And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'”

This week I was given the opportunity to step up my involvement with Freeset, a business providing employment to women in India who have left the sex trade. Many of these women come from impoverished homes, and prostitution is the only way they can feed their families. Freeset offers them a job making quality jute bags and other products, which are then sold in the US. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to lending some help to this organization, which is literally following the words of God commanded in Zechariah.

“In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’

“Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25)

As Christian parents, we all want our children to be obedient to God’s word and follow His ways. From their earliest days, we teach them right from wrong. We show them with our words and with our actions how we want them to conduct their lives. It is right and good that we should do so. In fact, scripture clearly explains that God expects us to. (See the example of Lois and Eunice who taught Timothy the ways of the Lord.)

However, unless we want our lists of rules to become a burden that children will rebel against at the first opportunity, we need to teach them WHY following God’s ways are so important. The fact that God gave us this message through Moses shows us that He knew from the beginning that children are bent to sin and would need an explanation. And His instruction is brilliant in its simplicity… tell them your story.

It doesn’t matter how dramatic or commonplace your testimony is, we ALL are sinners who need the grace of Jesus. And therefore we all have a story to tell. We were once dead in sin and the Lord gave us new life. We were lost and now are found. And it is out of love and gratitude for the One who saves that we choose to obey. We willingly choose to lay down our lives and pick up His cross daily so that our lives will point others to Him. And walking in obedience to Jesus brings more blessing and goodness into our lives than we could ever have apart from Him. Following Him leads to a life rich in beauty, joy, love, and peace.

Tell your children why you choose to walk in obedience to Christ, and they will be more willing to choose His ways for themselves. And having your children walk with the Lord? Well, there is no greater joy than that!

Hey, gang! Sorry we’ve been away from here since Monday. We started school and several of our extra-curricular activities last week, so we’re a little slow getting back into the swing of things. One of the things we were able to participate in this week was helping our friends at Freeset. If you are unfamiliar with Freeset, their mission is simple: to rescue women from the sex trade and give them a life of freedom…

Freeset is a fair trade business offering employment to women trapped in Kolkata’s sex trade. We make quality jute bags and organic cotton t-shirts, but our business is freedom!

If you are a follower of Ann Voskamp’s blog A Holy Experience, you might recognize Freeset as the organization for which Ann designed a bag for her 40th birthday celebration.

She asked her readers to #BeTheGift and purchase bags from Freeset in order to free more girls from trafficking situations in India. Ann’s readers are total rock star abolitionists, and they purchased every single bag within 4 hours of Ann’s post going up on her blog. The girls and I were privileged to be able to hop over to the Freeset offices on Tuesday to help package and ship orders out to Ann’s readers.

It was awesome to have a {very} small part in providing girls in India a job other than sex trade. We were so excited to see how God used Ann’s blog to sell so many bags so quickly. The bags, made by girls that have been rescued, are shipped to the US and sold for a profit. All profits are sent back to Freeset so that they can provide more jobs for more rescued victims. One of the channels Freeset uses to sell bags is purchasing booth space at various Christian women’s and/or blogging conferences and selling bags during the conference. Conference season is upon us, so Freeset had a HUGE shipment on the way to Birmingham, which were to arrive yesterday morning. Well…

You might have seen in the news that there was a terrible plane crash at the Birmingham Airport yesterday involving a UPS plane, in which two pilots lost their lives. We are devastated for them and their families. Another bad blow was that Freeset’s shipment of 13,000 bags were on board that plane. Now, bags are bags and people are people. Bags can be replaced, but the lives of the pilots cannot. We grieve for them and their families. To honor the lives of the two pilots, Freeset has designed a memorial t-shirt, available on their site, with all proceeds going to the pilots’ families. At the same time, the bags lost represent $150,000 in sales and three month’s of work for 200 Freeset girls in India, which translates to a whole lot of girls whose futures are uncertain because of a lack of funds. Additionally, Freeset needs the funds to be able to rescue more girls who are currently trapped in a hellish situation. Their lives are important as well.

But there is hope.

Our friends at Allume have set up a Pure Charity account for people to donate to Freeset in order to offset the lost wages. Y’all, it’s simple. Just donate whatever amount you can. They suggest $25, which is the retail price of one bag, but please feel free to give whatever amount you feel led to. Additionally, if you would like to purchase other items from Freeset, you can do so at their website. No doubt, there is a lot of money to make up to cover the material losses. However, in times of great need, the Body of Christ comes together and provides! I know that we can do it this time as well. Will you do your part to help the beautiful girls that come to Freeset?

I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Lord, save me!”
The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
The Lord protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.

Happy Sabbath, y’all! Take some time today to rest from your usual routine and let your thoughts rest on Christ Jesus.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Beloved reader, know today that Jesus has taken on our sin, every bit of it, and in exchange given us His righteousness. When we couldn’t stand before God because of our sin, Christ Jesus covered us with Himself to make us holy and blameless. The redemption of Jesus is complete and without fail because it’s boundaries are in accordance with His grace, not in how much we deserve it. Hallelujah!

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

I’ve been pondering what it means to put off our old self and put on our new self. When we become Christians, we immediately become God’s children (justification). However, the process of becoming more like Him will continue throughout our lives (sanctification). We have to daily lay down our claim to our life and pick up His calling. It’s a struggle every single day for me, but I know His righteousness and holiness are what I really want.

As busy moms, it can be hard to set aside much (or any) time for spiritual growth. Though it’s worth it, it’s not an easy struggle to get the family to church each week. What should be daily time for prayer and bible study usually comes around much less often. And time to sit and read the latest book by your favorite Christian author? Forget it!

Sermon podcasts have been a literal God-send to me as I try to reclaim my time from the busyness that Satan sometimes uses to keep us distracted from God. In our house, I don’t have much time during the day for in-depth study, but the time after my children go to bed is GOLD for me. That’s the time I can quiet me mind enough to concentrate, the chores are done, and I can disengage from the little ones for a while. It’s really the only time in my regular day that I can focus and truly learn. I can pull out my bible, spend some time in my prayer journal, and fire up a sermon podcast from one of any number of good bible teachers. And on the days when even that seems too much, I can lie in bed and listen to a sermon podcast on my iPhone before falling asleep. It’s not ideal, but it sure beats spending that time playing Candy Crush. 🙂

There are a couple of sermon series that I have listened to recently that I think you’ll enjoy. Chris Hodges is pastor at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, and he is doing a series on how to use our influence for God’s kingdom. So far there are three messages on their website for this series, but there will be more as he preaches over the next few weeks. Michael Youssef, pastor of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta and teacher on Leading the Way radio program, is preaching from Joshua this week. This sermon series is all about following God into the unknown areas that He sometimes calls us to. And I know I shared earlier the message from Chad Cossiboom, one of the associate pastors at my church, called “Be A Disciple That MAkes Disciples.” The sermon podcast has now been published, and you won’t want to miss it. It is one of the best expositions from Colossians 1 I have ever heard.

Do you have favorite sermon podcasts you would recommend? I’d love to hear about people you follow and learn from.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[g] your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Our associate pastor preached on this passage this morning. (It is the sermon titled “Be A Disciple That Makes Disciples.”) It is such a beautiful passage about the complete authority Jesus has as God’s son and the hopelessness we have apart from Him. I’d love for you to hear the exposition on Colossians 1 for yourself.