If Your Candidate Loses.

2 Nov

Today’s the day!  Your candidate will either win or he won’t.

Either way, I wanted to mention something that has been on my heart for the entirety of 2020.  It feels like American Christians have forgotten that our primary citizenship is with Christ and our American nationality is secondary. 

Messiah has already come, folks. 

This is supposed to be supremely good news…it’s the gospel! I am so sad that the term has begun to fall flat.

Did you know that “gospel” was historically a political term?  I recently learned that the concept of gospel (which is “euangelion” in the Greek) preceded the Messiah by centuries. Though we gloss easily over the term, it’s far more than meets the eye.

Euangelion/gospel was actually political concept employed in the Greco-Roman world, and maybe even earlier. When an emperor would take over a new area, a designated messenger would deliver a grand pronouncement to the populace.  The messenger essentially proclaimed, “Good news! You now are a part of our great empire, and therefore have full access to all its benefits.” If you want to know more–listen to this!

 The arrival of the new empire brought the gospel of improved infrastructure, new forms of culture, education, entertainment, and sports.  It disseminated the lingua franca, and best of all, it would mean a greater measure of civil order and peace, especially Pax Romana. 

So, when the New Testament writers used the term “gospel,” the first-century readers readily understood it in a political context.  They understood that a gospel coming to town would be an all-encompassing, paradigm-changing cultural upheaval.  The scripture writers and readers in their time connected the dots that the Kingdom of God brought both a physical and spiritual Gospel.  Followers of the Messiah are citizens of God’s far superior empire. 

Jesus was and is the ultimate King, and he brought about a final gospel, a comprehensive euangelion–for all peoples, for all time.  Marty Solomon calls it the “Empire of Shalom.” It surpasses any human system of government.  Humanity will never grow out of it, or progress beyond it.  It’s finished.  And we have full access to all its earthly and eternal advantages.

This is such good news!  

The “go to heaven when we die” mentality throws us off track.  It rouses a resignation mindset: as long as we’ve professed our faith in Christ/believe God raised him from the dead, we’ve scored our ticket to heaven.  So we just sit the bench, and essentially to be evacuated from here to somewhere…else.     

But the world to come will be creation restored—and the bodily, physical resurrection of Jesus is our first glimpse of the restoration. When the Messiah returns, creation will follow suit.  Our bodies and the earth will be renewed to their original state—dripping with glory— free of pain, sorrow, or death.  No more hate, abuse, pollution, hunger, victimization, oppression. Our eyes, the eyeballs that are in our heads right now, will get to see the healing of this world that we are all screaming out for.

Now THAT is a Kingdom to get excited about. 

Unity, love, reconciliation, and emotional prosperity are intangibles. They are spiritual.  We are (loudly) demanding self-control, peace, kindness, gentleness from a U.S. President. And it seems we are expecting a political party to disseminate them to us.

The American identity crisis has metastasized because we are expecting spiritual prosperity from our political system. Spiritual prosperity is only attained through spiritual channels. This stuff is not going to come from any elected American president.

If your candidate loses, you’ll be gutted. But don’t fret! Messiah continually told us that the activated Kingdom of God is here!  It’s higher! It’s not on hold until He returns. It transcends our national and ethnic boundaries. There is plenty of exciting work to be done, and a universal need for us to continue creating.  We usher more of it in with every nugget of Truth we share, each kind word we speak, every thoughtful gesture we offer, every time we step out of our comfort zone to see and meet someone’s need.

Every faithful deed grows it a bit more.

We’re invited to join, which gives us both team and a cause, here’s a huge dopamine hit in that!* I hope soon, VERY soon, He will come back and finish the rest of it. 

Leigh

Note: The word “gospel” came from the Latin evangelium, which came from the Greek “euangelion.”  Literally translated, it means good news: from Old English gōdspel (translation of Late Latin evangelium), from gōd good + spell tale.

Resources:

BEMA Discipleship Podcast—Season 3: Episode 83, Gospel Narrative

Ask NT Wright Anything—Episode 3, Questions on Heaven, the Kingdom of God, and the return of Christ

*me quoting Rosaria Butterfield, who was quoting the book Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier

https://www.nae.net/theology-behind-euangelion/

https://glenandpaula.com/wordpress/archives/2010/02/25/pre-christian-uses-of-gospel

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Keeping a Record of Rights

20 May

The hardest part of homeschooling (or–schooling at home): learning how to live and work together well.  Anyone who knows me in real life can testify that I am not patient at all, about anything.  Secondly, it’s hard for me to breathe with my house this messy.  Both of those things continually rage against me, as we’re living in here together, perpetually, with no breaks.  

But impatience and filth are not my biggest challenge.  The solitary thing that puts me on my back at the end of any given day is the endless chastisement, re-directions, reminders, and corrective training.  Over time it builds up.  It feels like my words are all negative, all the time.  It absolutely takes its toll on the children; and before long, it feels like I am the one who is actually failing at everything.    

I have felt desperate, thinking, “Oh my GOSH!  I never see any good in them!”

Love keeps no record of wrongs, and this seems like a paradox for parents raising wayward children.  For years, I’ve earnestly prayed for the gift of encouragement, especially within my own family, which should be automatic, considering how much I love these people!

