Branded

This is our new brand for our cows.  It came in the mail a few weeks ago.  This will put our mark on the cattle to identify them as Troyer Family Farm cows.  I immediately thought of scripture when I saw this thing come out of the box.  In Isaiah 49, it reads, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me..." 

There is so much more I could say about this chapter in Isaiah, but this is what I want to focus on:  the Jews had a track record of constant repentance and restoration.  They would always end up forgetting what God had done for them, and not believe that He could save them from their current situation.  I feel like sometimes my faith is like that.  In the moment that God is helping me, I'm all gung-ho about His faithfulness.  But the minute the next crisis comes along, I fret and fail to remember His constant presence in my life.  But think of that verse..."I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me..." 

Once we receive salvation, we are engraved on the palms of His hands.  We are ever before Him.  He constantly cares for us.  Not just when we are good, or following after Him perfectly...but ENGRAVED there.  I read a brief history of cattle brands, and it said, "The purpose of cattle branding is to be a visible and permanent mark of ownership. It is used to prevent theft and to identify the owner of a lost animal. It can also provide anyone with the animal's history."  Wow.  How applicable is that to our own lives?  So not only are we engraved on Him that moment of salvation, but we then bear His image.  Our lives should reflect His ownership over us.  When people see us, they should see HIM.  When people encounter me, they should encounter Jesus. 

So for me the lesson is two-fold.  My God will not/cannot forget me.  I am engraved on Him.  He is always with me, never leaves my side.  He cares about each issue I'm dealing with: past, present, future.  And, I'm an image-bearer of my Jesus...my comfort, my love, my savior, my friend, my God. 

I know there is so much more I could say and expound upon.  But just think on that.  How loved we are.  And how are we showing that love? 

 

A Peace

We make decisions all day long.  Some are quick, split-second decisions that don't mean a whole lot.  But very important ones, for me, require prayer and waiting for the peace of God.  One such decision is whether to send my children to school or not.  Now let me begin by saying, if you would have asked me 10 years ago if I would ever think of homeschooling my children, I would have said, "Are you crazy!?" Even 5 years ago, I would have not thought it would ever really be a question whether my kids would go to a school or not.  But today, with my 3 year old getting ready to be 4.  And starting pre-school with him at home, I have started to pray whether the Lord wants me to teach my children at home. 

I had many of the same thoughts that you are having right now about it.  People will think we are weird.  People will think we are out of touch with reality.  Our children won't be socialized.  And the list goes on...  But at this point in my life, I am learning I could really care less what people think.  I am responsible for my children, not the world, thankfully.

So first of all, lets just accept that we are weird.  And I'm okay with that. 

We are not out of touch with reality.  If anything, I am so in touch with the real world, that I see the growing need for children to be instructed by their parents.  And I don't mean 1+1=2.  Too often parents believe that the school system is supposed to teach their children all things.  But morality and life issues are taught in the home.  We are responsible to teach right from wrong, and that there are consequences to wrong actions.  And we are the ones responsible to teach our children responsibility, and that by doing our best at something we receive a reward.  One thing that we are doing with Brody is a chore chart.  When he fills it all up, he gets to get a toy at Walmart.  While that may seem small now, it is teaching him that working hard is worth something in the end.  Every day he also does the chores with daddy.  And he knows that daddy goes to work every day so that we can have money for food and clothes and all of our necesssities.  He's 3 and he understands this.  We are going to be buying some chickens in the spring for him to take care of and he will get money when we sell them to buy himself a bicycle.  He is already talking about it and is so excited. 

And the main resistance I get about homeschooling is that my children won't be socialized.  Obviously you don't know Brody.  The child never stops talking.  But more than his personality, I look at my husband.  He is more than kind to strangers.  He is has complete respect for his elders.  He is a hard worker.  He can teach others.  He has strong core values.  All taught through home-schooling.  Those were things that his parents taught him.  He also has a master's degree.  So I promise you that home-schooled kids aren't stupid!  lol!  I hear that a lot too.  Blows my mind.

So the decision is still up in the air.  I haven't completely made my decision.  I know what I'm leaning towards.  But I believe that the Lord will clearly show me what I am to do.  He will give me that peace that passes all understanding.  The peace that calms my fears of not being smart enough to teach them...or dedicated enough...or disciplined enough.  He will still my heart and speak to me. 

