Pride Does WHAT???

Mrs. R:

For the past several months, I've found this quote very helpful in seeing the real me. The words were pinned by one of my all-time favorite preachers (see www.sermonaudio.com) and authors, Jim Berg:

"Pride whines and pouts;
Pride shouts and demands;
Pride argues and debates;
Pride covets and grasps;
Pride screams and retaliates;
Pride lusts and indulges;
Pride manipulates and schemes;
Pride drives and obsesses;
Pride worries and frets.

"Pride is full of self-assertion, self-protection, self-promotion, self-confidence and self-esteem. Pride cries out, "I will not! I must have! I don't have to...! I won't let that happen! I can't take any more of ...! I don't like this!"

Dr. Berg also points out, "Most of the noise in our souls is caused when we try to gain control or regain it when it has been taken away." God is More Than Enough: Foundations for a Quiet Soul, pgs. 8

I'm so guilty of trying to stay in control in my own little kingdom. I like things my way! And while you'll almost never find me actually screaming or shouting, the attitudes that can produce these messy ways of living with others are often festering in my heart.

To fight the disease of pride, I've written Dr. Berg's insight onto a 3x5 index card. I review the card as part of my Bible reading early each morning, praying to God that He will keep me from the many manifestations of pride that can so easily wound my family. I've found that over time, God is helping me to become more sensitive to "ick" the lives inside me. Now I can sometimes even catch myself before I spill "ick" on someone near me.

Every once in a while a powerful quote is enough to change your life. I'm finding that these words are changing mine for the better. I think my husband and children would echo that and tell you that the daily "pride scrubbing" of my soul is making me a more pleasant, Christ-like person to be around. I'm finding that rehearsing these words daily and letting them be used by the Holy Spirit is increasing my joy. This is a win-win for everyone!

Help and Hope

Mrs. Beaver...for my beloved Mr. Beaver:

Mrs. Beaver:

O send out Your Light and Your truth;
   let them lead me;
Let them lead me to Your holy hill
   And to Your dwelling places.
Then I will go to the alter of God,
   To God my exceeding joy.
                                            (Psalm 43:3,4)

Only God will satisfy as my never-failing, always faithful, forever-with-me exceeding joy.

Others will fail me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others will disappoint me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others with hurt me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others will lie to me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others will betray me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others will steal from me.
   God is my exceeding joy.
Others will reject me.
   God is my exceeding joy.

O, God, deepen my fear of You. I long to know You better and love You more. Send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me to You. Let Your light and Your truth lead me to a clear grasp of who You are. Then when I'm buffeted and hammered by life's challenges, I will be able to cling to You, and You alone, as my exceeding joy.

Life-Changing? Really?!?

Mrs. Beaver:

It's so easy to call something "life changing." No doubt, the two words get over used. Yet every once in a while, the cliche is really deserved.

For years I have wanted to read 10 chapters of the Bible each day. I've been stuck on the number 10 because one of my heroes, George Mueller, averaged reading 10 chapters each day during his lifetime, which spanned most of the 1800s. And George Mueller just had to be a BUSY man. Not only did he invest himself in the care of nearly 10,000 orphans, he was also a full-time pastor and traveled extensively as a missionary well into his 80s.

Despite my desire to imitate my hero in his Bible-reading habits, I have tried and failed repeatedly. When I've attempted to read large chunks of God's word, I have inevitably struggled with sleepiness or loss of concentration. (Yikes! That's embarrassing to admit!) It's been deeply frustrating to me that I haven't given the Book I love more than any other the attention I believe it is due.

So when I overheard my friend, Tess, mention that she'd been reading 10 chapters each day my interest was peaked. I horned my way into the conversation and peppered Tess with questions. She filled me in on Professor Grant Horner's Bible-Reading Plan, and I started the very next day.

Rather than trying to explain Professor Horner's system, I ENCOURAGE (read beg, plead, beseech)you to check out the link above. (I haven't checked out every post on this blog, and, therefore, can't endorse it. However, the blogger does a great job of explaining Professor Horner's system in the linked post.)

