The Greatness of God

I have come to a realization that has brought me great peace.

Most of the time, I have these "ah-ha!" moments and then I go to type it up in a blog post and I realize, it's probably not a new realization to other people.  Most people are smarter than me.

But, for my own sake...for my wandering heart that makes me forget simple truths...I'm writing this post.  I'll probably need the reminder next week.

I often get overwhelmed/stressed/discouraged at what I am not doing.  The things I know I should be doing but I can never seem to make the time for.  The things that I can't do when I have small children to care for. The things that I am able to do, but always have an excuse for.  The things I'm too tired to do. The things I wish I was good at but I'm not.  The things that I love to do, but never seem to fit in my list of priorities for the day. 

Women carry a great deal of burdens most of the time.  I don't know why we do it to ourselves, why we think we can or should be able to do it all.  How ridiculous.  We don't expect other women to be able to do it all.  Why do we do that?

And so it is.  I do that to myself.  I hope you don't, but I believe many women do. 

But sometimes God is not asking us to do one more thing.  Sometimes God is not even asking us to do something big.

When I start feeling like my "mundane" daily tasks are inadequate, I need to remember that God often asks us to do small things right where we are.  Sometimes those small things lead to great miracles... but look at the actions themselves:  they are not impossible; they are, very often, not even extraordinary.

God is the one doing all the great things, we just have to be a willing vessel.

Take a look:

David just picked up a stone.  It was the mighty hand of God that brought Goliath down.

The Israelites just walked.  The Lord is the one that crumbled Jericho's walls.

Moses just placed his staff in the water.  It was Jehovah-Jireh that made a dry path through the raging sea.

Peter just stepped out of the boat.  It was God that sustained him on the water.

Noah was asked to construct an ark.  Now, this is not a small job, but he wasn't doing anything remarkable by piecing together one board at a time.

Daniel is known for his bravery; but when you look at his actions?  He didn't do anything different that what he had been doing.  He just stayed faithful to the Lord in prayer.

Countless people brought their friends to the Messiah for healing.  They just showed up.  It was the Great Physician that did the work.

Paul and Silas just worshiped...it was the God of the universe that shook the earth and broke their chains.

We can (and should!) have great goals.  I do!  The Lord may call us to big things.  But even when he is calling us to small tasks, we can trust that He will bless the work that He has given us for today.

A Classic.

This is a story I don't want to forget.

So, the whole school deal has been new to Roman this year.  Lots to learn; lots he has not been familiar with.

We had school picture day before school started and we were just thrilled about how his school picture turned out.  I mean look at this face:

(I'm not sure why this image looks blurry on the computer screen.  It is crystal clear on my phone).


Anyway, super handsome boy.  Great shot.  Just so happy.

Then, Roman came home from school a few weeks into the year and told me that he had gotten his picture taken again at school.

"A class picture?", I asked.

"No, just of me.  They said we could go get our pictures taken again today."

"Oh, okay", I said.  "I didn't really need you to do that, but it's okay that you did.  Your first picture just looked so nice, remember?  The retakes are really for people who thought they might want a better or different picture.  Do you know what I mean?  But you didn't know that.  It's fine that you got one taken we just probably won't order again because we ordered the first one".

And then a few weeks late we got the retakes back:

I mean...

Who gave him the kool-aid and fun dip prior to the photo shoot?

And now this is the picture that is on everything.  The class picture that his friends will keep for all eternity.  The yearbook.

It's a gem.  And it makes me laugh every time.

February Update

Since I just published an update from August, I felt the need to create a current update.

In January, Joe and I went to Canada for our annual Modern Woodmen trip.  I just cannot tell you how beautiful Whistler is.  I mean:  this is where we stayed.  I have been to Colorado and seen the beautiful Rocky Mountains.  But my trips to Colorado were in the spring/summer/fall.  I had never been up in the mountains during the winter.  It's simply stunning.  We went tubing and had amazing dinners, got a massage, and my favorite:  we went dog sledding.  So fun.

When we came home, poor Si guy was sick.  That two weeks ago and we have sick people the entire 14 days.  It's a good thing we were all rested up and refreshed because oh, the cabin fever.  The icing on the cake was when the children gave their pink eye to Joe.  And THEN he had an allergic reaction to the drops the doctor gave us.  Poor guy.

