Episode 45: “What does God want us to do today?”

The following program is sponsored by evangelical life

Ministries. Welcome to engaging truth, the manifestation of God's word and the lives of people around us. Join us each week. As we explore the impact of his message of spiritual renewal from the lesson of forgiveness Fords in the crucible of divorce, to the message of salvation, learn earned by an executioner from a condemned killer to the gift of freedom found in the rescue of victims of human trafficking. This is God's truth in action.

Welcome to another addition of engaging truth. I'm pastor John Kane from Nacodoches Texas with us on the program. Today is Ms. Natalie de ick. Natalie is a deacons and a mother and wife of a pastor in the, uh, greater Houston area. Welcome to the program, Natalie. Thank you.

Thank you for having

Me. So tell me about Cypress, Texas, and, uh, the ministry that you're a part of here. Of

Course. Um, Cyprus, Texas has been our home for the past 11 years. We have born and raised four children here. Um, and about six years ago, five and a half years ago, we started a mission plant church out of St. John. And we started Cypress chapel. We have worshiped in a local restaurant ever since

Then. So that's a, not a typical, um, surroundings for what people think of as a congregation, but it has been God, God has blessed this location and the ministry that's happening there.

Yes, absolutely. We have had a few different owners of the restaurant since we started, and it's just been a blessing to our community. People walk in off the streets sometimes, or they have a connection to individuals who have invited them to worship with us. And we're pretty laid back. We're pretty casual. We tend to eat frequently after church at the restaurant and families are very involved. It's really a small family, small family church.

So being a community con there's probably a number of people that, uh, were not say traditionally Lutheran, but you, uh, you reach people from, uh, the geographic area. So as we, uh, as we air this program, it's going to be mother's day

Happy mother's day

yes. Happy mother's day to you, Natalie. Uh, you're a mother.

I am, we have four children, um, 10, 8, 6, and three. So our four children keep us very busy in all sorts of activities. Um, we always knew we wanted a family. We always knew that we wanted children. And when we came to Cyprus, about six months after we got year, we were pregnant with our first child. And two years after that had another one, two years after that had another one. And then two years after that, we were pregnant with a fourth child and lost that child. Oh, sorry. At 11 weeks. Um, that was a big, a big wake up call for our family. Um, and after that, it was a lot of grief for us, for our family to expect a child and then lose it. And, um, God blessed us two years after that with another baby. So, um, I, I did not think we would have any more children after the miscarriage, but God has a sense of humor has a plan and we are very blessed with our fourth child. He is a ham and keeps us on our toes for sure. Comical relief.

Congratulations. And I'm sorry to hear about the MIS carriage that's been described as a, a secret grief. Absolutely. That absolutely many women carry. Yes. And, um, you know, being on that note for mother's day, not every woman who wants to be a mother is able to, to be a mother, so true, but we, we have the common experience that everybody has had a mother who, uh, brought us into this world. And, uh, I'd like for you to talk a little bit since you are a trained church worker, um, as a Deaconess, um, maybe about some of your perspective as a Christian mother. So

Christian motherhood has its own set of unique challenges. I think every day we are faced with what the world tells us that we should do for our children, how we should always cater to them. And I think a lot of women in today's society that I've been around, um, have a consumer approach to motherhood and biblically speaking. I don't think that's what God who God has called us to be. If God has blessed us as a mother, that we have a unique responsibility to our children to raise them in a way that is God fearing, but also God pleasing. And we don't always see that with those that we tend to be around, whether in school or in the checkout line at the grocery store or whatever that looks like at the park. Um, we can, we, we see the way that God has called us and uniquely trained us to be who God has asked us to be.

And God has gifted us with tiny humans or grown humans, whatever it may be, um, to be their parent and to raise them, to trust God, to fear God, to love God and to love others. And that's what we try to do each and every day, but it does, it's hard work. And I don't think we always have to outsource that to someone else. I think God has prepared us in a way that only we can only, we can train children in certain things. And only we have the heart to share that with our children. I don't think we need to outsource every aspect of our life, especially spiritually to other sources or other people.

