Hope and Beauty in A Boys World: Pilgrimage

"How lovely is your dwelling place,

Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on

pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion."

Ps 84:1-7

I don't know about you but sometimes when I reading the Bible, the Word jumps off

the pages and begins to SPEAK. Remember, this Book is ALIVE. It breathes, it speaks, it changes us, it cuts through to our innermost being.

Psalm 84 has been speaking to me lately.

I can't wait to see God's dwelling place. Can you imagine? I work so hard to have a lovely "dwelling place", yet, the most beautiful place on earth can't compare to God's home. I cannot wait to see it!

Pinterest... Shminterest.

Home Makeovers? Luxurious Resorts? Million Dollar Homes?
No thanks.

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord!

Do I (we) live like this? Yearning to be with God in His dwelling place?

Or are we too busy with the things of this world to think about our real home?

I want to yearn for heaven... my real home where I will be with my living God.

My heart and flesh cry out for the living God!

Is this how we (I) approach my quiet time in the morning?

Crying out for the LIVING God?

Living in desperate dependence on Him throughout my day?

Crying out for HIM and His help?

"Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God."

I love these verses. Maybe because I am like the sparrow and the swallow preparing my home/nest in order to have my baby!! But, what struck me in this is that it isn't the perfect nest or nursery I should be desiring but it is WHERE I am building my home/nest that matters...

NEAR THE ALTAR of my King and my God.

Oh, how this is the cry of my heart.

I am a homemaker. (God has changed me from the inside out to love being HOME and taking care of a home.)

I love having a cozy home.

I love to decorate.

I love the smell of clean folded clothes.

I love candles.

I love yummy smelling shampoo and freshly showered kids.

I love eating dinner together at the table.

I LOVE a beautifully made bed.

I love lamps.

But, as I make my home a place to raise my "young", I have to wonder...

"AM I RAISING THEM IN A PLACE NEAR YOUR ALTAR, GOD?".

****

I have been thinking a lot lately about how scary it is to entrust our children to the Lord.

But if you think about it, everyday we give them food and water and take care of their physical needs. We watch them grow and get stronger because we are meeting the needs of their physical bodies.

It is the same thing with their "spiritual bodies"! Everyday we need to give their spiritual bodies LIVING WATER and DAILY BREAD so that they will grow strong and healthy. Sometimes it is so easy to focus on the things of this world rather than what is eternal.

I always tell my boys, "I have to TURN YOU BACK IN TO GOD!!".

I want Him to tell me "well done, momma... you took GOOD care of them".

It is definitely getting harder to juggle everything. I used to spend hours everyday with my older two teaching them the Word. We memorized books and books of the Bible. Now, I am focusing on Lake and teaching Him the Word so I don't have as much time to spend with the older ones because "Bible time with Momma" happens while the 2 little ones are napping.

Yet, I press on BY FAITH. Believing God's grace to fill in the huge cracks I am leaving. And, GIRLS, God does. We are going to make huge mistakes and have major blind spots but God is their ultimate parent. He can give them what we can't. We are confined by time and resources. God isn't. He will pour His Spirit OUT on our children if we ask Him to!

"And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,
and my blessing on your children."
Is 44:3

He is seeking a generation to seek His face and to serve Him!

I want to lead my children to Jesus. I want to raise them near His ALTAR.

I want to teach them all I know about Jesus.

And then trust the Holy Spirit to teach them to walk in close fellowship with God.

HE will enlarge their hearts and give them a heart for His Word, the lost, and ministry. I can't give that to them.

I am called to show them what it looks like though.

Sometimes we forget that in Deut 6, we have to love God with all of OUR HEARTS before we can teach our children. Read this passage like you have never read it before. Don't skim over it.

Read it. NOTICE the directives given to the PARENTS/MOMMAS....

"These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you (MOMMAS)

to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life....

be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey... Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

We all want to teach our children to love God but it has to start with US loving God FIRST. We can't skip step 1- loving God with all of our heart, soul, and strength... and knowing the commandments He has given us (His Word).

Teaching our children is step 2...

It is an overflow. It is a fruit.

Have your (my) children ever walked in on your praying or reading your Bible?

Not books. The Word. The pure Word.

If there is anything you ever take away from my writings, it is to READ YOUR BIBLE.

Skip the devotionals. Skip the on-line sermons. Skip the books.