I feel kind of like I'm in a TV sitcom and I can hear people laughing at my life...except for the part where I am not acting.

ANYWAY, other than being sick and cooped up and losing it, here's what we have been up to:

Roman:

• loves school  (there were some pretty funny things that happened as he was making the transition, but he is doing very well)  
• is head over heels for Nora.  When I pick him up from school, I will often say "I missed you today!"  One day he said, "I missed you too.  But I missed Nora the most because of her cuteness."  Or sometimes he will remind me "Nora is my favorite person ever."  Having an "older" child and a baby is such a gift.  
• is getting to be such a little gentleman.  He offered to dry my dishes yesterday - without being asked.  all the love.

Judah:

• has been going to OT for several months now and is ROCKING it.  I am so so proud of him.  He is interacting a lot more and talking a lot more.  We are figuring out more and better ways to meet his sensory needs and he just seems more comfortable in his own skin.  
• His favorite sensory activity is water play (sometimes a bath, sometimes in the sink - always with his "guys" - Legos or action figures).  He has such a good imagination and is always coming up with elaborate scenes and rescues.  
• Also loves Nora - in fact he told me that he wants to marry her because "She's my good girl".
• is doing a great job learning to read!
• Is starting to enjoy going to church.  I am so thankful for this!  We got to all-school Mass sometimes on Wednesday mornings and wave at Roman.  Most of the time he complains if we go but a couple of weeks ago (of course when I wasn't planning on going - and was still wearing pajamas -and Joe was gone - and had only 15 minutes to get everyone ready) he requested to go.  I said "Oh, Judah!  I'm so glad you want to go see Jesus!  I just wish you would have told me sooner because I don't know if we have enough time to get ready."  Two minutes later he came out wearing a tie.  I couldn't resist after that.  So adorable.
• It was not long ago that we were at Mass and Judah loudly proclaimed "When I grow up, I'm not going to church.  I'm only getting donuts."

Silas:

• is so inquisitive.  He is asking a lot of questions about how babies actually get into a mama's tummy and how they actually get out.  For example:  "Does God rip open your tummy to put a baby in there?  Does the doctor rip open your tummy to get the baby out?"  So, we are having lots of clarifying conversations these days while not trying to overshare because he is four.  Roman has barely asked these questions.  But Silas is our thinker.  And he is a smarty pants.
• He is going to be sooo ready to read and soooo easy to homeschool.  I am excited because he is more naturally excited about learning than the older two!
• He is still super sweet and super cuddly.  He always walks on his tip toes and always asks one million questions in the cutest voice ever.  For example, "Mom can I have some milk?  Can I have a blue cup?  Are you giving me the blue cup because it's my favorite?  Do you like blue?  Did you like to drink milk when you were a kid?  Do you still like to drink milk?"
• He is also king of sound effects.  I'll leave it at that.
• He has a pretty laid back temperament so he is pretty easy to discipline most of the time (which is a huge blessing!)  But he does cry about EVERYTHING these days.  And it's very dramatic.
• there may have been an incident in which a friend's fish did not survive.  I'm not quite ready to write about it.  But ask me about it later.  I hope I'll be able to laugh in a couple (more) months.

Nora:

• talking up a storm.  My favorites:  "happy", "oh no", "hey baby", "coat on", "bad guy"
• animal noises are coming right along.  The way she "meows" is the sweetest thing you've ever heard.  Which is nice because for a while there it was a very loud and terrifying cat sound.
• is into everything.  All the fun stuff:  dog food, toilet, mama's make-up.
• loves her brothers.  
• loves her Charlie.
• Daddy is still her favorite person.
• Tony might be a close second.  Sometimes when she's playing by herself she will just start saying "come on, Tony".
• she's a good little dancer
• she marches occasionally for no reason

That's all I can think of for now...I know these posts can get long and are probably not as interesting to other people, I just love to look back at the old ones and read things I had forgotten about!

Life As the Pomettos Know It

**I found this post in my drafts that never got published.  When I read it I had to publish because so.funny.

I think it's high time for an update.

