Happy weekend, y’all! Don’t forget that our deadline for the Pick One Spot contest is midnight tonight EST. You still have three hours to finish!
Enjoy this Friday Funny. Labor and delivery through the eyes of a child- a hilarious perspective!
Back here on Monday! Janelle for the girltalkers
The Middle Wife by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher
I’ve been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.
When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they’re welcome.
Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.
She holds up a snapshot of an infant. ‘This is Luke, my baby brother, and I’m going to tell you about his birthday.’
‘First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom’s stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.’
She’s standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I’m trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.
‘Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, ‘Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!’ Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. ‘She walked around the house for, like an hour, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’ (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)
‘My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn’t have a sign on the car like the Domino’s man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.’ (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)
‘And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!’ (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)
‘Then the middle wife starts saying ‘push, push,’ and ‘breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten.. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom’s play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.’
Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I’m sure I applauded the loudest… Ever since then, when it’s show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another ‘Middle Wife’ comes along.
“Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it” John Piper
Now that we’ve talked about time, let’s consider place and method for sitting at Jesus’ feet.
What’s the best place for reading our Bible? If at all possible, pick a secluded place. A quiet place. A place where you won’t be distracted.
And prepare your place. Have all your “sitting stuff”—your Bible, journal, commentary, book, pen, highlighter, Kleenex, etc.—readily accessible. Maybe even put everything in one basket. That way you won’t have to spend the first ten minutes (like I have before) wandering around the house to collect everything!
Finally, we need a method for reading our Bible. If we don’t have a good plan for reading and studying God’s Word, we will likely become discouraged or even disinterested—which can hinder us from keeping this discipline in place.
If you don’t have a good plan or know how to create one, let me encourage you to ask a godly friend or pastor for help. But here are two links you might find useful.
Bible Reading: Justin Taylor links to ten different Bible reading plans offered by Crossway Books and other sites and gives an overview of a few of them. I personally am using the Discipleship Journal plan in my devotions.
Prayer: This website contains Matthew Henry’s method of prayer which is simply praying the Bible. This site has been a wonderful help to me in my prayer life.
I hope these simple thoughts will spur you on to develop a good plan for sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his teaching.
If it is cold and rainy where you are (like here in Fairfax,VA), and if you have small kids who need to let out some energy (like I do), these videos will brighten your day. They are two songs from the Sovereign Grace Music’s children’s album, To Be Like Jesus, which were filmed at Summer Celebration 2009—a kid’s camp at Covenant Life Church.
My kids loved watching Mr. B (Uncle Monkey to them) lead a cast of young people in song and dance. And I loved watching my kids enthusiastically sing along and (try) to do the motions.
So, moms, here’s a little gift for you: a happy break for you and your kids, no matter what the weather. I might even make watching these videos a part of my daily routine!
“Many good things do not happen in our lives for the simple lack of planning” explains John Piper. “Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it.”
So do you have a time, a place, and a method?
Let’s talk about time.
There is no law in the Bible that dictates when to have a quiet time. In fact, we are to meditate on God’s Word day and night! However, there is biblical encouragement for rising early to seek the Savior.
Consider the psalmist who directs his prayer to the Lord in the morning and then watches for the answer (Ps. 5:3). The Proverbs 31 woman is famous for rising “while it is yet night” to provide food for her family. Finally, and most notably, Jesus himself rose early to pray. Mark 1:35 records, “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Referring to Bible reading and prayer, John Piper again offers this advice:
“I earnestly recommend that it be in the early morning, unless there are some extenuating circumstances. Entering the day without a serious meeting with God, over his Word and in prayer, is like entering the battle without tending to your weapons. The human heart does not replenish itself with sleep. The body does, but not the heart. We replenish our hearts not with sleep, but with the Word of God and prayer.”
Compelling logic, is it not?
We don’t want to head unprepared into the daily fray. By rising early we can secure much-needed refreshment for our souls.
More on place and method this week…
(Portions of this post adapted from our book, Shopping for Time)
Last week I sent these two quotes to someone who is going through a trial. My husband used them in a sermon a few months ago and they continue to encourage my soul. Whatever your “need of the soul” is today, i pray that pondering the truth of who God is and how He works will strengthen your faith:
“Faith in a person involves not merely the conviction that the person trusted is able to save, but also the conviction that he is able and willing to save us… if we are to trust Jesus, we must come to Him personally and individually with some need of the soul which he alone can relieve.” J. Gresham Machen
“See here the wisdom of God, who can make the worst things imaginable turn to the good of the saints… God works strangely. He brings order out of confusion, harmony out of discord… God often helps when there is least hope, and saves His people in that way which they think will destroy… God’s ways are ‘past finding out’ (Rom. 11:33). They are rather to be admired than fathomed.” Thomas Watson
In lieu of the Friday Funnies, we want to encourage you to seize these few moments to continue to pray for the suffering people of Haiti. As Dr. Al Mohler has so movingly written:
“The earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti—and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel. In the midst of this unspeakable tragedy, Christ would have us rush to aid the suffering people of Haiti, and rush to tell the Haitian people of his love, his cross, and salvation in his name alone. Everything about the tragedy in Haiti points to our need for redemption. This tragedy may lead to a new openness to the Gospel among the Haitian people. That will be to the glory of God. In the meantime, Christ’s people must do everything we can to alleviate the suffering, bind up the wounded, and comfort the grieving”
As a teenager, I visited Haiti twice on short-term mission trips. Seeing firsthand the severe poverty in that country had a profound impact on my young life. But it is impossible for me to imagine the suffering that so many are experiencing after this devastating earthquake. We want to encourage all of you to join us in praying for the people of Haiti, and especially that the gospel would go forward in the midst of this tragedy.
