Mary's Memories

          In a few days, we are celebrating the greatest birthday of all, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Just a while ago, I was prompted to revisit this blog which I haven't worked on for quite a while.  I started writing again on my other blog, to post meditations in preparation for Christmas.  What's resonating to me about this very special season is the two stories of obedience: the obedience of Jesus to the Father and the obedience of Mary to be the instrument of God to be His mother as He took on the human form.  Being a mother, as I reflect on Mary's obedience, accepting her role, leads me to my own assignment of motherhood.  Mary obeyed wholeheartedly to God's plan and purposes, not only in her  life, but the whole human race. Do I have the same heart for what role God has given me as a mom?  I want to share my favorite song that inspires me.  Just like Mary, God has plans for our children that we don't know.  All God wants from us is a wholehearted obedience to God.  Please click on the link below (Mary Did You Know) and prayerfully listen and let God lead us first to the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and then to our role as a mother in raising up a new generation that will continue to proclaim the Good News of Christmas...

Mary Did You Know?  

 

It's a Prince!

          A prince is born a few hours ago to Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. This baby will one day be the supreme governor of the Church of England, head of the U.K. Armed Forces and the head of state in 16 countries.  Without his knowledge, this baby's future is kind of mapped out already. But more than being a prince, more than the responsibilities of training and educating this young soul to prepare him for his role as a future king, I wonder what Kate's reaction was when she first saw her firstborn.  What was on  her mind as a mom.
    
           I've been a mom for nine years, going on ten this August.  As I look back on my journey from the first time I saw the line on that pregnancy test, to this day as I witness how my son had grown day by day, one of the millions of lessons I learned is that I don't want to miss a thing of getting dumbfounded and amazed by the wonder of the miracle of life that God gives us each moment.  I regret having a wandering, divided heart when I first heard the first cry of my baby inside that brightly lit operating room, halfway numb, the doctor declaring "It's a big boy!"  It felt so surreal.  When the nurse showed me my baby, feeling his cheeks on mine and then laid on my chest, part of my brain was stuck on the process of the C-section I had to go through. My mind was divided, partly on my own pain and partly on this new life breathing, heart beating, feeling the newness of the air outside my belly, laying right on me.  I missed the fullness of joy of savoring, of immersing my whole being, and just plainly enjoying the marvelous gift and reward of the  miracle of life in front me.  From this lesson, I should intentionally remind myself daily to fully focus on being present at the moment.  Being there but not fully there is still a struggle for me.  I want to soak myself in the joy of the moment, not distracted by the past or drawn to yet unknown future.

          The responsibility of motherhood can be very overwhelming.  In the midst of all the mundane daily chores, I forget that my child is a gift to enjoy and have fun with. There are times that I get too overwhelmed by the responsibilities of training and teaching and disciplining that I miss the joy of his mere presence.  I need to be constantly reminded that my child is a reward from God and not just a responsibility in my to do list.   And I don't want to miss that gift of joy.

         It is such an irony that I have been gifted with a child who has a very sharp, undistracted curiosity and fixation to specific interest.  When he likes something, he can talk about it over and over and over, moment by moment, daily.  His full attention is focused on that interest and passion, not minding about anything else.  It is extreme but my child is teaching me every day the lesson of not missing a thing, of being fully aware, of being focused, passionate, soaked, in this case, in the gift of a child and the joy of motherhood.  My son is fast growing and soon he will embark on his own journey and role to play in the King of kings' Kingdom. In the meantime, I will savor and enjoy moment by moment, the joy of the gift of my own prince.
         

Life in the Spectrum

    I wrote this article for kids ages 10 and up to create awareness about their peers who are in the autism spectrum.  My objective is for them to relate to those with hidden disabilities (actually, I'd like to call it challenges instead of disabilities) with love and acceptance.  It is heartwrenching to see kids within the autism spectrum being left out with no friends in the crowd because some kids just don't understand.  The article below is specific to Asperger's Syndrome:

Spying Aspies

  Aspies?  Maybe this is the first time you heard or saw this word.  This is a pretty new word.  But “aspies” is more than a word.  They are people.  It is a term some people coined for those who have Asperger’s Syndrome.  Asperger’s Syndrome is a personality disability marked by social isolation.  This means they have some problems communicating and interacting with other people or situations in a normal way.  Boys are three to four times more likely than girls to have Asperger’s.  You may not know it, but you may be sitting next to one, or friends with some, or maybe you are one.  They are very interesting, intriguing though sometimes annoying.  Aspies leave us wondering, asking, gasping “What’s up with them?”  A lot of times they are talked about as “weird’ or “strange.” That’s why it is important to understand them because they are unique and wonderful people. 