We are having a busy, crazy, awesome, summer.  We have been traveling a ton, seeing lots of friends, enjoying the beauty that is Wisconsin in the summer.

We started the summer with Judah breaking a bone in his wrist (he fell off the monkey bars over Memorial Day weekend).  He, as usual, was a tough guy about it so we didn't even take him in for a couple of days.  Just take a moment to bask in my magnificent mothering. (There was no swelling!  No bruising!  He was using it normally!)  But finally after he hit his wrist on something and was in serious pain again I decided to have it X-rayed...you know, just to rule out a break.  He got a sweet Spiderman cast - that he could wear in the water (thank you, Jesus!) - and we carried on with summer fun.

We took a fantastic vacation to the Outer Banks with Joe's family.  Super fun.  We have been to Iowa twice to visit family and to celebrate the baptism of our adorable god daughter, Kate Caroline.

We spent a weekend at Notre Dame celebrating Angie - she now has a Masters of Arts in Theology.  Kind of a big deal.

And now here we are.  It's almost August.  We have been having so much fun but I just want summer to stay and slow for a while.

Big news in the Pometto fam is that Roman will be attending school this fall.  Our parish has a school and he's just ready.  I will miss having him at home all day but I am excited for him. And I am excited to have a little more one-on-one time with Judah as he starts Kindergarten at home with me.  Of course Silas and Nora will be there too  :)

Other than that, here's what each kiddo has been up to:

Roman:

• still super into music.  We have been to a couple of concerts this summer - basically heaven for him.

Judah:

• when he got his cast on he was just kind of grumpy for a couple of days.  I get it.  It was on his right hand.  Had to be pretty annoying.  He's already kind of overstimulated by too much touching and this was touching him all the time.  He was getting into the van one day and he was just being kind of growly and had this scowl on his face.  I said "Judah, why don't you use your words to tell me why you're frustrated."  Through clinched teeth he says "I want to buckle my seat belt by myself."
• Judah has started using his words more often when he's frustrated which is great progress!  We are proud of him!  But, I'm going to be honest, it doesn't always feel like progress.  When he is frustrated he really takes it out on the family via his words.  For example:

Me:  "Judah, it's time for lunch"

Judah:  "Why are you so mean to me all the time?"

Me:  "Judah, it's time to come inside"

Judah:  "You are so very mean"

Me:  "Judah, please put your shoes on so we can go"

Judah:  "Stop talking to me"

So....yeah.  But words are better than not words!  They are better than aggression and pent up frustration.  Hopefully we can start refining the words ASAP.  :)

• He is so aggressive and yet fiercely loyal.  This kid fights with Silas/wrestles him to the ground all day long.  Then he tells me that some other kids were being mean to Silas at an event we were at.  There happened to be childcare provided, so I wasn't in the room at the time.  I asked Judah if he had told one of the "teachers" that someone was being mean to Silas.  His response:  "No, I don't need to tell a teacher.  I need to smash them."
• This same child will be so sweet and give the best compliments when he's happy.  When we get ice cream or go swimming he almost always announces "This is a great day!"  My personal favorite though, is when he tells me "You're my best mother".  
• One of Judah's favorite games to "go to work".  He will put on a button down shirt and a tie if he can find one, grab a bag that looks like a laptop case, and go to his "office", which is usually located in the playhouse outside or downstairs.  He really enjoys getting a hug goodbye and then coming in the door to a warm "Judah!  I'm so glad to see you!  How was your day?"  Adorable.  One day I was asking him more about what he did at his office and he was having trouble telling me exactly what he does there.  I said "What does dad do at his office?"  Judah said "he watches movies and colors".  

Silas:

• is still our pokey little puppy.  He is a dawdler which can be pretty frustrating but it's always a good reminder that we don't really need to hurry most of the time.  He notices all the little things we miss.
• He and I were looking at a picture of Saint George, the Dragon Slayer, the other day.  I was trying to get him to make some observations so I asked "What do you notice about this picture?"  He said "I notice the pretty dragon".
• We were all sitting at the dinner table one night when Silas stood up and looked like he was in pain.  "What?", I asked "What's wrong, baby?"  He replied "My feet are sparkly!"  So funny because I knew exactly what he meant.  That's probably the best description I've heard of that horrible feeling when your foot falls asleep!
• See!  He's so sweet, isn't he?!  He's always walking on his toes and laughing and he's the most excitable child.  But there is a dark side.
• I don't even know how to tell you this story.  We were playing at a friend's house one night and the next morning as I was helping Silas get dressed he said "I'm wearing Peter's underwear."

