My Identity in Christ

Verse of the Week:

Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, the NEW CREATION has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

My Identity in Christ

Here's a story... I was at the end of my rope with Brayden.  It was a tough mommy day in which I felt like I had disciplined non-stop.  While I had managed to be patient and calm throughout it all, I was about to blow a fuse.  "God give me more patience and perseverance!" I cried out. I wanted to be the most patient mom I could be...but my "me" focused prayer didn't work...I blew my fuse. Once again my flesh won.

Another story...I had another incidence, where Brayden was misbehaving in front of people.  As a mom, I was embarrassed and felt that his behavior reflected on my abilities as a parent and what people thought of me. I could just see people saying, "Man, he is really getting out of control. Katrina needs to get a tighter rein on him."  I wanted people to see Katrina as a strong Christian woman who had it together and who was an amazing mom to her two boys.


Another story...Brayden was behaving so well in Sunday school and was a perfect angel. "Yep," I thought to myself,  "Look at my kid and how well he is acting.  We are awesome parents. See everyone!! He is a much better kid than y'all thought!"  My pride had exploded to bigger than the size of Manhattan.

Another story... It was time to deliver another meal to a mother with a newborn.  Yep, it was my opportunity to show people how kind, generous, and loving I was. Maybe the mom would mention my name on facebook by thanking me for the meal and make me look good.

Last story...hang in there with me there is a point to all of this...There has been an incidence once or twice where when I wrote another blog entry and submitted it, I told myself, I was writing for Jesus, but somewhere inside of me my motive was to make myself look good.  I wanted to be an amazing writer with so much wisdom and knowledge to share.  I wanted to look famous...despite the fact that my Blog is titled "It's All about HIM and not me."  My blog was supposed to be for His glory, and here I was thinking of glory for myself.

Believe it or not, these five stories have something significantly in common. It was my identity.  I wanted Katrina to be this amazing Christian, wife, mom, and writer who was considered loving, kind, patient, and generous among her peers and friends. 

What I wanted my identity to be...Super mom!

My identity was based on what people thought of me, myself, and I.  If I failed, which I do and did, then it was a blow to my soul. I was willing to work hard for this identity because it made me feel good and worth something, but, in the end, I was deceiving myself if I thought all this would bring me fulfillment in my life.

We tend to use the world to establish our identity. People want to feel good about themselves and reach to the things around them that will make them feel good.  Some people get their identity from their wealth, job standing, from what people think of them, from the amount of friends they have, from their looks, from whether they are a good parent or not, from their athletic abilities, from their grandchildren, from their successes, or even from their behavior.  We use the things of the world to help us feel good about ourselves, but here is the problem: the things of the world are temporary, broken, and will not last.  Basing your identity on the broken things will only create an even more broken spirit.  That is why basing your identity in Christ is so important.  It is the  ONLY lasting solution.

Lets back up and view this from a gospel perspective.  Christ came to rescue the broken which is everyone in this world.  He is the only one unbroken.  If you ask Him, he will come INTO YOUR HEART and heal you from your brokenness.  God views you through the eyes of Jesus, as unbroken, as righteous, as beautiful, as a masterpiece.  In His eyes, you are clean in an unclean world. 

All that sounds good right? Lets dig a bit deeper though. When you ask Jesus to come into your heart, you are literally asking him INTO YOUR HEART!  Christ's spirit is living inside of you. Don't believe me? Well, lets look at a few of many verses that shows that he does.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through HIS SPIRIT IN YOUR INNNER BEING so that Christ may DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS through faith. (Ephesians 3:16-17 emphasis mine)

When Paul talked to the Corinthians, he said:
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus IS IN YOU? (2 Corinthians 13:5 emphasis mine)

Or my personal favorite:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ LIVES IN ME. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 emphasis)

Knowing that Christ is in you is life changing.  When Christ came into my heart, Katrina's spirit died and was crucified, and now Christ's spirit lives in me.  Yes, my soul (my thoughts, feelings, mind) and body are the same, but my spirit will never be the same because it is Christ's spirit aka the Holy Spirit that lives in me. That is the miracle of salvation.  It changes everything. "How?" you ask.  Here's how:

1. It changes how God views you.
Before Jesus, in God's eyes you were subject to condemnation and eternal punishment for your sins, but because of Christ, you are forgiven, accepted, and loved by God. Romans 8:1 says, Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION  for those who are IN CHRIST JESUS, (emphasis mine)  God used Jesus to rescue you from his eternal judgement, and in His eyes you are a new creation.  You are forgiven, accepted, and loved...NO MATTER WHAT. Romans 8:38-39 clearly states that nothing will separate those from the love of God who have Christ living inside of them.

