Heart Reflections Live

On Mother's Day, my hubby asked me to share at Church for a few minutes, prior to Communion, on communion from a Mother's point of view, using Jesus' mother, Mary as an example.

On this day, Mothers Day, a day on which we honour our Mothers who raised us, or who are raising us, I would like to present Holy Communion to you, through the eyes of a woman, perhaps the most reknowned Mother of all time, Mary the Mother of Jesus...

Mary was the chosen vessell of God to carry the Christ Child into this wicked world, but this doesn't mean she was perfect or sinless, or anything like that- she confessed her own sin-nature in her joyous outburst in Luke 1:47, when she said, "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" - if she was indeed sinless she wouldn't have declared her need for a saviour. She was like any one of us can be, when our hearts are totally submitted unto the Lord. How many of us could say, "Behold the Handmaid( or servant) of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy Word." How much joy and pain she was committing herself to in that one simple statement of faith and submission!

I remember when I saw "The Passion of the Christ"- I thought it one of the most beautiful films I ever saw. Yes it was very raw, real and gorey in parts, but I was totally mesmerized by the way they portrayed the relationship between Jesus and Mary, his mother.

My favourite scene in whole movie, was when Mary saw Jesus stumble under the weight of the cross. She immediately flashed back in her mind to him stumbling and falling as a boy at play, her Mother's heart longing to help him, ran to the cross,where Jesus smiled at her through the pain and said words to the effect of, "Do not fear, woman, I am fullfilling my destiny!" and suddenly it all seemed to make sense!-all the things she had stored up in her heart over the years,- the angels, the boy in the temple, A sword was indeed piercing her own heart as she not only faced the unfathomable pain of seeing her first-born suffer and die, but the realization, that He, the Lamb of God, was bearing her sins too.

Mary's story doesn't finish there. Jesus in his compassion and love passed her into the care of John, during some of his final moments on the cross, then there was the resurrection and joy again!, and then of course she was tarrying in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came. Mary the Mother of Jesus, became part of the first church!

I can't imagine the pain Mary went through in losing her first-born son- yet grief is the price we all pay for love, and in Jesus, and the hope of the resurrection, it can, like as it did for Mary, turn pain into unspeakable joy.

Labels: Christ Crucified, church

Our Mary, (Talitha) with eyes of wonder, beholding her Lord!!

Despite being nervous the night before, Talitha was a delightful Mary.

I hope you and yours had a very blessed Easter.

Labels: church

Labels: church

In July, we began, with the Lord's leading, a small Church in the town where we live. (And God is blessing us mightily!).

The week after we began, our little girls built.... A CATHEDRAL!!!

Out of Duplo! And they played "Church" with it for a couple of weeks.

It is my earnest prayer, that our family's Faith in Christ would truly enlarge and deepen with every generation...

Labels: church, Faith, family, family fun, family life, generations, Talitha, Zara

My husband & I were recently stuck in traffic behind a 4WD sporting the sticker, "Adventure Before Dementia"- we laughed, another Baby Boomer hitting the road! I don't know if my American, Canadian or UK blogfriends are familiar with this phrase, but in Australia it's pretty much akin to "We're spending our children's inheritance!& enjoying it too!" -something that is fast becoming something of a trend here. But is it Biblical? What does God's Word say about this sort of thing?

Proverbs 13:22 says, "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just."
That's Old Testament, & in the New Testament the Apostle Paul said in2 Cor 12:14 "... for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children."
Lest any one think my parents are about to buy a camper van & take off into the wide, blue yonder- they are not!! They are wonderful, faithful workers, who have always saved hard, & often have to be encouraged to enjoy the fruits of their labour a bit more & thankfully they are now starting to do this. They are not following the worldly trend.

The Baby Boomer population is now demographically the largest group of people alive today, what a benefit they could be to the Body of Christ ! Empty-nesters could give time to building up the church & reaching out to Generation Y- the next largest demographic group, many of whom have grown up with a greater knowledge of who Ronald Macdonald is than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There are so many children growing up today from broken homes, in a secular, humanistic school system, believing they have evolved from slime, who could really be reached by caring older Christian folk volunteering to teach Religious Education in the State school system. If we don't do it there are plenty of other people from different religions & ideologies eager to take a shot at it. Some state schools on the Sunshine Coast don't even have a program for R.E. I've heard.

Older folk have so much to offer the young- their own families & the wider community at large. The Bible always encourages us to think generationally, with our eyes towards Heaven. We are to live for Christ & not for ourselves. I'm writing this with respect & reverence to our older generation. We need you in our churches. We have youth needing to learn what it is to serve- maybe by helping you in your garden, if you are feeling sick. Service works both ways. They need your wisdom.

We need older women to "Titus" the younger- to teach them to love their husbands & their children, to be good keepers at home. Many young women, or new converts may have missed this growing up & know nothing of "Family Life" save being at day care & then going home to eat takeaway & watch videos to keep out of their parents hair. Can you see how much you're needed?

Retirement is never actually mentioned in the Bible. You may retire from your earthly job, but God may yet have some surprises for your Golden years. Your golden years are worth more than Adventure Before Dementia & when you're in Christ the best is always yet to come.

Labels: baby boomers, church, generations

Labels: church