Uh....

This is how the rest of the conversation went

Me:  Why?  Why are you wearing Peter's underwear??

S:  I don't know.

Me:  NO, tell me why you're wearing Peter's underwear.
S:  Well, I pooped in mine.
Me:  .... (deep breathing)
S:  So Peter game me some of his

Me:  Silas, where are YOUR underwear?
S:  I don't know.

For.the.love.  This will be on the next episode of Unsolved Mysteries because the underwear in quesiton were never found.  Ever.  Jess and I have discussed all the options (did he flush them?  throw them?  Will we find them when they move out of that house?)  We laughed and lamented over this many times.  That's a real friend.

Rain

A couple of months ago my sweet, rowdy, yet contemplative six year old was sitting by the window watching the rain.

He, of course, wanted to play outside.  He always wants to play outside.  Rain, snow, sweltering heat, no matter.  And I usually have no objections, but this was a thunder storm so I had to refuse.

Joe always jokes that, if anything ever happened to us, Judah would keep the other kids alive with his foraging skills.  He is rough around the edges sometimes, but he is fiercely loyal.  He's outdoorsy and creative and he's a make-it-happen kind of guy, like his daddy.

He sat there frowning, obviously not enjoying my "no" and staring outside.

"Mom, what are we going to do to stop the rain?"

Oh, my sweet Judah.

This is a hard lesson to learn.  It's one that many adults still haven't quite mastered.

"Well, baby, we can't stop the rain", I said.  "That's not how it works.  It's hard when we don't have control over things, isn't it?  But we don't decide when it rains or when it stops raining.  Only God can do that".

He didn't really seem satisfied with that nugget of wisdom.  ;)

But, again, most adults aren't really happy about not being able to control things, either.

I am one of them.

But what I wanted to tell him, what most adults probably really need to hear, what I hope he will understand one day, is that most of the time,

The rain is not about you.

Most of the time, God is doing something bigger, for a greater purpose that we can't see.  The rain is for someone or something, no doubt.  God doesn't act without purpose.

And, sure, sometimes, it's for you or about you.

But most of the storms...most of the struggle, most of the inconvenience, most of the things that offend us, most of the things that makes us grumpy have very little to do with us.

I wonder how we would respond differently if we could remove ourselves from the equation.  What if we walked away from the window and did something productive?  What if we thanked God for the rain and enjoyed the beauty in it, even if it's not what we had in mind?

He speaks.

As a follow up to my post about fear, I am posting this.

A commitment to write more in 2016.  

Sometimes fear prevents me from writing or from clicking "publish" because I want it to be perfect every time.

And so, it might not always be on this blog, but I am going to write more this year.  I have had this nudging in my spirit for quite some time.

I have been a lover of words for all of my life.  I am moved by so many authors and stories and quotes and I have sensed that God is urging me to use the written word (maybe spoken word?) to serve Him.

It's one of those yeses that I don't really understand.  There are so many others who are more qualified and who have amazingly beautiful words.  

But here we are.

I have asked Him how I will do this and I don't have a clear itinerary.  I have asked Him "why?"

...and His simple answer was "Because I have something to say".

Use my words, Lord.  Be near.

Fear

Fear can always find me.

Ever since my dad died, twenty-two years ago, fear has lived in my closet.

Fear doesn't surprise me most of the time.  Most of the time it's like my shadow...walking along beside me.  Relentless.

It's there for all my daily tasks, nagging at me.

In the parenting - telling me that I'm failing.

In my marriage - trying to convince me I'm not enough.

In my friendships - reminding me that vulnerability is dangerous.

In my car - showing me dark, detailed scenarios.

In my attempts to minister to people - laughing at my weak faith.

