Category Archives: Devotionals

It’s Holy Week. When I try to take in all that this means, I’m completely overwhelmed and nearly speechless. Each Monday morning, we get up and start a new week. Many of us report to work. Some of us moms roll out of our jammies and into our yoga pants. Others begin more difficult tasks this week. Fighting an illness. Saying goodbye to a loved one. Packing up a former chapter of life. When Jesus began his week, his difficult final week, I wonder what he thought, how he felt. I’m one of those people who is actually grateful not to know the day of my death. If I knew that I was starting out my last week of life, I wonder how I would live. Jesus, knowing what he must do at the week’s end, turned his face toward Jerusalem and walked right into his death, through a choice of his own will. I wonder, what on earth possessed Jesus to do something like this? What was he thinking?! I know the answer; it’s love. He was thinking about me. And about you. When I really take time to soak that in and to think about Jesus as a man, walking willingly into the sacrifice that he made, I’m just blown away. It’s the most beautiful love story ever written. A man, with so much love for his bride, that he gave up his life in perhaps the most brutal way possible, just so that he could save her. What an epic love story.

If that wasn’t enough to blow me away, my mind then shifts to what Jesus accomplished through his death. Tears flow as I realize how my life is changed because of his sacrifice. I am to benefit from his suffering and sacrifice. I am privileged to know God because of Jesus. My life can have meaning because of Jesus. How I am loved. I wish that I lived with this knowledge in the forefront of my mind every minute of every day. It is the grand scheme. We’re always talking about the grand scheme of things. Well, this is it. This is what makes everything else hold together and make sense in a deeper sort of way, even if it looks crazy . I get so wrapped up in the little stuff, the stuff that doesn’t matter. If I could live everyday with a clear knowledge of what price was paid for my life, maybe I could focus less on myself, on the little stuff that doesn’t matter and give my all, run my guts out, for the race that does matter. So many people need Jesus. They need to know that he died for them because he loves them.

Today I simply want to honor my Jesus. I want to honor my hero, to lift high his name. He is my Savior, and without him, I would be nothing.

In our house, it’s not the little boy who cried wolf; it’s the little girl who cried potty. All day long, one false alarm after another. Potty training has been my nemesis in the parenting realm. Not that other aspects of bring up baby haven’t been challenging (certainly, I have the girl who can’t speak on my hands… yes, challenges), but potty training takes the cake. About three months ago we thought Sophie was ready to potty train, so we got the pull ups, figured out the reward system, brought out the little potty, learned the sign for potty, and dove in. And for a time, she was doing great. But then, it turned into a game for her. And now, three months later, we still have the little girl who cries potty. And she cries it most often in the middle of meals when she wants to be allowed to get out of her chair before she’s finished eating. It didn’t take too long to realize what she was up to, and so we began a “we don’t go potty during dinner” rule. (It does bend in certain circumstances, of course.) We told Sophie that she would have to learn to hold it in during meals. Obviously little children don’t excel at holding it in, but it was our way of showing her that she can’t use the potty as a game to get out of her chair in the middle of a meal. We want her to move past the potty “game” and to actually learn the control needed for success.

Learning to hold it in — when it comes to words and emotions — has been a lesson near and dear to my own heart. My mouth can produce quite a deluge, capable of bowling over whoever is in earshot. In a completely contrasting image, I have also felt the inner fire that I believe James is referring to when he describes the tongue as “a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell” (3:6). A life on fire with the fire of hell – that’s quite an image. Serious business to be sure. Yet, how careless we can be with our words. How we underestimate their power.

In particular, I find that I struggle with critical words. Yes, gossip has its lure, but it’s criticism that always seems to be like a leaping horse behind a gate, trying to burst its way out of my mouth. I blame this largely on my Type A personality. There is a certain way to do everything. To organize every bag, every cupboard, every drawer, everything. (Perhaps I should clarify that this used to be much more true of me than it is now. My children just can’t seem to learn how to organize at ages 3 and 1… I’ve tried, but I’ve had to give in in some regards). My husband can tell you all about this. Just ask him about the kids’ cup cabinet, or the diaper bag sometime. It is NOT just a hodgepodge! (Actually, don’t ask him because he doesn’t want to talk about it.) Seriously though, if something has not been done according to my way, it can be hard for me to just let it go.The struggle is real. I like things done a certain way, and if things happen in a different way, it can be hard for me not to be critical. (Because, clearly, my way is the best way.) (And, yes, motherhood has been one giant lesson in flexibility for me.)

