The Jimenez Family

I think we have FINALLY started the lazy days of summer!

With travelling and VBS and different commitments...our June was packed to the brim with activities!!!

The week we got back from Arizona we made a quick trip to the strawberry patch...hoping that there were still some left on the vines since we had missed the opening of the season.

After several very rainy days...the sun came out and we had some BEAUTIFUL berries to pick from.

I spent most of my time keeping a close eye on Hailey and Jackson...they didn't really contribute many berries to the bucket because they were so busy tasting all of them!

I probably should have kept a better eye on the older kids...I think the only qualifications for them was that the berry was red...so I ended up with two buckets of extremely tiny berries!

Oh well!!!

Our friends, the Richardsons, came and stayed with us from San Antonio for a short, but sweet, time.

We are so thankful for the wisdom, love, encouragement, & support these friends have poured into our lives over the last year!

There were seven kids in the house...and the noise level definitely notched up a bit...thankfully, the four of us were able to get a quiet break to head out and spend a few hours eating and having a great time!

Then it was time for VBS!!!

VBS week has been the highlight of our summer so far.

With over 750 kids in attendance it was a packed out house!

This was my third year on the music team...and I must say...I had a BLAST!!!

I am not very talented in the area of dancing, co-ordination, or even rhythm...but thankfully...kids don't care!

I also had the privilege of teaching the preschoolers Bible-time.
There were about fifty little ones all packed in one room...waiting for me to capture their attention...and dazzle them with truths of God's Word.
These precious little guys were a delight to be with...smothering me with hugs and kisses each and every day!

Amy and Tyler both had super fun groups with fantastic leaders.

It was a great week with many memories imprinted on our family!

After VBS. we had a wonderful 4th of July...celebrating our freedom and family with some close friends.
Then we packed up our stuff and headed to the lake with our friends, the Howards!!

It was a jam-packed house...with nine children and four adults...but it was FUN!!!
This is our second summer we've been graciously hosted by the Howard family.
I'm sure it cannot be easy to double the noise in your home...but they didn't seem to mind all the craziness our family brought them! :-)
It has been a considerably rainy summer...and even the morning we arrived it was lightly drizzling.
But thankfully, Mr Jeff had the magic touch...when we went out on the boat...the clouds went away!!!
The kids tried to be daredevils on the boat...while I tried to keep my breakfast in my stomach!!!

Right before we left...Jeff and Jason tried to get a fire going so we could roast marshmallows...

thankfully...it started pouring right AFTER the last bite was popped into our mouths!

So yummy and delicious!

The kids had such a fun (uninteruppted) time of playing with their friends.

This lil miss just could not get enough s'mores!
Good to the very last bite! :-)

It was a busy June...and start to July.
But now I'm ready for those lazy summer days...just kicking back!!

As humans...we long for an answer to everything. We want to be able to explain.

To know why. To rationalize. To control.

As Christians...we long to justify the "whys" of a situation.

Or the "reasons" behind certain trials and tribulations.

We are so quick to respond with rhetoric and rehearsed responses.

Commonly spoken phrases that spin suffering and pain in "acceptable" terms.

Limiting our view to what is here and now...and that which is unfolding in front of our eyes.

We decide what the purpose is for walking through challenges.

Claiming brokenness, humility, chastisement, or deepening our faith...

all of which we deem to be God's intention in allowing these struggles in our lives.

In order to make sense of the pain...we focus on our limited understanding of the situation

rather than on what we are able to understand of our God.

In the midst of excruciating trials, Job and his friends sit around analyzing the

causes and solutions of his suffering.

Ranging in emotion and ideas...they all weigh in with different opinions and philosophies.

At the end of themselves...they are aghast with the obvious unspoken answer...there is NO

explainable reason why Job should endure such suffering.

That is...not explainable here on earth.

While focused on what they can see...much was going on behind heaven's closed door that they

could not see.

In response to Job's lingering question...a whirlwind of a response is given.

Not an explanation to the "why" or the "what".

But an answer that goes beyond the suffering and pain.

Purpose does not always make the trial more bearable or easier to endure.

Only knowing the character of Him who allows it...fuels the fire for existence.

Knowing the sovereignty of an almighty God...who takes part in every element of His creation...

and admitting a deficiency in understanding that which is hidden...

Job recognizes his failing.

I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You...

