The Heart of the Matter

This is an excerpt from a letter that I wrote to a friend who had stayed with us for a week with her husband and little children. She wrote to me questioning whether she was serving the Lord enough, and she also was wondering how she could help her husband and train her children better. I felt that one way to serve the Lord and help her husband was by training her children. It is in seeing that all the time and effort that we spend with our children—cuddling, reading, teaching, training, talking to, serving, loving–is service to the king of our household and the King of kings. Anyway, I thought that this may also interest you and give some more insight as to our viewpoint.

First, we want to stress that we are not trying to make anyone like us. That is not the goal at all and that would never work. The Lord trains each son individually, just as we train each of our sons according to their own personality, talents, strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to help one another live up God’s best for their lives–to be the sons that God saw in His mind before we were in our mother’s womb. That is our goal for our own sons and I know that is what God intends.

You asked what you could do. Well I want you to know that I have witnessed vast improvements in your attitude and actions with your husband and your family. You are on a great path and I can see that your heart toward the Lord (and consequently your husband) has changed for the better over the years. Mitch and I are very proud of you and all of your obvious efforts. I want to encourage you in this.

I think that, as you said, the key is to seek first the Kingdom–Prioritizing by the Kingdom. What is most important in a Kingdom? The King–honor and obedience to him. So in the kingdom of our families that is the priority—the kids are not the priority, the king is. I feel that if your heart is towards the wishes of the king, (whether they be intimate time, meals, house in order, obedient children, etc.) then we will be in right standing with the King of kings. This is our service as a help meet. It is also our work in the Kingdom.

As far as your children are concerned, I know that you have been working with them a lot and there is always a lot to do, especially when they are at these ages (3 under age 5). It is a tough job, but God has equipped you to do it and He will back His delegate. If I may make a few suggestions, though, I did observe some things that may help you as you train your kids. Please know that, again, my intention is to assist as an “older woman” in your life, to help make your life better, to help you love your husband and children and help raise them to be true sons of the King. I am not judging or trying to make them into Cowarts, just assisting in the work of the Kingdom in your little realm as a fellow laborer.

Ideally when we train our children, the goal is not to have kids that will just do what they are told. But instead, the goal is to have children that understand that obedience brings joy. Our goal is for the children to have obedience in their heart and not rebellion. We, as the parent of little children, can make them obey, by manipulation and intimidation. (Bribing and yelling are extremes of manipulation and intimidation, but there are also very subtle ways that we manipulate and intimidate.) Often a child is more obedient when the dad is around mainly because he is more intimidating. This is not the ideal. This will often lead to temporary compliance, but it does not address what is in the heart of the child. If the child obeys but pouts, hits or strikes out, stomps his feet, drags his feet AND eventually obeys, whines while obeying, or just looks blankly and doesn’t obey etc…these are all signs that obedience is not it the child’s heart, but instead they are compliant out of manipulation or intimidation (subtle as it may be), because they know that eventually they may get a spanking or yelled at. I observed this with your kids on various occasions. They eventually obey, but the attitude in which they obey is defiant, angry or pouty. This indicates that it isn’t in their heart to obey. This is a very important aspect of child training and as I type it, I realize that it is a difficult concept to articulate. I have several mothers right now that are asking me very specifically how to train little ones and how to tell if they are being too hard, too lenient, etc. on the child. It is a tough call, but the biggest indicator is the attitude in which they obey. I am regularly talking to my kids (different ones go through this at different times, and some are more apt to do it than others) about attitude from the youngest to the oldest.

One of the first lessons in home-schooling is obedience and the fruit of obedience is a good attitude. Or, it can be said that a good attitude is often an indicator of whether or not obedience is in their heart. Learning “reading, writing and ‘rithmatic” is far less important in the beginning than training the child in obedience. Home-schooling will be much more effective and enjoyable for everyone if the child learns this first lesson of the Kingdom. Obey the King (or in this case, His delegate.) In other words, if the child can say his ABC’s but refuses to because he has rebellion in his heart, has he really learned the important lesson? Conversely, if the child is compliant to obey the teacher in everything because obedience has been trained in him, he will be able to learn and do whatever is required in “school.”

So how do you train the heart of the child? What is particularly difficult here is bringing to the conscious mind of a child the awareness that the attitude reveals what is in his heart. This is an abstract concept—That there is an attitude of the heart. So it is necessary for us to first be conscious of it and then take every opportunity to point out manifestations of it. We are looking for opportunities to address what’s in the child’s heart—subtle indicators that reveal it. We are not necessarily looking for big, bold behavioral actions, but subtle indicators like a look in the eye, a smirk on the face, drooped shoulders. We, the parents, must utilize our God-given intuition or sensitivity to these types of indicators. In fact, when Mitch or I take note of a subtle “bad-attitude indicator”, we actually test it by a random command like, “Please, go touch the door”, to test if obedience or rebellion is in the heart. (Mitch adds: On occasion the child responds with a “No!” (or similar rebellious response) and then our suspicions are confirmed…rebellion reveals its ugly head, and now we can address it confidently. Other times the child obeys immediately, walking over, with a “good” attitude and touching the door, and our suspicions are put to rest. In the second scenario, the child is often self-correcting as the exercise emerges or unfolds. THIS IS PERFECT! This trains the child to use self-discipline…so that we don’t have to discipline them. ) As you can see, this type of test illustrates the irrelevance of the actual behavior, (door touching) but emphasizes the importance of what is in the heart.

Here is an example of a training session Mitch and I had with Moriah this past weekend (now keep in mind that we have been talking to her about having a good attitude and using self control since she has been able to understand English.) We asked Moriah to go and change her skirt because it didn’t match her shirt. She said she didn’t want to. We told her that she needed to obey even though she didn’t want to because obedience brings joy. Mitch administered some minor pain. (In this instance it was in the form of a little pinch at the top, back part of her leg.) She pouted and dropped her head and shoulders and turned to go obey. We called her to us, Mitch again administered the minor pain, and asked her if she wanted to be obedient, she said yes, so we asked her to be obedient with a good attitude. She needed to smile and keep her head up and quickly do as she was told. She adjusted her attitude and went on to change her skirt. When she came bouncing back, she had a completely different demeanor. We congratulated her on doing a good job and having a good attitude. We called her to us, hugged her, and told her that she was obedient. She happily snuggled us with a look of pride on her face. We said, “That’s so good! Don’t you feel good that you were obedient? See, obedience does bring joy! Thank you for obeying.” We really don’t care that much about her non-matching clothes, but we do care about the rebellion in her heart as revealed by the pouting, pitiful attitude.  This was a training opportunity, an opportunity to address what was in her heart…so consequently we were compelled to address it until we could see that what was in her heart had changed.

