I just got back from Disney World with my parents, siblings, in-laws and five nieces and nephews, twelve of us in all.
I’m not really an amusement park person by nature—something about suffocating crowds and lines that serpentine in numbing rows and $14 turkey legs that I don’t really get. I realize I’m in the minority here though, so I pushed through my aversions and punched my ticket. (Actually I scanned my fingerprint, which linked to my magic band, which linked to my credit card. Basically, Disney owns me.)
Besides a generous amount of family laughter about stuff that is probably only funny to us, here’s how things went down: My oldest niece begged me to take her on Soarin’ for a second time, meaning we cumulatively waited in line for the length of a football game for a ride that lasts approximately as long as a lightening bolt. On the last night our family finally sat down at a decent restaurant when my baby niece started crying because she’d become constipated while eating an Olaf cake pop. At the end of dinner my youngest nephew thought he’d flushed his magic band down the toilet, which in a child’s world is equivalent to your house burning down.
But we joyfully enter this craziness because we’re aunts.
We embark on the turf of our nieces and nephews because we have a unique role in their lives that’s different from being their mom or dad.
So here are three reasons I’m choosing to invest as an aunt, besides the fact that I just love them so much and want to be in their lives:
Investing As An Aunt Means Stewarding The Family Relationships God’s Given Us
When I read through Scripture, especially the Old Testament, I see a strong thread of the importance of family and one’s heritage. Because I’m not married and don’t have children of my own, the children of my siblings are especially dear to me. (This is also true for my married siblings.) As a single woman, or any woman who has a void in her life, we can focus solely on what we’re missing, or we can claim the place God has given us with our nieces and nephews, a place no one else has.
If We Don’t Own Our Place In Our Nieces’ And Nephews’ Lives, Someone Else Will
I don’t want to abdicate the role I have with my little ones, because all manner of voices and opinions are, right now, competing for their attention and affections. I want the opportunity to demonstrate the grace of Jesus when they fail, reveal His love when they know they don’t deserve it, unfold the truths of Scripture as they grow, and offer wisdom in a confusing world that’s spilling over with ideas leading far from the heart of God. Of course my little group is still young, so a lot of what’s going on right now has to do with peeling tangerines and breaking up scuffles and buying bearded dragons as Christmas gifts. But still, I’m filling a space in their lives I pray is an extension of Christ’s love for them.
If We Invest in the Children Now We’ll Have A Voice Later
While we can’t strong arm our nieces and nephews to love the Lord their God with their whole hearts and minds, if we build a relationship with them today we’ll have a trusted place with them tomorrow. Even if they veer off that narrow path, they’ll know deep in their hearts who is praying and aching for them to come home. “Teach [God’s Words] to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut 11:19.
Let’s own our places in the lives of these little ones. We have a place no one else does.
Guest Blog And A Few Other Things
Just a quick note to let you know that I did a guest blog for @edstetzer ‘s Thursday is for Thinkers. Today I wrote about The Gospel versus Religious Mission. If you get a chance, check out what’s going on over there and leave a thought… or two. www.edstetzer.com
It has been a whirlwind summer as I’ve been finishing up a book on the virtues entitled The Fitting Room: Putting On The Character Of Christ. It will be out in April of 2011. I say all this to let you know why I have been terribly absent from the blog. What my excuse will be for the rest of the year, I have no idea. Social media is not my strong suit.
A HUGE thank you to Beth Moore and Living Proof Ministries for their enormous blessing of facilitating the Ruth study during the Summer Siesta Bible Study. I love Beth’s teaching and am grateful for real women who live with integrity and love Jesus passionately. You get all of this with Beth and her studies and live events. And, many, many thanks to all of you who participated, as well as for your kind comments. They have been a blessing.
Off to water the flowers. They are dying in this Nashville heat!!!!
Shipping Update on Beth Moore Summer Study
Hey Everyone,
I’m sorry that I have been quite out of touch since being out of the country in Brazil, specifically on a boat cruising down the Amazon. And when I say ‘cruising’, please don’t think anything even close to a cruise ship, because the only thing the two have in common is their ability to float. Much more on what God did on our trip in posts to come…
Many of you are wondering if you can get your Ruth Study(s) from this website and how quickly they will arrive, especially in regard to Beth Moore’s summer study. Yes, you can order them here, (or get them at your local LifeWay Store). Please know that we are expediting our shipments to you so you can get your Ruth study(s) as soon as possible. If you have any questions or issues, please contact us at Minterstore@comcast.net, and we’ll get back to you right away. If you need more info on Beth’s Summer Study you can visit her blog by clicking here.
Can’t wait to share with you about my trip to the Amazon. God is so desirous to use His people to take the Gospel (and everything the Gospel means and does) to the ends of the earth. To be entrusted with the treasure of the Gospel is one of the greatest gifts God has given us. This I know.
Flooding And Devastation In Nashville
As many of you know, Nashville (and other areas) experienced widespread flooding over the weekend. Currently the sun is out, the wind is calm and the birds have returned to their morning songs. However, the wake of devastation is enormous. I am thankful to be in an area where the worst we had was running up and down our rickety basement stairs to empty buckets and trash cans of water, along with several trees down. You can see my ahead-of-its-time water catcher above, something my friend put together when suddenly water started pouring in through a loose brick. This was absolutely nothing compared to all the lost homes, and even lives, that have been lost over the past two days.
Recipe of The Month Folks!
Alright, I missed the recipe of the month in March because I got a little overwhelmed writing this book on the Christian virtues. It’s due soon, actually tomorrow, though I don’t think I’m going to quite make it – especially if I keep doing things like blog about French toast. Will let you know how it goes… Again, thank you all so much for your very helpful comments on the blog regarding the book a few months ago. They were very helpful. Alright, onto the French toast!
This is what all the people gathered around my table are eating on Easter morning. My dear friend, April, whipped it up the night before, and I’m telling you, this dish will make you a hero in your family, neighborhood, social network – wherever you need hero status. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
7 Eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
Egg Bread (or Italian Sweet Bread)
Directions:
Put 1/2 stick butter and 1 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons in bottom of 13×9 inch pan and put in oven until butter is melted. Take out of oven and mix all three ingredients together until you have a nice glaze covering the bottom of the pan. Place thick slices (1.5 inch ea.) of Egg Bread (or bread of your choice) over the glaze covering the entire dish (just one layer). Then whisk 7 eggs and 1-1/2 cups of milk together in bowl. Once whisked, pour over the bread slices in the pan. Cover and put in fridge overnight. Wake up the next morning, preheat your oven to 350 while get your coffee on… Then bake uncovered for 45 minutes.
Super easy. Delicious. Not healthy, but great for the psyche!
Hope you all are enjoying spring. Thanks for the prayers regarding this book. More to come soon…
Forgiveness
Okay, so a few months ago I posted a blog regarding the Christian virtues, or graces, that we are to “clothe” ourselves in, and your responses were very helpful – and honest, which I love. (Here’s the link if you missed it, or want to add a thought). Since then I have been writing furiously on the virtues listed in Colossians 3:12, along with a bunch of other aspects that go with how to practically put these virtues “on”. All of which will help get me to my goal of 50,000 words. Yes, writing is that romantic.
And since this book has managed to coil its tendrils around every waking moment of my consciousness I have all but ignored my blog, something my friends remind me of every day (probably because they’re the only ones who read it, or sincerely believe others do…)
So, I’m posting an excerpt on forgiveness from the book that will be out in May of 2011, if I don’t first die from staring at my computer screen. (Click the title to keep reading…)