So is this along the lines of, uh, teaching or is it along the lines of modeling or how

Do you absolutely modeling discipleship is something that I think is uniquely to parents, um, in, in a unique way. Um, I know that for our families specifically, it's important that we pray together, both at mealtime at bedtime, um, and unique times, especially in the car when we drive by an ambulance or a hospital or unique situations come up. For example, our, our daughter's preschool teacher just had a baby yesterday. And so we pray for that. That's, what's on our heart, that's, what's around us. And there are ways that only we can do that only we are with our kids in certain times of the day, but also to model that for our kids. How do you love your neighbor? How do you show that love that God has given us, how are we called to serve other people and love other people? The way that God has called to

As human beings, we feel very alone, very isolated, especially in times of COVID. And yet there is this living spiritual connection between God and his people and to a lesser degree between family members, between congregation members, but it is, um, a faith connect SU. And so that's not, uh, it's not a, uh, a superstitious thing to pray for somebody as you go by in, uh, an ambulance or, or something. Um, prayer works. Otherwise we wouldn't have, uh, been given the directive by, uh, our Lord to, to pray and, and he modeled that for his, uh, followers to see and to, to follow. Um, what encouragement would you give to, uh, uh, the women in your congregation in congregations that are listening

Start small baby steps, small things that are tangible. One thing that we have of started in worship at Cypress chapel years ago, when we started was to do something simple. We know that many of our adults and children alike don't know, I guess, how to pray or what to say. And I'm not saying that there's a right or wrong way to do that. I fully believe that prayer is communication with God talking to God, telling him what's on your heart. But I also know that Matthew, the model of Matthew, the Lord's prayer is a simple way to start praying. And every Sunday in worship, we have young people as young as the age of two, say the Lord's prayer and lead Lord's prayer, but we say it every week so that people can memorize it. And then we dig deeper and we say, well, what does it mean our father who art in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come your will be done and break that down. But to model it and say, memorization is a great way to start. The Lord's prayer is something that is universally, commonly known to many Christians of many faiths and Christian faiths. So to start, there is a great way to start simple, simple start say the Lord's prayer every day before you go to bed.

Yeah. It's the way Jesus taught us disciples to pray. So, uh, it's a good one for us to start with, but certainly we're not limited to only pray that way. Some people like to start or end with the Lord's prayer. Absolutely. And add your own, uh, petitions, you know, uh, thinking about public prayer. And there's a lot of Lutherans who, um, uh, shrink if they're asked to pray publicly and yet, um, we feel very comfortable if it's a conversational prayer with God. Um, I, I think what you're encouraging people is to, uh, find your comfort zone, absolutely. To spend some time with our Lord, to open up your heart and mind and let him to, to speak to you with, um, with this time of COVID mostly behind us. Um, what would you like to, uh, encourage mothers to do, uh, with their children? As things get back to normal,

Talk with them, talk with your kids, really have a conversation. Um, my husband is a us Navy chaplain in the reserve and he is being deployed for eight months, um, in just a few weeks. And so my encouragement to, to mothers, to parents in general is to start small, start simple, but be insistent. I, I am a mother of four children. So for me, personally, routine and rhythm, um, predictable patterns is really important. So I know every Sunday morning we're gonna wake up at a certain time, kind of like a routine for school, wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, get ready for the day, attend worship together. Also, um, praying before meals, simple prayer, anything, any kind of prayer, dear God, thank you for this food. Come Lord. Jesus is an easy prayer. We have lots of resources on our app and website that are available.

There are many, many accessible tools out there to, for you to teach your children to pray before bedtime. Our three year old has just started saying a prayer at the end of, at the end of our meal as well. We typically say, oh, give thanks. And to the Lord for he is good. And is mercy endures forever. And Joseph for her three year old always says, it's my prayer. I need to say my prayer now. And so we say, okay, Joseph, you pray, God, God, thank you for our blessings. All amen. And that's all he says, or he'll say God, and we have to repeat after him. God keep, keep you safe. And we say, okay, keep us safe on men. That's all he says, very simple, but that's, what's on his heart and it's genuine and it's pure. So it can start even young, but we've modeled that his whole entire life, we say, what's on our heart, we're open. And then they follow. They learn very quickly.

