Category: Faith

“I Don’t Know What My Future Holds, But I Know Who Holds My Future.”

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

One of Tim Tebow’s, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, favorite sayings and one of mine from his book, Through My Eyes.

If you ever wanted to get to know Tebow better, read this book.  It explains how he ticks, what motivates him, and his single-minded determination to follow his passion (football and specifically playing quarterback)–all with God’s help and all to His glory.

Warning to the ladies:  this book is packed full of football plays, strategy, and game-day moments that for the uninitiated can be very tedious and boring.  Luckily for me, I actually wrote a novel on a football player so I learned all about football and read tons of book on the matter so I now consider myself knowledgeable in the area.

However, it is in these football reminisces that Tebow throws in the God nuggets of wisdom that makes this book great.

For someone so young it is surprising and inspiring really how he is so grounded in life.  He knows what’s important, what’s the goal in life (living for others, fulfilling God’s purpose for you, and giving Him the glory) and he never deviates.  Based on this book, Tebow never engages in stupid teenager stuff (inspiring for those of us parents who are yet to face the infamous teenage years) and he is always pulling for his team and everyone else.

Yet he’s not perfect.  One of my favorite moments was when he is describing a game against LSU.  Apparently LSU students had gotten a hold of his phone number and were relentlessly calling him all week so after a touchdown he and his teammates celebrated and Tebow mocked them (P. 139).  I love this because it is human.  And I think that’s okay.

But I think the part of this book I will always remember is probably one I shouldn’t but I will:  Tebow’s dog, Otis.  Otis was the protector of their family and one day Tebow finds him on their farm mangled, his jaw all twisted and his legs splayed apart unnaturally. The vet informs the family that Otis was probably hit with a baseball bat.  Miraculously, Otis survives and lives a fairly normal life afterwards.

I’m sure this was probably the act of some stupid teenagers trying to pay back Tebow for whatever.  But in my view there is a special place in Hell for those who harm animals and kids and are unrepentant.  I only pray it was just an act of stupid kids and they did repent of it.

Still, as an animal lover, I get riled when people do stupid stuff like this and it cuts me to the core.

I loved this book.  Sure, I’m biased.  I’m a huge Denver and Tebow fan so that helps.  But this book is so encouraging especially to us parents who rue how this world has become when it comes to our kids.  Yet Tebow shows kids can grow up to love God, love others, love the world, and make it a better place without falling into the typical teenage trap of underage sex, underage drinking or doing drugs, immature pranks and acts (like beating up dogs for a stupid revenge or bet), or any other crowd mentality kids tend to follow.

There are many human moments in this book like where Tebow is trying to decide which college to play for and in the end when he does decide he briefly decides to change his mind and then he receives no peace from God over the decision (P. 88).

He talks about doing the right thing on P. 176 which reminds me of Paul 2 Thessalonians 3:13 “never tire of doing what is right.”

Tebow talks about how we all have a platform God has given us that we must use for His glory and how football is that for him.  How we should give everything–victories and disappointments–to God.  How God’s voice is the only voice that matters.

He’s a great example of what living a God-centered life looks like.

Great, encouraging book in these times of so much negativity.  One that will surely lift you up and remind you of the only important thing in this transient world:  God.

You Can’t Help BUT Be Inspired by Tim Tebow…

by atozmom, posted in Faith

Watching Sunday’s playoff game of the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Denver Broncos was exciting, nerve-wracking, inspiring, emotional, and in the end downright amazing.

I have to admit:  I thought the Broncos would lose.  I was pacing my living room after the Steelers tied it.  After every snap Roethlisberger took, I’d yell, “Get him!” at the TV.  My kids thought I was nuts.

I thought we’d lose in overtime especially if we didn’t win the coin toss.  But luckily we did win and the rest is history.

Or is it His Story?

As a Christian, you can’t help but root for Tim Tebow.  The man is downright refreshing. Someone who seemingly has it all together (as all together as a human can be).  He’s passionate, talented, authentic, and enjoyable to watch.  He loves Jesus, is the first to say so, and is unapologetic about it.  How many of us can say this?

He is something I aspire to as a mother for we all know how and why Tim is like he is: God and his family.  His mother and father instilled in him God’s love and it radiates off of him as bright as the morning Sun after a rainy day.

He is a role model for my kids:  how I want them to behave, act, and believe.  To not bow to the pressures of this world.  To stand firm in your beliefs when countless others tell you you are wrong.  To follow your heart and your God no matter the consequences.

He gets down on one knee and prays “even if everyone around you is doing something different”, now known as “Tebowing”, a term invented by a die-hard Broncos fan who now runs a website with pictures of people Tebowing all over the world and sells T-shirts (of which I am eagerly awaiting mine!).

