The List

We like lists in this family. It helps us stay focused, stay on task, keep our "eye on the goal", have a plan for tackling what seems like a mountain of things before us. It's a little bit overwhelming when Derek is starting a new job and career, I am entering into the third trimester of pregnancy and still working the weekends, we're both trying to juggle this new stage of parenting called The Terrible Terrific Two's, we're talking about putting the house up for sale, channeling the waters of support-raising in preparation for moving to Africa, going through an intensive discipleship course for the next 8 months, starting up a small group with church...and the list of things goes on and on. But if The List is there to help us stay on top of what needs to be accomplished every day, it is much more manageable. Don't worry- we've got this.


In reality, it's becoming quite apparent that The List is actually one of our mini-idols (ok, let's be honest. It's not really mini...it's a big one). It has become our billboard that says, "Pull yourself up by the boot straps! You can do this!!" Maybe we should even add Phillipians 4:13 at the top that says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me..." Now there's a morale booster that should keep us going!

Who are we actually fooling? Truth is this: NO, we can not do all these things. We weren't intended to. It's way too much. Things are not going to go as planned, no matter how well we plan we plan it. There are going to be setbacks, there are going to be dissapointments. We are going to fail. And when we fail we are going to realize that 1) We are measuring our own self-worth by our list of accomplishments, and 2) that God looks at us and delights in us...not because of all that we attempted to accomplish, not because our pursuits were "holy" (are they really?), not because my two-year old is potty-trained or eats all her fruits and veggies, but because of His Son and what He accomplished on our behalf. Christ took all of my sins on Himself and carried them to the Cross where justice was rightly served and the price was justly paid. But the Good News does not stop there! He transferred His perfect righteousness before the Father onto me so that now I might stand before God and have Him delight in me.

And that is the message of Easter I plan on meditating on this next week. I like this picture I took of The List earlier this week because it makes me laugh a little bit. The absurdity of "all that has to be accomplished" (and that was just for last week!) contrasted by the pile of dirty laundry below it (that seems to perpetually build and build and build until it is obstructing The List, forcing us to do some laundry). It's as if God's saying, "It ain't gonna happen... And you know what? THAT IS OK."