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. (emphasis mine)

Who cares what other people think of you.  The God of the universe loves you unconditionally because of your new identity in Christ. No longer do you have to look to facebook to feel good about yourself, how many friends you have, or receive the approval from people.  The unbroken One loves you more than anything broken in this world.

2. It changes how you view yourself.
You realize that In Christ you are all the things Christ was because His spirit is your own.  Sure your body and soul may say different, but your spirit says you are.

You realize that:
In Christ I am patient.
In Christ I am kind.
In Christ I am loving.
In Christ I am a saint.
In Christ I am a masterpiece.

No longer do you look to the world to define who you are.  You know who you are and it can change your behavior.  I am not saying we will never mess up...if we do, it is because we are operating on the flesh and not the spirit (the spirit has changed, the flesh hasn't).  If we focus on our behavior, we are going to mess up, because we are focused on the flesh, but when we focus on who we are in Christ and truly BELIEVE (or have faith) that we are those things, then you see a change come from it. 

I heard a story one time of an experiment that was done on some teachers.  They placed these teachers in a classroom where there were a few low level learners.  However, they told these teachers that these low level learners were advanced high level learners.  Because the teachers believed this, they began treating those children as if they were smart and talented throughout the school year.  When the students saw how their teachers saw them, they became high level learners.  The point of this story is that if the teachers told them they were low level learners like they were, they would have stayed that way, but those teachers told them different so they believed different.  The same with our identity in Christ. Knowledge of who we are in Christ can change our behavior, because we are those things in our spirit.

3. It truly changes you.
2 Corinthians 5:17 talks about how you are a new Creation, and you are! It says, Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, the NEW CREATION has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (emphasis mine)

Your spirit is a brand new creation. It really has changed, folks.  I once asked my dad what changed when he accepted Christ as a teenager.  He told me, "Katrina, I no longer wanted to sin."  Before Christ, people's spirit/conscious was based on what they thought was right and wrong.  They created their own moral standards, but when Christ comes and dwells inside of your spirit, your standards are now Christ's standards.

Even those who are living life opposite of what Jesus lived still have that spirit change.  Author Dan Stone described it like this:

During my early twenties I had a friend in Hopkinsville. He was a saved boy but wasn't practicing it, and I was a lost boy and was practicing it. So he and I would go out together and do the same sinful things. Not long ago we ran into each other and reminisced about that. He said that he has been bothered every night when he went home and went to bed after our outings.  He had done something that he hated. He was remorseful. Not the the point of repentance yet, but remorseful. But I did the same things and it never bothered me. It never punctured my nature, because my nature was saying, "Good for you!" But his nature was saying, "That's not me. That's not me." (From the book, The Rest of the Gospel)

Some people have a spirit change but do not live their lives operating from the spirit and so we do not see any Christ-like change in them, but that doesn't mean that the spirit is not within them telling them to stop.  When people begin to operate from the spirit, wow the change is amazing!

As Jimmy Cricket used to say, "Always let your conscious be your guide."

In this case, "Always let your Spirit be your guide."  Let's operate on our true identity.

Let me conclude with this thought.  Authors Dan Stone and David Gregory once said, "Any Activity that's giving you your identity is an idol."  When we turn to the world and the things in the world to gain acceptance, self worth, and love, you have made that your idol. While it may give you fulfillment temporarily, it will never produce the lasting fulfillment you desire. Basing your identity on Christ leads to a lasting identity because Christ is unbroken and will never fail you. Christ lives the life in you and gives you a brand new identity, and BOY, what an identity it is!

Broken Toys, Broken World

I am one ambitious Mama. In addition to the title Mama, I am also a surgeon, mechanic, engineer, and contractor. Yep...I sew up dolls, repair cars and trains, replace batteries in less than 30 seconds, build houses out of blocks, and create tents out of blankets and sheets. According to my son, I am the person to go to when he needs something fixed or built. So when my son Brayden entered the room with his broken car track toy, I rolled up my sleeves to get to work, but to my surprise, Brayden said, "No!" And proceeded to try to fix it himself. Ever wonder why people don't hire 2 year olds to fix things? Here's why...notice the before and after....

 

Brayden's beautiful Car track went from having one broken piece to three broken pieces. As hard as he tried, my precious boy just couldn't fix it. His little hands were like butter, and the pieces kept slipping out of them. After about two minutes of trying, Brayden started to cry like his world had ended, which it probably had since his cars were his number one thing in his life.  A little bit later, with red eyes and a defeated look on his face, I heard the magic words, "Help, pleaaaaasssse!" 

"Sure, Brayden," I responded, and proceeded to do my magic. A few minutes later, Tadaaaaaa.....here is what this amazing mom can do

Ahhhhh..perfect! Am I da bomb or what?!?!? 

