Rebellious Decisions

Rebellious Decisions by Pastor Mike Fabarez

Awhile back the Supreme Court summarized another decision to move our country and its laws further from biblical principles by stating that their ruling epitomized “the progress of a maturing society.” As we often see throughout biblical history in general, and the book of Judges in particular, when society sees itself “casting off the fetters” of God’s moral precepts and his just dictates, they do nothing more than set themselves up for bondage, oppression and God’s passivity. Like the rebellion of a teenage son, when nations seek to establish their “maturity” by freeing themselves from parental ethics and mores, they always do so to their own hurt. It will eventually be clear that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Pr.14:34) – “sin” defined not by the lowest common denominator of those who might be “offended”, but “sin” as defined by the Father of mankind. Unfortunately, it often takes a series of painful consequences for truly maturing teens to realize the wisdom of their parents’ forsaken rules. May that realization come quickly for us. While the church is not established for the purpose of corporately engaging in politics, it is our duty to continue to earnestly pray for “kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1Tim.2:2).

The journey of Heart Training

Have you ever had one of THOSE days with heart training your little one? I know you are all thinking, "Oh, Yeah!" We've all been there. I feel like most of my days are spent reminding, training, chastising, correcting, admonishing and guiding. Three years was an especially rough road. We didn't have the terrible twos. In fact, two was low key compared to this last year.

We are currently rounding a corner, though. Everyone told me that four was a good year. It seems to be holding true as we approach the big fourth birthday.

We actually can have decent conversations with Carter about God, the Bible, behavior, character, sin, and choices. As many of you know, last year any question of "What did you learn in church today, Carter?" was met with two answers: "God" or "Jesus". We did go through a short phase of him answering "the Israelites" when they were studying Exodus. That was the extent of it.

I actually see Carter applying some lessons to his decision making and thoughts. That makes every frustrating day of heart training worth while. God is so gracious to let us see little glimpses of fruit in their lives as we work with them.

I know it is all God's work on Carter's heart, but I have to give huge praise to my hubby for his obedience as a godly father. He has been so consistent in prayer, Bible memorization, and Sunday school topic review nightly with Carter. What a great leader he is to our family!

We certainly have a long road ahead of us. Most of the day is still filled with LOTS of heart training, especially in the area of self control. Now that Micah is almost a year, we are in the beginning stages of teaching Micah about disobedience and consequences. The more forbidden an object, the more he wants it and tries to get to it. Oh, what stubborn little hearts my boys have! Where in the world did they get that characteristic? (Notice the sarcasm) Truly, it just reminds me of where my fleshly nature would take me without God's work in my life.

It sure is a journey--full of valleys and a few gracious mountaintops. Whatever journey God has planned, my prayer is that it all leads to their surrender to God in repentance and faith.

Globus Pharyngeus--Huh?

GERD, acid reflux and other digestive issues run in my dad's side of the family. Poor little Micah was born with it too. I think it is funny that the Mexican half of my family suffers from this, as they eat nothing but spicy food, tomatoes and other generally not-so-good for reflux foods.
I've had issues with this before. I get heartburn fairly easily, and in both pregnancies I had to sleep sitting straight up during the last trimester because the heartburn was so bad. In fact, in my last trimester with Micah, I went to the ER with a severe form of "lump in my throat". I actually was choking a lot and finding it hard to breathe at times. They gave me steroids to relax my throat. Only because of the heartburn, I also started taking Xantac, and it cleared up. They told me the throat spasms were due to a throat infection, but I now realize it was a flare up of Globus Pharyngeus.
Well, a couple of days ago, I developed this annoying lump in my throat. It felt like food was stuck on the right side of my throat--down below my Adam's apple. I tried drinking a lot of water as fast as possible to wash it out, but that didn't help. I didn't sleep well, as it actually radiates a little bit of pain into my chest. It is worse at night.
I suspected it was related to reflux. Sure enough, all the symptoms align with Globus Pharyngeus. It is when the muscles below your adam's apple over tighten to keep acid out of your throat. It isn't the most pleasant feeling--you feel it every time you swallow--like you took too big of a bite and it is stuck in your throat.
I bought some Zantac, and I am trying to destress. Stress makes it worse. Do any of you have any background with this? It is supposed to go away on its own after a few weeks or months. I'd love any advice if you've struggled with this. I know I need to not eat an hour before bed, and I need to avoid fats, milky foods and spice or caffeine at night.