Now what if she didn’t use her self-discipline and change her attitude? What would we have done? Ideally, we would have set all else aside, and spent the time needed to continue patiently and calmly asking her to obey and change her attitude, administering minor pain if she balked or refused. Then, when she finally did obey, we would ask her to obey 2 or 3 random commands, like “put your hands on your head” or “touch the door and come back” just to secure that she was truly disciplining herself. On the rare occasion that she refuses these random commands, then the training session continues until there is complete compliance with a good attitude. Rarely is this necessary if from a very young age they have been trained that obedience brings joy, and that a good attitude must accompany the obedience. There have been rare occasions when the children have gone through a very long training session—each once or twice in their lives—but we have tried to drop what we were doing (going out to dinner, teaching school, making dinner, etc.) and let everyone involved with our plans know that a training session was necessary so please excuse us for a while. Going the distance with these sorts of training sessions is so worth the effort because they rarely have to be done twice in the life of the child if the parent is consistent to enforce obedience on a regular basis. The child’s brain then becomes trained that the attitude and actions of obedience bring joy and therefore they truly desire to have “obedience in their hearts.”

Of course Mitch and I are not perfect in our training of our children, as I am sure you have observed, because it takes discipline on our part to do it. Sometimes we don’t make it a priority because so many other things are going on, sometimes we are not in our own home or we have guests, sometimes I have been tired from a pregnancy, etc. There are many things that can distract us from this work, but this is indeed Kingdom work and we would do well to put the training of our children as a main goal of each day. This is one very valuable way we can honor and serve our husbands and consequently the King.

Mama Amy

What’s The Story?

Following is an excerpt from a letter that I recently sent to a young man for whom we made the offer to live under our care for a time: Those of you who attend our presentations in ABQ or speak with me frequently know that I spend hours talking about Narrative…the power of stories to shape our lives. This post does not reflect the importance that I place on narrative nor does it cover the topic thoroughly. I am posting it in an effort to illuminate, for our frequent readers, the “world-view” or paradigm from which our other posts originate.

Mitch

Narrative: A story that tells of origins and envisions a future, a story that constructs ideals, prescribes rules of conduct, provides a source of authority, and above all gives a sense of continuity and purpose.

Niel Postman, The End of Education

You know from our time at the cabin that there are many narratives: Communism, Atheism, Polytheism, Socialism, Catholicism, Meathodism, Darwinism, etc…These various narratives guide, direct, empower and constrain individuals in their daily decisions.

You also know from our last visit that my narrative is the Kingdom of God. This narrative tells me how and why we are here, what our future is, what ideals I should live by, who is the ultimate authority and sets forth my purpose in life. This narrative has served me well and I intend to continue to live according to this narrative. I will conduct myself and my relationship with you according to the narrative of the Kingdom of God. You may be asking what that means for you. Before I answer, I would like to continue to elaborate on the Kingdom of God narrative.

Our Origins: “Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.” Malachi 2:15 The narrative tells me that God’s desire is to have offspring. Not robots. Not servants. Not puppets for His entertainment. He wants sons! Sons made in his own image.

Our Future: “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” Matthew 25:34 God has always intended that His sons inherit the “family business.” The ”family business” is His Kingdom.

The purpose of time is to prepare us for that responsibility. More specifically, our souls must be trained to submit to the authority of the King. That training is necessary for all of us, but it is different for all of us.

The Ultimate Authority: Every kingdom is held in order by the authority of the king. So it is with the Kingdom of God. God has the ultimate authority in His kingdom. You know that the word “authority” has a negative connotation for many. Very few of us appreciate being “under” authority. In the Kingdom of God… AUTHORITY =RESPONSIBILTY + SERVICE. At least part of the reason we rebel against authority is because we don’t understand that it is RESPONSIBILITY+SERVICE. The other reason we rebel against authority is because some in authority use their authority for their own benefit. They exploit those that are under them through manipulation and intimidation. To be sure, God does not manipulate or intimidate His sons. Instead, God takes responsibility for you and serves you. This is what all good fathers do. This is what I am willing to do for you. I am willing to take responsibility for you and to serve you, but the ONLY way I can do that is if you choose to submit to my authority.

You should also know, however, that the narrative tells us that it is God’s desire to delegate some of His authority to us. He does this as part of our training…our preparation to inherit the “family business.” The small parts of the Kingdom that He delegates to us I call “stewardships.”

In the KOG (Kingdom of God) narrative, the hero of the story was born a king, and yet He had no authority, no responsibility, no stewardship to rule over. As he matured he was given more stewardship, more responsibility and more authority. By the end of the story the hero King is said “to have all authority in heaven and on earth.” Further, He is given the title “King of kings.” The graph below illustrates this concept. (Note: Nepios is the greek word for a newborn son, Teknon is the greek for the teenager stage, and Huios is the greek word for a mature son)

Authority is what holds the kingdom in order, so you should know that I too am a man under authority. I have chosen to submit myself to the authority of Russ Marr. You may have heard your mother speak about Russ and Laura Marr. They are dear friends and he is my “spiritual father.” The narrative speaks of this type of relationship between the Apostle Paul and a young man named Timothy. Essentially, Russ and I believe that God has established our friendship and Russ takes RESPONSIBILTY for me and SERVES me. In turn, I willingly submit to his authority out of reverence for the King and His ultimate authority. We believe that this is the manifestation of love and Kingdom order. Put simply, Russ watches over my soul…that part of me that God wants to train.

Even Jesus asked a few of the apostles to watch over His soul as he prepared for his biggest challenge (the cross.)

“Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.” Matthew 26:38

We all need someone to watch over our souls, to hold us accountable to the standards, to the ideals of the Kingdom. Alone, we may succumb to the temptation to “rule” for our own selfish interests. Together, we can remind each other of the ideals, standards and goals and encourage each other to fight the good fight. This is the relationship of father and son. This is the relationship that I offer you. I am willing to watch over the development of your soul if you are willing to submit to my authority (RESPONSIBILITY+SERVICE).

Should you ever have any disagreement with me or the way that I treat you, you can appeal to the authority that has been delegated to Russ Marr. Russ will judge the matter and speak words of correction as needed. Feel free to contact him any time at:

Russ’ address removed for privacy.

Ideals: The KOG narrative tells me that the ideals that govern the Kingdom are:

1. Submission to/respect for authority.
2. Obedience to the direction of the King.
3. Righteous rule. That is exercising delegated authority in accordance with the standards of the Kingdom. To rule as the King himself would rule in a given situation or stewardship.

