New Direction

So I know I haven't been on this blog much lately. It started out unintentional, busy-ness, figuring out my new schedule & life and all. Then it became somewhat intentional.

A little ways in the future I will be starting a new endeavour. Still blogging / writing. Just taking things in a totally new direction.

To that end, I will most likely eventually shut this site down. Not immediately, but eventually. Most likely, but not definitely.

I hope you all will join me on my new journey when it is time. Can't wait to fill you in on more details in the future. I am excited, but nervous at the same time.

Thanks for sticking with me so far!

One Day: What I Do

So a few weeks ago I had someone (who shall remain nameless) come into my home and suggest that it looked like I did "nothing" all day. Essentially meaning my house was a mess.

I'm not gonna lie. It is.

But I do far from nothing. I go, go, go all day every day. I stay up late. I'm exhausted. So, even though I know they'll probably never read this, I thought just for my own edification, I'd track, just for one day, exactly what I do.

Here is what I did on one random Saturday. This did not count the four hours we took to make an impromptu visit to the fire house to visit Jason. So a relatively normal day, minus four hours of a special activity. This only counts what was done at the house.

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- washed & dried six loads of laundry
- folded & put away four loads of laundry
- let the dogs out four times
- changed three diapers
- prepared three feedings for Jillian
- prepared a meal or snack for Jena three times
- put a kid to bed three times
- bathed two kids
- fed Jillian twice
- prepared two baths
- checked the refrigerator for spoiled / outdated food
- cleaned out kitty litter
- fixed Jena's hair for the day
- helped Jena clean up a large amount of spilled water
- instructed Jena in homeschool session (approximately 2.5 hours)
- made our bed
- set clothing out for each of us
- sterilized bottles
- stocked diaper bag
- straightened up the entryway
- swept the entryway floor
- tended to a sick child
- tended to the wart on Jena's foot
- washed cloth diapers
- washed cloth diaper inserts
- washed dishes

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Maybe I just have unrealistic expectations, but considering I was gone for four hours, and an additional 2.5 hours was spent homeschooling, I think this list indicates someone being pretty productive. Far from someone who did "nothing".

Granted, very little of that had to do with cleaning or organizing my home. But very much of that had to do with taking care of my children's immediate needs, and much of the rest had to do with keeping our household running.

I'm trying to get my house clean & organized. I really am. Quite frankly, I'm completely embarrassed by it. But I'm also not sure what more I can do at this point. I may blog about that later.

Well, that's about all for now. Sorry I haven't blogged much lately.  Lots going on. I'll try to do an update post soon.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Stop Skipping Rocks into the Lake of Fire

I'm tired of this watered down Christianity. I'm tired of being told everyone can just come as they are and be as they are and stay as they are.

Yes, come as you are. Jesus accepts you as you are, wherever you are, however you are, He meets you in your place.

But He does not expect you to stay there.

Come as you are. Don't stay as you are. Don't be as you are. Grow. Change. Repent.

If you don't want to change, don't need to change, don't need a Saviour, then why are you coming? You NEED a Saviour. And as much as He says to come "just as you are" He also tells you to "Go and sin no more".

This doesn't mean that Christians are perfect. No one is expecting perfection. But I also don't believe our Saviour died on the Cross for you to continue to wallow in the mud-pit of your sin. He didn't die for your sin so you could enjoy the temporary satisfaction that comes from living in your sin right now, He died for your sins so you could forego that life, you could break free from your sins, you can experience life more abundantly than you've ever known here on this earth, and then when the time is come you can live with Him forever in Eternity! Can I get a witness?!?

I am sick and tired of hearing my fellow Christians telling people they don't have to change, they can come as they are. It's certainly true if you are addressing a lost person, asking them to meet Jesus, Jesus will meet them where they are no matter what. But for those of us who claim to be in Christ? He has called us to something higher, something more.

I am tired of feeling good. I am bored of being told I'm fine because the person next to me is sinning too, and we're all sinners, and no one is better than anyone else, so I should just be fine with it.

That's right... I'm tired of feeling good. I long to be stretched. Challenged. My God calls me to be better than I was before. Better today than I was yesterday. Better yesterday than I was last year. I am tired of sitting stagnant in the mediocrity of lukewarm Christianity.  I'm not trying to be better than you. I'm trying to be better than me. I'm on my journey.

But I want you to be better too. God has called you to so much more than continuing in a life of sin. God has called you to be so much more and it saddens me to see you content to wallow in your sin and your comfort and your pride, refusing to let go of what you know is keeping you from knowing Him more deeply, simply because it's comfortable, because it feels good.

My Saviour was beaten and scarred, and bled and hung on a cross and died to save us from the pits of Hell! To save us from the burning Lake of Fire! Why do we insist on skipping rocks from its shores?!?

Do you not know from where you have been saved? Do you not realize the eternity you have been rescued from? Do you not know that you are more than you are doing right now? Why do you insist on living your old life? Lay down your sins. Lay them down.

Will it be scary? Maybe. Will it be uncomfortable? Probably. Will you regret it? Never!

I am tired of pretending that I'm okay. I am sick, so I need the Healer. I am broken, so I need made Whole. I am tired, so I need Rest. When we pretend that we are okay, when we trick ourselves into believing that we are okay, we cheat ourselves out of the miraculous Power that God has to transform our lives. We settle for a brand of cheap imitation Christianity instead of the cost of the real thing, for as much as it cost Christ His life, it costs us ours as well. We cannot claim to be in Christ and continue in our old lives day after day. Either we have never truly accepted Christ as our Saviour and Lord, or we are spending each day in torment as we are convicted by the Holy Spirit.

My fellow Christians, I beg of you to examine your life. Are you holding on to sin? Have you convinced yourself that you're okay, when deep down you know you're not? Let us stop playing in the dirt like the children we were and begin living our lives as the men & women that God has called us to be.