"Whatever happens, live__a__life__ worthy of the gospel of Christ."
I whispered it to the Lord all week long.
Quiet words in the midst of a constant, controlled chaos.
I will probably say it a million times in this space because it is my real, tangible, in-my-face everyday struggle...
I mess this mothering thing up everyday, E_V_E_R_Y_D_A_Y.
This morning in church I looked over to see one of my children sulking (truth be told, three of the six were having issues all at the same time as soon as we all sat down in church, but that's a story for another time.) I looked over at this particular child and spoke softly in his ear,
"Why the sulking face?"
The kid confessed to being nasty to a sibling in the car on the way to church and he was feeling flustered with himself.
"Bud, you've just got to make it right with that sibling and then move on."
"I know Mom. I'm just having a hard time with the moving on part."
"Well bud, if it makes you feel any better, I already had to make it right 5 times this morning and it's not even 10am. You're not alone, little man."
A smile crept across his face and he was done sulking.
___________________________
It was testimony Sunday at church this week.
It felt like nearly everyone in our tiny country church shared something about what the Lord was doing or had done in their lives.
I sat quietly surrounded by my brood of perfect imperfection.
I thought about the dozens of things that I could have stood up and said, I thought about how I'm not the same person today that I was ten years ago, or even five years ago, or even last month for that matter.
I thought about the way that the Lord has brought His Word to life in my heart and mind in a way that I never could have fathomed a decade ago.
I thought about the kind of mother I am___ the one with all the imperfections__ the one who has bathed herself in His glorious grace__ the one who longs to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ but has continually found herself coming up short.
The testimonies shared in church this morning were God-sized, grace-filled, crazy awesome stories of how God has saved his children from some pretty life-altering things.
Sometimes I'm tempted to think that my testimony is boring because I'm just a Mama who stays home with her many small treasures and tries to love them well through God's wild grace. I've never done drugs, or killed anybody, or almost lost my marriage, or been healed of cancer. I'm tempted to say nothing really "BIG" has happened in my life, and my testimony is mundane.
But the Bible begs to differ__
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins..."
AND
"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross." {Colossians}
Being delivered from Satan, sin, or death is anything but average or boring. Having your sins forgiven and being redeemed and made alive is MIND-BOGGLING! The idea of anyone's testimony of blood-bought salvation could be uninteresting or unspectacular is a defamation of the work of Christ!
My testimony may have occurred in the most ordinary of circumstances, but behind the scenes a spiritual battle was taking place. The Holy Spirit of God peeled the scales from my spiritually blind eyes, awakened my heart to the bright light of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ, and breathed life into my lifeless soul. God rescued me from the domain of darkness__ how ever ordinary it may have seemed. Then God transferred me into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
No testimony that involves the SON OF GOD bearing my sins on the cross in order to bring me to God could ever be mundane or boring. Christ in me, is an EPIC story of a woman who used to be eternally separated from God, and is now dancing daily in the most romantic love story ever written.
I'm a mom. I wipe bottoms and noses all winter long. I eat PB & J for lunch most days and I hide out in my closet often asking the Lord how on earth I might get these children of his to stop bickering and love each other like He loves.
When I forget that I've been made new and that I am indeed being sanctified through and through and that the ONE who has called me is faithful to keep my heart, soul, body and mind blameless through the blood of His Son__ When I forget these things, I forget that there is NEVER anything ordinary going on under this farmhouse roof.
Everyday is grace-filled, forgiveness-filled, & opportunities to try again-filled.
Everyday is purposeful, Christ-driven, made new moment by moment.
If the last moment stunk, then we're given another moment to try again, with HIS strength.
I cannot live a life worthy of the gospel__ but Christ in me can.
And that, my friends, is an EXTRAordinary testimony to everyone who has ever lived.
{Some thoughts from Glimpses of Grace:Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman.}