Prescribed Rules of Conduct: The narrative tells me that I should conduct myself and train those under my authority to conduct themselves according but not limited to the following standards : love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, respect, courage, integrity, etc…

Our Purpose: I believe that our purpose is to please the Heavenly Father, by submitting to His training, learning to rule righteously and exercising the authority that He has delegated to us according to the standards of the Kingdom so that we might be well prepared to “rule and reign with Christ.”

Basic Training

Those of you who know me, have read other entries on this blog or have heard me teach know that I believe that we are made in the image of God. You may also know that I illustrate this belief with the diagram below. I believe that the circles on the right represent the triune nature of God and this corresponds to the circles on the left that represent the triune nature of man. It is in this way that we are made in His image. No other creatures in heaven or on earth are made in this way, and that is why we can become the sons of God. Like Father, like son.

The bible makes it clear that Jesus was made in this same way (except that He was born with the Holy Spirit in Him.) He had a soul (mind, will, emotions) just like you and me. And like you and me, he had to submit His human soul (mind, will, emotions) to the Holy Spirit. He did this perfectly. (Remember: “not my will, but thine.”)

When we are “born again” we are given the same Spirit as Jesus. The Holy Spirit replaces/fills/”baptizes” our spirit, so our spirit is now the Holy Spirit. Our spirit has been made new or replaced by the Holy Spirit of God.

Then why don’t I behave perfectly…like Jesus?

Like Jesus, we must choose to submit our souls (mind, will, emotions) to the Holy Spirit within us. This is not easy, as my soul wants to “rule”, to exercise authority, just like my Heavenly Father; consequently, our souls (and the souls of our children) must be trained to submit to the Holy Spirit. Our Heavenly Father is faithful to complete the good work begun in us and He will see it through to completion, and so…He trains us.

The scripture says that God’s will is our sanctification. To be sure, the Holy Spirit within us (assuming we are “born again”) requires no sanctification. So this scripture must be referring to the sanctification of our soul. With that in mind, I am convinced that the purpose of time is to train of the souls of the children of God, both young and old.

Our Heavenly Father uses time, situations and experiences to train our souls. Contrary to what many of us have believed, these situations and experiences are not just trials and tribulations. Like any good father, the Father God, is teaching and training us as we lie down, rise up and walk along the way. That is to say, He is training us all the time, in a variety of situations and experiences. Some we call “blessings” (good) some we call “trials” (bad), but the truth is…being trained by The Father is always good.

Theoretically, EVERY situation and experience provides an opportunity for soul “teaching” and we should be vigilant to look for these opportunities and how we might leverage them; however, it is my goal to provide soul “training” for my children (like my Father does.) Training differs from teaching, in my mind, in the following way. We can teach about exercise by telling someone about its benefits and then that person has an understanding of the general concept of exercise. Training, on the other hand, is most effective when it can be repeated, consistently, over time. Jogging one mile every morning produces much better results than jogging 7 miles once per week or, more illustrative, 30 miles once per month. With this in mind, I am looking to create experiences and opportunities for soul training. This is in order to make a real change in the soul of the child over the course of consistence.

The fact is, we are always training. Consider physical (body) training. If you sit on the couch and eat Twinkies all day, EVERYDAY, your body will adapt to that form of training. To the contrary, during the seven years that Lance Armstrong was dominating the Tour de France, I read that he took only 3 days off from riding his bike. His body adapted to the consistent training of riding each day.

Soul training works in this same way. It is happening whether or not we are cognitive of it or intentional about it. Mama Amy and I choose to be intentional (see the introduction) and try to create soul training opportunities or experiences. Kind of like creating an exercise routine. We look for the soul strengths and weaknesses in each child and consider what characteristics need training, then we set up training situations that will have the desired effect.

These training “exercises” begin around 9 months old, or about the time they start “pulling-up” on the coffee table. Each night after dinner I would get on the living room floor with the baby. We would play and tickle and snuggle and eventually “pull-up” and balance at the coffee table. There, in the center of the table was an arrangement of candles. These candles were colorful and attractive, and provided an excellent training situation.

As the baby was attracted to the candles and reached out to grab them I would say “no, no, don’t touch” of course the baby, being a language learner in the earliest stage, would touch the candles. When the baby touched the candles I would administer some minor pain and repeat my command, “no, no, don’t touch.” This minor pain was in the form of a thump on the hand. When I did this the baby would look at me with a down turned mouth, bottom lip protruding, and withdraw his hand from the candles, but only for a moment. Like a weightlifter making another repetition of an exercise, the baby would repeat his reach for the candles and I would repeat my command and then the thump accompanied with the command. Within a week most of my 8 children learned to obey my command. For one or two it took longer, but that’s another story. EVERY night for a couple of weeks, we would engage in this training routine, and before each of my children could walk or talk they were trained to obey my command “no, no.”

Similarly, I would sit with the 9 – 12 month old, nursing baby in my lap EVERY night at the dinner table. When the baby would reach for my plate I would say “no, no, don’t touch” and repeat the exercise described above. Doing this provided another context for training the baby to respond to the same command. Providing a different context, but using the same words helps create meaning for the baby. This becomes really important as the baby becomes more mobile and you need to issue that command in a variety of situations or contexts and have the baby obey. Mama Amy would also be providing opportunities and context to train as well, so the person would change also, therefore helping the child’s brain to be formed to respond immediately to the command in all contexts and any person.

Some may ask, “why not just move the candles, or sit the baby where she can’t reach your plate?” The issue is not the candles or the plate. The issue is my child’s soul training. We have never, “baby-proofed” our home. The world is not “baby-proofed.” Instead, we have intentionally used the environment of our home as an opportunity to train our children to obey our word, so that when we went out into the world they could safely experience it under our protective oversight.

Obedience is a major component of the soul training foundation. Without obedience you cannot train the higher level character traits of the soul. Imagine trying to train a young man to have responsibility or integrity without his first being trained in obedience.

There several components to any effective training (body or soul) plan:

· Stress (minor pain: the amount of pain involved should not exceed that of normal exercise. Also, as the child grows the type of stress changes and even the source of the stress may change as it has with my 16 year old.)

· Intensity (during the foundation period the intensity is low)

· Frequency (during the foundation period the frequency is high…consistency!)

· Duration/Volume (during the foundation period the duration/volume is high…think long, slow jog.)

· Recovery (inversely related to intensity)

· Discipline (all involved must use discipline…especially the parents)

Perhaps we will post an article on these training variables soon. In the mean time, please meditate on these and how they affect the training regimen. You may find it helpful to consider how these apply to training an athelete and how they may transfer to soul training.