My mother told me once in my teen years that it was not important to let someone know every single time they had done something wrong. (Duh?! But it truly was a word I needed to hear.) Such true and gracious words. So I remind myself continually “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph 4:29). Before that word crosses my lips, I wonder, will this be a benefit to those who are listening? Is this for building others up? I don’t catch myself as often as I should, and I don’t always hold my tongue even when the answer to those questions is indeed a resounding “no!” But I’m working on it.

90% of the time I feel like I’m failing miserably at this whole gig. I know that I should watch my words and only give voice to things that will build others up. But my emotions continually get the better of me. We’ve just come off of the flu-pocalypse 2015 here at the Burleigh house, and mommy was cooped up with two sick, cranky kiddos for a week straight. That’s a long time. When I got to leave the house for groceries on Thursday morning, I felt as if the clouds had parted and the Hallelujah Chorus was ringing out. Weeks like this make me feel isolated and overwhelmed, like a work mule who keeps turning around to find more of the same mess that she just finished cleaning up. A never-ending sink full of dishes. Cheerios all over every floor. Laundry, and more laundry. Diapers, and more diapers. At the week’s end, I felt frazzled and in desperate need of a break. In these types of weeks, it’s hard for me not to let my circumstances get the better of me. My frustrations overwhelm me and they inevitably spill out onto those around me. And then comes the turmoil of feeling defeated, despite my best efforts to be the best mommy and the best wife whose tongue remains under control at all times. Fail. I’m no expert yet at holding it in. I guess I need more practice just like Sophie. In these moments I am thankful that there is grace. A gracious husband. A gracious God. Grace upon grace. We sang this week in church “where sin runs deep, your grace is more.” After working on this piece all week and then failing so miserably at my own lesson, it was good to be reminded of God’s grace. We can never fail beyond God’s grace. I like to think that he’s pleased to see us trying, even if we do sometimes fail.

We’ve had a pretty snowy winter this year here in central Ohio. In these first weeks of March, we are just emerging from a thick white blanket of snow that has basically hidden our grass since November. These last four months, green grass has only existed in my happy place. But, when the snow finally started to melt and we saw some 5’s in the weather forecast, and it wasn’t the ONLY number in the forecast, I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. There IS hope. Spring WILL come this year. This winter in particular, it just seemed like spring would never arrive. And now it’s all but here. And it’s wonderful.

One of the first days of warmer weather, the beginning of our blessed spring thaw, occurred, of course, on my weekly day to get groceries. Of course. Not to be daunted by the slush, I threw on my waterproof boots over top of my pant legs so as not to experience the dreaded soaked pant leg from the mid-calf down. There are few things I like less than that feeling. But I digress. Eager to get out of the house alone (I really do love my kids), I threw on these boots and headed out into the slush. Given that I had the proper footwear in place, I actually began to enjoy traipsing through the thawing snow in the store parking lots. There’s something satisfying about smashing a big wet pile of melting snow after a particularly harrowing winter. Take that, snow! You won’t reign forever!

I’m always amazed on days like these, when it has just started to warm up, at how other folks who are out and about are dressed. These folks are just totally ill-prepared! Flats in this slush? Are you nuts, lady? Excuse me, sir, but it seems that someone has stolen the bottom of your pants. Oh, those are shorts? Did you know that it’s only 50 and there is indeed still snow on the ground. There’s nothing worse than trying to pick your way through uncertain footing in the wrong shoes (or lack of pants!). When I used to teach school, I faced more than one fire drill, picking my way through a muddy field, in a very wrong shoe situation. Terrible. Just no good.

