Author: Tonivandewiele

I'm a busy mom, submerged in chaos but infused by the saving grace of God. And while some days it feels like I am hanging on by a thread, I know that everything will always be ok as long as the thread that I'm hanging onto is His. Matthew 9:21-22 For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour.

The Perfect Mom…thought for the day…

Sometimes I think moms just needs somebody to tell them that it’s OK that we’re not perfect! It’s ok if tonight’s dinner consisted of a frozen pizza or a pb&j. I mean it only has to keep you alive until tomorrow and a mom is ALWAYS hanging onto the hope that tomorrow will go more smoothly.

For years I’ve thought about how perfect Mary must’ve been to be chosen to be Jesus’s mom. Until tonight. Tonight as I’m wading through a river of laundry, thinking about how far behind on everything I am, the fact that we had cold pizza for lunch AND dinner, and mad at my kids because they don’t help out enough, it occurred to me! Mary wasn’t perfect. Jesus was!

I have managed to raise 5 completely imperfect kids & keep them healthy and happy…at least most of the time…and my head only explodes on them a few times a week. Mary got to raise the ONLY perfect child that ever existed. Sure…there was that time when He was 12 that He decided to skip the caravan out of town and hang out at the temple but He used the “Dad” card and it was all good.

But seriously….Mary wasn’t perfect. She was OBEDIENT!

So maybe amongst my imperfect days, my imperfect dinners, my youth group lessons that I’m never fully prepared for, my piles of laundry and dishes, and my crazy slapped-together momness….it’s OK if I’m not perfect as long as I’m doing my best to be obedient to God! And if His strength is made perfect in my weakness….then I must be giving Him quite a workout!

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2Cor.12:9NKJV

Don’t Be the “I”….Thought for the day.

Pride. It’s been said the center of pride is “I”. We all have it. I’ve seen it destroy marriages. I’ve seen it tear families apart. I’ve seen it split churches. I’ve seen it divide nations. It’s the attitude that, “I’m right no matter the cost!” But when you look back at some of the best people in your life, you will usually see that the reason that they were good was because they were also humble. Even when you’re right, you can be the rightest of rights but if you go about being right the wrong way…you’re wrong. THE best…the only…sinless man, could have stood up and yelled to the world that He was right and that everyone else was sinners, and that the only way to get to heaven was to believe in Him! But instead He died for them….for us. We all have pride, but the question is, does pride have us?

Treat the Disease, Not the Symptoms…thought for the day …

It’s so easy for me to get disgusted & overwhelmed by the deterioration of the world’s morals & ethics. I was watching something on the news & my normal knee-jerk reaction was to blame the government. And in doing so, I heard that all too familiar still, small voice say, “It starts at home.” This country as a whole has a disease that is eating away at it. A disease that makes sin ok & calls Christians fools. The problem is…the government is not the disease. It’s the symptom. The root of the disease is in each and every home in America. It begins when we fail to make God first and foremost in everything that we do. Yes…everything. We put ourselves in first place and everything becomes about, “what’s in it for me?”. It festers and multiplies when we fail to teach our children biblical truths by living our lives as examples and showing them the path to righteousness. It spreads from home to home when we fail to love our neighbor and instead spread rumors, boast pridefully of “our” accomplishments, or look down on someone when we should be lifting them up. We can treat the symptoms and things may seem somewhat better for a little while. But it’s only when we get to the root of the disease and make Jesus Christ the Lord & Savior of our own family…my own family, that true healing begins. And then we start helping others heal by sharing God’s word and biblical truths.

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

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Smart Armor…Thought for the Day…

There are smart phones, smart cars, and smart houses. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could walk around every day wearing a smart armor? Something that would protect our bodies, minds, and hearts. Something that would allow us to move freely but still fully protect us from the evils of this world? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had a smart armor? An armor…dare I say…of God? A helmet that would protect our minds by keeping them focused on Him and to hold the knowledge that we receive from His Word. A shield to guard us from Satan’s attacks. A belt to carry the tools that we would need for any situation. A breastplate to protect our hearts. The Bible to serve as our sword to slay evil with the truth of God. And shoes that would always keep us on the path to righteousness. Wow! Wouldn’t a “smart armor” be awesome?!? Well…we have one! But we have to put forth enough effort to put it on. We have everything we could ever need…if we would only prepare ourself. God has provided the armor. Now are we smart enough to put it on?