There are a lot of signs of an aspie but I will give the most unique one.  The best clue to spy an aspie is his or her very strong interest in a single object or topic. Have you met someone who really like trains or the solar system or dinosaurs or vacuum cleaners or something else and you cannot stop them talking about it?  This person can possibly be an aspie!  Aspies want to know everything about their topic and can tell you many facts about it endlessly.  They are very good at picking up details and gather enormous amounts of information about their favorite subject.  When they talk, they are like little professors with high level of vocabulary and speech patterns.  Sometimes they can get annoying saying the same things over and over.  They talk a lot!  They can be insensitive to taking turns in a conversation.  They often dominate with their information about their topic.  Most of the conversations then become one-sided.  They can sometimes be misunderstood as rude.  But they don’t do it on purpose.  It is just how their brain works.  They often do not notice that the person they talk to has lost interest in the subject.  

Interestingly, many of the aspies have an above-average intelligence.  They are very smart and a lot of them have become experts in their field of interests.  In fact, so many successful people seem to have the diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome.  Some historians suggest that Einstein and Mozart may have both been aspies.   

Knowing these behaviors, it can help us spot around us who can be an aspie.  By scratching the surface and spying some facts about them, we can now understand why they behave the way they do.  They will continue to amaze us, to intrigue us or even annoy us at times but now we know how to deal with them, help them and accept them the way they are.   They are fearfully and wonderfully made by God's loving hands.

All rights reserved. Odette Navarro 2013.

"Bread and Wine"...Book review for Shauna Niequist's new book

It's a combination of light and heavy.  It's crunchy and crisp.  At times soft and sparkly.  Strong, honest, energetic, full of passion and yet vulnerable and broken.  Shauna Niequist's new book "Bread and Wine" created mixtures of emotions, of textures and flavors that transported me to delicious places of the world and yet anchored and centered me to one place, a table, where life and relationships are shared, munched, chewed, digested.

I love how Shauna shared snippets of her life and the inclusion of recipes at the end of each essay.  Her life experiences ignited different textures, smells, consistencies, tastes just like the combinations of the ingredients in a recipe.  "Bread and Wine" stirred up my senses and imagination urging me to rush to the kitchen and enjoy every moment of not only cooking but more importantly serving the people I love and sharing not just the food but the bits and pieces of my own heart.

"Bread and Wine" is a combination, not only of taste but it also vibrated a rhythm of crescendos and diminuendos, like fire and water, boiling, steaming, simmering,  as Shauna opens her joys and pains, of surprises and anticipations, of predictabilities and uncertainties,some of the very ingredients that create life.  Essentials.

Being our Pastor's daughter, I've seen Shauna not just through her books but as part of the family of the big church we go to.  Some stories in the book mentioned names that are familiar and knowing their stories is like sharing the sumptuous beauty of life that God intended for His family.  It was encouraging to read how their lives intersected and grew through conversations around the table, over food, over bread and wine.  The book brought me some flashbacks of my own precious moments shared over meals with family, friends, even strangers that played parts in my own story.

It always excites  me to invite people at home and like Shauna, I love conversations, sharing laughters and  tears and joys and pains,  on the table.  That's why I share the same reaction as Brene Brown, New York bestselling author in her review of the book, I couldn't put the book down.  It so happened at the time I was reading the book, I had a terrible cough for three weeks and my husband wanted me to just rest and lay on the couch while he did my usual chores.  So I had the time to really read.

Most of all, the book kindled a new fire in my heart to remember the Lord Jesus not just during the communion time in the Church but every time I am on a table.  It impassioned in me how God Himself shared His last moments on earth on the table with His disciples and how in Revelation 3:20, Jesus knocking on the door and whoever opens the door, He will come in and He will share a meal with the person just like a friend.  Wow, the table, the meal, the bread and wine indeed play a big part in God's plan.  Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life.  The wine, His blood that was shed on the cross.  "Bread and Wine" for me is an invitation to life, a life in Christ.  And that life is meant to be shared to the people God sends our way, to be loved, nurtured, fed.

It is a blessing to be reminded of the essence of the table, the tastes and flavors, the conversations, life shared, munched, chewed, digested.

Let's come to the table.



Click on this link: "Bread and Wine" or check it out at Amazon for more information.

Ticking Time

          Time. Time. Time.  Three times within the last week, the issue of time kept echoing around me.  I shared in my last blog about how I would be conscious and intentional about spending my time as my Lenten focus.  Last Sunday in the Church, our pastor's series of teaching was on simplifying our life and the topic for last week was on time.  One morning on the same week, in my devotional with my husband, it was the same message about the importance of time.

