and orphans.

We are called to live the gospel.

But what does this look like… practically? He began to give examples of things people in his church were currently doing to serve the poor.

• A couple in their late 50’s is raising 11 foster children.
• Two families decided to share one house in order to sell the other and donate the money to missions.
• A family has invited a homeless family to live with them.
• Another family moves into an RV and lets other people move into their house.
• A couple without children who want to care for the most rejected people in society adopt a sixteen-year-old boy who is severely disabled.
• People going to prisons every week to minister to those on death row.
• A family sells their house and moves into an RV to travel around America to help people as the Spirit leads.
• A prominent business man is making as much money as he can so he can give away 90% and live of the remaining 10%

WOW! Talk about sacrifice! These are real people – ordinary people – who no longer can stand by and do nothing while others suffer.

These people didn’t hear a word from God. God didn’t speak in an audible voice to them. They simply read the Word and did what it said. Francis made the point that none of us need to hear a word from God to go to the movies, yet we claim to need His specific direction to give to the poor. His advice was to pursue opportunities and see what happens. As we begin to act the Holy Spirit begins to lead.

Hubby and I talked about our own lives compared to these examples. We give – yet we rarely sacrifice when we give. We donate a percentage, yet we have all of what we need and most of what we want. This is not sacrificial living. This does cause others to stop and take notice. We were convicted.

We are starting to think about what it looks like for our family to display the gospel. How will we care for the poor? What will we sacrifice? How will we live counter-culture?

We don’t have the answers yet, but we have to do something.

Each evening, on the shores of Lake Superior, the campers filter down to the sand to watch the sky turn brilliant shades of red, orange, gold and pink as the sun goes down over the water. We were there among them, not wanting to miss His amazing artistry.

On our third night there, I stood on the beach alone with my thoughts, camera in hand, my family back at our campsite. I glanced around me. People, standing in groups or alone, were scattered along the coast, all gazing in one direction.

It made me wonder. How many of them were acknowledging the Creator? How many were giving praise to the One who was present on that beach, demonstrating His power and creativity?

The heavens proclaim to glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or a word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
Psalm 19:1-4

Is it possible for people to gaze upon such beauty and claim there is no God? Day after day and night after night since the beginning of time the sun has risen at one end of the heavens and travelled its course to the other end. What else speaks as powerfully to the incredible faithfulness of God as the sun’s journey?

I pondered these verses during our days on the shores of mighty Lake Superior. The words rolled around in my mind as we swam, hiked and biked. Day after day. Night after night. The sky displays His glory. Without a sound or a word. They make Him known. 

I realized I need to be more like the skies. My life ought to be a display of His glory. Without a sound or a word it should make Him known. Day after day and night after night, I want my life to send a message to everyone I meet about God’s goodness, grace and love. Silently proclaiming the glory of God… just like the skies.