Pulling Weeds…thought for the day…

If you’ve ever worked in a garden or in flower beds, you’ve inevitably had to deal with weeds. What I have noticed is that where there are more weeds, it’s a lot harder to pull them out. They not only root, but all the roots as become tangled & inner-twined. The areas that are tended to regularly have fewer weeds and are easily pulled and tilled. Once as I was working on a particularly rough area that I had neglected for awhile, I became irritated at myself for letting it get so bad. I had simply allowed myself to get so busy that the weeds were trying to take over and if that had happened, we would have either had to give up completely or start all over on our garden. Fortunately, after several hours, it was all back under control. But how often do we get so busy with the things of this world that we don’t even notice when sin starts taking root in our life? And before we know it, the roots have tangled and what would have been easily removed has now turned into a messy, time consuming problem that we either have to face head on or risk having the weeds take over. Don’t put God on the back burner. Don’t allow sin to take over and choke out the good fruit-bearing plants that God has placed in your life. Because it’s a whole lot easier to pull a few weeds than it is to start all over.

Food for Thought…

Food for Thought…Jesus didn’t ask the woman at the well to leave because talking to her would give the appearance of evil. He spoke to her…He counseled her…He loved her with the truth….and look how many people she ran to tell about Him. Good thing Jesus didn’t care about ”the appearance” it gave. He only cared about finding a lost sheep. Guess that’s why it made the Pharisees so angry.

March Winds of Change…

March winds of change are blowing!!

On this 14th day I feel that God is preparing me for some awesome changes in my life!

Change is always an adjustment but is not always bad. I feel quite certain that He has GOOD changes planned for my life that will allow me to better serve Him. My natural instinct is to reject change but with prayer it has turned to an exciting curiosity.

Unfortunately He is also giving me a lesson in patience which is not one of my strong suits…lol. Therefore, in my time of learning patience I am trying to prepare my fields for the seeds that He will be planting.

It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.” Mark 4:31-32 NKJV

Unique Gifts…Thought for the day.

God blesses each of us with gifts. Things that I might be really good at, another may not be. And some may excel in things that I fail at. Such is life and that’s ok until someone decides that just because another is not blessed with the same gift as them that they are somehow inferior. My thought is that God blesses everyone with different gifts for a reason. A heart is an important organ but is useless without veins and blood. A brain would have no point without nerves to carry out its commands. We are the body of Christ and He has given each of us unique and important jobs. None more important than others but none exactly alike either. It’s when we learn to appreciate others for their unique gifts that we learn to love as Christ loves.

Twisted & Tangled…thought for the day…

Seems like every day is laundry day at the Van De Wiele house. So as I’m taking clothes out of the washer, I realize that, because of a loose string, a big wad of clothes is all tangled up in a big twisted mess. So what should’ve taken me a couple of minutes seemed to take forever. I could have just yanked them apart but that probably would’ve resulted in at least one ruined piece of clothing. I could’ve ignored it and threw the whole mess in the dryer but probably would have not only ruined clothes but it would have taken much longer to dry. So instead I carefully untangled the whole mess & located the troublemaking string. At this point I could have just cut it off or pulled it out but that would have only been a temporary fix at best. If I had pulled it, it may have completely unraveled the shirt. If I had cut it, it would have eventually worked its’ way out & caused more laundry dilemmas in the future. Instead, I tied it so it would not unravel further, and then cut off the excess. Un-forgiveness is much like a raveling string. Before you know it, that itty bitty string has managed to work its’ way in and around other areas of your life…where it shouldn’t be…and, if you allow it, it will work its’ way into other people’s lives. Left unattended, it will tangle & bind you, your family, your relationships, and most importantly, your relationship with God. You can ignore it, but you will end up with a ruined piece of your life that you will never be able to mend. You can cut off the person and refuse to forgive them, but you risk destroying yourself & others close to you in the process. And then you still have un-forgiveness inside of you just waiting to unravel & tangle up again. Or you can tie a knot in it by forgiving, snip off the hurt & anger, and move on. Either way, you are the only one that can deal with the mess. The question is, how much damage are you going to allow before you deal with it correctly?

