Gluten, You Great Deceiver.

Dear Gluten.

You with your tender pastries and your soft bread.

With your warm, buttery croissants that call to me from the bakery shelf only to melt in my mouth.

With your moist and delicious cupcakes packed with creamy filling.

You have hidden behind a veil of secrecy and covered the truth with delicate pastries and desserts and warm fresh breads for far too long.


I would have never discovered your deception had I not begun looking for a cure to chronic headaches.

I never would have become wise to your ploys and your influence.

I would have continued living in my wheat-filled, headache stuper, none the wiser..

But, alas, the veil has been torn down and the truth has set me free.

Don't get me wrong, I know you aren't necessarily bad for everyone. I know that you, when eaten well, are in fact a perfectly healthy part of a diet....

But I didn't know how common it was to be gluten-sensitive.

I didn't know that-- thanks to the way you make our lives so easy-- I was funneling more processed and less real food into my family's mouths.

I didn't know that I had alternatives like almond flour and coconut flour.

I had no idea that quinoa and amaranth were sufficient replacements as whole grains.

I didn't know that Real Food was the answer.

Okay, so maybe that is my own fault, but I was deceived, I tell ya!

Really, Dearest Gluten, I should Thank You.

It's because of you that I first began researching all your lying friends, like high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.

It's because of you, I started asking myself if there were alternatives to foods covered in toxic pesticides and injected with man-made antibiotics and horomones.

It's because of you that I committed myself to doing the very best for my family.

It's because of you that I have more energy and fewer headaches and wake up without feeling like I'm in a fog.

It's because of you that my family has traded the ultra-processed, packaged fare for the real thing.

It's all because of you.

So thank you, you lying, cheating, Siren of Baked Goods.

Thank you.

Today I am linking up over at The Open Letter Campaign!
Go check it out and join in the fun!

Changing the Way I Pray

Look at that face.

It's the face of a {perfect} child.

Except for when it's not.

He's going to grow up and become a man someday.

He's going to get married and have children.

He's going to look back and think of all the things he will do different in raising his own family.

And contrary to how that might sound, I have no problem with that. In fact, it brings me much peace to believe that he will aspire to be a better parent and spouse  and person than I am or ever will be.

And as his mother, of course, I pray for him and that future all the time.

But not in the way I always imagined I would.

Example: When I was a teenager, True Love Waits was just getting some notariety. It's popularity was increased with books like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".

In that season of abstenance-education, when I would pray for my future husband, I would pray the ever-noble "keep us both pure"...as if somehow, free-will wasn't an issue in the romance area.

And while my heart was in the right place, I believe that prayers like that (in my own case) were somewhat misdirected.

I mean, even then? I struggled with questions like What if my future-husband-to-be didn't know about True Love Waits. What if he'd never read I Kissed Dating Goodbye, What if he wasn't even a believer at that time? What if he Was and yet still made bad choices.

What if I did?

Did that mean God wasn't answering my prayers? Did that mean I would walk the rest of my life full of shame and guilt? Did it mean I was no longer worthy? Of course not. 

My sins were on that cross. I wasn't redeemed because I had never sinned..but rather because I had. And would again at some point.

Redemption wasn't offered because I was good enough, Grace was given because I wasn't.

But because I had focused on the sin and not the grace, my view of the value each held was distorted...

And just for the record, I completely support the True Love Waits initiative and it's counterparts. It isn't that I don't believe in abstenance and monogamy and the beauty of marriage as it was intended, unaffected by shame.

I do. (and will preach the same to my children)

It's just that..that is just one example of the way we often pray about the future....maybe instead of praying that my children or even my children's future-spouses behave a certain way or enjoy certain things or even avoid certain mistakes...

Maybe instead of all that?

I focus my prayer on the foundation of all it all.

Grace.

"For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God" (AMP) Eph. 2:8

I will devote my life to raising children who desire Jesus. Who long to be with Him and fulfil their part in advancing the Kingdom of God. I will pray that God will shield them from hurts and rejection and mistakes that undoubtedly have consequences. I will train my child with discipline, direction, love, and The Word of God. I will ALWAYS pray that the Holy Spirit would be an ever-present voice when my children face choices and that their hearts would be soft and their ears would be open to listen to the direction of the Lord.

But they won't always.

And no matter how long I stand before the throne of God on their behalf? They will sin.

And so more than all those other things, I will contend for their quick repentence and return to their Father. I will cry out on their behalf. And most importantly, I will beseech the Almighty for a greater impartation of His Grace in my life.

I pray that my children believe wholeheartedly in their salvation through grace. That they would expect that same grace extended from us {their parents} and that they would be quick to return that grace to the people around them.

That our expectations of each other would be muted by the overwhelming faith in a God that has poured out unlimited grace on us, despite our sinful nature.

“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”Rom.5:20

So, no longer will I pray that my children will avoid certain mistakes and sins. No longer will I pray for a specific personality trait or desireable habit from their future spouses. No longer will I focus on the things that man cares about...

