Mela Kamin – 4:10 Ministries

The day I decide to prune our apple trees, I tune in to see my friend & Bible teacher, Barbara Collins on MomTV. Yesterday, she talked about “discovering God in and through our children” – training them up and seeing the fruit of our labor.
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There are NO accidents.
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You can see highlights of her talk here, but here are more of my thoughts today:
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When we moved to this property six years ago, we were delighted to learn we had three apple trees lining the side of our yard. But, in all that time, they have not produced good fruit. Not only that, I’ve neglected them. I figured someday I’d find out how to care for them. That day never came.
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So, I decided to start fresh – give them a good pruning (ok – I attacked them) … I cleared them out & got rid of bad fruit, hoping that helps with next year’s growth.
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Here are some things I learned from pruning … {insert well-known Biblical metaphors here}
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Though you’ve heard this “sermon” before, probably countless times, stay with me.
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There’s a reason Jesus talked about bearing fruit and staying connected to the vine … He knew He was leaving this earth and when we don’t remain in Him,, we also wither and die. These simple parables help us to see God in our everyday lives and bring His Word to life.
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• when you’re in the thick of it, you can’t see the most obvious things to get rid of
• you need to step back and see what else needs to go
• pruning helps to open up, untangle & set free to stretch & grow
• it gives room & space to bear better fruit
• it might not feel good/look good now, but later you’ll see how necessary it was

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Barbara talked about being in training mode with our kids and our eagerness as Mothers to pipe in with our own thoughts needlessly. {raises hand, sheepishly} She mentioned the “quiet woman” who keeps her seat. HUH?
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From Barbara’s latest post: “I am learning and hoping they will ask for my opinion or advice without my usual piping in as it tells me in Ecc. 5:2 “letting my words be few”, or not keeping my seat as it tells me in 1 Tim 2:2 to “lead a quiet and peaceable life”. Quiet here literally means “keeping one’s seat.”

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That’s a tough one for me. I’m opinionated and it’s difficult to restrain myself (and my tongue) when something inside tells me to speak up. That goes for my time with my kids, my husband and spills over into other areas as well.
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I forget that sometimes that something isn’t of God – sometimes it’s my pride, my desire for control and my foolishness.
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Speaking of control, my ministry has been going through a “quiet season” lately. Some events got cancelled and it’s been challenging to fill my schedule.
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What I’m seeing more clearly now is that I’ve been desiring to be busy with “my work” instead of my husband’s or my Heavenly Father’s.
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I think I have something important & compelling to say, but maybe it’s not the words that need to be said that will teach, but how I handle myself when my timing isn’t His.
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God knew Greg’s business would be requiring more from him. That it would take him away from us more than he’s ever been. How could I focus on my music ministry AND the kids, if he’s not here? – I can’t and God knew that.
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So, some pruning of my schedule was done.
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But, tell my heart that a few weeks ago.
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I was frustrated because I WANTED to be busy (but busy with fun stuff like singing, not boring Mom stuff). If I stepped back, I’d realize, I’ve been VERY busy.
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But, what have I been busying myself with?
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Have I spent my moments needlessly worrying about when I’ll get “MY” chance to do something “important”?
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Have I been waiting for good things to just fall into my lap, instead of taking positive steps each day to make my writing, singing, speaking better, for when a door opens? Have I not been laboring and still asking God to deliver?
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I’ve been neglecting my gift just like those apple trees.
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And, I didn’t realize until that pruning was done & I gave myself space, that I’ve been doing His work by:
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• being supportive of my husband
• picking up slack he’s picked up for me the countless times I’ve been gone
• tending to our children who will only be this age for a flicker of time
• teaching in a very tangible example that our ways aren’t His ways

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It sounds like some SERIOUS pruning was in order and I’m now seeing how much I needed it.
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Have you gone through a moment or season of pruning? What do you think God was trying to teach you?

