Thorburn Family

For those whose lives have been bought w/the price of Christ’s blood, there is the promise that he forever after deals with us only according to his mercy.  The debt of our sin against a holy God has been paid by Christ.  We appear before him clothed in the righteousness of His Son, our filthy sins set away as far as the east is from the west.  Born again!   This holy God never deals with us punitively, because He treated Christ punitively–for our sins–instead.   Therefore, all difficulty that comes the way of the believer is assuredly for our good, from the hand of a gracious, kind, loving Father.  The unbeliever cannot claim this truth.  John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.”  If you don’t know this Christ, seek Him today.  Ask us!   Believers, consider this encouragement from JC Ryle:

“He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?”   Romans 8:32

If God has given His Son to die for us, let us beware of doubting His kindness and love in any painful providence of daily life.  Let us never allow ourselves to think hard thoughts of God.  Let us never suppose that He can give us anything that is not really for our good.Let us see in every sorrow and trouble of our earthly pilgrimage-the hand of Him who gave Christ to die for our sins.  That hand can never smite us except in love!  He who gave His Son to die for our sins will never withhold anything from us that is really for our good.  Let us lean back on this thought and be content.  Let us say to ourselves in the darkest hour of trial, “This also is ordered by Him who gave Christ to die for my sins.  It cannot be wrong!  It is done in love!  It must be well!”JC Ryle 

As I mother our five outrageous, delightful kids, I am always trying to examine and test my inner “starting place” for my impulses, feelings, and decisions (both big and small). Sometimes I have to correct myself on a daily basis!  I have done “good” things for the wrong reasons, and the same thing for the right reasons, at different times. This little blog post by Nancy Wilson so clearly articulated something I have been thinking about that I thought I would post it. 

Smother Love

Love thinks of the other person, not of itself, and unfortunately, smother love is all about mom and not about the child. The mother who cannot bear to part with her child for any reason (say when it comes time to send him to school) is not thinking about whether the separation would be good for the child; no, she is thinking about how sad she will feel and whether she can handle the separation. She may have deluded herself into thinking she is more essential than she is.  But the mother who sets her child free to grow up and learn will find that her children count her very essential indeed.

One last thing. Grandmothers can be smother mothers as well. In fact, they can be notorious offenders.  They can be guilty of all these same things, but they express it by being critical of the parents who are trying to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. What an opportunity grandparents miss when they become critical of their kids and sentimental about their grandchildren. 

What a momentous day!   I watched the inauguration online and was unexpectedly moved by the significance of this day.  I’ll tell you right off the bat that I didn’t have to think twice about the decision to not vote Obama, though I find him to be charismatic, inspiring, and as presidents go, he’s not bad looking either  ;-).   I am thankful to live in this country where we have the right to vote for the man or woman whose policies most closely line up with our own values, and I did that on election day.   The nation has spoken and ultimately, God himself has placed Mr. Obama in the position of our new president (Psalm 75:5-7; Daniel 2:20-21; Daniel 4:17; Proverbs 21:1) for His own good purposes.  We’ll happily honor and respect him as our president, and pray for him, his family, and his presidency.

Since adopting Benjamin who, like Mr. Obama, is half-African American and half “white,” the matter of race and race relations has taken on a new light for us.   I never expected it to be something we thought about much because a lot of people assume Benjamin is Latino and “he’s not that dark,” but we still find ourselves tuned-in to racism and the history of black Americans in our country.   In some areas, being of mixed race is even worse.   Friends of ours who have AA children through adoption have been assaulted by blacks and whites alike!   Sometimes when I hear little racist comments by others, especially under the guise of a twisted version of “Christianity,” I have to struggle to keep my “Mama Bear” in check.  I was watching Ben sleep in his nap a few minutes ago — he is incredibly beautiful!   He doesn’t even notice race at this point, though I know that will change eventually.   It amazes me that, based only on the color of his skin or the biological heritage he has been given by his Creator, someone could hate him or think he was less than another person of a different race.   This story is as old as the world, of course… African Americans are not the only group of people who have been segregated and limited in a society based on the color of their skin.  Still, they are the ones our country has discriminated against the most in recent history.

