everything i know about God i learned from my children

i grew up in a Bible-believing, God-fearing, church-going, Christian school-attending home. growing up i learned a whole lot about God and Jesus and the Bible, and i thought i knew it all (which obviously i didn't and still don't!).

and then i had kids. i became a parent. instant love beyond all measure for this tiny helpless babe. from that point on, i started to understand God a lot better. i learned more about God than i thought possible through the miracle of being a mother. and while i'm not comparing myself to God, when you become a parent it's so much easier to understand how God sees us—His unfailing love; His ever presence; His mercy and grace; His omniscience; His forgiveness; His patience. i could go on and on... all these attributes of God became much clearer as i felt the same for my own child. and to think how much more God feels for me!

on to my point... yesterday was a bad day. i would almost go as far as saying it was an awful day. ryan is in the crying screaming fit stage, and we battled all day (and the day before, and the day before). my only reprive was his you're-getting-sent-to-bed-with-no-lunch nap. we even got to end the day with a screaming fit before bed time. you know, because going potty before getting into bed is definitely worth fussing over for 30 minutes.

fast forward to this morning. i was apprehensive about even getting out of bed today. what will set off the attitude bomb today, i wondered. it could be anything—from the color of his socks, to the temperature of his pop tart, to the expression on his teddy bear's face. regardless, it was a new day, and he deserved a new start and a second chance. and i don't think either of us would've been too happy if i left him in his crib today!

we made it through breakfast. we made it through going potty and getting dressed. i was amazed! i laid down on my bed relieved that we hadn't had a meltdown yet. and ryan followed. he climbed up on my bed and for the next 45 minutes, we played. we bounced, jumped, i was his jungle gym, we loved, hid under the covers, hugged, and laughed. "i love you ryan," i said. "love you mama too," he replied. i even got a snotty slobbery kiss. it was beautiful.

as he ran off to play, i continued to lie on my bed, pondering God and the new start that he gives me each day. The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. i'm sure there are days that i throw my own tantrums with God, let's say, yesterday for example. i didn't have the greatest attitude about my day. there were times i was upset, mad, angry, impatient, unloving, uncontent, etc. but because of God's love and his mercy, He has given me a new morning. a new day to start over and be a better wife, mom, and child of God. i can even hear him whispering in my ear, I love you, child.

i love you too, God! and here's my big slobbery kiss: muah!!

But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15 NLT

new mercies

rewind 8 days ago.

i had a bad day.

like really really really (really really) bad.

i was sad. i was scared. i was confused. i felt hurt. i was shocked. i felt crazy. i couldn't focus. i was tired. i felt alone.

*note: before you go assuming what happened, no one died, our marriage is perfectly fine, the kids are great, etc. etc.* :-)

the night before, tuesday night, i found out something about myself that i didn't know. which brought me few hours of sleep followed by a crazy wacked out couple days.

my husband came home from work wednesday night with a sad look on his face and said, "i couldn't wait to come home and see you and make sure you were okay. i've had this sick feeling all day for you."

awwww....

and later that night, as i was sobbing and having a heart to heart conversation with ben, he held me. then he prayed for me.

now the only reason i'm telling you this is because this is what i'm thankful for today. at the time i could've sworn to you that this would never make a thankful thursday. but through this bump in the road which rattled me for a few days, ben and i felt a rejuvenated love for each other that was different than either of us had ever experienced.

but at the same time it was oh so familiar.

i realized that every morning i experience the novelty of God's great love for me. His mercy and compassion are new for me each and every day!

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

and so, i may still be a slight bit sad, a tad confused, and a lot crazy(!), but tomorrow morning i will wake up to a brand new day and soak up all the refreshed love that God has for me!

and that, dear friends, is definitely something to be thankful about!!

happy resurrection day!

today is easter--the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! i haven't talked a whole lot about what i believe, so i figured this would be the perfect day.


when i was four years old i asked Jesus into my heart and accepted Him as my Savior from sin. i grew up in a Christian home, went to church every sunday, went to a Christian school, and so on. i knew very well what i was taught to believe so 'faith' didn't come very hard to me.

until i started questioning it.

when i was 12 i started to doubt the truths that had been taught to me. i was so scared that i would lose my salvation and afraid that i didn't say 'the prayer' right the first time. i remember going to bed every night and asking Jesus to save me just in case. (i know better now... a prayer doesn't save you, JESUS saves you!)

then i started wondering what if this isn't the way to heaven?! looking back it was an unsettling time. but as i started asking a LOT of questions, and finding out the facts for myself (and not just because that's what i was taught) things became clear to me. when i turned 13 i remember rededicating my life to Jesus Christ and claiming this simple truth: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Acts 16:31


this is what i believe today:

~ i believe that everything God says in the Bible is true. John 17:17

~ everyone has sinned against God and our sin separates us from God. Romans 3:23

~ God's punishment for our sin is death. Romans 6:23

~ Jesus took our death sentence and died on the cross for my sin. your sin. everyone's sin. past, present, and future. His death covered them ALL! Hebrews 10:11-14, 1 Peter 3:18a

