fresh flowers for May

I'll Huff and I'll Puff...Will My House Stand?
copyright 2006, lani wiens
a fresh flower original

I've been trying to write this flower for two weeks and keep getting thwarted so hopefully this will be the day...Kelly has the kids out practicing bike riding and heading to the park, Elizabeth is sleeping, the house is quiet ever so briefly, maybe it will be enough time, we'll see.

As I nurse my new baby I read. I read my Bible, I read novels that I enjoy, teaching books and I read out loud to my kids. One of the books we've read frequently over the past few weeks has been The Three Little Pigs. As I read it the other day a flower popped up and I've been ruminating on it ever since.

It is the cry of my heart to build a strong spiritual foundation for my own faith and for my children. I want my house to be strong so that whatever comes against it, it will stand. I want that for my kids, too.

(Insert search for Bible with concordance, nursing the baby, making lunch and folding laundry.
A whole day and then some has passed but we will press on to get this done!! I never did find that Bible with the concordance so you may have to look up the addresses for these verses yourself.)

On with the story...

It appears to me that the eldest piggy is like a mature Christian who has walked with the wise, had some experiences with Mr. Wolf and has thought things through a little. He tries to pass on his wisdom to his brothers but they don't take it.

Youngest and most immature piggy builds his house of straw. Next oldest piggy has perhaps built a straw house once before and had it blown down, wood must be better. Older brother looks at their immaturity and shakes his head, he was there once, he knows how the story will go, he hopes they'll be able to run fast enough and he quickly grabs a few more bricks.

In Proverbs it says that unless the Lord builds the house the builder labours in vain. It also says that He will fill said house with rare and beautiful treasures. In another chapter it says that a wise woman carefully tends her house but a foolish woman tears hers down with her own hands (kinda like inviting Mr. Wolf over for lunch and you're buying!). In the New Testament there is a passage that talks about our works being like wood, hay or precious gems (this is where that concordance would have been helpful). In the last days our deeds (our house) will be tried by fire (Mr. Wolf will come and huff and puff) and they will be exposed for their lasting value.

What we do each day matters. Our rewards are in heaven not here on earth. We have not been given breath on this earth to store things up down here, that would be like building a house of straw or sticks. The bricks are stored with the master builder and will stand the testing of faith and fire. The kind of life that will be rewarded is one that is lived for the kingdom of God, or so Dr. Wilkerson says in his book, The Life God Rewards.

It is also true that the enemy of our souls seeks to destroy us, discourage us and to knock down anything that we are trying to build, we have to build wolf-proof buildings if we're going to survive and thrive.

I'm hoping this all makes sense as I won't have much time to proofread or re-write now that I've gotten this far. Build with bricks my friends, the Wolf will be coming around to test your work, will it stand the huffing and puffing. I know I've had to re-build on occasion and I hope I haven't been foolish enough to tear things down with my own hands, but I probably have done that, too. There is an extrordinary verse that reads something like this; "no other foundation can be laid than that which has already been laid, that is Christ Jesus." He is my foundation, my rock, my shelter from the huffing and puffing wolf who seeks to devour me.

Grab a brick friend and build...