Wordless Wednesday

Abundant Thinking VS Small (Grinch) Thinking

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Jesus (John 10:10)

In our Life Group last night we were presented with the idea of being an Abundant Thinker verses a Small or Grinch Thinker. By just reading those to descriptions you automatically know which you should be but what does that look like? How exactly do you accomplish that?

As Ed and I drove home last night I was telling him about my opportunity to speak to the women of our church about our journey with miscarriage. I'm not sure I always think abundantly. Actually I know many times I get trapped in small thinking. But for sure in this area I am confident that God has given me a message. I am thinking abundantly of what he wants to accomplish through my journey. The deal is that if I don't share it, if I don't use my voice I can never go from thinking abundantly to living abundantly. Thinking abundantly is the start for sure, now it takes action.

What is my message? Its complex with great emotion and great pain. However, its a simple way to change our thinking. God values life. As Christians we get very emotional about being pro-life and protecting the unborn. We must come to a point where we grieve with families who have a loss from miscarriage as passionately as we stand for the right for life. If we do not we will continue to send a mixed message to the world that we value life when a mother is making a choice to end it but we will ignore the hurt and pain women feel when they do not have a choice and that life is ended through miscarriage.

With God's power working in us,

God can do much, much more

than anything we can ask or imagine.

To him be glory in the church

and in Christ Jesus for all time,

forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Jesus Is The Good Shepherd

Several months ago (January 18th to be exact) I promised to make a post about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. So I'm going to do it even though it is 2 months later!

Again, this is from BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) where we have been studying the book of John.

John 10 speaks of Jesus being the good shepherd. If only we lived 2,000 years ago and understood fully what Jesus was saying when he spoke of the good shepherd. I don't know any shepherds so most of this came as a new thought about the person of Jesus.

So some facts about shepherds (there are certainly more):

A good shepherd will lay his life down for his sheep.

A good shepherd knows his sheep. The key to the welfare of the sheep was the individual attention and care of each sheep.

After grazing in the field during the day, a good shepherd inspects each sheep as the enter the pin at night to see if there is any cut or aggravation that needs attention that only the shepherd can provide relief from.

Some facts about sheep (besides being dumb animals and needing a good shepherd to survive):

Sheep will not lay down unless they are completely free of fear and hunger.

To be at rest a sheep must be completely free of aggravation.

Sheep do not look for a shepherd. They are not smart enough to know they need a shepherd.

It is possible for sheep to fall on their backs and not be able to get up.

So now look at the list about a good shepherd. Do you see anything about Jesus that you haven't seen before?

For me it was that picture of a nightly inspection of any cut or aggravation that I had suffered that only Jesus could attend to. I have begun to pray that Jesus will inspect me. To take care of any hurt that only he can attend to. He does it anyway...me praying for it doesn't make it happen but it does help me to be aware that I have a Good Shepherd who tenderly cares for me and every hurt I have. He is searching me, he is attending to me. I don't have to do anything...I'm not even smart enough to know I need it!

So now look at the list about the sheep. Do you see anything new?

Honestly most of those were new for me. I just knew that sheep were dumb!

But the idea that sheep can actually fall on their backs and not get up was something that spoke to me at the time. Psalm 42:11 says "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why do disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Downcast is actually the term for a sheep that has fallen on their back and cannot get up. In the hours and weeks following the news of our miscarriage I was downcast. Remember the email I sent my girlfriends just hours after the news of my loss? Remember the first set of "I am" statements I made at the end of that email? That was the perfect picture of someone who is downcast. I was literally on my back with no hope of getting up myself. Remember my second set of "I am" statements? That is the picture of someone who has been inspected by the Good Shepherd and tenderly cared for so that I might rest.

As a believer I am secure in my salvation. With that salvation I have received the Good Shepherd who attends to me daily. I am thankful each night when my head hits the pillow for my Good Shepherd, who in the quite of that moment is searching out each hurt and tending gently to every need I have, even those I am not aware of.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--

and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

The Lord is my Shepherd. He restores my soul.

Psalm 23:1a,3a

Labels

I added the label gadget to my blog today so that I could look at my posts based on my labels. As I browsed through the labels I decided to skim them to see what I had written about what.

I have to admit I got a little sad (ok very sad) as I scrolled through the posts on miscarriage and saw the post with the picture of the empty gestational sac. The reality came back in high gear. I would be 22 weeks now. We would likely know the sex of our baby. We would be talking names, figuring out who would sleep where when the baby arrived. We would be dreaming about our new addition in color now...pink or blue.

This moment is a tough one. Sure wish things were different.