          I just want to share what I have learned and retained in my heart about the significance of this loaned commodity of time God has given us.  In three circumstances God used to speak to me and nudge me to slow down, refocus, reflect and rearrange my time, I will focus on three things I learned.

•       What would my schedule look like if God is in charge of it?  I've been mentored by a successful professional and entrepreneur and she shared with me a template of how she scheduled her time, her lifetime goals, her yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals, complete with a very detailed time management tool.  When I heard the message last week, and thought back on what I put in my time management template, was I really spending my time as what God wanted me to? Was I putting God's goals or my own agenda? I needed to pause, took a deep breath, and laid down my time in the hand of God and asked Him to order my steps every moment, every precious moment of my life. This reminded me of Psalm 119:133 which says: "Guide my steps as You promised; don't let any sin control me."  How does God guide His children?  Through time spent with Him, in prayer, in His Word.  "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33). 

How will I know if my activity is right, or wrong? Beneficial or plain wasteful?  These questions lead to the next lesson I learned, next question asked:

• "Who do I want to become?"  What is the dream, passion that God put in my heart?  How I spend my time will determine who I will become. If I want to be a great wife, I need to spend more time with my husband.  If I want to become a more engaged mom, I have to spend more time with my child.  I have to set my priorities based on what I want to become.  If I want to be a better writer, I have to carve more time writing and reading and nurturing the gifts that have been given to me.  I need to take a look at my list of to dos.  Are they things that just need to be done or are they essential to who I envision myself to be?  Where does God lead me to move forward?  or to become in the next season of my life? Am I investing my time towards that direction?

• NOW is the time.  Be present where I am.  Each day is a gift.  What this teaches me is that I have this day, today, right now, to give out love, to give my best, first to God, then to my neighbors.  Seize every moment! Seize the day!  I used to be very sensitive, insecure, self-centered, self-absorbed person.  I was so focused on myself that I easily get hurt and offended.  There were times spent in resentment and anger instead of love, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. As a result, I missed  to experience the fullness of God's gift of time during those days, those times.  I cannot turn them back.  They have slipped away.  I still struggle. I still wrestle. Every day. Every time.  But I am a work in progress.  I want my every moment count. Appreciate every person God sends my way.  Listen intently.  Give generously.  Speak sincerely.  I expect to pass through this way but once and I want to fulfill the assignment that God has entrusted to me using my time wisely. As Paul said in Acts 20:24 "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."  I want my time to count for the beautiful purpose for my life.

Time.  Time. Time...the ticking time.  It's a sound of music, to dance upon, to savor, to embrace as we use and consume it to be our best in our lifetime and for eternity.

 

Triplebration!

          This is a BIG week for me and my family.  Last Wednesday began the 40 day Lent in preparation for the commemoration of the Holy Week, remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The next day, Thursday was my VALentine's birthDay.  This is a week of triple celebration!

          Speaking of Lent, in the past, I haven't really immersed myself into the 40-day contemplation and preparation for the culmination of the celebration of Jesus' ressurection for man's salvation.  (Whew, that's a lot of "tion").  Anyways, this week, as I was listening to Midday Connection at Moody radio last Wednesday, where the women were talking about Creative Journaling for and stuff you give up during Lent, I was compelled to examine my life and what I can give up to prepare my heart for the Holy Week.  I pondered on the thought and the next day, Valentine's day, in my daily devotion, I was led to John 17:19 where Jesus said: "And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them, so they can be made holy by Your truth."  I want to share the thoughts and reflections I had on that day:

Sacrifice.

What did Jesus give up when He came down to earth?

• the magnificence of heaven
• the holiness of the presence of God
• the praise and adoration on the heavenly hosts
• and a lot more that are unfathomable by our humanity!!! HE IS GOD!!!

Why did He do it? For what? the "so", the purpose of His sacrifice (purposeful sacrifice)

• for those who will believe to be made holy by the truth (Jesus Himself is the truth) just as He is holy 

Personal Application:

• What in my life can I give up SO that it will impact the life of other people to be reconciled to God?

          As I contemplated on this question, a couple of things came into mind, like fasting from dessert, or give up one meal a day until Easter.  But one thing stood out. Time. Give up time wasters in my life (e.g. unmindful surfing/online shopping {though I'm not really buying}, too much playing on iPad, to name a couple)  . Be wise in using my time. Be mindful of my activities.  I want to use my time with people, sharing the love of God, showing the love of God, being the hands and feet of Jesus. People I love. People around me. People to celebrate life. People in need. People desperate for someone who will listen. People in need of love, the love that is everlasting, eternal, infinite, endless.  In my finite time lies infinite truth that can translate into a life transformed, translated into eternity.  What a wonderful revelation on a Valentine's day!!!