We know what we want it to be, but neither they nor we can keep it together long enough to rise out of the cycle of negativity.  It can feel we are stuck in the same place day after day.

My family has found a simple but concise practice to counteract some of the negative, critical talk that inevitably permeates our daily speech. 

As much as possible, I try to keep a running “record of rights.” 

I jot down anything good I have observed from each child over the past day or days: their kind words spoken, their helpful actions, loving gestures, and taking initiative.  I look for instances they produced any of the fruits of the Spirit!  I try to record as many occurrences I can think of, and God brings many to mind. 

Some days I just have one for each person.  If it has been a while, I think back over the past week or so, and I record five or six per person.  At the end of the day, usually at the dinner table, my husband or I read the list aloud.  Every child receives a round of applause and a decent dose of positive affirmation. 

They are tremendously pleased to be acknowledged and thanked for the good things they have done. 

What an aroma of grace over our family!  For one thing, it verifies that I am, in fact, encouraging and seeing the good in my kids.  And it warms my heart toward them when it’s beginning to grow cold.  It infuses reassurance, approval, and praise into each of our relationships. 

Kids adore the recognition.  Because they know there’s potential for commendation, this is also a great way to foster in them a habit of thinking, “Have I done something good for someone else today?”  (Then again, they should do it whether anyone notices or not.  Different lesson.)

Encouragement is a gift of the spirit and it doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it is within reach. This builds a framework for just how to intentionally and quantifiably give this gift. 

Try it out!  The fruit of this will multiply in your home and out your front door as everyone in the family has their spirits lifted—they will be filled enough to potentially fill others.  It models and demonstrates the art of encouragement in just a few minutes per week.  It will brighten the spirit in your home…and, you can lay your head on your pillow at night knowing that not everything you say to them is negative or critical!

We are all doing our best!!  Stay safe, and continue your pursuit of spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional wellness!

Let’s keep track of everything good,
Leigh

The Other Guys. Best movie ever.

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5 Creative Systems To Awesomize your Family Life

30 Apr

Peek behind the curtain: even though I have 5 kids I don’t absolutely love my life like this. 

I have become known “Leigh-with-five-kids.”  This was especially true when we were living in England.  Let me tell you, it’s not the exact identity I had in mind for myself!  When I wake up in the morning, I find myself just as astounded as everyone else that we had 5 kids!!  I gotta dig DEEP before I can move through yet another day with all of them.  I do love them (but not all of them all at the same time).  There is always one or two hindering my tranquility at any given moment. 

The days are hard, but not impossible.  In order to minimize the impact, we have been forced to develop a few coping mechanisms.  I mean, systems.  I probably have hundreds of systems at this point…and they really do improve daily life.  

Even if you don’t have a large family, these quick-fixes might help streamline your hectic life also.

I *was* going to start with the classic trash-bag-as-food-storage hack.  But I changed my mind.  This one is probably a stretch for outsiders, not relatable at all, or makes the impression that I am a maniac.  In my defense: have you ever made a salad so big that it outgrew every bowl you own, and won’t even fit in your upside down Rubbermaid cake keeper?  A-ha!  Thank you, 13-gallon trash bag, you are the unsung hero of the large family!  They have so many uses–I always travel with 2 or 3 of them.  Below you will behold the greatest feat it has ever accomplished:

Chicken Pesto Orzo Salad has never looked more appealing. 

Yes, I have served them dinner out of a trash bag.  Anyone?  Just Me?  I am not saying show up to the company potluck with a trashbag-salad slung over your shoulder…but come on.  This does do in a pinch. 

If you are still reading…perhaps the next five things will be more realistic to put into play.

PACKING CUBES

When we travel, these are an absolute must.  They keep me from breaking out into impulsive violence while we are trying to enjoy our mandatory vacation.  Nothing makes you regret having 40% more kids than all your friends, then by spending a week in a small room bestrewn with 7 people’s laundry.

Amazon Basics Packing Cubes

 

Enter packing cubes.  Each person gets one for the entirety of the trip.  They contain ½ week of clothing.  The cube contains 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, 4 socks/undies, 1 sweatshirt and PJs.  They will be wearing another entire outfit.  I shove the packing cube inside a regular backpack, and everyone effortlessly carries their own crap.  We do laundry once or twice while on the trip.  It is so simple.  It also keeps our accommodations very tidy.

I pack like this for short and long trips.  I even packed in cubes for our 2-month PCS from Hawaii to England!  The seven of us moved abroad with just two and a half suitcases!  These things streamline everything and minimize loss.  It also minimizes laundry, because it forces us to wear things twice (or 3x) whenever possible.  You know, most kids want to wear the same three things over and over anyway.

For a 5-day trip to Paris, I packed all of this for 6 people…

stuffed into these four backpacks

STOP FOLDING

When you have a family of seven, the laundry is utterly bananas.  I don’t need to paint the picture. 