Brayden happily took his car track back in his room and continued playing, my head shrunk back to its normal size, and all was right in the world.

Here is the point of this story. Isn't our world like Brayden's toy? Broken....messed up, in need of repair, worthless, a piece of junk because it doesn't work properly.  Ever since the beginning of the world, when mankind rebelled against God, we set ourselves up for alot of heartache. The moment we decided to do things our way, we set ourselves up for disaster, and when we started doing things apart from God's way, the result will always be a broken world. A world full of sin, pain, wickedness, disaster, death, and disease. It results with people with broken hearts. People like to think they can repair the world themselves,  fix their own lives, or find something else to fix it for themselves. Brayden turned to his own skill to fix his car track, but in the end, it only made things worse. People turn to drugs, money, sex, alcohol, spouses, friends, and many other broken things to fix the hole in their hearts. But broken things fixing broken things creates an even more broken thing.  After Brayden realized that nothing he was doing worked and that he was making it worse, he turned to his amazing spectacular supermom (Ok..regular good ole mom) to fix his car track.  People begin to realize the same thing with God. After trying to fix their hearts with the things of the world and failing every time, they hit rock bottom and realize that Jesus is the only way their hearts will be fixed. Jesus takes a broken heart that is worthless and beyond repair and makes it special.

With Jesus, a person whose heart is full of wickedness becomes righteous and holy. Righteous means "right standing with God." Before Jesus, we were unable to have a relationship with a God who so desires to have a relationship with us, because we chose to do things our way, apart from him.  Jesus became the bridge that allows us to be rejoined with God and become righteous. While we still live in a broken body that still messes up, the heart has now been repaired and desires to do things God's way. The heart is made perfect through Jesus. 

People might ask, "Well, Katrina, if Jesus has fixed people's hearts, why doesn't he just go ahead and fix the world? Why doesn't he remove death, disease, pain, and suffering? Is God not capable of doing that?"  My answer is, "Yes, he is capable, and he will restore things to the way they should be someday, but meanwhile, He allows it because it is the only way to draw people to him."  If God fixed everything and healed every person and protected every love one from heartache and suffering, they would never realize that there was a problem in this world and with people's hearts, and people would never see their need for Him. Brokeness helps people see their need for God after we tragically messed up our relationship with Him long ago.

God sent his son, Jesus, who was without sin or wickedness to take away our wickedness. He paid a debt we could not pay and repaired something we could not repair by dying on the cross and defeating death three days later. God has already started fixing this broken world through Jesus. He is repairing the hearts of those who want to be fixed and sadly releases those who don't want their hearts repaired to judgement and eternal seperation from Him...in otherwords hell. God doesn't force people to turn to him..He is too loving to do that...He is not a dictator....he gives us a choice like he did a long time ago when we chose a life without Him. And someday, after giving everyone a chance to get their hearts repaired, He will restore this world to the way it used to be, perfect...just like I did with Brayden's car track. 

Jesus fixes hearts because he loves us. He was willing to die for us so that we can be restored to Him and not spend eternity away from Him. The Bible says, "Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends."  (John 15:3) Jesus didn't lay down his life for just a friend, but for every person in this world! What amazing love. All you have to do is ask him to fix your heart. He can and will...

Healing the Broken

Verse of the Week:

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalms 147:3

Healing the Broken

This is a true story of a girl whose heart was black and blue, and God picked up every broken piece and brought her healing.  In a world full of brokenness, Jesus is the only one who can bring healing...

"The Healing of My Heart"

When I was a young girl, my hearing loss never bothered me.  My two siblings and I had been born with it, so it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to be deaf in my family.  As a little girl I remember going to school and playing YMCA sports like any other normal child and participating right along in family events just like my hearing cousins. As a child, I had had many ear infections, which made it hard to develop my speech properly.  I never could hear and learn simple new words like my brother and sister; I seemed to be behind in everything that my brother and sister did.

            I never understood what my parents had to go through to make sure that I would be ok in the real world.  While I thought going to speech therapy three times a week and being taught new words daily at home with my mom was strictly routine, my mom was struggling to make sure that I would be able to function in the world of hearing.  Despite all of mom’s efforts to make sure that I would succeed in public school, my first grade teacher finally said, “You must do something to help this child.  I can’t do anything else to help her.”  After weeks of prayer and thinking, my mom and dad decided to place me in a deaf school, Lamar.  However, instead of helping me, Lamar turned me into this mute child who would not talk to people and caused me to get behind in learning.  I never knew that my parents went to the extremes to get me out of that deaf school.  While teachers and other professionals in the deaf education program criticized my parents, telling them that they were making a huge mistake in taking me out of school, my parents stood firm like a rock and fought for me, believing that I could do better than what some deaf children did.  Doctors told my parents that if I were placed in a hearing school, I would start failing classes by fourth grade.  However, my parents believed that I could do better than what people thought I could do.  Mom took me home and started teaching me on her own knowing that my life would be hard for me in the future. She pushed me hard during those months at home to prepare me for a private school and worked hard to get equipment such as the FM unit so that I could understand my teachers easier.   I never knew about the sleepless nights and the tears she poured out for me while praying to God trying to make sure that she did the right thing.  My dad, the leader of the home, stood by her side being her tower of strength and support and praying along with her for guidance in what to do about their youngest daughter.  I never knew how much my parents sacrificed for me during those early years and how hard they fought for me.

