Sacred Mundane: The Blog

My pair of cute shoes remind me daily how much everything’s changed.

In mid-February, I was beginning to get the Spring-is-coming itch and wanted a pair of cute spring shoes. I only have cold-weather boots and warm weather sandals, so I thought it’d be reasonable to get a pair of cute sensible springy shoes. Of course, at that point it was still freezing cold and pouring rain, so I didn’t need them at that moment. But I wanted them at that moment, and $30 is a steal so I snagged a pair and set them aside for warmer days.

Little did I know that this Spring I would barely be wearing shoes!

In the last month I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve left my house, and the majority of those trips has been to Winco foods. I don’t need cute shoes to go to Winco foods. Around our property I wear my beat-up trail-running shoes, or muck boots.

Quite frankly, cute spring shoes are useless right now.

It’s a silly example, but it’s interesting how drastically valuations can change, nearly overnight. Suddenly, toilet paper is valuable. Rice is valuable. Butter is valuable (Well, butter was always valuable to me). Giving my money to those in desperate situations worldwide is valuable.

You know what’s worthless right now? Cute shoes.

I was thinking the same thing about people. Suddenly we’re SUPER grateful for grocery-store clerks. (Winco grocery-clerks have been SO cheerful and helpful!) Hospital janitors (!). Nurses. UPS delivery drivers. Unseen Amazon workers filling orders. The garbage-truck driver. People who clean the Costco-stores after hours. Our estimation of them has risen dramatically!

No offense to professional athletes and celebrities, but right now the truck driver and hospital janitor are who I’m celebrating. In fact, could you NBA guys grab a sewing machine and start sewing masks? There’s work to do.

Again I’ll say, disease isn’t good, but God uses all for good. Isn’t this what “reevaluation” is all about? When we “re-evalute,” we’re looking at things with fresh eyes to attempt to place true value on what really matters.

I believe that someday when we wake up in heaven, this will be what it’s like. Suddenly the TRUE VALUE of things will be made clear. That’s why the Bible tells us not to store up treasures here on earth. When we wake up someday to eternal realities, my cute shoes will be turned to dust, but the money or time I invested serving those around me will somehow shine like gold.

Please don’t hear me say cute shoes are bad, but my ill-timed investment in them reminds me: Only God knows what we really need for what’s to come.

I might think that the world needs another book published. He may be telling me to spend my time on other endeavors instead. I might think that we really need XYZ done on our house. He might be telling me that investing in this other direction might be a lot wiser. I might set my sights on a certain career or vocation, but God knows what jobs will even be around in the future.

I’m grateful for the fact that this situation has shown us one thing: Everything can change very quickly and only God has the Omniscient wisdom to guide us through a future that only He knows.

More than ever, we need the humility to ask God for His direction, and trust that He knows best, even if doesn’t make sense. {Thanks for reading.}

I was cooking dinner when the texts came through in short desperate spurts. Panic. Help me?? I asked some questions. Are you willing to…. Waited for a response. Finally:

Yes.

I stood at the stove, praying that this newfound willingness would remain, that the desperation to do whatever it takes would last longer than a virus-scare.

The next morning I re-read Luke 15 and saw something new. You probably know how this goes…

“Give me my inheritance now. I’m sick of living under your thumb. Give me what’s mine and I’ll be on my way.”

The younger son essentially spits in the face of his father, telling him he doesn’t want his presence, doesn’t want his relationship, he just wants his money.

I want resources, not relationship. I want access, not accountability.

And so he goes, this Prodigal Son, and squanders it all with “reckless living.” Later we learn this isn’t just an innocent shopping spree–he fritters his fortune away on prostitutes and self-destructive behaviors.

A parents’ worst nightmare.

But what happens next is interesting, and you may think I’m overstepping my Bible-bounds, but the thread through the Scriptures is unmistakable:

God sends a famine to bring a lost son home.

In the midst of the Prodigal’s wild life, while he’s still in the height of his self-destructive stupidity, “a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.”