In this world where we are bombarded daily with negativity, immoral values being legitimized, and God marginalized by a secular society, I will take Tim stories any day.

He runs a foundation, granting wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, partnering to build a Children’s Hospital in the Philippines, and much more.

He is doing God’s work and I wish I’d see more of this in the news and all around me. Tim has been placed by God in this position in this moment for a purpose.  And I believe He is succeeding in God’s purpose.  Wildly and powerfully so.

Last year’s Super Bowl was the most watched program in the world, garnering 106 million viewers all over the world.  Can you imagine what Tim’s impact would be if the Broncos made it to the Super Bowl?

Incalculable, I’d bet.

Seeing someone who so has a heart for God, who’s following his passion in life, and giving God all the credit I believe could be a catalyst for millions of those who are struggling without God to turn to Him.

This is my prayer.  That God would continue to use Tim for His purpose.  That the Broncos do make the Super Bowl (this is selfish as I’m a Broncos fan!).  And that Tim has an amazing career in the NFL for years to come.  That he continues to inspire countless others to live for God.

He inspires me.

I pray he inspires you.

The Magician’s Nephew

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

One of the best parts of having kids is you get to relive your childhood all over again and experience the things you might have missed as a child.

Somehow I missed the captivating Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis when I was a kid.  Never heard of it really.  But since the movies, I have purchased a complete set and when we are on road trips I read one whole book to my family.

Last weekend we read The Magician’s Nephew, the first in the series that was written after the others in order to explain the creation of Narnia itself.

As you may or may not know, C.S. Lewis was a Christian writer.  He wrote tons of books for adults on the subject.  But he also wrote kids books.  And in the Chronicles of Narnia, God and the battle with good and evil are skillfully woven throughout allegorically.  It’s magical really.  You can read the whole series and see God everywhere or you can read it and not see God but you are left wondering about a Creator of the universe.

The Magician’s Nephew tells how Digory (the nephew) discovers Narnia as it is being created by Aslan the Lion.  However, Digory unwittingly brings the Witch (evil) into the world at the very beginning.  The Magician who forced Digory to time travel cannot hear the Lion’s voice.  Aslan explains why:

“This world is bursting with life for these few days….But I cannot tell that to this old sinner, and I cannot comfort him either; he has made himself unable to hear my voice.  If I spoke to him, he would hear only growlings and roarings.  Oh Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourself against all that may do you good!”

I LOVED this.  Absolutely loved it!

For I think:  how often God does speak to us but we cannot hear Him?  How we have made ourselves unable to hear and we do only hear growlings and roarings.  How God only wants good for us but we somehow misconstrue the message by our own actions and Free Will.  How we are so consumed by something miniscule in our lives that God’s voice is blocked.

Then Aslan gives the Magician the one gift he is able to receive:  the gift of sleep.

This struck me as well since many times over the past year I have gone to sleep just so my mind would rest.  Just so the growlings and the roarings would stop and I’d have a chance to hear God speak.

These books are classics, timeless, and ingenious.  This is something I strive for in my writings.  Making God seen and teaching life’s lessons to those who desperately need to hear it.  To both believers and non-believers.  As I needed to hear this one.

I cannot recommend all of these books enough.

Like a Tree Planted by Streams of Water…

by atozmom, posted in Faith

“Like a tree planted by steams of water,” (Psalms 1:3), the soul is irrigated by the Bible and acquires vigor, produces tasty fruit, namely, true faith, and is beautified with a thousand green leaves, namely, actions that please God.

John Damascene or Saint John of Damascus 8th Century

“What Am I Supposed to Be Doing Here, Lord?”

by atozmom, posted in Faith

I keep asking this right now in my life.

I feel I have all these passions and talents and yet no direction and no motivation.

What am I supposed to be doing and why am I here are my favorite questions right now to ask God.

This follows yesterday’s Free Will post.  I can choose what to do but is it what I’m supposed to be doing or is it something else entirely–and worst, is it in the wrong direction?

Is it all for naught?  A waste of my precious time I could be doing something with my kids?

I question everything these days.  I just wish it would be clear…

I fight every day the question of what’s the point?  Nothing makes sense right now.

Yet all I can do is what I have been doing…praying and waiting and seeking the sign, the answer in whatever form it may come.

Do We Truly Have Free Will?

by atozmom, posted in Faith

This question was raised on my blog and I think it’s a good one to explore.

Do we have Free Will when God knows what we are going to do before we do it? How can this be reconciled?

It’s quite the dichotomy, isn’t it? We can choose but God knows what we’re going to choose before we choose it. I always wonder if we can change our minds without God knowing it or not. If we can change our path. But then God wouldn’t know, would He?