Those things aren't bad but you WILL NOT GROW if that is your "diet".

That is a diet of "candy corn". You are eating but you aren't growing.

You need nourishment in order to grow.

Your kids do too.

Get them and NIRV Large Print Bible with their names on it. Get them in the WORD.

They will LOVE it. They can understand it.

Start in Psalms or John.

Our family is all reading the same chapter every morning.

It is so wonderful to all be "on the same page".

Memorize together. Read together.

You may not hunger for the Word. If that is the case, open your Bible anyway. Once you taste the pure milk... you will crave more. God's Word wakes up the dead places in our hearts. It REVIVES us.

Remember Step 1 of Deut 6.

Step 1

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts."

Step 2

"Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

****

Back to Psalm 84...

"Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on

pilgrimage."

Pilgrimage.

That is the Word that has been speaking and speaking and speaking to me.

What does it mean to have a heart set on pilgrimage?

As I taught on 1 Thess 4 not long ago, I really understood our walks on earth to be like magnets. Our hearts are being PULLED to Jesus. Yet, I believe we can resist this pulling of the Holy Spirit. We have to stay yielded to His PULL. We have to choose the way of faithfulness.

"I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws."

Ps 119:30

Hope asked me yesterday, "What happens when we say no to God?". I said, "well...2 things really:

1. It makes Him sad.

2. It makes US sad.

We have to choose and "set" our hearts on God's laws and His pilgrimage.

"Pilgrimage" is how my life with Christ could be described. When He asked me to step out of the boat and follow Him, I had no idea where I was going. I still don't. Life has had major twists and turns. We have made decisions that don't make sense "on paper" yet our hearts are set on pilgrimage... on following Jesus into the unknown. This pilgrimage isn't easy. There have been SO MANY times I have wanted to turn back. He leads us through dark wildernesses. He teaches us to walk by faith...not by sight. To trust His voice above all others.

Yet...we are on a pilgrimage to the Promised Land! To Him!

I want to set my heart on pilgrimage.

To choose to follow. It truly is an adventure. A love story. Greatest love story ever told.
Have you begun your pilgrimage? Have you been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ? He loves you yet your sins have separated you from Him. You have to BELIEVE that Jesus is the only way.

Commit your life to Him tonight. Set your heart on pilgrimage. Enter into the greatest love story ever told. The Holy Spirit will move into your heart and PULL you to Jesus your entire life. You simply yield to His voice. He leads us to wide spaces. Places of blessing.

I beg you to respond to such a great love tonight. Not tomorrow. NOW.

Get on your face and confess your sins believing that Jesus is the only One Who can take them away.

"anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"
2 Cor 5:17
*******
Back to Psalm 84:

"As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion."

The Valley of Baka was a dry place yet when they walked through it, it became of place of springs and pools. I want to remember this as the autumn rains come this season. That even as we walk through "dry" places in our lives, God's Word and a yielded heart can make it a place of springs and pools.

"They go from strength to strength"...

As a weary mom, this verse lifts my tired head. He will give us strength to keep walking on this pilgrimage when we get tired.

until we finally MAKE it to meet God in Zion!!

We will make it.

Keep walking tired momma.

Ask Him for a heart like the one we see in this passage.

I know I am.

********

I am still waiting to go into labor. Nothing new to report. I really want to go into labor on my own. I don't feel hurried. This *may* be my last pregnancy so I don't really want it to end. I am also not looking forward to labor. So, will I cave to the convenience of induction like before? Maybe. It is really nice to have everything planned. I don't even know what we will do if I go into labor in the night. My babysitters are ORDERED to sleep with their phones on. It takes my mom at least 3 hours to get here. :( That part is nerve-wracking.

But, I am going on with life usual.

We had a fun weekend with football games. It was homecoming and Reece and Evan got to escort Hope during half-time. I was so thankful I got to see it.

Yesterday, we went to the fair all day. We walked and walked. It was dreamy.

Crew LOVES ducks and he got to see real-live ducks going down a slide. He almost jumped out of his skin.

I ate fried fair food.

I rode on a tractor ride that was way bumpier than I expected.

Hope loved the petting zoo.

I loved just being with my family on a beautiful day.

I am so grateful. So humbled.

That not only did God save me. He let me be a wife and a mother.

Stay tuned for any baby news.

Be Blessed~

Steph