To my children:

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Margaret

I’ve been thinking about which Scriptures to pray over you during 2011, and God has shown me the passages “with your names on them.” So this post is for you, although anyone who desires can read along.

Nelson: Acts 1:8 – “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” May God’s Spirit do awesome things through you during this year of leadership in Youth With A Mission.

Lars: Ephesians 3:17-19a – “I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power… to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.” May you know God’s love for you this year in new, energizing ways you’ve never realized before.

Linnea: 2 Thessalonians 3:3 – “The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” As your measure of needed strength and endurance increases in mothering Skylar and Micah, may the Lord be your lavish sustenance while simultaneously protecting you from Satan’s plans to wear you out or discourage you.

Adam: Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.” In the difficult work of being the family provider, anxiety can make a steady assault. May God’s supernatural peace envelop you instead.

Klaus: John 15:3-4 – “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you.” As you see increasing evidence of Christ’s daily presence in your life, may he cause you to become more and more productive and to bear eternal fruit for him.

Hans: Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” As you feel stretched thin, may you always find time to approach God’s throne to receive the perfectly measured grace that will sustain you.

Katy: 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 – “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” May God supply this list of essentials as you work with Nicholas, Evelyn and Thomas each day, causing your love for them to grow.

Louisa: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As you continue to study the Bible full time, may all these purposes of Scripture unfold in your life as God equips you for whatever is ahead.

Birgitta: Proverbs 3:13 – “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” As you study diligently and make decisions, may God’s wisdom, so different from the world’s, be what guides and blesses you daily.

Skylar, Nicholas, Micah, Evelyn, Thomas: Ephesians 6:2a – “Honor your father and mother.” May each of you steadily grow in cheerful cooperation and obedience.

Praying for you at this end,

Mom/Marni/Grandma Midgee/Mee Mee

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you know not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

Anointed with Oil

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Margaret

Having little children in a house puts everyone on red-alert every minute. And when they can be heard playing just out of sight but then grow quiet, adults kick into emergency mode.

Tonight as our eight month old twins were being bathed, two year old Nicholas was happily chattering amongst the toys a short distance from three adults. It hadn’t dawned on us he’d grown quiet until I heard Katy’s voice shouting. “Nicholas! No no no! You can’t have that!”

She flew toward the kitchen to retrieve whatever it was, and I rounded the cabinets in my snow boots, sliding across the floor as if it were a skating pond. As we arrived on the scene, we found Nicholas holding a spray can of cooking oil, pressing the button and christening the entire kitchen. Oil dripped down his forearms and into his sleeves. He’d sprayed out most of a full can.

Katy grabbed it, and Nicholas began rubbing his cheeks with his greasy hands saying, “Cream!” But none of us had told him the can was off limits, so he hadn’t done anything wrong.

She grabbed Nicholas and headed for the bathtub while I dealt with the floor. Jack came around the corner and went sailing on the slippery surface, not once but twice, wondering why his legs no longer worked.

In the end, damages were insignificant, but this is a fitting example of why young mommies and daddies are often worn weary by their job. Parenting is ongoing work that’s open-ended, long-term. The finishing line can’t be seen during the most difficult years, and even at night a break is never guaranteed.

God probably organized parenting in this way to give us a glimpse of our child-to-parent relationship with him. He’s “on our case” continually, just as we are on our children, and has no objections to the task being ongoing, open-ended and long-term. As a matter of fact, he views that as beneficial, since most of us need all the time we can get.

Back in the 1970’s there was a movement in Christian circles: “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” I had a button that said, PBP.GIFWMY, and a book came out with that same title. Although the fad passed, the concept is still true. God will never give up on us. When we fail, he doesn’t get frustrated but continues to encourage and nudge us forward.

These divine parenting principles work well in earthly parenting, too. Katy and Hans will never give up on teaching Nicholas, because they know his personal growth is a long-term project. Maturity doesn’t come in a day, and because they love him passionately, they’ll continue to clean up his messes and tell him “no” or “yes” thousands of times over the years.

But Nicholas is secure in their love, and when he had to surrender the spray oil tonight, he did it knowing Katy’s disapproval didn’t mean she loved him any less.

A child senses he is a work in progress, and as God parents us, we should sense it, too.

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:4)

January 5, 2009

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Margaret

As a young mom I always fantasized about having twins. I would have given them matching names (Pam and Pat, Jennie and Jonnie) and dressed them in matching outfits every day. God didn’t put twins among my children but sent them one generation later, to Hans and Katy.

Today we celebrated the birthday of an unusual set of family twins, though, and it wasn’t Thomas and Evelyn. When Katy was pregnant with Nicholas, their first child, my niece Johanna was also pregnant. Interestingly, Hans and his cousin Jo have been pals since babyhood, both being born in 1982 and spending much childhood time together.

Their weddings took place several months apart, and when we learned they’d be having babies close together, too, it was like the frosting on the cake. Jo’s baby was due in December of 2008, Hans’ in January of 2009. But Jo’s Ruby came many days late, and Hans’ wife Katy delivered Nicholas many days early. Our cross-Atlantic twins arrived on the same day, nearly during the same hour.

I’ve enjoyed watching Ruby grow and change as a visual for what Nicholas was also doing, far away across five time zones. When I held Ruby, I thought about holding Nicholas, and it helped my missing his babyhood.

The cousin-twins turned two today, getting into the birthday excitement with vigor, as most two’s do. Although Nicholas won’t be able to celebrate with Ruby when they turn three, today they entertained us at their double-birthday bash, cooperating with every part of the day and smiling on cue in front of a bank of cameras. We marveled at their stamina and the absence of meltdowns, a happy day all around.

After their mellow behavior today, no one would guess they can both pull out all the stops with some classic tantrums. Just a few days ago Nicholas went to the wall over an insignificant issue, testing his parents to the limit. They didn’t cave (kudos) and kept their voices calm as they gently but firmly resisted his childish ploys. As he was carried upstairs, the supersonic noise level diminished, and Nelson and I looked at each other.

“What was that?” he said.

“Original sin.”

Just because these little ones are generally agreeable, it doesn’t mean the “evil in the human heart” isn’t lurking just beneath the surface. It’s present in every one of us and was the very reason Christ came to die. Watching a two year old fit of temper dispels the myth that human beings are basically good.

But it’s an oxymoron that just as they’re melting down, screaming and kicking, they’re irresistibly adorable with their pink cheeks and pudgy limbs. I think God made them that way so we’d give them the benefit of the doubt when things got questionable.

But today our cousin-twins were well-behaved. And I know they’ll look darling in the twin red hoodies that were among their gifts.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)