            Perhaps, that is why I never understood why my parents decided to leave their old church and search for a new church that believed in the power of healing.  They would take me and my brother and sister to churches that held healing services in hopes that we would be healed.  I never understood why we read books on miracles and scriptures on healings.  I never worried about anything as a little girl because my life was simple, protected in the arms of my parents… until Jr. High.

            In Jr. High everything changed; innocent children that used to be my friends when I was younger were now struggling to control the changes in their bodies.  Popularity was the thing, and I learned pretty quickly that if you were different than your peers then you were considered weird.  It was during these years that my hearing loss became a huge reality for me.  I was different from the other kids because I could not hear; therefore, I was persecuted and ignored.  When I tried to fit in with groups, I found out that it was impossible for me to do so because I could not hear anything that was being said.  When I talked, kids would make fun of my speech.  I never could do anything that a normal teenager did. I could not talk on the phone to friends; I could not go to movies because I could not hear what was being said.

As high school came things got worse, I could no longer sit with kids at lunch; they would ignore me and make me sit at the end of the table, the loser’s section.  I eventually begin to eat by myself in a classroom because the kids were so cruel. The only haven I had at school was sports, particularly basketball during my freshman year.  However, that was taken away when my coach benched me and I didn’t  play.  I was lonely, and thoughts of suicide consumed my mind. I would often go to the kitchen by myself at night and take a knife and hold it to my stomach wondering what it would be like if I pushed it through my abdomen.

My only place of security was at home where I was loved and accepted.  My parents tried to encourage me and comfort me.  Despite their efforts, my self-esteem dropped so low that one would wonder if I had any self-esteem at all.   I often would cry all night long until no more tears would come. I finally began to realize why my parents had always prayed for my healing.   In desperation, I turned to God and asked him to heal me.  I wanted to hear like any normal teenager and be like any normal teenager, but He never answered, or so I thought.  In 9^th grade, I began to talk to one of the teachers, Mrs. Davis about my healing.  I will never forget what Mrs. Davis said,  “You may want your ears to be healed but have you asked God to heal your heart?”  When I went home that day I was angry and confused with what she had said.  What did she mean by the “healing of my heart”?   I was a Christian, and I believed and trusted in God.  In fact God was the only one at the moment who I knew I could rely on.  In fact, it was the encouragement from reading God’s word that kept me from giving up.  I was confused with those words and quickly dismissed them from my mind.  Little did I know that in the future these words would change my life.

After the dark days in high school, my senior year at a new high school and college came, and I was thrilled with the freedom and happiness that came with it.  I was making new friends, learning new things, and becoming a new person.  My parent’s hard work had paid off, and all the things that people said that I would never be able to do, I did.  Then towards the end of my first semester in college another bombshell dropped.  I lost a lot of hearing.  During high school, I had always lost a little bit of hearing and it was like a blow to me each time my world grew quieter, but I would quickly readjust and jump back to normal routine.  This time, however, I did not jump back. As hard as I tried I could not carry a conversation with anyone very well.  I would constantly make an idiot of myself and have people repeat things several times before I got what they said.  I began to avoid people on campus and began to hide back in my little shell.  I began to rely on lip reading and would hope that people would not talk to me.  I could no longer hear music and my own mother’s sweet voice.  My job as a junior high coach became a huge challenge and I found myself struggling to understand my co-workers and athletes.  Whenever people became frustrated with repeating things to me, it was like a blow to my heart.  How was I going to survive in this world if I could not even hear my own friends and family?  I began to get extremely depressed and would cry until my head hurt.  During Christmas holidays when my siblings came home they noticed that my sparkly smile and light from my eyes were gone.  My brother grew concerned when he told me that I did not seem myself, I broke down and cried not knowing what to do anymore.  Everything seemed hopeless.

Again, I began to pray and beg to God for a miracle.  In anguish I would pray to God saying, “Please God, Please heal me!”  No healing came.

