I think most Christians believe that having a daily devotion is a valuable time communing with God, and it is also beneficial for our spiritual lives. However, when it comes to real life application of this belief, most of us fall short. It is usually not for lack of desire but lack of discipline or organized planning. There are many reasons why we don’t have consistent personal devotion, and whatever the reason is, we should stop making excuses and start doing it, but not without a plan AND a back-up plan.

I believe having a personal devotion early in the morning is the best plan for me. For the past several weeks I’ve been getting up one hour earlier than the rest of the family to do my devotion. Believe me, I’m not a morning person and getting up early is not an easy thing for me. What I discovered was that the first week or two was hard BUT my body eventually adjusted to the earlier schedule. I find myself waking up before the alarm clock goes off. The key to waking up early is going to bed early the night before.

As much as I want to have my morning devotion time stay on track, it’s not possible all the time. Things happen such as going to bed later than planned, needing to get up in the middle of the night to care for a child, illness, etc. When I’m not able to meet the Lord first thing in the morning, I have my devotion in the afternoon when the kids are napping. This is my back-up plan. Just because I’m unable to stay on track in the morning, it doesn’t mean I should skip it altogether. If for some reason I can’t meet the Lord in the afternoon, I do my devotion in the evening after the children are in bed. This is my second back-up plan.

I think it is helpful to have a plan AND a back-up plan. In the past I’d beat myself up, figuratively speaking, for missing personal devotional time in the morning. Now with two back-up plans I know I won’t be skipping it again. Let us start or continue to meet with our Lord and Savior faithfully.

When I became a first time mom our lives got turned upside down. Our first baby had colic and refused to sleep for more than 30 minutes at a stretch. The first year of his life was such an exhausting time for us that the thought of having another baby in the future paralyzed us. We eventually overcame this paralysis as we have four children now. During that most difficult period I often wondered why I was given such a difficult baby. Seemed like most of my friends had easy babies and some just didn’t understand why we were roughing it.

I now see why I was given a difficult child. The most important reason was for my sanctification. God saw fit to use my baby to mold and shape me. This baby is now five years old and God is still using him to sanctify me. In the recent years I have discovered another reason why I was given a difficult baby. It seemed my trials enabled me to understand and better help others who are struggling with being a first-time mom. I have received emails and phone calls from those who are struggling.

It is not the most comforting thing to know that one of the purposes behind my difficult trials is to benefit others, especially when I’m in the midst of it. As we trudge through our trials, we may feel that we can hardly breathe or rest or even know how to muddle through it all, and the last thing we want to think about is how we may help others in light of our own experience. Having gone through various circumstances with our children, I can say that the trials were very sanctifying and that I am encouraged to know that they were beneficial to some people. I believe that we can better handle our trials knowing that there are meaningful purposes behind them.

I am reminded of William Cowper’s hymn “God Moves In A Mysterious Way” and how God is behind all our trials, even when we don’t think He is. I love the very last line where Cowper noted that “God is His own interpreter, And He will make it plain.” How comforting it is to know that our life trials are not meaningless nor purposeless. God is behind them all.

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

I attended a homeschooling conference two weekends ago where the Maxwell family of the Titus 2 ministry were the speakers. Our family enjoyed the Friday evening gospel music session featuring the entire Maxwell family, each with his/her different instrument(s), including mountain dulcimer, hammer dulcimer, mandolin, psaltery, harmonica, fiddle, bass, banjo, and guitar. It was really neat seeing the entire family performing with joy and humbleness. What surprised me was that they learned each instrument on their own without any paid instructors. With the number of instruments (and children) they have, music lessons can be very costly.

In the “Home-schooling with a Meek & Quiet Spirit” workshop, Teri Maxwell shared about her struggle with 15 years of depression. Among several ways to help cope with depression, one of the ways that was encouraging to me was: Don’t act the way you feel. Even though she felt like locking herself in her room, or go about the day with a downcast spirit, or go somewhere to hide and cry, she decided to put on a smile despite her depression. She discovered that after some time, her forced cheerful outward countenance became reflective of her inward countenance. The more she acted cheerful outwardly, she became more cheerful inwardly as well.

