Let’s give Karen Malley a warm welcome to the blog! Karen has visited before, and a handful of readers reached out to tell me they were excited to check out her book Following the Sparrows. Today, Karen is sharing about her newest release and the truths woven through her novel’s themes. Welcome, Karen!
Have you ever felt like you’ve messed up so much there’s no hope for forgiveness? You’re in good company. The Bible tells of the amazing accomplishments of men and women of faith, but we also learn of their failings. I believe God includes these failings to show us we can never fall too far to be forgiven.
Consider Moses. He is best remembered as the deliverer of the Israelites out of slavery, the one to whom God gave the ten commandments, the leader of Israel. He wrote the first five books of the Bible and spoke to God face to face. Before all that, though? He murdered an Egyptian man and ran off into the wilderness to tend sheep for 40 years. When God came to tell him he would lead his people out of slavery, he made excuses.
What about David? David, the king of Israel who delivered the nation from her enemies, was called “a man after God’s own heart.” He loved God deeply and poured out his emotions in the Psalms. David also committed adultery and murder, and he failed in parenting.
The disciple Peter boldly declared his allegiance to Christ. He was the first to proclaim Jesus as the messiah. He led hundreds to Christ after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He performed miracles in Jesus’ name and was eventually martyred. When Jesus was arrested, however, Peter denied even knowing him.
Perhaps the most striking example is Paul. Paul was one of the most influential people in the early church. He started multiple churches, spread the gospel to the Gentiles, wrote more books of the Bible than any other author, and spread the gospel throughout the world through his missionary journeys. Before all that, though, he actively persecuted Christians. He spoke against Jesus and had Christians thrown in jail. Paul says the following:
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:15-16
The Bible is full of examples of God’s forgiveness. No matter your past, whether you’re a murderer like Moses or have actively spoken out against Jesus like Paul, you can be forgiven. It’s simply a matter of asking. When you sincerely ask God for forgiveness, He offers it freely. Does that mean we’ll never mess up again? Absolutely not. It means when we do mess up, we get back up and try again. I, for one, am grateful God is a God of second chances.
A new life coming into the world disrupts Susan’s quiet life …
Susan Montgomery is used to a quiet, peaceful life managing her apartment building, where the hardest problem is her grouchy neighbor’s leaky faucet. She soon finds herself dealing with a pregnant teenage niece, a mysterious briefcase left behind by a tenant, and two very different men vying for her heart.
A near-death experience gives Mac a new outlook on life …
Christopher “Mac” MacAllister is trying to figure out how to “do the Christian thing.” As a new convert, he’s drawn to Susan’s love for life and for God. She’s nothing like the women he used to date; but can Mac compete with the guy who’s come out of nowhere and knows all the right things to say?
Mother’s Day is a complicated day in our home. I didn’t cart home from the hospital the three kids that made me a mom. They did not grow in my body. They arrived, fully formed, at ages ten months, two years and three years old.
We celebrate Mother’s Day with such gratefulness that God has knit our family together through adoption. We celebrate how adoption beautifully models how God adopts and grafts us into His family. And then we mourn.
We mourn with our children for all they have lost. We grieve for what could have been—what should have been—for our children. The aftermath of Mother’s Day has always brought questions.
We bend our knees to pray for the family they didn’t get to know. We thank the Lord that when unwanted pregnancies are easily terminated, our children were born to a woman that valued life. We pray for God’s mercy in her home, for His saving arm to reach down and retrieve the lost from the miry bog and set her feet on solid ground.
As the kids have aged, Mother’s Day has become less traumatic, but the grief is just below the surface. The questions are still there. Who am I?
We praise the Lord that all three of our kids have confessed Christ as their Saviour, and that decision defines them more than anything else ever will. God defines them as forgiven and clean, and God calls them holy. Col 3:12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved…” 1 Pet 2:9, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation….”
They are holy, not because they have earned it or made themselves holy by responding to God’s call, but rather, they are holy because those adopted into the family of God are made holy by Christ. They belong to God. They are His child, and nothing can never sever that relationship.