One day, I had reached rock bottom.  At work one of my friends had grown very frustrated with me because she had to repeat the same sentence over six times.  In desperation, I went home that evening and sat down on the couch in the living room.  I seeked for comfort from God but none would come. In desperation, I fell from the couch to the floor my body shaking with sobs and my hands clinched against my head.  “God,” I cried, “I can’t do this anymore!  Take me home to heaven, I can’t keep living like this anymore.”  My heart had taken all the beatings it could; it was black and blue. My soul was in turmoil.  Where was hope?  I could not see any.

The next couple of months were hard.  I began to search for the healing of my ears.  I began to talk to my co-workers about healing, but they had no answer.  “Why didn’t God want to heal me?”  Then one evening as I was reading a book called The Case for Faith, I read about a man who had had a congenital neuromuscular disease that leaves a person crippled for life.  When he was asked if he had asked God for a miracle, he said, “As a young Christian, I prayed that God would heal me.  But he didn’t.”  Then he said with unmistakable wonder, “ As I look at my life, God has used this disease in so many remarkable ways to shape me and my personality…as Paul said- his strength was made perfect in weakness.”  After reading, I began to think about Paul in the Bible and how he asked God three times to heal him of a handicap that he had, yet even with his handicap God used it to show His strength and power and help Paul with his life.  I began to thank God for the strength and help he gave me with my handicap, and I understood now why he did not heal me.  God was going to use my handicap for his will and purpose.  Tears of joy streamed down my face as I read through the scriptures that evening,  “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.  They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)  It dawned me what Mrs. Davis had been trying to say all along about asking God to heal my heart. I needed to accept my hearing loss as it was and understand that God had a reason for me to have this handicap.  I bowed my head and prayed to God.  “Lord,” I said,  “I may never be healed physically but please heal my heart from the hurt and pain that I have and strengthen me to do your will.  For the first time in a long time,  peace and strength filled my in-most being.  My heart had begun to heal.

       The author of this story grew up to become a teacher for over 9 years and is now happily married, a mom of 2, and loves to write about God's love. This girl is me. God took my broken heart and healed it. God didn't heal me the way I expected. You see, I wanted Him to heal the physical part, but He went much deeper and healed the inner part. God is amazing because he knows how to truly fix things. Take a look at people's hearts. Mankind's hearts are truly messed up, full of wickedness and sin after we rebelled from God long ago; as a result, the world is full of pain, death, and tragedy. People look to God to fix all the problems of the world...fix my marriage, fix my broken body, fix my finances, fix my handicap, fix those who are dying, fix the pain and suffering...and he is, but not in the way we think he should. He fixes and heals heart...that is what truly needs fixing. He sent the one he loved the most to fix our hearts, Jesus. Jesus took all of our sin and pain away and gave us a new heart. All you have to do is ask him for it and he will. Why? Because that is what Jesus does, he heals hearts....He healed mine first from its sin and wickedness and second from the pain and hurt involving my handicap. In a world full of brokenness we can only turn to the one who is unbroken, Jesus. He is in the heart business. He healed mine, and He can heal yours. All you have to do is ask....*

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalms 147:3

*If you want to know more about this topic, please feel free to Facebook me a message at  "Katrina Garrison Arnold."

Teaching your Child about Christ Feels like Rocket Science!

Verse of the Week:

Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you’ll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Teaching your Child about Christ Feels Like Rocket Science!!!

Overwhelmed, scared, burdened, and unsure were the feelings I felt when I thought of having to teach my children about Jesus.  The pressure to make sure my children received Christ was overwhelming. What if I messed up? What if Brayden and Carson didn't ever know Jesus?  Salvation is the most important choice they would ever make.  How could I make sure that happened?  How do I even start with teaching them about Christ?  There is so much for them to learn, and I don't even know how to go about it. These are some of the thoughts that have entered my mind when I think about Brayden and Carson's spiritual upbringing. I think perhaps that every parent who loves the Lord feels this way at some point.  There is no greater desire in me than for my children to love Jesus.  

However, I realized three things: 

First, I am not God and I can't make my children love Jesus. 
I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. (Isaiah 45:5)

Second, I have to just trust in the Lord and place both boys in His hands.  
Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. (John 14:1)

Third, when I do talk about Jesus with Brayden and Carson, I need to remember that God will help me. 
For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

When I realized those things, I felt a weight begin to lift from my shoulders. I realized that I could make it fun and enjoy sharing my passion for Jesus with my boys.  Just like a dad may have a love for football and wants to teach his son about football or a Mom has a passion for arts and crafts and wants to teach her girls arts and crafts, the same concept applies when sharing Christ.  Christ is my passion, and therefore, my goal is to share that passion with Brayden and Carson.  I know I am not God and that I can't force my boys to love Christ, but I can share with them my love for Christ and show them by example Christ's love for them.  Just like a dad hopes his son will love football and a mom hopes her girls will love art, I hope that Brayden and Carson will come to love Jesus the same way I do.

