Daily Archives: May 26, 2009

Today is Tuesday which means Mama Loves. This weekly exercise based on Philippians 4:8-9 started as an effort to see the positive side of parenting, even in the midst of weariness. Oh, you know I love my kids, but there are days when I try to remember what life was like before them. Over time this feature morphed into a declaration of praise over whatever God did for me that week. It has been many things: sobering, joyful, encouraging, affirming. This was a great week, but I didn’t ha

I spent the weekend painting. Well, Saturday anyway. Somehow (probably by my own admission) someone at church discovered I went to art school (a long time ago). This nominated me as the go-to-girl for any major art projects, specifically the highway signs. Our church owns 22 acres on the highway. The only way on or off campus is by the highway. We make a lot of highway signs. Each year I paint a giant piece of plywood with the logo of that year’s VBS program. This year they upped the ante by tossing in a couple extra signs for use in the Memorial Day parade. That was this weekend. That means I had to have the signs done before Monday’s celebration. No problem. A simple investment of five hours on Saturday produced this (three almost identical signs: one 4′ x 7′ and two 2′ x 3′)

And this.

I’m not opposed to sunlotion. Really! It was a cool day and I never burn. In fact, this is my first sunburn in over six years. The last one was BC (Before Children) in St. Lucia.

Mama does not love sunburns. I’m not even really fond of painting highway signs, but I’m glad I did it. I’ll be happy to do it again next year. Why?

When I was younger, when I first became a Christian at the age of fifteen, I needed to be involved in everything. I needed people to see me and my ministries. I needed people to acknowledge that I was doing something good, that I was growing and bringing glory to God. I was in drama, choir, mime, evangelism, sign language, teaching, VBS — you name it! I was in front.

As I matured in my faith and in my relationship with Christ, I learned to step back. It was difficult at first because the front was where I garnered my value and confidence. Being less seen seemed like a step backwards. But in stepping back (not in maturity or sincerity, but out of the spotlight), I offered others the opportunity to use their gifts more. I also learned the value of being a foot. The Apostle Paul wrote about the parts of the body of Christ, the church. We each have different gifts, but we are all valuable. We are all important! The ears are just as important than the eyes; the feet are needed just as much as the hands. In my immaturity, I placed greater significance on certain ministries and shamefully looked down on others.

I love feeling comfortable enough in my God and my gifts to go unseen.