~ Jesus did not stay dead--He resurrected to life again! Acts 2:22-24, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. do you know how important this is?! the fact that Jesus rose to life again validates the truth of the entire gospel and my faith. if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. I Corinthians 15:14-17

~ salvation is a free gift. all i have to do is take it - by believing that Jesus died on the cross for my sin and by trusting Him alone to save me from my sin. Romans 3:23-24, John 3:16

~ i can't do anything on my own to get to heaven, nor can i add anything to my salvation. try as i may, the good things i do (going to church, getting baptized, taking communion) won't earn me salvation. thank goodness.... because i would fail big time! it is ONLY through BELIEVING in JESUS that i can be saved from my sin and go to heaven someday! Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, John 3:36, John 14:6


today i celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead! and i am rejoicing in the fact that i KNOW that i am saved and will spend eternity in heaven with Him! 1 John 5:11-13

are you confident of your salvation today? are you believing in Jesus to save you from your sins? are you totally confused after reading what i believe?! i'd love to hear from you. so if you'd rather not leave a comment, email me. benanderinkern@gmail.com

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!!!

girl's got heart

samantha wants to be a missionary. after learning about it at church, and having a former sunday school teacher go to peru as a missionary, samantha has talked about it several times. and there's a boy in one of her classes at church who's parents will be going overseas this year. one day samantha told me "oh, i just wish i could go right now with them and tell the people about Jesus!" she has such a big heart for people and their need for God, so it didn't really surprise me when she said that. so i told her that she could be a missionary any time by showing God's love to people and telling her friends about Jesus.

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so i don't know why i was surprised when i caught her doing this about a month ago.

she had fashioned her own assembly line. first she cut the pages out of her small notebook, then she'd stamp 5-6 pieces of paper with her hello kitty stamp, followed by "God... Loves... You..."

"what are you doing samantha?"

"i'm writing 'God loves you' so that i can hand it to all the kids so that they can know about Jesus."

i caught myself before i discouraged her endeavor out loud and thought to myself, it's not like she's really going to hand those out. i mean, she's home-schooled so it's not like she'd hand them out at school. she'll forget about it anyway.

"oh that's neat, honey. you're making a lot."

"yeah. i'm making one for every kid in the whole world."

"really? how are you gonna give one to every kid?"

"we're gonna drive in the car and i'm gonna throw them out the window and they can run into the street to get them."

i admit i discouraged that idea a little. afterall, we don't want the kids running out in the street!

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later that night she showed her daddy the fruits of her labor. we counted all the papers she had made--27!

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the next day the papers disappeared and i didn't think anything of it. the day after that went to my one-stop-shop for some needed supplies and food. and of course samantha brought her purse. while i was busy searching for a certain type of cereal, she walked over to the employee who was busily restocking the shelves. "here, this is for you." she held out a paper, then turned and walked back to me before the lady could say anything. i don't know why, but i was shocked again! wow... she actually did it!

she handed out 3 more to random employees who seemed confused rather than touched by her gesture. then we headed over to festival, the real grocery store. she gave one to the butcher who was also uninthused. then as i was checking out she gave one to the cashier, and the 18 year old sacker boy who both seemed genuinely appreciative! the boy kept saying "that's so awesome," and "thank you very much!" it was cute. i think he made her day with his excitement!

on the way home i told her i was proud of her for sharing God's love with others. she was so excited and exclaimed in her grown-up-wanna-be-14-year-old voice "i know!!! i just can't believe that i'm a missionary now!!!"

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the following week she handed a few more out. she tried to remember to take her purse everywhere so that she could pass them out to people, usually employees. then we hadn't gone anywhere for couple days, so i had forgotten about it.

until...

...we all went back to festival to grab a few dinner ingredients. when we got to the checkout line, she again handed a paper to the cashier (not the same one as before) and the lady bagging our items. they were both impressed. the one lady said she was going to hang it on her fridge, and the other was going to put it up in her office. while they were talking to samantha another cashier came over and the sacker lady said to her "look what she just gave me!" to which the other girl excitedly replied, "oh my goodness!!!!! i've been waiting to meet you! i've heard all about you from the other employees that you gave a paper to!!" and samantha happened to have just one left in her purse so she gave it to her.

she was practically beaming as we left the store.

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so was i surprised when i found she had started to made another stack of these...?!

...nope!

thankful thursday

continual learning. that's what i'm thankful for today. or maybe i should say continual teaching, because there's plenty of days when i don't want to learn anything!