         So for real life application, to spend time with the dearest people in my life,  in celebration of my VALentine's birthDay, we went "real eagle" watching at Fox River in Batavia, Illinois, since Val and Gideon love nature and bird watching.  We had an awesome time together looking at how the bald eagles soar up high with their magnificent wings!  A triplebration indeed!!!

Taking the Baton

         I felt a weird sense of urgency lately. I'm not getting any younger. I just turned 40 last September and I felt like being halfway through my journey. I'm witnessing the older generation ahead of me slowly reaching their own destinations. My uncle who just recently went home to be with the Lord was the one God used for our family to know Jesus. His passion for the souls with the love of God, following Christ's great commission to go and make disciples reached us out and we are the fruits of his labor in God's kingdom. We are a part of the legacy he left. And this is the timeless message God wants us to continue on. It's my turn to take the baton. I feel like a bridge between two generations. The wisdom of the one ahead of me is now in my hand to pass on to the ones following me. I am reminded of what the psalmist penned in Psalm 71:18b: Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.

         There's too much information this generation is bombarded with, too fast to fully grasp and really get them rooted inside. Too much, too fast. When I look at how life is in my son's time, it makes my mind twirl and spin in the speed it goes. In just one click on his iPad, he can go anywhere in the world! The cyber world seems limitless. If we don't watch, they will surf into everything this world offers. There are too many voices and noises. Too much facts and opinions. Good, bad. Information overload.

          I consider myself privileged to grow up so provincial and unsophisticated in an unprogressive town in the Philippines. I experienced life with no electricity because during that time in the 70's, the town I grew up in had no electricity yet. I lived from the province to the city and now to a super power country. I've witnessed the progression of life from simplicity to too stuffy, too busy, too whiny, too fast. As a mom, I have to learn the language of this generation and at the same time retell my own story to my child. I bring him back to the time other than his. I introduce to him the people who shaped my life, my history, his history. It enriches him, reconnects him with the past generation and learn the wisdom of old. Just like the psalmist, I share with him the goodness and the power of God in circumstances in my past, the joys, the sorrows, the adventures, the silence, the noises, the smell, the sight, the taste, all my senses can remember! I have to integrate the truth of God's Word in the way the culture is evolving without compromising the message of God. The truth of God's Word is timeless. It spans through all generations. The responsibility of handing down the Way, the Truth and the Life, the love of God for this world, for all time, for all generations is on me. I'm taking the baton.

Deutronomy 6:5:-10

          See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”  What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?  And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

          Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.  Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

The Mother Power

“You don’t know what you are raising!”  These words echoed in my mind long after I heard them on the radio one Mother’s Day.  I simply couldn’t forget nor ignore it.  I felt I had to pay attention to my heart and look deeper into my soul.  I had to assess my attitudes and behaviors toward my role as a mother.  All the rigors of motherhood came flashing at the back of my mind.  The daily grind of monotonous routine, the cycle of waking and sleeping and waking and sleeping, again and again and again,  all seem the same and endless.  The excitement slowly faded.  The energy sucked and drained.  What is the meaning of all these?  The feeling of being trapped and lost, of knowing who I really am apart from mothering, brought me some moments of resentment. Staying at home, the mundane household chores day in day out were things I thought were not what I wanted to do.  I wanted to explore a career, earn a living, pursue my own passions.  I felt misplaced.

Then came these piercing words!  So powerful they broke my heart.  I realized I am in a very privileged and blessed place, a place of power.  I am a mother.  I am shaping a future.  I am an influence.  What a great honor to have been entrusted such a magnificent responsibility.  It will be up to me if I make it or break it.  I choose the former!  And I am rallying the message to all mothers. 

All throughout history, we witness great men and women who were influenced by their mothers.  Theodore Roosevelt once said, “The mother is the supreme asset of the national life.  She is more important, by far, than the successful statesmen, businessmen, artist or scientist.”  Thomas Edison’s mother who courageously educated him after his unthriving days at school had this influence on him: “My mother was the making of me.  She understood me. She let me follow my bent.”  Saint Augustine was not a godly person at first.  But his mother Monica never gave up on him. She prayed unceasingly for her son and Augustine eventually surrendered to God and to this day has a great impact in other people’s lives.  Most of all, I think about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She was very observant of what was going on in the life of his son.  She kept and stored in her heart and thought about the important events surrounding the life of Jesus (Lk.2:19; Lk. 2:51).