But, I don’t mind being out in the snow, the slush, the mud, the puddles, what have you, if my feet are properly prepared. This recent foray out into the slush reminded me of Paul’s famous “Armor of God” passage in Ephesians. In the first five verses of that passage, he mentions standing firm or taking your stand four different times. And what do we stand on? Our feet of course! Verse 15 says have “your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” Just like I prefer to have my physical feet prepared for whatever weather I may face, I also need to have my spiritual feet ready. This verse tells me that directly: “feet fitted with … readiness.” So, how, spiritually, am I to be “ready”? The answer is there — our readiness “comes from the gospel of peace.” To me, that translates as Scripture. How am I ready to face all that I must walk through in this life? By having my feet rooted in God’s word. Certainly there are many other important aspects of the armor that Paul describes in Ephesians 6 which are equally essential in facing our journey through life, but this one stands out to me because of my recent tromp through the snow and because of how many people I see who call themselves Christians who just don’t know their Bible at all. Now, before you hear any arrogance in this discussion, please allow me to admit that I am not the ultimate Bible scholar of the world. I’m not. And I’m not claiming to have the perfect daily Bible reading record either. This is as much a challenge to myself as it is to anyone who is reading this. Do we really reverence the Word of God like we should? I know, these words were written a long time ago, but the Bible also promises that it is “living and active, sharper than any double edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). It is God’s word that makes us ready for whatever we might have to face. It is his truth, found in his Word, that helps us navigate through life’s snow piles and mud puddles — our brokenness, our messes, our decisions, even our successes. We can’t count on our own emotions to point us in the right direction for processing life’s events. We can’t count on our own logic or intellect to figure out which path to take sometimes. It’s God’s word that directs us. It’s his truth that serves as the lens through which we must process all our events. It is what makes our feet ready to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1). And we know so little of this book. We spend so little time trying to know it more. Could there be any more important book? Any better way to spend our time?

It seems to me that we have two choices. We can either slosh through life with our feet ill-prepared without the proper foundation for each step, or we can have our feet fitted with a readiness that comes from knowing God’s word, knowing it deep in our hearts. So that when that bad news comes, my feet are ready, standing firm in God’s truth. And when I make a mess of things, my feet are ready to move down the path of repentance. And when God plants a dream in my heart, my feet are ready to be obedient and take the next step. I want my feet to be ready to run down that path marked out for me.

Motherhood is not glamorous. Am I right, moms? But somehow, before we were mothers, we all pictured motherhood, especially pregnancy and the “new baby” stage, as just totally warm and fuzzy. And while snuggling that new baby does bring on a good dose of the warm fuzzies, the new baby also brings on a good sized dose of reality. (Was it just me, ladies?) After going through all of those new mommy transitions, all I can say is, Wow, was I misinformed! (On a particularly rough day not too long after becoming a family of four, when I was frazzled beyond my wits, my mother just looked at me and said, to quote an old friend, “Welcome to your dream come true!”) Don’t get me wrong, motherhood is so rewarding, and there’s nothing like a mother’s love for her children. Still, motherhood is one of the biggest reality checks a woman can have.

When I became a mother, I heard myself begin to say things like, “let me smell your bottom,” and “come here so I can pick that booger out of your nose,” or, every mother’s nightmare “don’t touch your poop!” Gross. Or how about “Don’t put stickers down your pants!” Things I never imagined I would be saying in those pre-motherhood days. As unpleasant as I sometimes find these types of situations, I find that my children find them even more offensive. Nothing can whip my children into a fury like a good nose wipe or diaper change. I often wonder, why are YOU the one crying here. I should be the one crying! I’m the one having to deal with the boogers and the poop! Clearly the logical portion of my children’s brains have not yet fully developed. Would you prefer, dear children, that I leave the boogers there? The poop? Surely that cannot be comfortable.

