A Fresh Look!

This past week I decided that Fresh Starts needed a fresh look, so I contacted Jackie from Memories by Design. Jackie has been a joy to work with and really captured the feel I was looking for - cool, peaceful, fresh, and new. If you have any blog make over needs, I encourage you to contact Memories by Design!

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Many of you read Fresh Starts via email. Would you please make a stop by the site to take a peek at the new design?

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Until Monday!

Jen

The Link Between Training and Honor

I am happy to share another devotional written by my grandmother. Granny Witt is a wise woman who has a deep and abiding love for the Lord. She is an incredible witness for Christ and example to women of all ages. I pray that you are stirred by her words for you this Monday morning.

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Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
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Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12
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I believe God’s wisdom in Proverbs and His fifth commandment in Exodus are directly connected in guiding us and teaching our children by our behavior, actions, and example. God is asking us to show honor, love, and respect for others from birth to old age. Recently a situation has developed in a close relative’s family that has caused me to look at these Scriptures from a different perspective and also to recognize the consequences of not following God’s guidance. In this instance, a negative pattern was given throughout the life of the child, and the elderly parent is now reaping what was sown; feelings have been hurt, relationships strained. This sad situation could have been avoided if God's loving guidance was followed.

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As your children see you forgiving and praying for them and others, patiently telling them one more time the right thing to do, don’t give up or despair at what seems to be repetitive. The future payoff will be tremendous, when they step into your shoes and become parents themselves. Then you as a grandparent will reap the benefits of the honor, love, and respect of your children and their children. This is repetition all can gladly live with. It goes on and on from one generation to the next, praise the Lord!

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Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I am always amazed at how Your Word is as fresh and new and applicable for us today as when it was first written. I thank You, Father, that You have allowed me to be a link in the chain that will bind my children to You forever. Amen.
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Challenge:

I challenge you to look at your relationships with the following important people through your children’s eyes: your spouse, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, pastor, church family, and anyone in authority over you. Rate yourself as they would on a one to ten positive or negative scale. Ask God to show you ways to improve those areas that fall short of honor, love, and respect.
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Granny Witt 2009

Autumn's Harvest

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

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Like many other people, autumn is my favorite season. What's not to love? The sights, the sounds, the smells. Looking forward to coming inside for a little hibernation. Just reading the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods gets me in the mood.
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This week, I am loving the fallen leaves--the satisfying crunch while walking anywhere, the softened colors of the drying leaves, the musty smell everywhere outside.
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I love watching the earth preparing itself for rest. The softened colors everywhere--the grays, browns, and beiges that happen in November *after* the gorgeous display of color in October. The look of bare trees against the sky, mixed in with the evergreens. It's all good, as Martha says.
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I have six children “out of the nest,” and only two teenagers left--and their time is flying by too quickly. The "autumn" of my life is arriving. At 54, though I'm not too concerned about my age, I have to admit that 35 is long past. Most of my child raising years are behind me.
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I have a blog friend who had this to say about that transition: “To everything there is a season. I'm so thankful that autumn is the very season to follow after summer, in God's creation as well as in my life. What a blessed mystery, that something equally/possibly even more special and beautiful, can and will, softly and quietly move into the place of something else long held especially dear, special and beautiful. God is so very good. So kind. So good.”
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That's a wonderful thought. Why shouldn't the "autumn" of my life, just like the autumn of the year, be my very favorite? Sure, my skin is a little dried up just like the leaves (hopefully, I'm not smellin' too musty just yet...) and my hair color is a tad faded-looking. But this is the time of my harvest--looking at the children we raised becoming wonderful adults, the promise of the seedlings we planted coming to fruition. Fulfilling the purposes God planned for them, and, getting me some grandchildren into the bargain!
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Another thing that's apparent at this time of my life is the Wisdom my mother told me I'd get. It's magic! You just keep getting up in the morning, then, one day, all of a sudden you know a few things. A lot of the angst of youth disappears, and you stop sweatin' (at least *some*) of the Small Stuff. I can see as each year passes, Life getting more and more clear. Now, I still worry 'way too much. I thought I'd have it more "together" by this time. I guess I thought I would have conquered all that stuff I don't like about myself. But at least I know that God doesn't hold it against me. He loves me "just the way I am." Really. He DOES.
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So now, for this season, I am going to try to look at my life, as well as what's going on outside, with fresh eyes.
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Prayer:

Dear Father, You have made me for this season, for this time. Help me to see that every season is important in Your eyes. Help me to see with those eyes, what you are doing in my life right now, and treasure each moment.

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Challenge:

If you are one to fret about the passing of summer, or your age, or the swiftness with which your children are growing up, look outside this week with new eyes—those which see the New thing happening. Think about the harvest which *you* are producing for the Lord.
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Barb Kellogg 2009

Chewing the Cud

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When a cow chews her cud, she is actually chewing regurgitated food. Of course, if God created a cow to chew cud there must be a purpose, regardless of the gross out factor. After a bit of research I learned exactly why cows chew their cud, and it turns out there is good reason. A cow chews cud up to eight hours a day, producing saliva that contains antacids that line her first stomach, creating a better digestive process and in turn a happier cow that produces more milk. Who would’a thunk it?
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This week I had the opportunity to chew some spiritual cud. I admit that I was less than pleased. Back in April the Lord brought me to a place of surrender regarding a relationship. Since that time I have been plugging along happily, enjoying the freedom of having forgiven another. Lately there have been some unpleasant feelings popping up in my heart again in regards to that forgiven offence. I pushed the feelings down, reminding myself that I was past all of that.