Sovereign Grace Ministries is able to provide aid through contacts in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and they have set up a Disaster Relief fund to which you can contribute. Here is more information:
Friends,??
In response to the devastating earthquake that occurred in Haiti on Tuesday, Sovereign Grace Ministries has opened a Disaster Relief fund to help deliver food, medicine, and other needed aid there. We will distribute the funds we raise primarily through existing ministry contacts we have on the island—both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic—who are already involved in relief efforts. ??If you want to join us in our support of these efforts, you can donate to the Disaster Relief fund on our website or by calling 800.736.2202. On behalf of our friends in Haiti, thank you for considering this opportunity to give. Regardless of your ability to make a donation, please join us in praying that those affected by the earthquake would receive aid quickly, and that despite these hardships the gospel would continue to go forward in that nation.??
Mary wanted to sit at Jesus’ feet by deliberately ignoring distractions—namely, Martha and her anxious busyness.But we need to be alert to what distracts us from keeping our daily appointment to read God’s word and pray.
Maybe it’s a hobby, the newspaper or a magazine, watching TV, listening to your ipod, staying up to late at night, loving sleep too much, blogging, keeping up with facebook, following twitter, texting, etc.
We must do whatever it takes to say “no” to the distractions that keep us from the one thing that is necessary: sitting at Jesus’ feet.
A while back, I found that the Internet was becoming a distraction. I was using the five minutes it took for my coffee to brew each morning to quickly check my email, or headline news, or maybe a blog or two, before starting my devotions.
I’d check a headline and then I just had to read the story; or I’d check a blog I enjoy, and I just had to check out the link they recommended, or I’d get caught up not just looking at my email, but answering it.
Before I knew it, five minutes would turn into twenty minutes and then my quiet time would be cut short.
So, I knew I needed to make a choice. I had to choose to say no to this distraction! I resolved to not look at email or blogs or headline news until after my time of Bible study and prayer.
What about you? Is there a distraction in your life that you need to say “no” to?
Whatever it takes ladies, let’s be ruthless about not allowing anything to distract us from seeking God through His Word and prayer.
WHAT we are to sit and listen to: Jesus’ teaching. It is the one thing that is necessary.
WHERE we are to sit and listen: at Jesus’ feet, with humble hearts, eager to listen and learn.
WHEN we need to sit: even in busy seasons we must consistently seek God through His Word and prayer.
WHY do we sit: because we need God’s grace, not as a way to earn His approval.
The final question is HOW. How do we sit at Jesus’ feet?
Then answer is in Luke 10:42: “Mary has chosen the good potion.”
Mary didn’t just think about sitting and listening or talk to others about it. She chose to sit and listen. We must choose to sit and listen.
“It’s easier to serve than commune” observed the great preacher Charles Spurgeon. It’s easier to do what Martha did than what Mary did. So we need “great grace” to follow Mary’s example—to choose to sit and listen.
Two things will help us to choose the good portion:
…as a way to earn God’s approval. It can’t be done. No string of quiet times in a row can meet the standard of a holy God. No amount of Scripture reading or prayer can earn His forgiveness.
Jesus Christ is the only person who ever met with God’s approval. He lived a perfect life and died in our place, receiving the wrath of God that we deserved. He rose again, and stands “before the throne of God above”—the perfect, spotless righteousness of those who trust in Him.
As believers we are justified—declared righteous, forgiven, and accepted by God—through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. We do not earn or forfeit our justification before God based on our performance.
Our good works, our faithfulness to sit and listen, our diligence to seek the Lord through prayer and Scripture do not add to Christ’s finished work.
Ephesians 2:8-9 sets the record straight: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
We must keep this truth ever before us as we resolve to sit at the Savior’s feet. It is necessary and beneficial; but it is never, never, never a means to earn God’s forgiveness or acceptance.
B.B. Warfield empathically hammered home this point when he said:
“There is nothing in us or done by us, at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot be accepted at all. This is not true of us only when we believe. It is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live…It is always on His ‘blood and righteousness’ alone that we can rest.”
Are you discouraged or condemned by your failure to sit and listen?
Then revel in this truth: We have a Savior who died for our sins. His blood and righteousness alone makes us acceptable to God.
“Most Christians neglect their Bibles not out of conscious disloyalty to Jesus, but because of failure to plan a time and place and method to read it” John Piper
To choose to sit at Jesus’ feet we need to 
As a teenager, I visited Haiti twice on short-term mission trips. Seeing firsthand the severe poverty in that country had a profound impact on my young life. But it is impossible for me to imagine the suffering that so many are experiencing after this devastating earthquake. We want to encourage all of you to join us in praying for the people of Haiti, and especially that the gospel would go forward in the midst of this tragedy.
To recap our 