Year after year, we witness God giving them the strength to endure their losses as they lean into Him. As they mature in Christ, we see them stand more confidently because they understand their status is secure because Jesus not only stands with them, but He stands in their place.
And every Mother’s Day I am overwhelmed afresh by the blessing it is for them to call me mom.
This past year, I’ve fielded more questions about our decision to homeschool than any other time.
Our family of five has been homeschooling for about seven years. This year, our children turn 17, 14, and 13, and they will be the first to tell you that we are not perfect homeschool parents. So if you are reading this and feel overwhelmed because you are not doing this homeschool thing perfectly or you fear you could never do this homeschool thing at all, you are in good company.
Why we chose to homeschool
I never planned to be a homeschool mom. I’m a writer, novelist, and speaker. I never even considered home education as an option before we moved to Brantford, Ontario. We had great public school experiences up to that point in life, and we know and love fantastic public school teachers. Our choice to homeschool did not come as a result of a wound or a fear. Our decision to homeschool began as a practical decision.
My husband is a pastor, and we were in a transition year that took us from our public school in St Catharines to the United States for four months (where we were gifted private Christian education), then back to St Catharines to sell our house to land in Brantford, Ontario. Brantford would have been our children’s third school experience that year and fourth transition. We felt that was too much change and opted to homeschool the remaining four months. I thought that even if I were the worst homeschooling mother ever – they likely wouldn’t lose an entire year in four months with me. No one is more shocked than I am that we are still homeschooling all these years later.
Unexpected blessings through homeschool
Through homeschooling, I have grown closer with my children in a way previously unknown to me. There is a greater depth to our relationship, and it saddens me to know that I had no idea what I was missing before. My kids were gone all day with conventional school and busy with homework and sports/clubs at night, but I didn’t know anything different. I thought it had to be that way. Now we are together nearly all the time (which has its pros and cons), and I have grown to love their quirks, sense of humour, and personality traits more than ever before.
So much time together has been a blessing, but it has also been the most sanctifying and challenging experience I have ever endured. Nothing has exposed the sin in my heart more than homeschooling my children. God has used this to shed light on my selfish tendencies, my sense of entitlement, and a shocking level of personal laziness. When I went into this, I believed God would use homeschooling to grow and impact my kids, but I had no idea how much he would use it to grow and challenge me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.
I’m not alone
I’ve learned that my ability to teach my children rests entirely on God’s ability to keep His promises to me. It rests on God’s ability to bring about the changes in me that He desires. It rests on God’s ability to provide for our every need in Jesus Christ.
I’ve found the homeschool community to be a tremendous encouragement. Moms further along the path have encouraged me through difficult years and offered advice and resources. We’ve cried together, laughed together, and prayed together as we sought to raise our children to be responsible and God-fearing adults. As I near the finish line of homeschool, I am challenged to pour into those just beginning. I desire to be available to answer questions and share resources that I have found helpful.
Have questions?
I’m excited to be part of the 2021 Canadian Homeschool Symposium. If you have questions – this is the conference with answers. It’s affordable ($25), it’s accessible (ONLINE), offers several workshops and allows you to interact with the speakers.
I have the privilege of opening God’s Word to 2 Chronicles 20 at this online symposium. Raising our children in the ways of the Lord and educating them to be responsible God-honouring adults is an all-in, no-holds-barred, the-enemy-fights-dirty battle. Sometimes, even after suiting up in the armour, fear spears us right through the heart. At the conference, you can journey with me through 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 in Homeschool Hardships and Humble Hearts and learn how a teacher’s character shapes the student and how you can fearlessly lead your children through battles that belong to the Lord. Click the image to visit the website and learn about the other speakers, vendors, and help available.
I’m in the final month of a study in the book of Isaiah that has spanned the last six months. I’ve loved how Isaiah speaks to the people of his day, but the prophecy also speaks to us. Our Redeemer will come! I spent today in chapters 58-59, where Isaiah is commanded to proclaim to God’s people their sin (58:1). The people seek God, yet it appears that God takes no notice (2a). Isaiah declares God is not answering their fasting and humbling before Him (3a) because they seek Him “as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God” (2b).
