Matthew 7:24-27

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In one of the shorter parables in the Bible, Matthew 7:24-27 describes the wise and foolish builders.

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 Why This Stuck Out Today

Personal Background

I have been sick.  My pregnancy with our precious one was difficult.  I had pregnancy-induced hypertension, resulting in an early induction of our daughter.  Then she couldn't handle the pitocin (her heart rate would plummet every time they started the drip) and I could not progress without it, leading to an unplanned, emergency c-section. Just when I thought I was out of the woods, I landed back in the hospital with pneumonia and doctors that couldn't shake something had to be wrong with my heart.  After another 4 days I was discharged again with a diagnoses of minor aortic regurgitation (AR) and pneumonia with instructions to come back in 6 weeks to have my heart tested again. It has now been two months, I have been scanned a second time, and I have been diagnosed with severe AR requiring surgery on my aortic valve to repair the prolapse. 

God's Grace in all of this was that I am asymptomatic. Without any of the symptoms I could have gone years without knowing my heart was attempting to keep up with too much blood leaking back into the heart instead of out of the aorta.  But keeping up with that amount of blood would take its toll, and by the time I showed any symptoms, I would be in congestive heart failure.  Not only did they catch it before any damage to the heart was done, they caught it early enough that they can repair instead of replace the valve.  This is also important because of my age.  A repair will last the rest of my God-given life.  A replacement would only last 15 years and open me up to three or four more surgeries to continually replace the old valves. 

Built on the Rock

But back to Matthew.  This parable stuck out to me, because I have been struggling.  Why, at 24 years old with a two month old and a husband of only a little over a year and a half, do I have to face the possibility of open heart surgery?  But then in my reading I came across the wise and foolish builders.  In this parable Jesus is not speaking of literal houses.  He is speaking of life.  If you build your life on the things and support of this world, when the storms of life rage you will crumble.  However, if you build your life on HIM, you will not falter.  That's the easy take away.  The thing that stuck me was that the same things happened to both the wise and foolish man.  Christ did not promise we would be protected from the storms of life, only supported. 

I have been a Christian all my life, and I have been protected from the majority of the storms.  Now my little family faces what feels like a hurricane, and Matthew reminds me that as long as we trust in the Lord we will weather the storm. 

My Charge to You

Do not get angry with God.  Do not ask why.  Those are pitfalls I fell into, and they lead to only darkness and no answers.  Instead, find comfort that The Rock will support you through your own storms in this life.  I will always pray for you.  You only need to email me and ask.

A New Look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

My wonderful husband has taken the baby for an outing all morning in the hopes that I would "do whatever I needed to do."  Examples given were "sleep, read, eat." He knows me well!  But I figured I would get this small thought down on the blog that hasn't been updated in FOREVER.

A Guide to Dating

I recently saw an idea on raising daughters in a Christian home and helping them to date.  They used 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 to make their point.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

And they told their daughter to insert the boyfriend/crush's name into the place of "Love" and ask if all statements rang true. "Billy is patient, Billy is kind.  Billy does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud.  He does not dishonor others, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs.  Billy does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves." 

I thought that it was a beautiful idea, and outlines exactly what I hope our little girl would look for in her own relationships (when she's 40, that is!).  But then I really started to think and pray on it.

Teaching Her to Love

And it hit me: It isn't just a lesson I needed to teach her so that she finds love in someone else, but a lesson I needed to teach her to be in order to show others loev.  This is how I teach my girl to love herself, her significant other, her family, her friends, and her neighbors.

When she is old enough I will ask her if, when she enters her name into 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, does she think all statements are true.  Is she always patient with her sibling?  Is she always kind to her mother?

Of course the answer will be no--people slip up.  We make mistakes.  Only Jesus can be entered in place of Love and the verse ring true every.single.time.  But we can attempt to make it happen, ask for forgiveness of those we hurt when we fail, and pray for a little bit of God's perfect love to shine through us in all of our relationships.

With this lesson I can mold her into a loving young woman while also being able to teach her the beauty of grace and mercy.

But What About Us?

As I thought a little longer, I realized that this is not something to only be taught to our children.  It is something we should all learn.  Even if we are already married.  Even if no relationships seem to be bad in our lives.  Ask ourselves if, as a wife, am I always kind?  As a mother, am I always patient? And any statement that isn't true, we should ask for guidance and assistance in making the statement true.

Katie is patient, Katie is kind.  She does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud.  She does not dishonor others, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, she keeps no record of wrongs.  Katie does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  She always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

I don't know about you, but writing it out like that.  Forcing myself to evaluate each sentence, there is still PLENTY of work to be done.  But in the words of Philippians 1:6, there is hope.
"God's not done with me yet."