So, the Thorburns are rejoicing this Inauguration Day that our country seems to have come a little bit farther in one area at least, and that is of race relations. I think what this day must mean for all the elderly soldiers of African descent who fought for our country but were never acknowledged, who were treated better in a German prisoner of war camp than they were when they finally made it home.   I think of the mothers who had to explain to their little children why they could not attend college or even ride in the front of the bus, but who can dream of bigger things for their grandchildren. It was good to see a brown hand on the Bible today and know that when my son memorizes the presidents someday, it will include one guy with skin similar to his own.  It hits us much more deeply than we anticipated.

God knows what He is doing with this country of ours and our duties remain the same as they were yesterday. Our confidence rests in Him alone, regardless of who is in the White House.   There are two things we wanted to include in this post.   First a prayer for our new president, so beautifully written by Al Mohler:   http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3113

Second, a plug for the book One Blood — The Biblical Answer To Racism  by Ken Ham.

Micah 6:8  ”He has shown you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord requires of thee:   but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” 

May God bless America! 

 I couldn’t resist posting this for all our western NY state friends.  I miss the old stomping ground, though I couldn’t wait to get out of there when I was there!   It’s been at least 12 years since we lived in the “Rochester area,” but this list brought back incredible memories.. I don’t miss the weather, though. We actually have it a tad (a TAD) better weather-wise here in NH, due to your lake effect nonsense in that region. The potholes are the same here, tho..   
1. “Waking up with the Wease” doesn’t mean that you have a respiratory infection.
2. The thought of eating a “garbage plate” makes your mouth water.
3. The only thing at the annual May Lilac Festival is snow.
4. The worst four-letter word you could say is “Fuji”.
5. You can’t swim at the beach.
6. You thought that you had figured out that alternate-parking thing, but wind up with a ticket anyway.
7. Toronto is about 70 miles away, but it takes four hours to get there.
8. The name “Greater Rochester International Airport” is bigger than the airport itself.
9. There’s an 800 number to report a pothole in the road.
10. You know that a “Can of Worms” is not something that you take fishing.
11. Your baby’s first word is “Wegmans”.
12. You ask lifetime residents where the George Eastman House is, but they don’t know either.
13. In a city where it snows at least 90 inches a year, they build a new sports stadium with no roof on it.
14. It can be 70 degrees one day, below freezing the next, and you think nothing of it.
15. Your mother is buying outfits to wear to Wegmans.
16. Your low-fat diet is never low enough to exclude an Abbott’s custard.
17. You order a white hot and a pop, and the counterman knows what you’re talking about.
18. You can travel from Egypt to Greece in about a half-hour by car.
19. D&C is a newspaper, not a medical procedure.
20. You know who Vinnie and Angelo are.
21. You can go to any mall on a Saturday and see at least 5 people you either work with, went to school with or dated.
22. Your year has two seasons: Winter and Construction.
23. You awaken from a deep sleep, look at the clock and see that it’s 6:00, but you have no idea whether it’s AM or PM.
24. When 12+ inches of snow falls overnight, but you never thought of NOT going to work.
25. You are perplexed when friends from other cities come to visit and want to “see the sights”
26. A flagpole strung with white lights seems like an acceptable alternative to a municipal Christmas tree.
27. In winter if the temperature hits 45 degrees and the sun comes out, people walk around downtown wearing shades and no jackets.
28. There are places at the poles that seem to get more sunlight during the winter months than we do.
29. Wegmans is somewhere to go on a Friday night, for entertainment.
30. Half the change in your pocket is Canadian, eh.
31. You define summer as three months of bad sledding.
32. You think that people from Pennsylvania have an accent.
33. Halloween is snowed out with great regularity.
34. You have experienced frostbite and sunburn in the same week.
35. Your idea of a seven-course meal is a six pack of Genny and a bucket of Buffalo wings.
36. You believe that “down south” means Maryland.
37. You can compare Nick Tahoe’s garbage plate to at least 3 other knock-offs in competing restaurants.
38. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Rochester, NY.

I just posted this in a blog we recently made just for things we want to collect for our children.  Whether the risks of love are big like missionary work in a hostile area, or small like doing good to those who judge and slander us, let’s spur each other on to be radical in our short time here on earth.   The good news of salvation through Christ is worth all our love-risks!   What a privilege.  

The Call For Christian Risk by John Piper,  2002

When God removed all risk above
He loosed a thousand risks of love.

I found this on Cathy Steere’s wonderful blog (link in blogroll).   A super reminder and challenge for us in the coming week. 

Knowledge and Good Works