And so modeling that when times are good, uh, helps us to, uh, know we have the lines of communication that are open when times are a little bit more difficult or your husband's on call for eight months and see, um, you know, you have the resources then that help you through, uh, the tough times knowing that God is faithful. He's always there. He, he promises to listen and he's, uh, uh, absolutely forgiving because of Jesus, our savior. So knowing that we have, um, that place with God who loves us so much that he, uh, he gave us mothers yes. We, we really have a, I think a clear image of kind of love that God has for us, that he has provided, uh, parents godly parents to, to nurture, you know, so often in the animal kingdom, the mothers, uh, lay eggs and leave. Yes.

Yes.

Uh, how, how long do our mothers work with us?

Forever. Forever. Yes. Um, I, I tend to, in some way, cater to my children in that I know when my children are open to talk. So I know that pillow talk can be important when you put your kids to bed, tuck them in goodnight, pray for their good dreams. If that's where they are. Again, my children are younger, 10 and under. So to have a typical responsive bedtime routine is really important, but know when they are ready to open up, sometimes it's shooting baskets in the cul-de-sac with our son. That's when he's willing to talk with my daughter, it's pillow talk, before she goes to bed, that's when she's willing to open up, I have an other child who is not a morning person, so they need their quote cup of coffee in the morning before they're able to talk. She doesn't really get coffee, but, um, she, she will talk when she's ready or just general conversation.

Some kids talk in the car. So don't close off those avenues. When you know, your kids can open up about things that are on their hearts and on their minds, it's really important to listen and create that space of when you know, your children can talk to you about what's going on. So I know that I need as a mother to create this space and time for my children about when they are willing to open up about what's going on in their life, what's going on with their heart. And that looks different for every child. Mm-hmm,

, we'll come back to our guest in just a moment. I'd like to talk to you, uh, briefly about the radio program that you're listening to engaging truth and our, uh, programs organization, E LM, houston.org. We have a website and our programs past programs are available in podcast forms so that you can download them and listen to them later. We, um, are, uh, recognizing that the technology is changing. And so we always try and stay up to, uh, speed with, uh, our other Facebook and Twitter accounts. And other ways of reaching out with the gospel, our program is available internationally on, uh, internet radio at the time of its broadcast in Houston as well. So we pray that, uh, you will keep us in your prayers and that, uh, you will hear what we're, uh, doing as being, um, a, a unique way of sharing the gospel by finding out what people are doing with Christ's leadership in their lives.

We pray that, uh, you'll consider, uh, uh, sending in your support to this program so that we may continue in doing this endeavor. All of the people that you hear on the radio were all volunteers. And so your dollars go far. If you do choose to, uh, support us, you can mail us at Elm P box 5, 6, 8, Cypress, Texas, 77 4 1 oh. Or you can go to that website, E L houston.org. And from there, you could also jump off to our Facebook and Twitter accounts also to, uh, to YouTube as well. We'll go back to our, uh, guest, Natalie, Natalie, you mentioned that you have a website and an app. Yes. Cypress

Chapel. That's it.tv.

All right. Cypress chapel.tv. So what, uh, what kind of things can we, um, uh, learn there?

Lots of resources available. We know that it is definitely a, an age of technology and people don't necessarily want another piece of paper to keep track of. So all of our resources are available online. You can access the full Bible on there. We have a daily reading plan, prayers that are available, devotions to read with your family or your children every week to keep you engaged in the word to challenge you. Whatever's next, whatever that looks like, whether it's starting off with who is Jesus, what can your relationship look like with him? How can you of your community, what does that look like? How can you serve in our worshiping community? All of those things are available on our website. And so one of the things that Cypress chapel has really focused on as we've launched the last five years is number one. How can you grow in your faith? Discipleship? What does that look like to be a disciple? What is a it look like to be a follower of Jesus and then community? What does it look like to be involved in a community of believers? Um, how do you surround yourself with people who follow Jesus, but also people who don't follow Jesus? How are we called every day to love our neighbor? What does that look like? Tangibly, physically, emotionally, spiritually, to walk alongside your neighbor, to be surrounded by a community of people and then service to our community is super important.