Even in prayer - whispering lies and doubts.

And then sometimes it sneaks up on me.  I walk around the corner and it jumps out in front of me with a new threat that I'm not prepared for.

I'm guessing fear might have taken up residence in some of your homes, also?

I confess it often and I got the best encouragement from the Lord through the last priest I spoke with.

He told me to look to Our Lady when the fear begins lurking.

God gave her a seemingly impossible task:  Be the Mother of the Messiah.

It was a task that would bring her great joy and also grave sorrow.

Was fear sitting beside her as Gabriel spoke?  As she knocked on Elizabeth's door?  As she and Joseph made plans to travel to Bethlehem?

Was fear tapping on her shoulder as she rode on the back of the donkey?  Waiting for her in the corners of the stable?

Surely it was pulling at her veil when she ran into the temple, wondering if He was lost.

It had to be sitting with her at the foot of the cross.

I have no doubt that fear was always grasping for her attention, reaching for her hand, trying to get her to look into it's ugly eyes.

But she didn't look to fear, she looked to Him.

And she said yes.

Fear was probably beside her, but instead of listening to that liar she listened to the One who is able to do all things, to the One who would give her all she needed, and said "be it done to me".  Whatever it is.

Whatever crazy thing you ask, Lord:  Yes.

Whatever you want me to do.  Wherever you want me to go.  Whomever you want me to love.  Whatever you ask me to sacrifice.

No matter what trial lies ahead, You will be there and You will be enough.

The answer is just Yes.  Be it done.

We don't have time for fear.  Our life is but a breath (Ps 144:4) and You are the oxygen.  Give us eyes to see that You are everything.

Gospel Reading for Sunday, July 12 Mark 6:7-13

GospelMK 6:7-13

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two
and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 
He instructed them to take nothing for the journey
but a walking stick—
no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 
They were, however, to wear sandals
but not a second tunic. 
He said to them,
“Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. 
Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you,
leave there and shake the dust off your feet
in testimony against them.” 
So they went off and preached repentance. 
The Twelve drove out many demons,
and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

************************************************************************************

Last week we read about (but I didn't write about...) how Jesus was rejected in his hometown.  (Mark 6:1-6) 
 Home.  
The place that should always be welcoming and refreshing-- a haven, if you will.  It stings a little to read about people basically calling Jesus an "ordinary" man; dismissing him.

So, now Jesus is calling his closest friends to him and is giving them instructions on how they are to go out and teach.  I mean, they have seen him do miraculous things, so they KNOW he is the real deal...but they also know that he is not honored by everyone.  They know that they will not be welcomed in every place.  If, to some, Jesus is just "the son of the carpenter" then they will absolutely be called "crazy".  It's probably more than a little daunting to have this task set before them.

So, Jesus tells them to buddy up and also, side-note, don't take anything along with you.  Like, as in, nothing.  I'm not going to lie to you, I might have thrown in the towel here.  
"Ok, Jesus, you're asking me to go out and preach repentance. Great.  I'm all for it.  You're asking me to put myself in situations where I am going to be mocked and ridiculed.  Not as awesome, but ok, I can get on board.   And now...now, I can't bring along a second tunic?  I really do want to preach the Gospel, but I just want to look good while I'm doing it."

I think there is always somewhere that we want to draw the line with Jesus.  

We will help this person who needs a friend...until they make me uncomfortable or ask too much of me.  And then I'm done. 

We will give money to those in need...but only a "reasonable" amount.  

We will forgive that person we don't like...but not a fourth or fifth time.  

We will talk about grace being poured out for us...but not really believe it's being poured out for those people.

We will surrender our hearts to Jesus...except for that dark corner in the back where we keep our gossip, lust, gluttony, bitterness, or whatever guilty pleasure we like to hide back there.  

I'm preaching to myself here but I am guessing I'm not alone.  We all have that thing that we are holding onto.  That thing that, when we are holding onto it and Jesus comes near, we start to slowly back away from Him.

Maybe we are fine giving things up for Jesus.  Just not all the things.

But that's what Jesus is asking the apostles to do.  That's what he's asking us to do.  Can you see Him gently taking their hands, asking them to hand over their things?