Rylee speaks

Photo credit...taken my the amazing Sarah Lundin

I've been able to post lots of fun things that Gunner has said recently on my facebook status. Just a recap...

Kathy McClellan Hitchcock said "Gunner this is your one and only warning to do what I asked you to do." Gunner replied "Mommy, God gave his one and only son!"

Yesterday at 1:00pm

Kathy McClellan Hitchcock Mommy it was just an accident when I picked my sister up and threw her head first on the ground. Oh my...

Fri at 4:11pm

Kathy McClellan Hitchcock

as Gunner is sitting on the couch awaiting his punishment Rylee goes looking for him. She can hardly stand to be away from him. I hear him say to her "I'm sorry, do you forgive me?" now he asking her if she understands and making her say "Yes Gunner"

Seriously...

Fri at 4:14pm

Kathy McClellan Hitchcock After Gunner completely pulls Rylee's feet out from under her he says, "Oh sorry BabyRylee. I'm an expert knocker downer. I thought you were a bad baby. Sorry." No tears from Rylee, she must be an expert faller downer!

February 26 at 6:00pm

We have been surprised at Rylee throughout her little life. Surprised that she started so big (8lb 8oz) and has stayed so small even though she eats more than Gunner and has since she was 9 months old and would only eat table food! Surprised that she loves Gunner as much as she does and rarely cries when he is rough with her, which is pretty much all the time. Surprised that she has been slower developmentally than Gunner on everything but rolling over (and eating table food), she rolled over at 1 month! Surprised that she is not talking like Gunner did. Now I know we are not suppose to compare our kids and I'm not really comparing to make one out to be better than the other, I'm just saying that Gunner was our normal. So when Gunner was 17 months he was capable and did on occasion talk in complete sentences. His first sentence was "we go outside and play some basketball." He was 16 or 17 months old when he said that. We have it on video and it is the cutest thing!

Rylee has lots of words and probably signs more than Gunner did but she doesn't talk like he did. However, there is very little doubt of what she wants. She is able to shake her head yes or no to answer just about any question, and has added the uhuh and unthuh which I personally get a kick out of.

She says: Momma, Daddy, Nunner, Brocco, PawPaw, MomMaw, mulk (milk), dink (drink), eat, outside, thank you, no, yes (it doesn't sound exactly like yes but that's what she is saying), rock (as in rocking chair).

I'm sure she says a lot more but right now I can't think of anything else so for now this is the list ;-)

She signs: please, more, again, thank you (occasionally when we are singing but usually she just says it)

Today when I was putting her down for a nap she spoke. It was very unexpected because we were doing her normal bedtime routine, reading books and singing and in the middle of my singing she sat up and said "NO." I kept singing assuming that she surely wasn't telling me not to sing. A few seconds later she said in a loud deep raspy voice "NO." At this point I decided she might be telling me not to sing. I asked her if she wanted me to sing. My question was followed with a clear "unt-hun" from her. So to bed with she went. I know I'm not the best singer but wow I have to admit it hurt my feelings just a bit. I love to rock her and today my time was cut short. Good thing we get to do it again tomorrow!

Mommy Will You Pray?

Last night at 1:30 am I was woken up by Gunner crying. His legs cramp at night. This is pretty normal during the spring and summer months when he gets to run and play outside.

So last night I went in to check on him and he told me it was his legs. I gave him some Motrin and laid down with him to rub his legs until the Motrin could kick in. I told him the medicine would make his legs feel better soon. He responded with "Mommy will you pray too?" Yes little buddy...anytime we are taking medicine we should pray too! We prayed that God would touch his legs and make them feel better soon. I silently prayed that God would take the pain away immediately so that Gunner would see first hand that God answers prayer. By the time I said amen Gunner was sound asleep and I was able to stumble back to my own bed and we all slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

I love that my little boy is seeing the value of seeking the Lord anytime we hurt and in this case I didn't have anything to do with his desire for that prayer.

We Loved Because God First Loved Us

Me: What did you learn in bible school today Gunner?

Gunner: What did you learn in bible school Mom?

Me: I learned that we love because God first loved us. It says that in the Bible, 1 John 4:19.

Gunner: Hey! That's what I learned too! Mommy, that's what Rylee learned too! We all learned the same thing about God today!

I am so thankful that Gunner and Rylee are learning about God's love along side me. I have to admit I think my lesson might be a little bit harder to get and put into practice but thankfully God has sufficient grace for me.

A thought from my bible school lesson today...

What did Jesus do when little children interrupted him?

Ouch! How many times a day do my children interrupt me and how often do I honestly respond the way Jesus did?

Well here's my 1st test, Rylee is awake from her nap but I'm not done with this post. I will choose to go care for my baby rather than going on and on!