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On Thursday I did not push them down. In fact, I sort of lit a match and let 'er rip. Someone had told me of a way the Lord had used this person and I was angry beyond measure that the He would presume to use them in a good way. The nerve. Well, I had a better plan, a better idea, a better way of getting this person in line and something ‘good’ was not part of it. In the midst of my furry and questions of WHY I kept having to deal with this issue in my heart, my mom said that the Lord obviously had a purpose. Gee, that really helped my frustration. It did get me on my knees, however, and had me storming the gates of heaven to find out why this thing kept rearing its head. James 1:5-8
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The Lord is so gracious to allow me to be grieved by various trials of recurring anger and bitterness in this situation. I say that He is gracious because He is not willing to let me be blinded to left over sin and bitterness in my heart. The Lord will guide me through times of pain and seeking forgiveness and restoration only to have me revisit the area again. Sometimes what is rooted in my heart is simply too much for me to bear in one weeding and He needs to take me back later to deal with it further (1 Cor. 10:13). That is what has been happening with this heart issue I thought I had dealt with. There was simply more in there that needed to be taken care of at a later time.
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My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4
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I will find joy in this chewing of the cud. Rehashing what I thought was already eaten and dealt with will actually produce a woman who is content and a better producer of the things of God. There is a purpose, regardless of whether I like the way it feels or not. The most important thing it that my faith is proven genuine and pleasing to the Lord, that I reflect Him in every area of my life. Even in my cud.
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In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. 1 Peter 1:6-8
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Prayer:
Father God, You know me so well. You know just the right way to bring to my notice sin issues that I think are not there. Thank You for Your perfect timing in my life. May I be a woman who has a genuine faith that grows daily, bring glory to You. Amen
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Challenge:
Do you have a recurring issue that keeps popping up in your life? Maybe you look at it as a simple inconvenience, or maybe you use it as a platform to justify a wrong you feel has been done against you. Take the time to examine your heart and the issue at hand. Ask the Lord to show you what He wants to do in your life. He is faithful to reveal it to you. James 1:5-8

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Jen 2009

He Prays for Me

There are times in my homeschool mommy life that I seriously wonder if I will make it to the end. Honestly, there are also times when I wonder if my children will make it to the end. There are many days when seemingly unanswerable questions from my children overwhelm me (I mean, really, how am I supposed to know if that man in the picture in the geography book knows Jesus?), attitudes arise that I feel ill equipped to handle, frustrations with my husband creep to the surface, laundry threatens to consume me, the school year seems two years long, and the eternally misplaced math book almost sends me over the edge. It is during those times that I revisit Jesus's prayer for me in John 17.

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In the hours before His arrest, Jesus gathered His disciples together in a quiet place and told them of His coming death and resurrection. He sensed their confusion and answered their unspoken questions; they responded with faith, finally believing that He truly was God. (John 16:29, 30) He told them that He shared the coming events to assure them that even when things looked bleak, to remember that “in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Afterwards, He began to pray for these men who had faithfully walked with Him, even when they were not completely convinced that He was who He said He was.

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I encourage you to read Jesus' entire prayer in John 17:1-19. What beautiful words the Lord spoke over His men. He prayed protection, unity, sanctification, thanksgiving, and blessing. As beautiful as that portion of Scripture is, the verses that follow are even better. In fact, they are among my absolute favorite verses in God’s Word.
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"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." John 17:20-26
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It is a great comfort to me that before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for me. As a matter of fact, if you are a Christ follower, then He was praying for you as well! Jesus prayed that we would be in unity with other believers - including my children and husband - as a testimony to the fact that He was sent by the Father. He prayed that we would know that God the Father loves us just as much as He loves His own Son. His desire was that we would be with Him in heaven to experience His glory.
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This is not the only mention of Jesus praying for His family. We are assured in Hebrews 7:25 that as an unchangeable priest He lives to make intercession for us. Romans 8:33-35 tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us. The Roman’s passage goes on to ask, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (I always add, "Shall bickering siblings or ringing phones in the middle of a history lesson or burnt macaroni and cheese?") Regardless of what words I insert, the answer is always the same: Nothing!

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No matter what it is that threatens to overwhelm me, I can rest on the fact that Jesus Himself is interceding for me, and has been since that day with His disciples. He sees the beginning from the end and knows what is being worked out in me as I live through troubled times. I am so thankful for His heart for this mom.
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Prayer:
Jesus, thank You for constantly interceding for me. Thank You for remembering your future brothers and sisters in prayer even as You prayed for Your disciples. Knowing that the Lord of the universe is praying God’s perfect will for me word for word brings incredible peace. Amen.
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Challenge:
Read over Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and for future believers every day this week. As you soak in the beautiful, passionate words that express His heart for His people pray your gratitude back to Him. Each time you are faced with what seems an insurmountable problem, sin, or feeling remember that at that very moment, Jesus Himself is praying for you!

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Jen 2009