No food, no sack, no money.  Just trust.  In the One who is able to sustain you in all things.

He is asking us to depend on Him for the grace, for the contentment, for the complete surrender.

Gospel Reading for Sunday, June 28 Mark 5:21-43

I am not a Bible scholar.  I have no degree in Theology, nor do I claim to have some sort of profound wisdom when it comes to matters of faith.

I am just a person who loves Jesus.  I am a wife and mom and most of the time I have more questions than answers.

I lead a women's Bible study but there are plenty of Tuesday nights where I learn more from the women in attendance than they do from me.

With my Tuesday night gals, I have been studying the upcoming Sunday Gospel readings.  (Which is nice because when we go to church, I am almost always taking at least one little boy to the bathroom during the readings and/or sermon).

As another way to study and process each week's Gospel, I am going to attempt to write about my thoughts here.  I say attempt because you know how I am with the follow-through.  Ahem.

So, read along if you like.  And as I said, expect no major revelations here.  :)

From USCCB.org:

GospelMK 5:21-43

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat
to the other side,
a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea.
One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward.
Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying,
“My daughter is at the point of death.
Please, come lay your hands on her
that she may get well and live.”
He went off with him,
and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.
She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors
and had spent all that she had.
Yet she was not helped but only grew worse.
She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd
and touched his cloak.
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
Immediately her flow of blood dried up.
She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”
But his disciples said to Jesus,
“You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
And he looked around to see who had done it.
The woman, realizing what had happened to her,
approached in fear and trembling.
She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you.
Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking,
people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said,
“Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” 
Disregarding the message that was reported,
Jesus said to the synagogue official,
“Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside
except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official,
he caught sight of a commotion,
people weeping and wailing loudly.
So he went in and said to them,
“Why this commotion and weeping?
The child is not dead but asleep.”
And they ridiculed him.
Then he put them all out.
He took along the child’s father and mother
and those who were with him
and entered the room where the child was.
He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”
The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around.
At that they were utterly astounded.
He gave strict orders that no one should know this
and said that she should be given something to eat.

*****************************************************************

Um, wow.  As if I need to say anything after that.  Here we read of two miracles:  Jesus heals Jairus' daughter and he heals a woman afflicted with hemorrhaging.

I asked the ladies at Bible study to think about three questions as we read through:
1.  From this passage, what can we learn about the heart of God?
2.  From this passage, what can we learn about our relationship with God?
3.  What is a practical application for your life this week?

I'll tell you what I felt God teaching me in regards to each of these questions, but by all means, ask Him what He wants to teach you.  These are great questions to think about no matter what scripture passage you're meditating on.

1.
God has a compassionate heart.  And not just in a way where he says "I'm sorry that your daughter is dying.  That's not what I desire for you".  But in a way that says "I will come.  I will walk with you.  I don't want you to go alone.  Let me come and touch her.  Let me gather your family and speak life to your daughter.  Let me prove my faithfulness by making her alive again."

I also learned, though, that Jesus doesn't mind interruption.  Remember he is on his way to heal Jairus' daughter.  When a woman in the crowd touches him, an unclean woman at that, he not only grants her healing but he stops.  God himself stops.  He sees her.  He encourages her and he grants her peace.  He is not too busy for someone who is lowly and struggling and desperate.



As they continue, we see that Jesus has a bigger plan than what we can see and understand in our humanness.  Yes, it's beautiful that Jesus is taking his time and helping people along the way, meanwhile Jairus' daughter has died.  Died.  Jesus could have prevented her death-- either by hurrying the heck up or by curing her from afar.  But he didn't.  I don't know about you, but if I were Jairus, I might be more than a little ticked here.  He comes to Jesus trusting that he will make his daughter well and then she dies.  I am guessing that some of the people that were at Jairus' house missed the miracle.  Have you ever missed it?  I know I have.  And I know there are times when I probably missed a miracle and I didn't even realize it.  These people come to announce the girl's death, they mourn for her.  And I bet some of them walked away before the miracle because Jesus didn't do what they wanted him to do.  Can you relate?  You pray for something miraculous and it doesn't end up the way you wanted it to.  I have prayed these prayers, friends.  I have felt this let down when we get to the eleventh hour and Jesus still hasn't shown up.  Can we trust him?  Even in death?  Can we trust him in the disappointment?  Can we trust that the miracle might be happening in a different way?  In a different time?  This story helps me to say "yes".  Even when I don't feel like it.

