I was asked “if I could only share one piece of advice with my children, what would it be?”
Wow talk about a loaded question…..and a daunting one at that!
We after two weeks of pondering this question, and sorting through all the “short immediate answers”. I have come up with one that I feel covers it all.
You see every single piece of advice that popped into my head was a verse from the Bible. Whether it be one that encouraged me during a particularly rough time in my life, or one that refocuses my intentions on a daily basis. One that points to the importance of our relationship with Jesus, or how great our God is. I didn’t want leave any of these things out….or all the amazing things in between!
So, here it is…as simple as it seems, and yet still so deep.
The Bible is the only book you will ever need. It God’s instruction book for your life, so read it, re-read it, and re-re-read it. Cherish it. Protect it. Memorize it. Study it. Internalize it. Learn about Jesus through it, and commit your life to it’s words. Learn how much God loves you through it’s pages. Let it words change you. Know that Jesus died for you….accept it, embrace it, live it! If you have nothing else in this world, have a Bible for in it’s pages are the secrets to eternal life, true joy, true peace, and unconditional love!
What about you? What is the one piece of advice you would share with your kids?
……(this one makes me smile). Is a time machine. No joke. I LOVE history…..and would love nothing more to jump from one time period to the next. One minute hearing Martin Luther king Jr, deliverer his ” I have a dream” speech to watching William and Orville wright fly for the first time.
But it goes far deeper than that. I would love to see Jesus feed the five thousand, healing the sick, and caring for those who needed it! And we can go back even further and watch the Red Sea being parted, the 10 commandments being brought down from the mountain and watching David kill Goliath.
I wouldn’t want to change history…..everything that has happened to date has happened for a specific reason, and will continue to do so. That’s another thing, I have no desire to go to the future. But can you imagine lunch with Mary Todd Lincoln .
Or witness historical events that changed the world. More or less I think I would like my own personal imagination station like that of John Avery Whittaker’s in Adventures in Odyssey! I don’t want to get in the way of history, just witness it!
I have a feeling that most people have preconceived notions about what others “biggest regrets” are. Or at least I do.
Yeah I know…don’t go there…it’s fault I know! So I decided that I was going to go through a list of what was basically a set of interview questions. I decided that in this new year I would try my hand at some new writing exercises that is sure to grow my writing ability and let you my readers get to know me better.
So here it goes, my biggest regret might surprise you……
My biggest regret isn’t persuing my desires and talents as a kids. As a kid and into my teenage years, my heart ached with the desire to paint, draw, create and write. I was what you might call a closet artist and writer. I journaled voraciously . I loved every single English Composition class I ever took….minus that one in college that another classmate claimed “was the best ethics class he ever took”.
I especially loved (and still do) creative writing! One of my favorite pieces I enjoyed writing in high school was a piece in which we had to pick a person from some point in the past and explain to that person something that existed now that didn’t exist then. It was hard but I loved that Challenge and that is kind of why I chose to answer some of questions over the coming years.
So what made me be a closet artist/writer, you might ask?
1 thing and 1 thing only. Fear!
Everywhere I went I was heavily criticized. After a Lincoln -Douglass Debate in my high school communications class I was asked to be on our school’s Forensics team (no not dead bodies people) public speaking! But I was told I couldn’t. It wasn’t until I met the guy that I now call hubby. He began encouraging me in these things. He was the first AND ONLY (until I started this blog) that has ever read any of my writing. Outside of my teachers growing up, only my eyes read my papers. Same for college. It’s amazing what a little water and some sunshine can do for a flower. Without that type of encouragement I would not have this blog. Without that type of encouragement a book would not be possible. His opinion has never been that I am wasting my time but that I am becoming who God created me to be. He truly wants to foster that in me. I am happiest when I am doing the very things God has created me and gifted me to do!
In all amazement, I sit here writing this. I never would have thought that 15 years ago I would be writing for ALL the world to see. I have been asked my multiple people to write a book……and I will EVENTUALLY! I hope to have a mostly completed manuscript by the end of the year. There it is….I’m proclaiming it……I’m a WRITER. I am writing a book.
I know you can’t see it in the picture but we have an incredible view……
We are blessed because almost every room in our house has a pretty cool view, even if there are multiple windows in a room it can be pretty GREAT.
But we have not always lived in a house with neat views.
