the Jesus rut

We didn't go to Disney or hike the Grand Canyon, but a 24 hour family trip to the Memphis Zoo, and a 24 hour mom and dad trip to Oxford (Mississippi :) and lots of downtime and family time made this Spring Break a good one!  We watched a few Columbo's (our newly discovered version of family-friendly murder mystery for the teens), spent lots of time with friends, had court, a funeral, youth group and Bible study and friends for dinner and a game night.  Spring break has also delayed the smack of the time change, which will be hitting hard tomorrow morning at 6!

Extra time with them, and twenty-four hours without them, just reminded me how deeply we love these 7 kiddos.  I sure hope and pray I'm a good mama, 'cause I sure am doing my best.  They stretch me in every way possible, stomp all over my insecurities (and frequently announce them), push all my limits of trusting the Lord, and cover every surface of my life and sanity with their fingerprints, but the Lord absolutely continues to refine and sanctify my life through these children, toddler to teens, and I'm THANKFUL. 

A day away with Matt was so lovely...it has been a long time since I simply got in a car, or simply got out of a car, or simply decided what I'd like to eat, or when I'd like to go to bed, or when I'd like to get up, or what Matt and I would like to talk about...uninterrupted!  I am not letting 8 more years go by without an overnight away!!! I wish I had prioritized this for our marriage and even for myself and my mothering before now.  Please sign-up now for 24 hours manning the Ayars crew in six months :)

A few random things I've been thinking about...

I can't tell you how many people have warned me not to burn these kids out on Jesus...but NO ONE has ever told me to be careful not to burn them out on sports or dance or social activities or on school.  No one hesitates to take kiddos to hours and hours of practices a week, to drive hours for competitions and meets, to spend untold amounts of money on costumes and uniforms and gear and goals, but since becoming a pastor's wife, several people have told me to be careful about church!  What in the world, culture!?  I don't usually speak this plainly, but you are wrong and I do not want to hear it.  

We can burn our babies out on religion, on practices for the sake of them, on playing church, on preaching one thing and living at home something else, absolutely. We can burn out our kids on white-washing, on "Christian" competition, on good works without His love, on church-attendance that's about church-attendance.

I will never tell (and I have caught myself in the middle and done an Uncle Dave visible self-silencing!) one of these kiddos to behave a certain way because we don't want a person to think such-and-such, or because we want to appear a certain way before man, or because missionary kids/presidents kids/pastors kids should/shouldn't...dot.dot.dot.  I WILL talk to them, endlessly, their eyes rolling, about speaking and behaving the way of JESUS. About looking like HIS Children.  Because God's Word is the TRUTH and LIFE and WAY for our lives and their lives. Because we have an audience of One who is Holy and FOREVER.

But I will not let them decide if they want to go to church or not. I will not allow them to miss family devotions. I will not let them pick a baseball game over church or a hang out over youth group. We will take their friends with us, we will have to miss that practice, and we will make sure church isn't a check box and that youth group isn't hype or social club. I won't pass up an opportunity to point them to Jesus instead of the world. And I will not be silent about His Word or about Jesus because they don't want to hear it, or because it's cringe, or because they've heard it before, or because I don't want to make them tired of Jesus. 

Man alive, if I can't make it through a trip to Wal-Mart without Him, how are my children supposed to make it through life? They will be in the habit of turning to Him, of praying about it, of giving it to Him...or what habits am I bothering to repeat a million times to teach them?? If I can't speak a good, wise word on my own, if I can't do a worthy action on my own strength, if I can't build ONE lasting brick on a foundation other than Him, what am I teaching or giving them that matters outside of Jesus, and gathering together with other believers, and interrupting life constantly to remember Him?  

If He tells His people to write His word on our foreheads, to train up our children, to meditate on Him day and night, then I figure He can handle the dangers of them burning out on Jesus. 

More of Jesus has always made me hungrier, not sick. 

Don't burn your kids out on religion. But don't you worry about burning people out on Jesus. If He never, ever stops pursuing His children, nor shall I. And if I die at 45 like my mama did, my kids won't even have to think about where to turn or how to make my faith their own. The ruts will be worn, Jesus help me and bless them! Don't warn me about making Jesus our rut. 

We have tried it all, friends, haven't we? IS there anything else??

And if I'm wrong, I'd rather go wrong here than wrong on grades. Or healthy diets. Or sports. or. well. anything else. 

I had more thoughts about that than I thought I did :). 

I'll save my other thoughts for another day....but let me push myself and you again to be in His Word daily. It is SO EASY for our world and culture to feel like the norm, like the goal, like the truth...and it is only His Word that recalibrates our truth to HIM, our culture to HIS. His kingdom is NOT like this one, our God is like no other, Jesus wasn't living or talking or looking or walking like anyone else, the Word is living and breathing and God-inspired like nothing else....if we are NOT looking different today too, friends, something. is. wrong.