"So how in the world do I start?" I asked myself.  That was the challenge for me: how to start sharing. I think many parents like me struggle with how to talk to their kids about Jesus.  So I just wanted to share some tips and ideas from my current journey to any parents that are struggling the same way I was.

1.  Talk about Jesus in the middle of your daily activities.
It was hard at first for me to do this because I thought I would feel like an idiot when I tried to talk to Brayden about Jesus, but my first attempt came about when Brayden was excitedly looking at the moon one morning.  I said, "You know who made the moon Brayden?  God did.  Just like Mama makes cookies and muffins, God made the moon."  Brayden looked at me excitedly and pointed up to the moon again.  Seeing him excited, helped me get out of my shell and start talking to him more about God on a daily basis.  I would constantly ask Brayden what God made, and he would point to the moon.  After that I would share with him other things God made like the trees, grass, turtles, etc.  

Another example of sharing Jesus with Brayden during our daily activities happened when we were watching "Spookly the Square Pumpkin" on TV. The other pumpkins were making fun of Spookly because he was square and not round.  I took the time to explain to Brayden that Jesus would want us to treat others nice and that those pumpkins were not being nice.  Brayden looked at me with a quizzical look in his eyes as if he was in deep thought over what I said.  

However,it is important to note that not every time I talk to Brayden about God does he act excited about it. Sometimes it seems like he is completely ignoring me; however, I keep trying because I believe that he is listening more than I realize.  So parents, take heart if your kid doesn't seem interested, keep trying anyway. :)  

2.  Read Books
Reading about Jesus in story books is a great way to teach any child about Christ.  One of my personal favorites that I read to Brayden is called "God Loves You."  It talks about four major concepts: God made you, God loves you, God takes care of you, God sent his son Jesus to save you from your sins.  I though at first that these concepts would be too hard for Brayden to understand at 2 years old, but to my surprise, it is one of his favorite books.  We have also read the Christmas story over and over despite the fact that it isn't Christmas, but he is still hearing about Jesus. Find books that your child loves and read those books over and over. Now that Brayden is getting older, I plan to start reading from a Children's Bible to him.  He is getting it for Christmas so shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! :)

Brayden's Christmas present and favorite story book.

3.  Do Art projects

Brayden and I recently did a very fun art project together and made Brayden a Jesus Book.

Hard at work making his book!

Each day we would work on one page for the book.  I allowed Brayden to color, glue, and put stickers in his book.  While we created each page, I explained to him the concept we were learning on that page.  The explanation probably only took 30 seconds to a minute to share, but for a 2 year old, that is enough.  I then laminated and hole punched each page and then tied the book together. After we completed the book, we now go back and read it constantly, and Brayden loves reading something he made.

Pages in Jesus Book

Allow your child to make the pages himself. It doesn't have to look perfect!

4. Pray Pray Pray!
God says to pray without ceasing for a reason.  We need God's guidance as parents on a daily basis.  Ask God to reveal to you moments you can share Him with your child. Pray for your child to know Jesus.  Cover your child with blankets of prayer.

5.  Don't expect every attempt to share Jesus go go perfect.
To be honest, there were times when things were a disaster when I tried to teach Brayden about Jesus. For instance, when Brayden and I made the Jesus book, there were a couple of times when he was misbehaving and received timeout for dropping crayons on the floor and throwing a tantrum.  There have been times when Brayden hasn't wanted to read his Jesus book, or listen to me talk about Jesus, but that is ok.  Just keep trying and know who holds your child in the palm of His hand.

Place these words on your hearts. Get them deep inside you. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night. Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities so that you’ll live a long time, and your children with you, on the soil that God promised to give your ancestors for as long as there is a sky over the Earth. (Deuteronomy 11:18-21)

Tragedies...Where are you God?

Verse of the Week:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Tragedies...Where are you God?

Why God? Why?  I had just received tragic news via text that one of my friends had lost her baby boy. Later she asked her friends to pray that God's glory be revealed in this situation.  So I began to pray for exactly that, but while praying for her throughout the week, a new question formed in my mind: How is God's glory ever shown in such awful tragedies?  How is His glory shown when a couple who wants kids keep having miscarriages, or when a family who was so excited about having a girl lost their daughter at birth, or when a husband and wife who want to have kids cannot conceive. As I pondered the question, I began to remember one of my favorite heros of all times, Corrie Ten Boom.  Corrie was sent to a concentration camp during World War II for hiding Jews in her home. There in the camp she encountered senseless tragedies and watched numbers upon numbers of people die.  She saw an evil in that camp that no living human being should ever see.

