The Small Branch

Jesus tells us in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."       Like the sun (in a small way), Jesus lights our world.  Like the moon (in a small way), we should reflect that Light into the dark world.  When a full moon rises over a dark night, we can see very well.  Not as well as in the daytime, mind you, but still pretty well.  Is that the light we shine?  A clear bright reflection of the perfect Light of the world cast throughout the darkness helping others see?  This is a dark world.  Most of the time it feels like we are walking around in the shadows of night.  But if we are willing to be close to Jesus constantly, we can reflect such a pure Light that, not only can we see better, others can see better, too.

"When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path." Psalm 142:3a      I'm not gonna lie, I am totally overwhelmed right now.  I am teaching a class I have never taught and it isn't working to line up with the textbook I have (not to mention the five other classes, which are three more preps, that I am teaching).  I am taking one very reading assignment/write papers heavy graduate class and another one that requires time in my classroom as well as analysis afterward.  We are getting ready to move and trying to sell our house.  I still have three kids at home (and one getting ready to deploy) who play sports, have music lessons and activities, and have schoolwork of their own.  BSF starts next week, which I love, but it does add to my schedule.  My husband travels.  I'm overwhelmed.  But, ya know what?  God knows my path.  He knows where I am, where I have been, and where I am headed.  He's already been there ahead of me.  He's prepped the path

     Sometimes, letting go is so hard.  As my children get older, they have to choose their own paths.  I don't always agree with their choices.  Some of their choices actually scare me.  But I can't make those choices for them and, as much as I hate it, they are just as human as I am.  I think of all the mistakes, some of them life altering, I made in my teens and twenties.  Yet, I am still here, loving Jesus with everything in me.  Even when I have slipped over and over, I don't fall.  "Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate." (Psalm 116:5)  So I pray for my children and love them no matter what.  I pray that they will love Jesus more than anything and they will be able to get back on the right path when they stray.  I have to release them to the One who loves them even more than I do, and, as they get older, I have to release them more and more often.      Something to add:  This morning as I was talking to Jesus, I was deeply convi

"Blessed be the LORD, Who has not given us to be torn by their teeth. Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth." Psalm 124: 6-8      I love this passage.  It goes through my mind over and over daily.  "The snare is broken."  We don't have to be caught up in our sin, because Jesus broke the snare holding us captive.  He smashed it.  And "we have escaped."  "We have escaped," beloved.  Escaped.  Does it make sense for an escaped prisoner to voluntarily go back into captivity, not just once, but over and over?  But we do.  We go back over and over.  I do, at least.  But now, God brings this passage to mind and I ask myself, "why?"  Why do I go back?  It is illogical.  It is self-destructive.  "The snare is broken and we have escaped."  Let's stay out of that broken snare, shall we?  Thank

"Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." Psalm 95:6      This summer, on a recommendation from my BSF substitute teaching leader, I have been studying Psalms.  God led me to a group working through Beth Moore's Stepping Up , which is a study of the Psalms of Ascent, so I folded that in to my summer study.  In the beginning of that study, Beth challenged us to actually take the posture of bowing down on our faces before the Lord to begin each day - giving it to Him and recognizing Him as the King He is.  I had also read recently a book called Follow Me  by David Platt, which said something like this about salvation:  we are not asking Jesus to be Lord of our lives, we are acknowledging that He IS  Lord.  All that to say, what a difference physical posture can make in our spirits.      It amazes me the difference in my day when I actually take the posture of being on my face, in physical reality, not just in my spirit, before the Lor

     I am doing a great study on the Psalms of Ascent this summer.  Today, we started looking at Psalm 131:        "O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;       Nor do I involve myself in great matters,       Or in things too difficult for me.       Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;       Like a weaned child rests against his mother,       My soul is like a weaned child within me.       O Israel, hope in the LORD       From this time forth and forever." David gives us a great picture of how our souls need to rest in the Lord.  It makes me think about a toddler going to sleep on his daddy's shoulder.  I am told that, as a toddler, I fought sleep like crazy.  Sometimes, I think I still do in this picture of David's.  I should be just resting against my Father's strong shoulder, but instead, I am trying to fix all the troubles around me the way I think is best, which, of course, usually turns out to make things worse.  I have a lot o

     I was thinking yesterday morning (shocker, I know!) about ways to encourage my children in their faith.  One thing that is a very hard balance for all Christians is works.  We know, or at least I hope we know, that we are saved by grace - not by anything we have done or could ever do, but only because of what Jesus has done.  We are saved because we acknowledge that He is King and Lord and we are His subjects.  The fine line comes when we realize that we need to act like it.  Acting like His subjects doesn't mean that we are living under the Law, but sometimes, we get to going through the motions and that's what it feels like.  We feel like we are trying to be "good enough."  On the other hand, we know that our "fruit" shows our faith.  We know that we are supposed to be producing fruit and that we can only produce fruit through Jesus Christ working in our lives.  So I thought, maybe we need to do a "fruit check" periodically, maybe even daily

Just finished reading Mindset  by Carol Dweck.  If you haven't read it, I really recommend it, especially if, like me, you really struggle with the insecurity a fixed mindset can cause.  The book makes me think a lot about growth and how to foster that in my children and my students.  As a teacher, I really despise having to use grades and test scores.  These "products" do so much to undermine what I hope to teach my students - the value of learning and growth.  Part of our school mission statement talks about helping students grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Am I really teaching lifelong growing if I emphasize grades?  test scores?  There is a huge difference between students who are focused on learning and students who are focused on grades.  Students focused on grades are focused on an end result that they think will happen right now.  But life is a journey - we grow in Christ, we let Him work in us, in every aspect of our lives.  Change doesn't just

     I am reading a great book called Mindset  by Carol Dweck.  The book addresses having a growth mindset (believing we can grow and change) versus having a fixed mindset (believing we are only so smart, talented, etc. and can't change that).  I highly recommend it.      One thing that I was really convicted about, though, is how much I have a fixed mindset.  I really feel judged by people and I often throw in the towel when things get hard because I feel like I just can't do it.  But that isn't what God has told us:   "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)  If we are new, that means He has changed us, we have grown and continue to grow in Him.   "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind," (Romans 12:2a)  If we are being transformed by Him, by renewing our minds in Him, doesn't that imply we are growing