(Orchid closeup taken at Andromeda Botanical Garden, Barbados)

When someone says the phrase "God's Eye View" they are usually refering to an extreme wide angle shot like a photo of the earth from space.  But I think we sometimes forget that God's eyes see the minute.  He sees to the heart of the flower, to the center of the atom.  He's a master of detail as any passing glance through a microscope will tell you.  I think that's why I love to take extremely close up pictures of small things--to remind  me that God sees the secrets, the hidden and the insignificant and  even in these often forgotten things, his hand is evident.

My mom is 69 years young.  She and my dad left today after a two week stay with us here in Barbados.  All my life, my mother has been afraid of water.  Until last year, I never saw her in water abover her waist.  Last year when they visited us, she got in the water with a life vest and went into the sea to swim with the turtles.  Really she was far to terrified to notice the turtles because the water was too deep for her feet to touch the ground.  But she got in that water and I was so proud of her.

This year, she suddenly decided to learn to float.  We were talking about swimming while we were driving around the island and I told her that once you figured out that the water would hold you up, you were most of the way to swimming.  We went to the beach right after that conversation and suddenly my mother said, "I'm going to float today." 

It was a gorgeous day.  The water was the amazing turquoise that I've only seen in the Caribbean.  My mother, 69 and fearful but determined, walked out in water UP TO HER NECK and started to try to float.  I stayed near her and lent a hand to steady her as she figured out how to keep her body upright in the water while she was floating.  And do you know what?  She did it!  It was only for a few moments at a time, but she did it!  She beamed as much as my kids do when they do something hard,  "Did you see that?  Both my feet are off of the ground!"  Go Mom!

It's kind of like learning to trust God.  To believe that something invisible can support me just doesn't make any sense but when I trust God, he holds me up. Each time Mom floated and the water held her up, she became a little more confident.  Each time I trust God and he comes through for me, my faith is built. 

 I guess life is all about learning to float. 

Here we are in limbo. Again. The visa runs out on December 5th and friends and family are asking us about our Christmas plans.  No clue.  We assume we're staying until we're told to go.  Our hearts don't feel like our season here is done.  We're growing so much and really contributing to our church here.  Our kids love it and they're learning so much.  

A couple of years ago, the waiting and not knowing would have driven me nuts.  Meet Ms. Control Freak who had her life planned out (including the age to get married and the names of my kids) by the time she was 12.  Yep!  Scary, huh?  Luckily, God had different ideas and his plans and his timing are always best.  He's shown me that time after time.

Dh and I went to Italy 5 years ago on a second honeymoon.  I'm afraid of heights, but somehow he convinced me to climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence.  We went up endless tiny, narrow stairs, winding staircases.  When we got to the top, the view was unbelievable and then. . .I had to get down.

I remember standing at the top of the first set of roughly a million stairs looking down.  I was thinking, "Oh no, now I have to live up here because I'm NEVER getting down."  I took my 6 ft 4 Dh and said, "Honey you go in front of me so that I can't see all of the way down.  I'll just look at you and the next step and I'll be okay."

Just as if God was standing beside me, I heard "That's all you have to do with me too.  Just look at me and the next step.  That's all you'll ever get and that's all you'll ever need." 

I hate that I don't see the future all neatly planned in front of me, but heck it would probably make the Duomo steps look like a cake walk so it's probably best that I can't.  God's word is a lamp unto my feet, not a spotlight. 

Just God and the next step.

In my last blog, I talked about how ignoring a problem actually makes it worse and how being a peacemaker wasn't the same as being a wimp.  I got a very good question from the comments section and from some friends.  How do you know when to confront?

I agree that there are times to overlook faults in a Christian family member and times to confront sins.  I think the first question would be, "Is this a fault that should be overlooked or a sin that needs to be exposed and dealt with?"  If something is a danger to someone's witness or their Christian walk, it is time to confront.  If it's just irritating to you personally or some point of doctrine that's open to interpretation--bite your tongue and ask for God's grace in dealing with it.  And work on that log in your eye while you're at it.   We often focus on the faults of others rather than on dealing with our own sins.  It's much easier, isn't it? Well it is for me, anyway. 

If you determine that the problem is a sin that needs to be exposed (for the good of the sinner), then you should follow the Biblical model of conflict resolution.  Jesus outlines what I should in case a fellow Christian offends me in Matthew 18:14-17.

