Mermaids and Santa Claus

I know you know this but - I have 5 girls.  The ways they are different astound me every day.  #5 is so different from the older four.  Arriving 10 years after the rest of the group, she has many quirks that just simply set her apart.

She loves getting her nails painted when I go to the salon.  Now - in fairness to the other girls who were tomboys ... They might have enjoyed a manicure as well, but it just wasn't a luxury I allowed myself when they were all young.  I didn't even have a dishwasher most of the time so worrying about nail polish just seemed unrealistic.

Piper, over the years of accompanying me on the trips for nail polish has developed an appreciation for the activity; to the point of downloading several nail art apps on my phone and she spends her time waiting on me to get done by designing her own nail art and saving all of the many pictures to my phone.

My Nail Lady has been a friend for decades ... When my #4 was little she played softball with Tracy's little girl and our husbands coached together.  She kind of  loves Piper and all of her quirks and looks forward to all of our visits.

Somewhere along the way Tracy missed the part that we don't celebrate Santa in the traditional way everyone else does.  Sure we leave cookies and there are gifts that say From: Santa but from the beginning our kids always know that Santa is us.  There's many reasons but they only really are necessary to us.  It's just how we've always done it.  So getting our nails painted the other night Piper goes first and Tracy is telling me this story about someone putting coal in their teenager's stocking ... Then you can see it come all over her and she begins to fumble.  She stutters and says "Piper - Santa would NEVER put coal in someone's stocking. - He loves All Children and ...."

Piper is giving her that smile like  "uh - huh" and being as polite as she can until she sees a moment and looks at me across the room and whispers "Can I tell her??????"   Grinning I nod "yes - go ahead"  and Piper says  "Tracy - I don't believe in Santa Claus."    We had a great giggle and teased our friend a little at how she was trying to cover such a mishap up!

We continue on with great conversation and Netflix playing some mermaid movie happily in the background.  Until Tracy says something about 'that silly Mermaid show' .....  when Piper stiffens that little backbone and gets that serious yet sarcastic look on her face and as honest as she can be says to my friend ....

"Well I DO believe in Mermaids."    No smile - just simple fact and sheesh what's wrong with her today attitude.  

I love her so much and her ability to keep everyone around her on their toes!  Mermaids People - It's where it's at!

Salvation

                                                         SALVATION

Such a volatile, joyous, frightening, debatable topic for this world today.   I mean “Once Saved Always Saved” or “You can lose your salvation if you’re not living right” – “All people who profess salvation as a child will end up ‘getting Saved’ a billion times in their life.”   --  “You have to ask Jesus into your heart – here pray this prayer!” If you haven’t heard all of these and gotten a tiny bit confused at some point in your life, then your sphere of friends are all from the same denomination!  😂

I know what I believe about the finality of personal salvation, but honestly it’s also a personal conviction.  That means what I believe about it is mostly just important – for me!  God may have spoken to you a hair different than myself because He can.  He is a personal God.  The part of the message He will never differ on is that there can be No other Gods before him in your life.  You have to acknowledge that you were born with a sin nature and that you are utterly undone without Him.  You have to accept the gift of payment for your sins (and your inability to be whole without HIM) that Jesus provided on the cross.

This is what I present to my children when they begin asking questions about “asking Jesus into their heart.”  There was a time I wasn’t super comfortable with this process in young children because there is a huge majority of people who have to make this commitment again as an adult.  I mean – I know you can’t tell a kid they can’t “get saved” but are you setting them up for a false sense of security before they’re really old enough to figure out the importance of what they’re doing?   

Finally, after much prayer and God speaking to me through others, and quiet times, and His Word – this is where I’ve landed.  From the Very first time my children/grandchildren express wanting to make a commitment to the Lord, I’m going to celebrate it like there’s no tomorrow!  Because every moment in a child’s life is a building block, a foundation for how they will perceive the next level.  If they believe they have heard God’s voice and want to respond, that’s EXACTLY the kind of righteous stronghold I want to become permanent in their heart!  If they come to me and I try to put them off because they’re not old enough, what I’m establishing in them is a pattern of “hearing God’s voice …. Wait a while … don’t do anything … maybe you’ll hear something stronger later.”   People – that’s a guarantee.  They WILL hear something stronger later.  They’ll hear the world.   No – what I want to develop is “Hearing God’s voice = respond.”  Sure – maybe they’ll miss the application part a little bit, maybe they’ll misunderstand the action item God is setting forth before them and stumble.  Well not maybe – they Will!  And I know this because even coming to know the Lord fully as an adult I still miss the action item sometimes! 

