Wednesday, May 23, 2012

If she can do it... The need for quiet time.


John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, had a pretty awesome mom! She was the mother of 19 children. You read that correctly... 19! Unfortunately only 10 of those children survived to adulthood. This poor woman went through pregnancy and labor 17 times (Yes, I can count. She had 2 sets of twins.) and had to mourn the loss of 9 babies. (She earned the right to be a little crazy... in my humble opinion!) She home schooled 6 hours a day, cooked, cleaned, and, of course, took care of 10 kids!

Susannah also knew just how important it was to spend time with and know each child personally, so she spent one hour a week alone with each child. That doesn't sound like much until you figure that this is 10 hours a week, set aside just to stay connected with her children. This amazing mom also held services on Sunday evenings for her family, and eventually her community. Some of these meetings had upwards of 200 people.


If that wasn't enough, Mrs. Wesley was, for all intents and purposes, a single mom. Her hubby was a traveling pastor, spent time in jail (back in those days you could go to jail for not paying your bills. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that a traveling pastor wouldn't make too much. Oh, so add to the list of things above, managed a LARGE household with little to no money. I digress.), and they separated once because of a disagreement on politics.  (A story which I find a little humorous!)

Despite all of the chaos in Susannah's life, she fully understood the importance of spending time with God. Normally she would try to get to a room, without the children, to pray and listen for God. As you can imagine, this wasn't always possible.  That didn't stop Susannah! 

On the really crazy days, Susannah had a really interesting way of finding some alone time with God.  She would plop her tush down at the table and throw her apron up over her head, effectively blocking out the chaos! 

So, if you ever see me with an apron over my head... leave me alone!  I am talking with God! 



Sunday, May 20, 2012

Oh How He Loves Us...

I was walking through the dessert line today at the fellowship meal, following our outdoor church service, when a thought struck me.... 

How He loves us!  

To explain... I have been reading Nancy Ortberg's Looking for God: An Unexpected Journey Through Tattoos, Tofu, and Pronouns in preparation for the Moms' Bible study, which is starting up this week.

In the first chapter, Ortberg briefly talks about God and our food.  She says...
"Whenever I ate a good meal, preferably one that I did not have to cook, I was struck by the gratuitous nature of the God who made the colors, flavors, and textures of avocado, red pepper, and tilapia.  He only needed to make the food nutritious and caloric.  Everything we eat could simply taste like bread and milk, and functionally that would be good enough.  There is really no need for the variety and taste sensations that we experience when we eat, but God created them anyway."
 She goes on to say,
"Steve Evans, a noted Christian philosopher, says that perhaps the best proof for the existence of God is banana cream pie."
To Steve and everyone out there, I say...  the best proof of God's existence is Millie Groff's angel food cake!     

Lord, thank you for giving us food, not just for sustenance, but for our pleasure.  Thank you for all of the wonderful flavors and textures that you have added to our food, just for our enjoyment.  I pray that as we savor our delicious foods we are reminded of our Creator God, and his great love for us.


"Taste and see that the Lord is good!"
Psalms 34:8

May you never look at your food the same way again!