Do not let your peace depend on what people say of you, for whether they speak good or ill of you makes no difference to what you are. True peace and joy is to be found in Me [Jesus] alone. He who is neither anxious to please nor afraid to displease men enjoys true peace.
~Thomas a Kempis
♥ I pierced my nose last fall. When asked why, I say, Do you want the short answer or the not-so-short answer? The short answer is, I've always thought tiny shimmering studs in a woman's nose are beautiful. Feminine. Graceful. The not-so-short answer is that I have finally learned to fear God more than I fear man. 39 years of living in grave fear of what others might say about me or my choices, and I know this goes way back because in high school a friend had the courage to say to me, "You know, everyone isn't talking about you all the time". Ouch. Guess I thought so. When you experience for yourself that it is Almighty God who can snuff out our time on earth in one heartbeat, you tend to see Him for who He is: Omnipotent, All-Knowing, Sovereign. My fear of His power rose exponentially, but my fear of man fell into the garbage heap where it belongs. We're not talking about a Biblical issue or sin here. I'm open and receptive to hearing about what ails me, and the Holy Spirit does a very steady job of revealing my short comings while at the same time breathing life-giving truths into my soul. You might not like nose rings, you might associate them with something negative, and you might never, ever do that to your nose. That's ok. What's not ok is when we take the role of cosmic policeman either by imposing our own extra-Biblical choices onto others, when we measure our spirituality by outward marks of insignificant details (think nose piercing, highlighted hair, or a trendy hat... or homeschooling, dresses only, exclusively Christian music), or when we assign a role to God that He Himself doesn't own (that cosmic policeman...) Why, after being unshackled by the freeing grace of God, do we want to put ourselves back into bondage? Fear God and God alone.
"Ronnie was no longer certain of anything. She had been wrong about so many things: her dad, Blaze, her mother, even Will. Life was so much more complicated than she had ever imagined..."
Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song
♥
Life is complicated. We like to package things neatly in black and white, but that's just not the way it is. We can craft little perfect worlds of seemingly spiritual platitudes and ideals, but when the rubber meets the road, it's never neat and tidy.
See, here's the thing: pagans cared for my children when they were in desperate need. Women who went to college. Women who put their children in *gasp* public school and then go to work. If we hold to these extra-Biblical models that women ought not have higher education and ought not have a job beyond the home, then what do we do when things are messy? Complicated? What do we do when we feel the utmost of gratitude for women who are there in the ER, in the ICU, on the pediatrics floor? Dear, Godly women like my sister-in-law who have Godly homes, loving marriages, children who follow God, and a job?
I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water. When we are given a husband and children, that's our calling. But does that look exactly the same for each one of us? Does the outworking of our faith look exactly the same as someone else's?
Some of my readers are wondering what in the world I'm talking about, unaware of some of these ideas circulating around homeschool circles and permeating choices. Others of you are firmly in that camp and have just decided to stop reading Preschoolers and Peace. That's ok. We've been marginalized for our choices in the past two years, choices that reflect how God has transformed our family. We're getting used to being black sheep ;)
I am confident that I will stand next to Baptists and Pentecostals and Fundamentalists and Methodists and Arminians and Calvinists and Mennonites and a whole slew of non-descript believers in heaven because they love Jesus more than their platitudes. Love Jesus more than your platitudes! Evangelize the world for Jesus, not a lifestyle!
Be in the business of giving people hope.
