Posts tagged trust
What is true humility?
What is true humility?

How often, when I feel offended or hurt, would I be more at peace, if I were simply more humble?  That is the question that has been rolling around my head lately.  When I put away the thoughts of myself, about how I think I deserve to be treated, what do I have left to be offended about?  Not much.

There’s no avoiding this simple fact:  to be like Jesus is to practice humility.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  Philippians 2:5-7

How do I put away thoughts of myself when I don’t like the way I’m treated?  I like how C.S. Lewis said it, in Mere Christianity,

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faith, grace, trustDawn Klingehumility, God's purpose, trust
Finding Rest in God's Grace
Finding Rest in God's Grace

I’ve been reading Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book, Good News for the Weary Women.  It’s about escaping the bondage of perfectionism and the striving to please.  She explains that as Christians, we don’t have to earn God’s favor because we already have it, through Jesus.  I wasn’t feeling like the book was especially relevant to me, because I felt that I do understand a few things about God’s grace and forgiveness.  I write about those things here on the blog, often.  I know he loves us, no matter what. And yet, I identified with the “weary woman” part- the rules, the lists, etc.  I figured my motivation was different, though, and that since I wasn’t doing those things to measure my worth with God, this book wasn’t for me.  Then I read these words,  

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grace, trustDawn Klingegospel, grace, trust
How to Teach Our Children to Trust God
How to Teach Our Children to Trust God

As a mom of older kids, I often feel like my job is most accurately defined as taxi driver.  We spend a lot of time in the car.  When I start to complain about it, I remind myself that some of the best conversations happen in the car.  I want to know what my kids are thinking and how they’re doing.  I want to know what’s on their hearts.  They’re so independent now, but at least they still depend on me for rides (most of the time).  I try to remember to appreciate this part of our life, knowing that it won’t always be this way.

With tweens and teens, anything beyond surface conversations will only happen on their own terms.  If I want to know the good stuff, I have to be available to listen when they feel like talking.  And with my kids, that’s usually in the car.  One such conversation happened earlier this week. 

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trust, parenting, familyDawn Klingetrust, parenting
Grace is for all of us
Grace is for all of us
“Grace is for the desperate, the needy, the broken, those who cannot make it on their own.  Grace is for all of us.”- Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

I’m reading a book called, The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey, and in it, he tells the stories of two famous Russian novelists, Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky.  Yancey explains how these two men helped him better understand what Jesus was saying when he preached the Sermon on the Mount.  I highly recommend Yancey’s book, and encourage anyone to read it for themselves, but I will give you a brief synopsis, because I’m excited to share what I’m learning about Grace and who God is.  This is good stuff!

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faith, graceDawn Klingetrust, gospel, grace
What I Learned About Grace in a Romanian Orphan Camp
What I Learned About Grace in a Romanian Orphan Camp

I walked with a group of about fifty children, ages 2-16, through the cobbled village streets of Săvârșin on a summer evening in 1992.  We were on our way to the soccer field/cow pasture, to play with the summer camp orphans. It was just after dinner.  Tea, dry bread, and an oily “beef” soup (where was the beef?), had not satisfied my hunger, and I hungrily eyed the chickens placidly pecking about in the tidy garden off the side of the path.  There must be eggs somewhere in this village, I thought.  There sure weren’t any in the camp dining room, nor on the empty shelves of the market.   I accepted and ate a sour crabapple, picked off a nearby tree, from six-year-old Nadia.

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graceDawn Klingestories, grace, trust, justice