The vastness of God's power...the reality of His incredible might...

the incomprehension of Yahweh's intricate and complex sovereign plan...

answered not the question of "why" to Job...but the understanding of Who.

Being filled with the knowledge of who He is that keeps all of life in balance...

Job no longer questions the purpose for his suffering.

He no longer tries to place a quaint little label over all that was transpiring in his life.

We are too quick to limit our sights. Too quick to relegate pain and suffering to it's own little

box of what our confined understanding can handle.

Instead of trying to figure out the purpose behind the pain...

rather than identifying all the life lessons to be gained from enduring these trials...

be filled with the knowledge of who He is.

Seek to know Him not only through the hearing of the ears...but the seeing of the eyes.

Take stock around you...as the intricate plan of life unfolds...all at the behest of it's Creator.

Let the knowledge of the holy fill you with the assurance that...

He can do all things and no purpose of His can be thwarted.

There is a lot of talk around our house about "worldviews". What they are...why they are important...how they affect our lives. And often times, God allows situations for our entire family to see a worldview in action. From idea all the way through application and actions. Be it Christian or secular...it becomes apparent how decisions are made and through what filter it comes through.

Recently, I had a conversation with a mother about our children. We talked about similar concerns we had with certain issues that had arisen. It became apparent quite early in the conversation that our worldviews differed...and thus our ideas for child-raising very different! I listened while she explained how her children were "finding themselves" and "working out the kinks" and that eventually...they would become who they were "meant to be". I mulled over these differing statements while intently listening to her methods of guiding her children. It was neither the time nor the place to get into a theological debate. But in the days since, it has provided me with much to think and pray about.

I approach my children as sinful little selves. I do not see them as a product of their environment. Yes, when the little ones do not get enough sleep...they are cranky. And yes, when one of my children does not have enough to eat...her blood sugar drops and she acts out. But the reality is...they are sinful...they are selfish...they are struggling in a body of death that has been passed down to them for generations. So while as parents we have laid a groundwork for our expectations on their behavior...the root issue...their heart...is out of our control. And while we feel that it is our responsibility to disciple them and raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord...the reality is...ultimately...it will be their own choice.

Homeschooling, church-going, Bible-reading, TV-prohibiting, sheltering, moral-living...cannot change the heart of my child. They can not. If I believed this to be true and parented through this worldview...wouldn't I be the same as the mother I conversed with? That my efforts and attempts would bring about the product I desired? That through time and circumstances my children would become who they were "meant to be"?

If I parent from the perspective of "betterment" then I negate not only the origin of sin...but also it's solution and cure. My children would only learn to escape punishment and/or please their parents. They would fail to grasp their complete and utter depravity...and would be caught up only in the works they perform.

But when the mirror of God's Word...the source of correction...reveals to their hearts that the origin of sin is not able to be reformed but only regenerated...the need for a Savior arises. Then...and only then...will the manifold mercy of God's marvelous grace transform their sinful little selves. And their obedience will be from their own personal desire to please their God.

I pondered that conversation for quite some time. I thought about the ramifications of the different worldviews...and how they were playing out in our own homes. And I was convicted that oftentimes...I can get swayed...caught up in the "outwardness" of my children rather than the true condition of their hearts. Forgetting that no matter how hard I "try" to recondition their behavior...sin will find it's way to the surface...because sin is what is in the heart. I examined my motivations for discipline...wondering if I was more concerned about how I appeared to others...rather than the work God was doing in each of them individually. I was reminded once again of my own need for a Savior...and that I had once been a participant of the kingdom of darkness but now a member of the kingdom of light. And that...while I appreciate the hard-work and diligent application of God's truth from my amazing parents...my salvation came through Christ...and HIM ALONE!!!

So while this conversation unveiled my friend's perspective and worldview...it showed me all the more the sinfulness of my own heart...and once again pointed me back to Jesus and my need for Him.

Worldview: n. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.

I see and interpret the world through God's Word...the unwavering Truth which is the foundation of this life. My perspective comes from the understanding that man is inherently sinful...and cannot remedy this problem on his own...no matter how hard he tries. I believe that God...in His sovereignty and love...provided the ONLY solution to this curse. He gave His innocent Son to die on a cruel cross and accept the punishment I deserved. This is my worldview. And I pray that this worldview trickles down and infuses all that I do and say for those sinful little selves that are looking on!

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