Even though I don’t struggle with depression, I have my moments of downcast spirit where I want to lock myself in a room or just not deal with everything and everyone around me. When my day gets busy or overwhelming, it is easy to let myself go and act the way I feel. Many times I feel justified in how I act because after all, I have FOUR kids! I even feel more justified when people tell me, “Wow. . . I just don’t know how you do it with four kids. I could never do it.” As much as I want to justify the way I act, ultimately I know that my action does not please the Lord. What I need is to remember and apply 2 Corinthians 10:5:

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Every thought that goes through our minds must be trained or be subjected to the obedience of Christ. When we feel depressed, dejected, or downcast, we need take this feeling to God. When God looks upon us, He does not excuse us for our behavior because of number of kids we have or whatever circumstances we have.  And we need to be of the sort who walk by faith in what God has promised for us and made sure through the cross and not the sort that merely walk by sight and allow ourselves to be torn down by discouraging circumstances.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:5-6

I recently came across an excellent article by Susan Hunt entitled “A Woman’s Seasons.” In this article, Hunt — now a grandmother — shares about her different seasons of raising her three children to her current season of mentoring younger women. Hunt’s perspective on parenting and mentoring come very timely for me. I believe it is very common for someone like me who is so entrenched in the ever-exhausting work of caring for four little ones to think “When will this be over?” or “This too shall pass.” Rather than thinking this way, Hunt encourages us to value each season of life to glorify God:

A woman’s life is not about just enduring diapers and the terrible twos, or the empty-nest, or a room in a nursing home. It is about valuing each season of life as an opportunity to honor the King of kings. It is about drinking deeply of grace and then reflecting that grace to others.

The heart of her article is that as much as we may want to get over the stage of nursing, diapering, potty training, disciplining, etc, we should not bemoan these tasks. Rather, we should consider each stage of life a unique opportunity in which we can use our life circumstances to honor God. Hunt continues:

Ultimately, it is not the life-season or circumstance that matters. It is not so much what I do as who I am. The question is not “What is my role?” but “What is my goal?” Am I becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ? Am I being transformed by the renewing of my mind? Am I loving God with all of my heart, mind, and soul and loving my neighbor as myself? Am I encouraging and equipping younger people to live for God’s glory?

What really caught my eyes was the statement “The question is not ‘What is my role?’ but ‘What is my goal?’” This is an excellent perspective because we are naturally inclined to focus on our present role(s) and lose sight of what ought to be our goal as a mother, wife, or friend. The goal, of course, is to live our lives to the glory of God through our changing life circumstances. As the apostle Paul put it in Philippians 3:13-14:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I pray that God may help those of us, especially those in less “glamorous” roles, not to lose sight of the goal, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that in every moment of “menial” service it may be done to His glory and our holiness and joy.

We read Matthew 2:7-21 this morning for our devotion. The passage describes Jesus’ birth and King Herod’s evil act of killing all males ages two and under. To my surprise, Matthew asked me why God didn’t kill Herod before Herod killed all the boys ages two and under. He is essentially asking the “why does God allow evil?” question that we often hear. I was surprised by his question because I had underestimated my five-year-old’s ability to consider and voice a difficult question that has puzzled people for many centuries.

So, how did I answer? I told him that God works all things together for the good of those who trust Him. The phrase “all things” includes both good and bad things, including Herod’s wicked act of killing all the boys. [Funny note: At this point, my three-year-old side tracked and started to talk about his uncle’s film, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” because I had mentioned “all things” including “the good” and “the bad.”] I proceeded to explain that even though Herod tried to thwart God’s plan by killing baby Jesus, God’s plan did not get thwarted. In fact, God remained in control and was still sovereign despite (and through) Herod’s wicked plan. Matthew expressed his indignation at Herod because he was so wicked as to want to kill Jesus even before He was a man. I affirmed his indignation and redirected him back to God who is still sovereign in all things. The God we trust and believe in is powerful and able. Even through all the evil and sad circumstances that have occurred (and will continue to occur) in history, God remains all powerful and we should rest in this truth and be comforted when we face trials.

I came away from this morning’s devotion encouraged because we strive to teach our children about God through our daily lives. My son’s insightful question - which also reveals his simple faith in the sovereignty and goodness of God — tells me that he is catching and understanding little by little all that we have taught him.

An Unexpected Reminder

Several nights ago my grandparents invited our family to dinner because they missed seeing the children. After dinner my grandma said to me that it brought her so much joy interacting with the children, and she also went on to say that there must be even MORE joy for me to be with my children every day. I don’t normally get comments like this and I also admit that sometimes I don’t act like my children are a blessing even though I truly believe that they are. I was encouraged and blessed by my grandma’s comment.