Instead? I choose to focus on the desires of their hearts.

That they would be ever-turned to the desires of God's heart and that their lives would be guided by that relationship and the daily presense of the Holy Spirit. I pray that they would be courageous and brave for justice. That when choices are presented, they seek the will of God first. And I pray that they would walk the straight and narrow path their entire lives without looking to the left or the right when the enemy is trying to pull them in.

But when all that fails and sin occurs despite my greatest efforts?  I pray that they know Grace.

That shame and guilt are suffocated under the overwhelming love that Grace gives. And that I am able to give freely the grace that has been given to me.

I pray that they feel loved and worthy even in the midst of consequences and that I am never the vessel the enemy is able to use to cloak them again in shame and guilt.

And I pray that in my own sins, my children have an understanding of grace enough to extend it back.

Because, even in my greatest moments, I am still a sinner.

Saved only by Grace.

 

Finding Peace in the Storm

We are in a season of testing.

I knew we would be

But I never expected quite to what extent we might be tested.

Appliances needing replacement.

Vehicles needing repairs.

Adoption fees due ahead of schedule.

Jobs ending.


It's a lot to have happen right at once. I stare at the budget and beg God to give me wisdom and direct my every step...To make me a good steward.

But I already know what's going on here...and while God very-well may answer my prayers for wisdom and stewardship...that's not why this is happening.

This is about Faith.

God isn't surprised by our myriad of struggles.

He hasn't forgotten the path He put us on in this season.

He isn't overwhelmed when He looks at our situation.

No...He's not trying to figure out how to get us out of this...He's working these things together for our good. For something we can't even see today. Because it hasn't been painted yet.

He is setting the stage.

He is putting us in the refining fire.

He is reminding us that He is still in control.

And that He's got this.


"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

"Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40:31

"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Check out this Powerful Post from Ann Voskamp today...

May we all be Radically Grateful.

Letters to my Child: What A Difference A Year Makes

Today I am linking up with The Open Letter Campaign!

Click here to see more amazing letters or join in!

********************

Marvel,

It was one year ago today when we saw your face for the first time. They had obviously cleaned you up and posed you, yet you still looked cautious and sad.

Of course none of that mattered to us..You could have been covered in spaghetti sauce throwing a grade-A fit in the floor for all we cared.

We were in love.

I knew it would be true, the old adage "The days are long but the years are short".

I knew that time would seem to fly past me once you were home and I decided that I needed it to slow to a stop.

And none of that has gone unnoticed.

You've been making our lives more joyful and fun and crazy and hectic and frustrating every single day for the past 7 1/2 months.

But you've been in our hearts for so much longer than that.

And we wouldn't trade a second of the honor of being your parents-- with all its frustrations and loss of sleep and slow-eating-- for anything in the world.

Son, it is my greatest honor to be your mommy and my greatest joy to have your arms around my neck giving me the biggest "bear hug" you can muster.

I promise to love you and steward you to the very best of my ability in God.

I promise to laugh with you and be silly and make messes and not care when you do.

I promise to sing with you. Songs we know. Songs we don't. Songs we make up.

I promise to cheer you on and give you "thumbs up" from sidelines and believe in you always.

I promise to snuggle and read books together as long as you'll let me.

I promise to tell you every day how amazing you are and how much I love you (Telleck to the moon times infinity).

I promise to care enough to give you correction and discipline when it's necessary, and to offer grace and teach you about redemption so that you don't carry the weight of your mistakes with you...

I promise to pray for you daily...sometimes even hourly...

I promise to always love you more. Regardless of whether or not we've have a good day or a "hard day". In whatever circumstances we come into.

No Matter What.

Love,

Mommy.

Saying Yes.

Sometimes when you say "Yes" to God, you have to fight every fleshly instinct you have.

Oftentimes it's not about what you can see but rather what you CAN'T see.

When you say "Yes" to God, you are saying, "We want to walk the path YOU have set for us".

When you say "Yes" to God, you are saying, "I'm trusting more in You than in what I see around me"

When you say "Yes" to God, you are saying,"I will walk this path even though I have no idea where it leads"


Saying Yes to God is rarely as convenient as saying Yes to the world.

And the return is beautiful and hard, mighty and weakening, filled of joy and pain.

But it's worth it. All of it.

**********
I remind myself every time the enemy starts throwing stability, money, risk, and comfort in my face that, though I can't see where this path leads, I am confident that my God is taking me to land of milk and honey--if only I won't stop to wallow in the desert.

Because this path? Is worth it.

**********
We are in a season of prayer, trusting, and hope and we would love it if you would stand with us praying:

* That God would open/close doors that need to be

* That we would be receptive and quick to respond

* That we would have a Kingdom understanding that the "finances" of it have no ownership when our God is the Provider.

* That we would make decisions carefully and only after seeking His will

* And that  God would protect and direct our family

Our God is Good.