One day when I was younger I remember watching Corrie on TV talking about her experiences in the camp. She said something that I will never forget,

 "There is no pit so deep, that He is not deeper still."

There is no tragedy so awful that God is not present in it all. His glory can still be seen in the worst of worst times and in the darkest hour. "How?"  I asked and prayed, "How can God's glory be seen when there is nothing but evil present?" Then God brought a verse to my mind from the book of 1 John.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.  [...] No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:9, 12)

God's glory is revealed through people and their love for one another. People see Christ through the lives of other people. God's glory is in his followers, and He is made known through they way that they respond to situations in their lives.

No matter how deep Corrie's pit was, God was still there, evident through the life of Corrie and her sister Betsy in that concentration camp.  Together the sisters were able to share the gospel and provide comfort and love to countless women even in the darkest of times.  In the worst of the worst, Christ was there in the life of his followers.

Another scripture comes to mind...

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

When Christians face senseless tragedies and trials, they have a chance to show their faith, though refined by fire, is genuine and real. And when they show the world Christ in the darkest of situations, Christ's glory is revealed.

I used to think that at the end of verse 7, when it talks about Christ being revealed, that it meant when Christ returns to this earth, but then I realized that it goes much deeper than that. Christ is revealed through the lives of those who love Him, whose deep faith sets them apart from a world who has no hope without Christ.

I look at that couple I was praying for, and realized something.  God's glory is indeed being shown in this awful tragedy.  His glory is being shown in that baby boy's parents who have shown such a deep faith and trust in God in the midst of it all.  Their attitude in the midst of it all has indeed glorified God. Instead of drowning in a sea of bitterness and hatred, they have risen above it all and continued living life full of hope and love because they know who holds that sweet boy in the palm of His hands.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

Thank you Lord for showing me where your glory is truly shown.

My Home Outside of the Womb

Verse of the Week:  

..."No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

My Home Outside of the Womb

Life is a miracle.  Seeing our second son being born once again reminded me how miraculous life truly is.  Our son started off smaller than a poppy seed and came out an 8 pound 12 oz giant.  During the course of 9 months, he learned to move his arms and legs, swallow, see light with his eyes, and hear mommy's voice and heartbeat for the first time. He learned to breath fluid, suck his thumb, and poop all while he was safely curled up in the warmth of  his sac, growing and receiving nutrients from his Mama. What a beautiful life he had already lived before entering this world.  

I wonder if it was hard on him to leave the safety and security of his womb at birth and enter into this huge scary world.  I am so glad he did.  He would have missed so much if he hadn't.  He would have missed seeing colors, learning to crawl, walk, and throw a ball.  He would have missed receiving hugs and kisses from his brother, Mama, and Dada. He would have missed seeing the trees, moon, stars, grass, and flowers.  He would have missed touching a puppy's soft fur, feeling the coolness of sand, and stroking the smooth back of a turtle's shell.  He would have missed playing with his brother, tasting yummy treats, and drinking cool water on a hot summer day. He would have missed his Mama's laugh, Dada's funny singing, and His brother's wrestling. He would have missed so much if he had stayed in the womb....

I wonder about heaven....I will admit that there are times when death scares me, because I fear the unknown.  Sometimes I feel like I am in the dark womb of this world, clueless about what is on the other side of eternity.  Like Carson felt safe and secure in his womb, I feel safe and secure in this world, because it is all I know; heaven seems so scary.  However, I know I would miss so much if I never went there.  As it says in  1 Corinthians 2:9,  "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."  I can not even conceive in my mind what God has prepared for those who have received Jesus in their hearts.  He has prepared blessings that I cannot even begin to imagine...Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Eph 1:3)  

There is a story I remember someone telling me about a dog.  The dog wanted to get through a door to another room.  He had never seen the room and didn't know what was in it, but he was anxious for the door to open so that he could enter because he knew one thing...his owner was on the other side.  He knew home was where his master was, no matter what was in that room.  Heaven maybe scary, but I have nothing to fear, because on the other side of that door, my heavenly Father is there.  I will be home safe in the arms of my Father, no matter what.  Our home is not on earth, but in heaven where Jesus is.  So, like Carson, I plan to enjoy my life in the womb, and grow and prepare for the other side...And when death comes, I will finally be home.