Actually, I will:

Do you remember that trash monster, in Fraggle Rock…it lived above the Fraggles’ underground construction site?  Yeah.  Think of that.  Our trash monster is loaded with all sorts of fearsome finds.  It is like an active trauma scene: still-steaming workout clothes, dripping-wet bath towels, trousers covered in english manure-mud…and it’s peppered by seven people’s worth of soiled underpants.  You know its bad when my own hallowed clothing has actually been stained by the laundry pile itself!!!!!  I think you get the picture.  Don’t be jealous.

I spend a lot of time with this…pile.  And don’t forget the amount of time it takes to sort it once it’s clean.  But I learned a little secret from Heidi St. John:

Quit folding. 

I know what you are thinking.  I would have never even CONSIDERED the thought of not folding my laundry either.  I would have thought it would only increase our chaos.  But then I remembered:

No one keeps the clothes folded.  It’s all scrambled up once it hits their dressers.  True confession: I don’t keep mine folded either.  Whether it’s balled up in a drawer or hanging in my closet, I end up ironing almost everything anyway.  

I am never folding again, and neither are you.  As the clean clothing emerges, you just effortlessly stuff it into the person’s basket.  Done.  Folding laundry: an inconsequential, futile, unproductive, fruitless use of time.  I lost hours of my life folding for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Note: I do fold our socks, my type-A hubby’s clothing for him, as well as the linens. 

I do fold my linens and my husband’s stuff–because I love him. ❤

THREADBARE TOWELS

When first lived in Hawaii, I blissfully invested in lush, beautiful, fluffy beach towels.  The instant I laid out them out, they were wet, salty, and embedded with flour-consistency sand.  And heavy.  They never really dried, and the sand never shook completely out.  I quickly realized that the crappiest towels make the best beach towels because they dry so fast and are easy to clean. 

The same thing applies to the kids’ bath towels.  When the towels are cheap and chintzy, who could care that they were used to sop up mess of an overflowed toilet, to clean up nail polish spills, or wipe off rugby cleats?  Save the plush towels for yourself and guests, and equip your kids with the thinnest, cheapest, lamest towels that money can buy…even better if you can get them for free!  Think one step up from paper towels.  They dry fast even when they are balled up on the floor, and they’re easier to maintain overall.

Next time you see an ad selling towels in the dollar store, and you think to yourself, “who is buying their towels at the dollar store?” The answer is you.  You are.  

Downside: the kids constantly go after the nice guest towels; they must be guarded with my life, and that’s another challenge altogether.

If you simply can not bring yourself to buy crappy towels, but you want the benefits of light weight and quick dry time, then you can invest in Turkish towels…which have the same exact benefits of the chea-pass towels, but at a much higher price point.  Wowsers, they are so much cuter too, and can be used as a beach wrap to boot. 

the posh version of “threadbare towels” are called Turkish towels, and they are great–but no need to waste your money on them for the kids. (But these are a wonderful gift idea!!)

UNWANTED CHORES

Assign your kids the chores that YOU despise doing.  Those are their burdens now.  Stop giving them the jobs you can do with your eyes closed. 

Some household tasks just seem to happen, and I accomplish those mindlessly.  For instance, laundry.  I am OCD about my trash monster, so no one can come near it.  Loading/unloading the dishwasher just happens for me.  Also, I effortlessly do quite a bit of vacuuming, probably because of the enchanting and glorious white noise that obscures my surroundings. 

I don’t make them do anything that I automatically seem to do. 

However, I happily burden the kids with every bit of grunt work.  The worst jobs of all.  The stuff I never get around to.  I’m talking baseboards, cleaning out from under beds (even mine), mopping, vacuuming stairs, tidying the front and back stoops…this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Insider secrets:

  1. Have them clean your laundry room.  This is the best kid chore of all.  Nothing is more refreshing than walking into a sparkling clean utility room…after all, I spend a great deal of time in there not-folding the kids’ clothes. 
  2. Skip the mop bucket altogether.  Make them wash the floors Cinderella-style, with Windex and paper towels.  This is the most efficient method.  Sloppy mops and buckets just create so much more work and mess, IMO.  It is so fast, and much easier for the kids to do without too much of your oversight.

 You can create your own set of housekeepers–they are guaranteed to get it right!  

Now, just how you get your kids to do these jobs well is another article altogether.

TWO WORDS:

One of the chief complaints of most parents is the total lack of privacy.  I have great news.  Kids after a certain age do NOT bother you if there is any risk whatsoever of seeing you naked.  On the contrary, they actually run for their lives. 

All you have to do is shout, “I’M NAKED” and you have bought yourself 20 minutes of privacy, minimum. 

This amazing parenting hack does not start working until the children are age six or seven, however.  So, in our case, 40% are still not phased by parental nudity in the least.  I guess we have another three years or so before we are entirely home free. 

If you have a 5-year-old, try shouting this at them, just to test the water and see where they are at.  Your 5-year-old may have early-onset nudaphobia, and you are golden. 🙂

 

There you have it.  All these little systems have been wonderful breakthroughs for us!  Don’t parent for 14 years before you adopt some of these.  All of this is free chicken for everyone!!  We are all in this together.  Anyone else have any must-share parenting hacks to save you time, eliminate hassle, or buy you some privacy?  Don’t hold out on us!

 

Leigh

 

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