My wife, who I deeply respect, love and trust, found this article the other day and wanted me to post if for all of you. Check it out!
Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank) by Rachel Jankovic
Our guest blogger today is Lisa Helbling. On Sept. 29th the Helbling family was playing at the park when they noticed their daughter’s (Elizabeth) face began to droop and her speech became slurred. Elizabeth was taken to the ER and after many tests, the doctors determine she has arteriovenous malformation or AVM. This has caused a clot in her brain and surgery will be needed to remove the clot. Doctors are waiting for the clot to shrink in order to determine everything that needs to be accomplished during surgery. There will be many scans and tests before actual surgery.
Check out her update below on their sweet daughter, Elizabeth. Her family’s faith during this trial has served as a great encouragement to me and I pray it will be for you as well. We talk a lot about “suffering well”, and this family is a living example of this right before our eyes.
At this point, we are waiting for our Thursday appt and for the appt to be made for the next scan (Angiogram). We are going to have a relaxed schedule of school today.
Also, if there is anyone local that is heading to BJ’s today…let me know. We went last night and they were closing. We need a few things.
God bless…thanks again for caring so much.
~Psalm 28:4 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him~
I have four kids. Four. F.O.U.R. Four is a lot of kids. They are all under 6. That is a lot of young kids. My kids are incredible, Ella is just like her mom, Eli is ridiculously sweet, Ezra may not make it to 16, and Zoe…well she is absolutely beautiful.
Its hard for me to remember life before kids. Jenn and I wonder what we did with our free time. We had so much free time…what did we do? I remember Thursday’s were grocery night. Saturday we slept in until 10. We could clean our house in 10 minutes. Then there were those sleepy Sunday afternoons we took those really awesome and refreshing naps.
Our schedule has definitely changed in recent years. Our free time sometimes comes after 9 and we generally use it to brush our teeth and crawl into bed. Sometimes the teeth brushing is put off until morning. (I know, I know)
I have learned a lot about time management these last few years and my kids frequently remind about me what’s most important. Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned in having kids (lots of them) is that intentionality in life is key.
Our lives are so short. Vapors really (James 4:14). Every minute I draw breath is an opportunity for me to intentionally parent my children, love my wife, or take a break.
If you look at the life of Christ in its entirety, you can’t miss His intentionality. He was never lazy or apathetic. He was always intentional. He lived for one purpose and never lost sight of it. He was the ultimate example of intentionality.
Its hard to be intentional. There are so many distractions, so many times I want to be selfish, so many times I am exhausted. To be intentional you have to be intentional. You are always on your toes looking for opportunity.
I can tell you one thing, I have never regretted being intentional. I never once regretted using any and every opportunity to tell my kids about the Savior, to love my wife, and yes, to take some time and get away. Being intentional is hard, but it is worth it. When I reach the end of my life, I want to look back and see the legacy I left for my children and their children and I want them to see a life that was lived with intentionality. Not for my own glory, but for the Kingdom of God.
What about you? Where are you at? Have you been living with intentionality for the Kingdom? Don’t wait until you have kids, start now. What can you do right now that is intentional and just may impact eternity?
Welcome Kelli Creswell, a member of The Creek Church, and our guest blogger today. She recently went to Ukraine on a mission trip. Enjoy this post and the pictures.
The Trip
On August 21, I left for a 10-day medical mission trip to Munkacs, Ukraine. Our team of 11 flew into Budapest, Hungary where we met volunteers and staff members of Hungarian Baptist Aid. From there, we settled into vehicles and spent the next 4 hours driving to Ukraine.
There are Roma Gypsies living in Munkacs, Ukraine and in villages scattered out from there. This western part of Ukraine used to be part of Hungary so the Gypsies speak Hungarian. They live on Hungarian time, one hour ahead of Ukraine time. The Hungarian people say the Gypsies are Ukrainian; the Ukrainian say they are Hungarian. The Gypsies are disliked and unwanted by both. Like other Gypsies who are scattered across otherwise civilized areas of Europe, they have their own culture. These are the people we went to serve.
The first day we set up clinic at Posahazsa, a little village out from Munkacs with about 80 households. This village was priority because the week before, Marolyn, a nurse serving on a Vacation Bible School (VBS) team had noticed that some of the children had impetigo and scabies. Marolyn had signed up to go to Armenia, but thankfully God had other plans.