One view we had was directly into someone else’s bedroom window……that they didn’t have curtains on….so ours stayed shut….ALWAYS!
My rooms with a view inspire me…or better yet what I can view from those rooms inspire me. They inspire me to draw closer to my Creator God and to enjoy what God has created for ME…..YES ME! So many times we sit with curtains drawn because it casts a glare on our TV, or we are too busy to stop and “smell” or at least admire the flowers. We focus on all the chores that need to be done or….and the list goes on and on and on. As of right now my living room windows do not have any curtains…they haven’t for nearly 2 years…they will eventually, but at least for now, any time I walk through the living room area and no matter what I am doing I catch a real glimps of what Godhas painted for me. It’s a real reminder that even the smallest of details were taken care of…for me!
What do they ALL have in common? An open invitation into our home each week!
You say “Huh, Mary…you are off your rocker! You don’t know them, and they don’t know you! What’s more you don’t even have real TV.”
And to that I say you are only half right!
I know them…though I have never met them. In my lifetime I have “met” very few AMERICANS who have served my God so boldly and experienced such heavy scrutinization!
And let me say that EVERYONE has an opinion! The shocking thing is, it’s most Christians I hear talking about each of these three, aren’t nearly as God honoring in their speech about them as the actual people.
If I had to pick one word that defines all three families, it would be BOLDNESS. Do you know what it takes to live out that kind of boldness in our American culture, not to mention doing it on TV in front of MILLIONS of people. I know how hard it is making Biblical decisions for our family under the watchful eye of others whether it be church, friends, or our extended family. We make a lot of “out of the norm” decisions, and people feel it is their responsibility to let us know they disagree! I live for an audience of 1. It is my goal to please HIM, AND HIM ALONE!
I can’t imagine living that on TV. I really don’t believe I am strong enough for that!
But there are those in this world both in the past and now in the present who have a weighty call. A mission field if you will! To be a bright, shining light, whether to one of the darkest times in history or in one of the darkest industries in America!
It takes Boldness to stand for what you believe in……
* Whether it be an anti-abortion ad during the Soper Bowl.
*whether you have 19 kids, who are imperfect, dress deifferently, share their faith, and look at kids as though they are a blessing, RATHER THAN AN INCONVENIENCE.
* whether you have long beards! wear caammo 24/7, get involved in insane “redneck” antics, and answer with a biblical response to a question about homosexuality.
We all need more boldness like these families. We need not fear for our income, our career, our testimony, our popularity. For it is when we back track…or apologize for what we believe, that we loose our testimony. It is when we don’t practice what we claim to believe that our testimony falls apart…when our walk doesn’t match our talk! Those people are a dime a dozen! You can find them everywhere……community, church, family, friends!
Are these families perfect….oh no, and they would all say the same thing…..I have read quotes, watched interviews, and so much mor that state just that. That is what makes them real, and so likable. We shouldn’t set these families on pedestals, because they can easily fall off. They are human, they make mistakes.
And yet, as believers, we cricize . Instead of supporting the brother in Christ who has been stripped of his American freedom. We keep silent because we fear what people will think of us. I view these three families as an opportunity for my children, my husband and myself to put extra godly influences into our lives. To teach our kids that yes like their Bible friends , people today are loosing freedoms because of their faith and boldness. It is an opportunity to show them, they do not walk this path of faith alone. It’s an open opportunity to show them the right way, peaceably, to stand up for God and their families.
We extend very few Open invitations to invade our home. We screen very carefully what comes across the screens in our house! And as long as God allows these three families to be lights to this world, we will gladly invite them in each week!
So let me ask you these questions….if you are a believer…..who are you inviting into your home each week?
Are you inviting in Godly values?
Or are you inviting in promiscuity , frivolous speech, lies against the book you carry to church each Sunday?
Who is influencing your kids?
Sports stars who party, and sleep around…..or the one who values life and points his status back to God?
Actors and actresses who dress in little to no clothes, disrespect their parents and have gobs of boyfriends/ girlfriends and give away themselves before they ever say I do?….or a family who embraces modesty, purity, and love of family and others
Peole who swear, have multiple marriages, frequent bars and are violent …..or people who though they look outside the normal the exterior, act more like who they say they are then the whitewashed seplechures that claim faith and put on a great appearances in nice clothes but live differently that what they say!
You hold the key to who influences your kids…….
As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord !
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.(ESV)
