Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

Back to School, Bad Movies and Martin Luther

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Photo by Kelli Tungay on Unsplash

It’s that time of year.  I keep finding myself singing, “Gotta go back [guitar riff], back, back to school again.”  from Grease 2.  Please don’t close your browser over my bad taste in movies.  Over-the-top musical numbers aside, I do have a point.  Despite the miasma that is Texas in August (really, we are melting down here), it’s book hitting and bus riding time.

Watch the school zones, pack the lunch boxes and hold onto your graphing calculators.

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As we gather supplies and get our schedules in order I’ve been thinking a lot about my girls and all those they will encounter this school year.  I’m particularly cognizant of my little one.  At 5’9″ she’s not so little anymore.  High school and friends and new challenges beckon; much louder than I will in these next several years.  I know I haven’t always spoken kindly of my strong, stubborn girl.  Since my oldest is developmentally delayed, I’m in virginal territory parenting a typical teen girl.  And although some days it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do (at the start of summer I wasn’t sure we would both survive to this date), I now find I’m a little sad to think about being home without her in the middle of the day.  Well, with two part-time jobs I’m not home a lot in the middle of the day, but it was nice to catch up with her or sneak in an episode of 90210 together when I was.  I miss her already.

 

But it’s once again time for both my girls to shine their lights in bigger spaces.  And as preparation, God drew me back to a passage I prayed often over my bonus son during his formative years.  Philippians 1:9-11 NASB   “9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may [d]approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless [e]until the day of Christ;11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  It’s always a little scary to send them out, but I have a promise from God that what He started in my girls, He will complete.  His purpose for them will be accomplished.  Look back at the same scripture passage linked above.  It’s all there.  

 

As we turn our thoughts toward academics and extracurriculars, I pray that I will keep first things first.  As important as classes and clubs and activities are, the most important growth and knowledge is spiritual in nature.  What my kids believe about God and their place in His plan supercedes all else.

 

I’m praying and planning all the things.  Praying for positive friend experiences, praying for opportunities to share the gospel, planning to be the biggest fan and cheerleader, and praying above all to extend love and grace to my girls in the same way God lavishes me.  Praying for the Holy Spirit to remind me that God is patient with me so withholding patience from my girls is not an option.  This is another year for maturation, not perfection.  Martin Luther described this better than I ever could:

This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise.  We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on; this is not the end but it is the road.  All does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.  

 

Whether you are a student, have a student or love a student, I pray you THRIVE in Him.

 

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And look up these great writers I link up with every week:

InstaEncouragements, Literacy Musing Mondays, Hello…Monday,

Dream Team link up, The Good. The Random. The Fun.

BloggerClubUK, Tea and Word Tuesday, Purposeful Faith,

GraceFull Tuesday Link-Up, Different Dream,

Let’s Have Coffee, Welcome Wednesday, Recharge Wednesday,

Worth Beyond Rubies, #TellHisStory Link Up, Porch Stories,

Encouraging Word Wednesday, Tune In Thursday,

Stories of Hope, Moments of Hope, IHeart Verse Link Party,

A Blogging Good Time, Fresh Market Friday, Feature Friday Time,

Friendship Friday Blog Hop, Faith on Fire, Traffic Jam Weekend,

Faith ‘n Friends, Dancing with Jesus, Grace & Truth, Booknificent

 

 

Lastly, my posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase anything from one of these links, I will receive a few pennies to help offset the cost of this website at no additional charge to you. Thank you in advance for your help.

Confessions of a Former Piano Student

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Photo by Geert Pieters on Unsplash

I took piano lessons for 5 years.  From the 2nd grade through the 6th, I went for once a week instruction and practiced on an old upright as faithfully as my Mama made me.  I started with a teacher who was young and fun.  She let me help pick out the music I wanted to work on and lovingly encouraged me.  Once she, sadly, became ill with cancer, my parents found another instructor for my sister and me.  By this point (around age 11-12) I was less interested in the piano and much into my friends and what they were doing.  Combine this fact with the poor opinion I had of my new instructor (she was old with long yellow nails that clicked on the keys as SHE played and she sang off-key as I played), and I had less than 0% interest in continuing my music education.  It is really a shame, too.  I come from a very musically talented family.

 

My parents made me stick with piano through the remainder of my 6th grade year and then mercifully let me quit.  I was spending half of my lesson time in my teacher’s bathroom anyway to avoid the torture.  I only wish I was kidding.  When I finally walked out of my last lesson, I felt the shackles fall off my ankles and the prison gates open up.  Ok, maybe now I’m kidding.

 

Five years is a long time to conscientiously (welll…) practice something – anything.  And yet today I cannot play a note.  Okay, that might not be entirely true.  I can show you where middle C is on a keyboard and play a chord from there.  But I couldn’t accurately name the other notes in that chord.  Anyway.  My point is that the skill and knowledge I acquired learning and studying and practicing for 5 years was lost without perseverance and repetition.

 

I’m being reminded of late how important perseverance and repetition are where Bible study is concerned.  Because it is “living and active” God constantly reveals different things about Himself to me – often from the same passage.  I heard someone say recently (I wish I could remember who – see how much I need repetition?) that we need to have an open Bible and an open life.  I love that.  But I would take it a step further to say that our lives need to be open to the Bible.  The more time I spend in God’s word, the more conviction and correction I experience.  If that sounds like a big, fat bummer to you, let me encourage you that great freedom comes from confession and repentance.

 

I listened to an audio book (I wish I could remember which one – yes, it’s a theme) that referred to a believer’s regular time with God as “the daily office”.  I got fired up about this.  Time in God’s word and prayer is the real work of a Christ-follower.  Calling it my “daily office” makes so much for sense to me than “quiet time” (Mine’s not always quiet) or “daily devotion” (what does that mean?).

 

In my personal study recently, I’ve been more and more enlightened to the story of God’s rescue plan for us.  Spoiler alert:  it’s the Bible.  The whole thing tells this story.  Not just the Christmas story.  Not just the parts we read at Easter.  All of it.  Every verse, every story points to our need of a Savior and how God sent His Son Jesus to be just that.  I want to know a God who would do that for me, and the best way to get to know Him is spending time with Him.  In prayer.  And especially in His word.  Every day.  As much as possible.  The Bible is His story.  It’s our story.  It’s my story of rescue.  If there is anything about this rescue story that you are unsure of, please send me a private message to lauren@laurensparks.net.  Or pick up a Bible and start reading in the book of John.  God longs to rescue you too.

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