Then comes the question – ‘What if it doesn’t STICK?  What if they don’t really get saved?’  I mean – I don’t know.  Do I believe God is big enough to keep pursuing those whose hearts are softened toward him and living in the pattern of hearing His voice = respond?  Of course I do.  I just have to let them reach for the Lord as many times as it takes and trust Him to do the rest instead of trusting my ability to manipulate it to Just the right Moment!? (good grief)

With all of that being said – we have had a joyous revelation in our household this week!  After the day earlier this fall where I had no keys to get to work and I stayed home with Piper all day and we played outside, talked about God, walked every inch of our property, played on the hay bales and discussed what it’s like to hear God’s voice….  She came to us this week and said she has been hearing God’s voice and it’s time to give Him her life.  She then proceeded to quote Isaiah 41:13 to me without any prompting or suggestion.  She said this is her life verse.  This is big stuff for a kid who struggles so much with anxiety and fears.  So her dad and I went into her bedroom and stood beside her bunk bed while she prayed that God would take control of her life and make her one of His! 

Baptism is another issue … since we are all the way under – dunked fully submerged kind of people, and she has some anxiety and fears about water still,  the baptism is going to come when she feels God is telling her to.  😊  That’s okay – it sets up another ‘hear God’s voice = respond” moment in her life and I’m cool with that!

Establish that stronghold in your life today – to Never stop reaching for God.  Especially when you even just THINK you’ve heard Him speak.  He honors that you know.  Reach for him and He will be found.

What a Merry Christmas season this year!

Blessings for today ya'll - we need 'em every day!

Heather 

How is he? "He's the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus"

Depression - Addiction - Suicide

I met this family when the boy was in 5th grade.  Same age as my daughter,  Who fell instantly in love with him. Don't tell me you can't fall in love in 5th grade ... my house rose and fell with whether they were on good terms as friends, sometimes as boyfriend/girlfriend, and whether or not he gave her his jersey on Fridays to wear (it was a big deal people ... the biggest - and it determined the mood in the Westover household for the rest of the weekend).  My pastor says "Don't say ... awe it's just puppy love!  It's REAL to the puppy!"  And this was true in our case.

His Mom and I became fast friends. We didn't see each other a lot and I know she had closer daily friends than me but we just had one of those friendships that you instantly have loyalty to.  Sure we disagreed over the years because we're both strong women.  In a unique turn of events, our husbands even really like each other and if you've been married a while you'll know that's rare for all 4 people to really enjoy each other's company.

When we met she was still grieving the loss of her daughter.  At 4 she lost her little girl to a very 'once in a million' situation that just cannot be foreseen so there's no way to prevent type situation.  She was the strongest woman I knew - I mean how do you do that?  But she did, and she did it with a fierceness to cling to God that intimidated and even drove away some people.  That's okay - you didn't walk her road so you may not need her level of warrior for Jesus spirit, but I loved her for it. At one point we were privileged enough to attend the same church together and we laughed and cried and prayed together so many times.

Her son was deeply changed and grieved over the loss of his little sister.  Depression snuck up behind him and became a constant companion.  Addiction followed and joined forces with depression.  His Mama never stopped fighting.  For years when we would see each other I would ask 'How's your son?' and every time she would reply  "He is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus...." and grin that exasperated grin all Mom's of challenging teenagers grin.  She stayed one step ahead of him - rode him hard to fight against depression - kick addiction - make better choices - and keep fighting.  She gave him tough love - a soft place to land - she begged God to hunt him down and overtake him, but he was only able to get victory in spurts.  He continued his love for my daughter and she for him.  He wanted them to be together but he would push her away because he wanted to protect her from what tormented him.  She did the same - she loved him but wouldn't give in to the chaos he couldn't defeat.  They kept in touch every couple months his whole life right up until the end.

I loved that boy.  I mean he would tell me the trouble he was in  and I heard it, but he would look me deeply in the eye, engage me, hug me, and really make you feel like he was NOT wrapped up in himself and depression/addiction and it was so hard for me to believe the one who always hugged me and loved me when we saw each other was the same guy he would tell me about - or even that his Mom and I prayed for.  It was surreal.

Last night I went to their house and held her as she cried and told me of the last conversation they had.  And how they got the phone call that he had taken his life.  I'm not going to give you details because you don't need to know.  It isn't about how it happened.  It's about how a mother never gave up and all of her words of prophecy are completed.  She believes with all her heart that he is a believer and in the arms of Jesus now.  All that keeps running through my head is   He is the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus more today than ever before.

How do you minister to a woman who has lost 2 babies?  How do you make her see that she is the strongest woman you know when she feels so weak? She told me she needs help today and wants me there to do it.  They have to go to his place and collect his things.  They have to go to the funeral home - they have to make all of the decisions that a mom should never have to make.  And she has to do it for the second time in her life. Holding her and crying with her isn't enough.  But it's what we are going to do today.  She has closer daily friends - but because of my daughter and this beautiful boy, she wants us to be there.  I'm honored. I'm grieved.  I held my daughter for a long time when we left there last night and thought about how important she is to me.  How important they all are to me.  And how my heart just hurts for my friend.

Depression - Addiction - Suicide  Sometimes the victory is won in eternity, not on earth. Sometimes it's the most painful thing for those left behind. But knowing he is finally at peace is comforting. Right now God and that comfort is all we have.  So it's what we take into battle for the next few days.

I keep looking for a good way to end this post but there just isn't one.  Thank you Lord for being the strength that we don't have today.