As I said, every once in a while the term "life changing" is warranted.This is one of those rare times. I'm now reading 10 chapters almost every day (some days I only get five or seven chapters read, but this is still far more than I was reading). If a mother of 12 can make time to do it, well... you know where I'm going with this one...!!!

Most importantly, I now have a hunger for the word of God that is stronger than it has ever been. I love reading my Bible more than ever before. I feel a passion for God's word like never before. In fact, I struggle to put the Book down! In the past, I have sometimes struggled to even pick it up.

In an interview, Professor Horner once remarked that if you try his plan for a month he believes you'll discover you've been starving yourself. That's just what happened with me.

Friends, please try this plan. It's easy. It's engaging. It's life changing. Be blessed! I certainly have been.

And, remember, if you believe you don't have time to read 10 chapters each day...a mother of twelve (11 of whom remain at home) wrote this post.

Praise in Pink

Our Great God

Mrs. Beaver:

Today I cropped three of the photos of roses I took on our end-of-the-school-year picnic this week.

What the camera captured that the naked eye couldn't see stunned me. Such variety. Such delicacy. Such intricacy. Such a wondrous Creator!

"For He spoke...

...and it was done.

He commanded...

...and it stood fast."

(Psalm 33:9)

Look Back, and Remember...

He has cared for you in the past.

In fact, He has dealt bountifully with you.

He will care for you now. 

He will care for you whatever the future holds.

He is faithful.

He is love.

Look back, and remember... Look forward, and trust.

Nothing will be...

Mrs. Beaver:

I had an especially sweet time in God's word this morning.

"Nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37)

Nothing,
   Nothing,
      Nothing.

Does it further His kingdom?
   Nothing will be impossible with God!
 NOTHING.
   Nothing,
      nothing,
         nothing!

Will it glorify Him?
   Nothing will be impossible with God!
For His glory, By His grace...
   Nothing, nothing, nothing,
nothing will be impossible with God!

Exceeding Joy

A "Sad World"

Mrs. Beaver:

Really, the appropriate photo for this post would be of a swollen river inundating people's homes, utterly redirecting their lives.

However, during the eight years we've lived in northwest Iowa, the Missouri River has always been friend--not foe. All our photos of the river show off it's peaceful side, its wide-but-lazy course inviting recreation. We've had countless family picnics on the river's edge in the shade of the Anderson Dance Pavilion, and we've shared this favorite spot with many friends who've come to visit. The photo on the right shows Princess Bink enjoying one of those picnics. Behind her, the grey expanse is the Missouri River. On the other side of the Missouri is one of the city's nicest hotels.

Now, however, record snowfall melting in the Rocky Mountains in far away Montana has completely changed this waterway's influence on our community. As the water begins to exceed its boundaries, the river has become menacing. It is now a formidable foe. The advancing water threatens to swallow an entire suburb in what is being called a 100-year flood.

For the past two days, hundreds of volunteers, including Mr. Beaver and the teens in our family, have helped families pack their entire households in an effort to at least save their belongings. Although the Missouri River has begun to rise, residents in it's path were told by the Corp of Engineers that they had until Thursday to vacate their homes. The home owners have been told that the river level may not return to normal for months.

I've been at home the past couple of days watching our younger children, but my heart has been with those anticipating loss.