God has been teaching me some things this week and i'm actually learning from them! so many times we think we have it all figured out, and then God steps in and says "hey! let me show you this!"

one example from this week is on the topic of prayer. pastor bob had a great message on prayer this past sunday and at the close of his sermon he had everyone think of one thing weighing on their heart, write it on a piece of paper, and give it to God.

i didn't have any HUGE problems on my heart, but there was this one little thing that has been making me mad, upset, and angry for the past few months. i just figured i didn't have the right attitude about it, but i still hadn't ever prayed about it. well i wrote it down, talked with God about it, and wouldn't you know, monday afternoon it had already started to resolve itself. or, should i say, God had started to resolve it. call me stupid for not praying about it months and months ago, but at least i was smart enough to learn a God lesson this week!

and since we're on the topic of prayer, please keep baby stellan and his family in your prayers. he has been in the hospital with tachycardia since sunday night and definitely needs all the prayer he can get! (read this post from monday morning to start at the beginning.)

happy valentine's day!

i used to not like valentine's day. even when i had someone to spend it with, i don't know why we single out one day to show our love. ONE day?!

we don't celebrate valentine's day around here. well at least ben and i don't. we get the kids a little present, but we try to show each other love every day in the big and little things we do for each other. and i surely don't want ben to go out and spend $50 on roses for me--i'd rather take the money and go shopping! :-)

but i'm beginning to like valentine's day a little more, because now i try to take this day and really reflect on what true love is. it's a perfect love. a sacrificial love. a love non-existent in our culture today. a love only God could give.

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

I John 4:9-10 NLT

so whatever your circumstances are today -- if you're going out on a date with your boyfriend/girlfriend, if you're spending the night at home with your spouse and kids, or if you'd rather not think about valentine's day at all -- please remember that God has shown us the greatest love of all!

thankful thursday

so this morning i was going to write what i was thankful for, but of course i decided to procrastinate. by the time everyone left today i didn't realize that the evening was half gone. so here i sit with 18 minutes to get this done!

how truely blessed i am! i could go on and on about the things i am thankful for - so many things that i don't deserve. the greatest and most important being a God so loving that He sent His one and only Son to die for MY sins. that if i would simply believe i would not perish but have eternal life.
a God so loving & merciful Whose mercies are new every morning.
a God that has given me a wonderful godly husband.
a God that has given me two adorable children.
a God that has allowed me to live in a country with so many freedoms and opportunites.
a God that has never let me go without a meal whereas millions of people may not have even had a meal today.
a God that has never let me sleep on the streets while there are so many that right now are without a warm, safe home.
a God that is always here.
a God that has given me a great family. i mean totally awesome. i'm so thankful for the family that i was born into. i have a mom and dad and three sisters that are my best friends. we all get along... and i love them! :-) i'm so thankful for the family that i married into. they accept me as one of their own. and love me like one of their own. and i love you guys too! :-)
a God that has given me wonderful friends past and present. friends that i have learned from, friends that i have leaned on, friends that i have laughed with. friends that have shown me Who God is through living out their own faith.
a God that has never missed a shed tear.
a God that is my Savior, my Father, my Provider, my Protector, my Refuge, my Friend, my Comforter, my Shelter, my Healer, my Fortress, my Helper, my Peace, my Light, my Refiner, my Sustainer, my God.

i am so thankful. i am so blessed.

GOD and politics

i was so blessed to go to church this morning. it's been so long since i've worshipped at my own church--it felt so good to be back home!

this morning pastor bob had a wonderful message that i wanted to share with you all. in light of the HUGE election coming up this tuesday, his sermon was "what is your responsibility as a christian citizen" taken from Romans 13:1-7.

a little background on the passage.... paul wrote this letter to the christians in rome about 4 years after nero became emperor. he became emperor when he was about 17 years old and he was an evil beyond evil ruler. (he murdered his first wife to marry his misstress, then later murdered her. he murdered his mother. he would dip christians in oil, hang them on a pole and set them on fire for light at night. he was BAD!) more evil than we could ever know.

so after 4 years and in the midst of a horrible ruler paul writes this:

1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

no matter what happens this election, GOD IS IN CONTROL and we still need to submit to our government.* God has already appointed our new president, senators, mayors, etc.** and at the end of the day, GOD IS STILL SOVEREIGN. if you don't like how our governing authorities rule, let God deal with that (Romans 12:19).*** our country doesn't need the perfect president (not that that will EVER happen!) to fix all our problems, but what our country needs is JESUS. let's not get so wrapped up in the political scheme of things that we forget what really matters--telling others about HIM!

*yes, i know there are instances in which we should not submit to authority--obey God rather than men--and if you listen to the sermon you'll hear that too!

**you still need to get out and VOTE, though!

***and yes... i know we can talk to our congressmen, etc. and voice our opinions.

i can't do this sermon justice. if you have a minute or 30 please listen to it or download it. and don't forget to VOTE on tuesday!!

God is like a president.

....or so i was told by my 5 year old daughter last night.
we were driving in the car on the way to ben's softball game when samantha piped up and stated,

"mom, God is like a president, huh..."

"umm.... sure." i replied, not quite knowing what to say.

and then she quickly added, "except God takes care of us. a president doesn't take care of us."


and that was that. as fast as the conversation started, it had ended. she had nothing more to say on the subject, thankfully, because i really didn't feel like getting into a political discussion with her!!

i thought it was cute, though!