I Gave Birth to an Alien

In the first few days of being a new mom, I was so enraptured with my child that I barely slept wanting to stare at her all the time.  Well, that and the fact that she literally ate every two hours, and I'm her...for the sake of propriety, let's just call me her vending machine.  After several nights in the hospital I had never once slept more than an hour at a time between waking up to feed her and being awakened by the well-intentioned, albeit it slumber-inhibiting medical staff who were doing a great job of making sure both she and I were in good health. Needless to say, on our first night home I was looking forward to some uninterrupted sleep of at least an hour and forty-five minutes or so.  My sweet husband took our newborn just after one of her late night feedings and instructed me to sleep until the next time she needed to eat, and I did. I slept like the dead (people with babies stop saying "sleep like a baby" because we know they don't really sleep).  I slept so hard that when he came to wake me, I had no idea when or where I was.  I didn't remember what had happened or what was supposed to happen.  I was laying in the bed, incredibly groggy, staring at my husband wondering what he was holding in his arms.  Oddly enough, the first thought in my extremely exhausted brain was alien.  You may be asking,  "how funny looking is that kid?"  In fact, she is quite beautiful and has at no point looked like an alien.  I was just that out of it.  However, this week I was reminded that my child is indeed an alien. Not in looks, because seriously she really is a pretty baby, but she is an alien citizen to me and her father.  Well, technically we are alien citizens to her. 

This past Wednesday night at my church we looked at the verse 2 Corinthians 5:20,

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 

As it always happens when I revisit a familiar verse, God used my present day circumstances to uncover another layer hidden in His word.  I have been aware for years that I'm no longer a citizen of this world as Jesus explained it in John 15:19,

If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

My new revelation was not my role as ambassador to those in the world who are still lost, lacking the peace and blessing that comes from being in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  What is new is that I have been stationed in a new post, as ambassador to my daughter.  She is a citizen of this world, subject to sin and not yet in a relationship with God.  Sure, right now, she is a precious little baby and the picture of innocence, but she is also completely self-involved wanting her needs and demands to be met the moment she experiences them.  The cry for food is just a precursor to the selfishness that will manifest in all kinds of ways as she grows.  The toys she won't want to share with anyone, the really bad two-year old lies she'll tell when trying to cover up her disobedience, the tantrum she'll throw when she does not get her way.  Her first language will be the language of a sinner, "mine"-ese.  

I have been given the greatest assignment of my life as an ambassador and that is to represent the kingdom of Heaven to my child.  My husband and I are to be her bridge to Christ, and while we are counting on family, friends, and the church to help us lay out the path, the ultimate responsibility for sharing Christ with her is on us.  As parents, we must embrace our roles as ambassadors to our children. We must be committed 24/7 to living in this foreign world with them, but representing the kingdom we truly belong to in our words and actions.  I have worked with enough teenagers in student ministry to know that kids see very clearly what their parents do, especially that which is in opposition to what they say. All of us parents must be careful that we truly live in a way that reflects Christ each and every day, so our children see that we don't just say we have faith, but we practice our faith in every aspect of our lives.  Those of you who are not yet parents are still ambassadors.  Your post may be your job, your dorm, or your neighborhood, but you still have the vital responsibility of representing Christ to those around you who don't yet know Him in all that you do.  Not only are you a working ambassador right now, but you are also training for tougher assignments in the future.  Be the best alien you can be!  Show grace to those around you; respond differently to tough situations; love others, even those who are harder to love.  As we do these things, those who are alien to us will observe and learn and be drawn to Christ just as we once were.  

Hindsight Leading the Blind

Okay, confession time.  I find hindsight irritating.  It's like an annoying, know-it-all friend that says I told you so after you finally figure out what you should have done.  I mean, really, how much does it help me to see the big picture AFTER I've trudged through mayhem and misery?  What good does it do me to know what it all means AFTER the hectic and hurtful is over?  Hindsight is 20/20 alright, but sometimes it seems to do me about as much good as a hole in the head...or does it? 

When I think about the fact that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and the source of all wisdom, I realize that He could choose to give me all the benefits of hindsight in the beginning of a trying time.  He could have done that for all of us.   He could have let Joseph see that he would one day be Pharaoh's right-hand man saving a nation, while Joseph was on his way to Egypt as a new slave.  He could have let Moses see he would rescue the Israelites from Egypt on that first night on the run after committing murder.  He could have let Daniel see himself emerge unharmed from the lion's den back when he first was taken into exile.  He could have let Esther see she would save the Jewish people when she first got taken to the palace for the ultimate episode of the Bachelor (yeah, that show is so not new).  He could have let me see myself married to an amazing man of God BEFORE the seven year span of going on NO dates began.  That would definitely have saved me some tears, angry journaling, and pity sessions and it would have saved those biblical figures some times of worry, uncertainty and despair. It would also have robbed us all of some faith.