Today as I slipped in a few minutes of reading, I was struck by how appropriate the words I read were to the suffering that's just beginning in our community. In The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a Sixteenth Century Catechism, Kevin DeYoung breaks the Heildelberg Catechism into short question-and-answer portions and then comments on them. I hope the selection below may offer some comfort to to any who are suffering, whether due to the inundating force of a swollen river or some other cause:

Q. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE WHEN YOU SAY, "I BELIEVE IN GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH"?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothingness created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ His Son. I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and He will turn to good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because He is almighty God; He desires to do this because He is a faithful Father. (pg. 54)

Here is the last paragraph of Pastor DeYoung's comments:

"[God] will turn to good whatever adversity He sends me. The Bible is not naive about suffering. Trusting in God's provision does not mean we expect to float to heaven on flowery beds of ease. This is a 'sad world' we live in, one in which God not only allows trouble but at times sends adversity to us. Trust, therefore, does not mean hoping for the absence of pain but believing in the purpose of pain. After all, if my almighty God is really almighty and my heavenly Father is really fatherly, then I should trust that He can and will do what is good for me in this sad world. Parents, don't you wish your kids had more faith in you and trusted that you knew what was best and were always on their side? I imagine God wants the same kind of faith for all of us." (pg. 57) 

How Blessed is...

Mrs. Beaver:

"How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Psalm 146:5)

Monday Musing: As Fragile as Butterfly Wings

This photo was taken this weekend in Twin Lakes, Iowa. The Monarch butterflies
 are on their annual migration from Canada to Northern Mexico. 

As I'm reading the story of Jesus' trial and crucifixion yet again, I'm struck this time by Jesus' restraint. He had the power to escape the torture. He didn't. He had the power to take revenge. He didn't. He had the power to destroy the men who sought to destroy Him. He didn't.

He restrained His tongue. He restrained His body. He was reviled, but He did not revile in return. (1 Peter 2:23)

It is this restraint to which Jesus calls His people. It is this restraint to which He calls parents. We have the power, both verbally and physically, to hurt our children. But as followers of Christ, we must never be agents of harm!

Jesus, my Saviour and my King, I confess that I have not consistently shown restraint with my words and my tone. I have been critical and harsh when I should have encouraged and built up. I confess that I have not consistently shown restraint physically. I been rough when I should have been gentle. Please forgive me. I do not deserve your mercy, but I plead for it.

I also beg to be conformed into Your image. I long to be like you, Jesus. Please infuse me with the strength to show restraint. Please make me meek. Please make me humble. Please make me gentle. I long to die to self. I long to die to pride. Please remake me in Your image. Please slay the ME in me and fill the void with You. My children's hearts are as fragile as butterfly wings. Please slay the bully in me that wants to lash out at them verbally or physically. Make me a gentle, nuturing, understanding mom.

I love you, Lord Jesus, and through You I long to truly love my children.

~Mrs. Beaver

Monday Musing: Learning to "Make Use of Jesus"

Lenin's Tomb in Red Square--taken on our last adoption in April 2005

As our adoption gets closer (we thank God for that reality!), the list of things I need to accomplish before we travel to Russia is growing at the same time that we're settling into another year of educating our children at home.

I have a small drawer filled with a handful of books that have in one way or another reached all the way down into my soul. Most of my "Monday Musing" quotes have come from these treasures. Today as I was feeling stretched, I pulled out a volume that I haven't touched for a couple of years. There I reread the following words and felt my priorities being reordered. I also felt my cares grow lighter as they slid into the arms of my Saviour.

"But let us strive to get more of Christ in our souls...We must look more upward; for all our help cometh from the Lord. To live near to Him--to walk humbly with Him--to enjoy much of His presence---to realise the coming glory, --this is heaven begun on earth, and should be our constantly increasing aim. To go to Him at all times--to go when our love has chilled, when the world creeps in, when creature streams pass away, when cares accumulate and anxieties press--to tell Him our case, however bad it might be--to make use of Jesus, if I might be allowed the expression,--this, this, is our happy, holy privilege. Only go to Jesus. Make all manner of excuses to go; find an errand to take you to Him in all the every day incidents of life; for in going to the Fountain of all good, we shall be more and more conformed to His word and transformed into His image." Heaven Opened: The Correspondence of Mary Winslow, Octavious Winslow, ed., pg. 115.

