Tough Love

Reflecting on the years she had children to care for, the guest on a radio program said, “I grew tired of struggling to get the children up, fed, dressed, and out the door on time for school. So, one Christmas my husband and I bought alarm clocks for each of them and said, ‘It’s your responsibility to get yourself up and to come to breakfast cheerily.’”

She didn’t say how that worked, but I’m assuming it did. If so, I’m sure everyone in that household felt less frustrated without the constant naggings that used to go on and without the frenzied rushes to get out the door. 

I wonder how that would have worked if Mama had given my sister and me the responsibility for getting ourselves up and to the breakfast table cheerily. I wonder how that would have worked if I had tried it with my own children. (One took responsibility for her wake-up schedule without being told; the other was more like me and required lots of trips to her bedroom door and lots of loud commands to “Get up NOW or you’re going to be late!”)

The earlier the children learn to take responsibility for their actions, the easier and quicker they learn that actions/decisions have consequences as well as rewards. The earlier they learn to face those consequences, the quicker they learn to collect what they need before heading out the door. For example: Forgot your lunch??? Too bad!

I never felt I could be that tough with my children--or grandchildren. No matter what they did (or didn’t do), I felt compelled to come to their aid. I thought that’s what loving parents did. But child-rearing experts recommend “tough love,” which requires parents to say, “I love you too much to allow you to continue behaving that way.” Now I see that nipping bad habits in the bud early on is much easier than trying to instill good habits in older children.

Tough love is painful for children and parents. Yet, it brings great rewards.  Even the Bible says so. Take Hebrews 12:11, for example, which says: Now no chastening [discipline] seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (emphasis added).

Note: We can also apply the "tough love" principle to ourselves!

His Gift of Peace

Light for Life

Go Deeper!

When we go to the beach, my husband ventures out a good way into the surf to pick up seashells. As a result, he finds many more unique shells than I do since I can only pick up those that have washed ashore. After we've rinsed our shells and spread them out to dry, anyone who views his collection and mine notices the difference in the variety and condition of the shells. Most of mine are common and often look weathered. But his...oh, my! They are richly colored, unusual, unmarred...

His collection should be better than mine. After all, he waded out into waist-deep water and struggled to maintain his balance while being walloped by the waves, something many shell seekers are unwilling or physically unable to do. Because of vertigo issues, all I could do was stroll on the beach and use a scooper to pick up the shells I wanted to keep.

I thought about that the day I began reading Deron Spoo’s book entitled The Good Book, 40 Chapters That Reveal the Bible’s Biggest Ideas. He encourages everyone, even experienced Bible readers, to reject the tendency to be satisfied with their current level of understanding of the Bible. “Don’t just settle for wading in the surf. Dive deeper! Untold riches await your discovery...each time we read the Scriptures, our understanding is expanded and our love for God is deepened” (Location 273). He’s absolutely right! 

Even though I can't wade into deeper water due to being unable to keep my balance when the sand shifts beneath my feet or when the water surges against my ankles, I'm not restricted from going deeper into God's Word. Whenever I open my Bible, I don't have to be content to play, like a child, at the water's edge. I can--and I do--go deeper, deeper, deeper into the scriptures where I discover incredible insights free for the taking.

As the rain comes down...

A rainy Sunday morning in Georgia

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flouish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

~God

(Isaiah 55:10, 11, NIV)

God's Word

Taken in California in the late afternoon.

I noticed these words on a sign at a church that's beside a road I frequently travel:
The Bible will keep you from sin.
Sin will keep you from the Bible.

I remembered those words the day my daily Bible reading brought me to these words in Psalm 119:9-16:

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to Your word.

With my whole heart I seek You;
let me not wander from Your commandments!

I have stored up Your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against You.

Blessed are You, O LORD;
teach me Your statutes!

With my lips I declare
all the rules of Your mouth.

In all the way of Your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on Your precepts
and fix my eyes on Your ways.

I will delight in Your statues;
I will not forget Your word.

Seeking Nourishment

One morning I took my new mirrorless camera out on our deck to photograph hummingbirds. As always, I was awed by the speed of the thumb-sized birds as they zipped, zipped, zipped here and there, sometimes stopping only a second or two to take a quick sip of the homemade nectar (1 part white sugar to 4 parts water) my husband had poured into the feeders. Sometimes the hummingbirds swarmed the feeder--10 or more at a time. At other times, there'd be only one or two feasting at each feeder, which allowed them to sit longer and sip the life-giving fuel their tiny bodies needed. 

According to what I read on several Internet sites, the sugar water is only a part of their daily nutritional needs. They also need the protein that's found in soft-bodied bugs and spiders, which hummers eat throughout the day. Hummingbirds, like all of God’s creatures, instinctively search for the food they need to survive—and thrive. Thus, they spend much of their day in search of nourishment.

Since we humans also know that our bodies need food to sustain life, we, like they, wisely seek it throughout the day. Sadly, we are not that smart when it comes to feeding our souls! We go for days, weeks, or even years without seeking spiritual food, which is found abundantly in God's Word.

His Word not only nourishes our soul but is also sweet to our taste, if we truly love the Lord and His Word. Such sweetness causes us to long for it more than honey (or a delectable dessert). Because we delight in the doctrines of grace, the glorious truths of the Gospel, and the assurances of His love and of His presence with us, we eagerly turn to the Bible again and again. And if we’ve memorized Scripture, then we can have a sweet feast anytime (and anywhere!) we want to.

How sweet are Your words to my taste,

sweeter than honey to my mouth!

~Psalm 119:103

Better Than Gold

Several years ago, my husband and I visited the site of what had once been an amethyst mining operation. The price of admission included the privilege of searching for left-behind pieces of amethysts that still littered a rocky half-acre or more of land adjacent to the visitor’s center where we purchased tickets.

With great excitement, we set right to work. At first, we walked around looking for pieces lying on the ground. Then we resorted to digging in places that seemed promising. By the time we grew too weary to continue the back-breaking “mining,” we’d placed several various-sized pieces of purple stones in our buckets.

We were thrilled with our semi-precious stones, as we’d been pleased with the flecks of gold we’d panned for while on a trip to Alaska in 1996. (I opted to let an employee there place my gold in a pair of small, oval-shaped earrings.) 

But the “mining” we’d done wasn’t the real kind done by true miners! Their work is infinitely harder because they have to go far deeper (and more often!) into the earth to find the sought-after riches.

As I thought about these two “mining” experiences, I realized that studying the Bible is much like mining. Even a casual reading of God’s Word yields precious gems of truth. But if we’ll dig deeper and deeper (and dig often!) into His Word, the treasures (such as wisdom, knowledge, understanding, vision, perspective, faith, trust, and …) will increase exponentially.

Cry out for insight and understanding. 

Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, 

and you will gain knowledge of God. 

For the LORD grants wisdom! 

From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 

He grants a treasure of good sense to the godly.

Proverbs 2:3-7a, New Living Translation

Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, 

and her wages are better than gold. 

Wisdom is more precious than rubies; 

nothing you desire can compare with her. 

She offers you life in her right hand, 

and riches and honor in her left. 

She will guide you down delightful paths; 

all her ways are satisfying.

Proverbs 3:13-17, New Living Translation