Comments for Laura Parker

Comment on Dirty Feet by Kelly @ Love Well

Kelly @ Love Well — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:32:04 +0000

Man, I get this. I get it way down in my gut.

The dirt is everywhere. We can’t escape it, even by moving to the mission field to serve the poor. (Dang.) We can only clean it up and clean it up and clean it up again, with the endless grace of God.

And even then, it’s dirty.

Hugs across the miles, new friend. (Can I say that?) (Oh. I guess I just did.)
Kelly @ Love Well recently posted..Silence

Comment on Dirty Feet by Heather

Heather — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:13:34 +0000

Self pity is my greatest challenge. Having two sick children, I am ashamed to say that I get resentful about all of the medicines and doctors’ visits and tests and paperwork and arguments with the insurance companies…and if I have to watch them be hurt by a needle one more time… and sometimes I just want to give up. And I know that Jesus gets it. I know He understands my resentments. BUT, I also know that He wants me to remember that I am NOT the one who is sick. I am NOT having seizures, and I am NOT going through chemo, and I am NOT the one being hurt by needles. He wants me to remember that my service to Him is to fight for these children to have the best care and the best insurance coverage possible and the greatest amount of nurturing to ease their pain. And I am finally beginning to realize that He is the only Way that I will find the strength to do these things. Even if I allow myself to wallow once in awhile…
Love you and miss you, friend.

Comment on Costly by Dirty Feet | Laura Parker

Dirty Feet | Laura Parker — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:20:06 +0000

[...] kind or maybe its the emotional kind, but regardless of the form, serving and loving others, costs. And sometimes you pay for it by making a meal or buying a homeless guy a burger or swinging a [...]

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:37:48 +0000

Wow–you definitely have a load, my friend. There is something about mothering multiple little people in those first years–the sleep deprivation, the constant needs, the chaos, the noise–that strips us and breaks us and humbles us. Motherhood is HARD. Man, it just IS so often. Hang in there, as you trudge through your own awful . . . and see God redeem even the crappiest of moments. Hang in there . . . . and thanks for reading.

Laura

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Tamara

Tamara — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:35:24 +0000

OH! Love this post (yes, there is awfullness RIGHT HERE in me, RIGHT NOW)!
Love the COMMENTS (will so enjoy meeting everyone “one day”)!
If I were to comment on the post and then on the comments, this would go on and on . . .
So: Thank you, Jesus for Your love, Your patience, Your guidance through Your Word and Your Children (all of us!)!
Praying for your continued strength while relying on Him!

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Brenda Ragan

Brenda Ragan — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:50:43 +0000

Dearest,
When the awful in us is revealed, we see how great the adequacy of God must be as we serve Him. (II Corinthians 3:5-6)
Moving from glory to glory (II Cor. 3:18)isn’t always glorious, but make no mistake that God is doing His BEST work when He reminds us that we are desperate for Him. Oh, the hope of the Something Else.
Thank you for your honesty and for remembering that God has called you out and He is faithful. I’m so glad He’s a ‘clingable’ God! Aren’t you? Love, MOM

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Liz S.

Liz S. — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 03:29:11 +0000

Such a good question, such a good post! (I’ve been reading you for a while, but haven’t commented before-) thanks for sharing yourself and your insights and what you’re learning as you go. It’s really inspiring. God bless.

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by flyinjuju

flyinjuju — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:59:11 +0000

Laura,
I just started reading your blog, love it!! This post is wonderful timing for me. my 4th is 5mo and the our oldest is five, and it is now that I am seeing me at my ugliest. So even here at home, with all the comforts, my heart is blessed by your words. I pray that you have an amazing day and are renewed in strength. May God bless you in a special way!
Joy in Jesus.

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:15:23 +0000

Anne-Marie and Janet,

Thank you ladies for commiserating with me. There is a goodness, isn’t there, in knowing we are not alone in the struggle and the failing? Lots of Love to PRESS ON, Laura

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:14:02 +0000

Carol. There are tears in my eyes as I read this encouraging note, friend. THANK YOU. Thanks for taking the time to write and speak hope. It means more than you could know. Truly and Really.

