Encouragement grounded in Scripture
Rooted in truth. Anchored in Christ.
New reflections weekly.
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“Costumes” and a Little Boy’s Lesson on Self-Acceptance
“You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:13
“I am being nothing! I am dressing as Hunter!” “What about your shark mask?” I kindly plead with my four year old son. “No! Nothing! I am going as Hunter!”
That is right. Hunter is adamantly boycotting the custom of wearing a costume on Halloween. As a child with sensory processing issues, he often has a hard time relenting to our demands of wearing anything that buttons, anything that covers his face, or anything that requires tugging on, pulling on, or tying on! For the past few years he has managed to wear at least part of his costumes sans hat, crown, or whatever head or face adornment that came with the Halloween duds…but, not this year. This year, he is going to be Hunter.
“I don’t need to dress up to get candy. I am going as Hunter!”
I can never get away from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night-but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. Psalm 139:7, 11-12
There are times as parents we feel we miss out on holidays and most things other kids enjoy, like Halloween and getting dressed up in a fancy new costume; but Hunter is forever teaching us through his quirks-and once again…well, he has a point!
Through his refusal I hear: “I don’t have to be anyone else to be accepted. I’m going to be myself.”
Yet, each year we buy new costumes. We dress up as something or someone else. Yes, it can also be pretty fun, but how many times does the urge to be someone different transfer into our daily lives? To what extremes do we go to change who we are, to hide our faults, and to attempt to hide who we truly are from the outside world. We do this to seek acceptance from those around us, those who are only seeing the “costume” we decided to wear to fit in, instead of allowing them to see the person God created.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart.” Jeremiah 1:5
God knows us inside and out. “Every moment was laid out,” and every day of our lives were recorded long before we were ever born (Psalm 139). We can put on any costume or covering we want in an attempt to be someone else, but we cannot change the fact that God loves us just as we are.
Even if we refuse to wear our Halloween costume. Through a four year-old’s refusal to wear his costume, I learn that we don’t need to pretend we are someone else to gain God’s acceptance and grace.
So, this Halloween, and every day after I am going to be myself too. From now on, I am going as January.
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Holding On Through the Why’s of Life
O Lord, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? Psalm 10:1
Why, God? Why me?
I admit it. I have asked this question of God a time or two hundred, just as I am sure many believers do. At times we don’t understand why a God who loves us all, also allows pain and suffering in our lives, or the lives of others. Why does he allow our loved ones to hurt? Why does he take the people and things that mean so much to us?
“For just as the heavens are higher then the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” Isaiah 55:9.
Yes, God does have a divine purpose, a greater plan than we could ever imagine. This week as my husband’s family comes to terms with yet another unexpected death, this is the promise to which I must strive to cling, because if I am being completely honest-there are far too many things in this life I could never understand on my own. Far too many “Why’s” I want to scream at God.
Why my son, God?
Why my Son, January?
Why won’t you take away this daily pain, God?
Why did my Son have to endure so much pain, January?
Why did he/she have to die, God?
Why did my Son have to die, January?
Why me, Lord?
Why not you, January?
So many questions. So much pain and sorrow. So many reasons to believe that God could not really love his people.
But he does. Enough to send his Son to die for us, for me. For your sins, for my sins.
I may never come to terms with tragedy, sorrow, and the sadness that so many endure here on earth, and I certainly don’t have all the answers for those “Why” questions. I am also certain there will be many more days when I doubt God’s plan and fail to believe He really cares about what is going on in my life. On those days, I want to be reminded to keep holding on to the promise that joy will come, sadness will one day be no more, and His perfect plan will finally be revealed.
The song “Holding On” by Jamie Grace has been playing over and over in my head for the past few weeks as I have wrestled with uncertainty and doubt in my own life. It’s a reminder that when we have nothing else on which to cling, when our days are all dark, and when we just don’t believe He is there, we CAN cling to Him for strength, for guidance, and clarity. I hope the song speaks to you as much as it has to me these last few weeks, and that it is a reminder to you to hold on when all you want to do is ask God “Why?”
The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 9:9
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Leaves of Change
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalm 1:3
I absolutely love fall. It is my favorite time of year. The colors, the smells of cinnamon, and pumpkin EVERYTHING, the crisp, cool air, and who can get through fall without football!
Recently, my youngest son has become fascinated with the trees in our front yard. A young boy driven by rituals, has now created a new one we must adhere to, which consists of walking to said trees each day to observe their new colors and to see how many more leaves have fallen. Yesterday as we were examining the mounting pile of leaves in our front yard, Hunter asked me, “Why do all the leaves change colors and fall to the ground?” Without giving the question a whole lot of thought, I simply answered, “Well, because in the spring, God will give these trees shiny new leaves!”
“For I am about to do something new. I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19
Our walks with God are not much different than a tree shedding its leaves in the fall. When we choose to live our lives for Him, and to reflect His presence in our lives, He gives us shiny new leaves. However, sometimes, just as evidenced in the change from fall to winter, our old leaves are shed only to be buried in a season of darkness and dreary, cold storms-much like the days of winter. This doesn’t mean that God has left us. Instead, it means that in time, and with Him, all our dark days, all our cold days of loneliness and despair will make way for new days. Like the promise of spring, our pain and our struggles will cease, and we will be shiny and new, just like the trees in our front yard, which will soon be covered in new, green leaves.