It plays into control. We think we are in control of our lives but God has it all figured out and He is truly in control because He knows and we don’t. You think, “Is God toying with me here? Just tell me, God, since you know!”

I think it’s a design by God to make man depend on Him more. We slowly (sometimes VERY slowly) realize we’re not in control so we must depend and trust in God and in the process grow closer to Him.

That’s how I see it anyways.  Any more thoughts?

“When Have You Realized that Jesus’ Plans for Your Life Were Different from What You’d Expected?”

by atozmom, posted in Faith

This is a question in the sidebar of my study Bible and I had to laugh.

Let’s see:  where should I start?

If you have lived any length of time on this planet, you will see how your plans are not God’s plans.

It’s fun to think back to your dreams as a little kid; how innocent and naive the mind was; how wondrous the world was; how all of that changes as you grow and experience life and learn.

How in your adult life you let go a little more each day and let whatever be, be.

How you watch your kids and the simplicity in their lives and think of when your life was not so complicated.

How you know one day none of the hardships will matter and all that will endure will be God’s plan.

How I know sitting here in my bed with my 3 year old cuddled beside me (he usually crawls in with me in the early morning), my old dog sprawled on the bed leaving dog hair in my husband’s spot, a fly buzzing around, and my Bible lying on the night stand where I just placed it is merely a drip in time.

These drips that I lap up so eagerly.

All God’s plan.

After all, how could my little mind have ever planned any of it?

Certainly not the complex human body, the mechanisms it takes to fly, nor the words on a page that were written just for me–a nobody yet a somebody.

To Him.

The Only One that Matters.

Was Anyone Baptized Before John the Baptist?

by atozmom, posted in Faith

Dove-tailing my Born-Again post, my next question that arose in my mind was this one.

We have previously explored the question in this blog of did anyone go to heaven before Jesus (see discussion here).  It was determined that Jesus went first and then those who had been awaiting to enter heaven did so.

I believe this: One does not have to be baptized to get into heaven; one only has to accept Jesus into their heart.  Others said one must be baptized to reach heaven and quoted scripture as well.

So when did baptism arise and what’s it purpose?

John the Baptize began baptizing people before Jesus.  John the Baptize baptized Jesus and in so doing, “The Spirit descended on him like a dove…and a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1:10

Was John the Baptist the first to begin baptizing people?

I believe so, yes.  He is called John the Baptist, right?

Then Jesus came along, was baptized, and commissioned his disciples to do the same.

I have concluded with two links.  One describes how the Old Testament leads up to baptism and even says how the flooding of the earth and the crossing of the Red Sea was a form of baptism.

It’s interesting so I’m including it here.

But baptism to me is accepting of Christ so I’m hesitant to see how these above examples could be baptism in the modern sense of the word when Christ didn’t exist yet.

This second link does a great job about explaining baptism and its purposes here.

I’m curious as to what your knowledge/opinions are on the history of baptism.

“My Food is To Do the Will of Him Who Sent Me and To Finish His Work”

by atozmom, posted in Faith

Jesus in John 4:34

Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well and explains to her what his food is–what he lives off of–God’s work and God’s will.

This is a great mantra.  To do God’s will and finish what God started; His work for you.

It’s discovering this that’s the hard part.  For each of us has a different commission.

So I pray:

What is your will for me, God, and what is the work I need to finish?

And added:  Make it clear.  Hit me with it as hard as you must. Let me get it without a doubt.

Amen.

You Are Special

by atozmom, posted in Book Reviews, Faith

You Are Special by Max Lucado introduced the world to the Wemmicks.  For those of you who don’t know these delightful kids’ stories, I shall summarize.  They are about a group of wooded people called the Wemmicks who all live in a village overlooked by a house on the hill where the a woodworker named Eli lives (Eli carved all the Wemmicks).  We follow one in particular named Punchinello as he struggles through his daily life.

This story is about Wemmicks who either give you a star or a dot, a star being they approve of you; a dot being otherwise.  Punchinello always receives dots so he’s depressed. He meets another Wemmick named Lucia who has no dots and he wonders why.  She tells him to go and see Eli.

Eli explains:  “I don’t care what the other Wemmicks think.  What they think doesn’t matter, Punchinello.  All that matters is what I think.  And I think you are pretty special.”

Punchinello says he doesn’t understand.

“You will,” Eli says.  “Just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care.  And remember you are special because I made you.  And I don’t make mistakes.”

It’s not hard to see the analogy to God here.

This is so what I needed to hear.  It doesn’t matter what others think (my concern with others judging my writing).  It only matters what God thinks and what God wants.  And if you come to Him, you will know and understand.

Powerful story brought to a kids level that even adults get life truths from.