Laura

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Carol

Carol — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:40:17 +0000

Laura,
Have you heard this quote from John Stott, “If you could see my heart you would spit in my face”?
I don’t have to reflect at all to have that quote resonate with me.
When I read this I see a family that has, “put their hand in the plow” Wanting to go home and buying a plane ticket are not the same thing. Acting selfish and admitting selfishness are not the same thing.
Moving is hard. Learning a new lanugauge is hard. Raising children is hard. Finding balance between ministry and home is hard. Marriage is hard. Doing ten million hard things at once is just shy of impossible. Except for the few among us who cling to Christ, weaknesses admitted, and beg for endurance. Keep clinging, or at least wanting to cling – and let Him take on that job too. I know that it is crazy to say that kind of drivle from a distant, familiar place. I know that it is a bit much to encourage from such a distance (in both geography and time), but I also know what you have already overcome. More than many of us will withstand in twice as much time. You have clung to God in the face of deep sorrow, great challenges, and exhausting days. You have laid aside dreams, ambition, desire all to follow. And He is saying, “again.” And you are saying, “I will try.” And our trying always feels weak and insuffecient. And it is. For all of us. And the more we know our weakness the more we see His glory.
Carol recently posted..Where to start

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:51:01 +0000

Thanks Laura. I AM right there in my ministry. Aweful and ugly…and I wish I had encouraging words but right now I am just aweful and ugly and hating it…but trying to allow my Father to prune and not just cut off the branch that he is trying to prune. Love you and miss you friend.
AM

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Janet

Janet — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:27:05 +0000

I appreciate your honesty in this post so much. My circumstances aren’t nearly as extreme as yours but I feel the “awful” too. He is using these circumstances to empty us of the junk and instead of things just trickling out they overflow. Thankful to be able to hold onto hope!

And agreeing that my favorite sentence is:

“maybe the greater awful is just a gateway to Something Else.”

Praying for you.
Janet recently posted..Sweet Sister and Growth

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:07:34 +0000

Yes, Mandi, don’t kids just bring selfishness out of you? It constantly reminds me how self-centered and impatient and demanding and unforgiving I can be. Glad you were encouraged. And thanks for praying. Truly.

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Kleigh

Kleigh — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:21:02 +0000

My favorite sentence:

“… maybe the greater awful is just a gateway into Something Else.”

Yes.
Kleigh recently posted..Tumble Cycle

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by mandi

mandi — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:38:07 +0000

I am always telling my hubby that I never realized how much of a sinner I was until I married & had kids. It’s just God using their iron to sharpen my iron :{ I had never equated this time to Peter’s- thank you for the revelation and hope =]

Praying for ya~
mandi recently posted..crazy kids!

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Kim

Kim — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:46:15 +0000

Oh … this was exactly how I was feeling last week. Then I read … James 3:2 which tells us that “WE ALL STUMBLE IN MANY WAYS.”
ALL of us. In MANY ways.
Praying for you from Hong Kong,
Kim

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:51:11 +0000

Marla, Brittany, Heather, Noel, Kendall,

Thanks, friends for the encouragement and for the kind admission that maybe there’s a bit (or a lot) of awful in each of us that rises to the surface when we hit roadblocks or crashes in the journey.

Grateful for you grace, Laura

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Laura

Laura — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:49:25 +0000

Oh, Kelly, I LOVE this image of the tree and the storm. Have you written about that yet over at Love Well? Totally a rich picture, and such a good image of looking down at the mess we create with our own hands and hardly recognizing that THAT can really come from US. Thanks for sharing that, friend,
Laura

Comment on When You Become an Awful Person by Marla Taviano

Marla Taviano — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:55:30 +0000

I love, love, love, love, LOVE this post, and I’m not even kidding. God is moving in my heart and life, and YES, it’s bringing out the awful.
Marla Taviano recently posted..tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!