Christianity in a Secular Workplace - Part 3

I am reading a pretty heavy read right now, "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. If you've ever read any John Piper you know his books require a lot of time and dedication to reading and understanding. So I've been reading this book for ages but it's so good. This is one point I feel like needs to be shared, and so I'm taking the time to paraphrase some things in this chapter for you. I hope it resonates with you and helps you.

Please note, he makes a point to say that some are called for "spiritual vocations" such as missionaries but that those people could not do their work without people in "secular vocations" working to support them. He does not at all have a condescending attitude towards secular work.

P.S. After writing this blog I have broken it into six parts so it's not as much heavy reading. Please read each different blog post, as it shouldn't take very long now that it's broken up. You can find Part 1 here. You can find Part 2 here.

3. We make much of Christ in our secular work when it confirms and enhances the portrait of Christ's glory that people hear in the spoken Gospel. There is no point in overstating the case for the value of secular work. It is not the Gospel. By itself, it does not save anyone. In fact, with no spoken words about Jesus Christ, our secular work will not awaken wonder for the glory of Christ. That is why the New Testament modestly calls our work an adornment of the Gospel. In other words, our work is not a beautiful woman, but a necklace on her. The beautiful woman is the Gospel. So one crucial meaning of our secular work is that the way we do it will increase or decrease the attractiveness of the Gospel we profess before unbelievers. Of course, the great assumption is that they know we are Christians. Thinking that our work will glorify God when people do not know we are Christians is like admiring an effective ad on TV that never mentions the product. People may be impressed but won't know what to buy.

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing." 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12. Good, honest work is not the saving Gospel of God, but a crooked Christian car salesmen is a blemish on the Gospel and puts a roadblock in the way of seeing the beauty of Christ. And sloth may be a greater stumbling block than crime. The biblical mandate is Colossians 3:23 - "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;". So we make much of God in our secular work by having such high standards of excellence and such integrity and such manifest goodwill that we put no obstacles in the way of the Gospel but rather call attention to the all-satisfying beauty of Christ. When we adorn the Gospel with our work, we are not wasting our lives.

Christianity in a Secular Workplace - Part 2

I am reading a pretty heavy read right now, "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. If you've ever read any John Piper you know his books require a lot of time and dedication to reading and understanding. So I've been reading this book for ages but it's so good. This is one point I feel like needs to be shared, and so I'm taking the time to paraphrase some things in this chapter for you. I hope it resonates with you and helps you.

Please note, he makes a point to say that some are called for "spiritual vocations" such as missionaries but that those people could not do their work without people in "secular vocations" working to support them. He does not at all have a condescending attitude towards secular work.

P.S. After writing this blog I have broken it into six parts so it's not as much heavy reading. Please read each different blog post, as it shouldn't take very long now that it's broken up. You can find Part 1 here.

2. We make much of Christ in our secular work by the joyful, trusting, God-exalting design of our creativity and industry. It is helpful to ask how humans are different from beavers and spiders and ants. It helps get at the essence of how humans honor God with their work. These creatures are very hard workers and make very intricate and amazing things. So there must be more to our God-honoring work than such creativity and industry - unless we are willing to say that we glorify God with our work no differently than the animals. We should be busy understanding and shaping and designing and using God's creation in a way that calls attention to his worth and wakens worship.

So how do we differ from the beaver? A beaver subdues his surroundings and shapes a dam for a good purpose, a house. He seems to enjoy his work; and even the diligence and skill of the beaver reflects the glory of God's wisdom. So what is the difference between a human being and a beaver at work? They all work hard; they subdue their surroundings and shape them into amazing structures that serve good purposes. The difference is that humans are morally self-conscious and make choices about their work on the basis of motives that may or may not honor God.

No beaver consciously relies on God. No beaver ponders the divine pattern of order and beauty and makes a moral choice to pursue excellence because God is excellent. No beaver ever pondered the preciousness and purpose of God and decided for God's sake to make a dam for another beaver and not for himself. But humans have all these potentials, because we are created in God's image.

