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Never Underestimate the Power of a Handwritten Note

CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR “Look at all these notes and cards!” she proclaimed. My mother directed me to her living room. Every available table was covered with notes of sympathy for the loss of my father. Cards stood on side tables. The coffee table had cards piled in neat stacks, covering the entire surface. She picked up various cards, telling me about each person who sent it. “And they keep coming,” she remarked. I could relate, as I had a growing stack of my own at home. And each one meant the world to me. The fact that someone took the time to write a note expressing love for me and sorrow for my loss brought needed encouragement at a difficult time. They were like paper hugs, enveloping me in words of care from my brothers and sisters in Christ. We live in a day and time where life is lived digitally more than ever before. We communicate primarily through apps, texts, and emails. Businesses increasingly send advertisements, bills, and communications via email than snail mail. Even birthday cards are now sent virtually. This means, a handwritten note is a rare gift...

Never Underestimate the Power of a Handwritten Note2023-08-15T13:44:25+00:00

Whining vs. Biblical Complaint in Caregiving

MARISSA BONDURANT|GUEST When my kids wake up in the morning and complain about getting dressed for school, and the breakfast options I’ve offered, and the color of their lunch box, and the way their sister looked at them… I tell them to “stop whining.” When my own heart is dissatisfied with how my pants fit or my husband’s work schedule, or the fact that I wasn’t invited to something… I tell myself to “stop having a pity party.” But when our hearts are broken, sad, overwhelmed, and discouraged at the suffering of our loved one and the life changes required to care for them, should we still say “stop whining” to our tender hearts? Or is there another way to think about the brokenness we are experiencing? I believe there is a real difference between whining and biblically complaining. Whining is what we do when our preferences aren’t being met. Biblical complaint is when we acknowledge the disconnect between the pain of our lived-in reality, and what we know is true of God’s character and his plan for redeeming our world...

Whining vs. Biblical Complaint in Caregiving2023-08-15T13:44:52+00:00

Don’t Be A Fig Leaf

KIM BARNES|GUEST In recent years, I’ve come to terms with some parenting failures in raising my children when they were young. When I’ve shared with friends about my realized failures—when I’ve confessed sin, I’ve often gotten a response that goes something like this: “Don’t beat yourself up. Parenting is hard. You did the best you could at the time.” They’re not completely wrong. There is a sense in which I did my best. I love my children. I did not intend to harm them. I thought I was doing right at the time. But I’ve since learned that I misunderstood some of my children’s needs. I took some actions that though well-intentioned, missed the mark. And I failed to take some action that was necessary. I sinned against my children. The reason I share my failures is because I am grateful that God exposes sin and I want to proclaim God’s faithfulness to teach, guide, and forgive. I want to heed the encouragement of James 5:16...

Don’t Be A Fig Leaf2023-08-15T13:45:34+00:00

Walking With God in Motherhood

BETHANY BELUE|GUEST BETHANY BELUE|GUEST The moment I brought my little boy home from the hospital, so much in my life changed. Overnight, my whole world shifted, and I began to see life through the lens of another human being who was completely dependent upon me. My time went from things I needed to do to what the baby needed: when did he need to eat, when did he need to sleep, and why was he crying so hard? One morning, as I stood at my sink looking out at the fresh flowers in the flower box outside my kitchen window, while my baby slept in the room beside me, tears welled in my eyes. Motherhood overwhelmed me. The to-do list felt endless, the sleep felt too little, and the needs of this tiny little human felt exhausting. My need for the Lord felt great, yet my time with Him was almost nonexistent. In that moment, the voice of the Lord spoke to me, a voice of love and compassion: “My presence will be with you and I will give you rest” (Ex. 33:14). I’m not sure there could have been more needed words for a tired, anxious, first-time mother. I knew then that He was near and He saw me. He reminded me that in those days of early motherhood, He was with me, and although rest may not be found in sleep, it was found in Him...

Walking With God in Motherhood2023-08-15T13:46:09+00:00

Cultivating Community on Your Leadership Team

SHEA PATRICK|CONTRIBUTOR I’ve noticed a recurring theme in the phone calls I have received during my five years as a Regional Advisor on the PCA’s national women’s ministry team: the women’s ministry team at a particular church is unable to accomplish any of their goals because someone is trying to take over the team, or strife and conflict have caused relationships to completely break down. How can our leadership teams work together while loving and serving the church and each other well? I believe the answer is by working on the relationships between the women on the team. Even more, the relationships on our team can help our women’s ministry to support the mission and vision of the church or it can hinder these same things. We can take steps toward cultivating community on our team by doing two things: 1) remembering God’s design and 2) intentionally pursuing community...

Cultivating Community on Your Leadership Team2023-08-15T13:47:15+00:00

An Invitation to Something Greater

ALICE KIM|CONTRIBUTOR Some time ago, I came upon a word sign that hung as the backdrop to an extended farmhouse table at a restaurant in Texas. It read, “where everyone has a seat at a table.” In Luke 10:38-42, the story debuting Martha and Mary, we discover that there is an empty seat waiting to be filled. An Invitation to Sit at the Table The scene opens with Martha welcoming Jesus and his disciples for rest from their itinerate schedule and a home cooked meal. The guests settle in, and Martha is busy with food prep. Mary is co-hostess, but she has abandoned her duties and is instead sitting amongst the company of men, savoring the teachings of Jesus. Aware of this, Martha is upset, and understandably so. She expected her sister to be by her side, shouldering the responsibility together but from her vantage point, Mary deserted her. Her discontentment is uncontainable, so she takes matters into her own hands. She turns to Jesus and is uncomfortably frank, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” (v. 40). Furthermore, her ability to influence her sister to return to the kitchen is beyond her realm of control. So, she insists Jesus tell Mary to do what she should have been doing all along, and ASAP. But perhaps the worst part is the feeling that her sister doesn’t care and now, she doubts if Jesus cares...