This training pyramid is a very generalized guide based on our experience with our 8 children. Please know that the most effective training programs are individualized. To be sure, our Heavenly Father does not have one training plan for all of us. He knows each one and arranges situations and experiences tailored to the needs of our individual souls. But please consider the diagram and all its aspects. It is a good guideline according to our experience.

Before a child is “born again” we must train his soul to submit to the Holy Spirit. You may say, “but he doesn’t have the Holy Spirit if he’s not born again.” Right! The child must be trained to submit to the Holy Spirit within us! We are the ambassador, the delegated representative of God’s authority to the child, and the one commissioned with the responsibility to train his soul to submit to the Holy Spirit. So we train him to submit to our authority and obey our word. Many parents want their children trained so that they are not an inconvenience or an embarrassment. The training of our children’s souls is MUCH more important than our being embarrassed by or proud of their behavior. We must be mindful of why Jesus, the man, was perfect…He perfectly submitted His human soul to the Spirit of God within Him, and remember that He is the first born among many brothers.

Mitch and Mama Amy

Obedience Brings Joy

One of the standards of the Cowart household is Obedience. (This is also one of the highest ideals of the Kingdom of God–what Christ told us to seek first.) The buzz phrase that we use in our household is “Obedience brings joy.” One of the verses that talks about this concept in the Bible is in Hebrews 12:2 where is says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross (obedience), scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” When we speak with our kids about obedience bringing joy, we talk about how the result of obedience–joy, affects not only the one being obedient but also all those around (just as the obedience of Christ brought joy to more than just himself.)

The original purpose of this blog was to archive some of the discussions that we have had over the years (see Living with Intention: An Introduction) that they might be accessed, passed around, and referred to by a specific audience as needed. It was never meant to document our entire life, promote our life choices, or reflect the fullness of life as a Christian. A lot of what is written is about our processing the things that we are learning in relationship to God, and documenting some of the experience that we have. The things I write about may seem tough, serious, intense, but those who really know us and our family see all aspects of our life–the humor, the joy, and the fun stuff continually going on here. What I am seeing is that there are more people reading this than the originally intended audience–many that don’t know us well, if at all. Lately, I have had an old friend (who has only briefly been introduced to my family) suggest that I add some lighter bits and pieces to help balance the serious stuff out for the sake of those that don’t know us. I think this is a great suggestion.

It may also be valuable to share this as a way to illustrate the truth that “Obedience brings joy.” If we wouldn’t have trained our children in obedience, it would not have been possible for us to take eight children to all the places we have been. We are able to go out to fine restaurants, stay in fancy hotels, camp out in the woods, travel in a van for days, stay at people’s homes without their need to put away their fancy things, go to bike races where there are crowds of people, etc, etc. We have been able to have so many fun experiences and during those experiences we have all been partakers of the joy of their obedience: Mitch and I do, the other kids do, and the other people we are in contact do also. Training our children in obedience has proven so worthwhile!

Last summer Mitch and I had some available funds to use as we chose. We had really considered landscaping the dusty desert around our home. As we thought more and more about it we became more aware that the teenager in our midst was ready for more challenge and that we needed opportunities for fine tuning his character and raising him into manhood. We felt that our financial investment in this training was more important than having a nice yard, so we chose to help Matthan live out a “dream” of being a downhill bike racer. We felt it would give him opportunities to test his skills, it would give us all opportunities to be around a more varied group of people (we are rather isolated out in the country), it would bring up new opportunities to reiterate our teaching and training in obedience and strength of character, and it would be a really fun time for us as a family. Consequently, we spent the summer traveling to all the Mountain States Cup Series races in CO and NM. It ended up being a successful summer in every way.

Mitch and our 14 year old son, who is interested in video production, put together a video about the racing that Mitch, our 16 year old, and our 12 year old did during the race series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcF4p4FhEvo

The rest of us were with them as the support crew: setting up camp, cooking and cheering. It was a great time for all of us. Here are some photos of the rest of us at the races.

Mama Amy

Dad races by

team support

Kayaking in Keystone

Mama Amy

Best friends

Paddle boating

A typical pass-time--drawing!

Cooling off

Mama and Mo

Papa Mitch

Matthan

Joshua

Samuel

Caleb

Chloe

Ezra

Phoebe

Moriah

God’s Beauty Aid

I must face it! I am getting older! Because of the effects of time and since my body has been through my many pregnancies, I am seeing the wrinkles and sags that seem harder and harder to eliminate. I work out regularly, I eat a healthy diet and yet nothing seems to change. My friends and I joke about Botox and tummy tucks to remedy the situation. But as I have thought about this, I realized that the best beauty treatment I can utilize is the merry heart! Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Although my body is responding to the realm of time and the pull of gravity, my heart can partake of the eternal realm. The Bible says that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God referred to here is not heaven far away, but the eternal realm brought into the realm of time through the Holy Spirit. It is present in us. It is eternal life—God life in us. This is a power and beauty that the world can not attain by any magical beauty potion or body modification. If we want our husbands and children to be attracted to us, let us seek first the Kingdom and partake of its eternal fountain of youth. How can they resist a woman with a countenance of joy, a positive outlook, and a presence of peace in the home? What man would not appreciate that over worldly attractions? Ladies, let’s make use of the perfect beauty aid we have—the merry heart—it “doeth good like medicine!” (Proverbs 17:22)

Mama Amy

Inspired by Ch.2 Created to be His Helpmeet, by Debi Pearl

King Caleb (lord of the trash)

For Easier Printing
Microsoft Word Version: King Caleb, Lord Over the Trash Document

If you have been reading the various posts on this site, then you have an idea by now that our children have been trained to contribute to our household community. Each child has what we call “Stewardship.” Others may call them chores or housework, but we refer to them as stewardship because we feel that this implies delegated authority and doesn’t just mean work. We try to share the stewardship of our home, garage, yard, vehicle, and schoolroom according to the age and maturity of the child. Every child contributes in some way—even the 3 year old.

Together as a family we have defined the “Standards” of the Cowart household. When we work at our stewardship, then we work to uphold the standards that have clearly been defined. So, for example, Phoebe’s stewardship in the kitchen is unloading the silverware from the dishwasher. She (being 5) will often just throw the large forks in with the small forks and be done with it. As her manager/trainer, I check on her work to see if she is doing it up to the standards. When I see that she is slacking and not doing it up to the standard (each size in its own compartment) then I must take the time to talk to her about her work. Is she doing a good job? Is she upholding the standards? Now, does the silverware being in the proper compartment really matter? No, but taking every opportunity to train our children to do good work is valuable. It’s not about the silverware at all—it’s what is in their heart. Are they doing their best? “Please do good work—up to our standards.”