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV

Beautifully Broken…Thought For The Day…

I’ve posted before about how the “church” isn’t a building. It isn’t walls, pews, & carpet. It is the body of Christ.

So what do we picture when we picture the body of Christ?

Do we picture the perfect man that was all God and all man who walked this earth and was perfect….without blemish or sin? Do we picture a perfect building, filled with perfect people, who show up every Sunday with the perfect clothes and sit with their perfect children and sing with their perfect voices?

I know I don’t. It was once said that by allowing an obvious sinner into “the church” that it gave the “appearance of evil”. Well I’m not sure what “church” that particular person was referring to, but the last time I checked, the ONLY person that wasn’t a sinner was Jesus Christ. Pretty sure if we stopped allowing sinners to be a part of the church then there would no longer be one.

No….that’s not the body of Christ that I envision. The body that I think of is the one that was bloody, beaten, broken, and hung on a cross because of my sins. The body that I see is the one that is no longer perfect. It’s damaged. It’s messy. It has scars. That’s what I see when I think of the body of Christ. And I believe that’s what God sees when He looks at the church. A body of broken people. A group of people that have obvious imperfections but are striving to heal and serve Him. A beautifully broken body of Christ.

The beaten body of Christ doesn’t give the appearance of perfection. It gives the appearance of sacrifice. And it wasn’t sacrificed for perfect people because they don’t exist. Never have, never will.

So rather than spending your life searching for a “church” that doesn’t have “the appearance of evil” and doesn’t allow obvious sinners in, then just be aware that the illusion of perfection is more dangerous than the honesty of brokenness because the broken body seeks healing while the illusion of perfection makes itself its own God.

Those Who Sow Discord…Thought for the Day

In John 8, the Bible tells us of the woman caught in the very act of adultery. The religious leaders had brought her to Jesus, told Him of her sins, and stood in anxious expectation of His next move. Now….there is no doubt that she had sinned as she had been very conveniently caught in the a (we’ll come back to that). So Jesus would have been within His rights to dole out a punishment….to make a public spectacle of her…as if the religious leaders hadn’t already done that…and He in fact was the only one that had that right. Let’s think about what might have happened had He done that. Do you think it would have brought her closer to God or pushed her farther away? I believe she would have never found or even looked for forgiveness if that had happened. Now….that does NOT mean that Jesus was saying that she should continue living a life of sin. In fact, scripture tells us that He told her to go and sin no more. So my question is.…..if you have faced a situation where you know someone is living a sinful life….and you are praying about it…counseling them about it….you have sought advice from other people of faith (of course while keeping anonymity)…..and have slowly begun putting God’s plan for this person into place in the hope of drawing them closer to God and farther from their sun. BUT another person who deems themself as an authority on all things of God, demands that the situation be handled their way regardless of the hurt and humiliation that it will cause and most likely drive this poor broken soul so far from God that they may never find their way back. They haven’t prayed about it…..they have most of what they consider ”the facts” wrong…and they don’t even know the person’s name…all because they believe that it gives the appearance of evil. Which is right? In John 8…the religious leaders were correct in their accusations…..but the fact is…it is not our reponsibility to condemn. It’s our responsibility to serve as Jesus would. With the love and compassion that He has…otherwise we are merely clanging cymbals. (Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1) And I for one am thankful that He is not in the habit of doling out our punishment the moment we sin because I’m pretty sure the end would come quickly for all of us. On another note….scripture doesn’t tell us how the religious leaders caught the woman in the act. We don’t know if there was planning or scheming involved but if there was, the Bible is very clear about what God thinks of those who try to sow discord. (These six things the Lord hates,Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look,A lying tongue,Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans,Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies,And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19). So…if you are looking for a church to worship where everyone there is already perfect….or at least gives the “appearance” of perfect…then you’re in the wrong church because Jesus was the only perfect man to ever walk on the earth. I’ve heard it said that a church isn’t a museum for the saints but rather a hospital for the sinners. And I’d rather be where the Healer is.