He began to be in need.

Turning point. We often think the turning point is when the prodigal son begins the walk home and the father runs to meet him. But this is the beginning. He’s not coming home yet, but he’s left the prostitutes in favor of working on a farm.

I’d say that’s a great step. He’s humbled. He’s sobered up. He’s desperate. He’s willing to feed pigs. His entitlement is gone.

That’s when he “came to himself.” He remembers the grace and kindness of his father. And he’s willing to return, as a servant, because, he says, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

Our culture would be so quick to interject here, “Oh lost boy, don’t talk like that! You ARE worthy! You ARE enough!”

But you know what? The Prodigal son was spot on. All his self-righteousness is gone: He sees himself for what he truly is. Unworthy.

And into his vast cavern of unworthiness the Good, Good Father pours out His steadfast, relentless grace, and matchless kindness. The older son, who’s still stuck in self-righteousness, is outraged. Hasn’t the father seen the scorecard? Clearly the little brother is a zero.

But the Father isn’t keeping score, he’s giving love. It’s a beautiful story.

But it’s interesting that a country-wide famine is what brought the lost boy to the end of himself. It wasn’t until he began to be in need that things turned around.

A few weekends ago some friends and I looked at the lives of Bible characters and saw the lengths that God goes to in order to get people’s attention.

I don’t pretend to know all that God is doing during our worldwide pandemic, but I have been floored by how many stories there are of God’s individual, personal plans being carried out in people’s lives through the details of this difficult time. Would God send a famine to bring home a lost boy? Would God allow a pandemic to bring us back home to Him? To lead us away from self-destructive patterns and habits and reset our gaze on all that really matters?

Praying constantly for eyes to see what God is doing behind the scenes, and that the need I feel would ever turn me from self-destruction and put me on the path back home to Him. Thanks for reading.

There is a kind of overwhelm that is very real to me and it has nothing to do with trying to have a Pinterest-worthy home or a beach-worthy body. I don’t get overwhelmed comparing my life with others who seem awesome. That isn’t the social-media trigger for me.

But I often feel overwhelmed by ALL THE GOOD CAUSES. Am I alone in this? Anybody else?

Just recently, I could feel that growing sense of overwhelm. The stats presented to me were overwhelming. The urgency was real. I couldn’t — didn’t want to — ignore the very real need presented, but I inwardly wrestled with the same angst I often feel in these situations:

How do I support/champion/care/give/help ALL these amazing causes?

The next morning I sat quietly with God and told Him how I felt. Often when I’m overwhelmed it helps me to write out lists of “all the things” so it loses its vague gloom-cloud feeling and becomes concrete. In my journal I began writing each thing, not just that I know about, but that have been presented to me as a worthy cause, in our world and in my life. I started far out and worked inward. It included:

World:

• Unreached people groups — gospel! 10/40 window
• Relief and development for poor in 3rd world countries: Specifically Next Generation Ministries, Child Sponsorship through World Vision, and Water projects through World Vision (6K for water)
• Homeless/poverty/drug abuse/mental illness here (Mary)
• Abortion (millions of lives) each year
• Racial reconciliation/ immigration/Refugee care (philoxenia) in USA
• Persecuted church worldwide–Voice of the Martyrs
• US and local political involvement (various critical issues)
• Human Trafficking
• Foster care & adoption (CASA)
• Young Lives ministry to single moms

At home:

• Home-educating our big kids, teaching them to love and obey God!
• Training Justice! Constant work & intentionality.
• Cooking (!), cleaning, home management–including the impact of food purchasing decisions on developing nations (fair trade), environmental impact, and HEALTH! Consider all!
• Serving and loving my parents

Local church:

• Shepherding, caring, discipleship
• Addressing marriage crises, addiction within church
• Friendships! Doing life together
• Preaching and healing like Jesus did!

So basically all of these things are swirling around in my heart and mind and every time I hear someone champion one of these things it feels like I need to be all about that things. Not only that, but it feels like there are TRENDS! So it seems like for 6-months or so everyone is all about one thing, and then six months later it feels like we’re all about something else. That’s a terrible overstatement, but at least on social media it can sure feel like that. And with all of my heart, I want to be ALL ABOUT what God is all about! I don’t want to waste my life. But quite frankly, I cannot be ALL ABOUT every single one of these things. Especially not all at once. So, pray tell, how on earth do I navigate it all?

I asked God that. Like, out loud. And I sat and waited, in silence, for Him to answer. I’m not saying this is “thus sayeth the Lord” but so clearly in my heart, I heard,

Fight sin in any form you encounter it.

Ah. I could feel my whole being settle into peace. Yes. Of course. In every single one of these endeavors, the undercurrent is fighting SIN. It is fighting some consequence of the fall. Whether I am fighting my own sin, or working on behalf of someone else who is a victim of sin, if I am actively fighting sin in any form I encounter it, I’m in step with the kingdom of God.

The next step for me was simple–which of these causes has God clearly allowed me to encounter. That is, which causes as God undeniably plopped in front of me in such a way that I know He has called me to this thing.

I made another list. This one was only 6 items long.

Ah. Yes. That is a list I can handle. That is a list of priorities I can very much get behind and actually DO something about. I CAN pray regularly over six things. I CAN give generously to six things. I CAN care, research, and give mental energy to six things.

Does it mean I don’t care about those other things? Certainly not. It means that I recognize one simple thing: I’m not God.

God is the only one with the capacity to KNOW, CARE, and be deeply invested in EVERY CAUSE. In fact, He is the only One with the emotional and mental stores to even HANDLE the truth about all the world’s woes. I honestly think part of our mental health problem is that we have OVER-KNOWN. We have taken on more than we can mentally handle, forgetting that we play a role of obedience to God but we don’t need to have a hot-take on every single headline in our feed.

I’m not talking about burying our heads in the sand, I’m talking about not sticking our nose in business that belongs only to God.

So I share my simple process, just in case anyone else out there feels this same tension. I don’t pretend to have it all figured out. Perhaps our six things will change as seasons change (likely), but for today, I will devote myself to the few things God has called me to. And trust Him to be God and mobilize others for the causes outside my reach.

{Thanks for reading.}

Today is a rare occasion: It’s been a mostly Plan A day (which is why I’m curled up under a blanket with time to write this post!).

Our days rarely go exactly as planned, right? We know this.  Perhaps the most crucial character trait for any homeschooling parent is the ability to adjust, reconfigure, and creatively course-correct again and again and again (and again!). 

I’ll just tell you straight up–tossing a toddler into the mix of our life has thrown me for a major loop.

The baby-stage was mostly a breeze, but since we dropped the morning nap and he transitioned from snuggly baby to busy-never-sitting-still-crawling-onto-the-counter-emptying-every-cupboard-playing-in-the-toilet-every-time-I-turn-around-needing-constant-training-toddler I have had a hard time figuring out how to order our day effectively. (Advice welcomed!)

So, since “Plan A” days became so rare, I went ahead and posted “Plan B” in our house, just so we all knew what to do.

So far that’s the one thing that’s working well. My children are very kind and they’re alive. Yes! 

But even though “Plan A” doesn’t happen exactly, for me it’s still immensely helpful to have a rough outline of where we’re going each day.

It isn’t about following it exactly, but it does give us a guide. 

Honestly, I still feel pretty scattered.

Juggling a teen and a tween and a toddler along and my writing and speaking commitments, with what feels like loads of food prep (we love healthy food), and wanting to love and serve my husband and my parents and the precious people around me in our various spheres, I feel like I’m rarely giving anyone the attention they deserve.

But. God is so gracious, He gives us new mercies each morning, and I wouldn’t trade the details of my life for anything in the world. They go something like this… {Read the rest over at Simple Homeschool! Thanks!}