One little girl, Irene had a severe case of impetigo. In the United States she would have been in the hospital hooked up to IVs. Marolyn was able to start treating her while she was there and sent word back to our medical team about what to bring before we even left. Because of Marolyn, Irene’s life was saved. God knows exactly where we need to be and when.
Just a short walk from New Life Church where we stayed there is a “camp” where the majority of the Roma Gypsies in Munkacs live. A dirt path led us away from the paved road and to homes with roofs that were made from scraps of wood, metal and even trash. During one of our visits to the camp, a couple came to ask us if we would pray with them. Through a translator, we learned that a few weeks before our arrival, there had been rain. When it rains, the water goes inside their homes. To prevent this, they dig holes in the ground outside to give the water a place to go. That’s what this couple had done. One moment they were giving their child a piece of bread and the next minute he was running out the door. And before they realized he was gone, he had fallen into one of the holes of water and drowned. We prayed with them while they cried and while we cried with them. As I struggled for how to pray for them, I thought of the part of the Lord’s Prayer that says, “Give us this day our daily bread” and I suddenly understood it better.
Good Lesson and Reminder
I understood it better because the Gypsies only live for today. They don’t think or plan for tomorrow. If you give them more than what they need for today they will share the rest. Some people would find this way of living completely illogical. I couldn’t help but see the beauty in it. To me it seems a little more like what God intended us to be: focused on today, not worrying about tomorrow and sharing our abundance. I think we can all learn something from that way of thinking.
We went back to Poshahaza on Sunday morning, to the same small, square building where we had done clinic a few days before. The service was simple and powerful. We worshipped without instruments or a band, just a single light bulb in the ceiling. I learned that it is really all you need. It’s all the Gypsies need because their hearts were already lined up with the Lord. There is nothing between them and God. We sang and I couldn’t believe how loud the sound was in my ears. The small room was filled with the voices of a passionate people. I’ve lived outside of the United States before but I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to understand a language as much as I did that day. Even still, the music was beautiful in my ears.
The days in Ukraine flew by and I had no idea how much each moment was digging into my heart. I thought when I was leaving that I was absorbing all of my experiences and taking them with me in my heart. When I got home I realized I had left my heart behind.
How Can You Help?
Here are some opportunities to pray about:
If you are interested in any of these opportunities or want to know more, I’d love to talk with you. You can also call Jim Burchette with NC Baptist Men at 1-800-395-5102 ext. 5612. The 2012 trip dates will be posted at http://baptistsonmission.org/Projects/Outside-US/Ukraine.
Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones, a preacher who has taught me so many things about God, family and preaching, once said “Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.”
This statement first made me think, and then started to make much sense to me. Our flesh speaks lies in to our minds, and if we are not careful we can start believing those lies, and even living in those lies and experiencing the negative implications that flow from them (unhappiness being one of those negative implications). Here’s a few lies that came to my mind, perhaps you are aware of some of them already:
“You’re not good looking, so no one is going to like you.”
“You don’t make enough money, so there’s no way you can be labeled a success.”
“You sin every day, there is no way you are a Christian.”
“Your past is so dark there is no way God loves you.”
“There’s no way your children will ever turn out to be godly, they can’t even obey the most simple of commands you give to them.”
“Your job is pointless just give up.”
“Your marriage is in such a wreck that it is impossible to turn around.”
“You have to earn salvation, it’s not really of grace.”
“Everyone at school is falling in to temptation so I guess it’s ok for me too.”
I started “talking to myself” in High School, even before I heard this quote from Lloyd Jones. When I read this quote a year ago, it reinforced what the spirit of God had already led me to do. To be honest, I have gotten some weird faces from people who have noticed my “talking”. But who cares, this discipline has saved me, by God’s grace, from much sin. For me, I talk out loud when faced with lies from my flesh. There is something about actually hearing the words out loud that resonate with my heart. Here is some practical advice – write down the top 5 lies that you hear from yourself that ultimate originate from the enemy. And then, next to those 5 lies write down scripture verses that destroy those lies. When those lies pop up in your minds, quote the truth of God’s word. Speak them to yourself. Proclaim God’s word and His gospel daily…..to yourself. It’s well worth it and will save you from a multitude of sins.
Psalm 119:11 – I have hidden your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