I think God must sometimes (in my case, often) look down at us in the mire of our sin and brokenness and say the same thing, “Really child, that cannot be comfortable. You really want me to leave you there?” He does not enjoy seeing us caught in our own self-destructive ways, carrying around the baggage of a broken life. While Christ’s sacrifice does bring us full forgiveness of sins, it doesn’t in a genie-like fashion, make us perfect. We still have those smelly, unsavory places in our lives. We still have issues. We’re still fallen. I don’t know about you, but I still need to grow. I need my messes cleaned up, my broken places healed. Yet we pitch the same fit just like a little child when God begins to work on something in our lives. Anyone facing any trials or difficult circumstances in life right now? Rolling around on the ground crying about it? Yeah, we all do that sometimes. If only we could see the bigger picture of who we are becoming. It is worth the painful process.

I don’t mean to minimize anyone’s suffering. Yes, it is much, much worse than a nose wiping, I know. If you’ve read my blog at all, you know that my life has not been immune to suffering and difficulty. Every day of my three silent years with Sophie has had its challenges. Still, when I rescue my children our of their literal, physical mire, I’m mindful of the fact that I’m doing it for their benefit, even though they don’t see that or appreciate it. They just have the momentary unpleasantness in the forefront of their little minds. It’s all they can see. Likewise, maybe we are too short-sighted in the midst of trials. I know that I am. I get so frustrated in my momentary unpleasantness that I forget that God is doing a work in my life for my good. He might be rooting out a deep-seated, ugly area of my life. Or he might be pulling me out of the mire. I need it. It might be unpleasant. It might hurt a little. I might be frustrated and angry. But I need it.  And just because I’m frustrated, that does not mean that God is not with me or that his love is absent.

This lesson was particularly vivid to me when Micah was learning to crawl. Talk about a painful process. He absolutely hated being on his belly. He would roll over in an attempt at mobility, only to find himself stuck on that belly. And then the wailing would begin. Oh, he would be so, so angry. And I would hang back for a few moments, allowing him to experience this frustration. I’m sure he did not understand why I was doing this. Why did I seem so far away? Why? Because I knew that he needed to learn how to crawl. His frustration would be worth it when he had learned this skill. (I was right, by the way, now that he can crawl he is the happiest boy alive!) So he would wiggle around, screaming and crying, for I’m sure what seemed to him like an eternity. And when he became overwhelmed, I would go to him and set him right to try again. And sometimes when he was just totally undone, I would just hold him close and let him bury his face in my shoulder, and I would speak softly to him, soothing away his frustrations.

We go through painful processes like these in life. It’s uncomfortable and frustrating, and we don’t get why we need to be going through it. I feel this a lot in my struggle to communicate with Sophie. It’s uncomfortable; it’s frustrating. Why are we going through this? Because God is working on me. In this painful process, he is scraping away mire, chiseling away at me to make me a better reflection of his image, as I was created to be. God never fails to see the bigger picture, and he will allow me to go through these difficulties because he sees who I am becoming. God allows the painful processes to happen for our good, and he’s never far away even when we’re wailing on our bellies. When it all becomes too much for me, my Father is right there, ready to scoop me up and set me right to try again, or to hold me close and comfort my cries. His love assures me that he is ALWAYS working for my good.

I was one of those lucky kids who had chores assigned each week. And, on top of that, I was blessed with a mother who actually kept track of whether or not I did those chores. (Thanks, Mom!) As a kid, when I did my chores, I was basically attempting to get the visible surfaces clean enough for it to pass muster with my mom. Especially with dusting. I hated dusting. Still do. My bad childhood habits have followed be into adulthood. Now that I have a home of my own, I often find myself doing the “surface clean” – just before guests come over, at nap time to preserve my sanity, etc. I just want it to look “good enough.” It’s clean, but not really clean.

But there are some days when my alter ego takes over, and deep cleaning begins. It’s a train that’s hard to stop. This, too, started in childhood when I discovered that the tip of the nail file was just the right size to clean in the crack between the counter tops and the metal piece around its edge. I thought my mom would be mad about what I was doing; she thanked me instead. (I’m not sure if it was one of those “aw thank you for helping, honey” moments, or if she really was glad for what I was doing.) My mother would probably tell you it started even before that. When I was just a toddler I discovered sock lint between my toes, and thereafter, I had to do a careful inspection for said lint any time my socks were off. Can’t leave it there, right?