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The Master’s Masterpiece…thought for the day…

Once upon a time I was somewhat artsy. I enjoyed painting with water colors but the problem with them was, if I made a wrong stroke, it wasn’t easy to fix it. I could paint over it but if you looked closely, you could still see it. Pen & inks yielded the same challenges. I did some pencil drawings also. The great thing about those was that you could erase a mistake and never even know it was there. It was also very easy to smudge a line between black and white so that you couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. Sometimes I think we want our lives to be in pencil. We want to be able to smudge that line between wrong & right and we want to be able to erase the parts that we don’t want anyone to see. Problem is, everything we do is permanent. Even when you try your best to hide a mistake, it’s still there & satan makes sure that there is always someone there just waiting to point out where you’ve messed up. The only way you can completely get rid of all the mistakes is to cover them with the blood of Jesus Christ. It will remove even the ugliest mistakes and guide you in creating a new work of art. And although Satan is still going to provide plenty of people to remind everyone what a mess your canvas used to be, all that will actually matter is that now you are the Master’s masterpiece.

Your Faith Has Healed You…Thought for the Day…

I have spent the last couple of weeks praying. Multiple times a day. Praying while cleaning. Praying while cooking. Praying while driving. Praying for healing for a loved one that has been very sick.

One day last week, after I had been praying, I was thinking about the situation and I had concerns. Because although her condition had not worsened, it didn’t seem to be getting any better. And at some point, something needed to change. And I thought to myself…maybe the prayers need to change. I’ve been praying for weeks to heal her, to comfort her, to ease her pain, for God’s guidance for the doctors and nurses… But what did Jesus say in scripture every time He healed someone? He told them that their FAITH has healed them.

So that day, my prayers changed. Rather than asking for healing, I began thanking God for the healing He was doing right now! It became almost a chant. I spent the day with an almost constant mental loop of thanking God for His healing and for His faithfulness to answer prayers.

The next morning we got a call that she had been able to sit up and visit with her husband. Still very very sick…but improvement!!

So the loop continued. I thanked God. Not a hopeful thankfulness. But a, “Thank you God because I KNOW that You are healing her right now!” I wholehearted faith fueled prayer KNOWING that God was working a miracle even as I was praying.

So the next day we get a phone call, and not only has she improved, but she is home from the hospital!!!

So maybe…if you have been praying and nothing is changing….maybe it’s the prayer that needs to change. Because it’s not our prayers that heal…it’s our faith.

Different But The Same…Thought For The Day

We may no longer live in a time when we all sit out on the porch every evening and visit with our neighbors or run next door to borrow a cup of sugar…but just because things are different doesn’t mean that we don’t have that same kinship of the past. Now when I need something, I can post it on Facebook and within a few minutes I have at least 10 friends who have come to my rescue. And in today’s society, I may not sit on the porch drinking sweet tea and visiting with my neighbors, but instead I sip a sonic drink while visiting with my football people, volleyball people, basketball people, softball people, track people, and spend my Sundays and Wednesdays with my church people. So while things might not be like they used to be….some things will never change. Your community…your people…are your root system and God is the soil that keeps you firmly anchored and nourished.

Up a Tree…thought for the day…

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I was eating lunch the other day & saw a squirrel in our yard. My daughter was all excited & didn’t understand why I was concerned about it. I explained that as it got closer to the back of our house, it was also getting further & further away from a tree, and that if our dog saw it, then it was going to have to be really fast to get back to safety before she caught it. Nonetheless it kept inching closer & closer until we tapped on the window & it ran back to safety. Unfortunately a couple of days later we discovered that it had ventured too far and wasn’t fast enough to get back to a safe haven before it met its fate. The world is full of things that we would like to have. If we could just get a little closer. And sometimes even when we get really close, nothing bad happens. So the next time we get even closer. And then one day, we don’t even realize that we have walked away from the only true safe haven that we have. The loving, protective arms of God. We are so enamored by the things of the world that we don’t even realize it. So when Satan attacks, it’s not because God has left us. It’s because we have left Him. And just for the record, my dog is not Satan. She just really likes to play with squirrels…unfortunately until they die.