Doesn’t that ring with the sound of modern-day cries? Spiritual actions driven by self, seeking pleasure and the oppression of enemies’ (3-4) and then crying because God fails to deliver as we desired. Many approach faith solely to meet felt needs, and God rejects such selfish, false piety. Isaiah explains that God accepts the fast that “loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, break every yoke” is the fast that God blesses (6). God looks for the one looking beyond himself, with eyes on social justice that springs from a heart that believes that God’s justice has been satisfied in Christ (8-9a).
But sin has separated God’s people from Him (59:2); therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us. We hope for light and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom (59:9). We grope … we stumble … we growl … we moan … we hope for justice, but there is none. Salvation is far from us (59:10-11).
Hoping for light
It has been over a year of hoping for light and brightness, yet we continue to stumble, grope, growl and moan. There is no justice. No salvation. Why?
God lists the sins that have separated Him from his people: denying the Lord, turning back from following God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies (12-13). Justice, righteousness, truth, uprightness are blocked. There is no standard of truth. He who departs from evil makes himself prey (12-15).
Whoa – Isaiah penned this thousands of years ago, yet it describes today very well. Article headlines seem to be filled with people denying God and declaring their faith in objects unable to deliver hope. Oppression and revolts are frequent. It’s getting harder and harder to discern between truthful reports and lies. Those fighting for justice, righteousness, truth, and unrighteousness are blocked. He who separates from the evil of the day makes himself prey.
It feels like the attacks are coming from all directions, inside the church and outside the church. But God sees (14b), and it displeases him that there is no one to intercede, so God intercedes. Only God can redeem a people this far gone. “His own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him (16). He will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the Lord drives (19).
I love that description! A rushing stream which the wind of the Lord drives. It illustrates the power of God that prompts the proper response of awe and fear. Our Redeemer will come! He comes to those in Jacob who turn from transgression (20). This is God’s covenant with them:
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”
Isaiah 59:21
Our Redeemer will Come
I’m still working through what all this meant to the people back then and how we can apply the universal truths to us now. But as I work through all that, I am encouraged to see that the battles we face today are not new. As we repent of seeking the Lord for selfish gain and humbly return to seeking His face to do His will, as we separate ourselves from evil and understand it paints a target on our back, we put all our hope in God because only God can redeem a people this far gone.
He saw back then. He sees right now. He said the redeemer “will come,” and He did. He came in the person of Jesus Christ (bolded emphasis mine):
1 Corinthians 1:30, “But it is due to Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters.”
Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace.”
1 Peter 1:18-21, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
John 14:1-3 (Jesus speaking), “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Our Redeemer came, and our Redeemer lives. Our Redeemer is coming again.
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Do you need help focusing your heart and mind on the glorious truths of God’s Word? Are you overcome with anxiety and wish someone could guide you through God’s Word, training you in handling it well and applying it to your life? Check out Chasing Holiness. It’s the perfect study to complete with a small group of friends. You are already running this race, so take the next seven weeks and train yourself to run it well!
Have you heard of the wonderful organization called Flowers for the Pastor’s Wife? They seek to encourage, equip, and connect small-town and rural ministry wives in their unique calling. Maybe you’re not a small-town pastor’s wife, but if you know one – please forward them this ministry link.
My husband and I spent our early ministry years serving God in a tiny village. I learned so much about ministry, myself, and the Lord during those years. Since then, we’ve served God in other contexts. My husband was an associate pastor and now is a lead pastor in a large (ish) church. After more than 20 years in ministry, I have to admit that there is something uniquely special and uniquely challenging about small-town ministry. Flowers for the Pastor’s Wife speaks to those needs.
It’s my privilege to write the occasional article for them. My most recent is available now and is called Whatever it Takes. **Due to the personal nature of some of the blog posts, the blog portion of their website is limited to pastors’ wives who have registered with them. Registering is super easy, and the content and community are worth it.
I have the privilege of writing guest posts for Women Together, an organization about networking and empowering women to make a difference by providing women with education, skills development, leadership training, and Biblical instruction to women leaders worldwide. It is an organization committed to creating a global community of Christian women who live to glorify God, serve others, and learn from one another. I encourage you to check out Women-Together!