My grandma’s comment led me to reflect a little on our culture’s view of children. It is no surprise nor a mystery that our culture, generally speaking, doesn’t have a high view of children. Many do not want to be burdened with having children because of the physical and emotional work that ensued, nor do they want to lose the freedom that they enjoy.

A friend just returned from an one-month-trip to Asia, and she said one thing she noticed while there was that people don’t have children. The norm is not having any children, and those that who have children only have one. Most child-bearing age women do not desire any children. Rather, they find pride and joy in working in the workforce as children get in the way of obtaining wealth and status. The government of Taiwan is now paying people to have children. This is also true in Japan, France, and other European countries. Yet even with monetary incentives, people are still unwilling to have children. Many analysts fear that with this childless trend, these cultures will soon vanish in just several generations.

A Jarring Contrast

I remember a shopping incident at a local Target about a year ago where I was pushing a double stroller and carrying a kid on my back in an Ergo carrier. There I was, with three little ones (my husband was somewhere in the store with our oldest) moving about inside the store, and then I noticed a lady pushing a single stroller staring at me. Her look was very telling, and it seemed to say: “You have too many children.” The story doesn’t end here because with a cursory glance, I noticed her single stroller was smaller than average. I didn’t think much of it until the lady got a little bit closer to me that I noticed the passenger in the stroller was not a child, but a dog. This lady was pushing a stroller designed for a small dog!!! I thought the look she gave me was ironic because one would think that having three children with me was normal rather than pushing a small dog in a stroller. And she’s not alone! We live in a day when many people would rather have pets than having children (after all, no college costs!). Pets are the new family members and they are the “children.” We see this trend in Seattle, nearby San Francisco, and other major metro areas, where there are more people with pets than with children. It was simply more fashionable, less committal, and less work to have a pet than to have a kid.

What are the root causes for these trends? Why are we different? I think the dominant secularization of many urban areas is no coincidence. I’m just guessing, but I think it’s a reasonable guess that many of regions of the world that still have theistic demographics are more likely to have children than otherwise.

My Conclusion

But the secular vs. religious divide is not the only answer, nor is it the primary answer for I consider children to be a blessing, and am thankful for the many God has given us. Ultimately, it is the Bible’s teaching that children are a blessing — not merely subjectively so, but objectively so!

As I think of all the differing opinions that I’ve encountered about children, it only reinforces my conviction that I need to constantly treasure my children each day and count them as a blessing from above.

For the past several days I’ve been listening to Voddie Baucham’s sermons online. There’s something unique and fun about typical black preachers because they can take the ordinary and transform it to extraordinary with their words, tone, and attitude. It’s been a listening pleasure for the past several days. I don’t necessarily listen to Voddie’s sermons purely for the joy of black preaching, but I listen to them because his messages address the important issues of this culture in a Biblical fashion.

I just finished listening to his message The Centrality of the Home (note: Paul Schafer at Reforming My Mind compiled many online sermons from many wonderful pastors and preachers, which included Voddie Baucham’s messages). I came away encouraged and affirmed after listening to Voddie’s message on “The Centrality of the Home.” The main point of his message is that for the past 30 years churches have taken up the disciplining and teaching of the children instead of encouraging and training parents to teach their own children as laid out in Ephesians 6. He challenges people to think Biblically about the youth group culture and encourages parents to take up the task of disciplining their own children. Our Christian heritage is declining and parents need to value children as gifts from God and take up the main responsibility of shepherding them. We are to make disciples by having and teaching our children.

There is no doubt that I despair from time to time when the workload is great while caring for my four young ‘uns. It seems that we take the more difficult and less traveled road when it comes to our children. We chose to have more than the socially acceptable two children per family, we chose not to put our children in daycare, we chose to have one single income so that I could stay home with the children, we chose to homeschool, and we chose to have our children sit with us in church and not send them to children’s church. We don’t know too many families who do this, and at times we feel like a sore thumb and even feel a bit lonely or too different. Voddie’s message comes very timely for me because he affirms what we’re already doing. The constant training and disciplining at this stage of my children’s lives is very exhausting but it will bear fruit down the road. I will look forward to the day when I see the fruits of our labor, and in the meantime, I will not lose heart and I will press on.