Recently we have started to talk about training in stewardship a little differently. This is because of the paradigm shift that is taking place…

key: nepios=newborn teknon=teenager huios=mature son

Ultimately God made us because He wants sons.(Mal 2:15) And He says that we, as joint heirs (Rom 8:17) with Christ, will rule and reign with Him.(2 Tim 2:12) We are being trained (Heb 12:7) in this life as sons to prepare us to work in the Father’s business—the business of ruler-ship of the Kingdom.(Rev 20:6) We are now seeing that each person, or part of the Body of Christ, is delegated “authority” over smaller parts of the Kingdom of God. We are given a measure of rule (2 Cor 10:13) according to our maturity and ability. When we are “faithful in the little things,” often we are given more to rule over. (Matthew 25, parable of the talents)

For our children, we have been talking about their stewardship in these terms of “rule.” Each child is given an area of rule in our little part of the kingdom. They are given rule according to their maturity and ability, and faithfulness. Here is an example of how this is changing both the way our children view their stewardship and how we view our children:

One part of Caleb’s stewardship is the trash. For a long time Caleb has been working at keeping the trash areas up to the Cowart standards (no trash anywhere but in trash receptacles and those emptied when needed,) but he has been struggling. He has been feeling that he is a slave to the trash. Our Caleb is visionary. (See: Life with my Visionary) He is very distracted by ideas, thoughts, stuff, what another person says, a sound, etc. So when he is reminded to take care of his stewardship (the trash), although he is very willing to do it, he often will get distracted on his way to the trash can. (Mitch, being a visionary also, struggled with this as a child.) We have been getting more frustrated with him and he has been getting more discouraged as well. One day, as Mitch was observing these attitudes he got an epiphany. He realized that Caleb felt enslaved to his trash job and therefore hated it. So Mitch shared with him that this was his portion of the Cowart kingdom that we have delegated to him. He needed to rule well. He talked about the goal and shared with him the verse that says, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ (Matt 25:23) Caleb really saw that this was not slavery, but a test in responsibility. As a young man, this is a really cool thing. He is given charge over something and has an opportunity to prove himself. Now when the trash begins to pile up and we need to remind him of his stewardship, we say, “King Caleb…Rule well in your stewardship.”

This is such a different way of viewing our children. We see them as princes/princesses in training to be kings/queens. We talk to them a bit differently now that we see them in this light. There is more respect and honor in our tone. They also understand that they have a part that is vital in the “kingdom” and they desire to live up to the standards, so that they will get more (interesting/exciting) stewardship in the future (like baking our breakfast pastries or caring for the animals.) The attitudes are much more positive. They can “enter into the joy of their lord.”

Another development in line with this new paradigm of training came up when at one point Mitch told one of the children that if they did not do a good job with their stewardship, they would be “fired.” In other words, their stewardship over that area would be taken away. As Matthan (our 16 year old) heard this, he later told us that he didn’t think that this would work. He felt that no one wanted to do chores and therefore it would be a reward and not a punishment to give away the chore to someone else. As we were discussing this, we realized another very important thing. We talked about what constituted a satisfying life. Was it lots of money? Was it stuff? Was it being free to do nothing? Was it getting out of as much work as possible? Really none of these things were satisfying. What is satisfying is the confidence that one is ruling well in his stewardship. It is having lots of responsibility and knowing that one is being a faithful servant with one’s talents. I know that Mitch and I are not satisfied if we are not maintaining our stewardship up to the standards. Recently, we watched a video with Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, the two wealthiest men in the world, and it was clear that all of their money wasn’t what they were passionate about, leading an expansive circle of influence, is what they were enthusiastic about. In our words, “ruling over lots of stewardship is what is satisfying.” Matthan could see the truth of this in his own life. He is not satisfied when he is not operating according to his potential.

As we raise our children, we see them now as God sees all of His heirs—as kings in training. And we desire to train them to rule well in the little things, so that as they mature, they will be entrusted with the more valuable things of the kingdom.

Mama Amy

Work, Work, Work!

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Work, work, work!

Sometimes it feels that all we do is work. Life is extremely busy and the daily tasks of life can be all-consuming and sometimes overwhelming. As I read Proverbs 31 recently what I heard was a virtuous woman works.

Does this seem unfair or discouraging? In this world of convenience and comfort, it doesn’t seem right that we should have to work so much.

As I thought on this, I feel like the Lord prompted me that love is work, but it is good work and not too much for me if I do only the work that He requires me to do. So many times I feel like I have gotten into the business of doing what I think my husband should be doing—his work– and then I am over-wrought! Or that I involve myself with stuff in the world and activities that are not essential or valuable. I believe the Lord is saying, “Do only what you see Me do. (John 5:19)” In other words, I need do only what the Lord shows me to do, not a bunch of extra stuff that I bring on myself to prove a point to my husband, or to be a super-mom, or be a part of a “ministry.” If I am doing the very work that He has ordained for me, it is still work, but it is good work and He will equip me with everything I need to accomplish it.

So what is good work? A word study of the Bible on good work is very enlightening (check out www.biblegateway.com and type in good work as a keyword search.) I also like what the author Wendall Berry, an economist, professor, farmer, writer of social criticism, and proponent of simple living, writes in his book, Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community: “Good work is small in scale, it is humble, and it involves much giving of honor.” If we think about these three criteria in terms of our work, we can use this as a judge of what we are doing. Is it small in scale: Are we looking to the affairs of our own households? (As opposed to getting all involved in other family’s business or the busyness of life, or ministries?) Is it humble: Are we doing the work without need for praise—as unto the Lord, and not needing the constant strokes of our ego? Does it involve much giving of honor: Does our work honor God by fulfilling what He has required of us? Does it bring our husbands honor in that wherever they are and whatever they are doing they can have “full confidence” in our ability to manage the household, train the children, and take care of anything that they may need? Does it honor our children, in that we are training them to be confident, obedient, loving contributors to the family and society? Does it honor ourselves by our confidence in the knowledge that we are in God’s perfect will as wife, mother, and friend?