There is that seed of power we, mothers, possess inside our being which influences the children assigned to us. We only have to recognize it and tap into it so we can fully use it.   We should not, therefore, undermine who we are in our society, especially those of us who chose to stay home instead of pursuing a “career”.  Motherhood is more than a career.  It is a privilege!  It is a calling, a vocation!  As what Dan Miller said in his book “48 Days To The Work You Love”, "vocation is what you’re doing in life that makes a difference and builds meaning for you, which you can review in your later years to see the impact you’ve made in the world."  This will leave a legacy.  Motherhood is such a high calling.  It requires a great amount of wisdom and knowledge to help build and nourish a life that will one day be someone to impact the next generation.  Perhaps Theodore Roosevelt’s mother would have doubted even a thought that someday that little baby she was feeding, cuddling, raising would one day become the President of a great nation. Or Thomas Edison’s mom could have just given up on his child when the school system didn’t recognize his special gifts that were not in tune with the majority.  Augustine’s mother could have just abandoned the idea of interceding for him in prayers.  And then there's Mary.  Who would have thought that her son would one day walk on water, feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish or raise the dead and most importantly, the Savior and Messiah?  But these mothers used their power they might have not even recognized.  Their strength and determination to be what they were called to be left an indelible legacy not only in the lives of their children but eventually that of the world.

We don’t know what we are raising!  We don’t know exactly what our children would become.  They might not become as famous as the people mentioned, but they are as valuable as anybody else.  They have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God for a specific purpose.  They have been uniquely created, different from everybody else.  The challenges of raising these souls can be exhausting, frustrating, disappointing at times.  I speak about my own experience or inexperience.  I have an only child.  My boy had not always been the “normal”, easy to raise kind of child.  He has always been intense and sensitive to his environment.  It has been a roller coaster ride for me. When he was a baby until around three years old, he wouldn’t go with anybody else except mom and dad.  He would be anxious when left with other people.  He didn’t know how to play with kids that made me feel he’s left out when all the other kids happily played with each other while he was by himself.  It broke my heart.   There are times I tend to compare him with others.  There are times I forget the excellent gifts he has when he’s not conforming to the norm.  His uniqueness slips out of my thoughts when he doesn’t perform to my expectations.  When things are excellent and he does great, I’m in high spirits.  My great expectations are satisfied.  But when he doesn’t seem to meet what I want, or what the society’s standard is, I get discouraged and down. I fail to see the distinctiveness of him from the rest of the world.  I tend to let him conform, a lot of times for my own convenience and reputation.  Motherhood then becomes all about “me”.  My child has become my extension and reflection.  If he behaves bad, I fear of what people would think of “me”, of how I fail to train him well.  He then becomes a measurement, my yardstick, my trophy of my own sense of accomplishment or a mark of my failure.  I forgot to see motherhood is not about “me.”  I focused on my own selfish ambitions, my own picture of a model child.  I got frustrated and disappointed  because I did not focus on my child’s strength but on his weaknesses.  At first I thought my focus was on his strengths.  I gave him toys related to his interests.  I read him books that he was passionate about.  We went to places that excited him.  I thought I did enhance his strengths.  But the reality is at the back of my mind I still wanted him to conform.  I haven’t fully accepted his uniqueness, his bent.  Now comes the moment of truth, the confrontation within myself. 

Mothering is not about me.  It’s about this gift of life that has been entrusted to me.  Acceptance and celebration of the child’s individuality and uniqueness are a freeing realization for me.  If I focus, observe and nurture my child’s uniqueness, his wonderful gifts and talents and not to satisfy my own selfish expectations, I am using my power to stir his life into productive pursuit.  That is our mother power. 

But that power is not a power of our own.  We need to plug ourselves into a higher power.  We need to constantly recharge our own spirit and soul by constant communication with God in prayer and soaking ourselves in the Word of God, constantly, consistently seeking Him first. Apart from Him we are nothing.  Without that higher power imparted to us, we will lose sight and energy to persist, to not give up in the most challenging times.  On the other hand, if we ourselves are in tune with the Spirit of God, listening to this calling, we will have the wisdom to raise and nurture our precious children.  Those seeds had been implanted in our own wombs, sprouted and grew to become the cradle of civilizations, of history and of the world to come. The power of God within us is the power of possibilities, the power of hope, the power of faith, the power of love that can turn things around in the lives of our children.  We are God’s ambassadors to raise generations, to raise the future. 

All of us mothers, let us not forget who we are.  We have the power. 

© 2013, Odette Navarro / All Rights Reserved