As for me and my house

We dedicated sweet Mattias to the Lord two days ago. We committed before our church family to raise Mattias to know God, to teach him the both the laws and the love of God, ton introduce him to the Jesus who loves him with such matchless love, to follow God ourselves in such a way as to model a life of faith. Pastor Joel used Joshua 24 to challenge us as parents. As Joel said, in this passage, Joshua drew a line in the sand and challenged the Israelites to choose who they would follow. It was a big event in his life, as he said in verse 15 "But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." But as Joel said, it is not just a big event, but a daily choice.

It is a daily choice that we, as Christ-followers and as parents, must make every day. What was so meaningful to me was that so much of what was said fell right in line with what God has been showing me for the last several weeks: everything I do is in service to my God, first. When I serve Mattias (and Soren) it is in service to God. This idea was also part of the sermon that morning and has been a constant theme in Isaiah as I have studied it this year.

I have been reminded again and again of many things this year: 1. God has called me to be a stay-at-home-mom and wife for this period of my life, 2. God will empower and uphold me to fulfill this wonderful and challenging call, 3. I need to daily seek and submit to God, relying on Him for the patience, energy and wisdom to meet the demands of my calling and to deepen my relationship with God.

This perspective on my role has deepened my joy in living the calling God has given me. There are times when it is very difficult for me to be a stay-at-home-mom, when I get so mired in the daily tasks that I lose sight of the greater, grander purpose of what I'm doing. I lose sight of the fact that I do laundry in service to the Lord, that I clean toilets in service to the Lord, that I ready stories and play trains in service to the Lord. Both the mundane and the exciting are part of my calling and my service to the Lord. All of this is because Erich and I have made the choice to say, "as for me and my house, we will serve Lord."