Proverbs 31 proves that a true woman of God is not one to be served but to serve. She “works with eager hands.” She gets up early and “provides food for the family and the servants.” (As a friend of mine pointed out—she serves the servants!) She “sets about her work vigorously.” Her “trading is profitable.” She is “not idle.” Her words are “full of wisdom and instruction.” In other words, she sees that her family and those she is responsible for are clothed (laundry), that they are fed (cooking), she buys and sells for her household (grocery shopping, balancing checkbook, wisely purchasing household necessities), she is not idle (projects to fix up the house, organizing, cleaning), she is giving wisdom and instruction (teaching her children.) She is busy with the good work that God has prepared in advance for her to do. (Eph 2:10)

To be a help meet to our husbands is to be a virtuous woman. It is part of the good work that we are to do. As Debi Pearl mentions in her book Created to be His Helpmeet, “Her readiness to please motivates her to look around and see the things she knows her husband would like to see done. She would not use lame excuses to avoid these jobs. A husband would know he had a fine woman if she were this kind of helper.” (p.24) It is clear that there is no time for idleness or extraneous, unessential occupations in the life of a virtuous woman and help meet. (Don’t get me wrong, we must take care of ourselves and rest and take time to be healthy every day so that we can do the work.)

I feel that the Lord is asking me to take a good look at what is claiming my time and strength. Is the work that I am involved in the good work that He has given me? If not, I pray that He will show me what to eliminate. And as I see the work that I am to continue, I pray that I would do it “diligently, vigorously, and with eager hands”.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8.)

Mama Amy

Life with my Visionary

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There is a book out by Debi Pearl called, Created to be His Helpmeet. I have been studying this book with a group a ladies and it has been very insightful about our role as wives. Chapter 8 is particularly interesting and especially good, not just in understanding our husbands, but our sons and fathers and other men in our lives. Here is a link to the abridged version that Ms. Pearl wrote. http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/topics/marriage-family/husbandwife-relations/article-display/archive/2004/november/01/created-to-be-his-help-meet/

The following is what I shared with the ladies in our group:

I wanted to greet you all and talk a bit about a chapter in Created to Be His Helpmeet. It is my favorite chapter of the book! I had read all of the Pearl’s books and had been receiving the Pearl’s newsletter for years when a couple years ago they put in an excerpt from their pending book in the newsletter. It was an abbreviated version of this chapter about 3 kinds of men. Mitch read the article early one morning and when I woke up he was very excited and told me to get our friends Russ and Laura Marr and Wayne and Keli Marshall to read the article and get with us that night. He had an epiphany! That night we got together to discuss the article. We laughed over the course of the evening as we discovered together the “type” each of the men were. Mitch is very much the Mr. Visionary—he had the vision that morning that everyone should understand this insight of the 3 types of men! Russ, the Mr. Steady was asked to read the article and he, very used to Mitch’s inspirations, patiently complied. Keli hadn’t had a chance to talk to Wayne all day about reading the article, so when he got home from work she told him that Mitch wanted him to read it and then come over. What was Wayne’s response? “Read it to me while I ride my bike.” Then after Keli obediently read it to him he asked, “What type am I?” We still laugh at how Mr. Command Man couldn’t recognize himself.

Our three families have been fellowshipping for years and we just marveled how God put us together with each of the three types of men, so that we would share together in all parts of Himself when we received each other. Since we all first read the chapter, we have really appreciated each other’s strengths. Mitch has been so grateful for Russ’ steady, enduring character especially during the tumultuous Photomatic years. And Mitch has regularly consulted with Wayne on administrative issues that have come up in work. Russ’ and Wayne’s gifts have been a continuous blessing to us. I know also that Mitch’s visionary nature has inspired both Russ and Wayne at times to move into new areas in their lives and businesses. With the insight from this chapter it has also given us patience with the differences between us. I am sure that Mitch’s continuous idea stream and untiring energy have tried the nerves of the other men and yet knowing that these are characteristics of the Visionary they are able to understand where he is coming from. We are more able to understand Russ’ seeming inactivity or delay in action when it comes to making a decision. He is a steady man, a deep well of wisdom and maturity that requires time to think through things. We must be patient and know that where Mitch may run ahead, Russ is going to wait on the Lord. There have been times when Wayne has come over and taken over. Mitch jokes that Wayne tells him what to do in his own home. He loves Wayne and now knows that this is the command personality that takes care of business and delegates when he sees the need. He doesn’t take it as a criticism of his ability to run his own household.

Knowing what type of man Mitch is sure has helped me understand my man also. Mitch is the ultimate Visionary with a bit of Command thrown in for fun! Some may envy the innovation, energy and sense of adventure that I live with daily. It has its benefits. We have traveled all over and constantly are active in our life and our minds. On our 5^th Anniversary he took me camping and secretly brought our wedding clothes, a steak dinner, flowers and candles. What a great, romantic thought! But there are times when the adventure has taken us to crazy, difficult places. We have been very poor and with notices being sent informing us that that our house was going into foreclosure. When Mitch believed that our eyes shouldn’t ingest artificial light, we stopped using lights in our home and just used candlelight for a while. He also started businesses that ended up being a lot of work on my part to make them happen. Photomatic is not the only one. We have talked about being Amish, moving to a commune, dropping off the grid and farming for survival. He’s drug me on 200 mile bike treks and on a car camping trip up to Canada in November when I was 6 months pregnant, sleeping in the car in 20 degree weather for three weeks.

His inventive mind has pioneered the practices of home birth, no insurance, home school, family bed, no TV and many other ideas that have worked well for us. I know that if I were with a different kind of man, I would be a completely different woman—and it wouldn’t be good. God made me for this Visionary. It has had its ups and downs, but I have learned to, and the insight from this chapter has helped me, enjoy the adventure. When Mitch would have an idea, I used to start right in telling how hard it would be and all the cons of the idea because it made me nervous and I would start envisioning all the work that it would be for me. I have had to learn to hold my tongue when a new business idea comes pouring out and just let him relish in the idea for a while. Mostly he just wants to explore the thought and once he verbalizes it, he can then let it go. So now I just say, “That’s a great idea, honey. I love you.” My goal is to actually truly enjoy the idea along with him…the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. I share this to encourage any women who have a Visionary husband.

Sometimes I think the wives of Steady guys need a support group. It does seem to be more difficult. But remember you ladies, you’ve never had to live in a 900sq foot house with 4 kids in your bedroom so that you could run your husband’s company out of the other bedroom! Don’t long for what you don’t have—the grass isn’t necessarily greener! Many women that I have known that have steady husbands struggle to be grateful for them as Ms Pearl mentioned. I have very close relatives that are prominent examples and both relationships ended in divorce. It is a tragedy. They could not appreciate the benefits of having a hard worker that always had the bills paid, or the constant, dedicated (although not very passionate) love, or the quiet, wise words that never embarrassed or exhausted them. Remember that these steady men are so valuable to the Kingdom and are such solid foundations for the command men and visionaries. This stability allows the Command man respite after intense confrontations. It allows the Visionary to sore higher because he knows that a tether is not going to let him fly too far and melt his wings.