An Invitation to Something Greater2023-08-15T13:48:06+00:00

A Look at the Classic Work, Divine Providence

ANN MARIE MO|GUEST Why do the wicked prosper? Why do the good suffer? Godly men in the Bible asked these questions. The prophet Jeremiah cried, “Why do all who are treacherous thrive? You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart” (Jer. 12:1–2). In our fallen world, inequality and suffering are the painful by-products of original sin; yet, God demonstrates that he sovereignly governs injustice and accomplishes his holy purposes through dark providences. Puritan Stephen Charnock observed: “Providence is mysterious because God’s ways are above our human methods. Dark providences are often a smoldering groundwork laid for some excellent design that God is about to reveal.”[i] Written over three hundred years ago, Charnock’s Divine Providence explores how God exercises a providence that is holy, wise, and good. To study God’s mysterious ways, the author bases this work on 2 Chronicles 16:9: “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.” Rendered in the King James Version, this verse reveals the purpose of God’s providence—“to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.”...

A Look at the Classic Work, Divine Providence2023-03-24T17:22:19+00:00

Burning Bridges and the Story of Elisha

SHARON ROCKWELL|CONTRIBUTOR Early in my career, a wise mentor warned me to never burn my bridges. He had an example of how a colleague who had a run-in with a manager, left the company, only to discover in a few months that the manager had also taken a new job, and was now his boss! Ouch! The colleague had hoped for a new start, but instead found himself bringing old relationship problems with him. Never burn your bridges was standard industry mantra, so that you could always go back to someone for help or favors. This year my Bible study is reading 1 and 2 Kings. The story of Elijah calling Elisha to be a prophet intrigued me. Certainly, Elijah was directed by God to find Elisha plowing in his field. Elisha’s heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and he was immediately ready to leave and follow Elijah. But before he left, he wished to say good-bye to his parents. He then prepared a feast by burning the yoke of his oxen for fuel to boil the meat. He shared the meat with the people who were plowing alongside him. What commitment! Elisha left his friends and family and destroyed his worldly possessions by burning them, to answer Elijah’s and God’s call. He would become a servant to Elijah. The idea that Elisha “burned his bridges” captured my attention. There was no turning back for Elisha...

Burning Bridges and the Story of Elisha2023-03-24T17:22:30+00:00

Stewardship and God’s Abundant Grace

STEPHANIE FORMENTI|CONTRIBUTOR Have you ever been to a birthday party with a piñata? One child is blindfolded and tries to smack the piñata while all the other little kids stand around watching and waiting for it to break open. And when it does, it’s pure chaos. Kids start diving on the ground, pushing others out of the way, and desperately scraping together a hoard of candy. Inevitably, someone ends up in tears. Well, it can be tempting to think of life like a piñata. We live as though we must fight and scratch to get the things that we need, the relationships that we want, and the opportunities we desire. We look at our bank accounts and expenses and are tempted to worry or hoard. We consider our schedules and the demands on our time and withdraw from others and responsibilities. But, for children of God, there is a better way. We have a different framework for understanding our money, our talents, our homes, our education, our gifts, our abilities, our bodies, and our families. In understanding this framework, we are freed from the constant grasping and fighting; instead, we live with open hands, ready to receive and to give to others...

Stewardship and God’s Abundant Grace2023-03-24T17:22:35+00:00

How Theology Leads to Doxology

BARBARANNE KELLY|CONTRIBUTOR One of the singular marvels of Scripture is Job’s response when he learned that he had lost everything. After a series of messengers bring him a string of devastating messages, piling tragedy upon tragedy in mind-numbing and soul-rending repetition, “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and. . .” what? What does he do? Rend the heavens with his wails of grief? Fall into a state of catatonic shock? Scream until he has neither breath nor voice? He worships. From Theology to Doxology And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Job may very well have wailed and screamed in shock. To grieve deeply is no sin, as the rest of his story  bears out. But how, in that moment of devastation, can he worship? Job can worship the LORD because he knows something about him, and what he knows at that horrible moment is enough. Job knew that everything he possessed was an undeserved gift from the hands of a gracious God. When God determined the time had come to take the gifts away, Job “fell on the ground and. . . blessed the name of the LORD” (1:20–21). Later, when his friends accused him of hidden sin, Job knew with the certainty of a conscience washed in faith that his sin had been forgiven. He may have been perplexed at the will of the LORD to permit these horrors in his life, and he may have staggered under his repeated questions of “Why?” but he held fast his confession of faith; he knew that his Redeemer lived, and at the last he will stand upon the earth (19:25). Job’s theology led to doxology; what he believed about God fueled his worship. As believers, like Job, we naturally want to know why our gracious heavenly Father sends trials our way. But even when lacking specific answers, we can still rest on what we know to be true. Hence, it is important to learn what we can about our God who has revealed himself in the words of Scripture and in the person of Christ. I don’t know how Job knew what he knew about God, since he lived before the writing of the Pentateuch, but from the time of Moses God has graciously given us his holy, inspired, and inerrant Word as a guide not only to life and holiness, but to knowing him...

How Theology Leads to Doxology2023-03-24T17:22:45+00:00
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