This morning, I happened to have a little time while the kids were playing (nicely – yea for miracles!) … so I hopped over to MomTV to see my friend, Barbara Collins of Madre Minutes do her show. The theme was “Discovering God in and through our children.”
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Barbara just got back from her LOOOONG (3,000 mile) road trip across America, with her daughter (with the same name as mine). This was a great show to catch and I’m so thankful God led me over there today. She had some wonderful things to say and it really met me where I’m at.
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Also, I was thrilled and totally surprised that Barbara was wearing the “I Pray” shirt I sent her (the green one to your left) and even talked about me and my music (before I tuned in). WOW – thank so much, Barbara! And, I didn’t know until I watched the show back that she also talked about our mutual friend, Sandy Coughlin and her book The Reluctant Entertainer. Cool!
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Tomorrow, I’ll be posting my take on this subject, but for now, here are some highlights. You can click over and see the whole show here. I have an event to sing at tonight. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow too!
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• more prayer & less talk
• observe, listen & discover God working through children
• “keeping one’s seat” – from the quiet wife story in Ecclesiastes – stop trying to be heard and interrupting
• being careful about staying in training mode too long
• when your children are done receiving training, you need to move to relationship mode
• ask “do you want to know what I think?” instead of just nagging or piping in
• “labor and delivery” = we labor and God delivers
• see the good and the bad fruit & thank God for showing it to you
• children need to think for themselves
• our children need to experience and discover God for themselves
• each person’s experience of God is so different
• it can’t be forced or taught – they need to get it on their own, understand & receive it
• we want it so badly for our kids for them to see it the way we see it
• there’s nothing we can do to make God love us any less (or any more)

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Aren’t those great truths?
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You’ll want to tune in to MomTV on Monday mornings (8:30 CST) to see Barbara do her thing. She speaks from experience – she’s a Mom of six – yes, 6! girls. She’s a wonderfully thoughtful Bible teacher, a gifted singer, fabulous jewelry & handbag designer, artist and more. Whew … And, I thought I was busy!
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Please check back tomorrow for my reaction to what Barbara said. What’s something that stood out to you from this list?

I’ve linked up with Sara (@GitzenGirl) for her YOU:create project.

I’m doing an online Home Ec class through the Freckled Nest. I’m a pretty good sewer, having learned a lot from my Mom, but I thought it would be fun to have some projects to use up my fabric stash. Also, I have not yet mastered sewing a zipper – I know … all zippers come with directions, but honestly – I’m not a good written-direction follower.
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The really cool part of class is that my sweet & sassy 11 year-old daughter has joined me. Well, she doesn’t really know it – I’m trying to be covert. Ssshhhh.
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She doesn’t like to admit we have things in common – sure she loves her Mommy, but her strong-will keeps her from easily going along with my suggested activities. She likes to arrive at things by her own thinking. So, I’ve just been working and playing, dropping hints, giving invitations and hoping.
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And yesterday she reluctantly went along with an impromptu lesson. I told her it’d be quick and she could show it to Grandma. I’ve learned, when in doubt, always drop the Nana card.
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After a quick lesson on how to sew a square – with necessary sewing machine how-tos, she set off to do it. A few minutes later, she was done, pleasantly surprised that she enjoyed some of it and we moved on.
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And, today – it happened … after dinner, she asked if we could sew together again – if we could “make something.” [insert happy dance here] I said “Sure,” in a fake nonchalantness.
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Truth be told, I was beaming inside, but didn’t want to reveal it and spoil the moment.
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We worked on a bag – she decided on fabric, size, one handle or two and we got to work.
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She loved using the iron (who knew?!) and wanted to know the reason behind each step, which was great for me to explain things I often breeze through because they’ve become second-nature.
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I didn’t take photos of her sewing it, because again – I didn’t want to blow my cover and she was enjoying herself … let sleeping dogs lie, people!
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But, this is the bag … and I couldn’t be more proud.
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She didn’t gush about it or thank me immensely, but she was happy, learned a lot and did it with only a little guidance from me.
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I don’t know if she’ll want to try again, but today, she did – and I’ll take it.
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As lovely Robin said over at her blog, “By the time your Littles celebrate their 10th birthday, they will already have lived over half the life they’re going to under your roof.” Ouch, Robin – ouch! But, it’s true. My not-so-little-anymore is headed into 6th grade, getting braces in a few weeks and does math problems in a flash that still leave me scratching my head.
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I need to embrace these moments – because they are fleeting.
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More importantly is embracing my daughter for all that she is, not who I thought I could make her into. It was never my job to be the Creator. He did an amazing job with her already and it’s just my responsibility to keep pointing her to Him.
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I love creating and while music is what I’m called to create in this season, flexing my creative muscles in other ways is good for my disposition, my sanity and my soul. It’s very soothing for me to create, even if it’s just a moment of bonding between Mommy and daughter.
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Oh, and here are the cloth napkins I made yesterday – easy peasy, but totally gratifying and these babies are practical too – even better. We used them for dinner last night and I felt very grown up.
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So, what have you created lately?