I have seen negative and positive examples of wives of Command men in my life. Keli is one of the positive ones. She has learned to honor and submit with grace to her husband. No matter what he asks her to do, she does it faithfully and with a great attitude. And he absolutely cherishes her. My grandfather was the largest personality that I have ever met. He was the ultimate Command man. Wow! But my grandma handled him beautifully! She appreciated him so much and would just chuckle when He did something overbearing. She is great!! Grandpa also cherished Grandma and adored her. They had a beautiful relationship. He has now passed away and she still refers to him as her “sweety”. Another close relative is married to a Command man also. She resists his commands, questioning his decisions. This has made him crazy! They have a volatile relationship and though they are very committed to each other, it hasn’t been easy. It is amazing how recognizing and receiving the man God gives us–and being grateful for him–makes life a blessing and vice verse.

I hope that if you have stories about being married to a certain kind of man that you would share them so we can laugh or cry with you.

The most valuable thing about this chapter is not just that it helps us recognize the type of man we married, but it encourages us to embrace the man we married and teaches us ways to be the kind of “help meet” that enables our man to thrive and become all that God envisioned him to be when He created him. I believe He not only knew our men (as He knew Jeremiah) before they were in their mother’s wombs, but He knew each woman that would complete the man He created. He “fashioned” Eve as a perfect compliment to Adam—no other created creature was suitable. She was shaped from his very bones. I am convinced I am fashioned for my man and I desire–and am committed–to helping Mitch achieve all that God has for him. If each one of us asks God to reveal who our man is and how to walk in the calling of “help meet” for that specific man, and then each commits to being grateful for that man and serve him as he needs, I believe God is faithful to provide all that is required for the task. And what a blessing it is to walk in this calling. Peace and joy is the result of this obedience.

I pray that God would continue to reveal the fullness of this calling to each of us as we seek Him.

Blessings,

Mama Amy

Grateful for the Mess

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The first weekend of spring break my husband, Wayne, and I started our big spring break project. We emptied our bedroom and my home office, and only put back what we actually use. It was a lot of work but it felt great. We also got some new furniture as well. You know how it is when you need to reorganize and make better use of the space in your home.

 

This past weekend (the second weekend of spring break) my husband and our youngest son (Evan, 1 went for a mountain bike trip to Moab, Utah, with another father and son. While they were gone, I worked very hard at finishing up on the big project Wayne and I started the previous weekend—decorating, taking stuff to Goodwill, and getting it just right. It was fun to walk around in my house for a couple of days and enjoy the new look after I was all finished. Then the men came home.

 

I still laugh while I am trying to type this. Dirt, dust, grimy clothes, bike parts and tubes, half-eaten Power Bars, and the like. They came home, brought all their stuff in, and we all talked for quite a while about the awesome time they had riding, camping, and conversing. They came back tired from their adventure but refreshed in the heart and soul, and ready to go back to school. They put their stuff away, got the washing machine going, and started to get ready to go back to regular life and school.

 

This morning after everyone was gone to school, I looked around. There were a few dirty dishes to be dealt with, some crumbs on the countertop, one pile of laundry left to do, and dead silence in my home. I thought about how I could be upset with Wayne and Evan for disturbing the perfect environment I had tried to create, or I could be grateful for the mess and enjoy our life and the relationships that are in it. Right now two of my four children live at home. Jason (25) is married and living in Texas. Tori (23) is also married and lives 30 miles from our home. Maren, 20, is a sophomore at UNM and will be an exchange student in England next year. I will miss her terribly. Evan is a senior in high school and is currently considering his many options, but he will probably be gone in the fall as well. I will miss our evening dinners, laughter and conversations when they head out to live on their own. So while I still have them here, I will be grateful for the mess, knowing that what I think would be the perfect environment, without anyone disturbing it, would make for a very lonely existence.

 

 

 

 

Ready for the Season?

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Today we had tea at my home with the ladies I know here in Albuquerque area. I felt like I was to speak on these things in particular at the gathering. These are the notes from that talk:

Ready for the Season?

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

By God’s grace He has given us visionaries—those that look toward the future and prepare us. Those that we know that are looking toward the future—our visionaries—are speaking. Here are some of the words that they are using:

“Crisis” – (Charlie R.) meaning: the decisive moment (turning point for radical change of status-change for better or worse)

“Shift” – (Mary Margaret A.) meaning: a change in direction, a change in emphasis

”Repent” – (Sam S.) meaning: turn from one direction and go another

I have felt on the brink of something for the past year at least, and I know others have felt this similar anxiousness and excitement…something is about to happen.

And what are the visionaries saying to us? “We are on the brink of a new season.” (Is. 42:9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”)

When MM was here she spoke about Esther and I sent out an email following that talked about how I felt that we could prepare to become women of impact in this time…it was not a word about doing something to gain our standing with God, or anything to do with our position in Christ—it was about preparation so that if He sees fit to use us in this new season, we are ready!! I don’t feel that I am to talk about the new season. What I feel that I am to talk on today is how to be prepared for this new season—how to get ourselves ready.

There are a couple of things that I feel I am to share about in regard to this preparation time:

1.) What do we do with the old?

2.) How do we become ready for the new?

What do we do with the old?

Isaiah 28:9-10 says, “Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.”

With my kids, I taught the little nursing ones bit by bit, and as they grew older it was precept upon precept. As they matured those early precepts never left them, but I taught them deeper things, things that were dependent on whether or not their maturity could handle them.

I believe that the Lord desires for us to remember the precepts—the important foundational things, but I believe we must not dwell there. We are no longer babies needing mama’s milk. The precepts have been laid and now we can stand on those without fear of forgetting them. We must walk forward into this new season on the foundation of these precepts. We are free to move forward in maturity. Yet, if we cling to any one of these precepts we may not perceive the new thing that He is doing.

At the last meeting, Sam spoke of several major moves of the Lord in recent history: the Pentecostal movement and the Charismatic movement. I was considering some of the precepts that have been lain down since I have been walking with the Lord here in Albuquerque. Sam and others have labored in these fields over the past 20 years.

1.) Faith/Rest- repentance from dead works…they don’t gain you points with God…rest in who you are in Christ…He does the saving…you don’t work for it…

2.) Spiritual Gifts- Holy Spirit is in us and we can hear God…we can each walk in the gifts of the Spirit…

3.) 5 fold Ministry- we can receive all the offices…prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers…

4.) The Body of Christ- receive the whole Body…no denominations…we are one Body with Christ as the head…we don’t need a traditional church setting, we are the ecclesia…

5.) The Kingdom of God- we are sons, not slaves…heirs to the Kingdom…joint heirs with Christ…

6.) (specifically with women) Submission- Ephesians 5…submit to one another out of reverence for Christ…

What I have been seeing is that if we stop at any one of the precepts, it becomes religion.