I resist the term “neat freak.” Quite frankly, I don’t have time for that in my life. It’s more like organized chaos. If you’ve been to my house, especially in the last year, you know that’s the truth. My house hovers between looking like a semi-organized Fisher Price liquidation center and somewhere that a bomb just went off. With two little ones, I barely keep the clutter at bay, let alone go for the deep cleaning to get all the dirt that is hiding IN PLAIN SIGHT.

It’s almost discouraging to do this deep cleaning, because I find SO. MUCH. DIRT. Dirt I wasn’t even aware existed, but that I was walking by every day. Yuck. In one of those moments when the deep clean freak had taken over, I thought of how often I clean the surface of my life without taking the time to inspect the deeper places of my heart that need to be cleaned. Jesus did not have good things to say about this practice. He called the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs” looking pretty on the outside but full of “everything dead” on the inside (Matthew 23:27). He also accused them of only washing the outside of the cup and dish in an earlier verse (25). And how gross is that? Just think if you only washed the outside of your cup. Everyday. Day after day. What would be growing there?! Oh my! Yet, how many times do I let this level of clean be acceptable in my heart. I say a quick prayer, “I’m sorry, Lord, I lost it again…” without truly examining myself, looking for the root of the issue, so that I can turn from it in true repentance.

While I don’t think God rejects the quick “I’m sorry, Lord” prayer, if that’s the only type of repenting or heart “cleaning” that I do, then the junk is going to pile up quickly in the deep places. I know my junk is there. The aforementioned cluttered house, I’m sure, reveals that I don’t have abundant spare time these days. Sometimes taking time out for the Lord, to sit quietly before him and inspect my heart, gets pushed to the back burner. Just being totally transparent. On a good day, I get a chapter of the Bible read, rather quickly, almost always while something else is going on. I don’t know about you, but for me, that’s not the type of environment where I can look deep into my heart. Other times, it just hits me. Conviction: This is not the right way to act. Actually, it hits me a lot more often than I’d like to admit. But the question is — how to respond to that moment of conviction? Will I say the quick “I’m sorry, Lord” or will I make time and space for a meaningful change to happen in my heart?

As I have prayed over this issue and asked God to show me areas that need “cleaning,” He has mercifully shown me places that have that deeply rooted dirt and grime that requires an entire box of baking soda and all the vinegar you have. I’m judgmental. I’m selfish. I’m apathetic. There are so many hurting people in this world, and all I can focus on most days is my family and myself and making sure we are all good. While I do think that falls under my job description as mommy of this family, I don’t think that’s a license for complete neglect of everyone else out there who’s hurting and needy. You know, it’s a mindset shift. Am I only focused on me? Or am I able to turn my eyes outward to see others who are in need? I need to be compassionate instead of judgmental. I need to serve instead of being selfish. I need love instead of apathy. (Just to name a few.) Oh, Jesus, clean my heart in the deep places so that the grime is gone and I can love like you! Open my eyes to see people who need my compassion, my service, my love.

The moment I set my 8 month old son Micah in his high chair, he immediately lunges toward the dining room table, frantically trying to grasp the tray to his seat which contains hours to days old Cheerios. He is a Cheerios fanatic. This boy loves his Cheerios. Even after the meal is over, while the rest of us finish eating (because chewing takes longer than swallowing sweet pea puree), he scavenges under the dining room table for any stray Cheerios that he, perhaps intentionally, flung about during his meal. What gets me here is that I have never failed to put his tray on, I have never failed to give him Cheerios (abundantly), I have never failed to feed him, once he’s safely stowed in that seat. So why the grasping? It’s as if he thinks I might not actually give him what he wants (and needs). Crazy, right? I want to say to him, “SON! You don’t need to do that!”