Love Dare: In addition

I was talking with a friend at church, and she was asking me if The Love Dare would be a good read for a marriage that was in trouble. I had to say no. If you followed me on my 40 day Love Dare journey, you can see that it is a good read to remind a spouse/spouses about how to sacrificially love and serve in marriage. I enjoyed taking the time to serve Ryan as a blessing to him, and I know it meant a lot to him that I chose to love him in this way.

However, if you are having huge marital problems, this book won't solve them. You need to go seek the counsel of a pastor to see where the marriage is falling short of Biblical guidelines for marriage, and you need to have communication with the pastor about how to fix the sin issue that is sidelining the relationship.

This book does present the Biblical ideas for a godly marriage, but I doubt very few people can truly realize a sin issue and change when the issues are usually very engrained and deep.

Also, please read my posts on the gospel message in this book. The book is in error. God does love you, but you don't become a Christian to be loved. Being a Christian is about realizing you are a sinner before a holy God. Only Christ's death on the cross can pay your debt--yes, you owe God a payment for your sin, but Christ has paid it for us. After you realize your sinful state and need for Christ, you will REPENT and have faith in God to provide and lead. Your life will not be your own anymore. You will be a follower of Christ, and He is now the master of your life. You will live a life where you are learning to die to self and give more and more glory and obedience to God. Love is a vital part of the gospel, but it isn't the focus or the summary.

If you know a non-Christian who is reading this book, please use this as an opportunity to speak about why the book falls short on the gospel presentation and share the true gospel with the reader.

I wanted to make sure I clarified these things before I left the topic. I would recommend this book to use as a prompt to unordinary thoughtfulness and action, but I wouldn't use it to save a failing marriage or to bring someone to Christ.

Busy, busy

Okay, okay. It has been WAY too long since I wrote a post. I know. I have a minute right now because Carter is taking an extra LONG nap. Life is a bit hectic, but I'll fill you in on what is happening.

Ryan and I are still co-leading our 150+ person marriage ministry every week. In fact, we just held a marriage workshop for goalsetting last weekend. We had about 40 people attend, and we got some great feedback. We are constantly praying for God to lift up some new group leaders, as we and our co-leaders are leading two of the nine small groups, which is not ideal when you are running the group. God might have someone in line right now for one of the groups. We are praying!

Ryan moved locations for his office, and now he is closer to home! It has been nice running up to see him at lunch or having him come home to see us if his day allows!

We celebrated our 7 year anniversary at the end of December with a night at the Blue Lantern Inn. It was really nice despite a lady falling off the cliff (she was okay), and having loud rescue helipcopters and half the police force outside our balcony.

Micah's first birthday is quickly approaching. I can't believe he is going to be one already! It is funny how different the boys are. It might be just because he is the second, but I feel like he isn't doing things as quickly as Carter did. Carter definitely was saying words by now, and Micah is happy growling like a Tiger (he has a tiger figurine he loves) and clapping for me to say "YaaaaaYYYYY!" (He thinks that also means all done, so he claps YaaaaYYYY when I am wiping snot or food off his face). I'm in the thick of planning his first birthday party. It will be fun to celebrate our little destructo and his first year. He is getting two more teeth on the top, and he has had a cold the past two weeks. Fun times for all.

Carter is getting so big. He definitely prefers daddy now, though if he is hurt or wanting a back scratch, he comes to find mommy. He is an expert at the Wii--almost beating me several times at bowling. He got a bike for Christmas, and he is really good on it. It won't be long before the training wheels come off. He still loves maps of amusement parks, and we are going to renew our Disneyland passes this year for his birthday. He should be 40 inches (or just under) and be able to ride the BIG rides--Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Soaring over California, etc. He is chomping at the bit to do these rides, so it would be great if he gets there by his birthday.

We are praying about moving this spring. We are both dreading the displacement, busy lives, and stress that can come with moving, and excited about where we will move. It won't get any easier, and we would love to find a new home before interest rates go up and the boys start kindergarten. If you think about it, pray for our real estate adventures--wisdom and peace of mind in the process!

Well, Micah has thrown every pajama out of my drawer, so I need to go pick up the mess. Like the title says, life is busy--but it sure is blessed!