Examples that Sam brought up: Pentecostal- holiness became religion. Charismatic- became religion when ministry became based on doing gifts…gifts become the teller of “maturity.”

My own testimony: For Mitch and I, when we “got” the Body of Christ teaching, we really believed that home churches were the only way…we needed to do what the early church did…eventually this idea became religion to us because we didn’t want to go on from that precept. Eventually it became unfulfilling and unfruitful within our home church and the small gatherings of believers, and we began to ask, “Is this all there is?” The Lord spoke to us directly and said, “NO.” “Doing “church” in a small home group wasn’t what the early church set as an example—following the Spirit of God was the example. We are free to fellowship in the Body of Christ as He shows us.

Another testimony: As I have been working with young women, submission to their husbands was a major precept that these women needed to hear coming out of school and Universities teaching them independence and rebellion against authority. I could see, though that eventually we began to dwell in that place and the women were beginning to get frustrated. They also began to ask, “Is this all there is to being a woman?” The obvious answer was, “NO.” Esther was under submission, but a true woman of impact.

I believe that all of these precepts are great and necessary teachings, but God in His mercy won’t let us build an altar around one precept and make a religion out of it if we are truly seeking Him. It’s precept upon precept, line upon line. This is what moves us into maturity.

So what do we do with the old? We receive the old, we are grateful for the layer upon layer of foundational things, and we walk upon them into to the new season without fear that we will lose them or forget about them. We walk in the fat of the milk that we received, but move on to the meat. We become so familiar with the precepts that we naturally walk in them as a matter of course: We rest in our faith, walk in the Spirit and operate in our gifts as the Spirit leads, receive the apostles, prophets, etc., we fellowship freely with the Body in any setting, operate as though we know who we are as sons of God, submitting to one another in love. These are the foundations—we don’t have to keep going back and saying, “well, what about speaking in tongues”…or “this sounds like works”…or “she’s out there doing things for God, but is she submitted?” Let us know that we are mature…we understand these things…let’s dwell on them no longer…let’s move into to the new knowing that we all have a solid foundation.

What are we going to do in this new season, this crisis, this shift? Are we going to “repent” and follow the pillar of cloud and the column of fire? What has God given us the precepts for, except that we grow up in them and stand on them in maturity?

How do we become ready for the new?

We become women of shift. Esther was a woman of shift. Mary Margaret spoke in depth about Esther and her ability to shift from an orphan to a queen. She also challenged us to look again at our time, our talents, and our treasure. Are we ready to fully let God do as He wishes with them? She encouraged us to engage in what God is doing and no longer just be a spectator. She also spoke about our measure of faith and encouraged us to walk in our measure of rule. Let us ask, “What is our measure of rule in this new season?” We must perceive it. Look for it. Seek. Be ready. Sam said, “Repent.” Turn from the old and look to the new. MM said, “”Circumcise your heart.” When Joshua stood on the brink of the “promised land” at Gilgal, God required that they circumcise the men and wait for healing before they went in to take the land. They hadn’t had to do this while they wandered the desert, but before they went in, this was required to set them apart. We have the same opportunity to circumcise our hearts and heal, and become strong and ready.) Are we able to shift?

Esther was a woman able to shift. Ruth was also a woman able to shift. The story of Ruth is well known, but I really felt it was one pertinent to the times. Naomi and her husband went to Moab to live because of a famine in Israel. While there, her husband died. She had 2 sons, both married to Moabite women, and the sons died also. Naomi was left with her 2 daughters-in-law. They endured horrible circumstances. Eventually, it was known that the famine had ended in Jordan and Naomi was to return to her people. The daughters went with Naomi for part of the journey, and then Naomi decided it was time to send them back to their father’s homes to “find rest.” After entreating them for a while, one of the daughters- in-law went back to Moab, but it says that Ruth clave unto Naomi. The famous lines, “Wherever thou goest, I will go” are spoken. Here are the highlights of the remainder of the story:

It says that Ruth:

1. was steadfastly minded to go with Naomi and finally Naomi gave off talking about it and let her go along.

2. Ruth was willing to labor in the fields for food for them (she volunteered).

3. Ruth asked permission of the authority.(Boaz gave her the freedom of a family member and allowed her to drink free with the others. She asked why he was so gracious to her and he said because her character had been fully shown to him. Her reputation had preceded her—all of her kindness, and faithfulness (she had been faithful in the little things.)Ruth 2:12 is Boaz’s blessing. He said to Ruth, “The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” He fed her with his reapers.)

4. Ruth labored in the work—she gleaned until evening, and then beat out all that she had gleaned. She did this until the end of the harvest.

5. Ruth was obedient. Ruth 3:5 Naomi tells her exactly what to do. Ruth says, “All that thou sayest unto me I will do.”

6. Ruth didn’t follow after popularity or riches. Boaz recognizes that she would be an incredible “catch,” that she could easily go after the young men or a wealthy man.

7. Ruth was a virtuous woman (Prov. 31).

8. Ruth was redeemed. (Naomi’s name means “pleasant” but as she returned home she told everyone to call her Mara meaning “bitter.” But after Boaz redeemed Ruth, the women said of Ruth that she is better to Naomi than seven sons. Ruth bore Obed the grandfather of David.

What can we find in that may encourage us in this time of shift? Ruth’s moment where her desire to shift is evident is when she is at her own “crisis”—the decisive moment (turning point for radical change of status-change for better or worse). She is on the road between her homeland and Naomi’s homeland. Naomi says that she is free to go back and find rest. But Ruth is “steadfastly minded” to go forward. This is her point of shift.

In our time of preparation for what is ahead:

1.) Are we steadfastly minded to make the shift and move forward? Or are we ready to find rest and stay comfortable?

2.) Are we willing to do the work? Are we looking for the opportunities that God places before us?

3.) Have we sought the Lord’s authority to labor in a field? Are we on board with what He is doing? Then let us, like Ruth, do the labor and not grow weary of well (complete) doing. Let us be obedient in all that is said for us to do. Let us not follow after what looks good to our eyes (youth, wealth). May we become virtuous women of impact.

Prayer: Gives us eyes to look beyond our present circumstances and situations, to the new season that you are bringing us to. Help us to be on board with what you are doing. “Thy will be done on earth even as it is being done in heaven.”