Meaning: "false outward show; façade; pretense: a hypocrite's masquerade of virtue."*
Well, that's kind of negative. To be honest I'm not very interested in Halloween without kids in the house. I always enjoyed dressing my three up in cute costumes, going to their school and watching them parade around the property with their classmates and then eat a good portion of the loot they would come home with after trick-or-treating. But with them not here it feels like just any other day.
Unless of course, you consider that tomorrow starts the two most wonderful months of the year in my opinion. Now it's an "eve". The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Eve? It's got a pretty awesome ring to it, don't you think?
That's not really what's at the forefront of my mind today. After waking too early on my day off again, I've enjoyed sitting in my red chair praying. I'm aware of many friends and others who are hurting, whose lives have come to a rough patch.
I've received some messages asking me to pray. One is from a man who's been married for thirty years and headed to a courtroom to end it. Heartbreaking.
The family unit is so important to God. It's a gift to us and ours should model His. He is our Father and loves us with a wild love. This love is unexplainable because we simply don't deserve it. But He lavishes His love anyway - because He is love.
God's greatest expression of love came through His Son Jesus. He gave His most prized possession as a sacrifice for us to make a way for us to enter His family. Maybe like me, you've allowed the wonder of that to fade a little.
I think all of us long for that kind of love and inclusion in a family setting more than anything else. We want to be understood, cared for, protected, provided for and adored. In Christ, all that is abundantly available. We are just one surrender from receiving it and never losing it.
When I consider the family God has given me, I marvel. He gave me a man who is faithful and loving, not to mention patient and fun. I did nothing to deserve that gift. If the truth be told, I did everything to prove I didn't deserve it. But that's not how love and gifts work with God and I am forever grateful. If Scott wasn't blessing enough, God expanded our family and gave me three children here on Earth and two in heaven I plan to meet one day.
These kids. Not every day of the last twenty three plus years has been a picnic and they weren't charming every minute, believe me. (Nor was I as the mom.) They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. In this case, for me at least, it's true. All three have flown out of our nest and don't live here day in and day out anymore. Yet my heart seems to be growing in deeper love for each of them. When I do get to be near them, it's pure joy.
Just last week I got to "see" all of them. One in person and the others on a screen. (I'm a big fan of modern technology that makes this possible.) Looking at their smiles just does something for me. The very best is when every personality is in the same room. Family.
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She's the queen of selfies and yikes, I look tired.  |
As I consider this GIANT, ever increasing love I feel for each of them, how can I not marvel at God's love for me? He is a much better parent than I'll ever dream of being. All love started with Him and He heaps it on us. It's huge. We get to be a part of this family! Don't let that get lost on you.
So this couple who is allowing their family to disintegrate, somewhere along the way one or both lost sight of the gift and began a masquerade. You can't be in church and community with others for the thirty years of marriage, no one suspecting how far away from each other you've drifted, and then suddenly one day reveal it's over, without having been putting on a facade for awhile. Too many times I've seen this and when suggesting solutions have been told "it's too late". The masks finally come off. But is it really too late? Couldn't we all just promise to get help right from the beginning? Fight for our marriages instead of against each other?
What I'd like to say to this struggling couple is this. "You've walked with God a long time. You know His Word and the principles therein that are expected of you if you belong to Him. Are you living it? Treat one another the way God expects you to in each of your roles. Husband, if you love your wife with the self-sacrificing, generous, kind love that Jesus loves His bride (us) with, your wife would never turn her gaze from you. Wife, if you respect your husband and be his helper, his champion, always encouraging, building up and believing in him, his gaze will never leave you."
Sounds simplistic, I know (see note at end of post). Marriage is complicated and can be difficult at times. I'm not minimizing that. It's true in all relationships. But I honestly believe that if two Holy Spirit-filled believers are both seeking to become Christlike above all else, above all else, and making every decision based on that desire, our relationships can be mended, redeemed, resuscitated. Parents and children, siblings, friends.
This is where God really shines. Redemption. Making the broken whole. Repairing destruction. Healing wounds.
Our job: live according to His Word.
His job: everything else.
So on this Most Wonderful Time of the Year Eve when love and family will be highlighted and celebrated, don't despair if you are lacking in this area.
1. Know that God is your Father if you have received the truth and gift of His Son, Jesus. Your loving, generous, forgiving, patient Father. Let that settle on you.
2. Entering into His family is the best decision, full of eternity-long benefits and responsibilities, you'll ever make.
3. He can make all things new. You. Your troubled relationship. Your family. Everything.
Invite Him? Do the hard work of obedience. Give up your rights. Seek to be Christ-like in every area. Love your people the way God loves you - with their best interest as priority.
Then watch God breathe new life into your marriage, your relationship, your family. Do as much as God requires of you and trust Him for the rest.
No more masquerading. There's no shame in honestly living as broken children made whole by their Father. This is who we are. Embrace it and let it give hope to everyone you know. If at all possible, don't give up on family.
*dictionary.com
**If you are in an abusive relationship, this post is not for you. Please get safe and then get Godly counsel right away. If your marriage already ended, this post is not to assign blame or shame. The past is the past and there's no condemnation here. You are loved.
So this couple who is allowing their family to disintegrate, somewhere along the way one or both lost sight of the gift and began a masquerade. You can't be in church and community with others for the thirty years of marriage, no one suspecting how far away from each other you've drifted, and then suddenly one day reveal it's over, without having been putting on a facade for awhile. Too many times I've seen this and when suggesting solutions have been told "it's too late". The masks finally come off. But is it really too late? Couldn't we all just promise to get help right from the beginning? Fight for our marriages instead of against each other?
What I'd like to say to this struggling couple is this. "You've walked with God a long time. You know His Word and the principles therein that are expected of you if you belong to Him. Are you living it? Treat one another the way God expects you to in each of your roles. Husband, if you love your wife with the self-sacrificing, generous, kind love that Jesus loves His bride (us) with, your wife would never turn her gaze from you. Wife, if you respect your husband and be his helper, his champion, always encouraging, building up and believing in him, his gaze will never leave you."
Sounds simplistic, I know (see note at end of post). Marriage is complicated and can be difficult at times. I'm not minimizing that. It's true in all relationships. But I honestly believe that if two Holy Spirit-filled believers are both seeking to become Christlike above all else, above all else, and making every decision based on that desire, our relationships can be mended, redeemed, resuscitated. Parents and children, siblings, friends.
This is where God really shines. Redemption. Making the broken whole. Repairing destruction. Healing wounds.
Our job: live according to His Word.
His job: everything else.
So on this Most Wonderful Time of the Year Eve when love and family will be highlighted and celebrated, don't despair if you are lacking in this area.
1. Know that God is your Father if you have received the truth and gift of His Son, Jesus. Your loving, generous, forgiving, patient Father. Let that settle on you.
2. Entering into His family is the best decision, full of eternity-long benefits and responsibilities, you'll ever make.
3. He can make all things new. You. Your troubled relationship. Your family. Everything.
Invite Him? Do the hard work of obedience. Give up your rights. Seek to be Christ-like in every area. Love your people the way God loves you - with their best interest as priority.
Then watch God breathe new life into your marriage, your relationship, your family. Do as much as God requires of you and trust Him for the rest.
No more masquerading. There's no shame in honestly living as broken children made whole by their Father. This is who we are. Embrace it and let it give hope to everyone you know. If at all possible, don't give up on family.
*dictionary.com
**If you are in an abusive relationship, this post is not for you. Please get safe and then get Godly counsel right away. If your marriage already ended, this post is not to assign blame or shame. The past is the past and there's no condemnation here. You are loved.
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