So I think that's something that many, uh, people who are on the outside, looking in a at Christians see, um, Christianity as being only individual except for Sunday mornings where we get together for, for worship. And so, uh, integrating faith with life, uh, integrating forgiveness with service, uh, those are, uh, things that are kind of an art form, aren't they?

Yes. And it's a learning process throughout. I mean, you have to switch your mindset to say, living, living a life following Jesus is not simply one hour a week. It's not something that you can just fill up your spiritual tank once a week and say, okay, I got this it's seriously. And a community of people walking alongside you together, challenging you each and every day. And so a few years ago, a friend of mine asked me as a accountability favor to her. She said, you know, I haven't really been faithful in reading my Bible. Would you be able to help me with that? So I started texting her a daily Bible verse that honestly came from our Cypress chapel reading plan. And so I texted her every morning. That was the first thing that I did when I had my quiet time. So it was really an accountability to me as well, to make sure that I had my quiet time with God each and every morning so that I could fill up my spiritual tank daily, not just once a week. And so I started texting my friend Christie, and then it kind of grew from there. And now I've, I text quite a few individuals. Thank you for listening. Um, just so that we know that if we start with God, the rest, the rest is going to happen and God's with us all the time.

How is that different than being a good Christian friend? ,

That's a great question, but really it is it's who God's called us to be, to be there for people, walk through them with the tough times and the easy times. I mean, when someone's, husband's pass away, passes away, you wanna walk through them with the grief. It's really a community of people surrounding you. And as Christians as God has called us to do is to love your neighbor, the widowed, the orphan, the hungry, the homeless that we are called to serve a community of people, of those around you, who God has uniquely prepared you to serve. And those people, God will put in your life. You keep your eyes open to them. It's not simply just being a good friend and say, Hey, how's it going? Hope you're doing well, but actively and creatively using the gifts that God has given you to serve your neighbor because he has prepared you for that.

He's made us unique. Absolutely. He's also given us faith in Christ, Jesus who died on the cross as God and human flesh to take away all your sin. So to those who are listening, if you believe in Jesus, Jesus has totally and completely forgiven your sins. Um, so what Natalie's talking about then is what comes next after your sins are totally and absolutely forgiven. You're claimed as a child of God, what do you do with your life?

I know it takes a lot of time and preparation for self care, but I think it's really important. The, that you really do have to take care of yourself and start with God in God's word in order to make it through the day. And I do, I do fully understand that that is a hard place to come from when you can't seem to get five minutes to yourself. Um, there is a video once of a mom of triplets, and she locks to herself in her pantry and she's eating Twizzlers. And it's hysterical because she's talking to herself on her camera saying, this is the only time I get to myself. And I definitely relate to that. I do 100%, but you have to create self care space in order to take care of your children, because that is who God has called you, who serve and to be with,

And Jesus added that he and the father would come and make their home with us. And so there's a great strength and a great peace there knowing that, uh, we live under God's love and he does resources uniquely with our personalities and our spiritual gifts to, um, to be not perfect, to be his witnesses in this time and place. Natalie, thank you again. What was the, uh, website at Cypress chapel? Cypress

Chapel.tv.tv.

Okay. Very good. I'd like to, uh, invite our listeners to come back and listen to us again real soon on engaging truth. And in the meantime, we pray to, uh, you'll, uh, keep your eyes pointed at Jesus God's blessings.

Thank you for listening to this broadcast of engaging truth. Be sure to join us each week at this time to help support our ministry contact evangelical life post office box 5 68, Cypress, Texas 77, 410, or visit our website Elm houston.org, or find us on Facebook at evangelical life ministries. Thank you.