Decisions to be made...get on your knees....seek God's wisdom and guidance...He will give you the peace.

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Numbers 6:25-26
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

#95

Bo and I see many crazy things as a result of living on a farm.  You just never know what animals are going to do.  We have a particular goat that is a few fries short of a happy meal.  We have come to lovingly call her #95 (because that's the name in her eartag) and we don't have the time or energy to name all 40 goats.  Anyway, she continually gets her head stuck in this fence.  Morning and evening, this goat without fail puts her head through one of those squares and gets stuck.  We’re not sure why she hasn’t figured out after about 100 times of getting stuck, to just stop.  I tell Bo all the time that she’s just not right in the head. 

One of my close friends recently made a startling discovery to me.  That goat is sort of like us.  How many times do we continue to go back to the same things that entangle us in sin and get stuck again?  We do it over and over.  We make excuses, tell ourselves this is the last time, promise to never do it again, and we still find ourselves stuck in the fence. 

Well, my husband did something so wonderful for this goat.  Of course I was tired of hearing her cry every day because she’s stuck and sometimes I would try to free her.  We have friends like that.  They try to grab hold of us and help us out.  They even give us a swift kick in the head to try to push us back through to the other side…which I may or may not have done to this particular goat a time or two.  But my husband fixed the problem.  He put up a boundary.  He took a piece of metal barn siding and put it against the fence so she would stop. 

So anyway, I thought this was a good lesson for myself especially.  What is that one thing in my life that I keep running to and getting stuck in?  What boundary should I be making to prevent it from happening?  

There is an answer.  One thing that helps me overcome a life issue that I am dealing with is memorization of scripture that has to do with that issue.  One I have had to deal with in the recent past was anger.  Within a matter of seconds, I could go from normal Sarah to screaming banshee.  I know that may come as a surprise to you.  Right???  I seem like such a calm person, right…lol!  But God has worked and worked on me through this.  One of those verses I memorized was:

 Colossians 3:8 “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:  anger, rage, malice, slander, ad filthy language from your lips.”  And…

Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” 

So when I start to feel myself going to the place of no return, I have to start repeating these in my head, and the Holy Spirit calms me.  God’s Word does that a lot. 

Otherwise, you are going to keep looking like this…and that’s just not fun.  Put up the boundary before you get stuck in the fence again.  I don’t want to have to kick you in the head.  J

LOVE

Well, my two little boys are officially 8 months old and 3 and a half.  I look at them and wonder how did we get here so fast.  Where did the time go?  Just yesterday Brody was running around in footsie pj's with the vocab of mama, dada, and nono.  Now he is telling me Bible stories and singing full songs.  And my little Gage was just in preemie clothes and sleeping all day.  Now he's 8 months old, almost outgrown his 9 month clothes and is larger than Brody was at this time.  I have a feeling my preemie is going to be bigger than his big brother.  When I look at these two precious faces, my heart overflows with one emotion: LOVE.
Being a parent to these two boys has taught me more about love than anything else.  I now understand what my parents felt during little accomplishments in my life.  You just have so much love and feeling towards these extensions of your heart that it's hard to contain.  And as angry or as crazy as they make you at times, it's the unconditional love that always comes back. 
"Love covers a multitude of sins."  I used to struggle seeing parents enable their children, and it's still frustrating to a degree.  Kids that use their parents for money, to get ahead in life, to get more drugs.  I thought, "don't they see what's going on?  how can they keep doing this?"  But I cannot judge their illogic.  Because love truly does constantly keep us forgiving one another, accepting one another, and forgetting the hurts that have been caused.  We choose to love.  Sometimes we do the hard things in love too.  But all in all, we must choose to love.  That's what Christ did for us.  When I think of all the things I have done wrong in this life, I can feel overwhelmed and broken down.  But when I switch my focus over to the fact that Jesus laid down his life for me despite all that junk.  That's love.  I'm so thankful he chose to forgive me for it all.  And now I walk in love.  I pray I can be an outpouring of his love toward others. 
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 
I Corinthians 13