When you work like that - no matter your vocation - you can have a sweet sense of peace at the end of the day. It has not been wasted. God has not created us to be idle. Therefore, those who abandon creative productivity lose the joy of God-dependent, world-shaping, God-reflecting purposeful work. Idleness does not grow in the soil of fellowship with God.

Christianity in a Secular Workplace - Part 1

I am reading a pretty heavy read right now, "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. If you've ever read any John Piper you know his books require a lot of time and dedication to reading and understanding. So I've been reading this book for ages but it's so good. This is one point I feel like needs to be shared, and so I'm taking the time to paraphrase some things in this chapter for you. I hope it resonates with you and helps you.

Please note, he makes a point to say that some are called for "spiritual vocations" such as missionaries but that those people could not do their work without people in "secular vocations" working to support them. He does not at all have a condescending attitude towards secular work.

P.S. After writing this blog I have broken it into six parts so it's not as much heavy reading. Please read each different blog post, as it shouldn't take very long now that it's broken up.

The burning question for most Christians should be: How can my life count for the glory of God in my secular vocation?


1. We can make much of God in our secular job through the fellowship that we enjoy with him throughout the day in all our work.  We enjoy God's being there for us as we listen to his voice, and talk to him, and cast all our burdens on him, and experience his guidance and care. 1 Corinthians 7:24 says "Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God." When you are converted, stay in your job and enjoy God's presence. Christians don't just go to work. They go to work "with God." They don't just do a job. They do their job "with God."

One way to enjoy God's presence and fellowship is through thankful awareness that your ability to do any work at all is owing to his grace. All your skills that make you good at this particular job - all these things are God's gifts. To know this can fill you with a sense of continual thankfulness offered up to God in prayer. There are promises of God that you can take to work every day. Reading your Bible or knowing scripture is how God speaks to you through the day. He encourages you ("Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10), he reminds you that the challenges of the afternoon are not too hard for him to manage ("Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" Jeremiah 32:27), he tells you not to be anxious, but to ask him for whatever you need ("Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Philippians 4:6), and he promises to guide you through the day ("I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye." Psalm 32:8).

Frugal Stuff

I think there are some people who read this blog, and not my other one(s), and some who read my other one(s) and not this one, so if you're one of those who is missing out on my other one(s), allow me to show you some of the cool stuff we've been up to around here.

• Making a "Freezer Cooking" series
• Making homemade furniture polish
• Making paper towel butterflies
• Cleaning my stove
• Removing armpit stains
• Spraying down produce
• Making 4-leaf clovers
• And more...
• And TP roll shamrocks!
• Budgeting...
• And most recently, learning about The Lorax!

 As you can see, we are having a blast over here! I would love to hear the fun things you are doing too!

Sugar High

Tonight we had the opportunity to go out for dinner in an actual restaurant that was not fast food! I was called for a last-minute mystery shop and we jumped at the chance because we were allowed to take the kids. We usually eat out only when Stephen's family from Georgia is in town. It's just too expensive and too much hassle with the kids, but if it's going to be free, well then, yes please!

But we forgot that UNC was playing in the Sweet Sixteen tonight. I know, how could we forget? But I haven't been paying attention because I'm not doing a bracket this year, so we had no clue. (I just realized that means it's not accurate to say we "forgot" UNC was playing... we just didn't know.)  So after waiting about 40 minutes for a table, Stephen was giving me his "I'm-not-sure-this-is-going-to-be-worth-it" look! Within just a couple of minutes of sitting down, Hunter was tired of eating his blue crayon and decided it was time to check out the restaurant. I took him to the brick oven, which happened to be under a television set surrounded by golfers. One of the men started a conversation with me, and when I explained to him about Hunter's active personality, he glanced over to a bucket on the bar and said, "Oh, well, can he have Oreos?" Yes! Anything to keep him quiet!  A few minutes after that I was posting a status update on Facebook, saying, "Stuffing kids with sweet tea and oreos to keep them calm at the restaurant. Will pay for it later I'm sure."

And here are two videos from later at home... about five minutes after we walked in the door from said restaurant. Don't turn your volume up too much, just a warning.

P.S. They are jumping up and waving, "Bye!" to their reflections in our mirror, just in case you're wondering.






