A Few Laughs

The things we do to our children! Oh how this makes me laugh! Almost to tears!!

I wish I had the guts to post the picture of Kace in the outfit! He had it on backwards! But I think those photos are just for us!

Blogging, Twittering, or Conversing Over Coffee: Some Thoughts on the Sovereignty of God and Our Friendships

Whew! That title could probably be a blog post in and of itself. Despite its length, however, this title reflects some musings on relational intimacy that have occupied my mind of late. So much of the Internet connectedness we have come to know and love over the past few years has enabled us to renew contact with long lost pals from yesterday and maintain relationships with distant friends all across the globe. Though the unanimous consensus is that all of our renewing and maintaining of relationships is a good thing, there are some detrimental consequences that must be heralded.

Whether we mind or not, all the Internet based social networking sites take time. Time to figure out, time to maintain, time to use, ad nauseam. Now this time it is argued is well spent since it is meant to be an investment in our friendships. Such is certainly true, but the reality is that our most immediate relational opportunities (fellow church members, neighbors, co-workers, essentially anyone within a few miles drive of our home) get short shrifted when we spend TOO much time on social networking sites. More often than not the end result of all our blogging, twittering, and skyping is that our porch rockers and kitchen tables are all too often empty. This is NOT the way it is supposed to be!

The answer is not to go off the grid and completely separate ourselves from our old friends, but rather to trust a little more in the sovereignty of God. Wherever you currently live right now is exactly where the bulk of your relational investments ought to be. It is an unwise endeavor indeed to relationally invest most of your time in the past while neglecting the friendships of the present. God has providentially placed you exactly where you are right now. He also providentially had you where you were but by His good design you are no longer there. You may miss and even long for some of those close relationships you had while you were in college or living in your hometown, but those relationships never became what they were via a wireless connection. They came from living, working, worshipping, crying, and laughing face to face and shoulder to shoulder. These kind of relationships are still possible but they will take time, the kind of time you will never have as long as tweeting and facebooking our more important than having your neighbor over for dinner.

Consider going low-tech and telling someone in your Sunday School class to join you for coffee at your house or inviting your neighbor to come over for football one day (preferably a Saturday so they have the opportunity to watch some real football). Having said that, don't neglect those long-distance friends you can only chat with through Facebook or Gmail. First and foremost, let the bulk of your time be spent pouring out your life for those in your church and community but never forget to jump online from time to time in order to love on those who will always be your cherished friends.

Our Day Out!

Our family went out for a day together and here are the photos and some thoughts.

The Four Crazy Monkeys!
He's getting too big for his britches!


Nice Goats, Silas was much more enthused then Kace!

My middle men! Aren't these faces the cutest??

One thing I have been pondering over the last several weeks is my own attachment to my children. My love of them is one thing, my expectation is totally another. Often I am drawn into the trap of desiring already sanctified children. I love them so much and I know that the Lord is what is necessary for them therefore their sin is often more then I "expect." But why don't I "expect" sinners to sin and to do so in HUGE amounts over long periods of time? I do so because I to am a sinner in need of grace. I hold my children to a higher standard than my God holds me. I need to remember in humility and grace that my children are a work in progress and I am not above them as the wise old sage, but I am still learning the same lessons of relying on and trusting my savior. I may be a bit ahead because the work of redemption has been active in my heart and mind in a more real way then in theirs. But I am still a sinner daily battling with the sin of my flesh. With Anger, pride, selfishness and sloth. How then am I always so tempted to think they must not and cannot fall prey to the same?

One statement I read in a book (I think it was Richard Baxters Book on his wife Margaret, she says and I am paraphrasing....) that the sources of our greatest joy are also the sources of our greatest disappointment. Therefore we must temper our love that our eyes might be fixed with more devotion on the One who truly satisfies our needs, Our Savior and God Jesus Christ! Jesus more then our children or husband or any other object is what gives us lasting joy. This is a hard concept to grasp and it is often bandied about in a flipant way that we cannot really understand, but we have all been disappointed by the things we have set our greathope in.

For Example: Our husband forgets that we like thin crust pizza and only orders hand tossed. We are hurt not only by the fact that we haven't recieved what we had set our hearts on but also that this person we have lived with for years doesn't remember who we are. (Am I right? this may sound petty, but I know that not just me is like this!) Or our child disobeys in some manner that not only embarasses us but also grieves us. I personally hate it when my boys have a melt down in the store! I am literally mortified, especially with all the accusing looks you recieve. I would honestly pay my child a million dollars to get them out of the store in about a millisecond. But what do we expect? Our chilren are not as able and willing to hide their sin as we are and thus it is more obvious. But even more then that...they ARE SINNERS, and in need of the same Grace we were in such need of. We must bear with them in patience and love.

We must temper our love. What I mean by temper is that we must get our love inline with the love depicted in the Bible. 1 Corintians 13-- We have all heard this! "Love is patient, love is kind, it doesn't envy or boast, it isn't arrogant (or prideful ie. I am better than you, I am further along then you), It does not insist on it's own way, it isnt irritable or resentful, it doesn't rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love Never fails."

Uggg! That is what the writer of Hebrews means when he says the Word of God is sharper then any two edged sword able to cut to the bone! I am undone! I am not like this with the ones I love. I set up expectations, I lose my cool, I am prideful, I insist we do things my way or the highway. Oh, How much work there is left to do in my own sinful heart and this TRUTH will temper our love as well as humble our hearts. Like Paul says in Galatians if a person thinks he is something he deceives himself and the truth is not in him (6:3). We are called to love in a manner that would honor our Great God, let us do so with abandon to Him alone and in great Humility and joy.

Update: Our Summer So Far

We took a long vaca and drove through 11 states! I can hardly believe we made it 4700 miles!

My big man FIVE! FIVE! How does the time pass so?!

My baby sister got hitched! I had to attend! :)

VBS! It was such a good time!

William managed to eek out a masters of Biblical languages degree after four years, four kids, a full time and part time job....oh yeah and lil ole me!

Though I haven't yet gotten a picture of it! (Yeah I am a slacker!) My girl is standing on her own and even trying to walk!

We are trying the swimming thing a whole lot this summer! My Poor whitey! What shall I do with thee? How cute is this face?

I figured after a two month hiatus a picture (or several) was worth more then words! Am I right? We have been a busy bunch and I am guessing that things will only get worse as the school year begins and my big man goes off to kindergarten and my middle man starts pre-school! Some times I look at them and they are so cute and I think there is no way they are even mine on loan. But then they come in the house after a half hour in our yard, covered in a literal inch of dust and I remember..."Oh yeah! they're mine, alright!"

Many blessings!

The crazy douglas fam