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 3:20

My Theory in Raising our Beautiful Boy

Verse of the Week:

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

My Theory in Raising our Beautiful Boy

Ok, lets all face it.  While the Bible has many wonderful concepts on how to raise children, it doesn't exactly give step by step guidelines in the child rearing. I have concluded that the missing book in the Bible is 1 Katrinalonians (written by me of course!).  In it I would have all the step by step verses on many things related to child rearing.  For example, some particular verses I would create would involve how to keep a straight face at a smiling one year old caught in the act.  A person would look up 1 Katrinalonians 3:2-5, and it would say the following:

2 Thou shalt not smile when your child is caught disobeying.  3 Think negative thoughts while starring at the adorable smiling face and a frown will go well with you. 4 Exercise self control with your mouth muscles to keep your frown intact. 5 A man who coughs and turns his head to hide his grin is wiser than a foolish man who grins and leads his child to more disobedience.

Yep...that is my next calling, write the next book of the bible, 1 Katrinalonians. :)

However, on a serious note, I could not raise Brayden without the Bible.  While the Bible doesn't necessarily give step by step guidelines in child raising, it does provide a wealth of information you can use while going through the amazing journey of parenthood. Many of my theories and ideas of child rearing are based solely on the Bible.  Lately I have been clinging to Romans 12:12.  It says, "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

1. Be joyful in hope

When I looked at several versions of the Bible, I found that joyful could also be replaced with rejoice, glad, and happy. A lot of people in my family know that I tend to look at the glass half empty at times.  In the middle of a hard day of disciplining or perhaps a sleepless night with a teething baby or even after a week of taking care of a sick child, it can be hard to look at the bright side of things.  With Brayden, I tend to look at his emotions in a negative light.  He has a hard time controlling his anger....mmmm....I wonder where he got that from.  Oh yeah, me!!!!!!  Seeing that side of him makes me despair at times because I do not want him reacting to things the way his Mama has done in the past, but due to genetics, I don't think I am getting out of this one. :)  

However, I receive renewed hope when I take the time to see how wonderful his emotions have been.  We have a very tenderhearted boy.  Already at 21 months Brayden has displayed such sensitivity and love toward others.  I loved seeing him the other day staring at me, and then out of the blue, he ran over and gave me a hug.  I knew immediately what he was doing because I was seeing something his Mama used to do. Growing up, I would just be looking at my parents and feel this as I used to call it, "over come with love feeling" for them, and I just had to go and give them a hug to express it.  Seeing him express such love is beautiful.  I love watching him with children, and sharing!!!  No, not taking, but constantly sharing his toys with others.  What a selfless act.  Brayden is my helper and loves to help me out.  He especially loves helping me with the groceries.  A few weeks back, I had to go outside and finish unloading groceries out of the car.  When I returned inside, this is what I saw.

Yep, the lettuce and Pam spray put carefully away in the wrong spot!!!  However, it was so sweet to see him try so hard to help his Mama out and display a servant's heart.  The other day, I saw him gently petting a cat and kissing it, and to my surprise, the cat didn't run away!  He is so good and sweet with animals.  Brayden's emotions can be so beautiful, and I need to rejoice and place my hope in the good things he does out of his tender heart. 

Sometimes we focus so much on the negative that we overlook a wealth of positives. For example, oftentimes when we look at a photograph we tend to complain that our smile doesn't look right or that our eyes are closed, and because of those things, the picture is ruined.  Whereas, if we would look past the flawed part and look at the whole picture like the amazing mountain view or sunset, we would see something beautiful and be richly blessed.  Don't focus on the negative only with your child, rejoice and thank God for the beauty that you see in them.  It is so important to look at the positives because you don't want your child growing up thinking that you are disappointed in them because you can only see the negative things they do.  Look at the whole picture and rejoice in the good.

2. Patient in Affliction
Other versions of the Bible use the words suffering and tribulation in place of affliction.  Patience in the midst of a trial is such a hard thing to display.  Often times I imagine myself as an amazing mom who exercises patience with Brayden in every situation.  I respond in a calm voice,  no traces of anger are displayed, and I think calmly and logically through each situation. I imagine myself as the person below...

Yep that's me...calm, cool, and collected in the midst of affliction. When in reality I probably look like this...

Yep, that looks more like me!
On a serious note though, I have found that when I exercise patience with Brayden in a situation, I tend to think clearer and make better decisions.  Brayden tends to respond to me better when I am calm, and on the days that he doesn't respond to my calmness, I still find myself less frustrated. Yep, patience is a necessity.

3. Faithful in prayer
Other Bible translations have replaced faithful with constant and steadfast.  I have found that continuous prayer is a must in parenthood.  Prayer calms me down; prayer takes the focus off of the situation and focuses on God; prayer allows me to see things through God's eyes; and prayer allows me to depend on God and become more aware and attentive of what He reveals to me. It was prayer that led me to see Romans 12:12 in a new light as a parent, and that verse has become part of my heart as I try to approach life daily with Brayden.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12