So, okay, sweet tea and Oreos turned into something that really made me giggle. You can see Hunter having a sugar high and then a low (i.e. thumb sucking, haha!!)  This is too funny to me.

Another video

Sorry for everyone except grandparents, here is another video of Brianna. I'm trying to unload my phone.

This was one night as she was getting ready for bed. It is when I first got my camera which is why the entire video is sideways... oops! Fortunately this is no 5-minute video, it's only about 1 1/2 minutes long. She is singing a song, which she tends to do, and she just improvises as she's singing. Don't worry if you can't understand her - we couldn't either. I think she was just making sounds to keep singing half of the time.

She starts off by singing "You are my favorite daughter, you are my angel."
00:27 - "You caaaan, you caaaan, you caaaan, I'm dooooone, I'm dooooone"
01:26 - "You are picking me UP!"

The rest is lost in translation.

Brianna Reads To You

This video is long, I'm just warning you now. It's actually almost six minutes long, so I almost feel like I shouldn't even put it up, but this is such a great show of Brianna's personality. She is reading a book to me before bedtime and you can see how OCD she is about how things are done!! You should be able to understand most of what she says.

I love the way she says "baNAna" around 3:40. It's one of those words that kids always say wrong so we always made sure to correct her and now she exaggerates the word!

At 5:06 I dropped my phone and when I picked it back up I didn't realize it was upside-down. Sorry. :) I'm obviously an amateur!


 

Sham Rock N Roll 2012

Well, it's March, so that means 5Ks are back in swing. I am LOVING the weather we have been having lately, and as an added bonus God blessed me with an immunity to pollen so I never have the allergy problems that most people have.

I ran the Sham Rock 'N' Roll race again this year. Last year I ran it and it was my first time ever running a 5K. I did several more throughout the year, but sadly I have not run since the Reindeer Run in December. Yes, that is correct, I have become that person paying for a gym membership and not using it. I hope to change that, because I still have something like 5 months left on my contract.

Anyway, so three months of zero exercise between my last race and yesterday - I am feeling it today! My legs are so sore!

My goal was basically to run it in under 33 minutes since I didn't want to kill myself, and now I can set goals for the rest of the year based on that time. I ended up running it in 32:23. Out of all females I placed 92nd out of 225, and out of my age group I placed 11th out of 29. So it wasn't too awful, not my best time by far, but now I have a goal for next month, and the month after. Also, ever since last October, I've been having to use my inhaler after my races, so I really don't want to push myself too much to improve on time, I really just want to keep running for the exercise factor.

I know I have so much to catch up on with life stuff, and I plan on getting to all of it soon. So much has been happening here! I'll get around to it, I promise.

Life As We Know It

 These pictures are all kinds of out of order, but I'd rather get them up here out of order than spend an hour trying to organize. So stick with me!

 Oma with Kaleb

 Juju gave Brianna some "juju hearts" for Valentine's Day!! So funny!

 Since this picture was taken at my parents' house, I'm assuming she is either hearing a train or sirens!

 Coming back from their walk in the woods

 Bri loves to swing on this. When I was a little girl, my best friend Sally and I called this the train.

 

 Hunter the copycat on Grandma's prayer swing:

 Brianna on a sugar high after her Valentine's Day party at school:

 Trying to take a sweet picture of the kids to send to Oma:

Take #1: Good but blurry.

 Take #2: Hunter is already over it.

 Take #3: Hunter is still over it and Bri is getting to her breaking point.

 Take #4: Brianna is about to use force to get Hunter to take this darn picture.

 Take #5: Hunter is totally distracted and even Brianna has resigned herself to the slide. Photo shoot over.

 Came to bed one night to see someone in my spot already:

 Hunter jams with a hair brush while Daddy and Juju rock out at Guitar Hero:

Pictures with the kids are always blurry!

 All three grandkids and three of the four of Oma's children!

 So sweet!!

Photo Session with Kaleb

 Went to Lauren's for dinner the other night and I spent half the night rolling around on the floor with Kaleb. It was a dream come true! He was a great subject for the camera. :)  I know a lot of these pictures are poor quality - blame it on the photographer, not the sweet children in the pictures!

 "Whaddya mean I can't roll through the bookcase?"

 Bri gets in her workout for the day: