**A brief note and apology on the extended hiatus from this blalk...Ah! I'm beating myself up for being one of those who says they're going to do something and then doesn't follow through - VERY IRONIC in view of this post I wrote weeks ago - and then never posted. Looks like I have a long way to go, sistas...a looong way to go. Oh those "good" intentions... So...after some time with family in TX and a brief study on Colossians, I'm leaning into grace to be able to finish this before the end of summer. If any of you still reading and walking along would like to post your own thoughts on any section of 2 Corinthians, please send it my way!! It can be for my eyes only, or I'd love to post it here to share with many. My hope is for this to be a communal effort in balking together. I need me some "sister spurring on" :)
2 Corinthians 1:12-24
I want my mothering to be clear, straightforward, genuine and pure from the heart. Not muddled by my own untrustworthy earthly wisdom or deceptive fleshly motivations. I want my kids someday to look back and realize that my words and actions were reflections of God's grace manifest in and through me.(1:12-13) That on the day the Lord Jesus comes back again, they will be proud of me in the same way I am proud of them, full of joyful thanks that we have run the race with all we've got. (1:14)
I want to abide so fully in Jesus that my mothering is pure and always points to the "Yes!" in Jesus. That even when I waiver...when my kids say "But Mom, you promised!!" - my waivering is not from selfish ambition as the world is so naturally prone. My waivering is based on the wisdom of Christ and my motivation is rather that I perceive it to be best for our family or the Kingdom at large, even when it may dissapoint or inconvenience us. For example - in this passage Paul promised to go see the Corinthians twice again. Then he realized that for the sake of their faith and love in Christ, it would be better to only see them once to spare them grief (1:23-2:4). Then they threw a temper tantrum and began accusing him of being wishy washy and like the world. His changing his mind was for their benefit and his conscience was clear in Christ. He knew that their temporary disappointment would work to their eternal gain.
So as I consider my mothering in this passage, two things jump out. One, I want to be as clear and straightforward with my kids as is wise in the moment according to God's grace at work in me. If I promise something, I want to be the sort of mom who delivers. On the big stuff and the little stuff. And not only in promising blessing, but also in carrying through with boundaries and discipline. Let your "yes" be "yes" and your "no", "no". Just like Jesus (Matt 5:37) I want them to begin to really see a clear distinctive between our home and this world. We reflect our King.
In the same vein, when I do waiver for whatever reason, it's such a great teaching opportunity to point my kids to Jesus and say, "But look! This world may change and people can't make guarantees they can always keep - But God's promises are ALWAYS "yes" because Jesus is certain and for real." You can trust Him to always, always come through. Paul pointed the Corinthians to Christ! Christ the eternal "Yes!" in God. The one affirmed by God as the yes of every promise in the Old and New Testaments. An all His promises for His children are good. We repond to Him and take hold of the "Yesses" by believing in Him. "The Spirit brings God's promises home to us, makes them alive to us, and empowers us to obey them." (*Stedman, 279)
Amen! And Amen! :)
shawna
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