~Mrs. Beaver

Monday Musing: "Calmed and Strengthened"

I'm still struggling with rising on time to spend enough time in God's word. (for background see Monday Musing: Hungry) In an effort to encourage myself, and hopefully to encourage others, this Monday's Musing is a second quote by Elisabeth Leseur:

"The farther I read into the Gospels and Epistles, the more I do find a charm, a strength, a life that is incomparable. God is indeed there; from this reading I come each day calmed and strengthened; my will is reinforced there and my heart warmed. God, the Supreme Teacher, through this book of books, educates my inmost being. It helps me to understand life, to smile at duty, and to will strongly."

My Spirit Rejoices, Elizabeth Leseur, Journal entry dated March 29, 1900

~Mrs. Beaver

Monday Musing (a Day Late): "Dying to Live"

Cadgwith, England--April 2005

On the long drive back from Texas, I began to read a book that has long been on my "Someday..." bookshelf. Just a few chapters in, I can already tell that Passionate Housewives Desperate for God is perfect preparation for me because hopefully we're within just weeks of adding three more children to our tribe through adoption.

I've already read the following paragraphs several times. The words resonate with what I have learned about motherhood, about serving my King, and about joy since we adopted our first trio of older children almost nine years ago. Despite having learned the truth below through many hard real-life lessons (encountered repeatedly because of my stubborn self-will), authors' Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald reminder will help me to get through today. And I will need their reminder again and again and again as I learn to parent 12 children. Their words give me hope and encourage me:

"The truth is that biblical motherhood doesn't mean we're promised postcard perfect days where we lounge together with our little ones on  the porch swing in white starched dresses sipping lemonade and singing in harmony. Homegrown children take a lot of hard work--and sometimes 'it ain't pretty.' Other times, it's breathtaking.

"Biblical motherhood means sacrifice, selfless love, and faithful dedication. It means we're there with our families--body, mind, and spirit. To recognize our purpose in motherhood, we must see the godly generations beyond our own children (Genesis 24:60, Deuteronomy 4:9, 7:9). This means denying ourselves (Matthew 16:25) and being consumed with God and His love for us. It means starting each morning on our face in repentance and thanksgiving, pleading for His grace and for the strength to glorify Him in our daily endeavors. It means loving God more than our children--and consequently, He will equip us to truly love them and prepare us to serve them through Christ our Lord. It means impacting future generations by our faithfulness now.

"We must die to self on a minute-by-minute basis. "Die to self?" you may ask. What can that mean? Jesus said that anyone who desired to come after Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:25-26). He didn't say, "Of those who desire to come after Me, some will need to take up their cross..." He said anyone. Do you feel like you've been "losing your life" lately? Perhaps you've been trying to save it...

"Since Scripture tells us 'it's not all about us'--it is all about Him (Matthew 10:38-39)--we can be assured that He will help us to continually persevere in steadfast service to Him. We must reject the vain philosophies of this world that distract us with selfish pursuits and instead embrace the magnificent paradox of the Gospel. If you feel desperate, are you willing to die--to self? If your answer is yes, then hang on! Because you are finally ready to live!" (pgs. 21,22)

Pleading with God to help me die to self minute-by-minute,
~Mrs. Beaver

Monday Musing: More Than a Leather Accessory, Part II

This week's Monday Musing is yet another encouragement to me to spend considerable time in the Bible each morning:

"God's Word is not a rule book. It is not a list of external religious rituals that we are required to adhere to or memorize. God's Word is a love letter from a Father to His child. It is truth. It is full of  promises, principles, and precepts. It contains God's warnings, His wisdom, and even His wit. It is His divine revelation and the riches of His grace. It reveals both humanity's ruin and God's remedy. It is the story of redemption by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is full of hope and heaven. It declares Jesus to be God's only begotten Son and the one and only way to be forgiven and reconciled with God the Father. Who would dare to deal with it casually or carelessly?"

-Jean Stockdale, Proverbs and Principles for Parenting Practically Perfect Progeny, pg. 16.

~Mrs. Beaver