One Year New Testament Plan"Staying on the Straight and Narrow", May 2012
May 13th is Mother’s Day and this year I will be celebrating being Natalie’s mother for 16 months! It’s been such a blessing to see her grow and learn new things. She is walking very well now and loves to climb up and down the stairs every Sunday at church. She is very good at sharing and giving to others. She is learning many new words, her favorite being, “Moh,” for more food or more singing! My favorite activity is to play “fort” with her and pretend to have afternoon tea with her. She is such a great hostess! Another activity that we just started together is to take walks in our neighborhood. I found that this is not as easy as I thought it would be. I have to teach her to stay on the sidewalk and not trample on the neighbor’s lawn or run into the street. She especially loves to go the opposite direction of where I’m trying to lead her, but I’m slowly learning different ways to get her to stay on the path.
As I reflect back on being a mother, I realize that she is not the only one who is learning. I am also learning with her. I am learning to be more flexible, gracious, forgiving, understanding and patient. I haven’t completely learned my lessons in these areas, but I sure have a lot of opportunities to exercise these important characteristics! God has really been focusing in on the areas that I need to work on for the past few months. I think that this is appropriate because the theme for this year at LA Holiness is, “Come, follow me.” God is certainly calling me to constantly choose to follow Him
I have been challenged on a daily basis to yield to His ways. I may start off my day with a great quiet time but then something will happen on the way to work or something happens with Natalie that I have to set aside my plans to give her my attention. I realized that I get so easily thrown off by these “obstacles” and I am disappointed to admit that I fail miserably every time in my attitude, my thoughts, and my words. At one point, I was so disappointed that I had to stop and think about why I was becoming so angry, frustrated and flustered. I realized that God was trying to get me to be more flexible…to yield. If I cannot be flexible in these small, daily obstacles that happen in life, how much more will I be unable to yield when God places an opportunity in front of me to serve Him and set aside my own plans.
Luke 9:56 – 62 says, “Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
The passage talks about the radical calling that Christ requires of all of His followers. The things that He asks the people to set aside such as the comforts of home and the responsibilities of family and social norms, are not inherently “bad,” but He is putting forth the challenge that when your plans and God’s plans collide, which will you choose? More often than not, I tend to choose my plans, mainly because it is a reflex. People like control and to have the power to do as they please. However, as a follower of Christ, we are called to release that power and control to Christ and have Him do as He pleases in our lives so that our lives glorify Him. As a role model for Natalie, I hope to really make it a priority to put God first and to have her learn that following Him is the best path to take. As God leads me on the path, I hope that I too will help Natalie walk along the straight and narrow.
Your fellow journeyer,
Jaime Nakasuji