I learned that Jesus is less about big spectacles and more about making disciples.  And the way to do that is in smaller groups, in meaningful relationships.  Don't get me wrong, there were obviously times when He worked in the big ways!  But, here are all these people at Jairus' house, doubting, and Jesus?  Jesus puts them all out.  What matters to him in this moment, is taking a few people (the girl's parents, and Peter, James, and John) in to witness this miracle.  In to be changed by what they saw.  Disciples are not usually made in big crowds (of course there are exceptions!)  But, often, disciples are made in quiet, difficult moments, one-on-one with the Lord.




2.
I learned that coming to Jesus takes humility.  In order for us to have an authentic relationship I need to be able to come to him, even when I am unclean.  As one of the ladies at my study pointed out, I sometimes need to be able to push my way through the crowd to get to Jesus. It's not always an easy task.  Sometimes there is so much standing in our way we wonder if it's worth it.  Sometimes the "crowd" between us and Jesus seems daunting, even impossible.  But if we can just get to him.  We know He can make everything right.  I need to come sinful and sorrowful like the woman.  I need to walk with him and wait on his timing like Jairus.

I am called to trust Jesus.  When I am embarrassed.  When the way to him is crowded and overwhelming.  When I don't understand what he is doing.  When his ways are not like my ways.  When he doesn't answer my prayer the way I hoped he would.  He is still good.  Jesus, I trust in you.

I need to remember that some interruptions are God-ordained.  Most of the time I am busy and running around trying to be "efficient" with my time, and, let's be honest, probably annoyed about something or other.  I need to slow and still.  I need to listen to that small voice telling me to reach out.  I need to seize that teachable moment with my kids instead of rolling my eyes.  When we are in true relationship with God, we are listeners.  We are doers.  Regardless of what is happening around us.

I was reminded that I can trust Jesus to care for my children.  It might not look the way I want it to.  But Jesus desires life for my children.  He does not want me to fear.  He wants me to have faith.  Faith in his timing and in his power.  Faith that He loves them more than I ever could.  Faith that He knows the way to give them life.


3.  Practical application?  Well, obviously I have a long list here.  I could have chosen all of these things.  I wanted to narrow it down to one so I am praying about/working on embracing interruptions this week.

Jesus, help me to speak and act intentionally in each moment.

Lord, help me fake it till I make it.

The thing is, it has been an overwhelming couple of months.

And I know that I probably have an overwhelming 18 years or so in front of me.  Because there is just always something.  Always a new phase, always a child to worry about, a behavior to correct, a heart to shape, a book to read, a scrape that needs a band-aid, a bill that needs to be paid, a decision that needs to be made, dinner to cook, a soccer practice we need to get to...and there is always, always laundry.

This is what the mamas do.  They do all of this hard and holy work all day everyday.  It's miraculous, really.  But it can get pretty overwhelming.

And when I get overwhelmed, I want to hide in my room and come out when life gets easier.  But that is not a thing.

SO, I'm making my list.  So, that instead of hiding, I can go into my room and take a deep breath, and pray that I become this kind of woman in the midst of the overwhelming.  Basically, I'm praying the Lord will help me fake it till I make it.

I will not give up.

I will stay in the pool.

I will depend on God.

I will remember that "my" children belong to the Lord.

I will fight for them not against them.

I will find joy and fulfillment in God alone.

I will enjoy my children.

I will bless my husband.

I will keep my eyes on eternity.

I will speak life.

I will stop to pray.

I will put my phone down.

I will be present.

I will extend grace.

I will not react; I will act purposefully.

I will not hurry.

I will be quick to listen and slow to speak.

I will not have idle hands.

I will remember that holy is hard.  And just because it's hard doesn't mean I'm failing.

I will choose joy.

I will let them be little.

I will allow the Holy Spirit to guide me.

I will love, love, love.


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How do you preach to yourself when you're overwhelmed?