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
The changing seasons in our lives are scary, and sometimes they don’t make sense, but if we keep our eyes on Him while He is shedding our old leaves, and pruning our branches so that we may bear fruit (John 15), we will have a renewed spirit once God brings us through the winter days of our lives, and brings us the promise of spring time bliss.
“Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love.” Hosea 10:12
And, if we just like a small child, stop and examine all the leaves that have fallen, we can see and remember just how God has made all of those old leaves new, and how he has used those dark days for good, making beautiful things out of the dust.
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Time for Him
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17
Today, I am challenged.
My Sunday School class has been studying prayer for the last couple months. This means that each week I talk to these children about the importance of talking to God, thanking Him, asking Him for guidance, and anything else in His name. This week, as we discussed the many ways the Bible teaches and instructs us on how to pray, I tell my Sunday School students this: “Even Ms. January struggles to find time to pray and read the Bible, and many days, Ms. January doesn’t pray or read at all!” Then, the look. That look on a child’s face that says, “What?? You mean YOU don’t pray?”
Gasp! That’s right, I admit it. There are days I fail to find time alone with God, and I am sure I am not alone. Between the rush to get the kids to school, the rush to work, the evening scramble to get through homework, snacks, dinner, along with the desire to accomplish all the housework, school work and other obligations I have, I overlook the need to find time alone with God.
After sending them home, Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Matthew 15:23
And, then I think about Jesus. A man who was certainly A LOT more busy than I am. Yet, he found time to be alone with God.
So, today I am challenged.
I am challenged to live out the theme our youth group has been exploring recently, to “Be the Change You Want to See in the World.” A Ghandi quote, yes, but one that is certainly relevant to the Christian life. If I want people to know Christ, I have to change my spirit to reflect Christ. If I want a group of third, fourth, and fifth graders to learn how to pray, then I must take the time to learn to pray as well.
Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Colossians 4:2
So, today I am challenged…
… to slack on laundry, to spend a little less time reading school books, and spend a little less time talking to everyone else about what is going on in my life. Instead, I am challenged to spend a little less time slacking on my relationship with God, a little more time reading the Book, and a little more time talking to Him.
Today I am challenged. How about you?
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When All Else Fails-Laugh!
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
There is an old saying about laughter being one of the best forms of medicine. I spent much of my time last week learning just how powerful a tool laughter can be in one’s life. It puts a group of anxious students at ease, and it allows us to see the positives in the worst of situations.
Yet, we are often afraid to laugh at ourselves, to look at our situations and find simple humor in them. Instead, we often live our lives, and endure our situations and circumstances with such seriousness and angst, believing that if we allow ourselves to laugh, we may diminish the magnitude of our strife.
However, God wants us to laugh. He wants us to find humor in the daily toils of our days. He wants us to find joy in our circumstances, our shortcomings, our failures. Let me make a note, though. Laughter for joy’s sake is not the same as ridicule. This is where we often get confused. Humor and laughter that is pleasing to God is not Jimmy Fallon or Jay Leno type stuff…don’t get me wrong, they are funny guys, but they pick on and poke fun at other people, while the type of laughter God enjoys is the ability to laugh at ourselves, and not to take everything so serious.
Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was a woman who had learned to laugh at her circumstances. If we examine the reaction she had to God’s will for her life, she laughed at the idea of having a baby at her age: “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about me will laugh” (Genesis 21:6). Laughter was the way Sarah was able to deal with the struggles she had in her life, that she even named her Isaac, whose very name means “he laughs.” So, certainly, laughing at ourselves must be alright with God.
While Sarah demonstrates the importance of laughing and finding joy in those things that seem impossible in life, the story of Job teaches how to laugh in the midst of the toughest of stuff life has to offer.
“He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:21
Job, a man who lost his family, his health, and so much more was able to still find joy and laughter in his sorrow. So certainly, God believes it is alright to laugh.
So, this is what I do. I laugh. When I have had a tough afternoon at home, and feel like I am about to come undone with stress, I take a look at what is going on around me and laugh. When I have traveled with a screaming child who is upset because we took one stop too many, or we had to change plans at the last minute, I look at my husband and laugh. And on the days when my body is stricken with pain, and I can barely move, I don’t cringe at the weight of it, I joke about it and laugh, because joy and laughter is much better medicine than sorrow and self-pity!
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, she can laugh at the days to come” Proverbs 31:25
Laughter does not mean we are weak or uncaring, or that we don’t understand just how painful life can be. Instead, laughter is a tool given to us by God to clothe us in strength and dignity, to remind us that joy will come in the morning, and to defeat the enemy that wants us to drown in self-pity.
Let’s defeat the enemy. Let’s lighten up and laugh a little bit! It really will make you feel better….just ask this kid!
About Me
I am January! Wife, mother, meemaw, pastor, and mental health provider who makes it through the day with my coffee, my journal, and my God. A simple human, navigating life through the messy and sometimes chaotic. All focused on Him.
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Grace 'n Grounds 