And then I wonder, has God ever wanted to say the same thing to me? My Father has never failed to meet my needs, yet how often to I frantically cast about trying to provide for myself? Trying to build the perfect life. Trying to secure everyone’s happiness. Trying to ensure everyone’s safety. My Father has never failed me, so why this frantic struggle? Why not just sit back in the chair and wait for that smorgasbord of Cheerios to be presented, where I can munch to my heart’s content? I mean, think about it. Everything is God’s. EVERYTHING. Do you need something? Oh, he has one. He can move a complete stranger to give it to you! He is the God of the universe, what can he not provide for you? Sorry, fresh out of extra money for your heating bill in this universe… Right. He’s got it.

While I’m sure we are all hoping for more than plain Cheerios to fulfill our lives, I hope my point is clear. We don’t need to spend our days rushing about trying to make sure that everything is perfect and we have all that we need. We can trust our loving Father to provide. (Side note, this is not a license for laziness, though.) And even if the tray should happen to appear with something other than Cheerios on it, we can trust that our Father loves us enough to give us just what we need, just when we need it. (I’m sure the first time Micah saw bright orange pieces of carrot on his tray instead of his beloved Cheerios, he was rather aghast. But he soon saw that I had provided him with yet another delicacy…) Trust that your Father knows what you need, and he will provide it at just the right time – not too soon, not too late – just the right time.

Psalm 23:5 says “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” My cup OVERFLOWS. I love it.

Matthew 6:26 says “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Aren’t you? So. Much. More. Valuable.

When I was in high school, I attended a teen program called Discipleship Training School every summer at my church. I cannot put into words how much of an impact these weeks had in my life. Lasting relationships formed. Inside jokes were born. Countless memories made. (Kudos to my youth leaders. Because now that I am not a teen, and I’m in the age bracket that they were in at the time, I cannot fathom how they did what they did.)

And then there was my faith. During these weeks, I came face to face with the Living God. As a young teen, these weeks, at first, turned into the splendid spiritual and emotional highs that we’ve all experienced after a spiritual retreat of some sort. But the highs inevitably lead to the lows again. By midway through the school year, I’d be trudging back along in the rut of my utterly challenging (read, breezy) teenage life. (Ah, the drama of teenage doldrums.)

Anyways, as I came into my later teen years, graduated high school and entered college, I began to serve on staff at this same Discipleship Training School at my church. And I watched the pattern continue: Emotional highs … inevitable lows, year after year. This was not what I wanted for myself or for the students in my small groups. What is the point of a faith that is only based upon how we are feeling in that given season or day? What is the point of faith led entirely by emotion? If we can only walk faithfully representing our Father when we feel like it, well, that doesn’t make us very good children. (Imagine if you only obeyed your parents when you felt like it! Ha! Better yet, imagine if your children only obeyed you when they felt like it! Do you feel the rage rising? Cause I do.) Emotions are real. We feel them, they are important. Not discrediting that. But, faith needs to be deeper than emotion. During those weeks at DTS, I chose to pursue a faith of depth, of rootedness, something real and utterly unchangeable in my heart. My prayer became, “Lord, don’t let these truths that I am learning be fleeting. Don’t let them fade away. Lord, write these truths on my heart. Write them there where they will change me forever.”

In the 10 plus years since these weeks of DTS, this has continued to be an important prayer in my spiritual walk. When landmark things happened in my faith, I still pray, “Lord, write this on my heart. I don’t want to forget.” Truthfully, some of those moments, those truths, have still been lost, and lessons have had to be relearned. But many truths have remained. Over the years, I have found that writing about these events and lessons helps to solidify them in my heart and mind. Whatever the stage of my life, as I’ve processed the things I want to remember, writing has been as essential as breathing.

And so here we are, more than ten years after those DTS years, and I’m still praying, “Lord, write this on my heart.” The lessons are different now. I’m now a stay-at-home mom with two little ones. And there are many moments that I, like Mary, am treasuring up in my heart. Nothing has changed my view of God as much as becoming a parent. The lessons in these three years of being a mommy have been rich and full, though not without challenge. As you read the tablet of my heart, I hope you will be encouraged and your faith in the One who gives all good gifts will be increased and deepened.