Step 1:  Go to the offender and discuss it with him or her alone.  Your motivation is key.  The goal is to restore the relationship not to make you feel better or give you an opportunity to "give that person a piece of my mind."  It might also be good to note that the first step isn't to call your best friend and gripe about the offense.  It might make you feel better but it doesn't reconcile the relationship. What would be helpful before you confront (in love) is to talk to the prince of peace.  Prayers to guide your tongue and soften the heart of your hearer are very helpful.

Step 2:  If the first attempt doesn't succeed, take one or two fellow Christians who have a relationship with both parties to talk to the offender.  By bringing in one or two other Christians. Your goal is not to gang up, it's to bring in more love and authority.

Step 3:  If he or she refuses to listen, then I am supposed to bring the matter before the church body.  Once again I'm adding more love, more prayer and more spiritual authority. 

Step 4:  Step back.  You've done all you can and the rest is between the offender and God. 

One last thing--

1 Peter 4:8

Love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins.

This isn't to say that if you love someone you overlook their sins.  The word cover can also be translated "pardon."  When the governor pardons a criminal, he isn't saying the criminal  did not commit the crime, he is releasing him or her from the penalty of the crime.   Our love should not pretend to look the other way, it should cover the offense so completely that we can freely forgive the offender.

I hope that helps someone.

We have this running conversation at my house.  As we've begun to study more science and as my second son has become an avid animal book reader, they have been exposed to the theory of evolution.   As a homeschooler and a Christian I think it is vital that we be educated about the lies of the enemy and expose them.  I believe that evolution is one of the many lies we as humans have made up to explain away God so that we can decide what is right and wrong without fear of consequences. 

I used an illustration of a friend of mine.  If I took their container of approximately 1 billion Lego bricks (I might be exaggerating here but only slightly), shook it and poured it out--would it become a building or a car or a robot? No.  What if I should it for a year? No. What if I shook it for a hundred years? No. Although the probability is that one brick might stick on top of one other which is why evolutionist have to believe in the extreme age of the earth. I.E. if we shook the container for a million years, we might have some sort of structure when we poured it out. Why doesn't shaking a box of Legos result in a structure?  Because blocks do not build themselves.  To have a creation, there must first be a creator. 

We study the wild diversity of life here:  so many different flowers, so many different races and colors of people, so many animals and birds.  Science can be a wonderfu opportunity to study the creativity of God and the complexity of Creation.  As we talk about the way God made each animal for it's enviroment and for it's place in his world (whether it be predetor, prey, pollunator or scavenger), we see that each person is made with those things in mind too.

We studied our fingerprints and how each person has unique fingerprints.  I told them that each one of us shows the unique fingerprint of God.  He hand chose our body, our spirit and our personality and we were made for a purpose.  I tell them when they look in their mirror, they can know without a doubt that God made them exactly the way he intended to. 

Isn't that the precious truth that evolution has removed from secular life?  Each of us is hand made by a loving creator in his image and  for a specific purpose.  Each life is unique and precious.  Recognition of that truth makes loving one another make so much more sense. 

So as we study the way a flower is made, or a pirahna, or a dying star--we can highlight the beauty and function of God's plan. Each creature and plant, pebble and mountain--each of them reflecting the endless creativity of a beautiful God.

Why do we follow the rules?  Is it fear of getting caught if we step out of line? Because it's the right thing to do?

Laws work on the principle that if people are afraid of the social consequences, they will obey the rules.  The only problem is, in the person who wishes to do evil, the fear of punishment only breeds sneakiness.  The desire to sin is still there, so the person finds way of getting what he or she wants without getting caught.  His body may obey the rules, but their heart is a different story and eventually his desire to get what he wants will override the fear of punishment.  The same is true of authoritarian parenting. If your child is only obeying out of fear of punishment, when that fear is removed (he's an adult and no longer has to fear your consequences) he will do as he chooses and that will be exactly the opposite of your requirements in many cases.

That is not to say that rules are bad.  Rules in and of themselves are good when they follow the principles of those first 10 God gave so long ago, but God wisely understands that the appearance of obedience or obedience with our body isn't true obedience.  He looks at the heart, where true obedience is found.

When we first start instructing our kids, we use the fear of punishment and the motivation of reward.  Hopefully, as we train them we explain the why's and the child moves on to doing something because it is the right thing to do.  But our highest goal as a Christian and as a parent should be that our motivation is to do the right thing because Christ loves us and we want to please him.  When we understand that the fear of punishment (Hell) is gone and that we don't have to earn our salvation, there is no other true motivation for following the commandments. We obey out of love and gratitude for  the one who loves us when we are unloveable and who is faithful when we are faithless.