You see, as much as I'm annoyed by hindsight, I recognize that it is the epilogue of each faith journey in our lives.  It wraps up the experience we've just gone through and acts as a bridge into our next venture that will require even greater faith.  Not being able to see what is coming forces us to rely on God, puts us on our knees in prayer,  and removes any notion that we are winning due to our own power or prowess.  

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.     Hebrews 11:1-3

These verses in Hebrews say it clearly.  When we can't see what we hope for, we have to trust God for it, and we grow more confident in Him. We represent God well to others, and we recognize that all things come from Him and through Him.  Foresight might seem better to us in the here and now, but  going forward in blind faith is better for us in the long run.  I have learned in life that each challenge you get through with God is preparation for a tougher challenge to come.  The more opportunities I have had to follow God blindly in faith, the stronger that faith has grown, and I needed it to be stronger for the next trial.  Hearing that the next trial may be harder can make you fearful of what is coming if you've just been through something really hard, but I would challenge you to flip the script on your perspective and be reassured.  The way I see it, difficult stuff is coming no matter what, so I'm glad to know that God is constantly making me stronger and more ready to face it.  Hindsight is not that know-it-all friend taunting us with a snotty "I told you so."  Hindsight is our loving Father holding us closely and saying, "I told you it would be so."  Knowing this, we can all slip on our darkest shades and step blindly and confidently into the unknown, with our loving God holding our hand! 

 

New Season. Still Me.

So if you read my blog, you know that I'm a new mom.  No, I'm not going to turn this into a mommy blog. There are plenty of those out there, and I'm still in the learn as you go/"choose your own adventure" stage of mommy hood.  However, from time to time the life lessons God is teaching me through being a mom will spill over into my blog,  just as the life lessons He teaches me through marriage, friendship, and work have been and will continue to be shared.  As a new mom, I'm definitely in a new season of life, doing new things, making new mistakes, experiencing new fears, smelling new smells.  My priorities have shifted, my focus has changed, and my daily schedule has been radically altered.  Some of the new things are comical, some sweet, some exhausting, some scary, and some just down right surprising.  Some of the surprises started during pregnancy and caused me to not recognize myself at times. For example,while I was pregnant I didn't like sweets or chocolate very much, but once again I can devour a whole bag of double chocolate Milano cookies in a day (I'm not recommending this, I'm just saying I can).  I've spent my entire life being cold, but during pregnancy I had the A/C cranked to such a low temp, my husband was wearing sweats to bed in June!  It was pretty funny a few weeks ago when I looked at him and said, "Why is it so cold in our bedroom?" Well, it was funny to me.  It  was easy to think that in the midst of this new season of life, I'd become a completely new person especially since so many of my usual likes and habits changed with pregnancy, but as I return to my "normal", the truth is I'm the same me, with a new layer.

The Bible tells us when we accept Christ, we become a new creation.  We are made new by the blood of Christ, washed clean of our sins, viewed as righteous by God.  This invaluable change that comes with salvation is truly a gift.  I was so excited by the idea of being a new creation when I was a new Christian because there was so much of the old me that I didn't want to be.  However, I quickly realized that while it is true that God views me as righteous, I still had the ability to fall back on old habits and old choices.  Paul talks about this in Galatians:

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.  

                                                                                                        Galatians 5:16-17

A personal relationship with Christ gives us the Holy Spirit who empowers us to make good, right choices.  The key word here is choice.  We choose how we live as believers. We choose from moment to moment what to do, how to respond, what to look at, where to go, and who to befriend.  God has given us the ability to do right, but that doesn't mean we can just coast through life and not make any effort.  Don't fool yourself into believing that you don't have to resist your old habits and temptations.  The enemy is going to use those against you first!  However, you have been made new in that you have the ability to resist those temptations through the power of the Holy Spirit, and as a new creation you will develop new skills, new wisdom, and new strength as you walk through life as a Christ-follower.

As we grow in Christ over the years, we will not just develop our new selves, we also enter new seasons from time to time.  Maybe for you that season is moving into adulthood as you leave your parents home and go out on your own to college or the workforce.  Maybe your new season is moving from the single life into marriage.  You may be a new mom, like me, or you may have sent your baby to kindergarten this year. You may be healing from divorce as you start over on your own, or perhaps you're an empty nester for the first time.  Whatever the new season of your life, it is important to remember that you are still the person God has shaped you to be.  All of the strength, wisdom and knowledge of God you acquired before goes with you in the new season.  Yes, you will face some of the old temptations, but you also have the legacy of victories that God has walked you through in your past to strengthen you as you resist. Be careful not to over or under estimate the new season you are entering.  If you are intimidated by your new season, know that God is just as present and capable as He has always been in your life.  If you are excited about your new season, be sure to not let your guard down; put on your armor and be ready for attacks that will come in this new time.   New seasons will bring new challenges, new joys, new obstacles, and new victories. What you bring with you into that new season is what matters.  Pray, spend time with God, read the Bible, and surround yourself with other believers so that you can be ready for the ups and downs of your new season.  A new season is just an opportunity to add to your story and God's glory.