Kristina Lunde

The Lord is my strength and my song.
Psalm 118:14a

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November 28, 2019 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

A Mother’s Prayers Preempted by a Sovereign Heavenly Father

Dear One,

You followed your passion in college, filling your days with studies and hard work in preparation for graduate school. I prayed that God would open doors and lead you to a school in your chosen field, but you did not get accepted into any graduate schools. You later described how you asked God for forgiveness for the bitterness, frustration, and anger you felt after that disappointment. Having learned to wait, and even surrender your ambitious dreams, you now give God credit for His peace in your life.

Woman holding Bible and praying
Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash

Lord, your will be done.

When you graduated from college, I prayed that God would give you a job in your field. You worked two part-time jobs for almost six months and applied to eighty-five jobs. (I felt discouraged and frustrated for you!) In retrospect, you saw God’s miraculous provision in the job He ultimately gave you.

Lord, your will be done.

For months, I prayed that God would encourage you by improving the communication and working relationships at your job. Despite the verbal promise of a two-year position, your boss let you go on short notice that your position lost funding. (Not the answer I prayed for.) Instead of being bitter or vengeful, you gave God credit for teaching you to want the best for your co-workers and to diligently complete your projects.

Lord, your will be done.

In your current period of unemployment, I keep praying for God to find you a job. No job yet, but you write of trusting God to open doors and give you peace about uncertainty. I love your phrase about “enjoying the closeness of God’s presence,” even though you remain unemployed. You learned to submit all of this to God, a process that might not have been happened if God had quickly answered my prayer.

Lord, your will be done.

The growth, maturity, and perspective that you have gained reveal God’s work in you. May our sovereign heavenly Father keep drawing you closer to Him, even though this process can be challenging and painful. As Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Keep trusting God because He created you and knows exactly what you need.

Love you.
Mom

Lord, your will be done: not what I think is best, but what you as her sovereign heavenly Father know that she needs. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed Under: Prayer Tagged With: college, daughter, heavenly Father, Job, letter, mother, parenting, prayer

October 8, 2018 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

A Mother’s Launching Love

Dear Heather, who launched your oldest off to kindergarten this fall, and Kirsten, who moved your oldest into his freshman dorm room,

Although living at opposite ends of the mothering continuum, you are both experiencing unsettling emotions as you launch your children into new challenges. Your mother-child bond, deeply loving and fiercely protective, brings up bittersweet feelings even as you recognize the importance of your child’s developmental milestones. Different launches, but similar poignant aches.

Heather, you have prepared LaVonne so well for kindergarten; her academic and social skills will take her far in elementary school. More importantly, her love for Jesus will bring God’s light and love to others around her.

Kirsten, you have poured love, support, and teaching into the eighteen-year lifetime of your firstborn Christopher. He will now practice and develop those skills independently as he adjusts to college.

Heather and Kirsten, you may question whether your families are prepared for these big changes. As mothers, both of you have witnessed how new challenges develop your children. From that first toddling step out of your arms, your child faced away from you and took off on new adventures. You celebrated your toddler’s new skill of walking, balancing your excitement with parental concern for potential injuries. In your children’s current steps away from you, you will enjoy seeing them make friends, try new activities, and mature in different ways. This launch will also be a balance of excitement and concern, as you support their progress but feel unsettled about the unknowns.

As we mother our children, we stretch and grow along with them. Years ago my friend Nancy called me after I came home from the hospital with my newborn daughter. Both new to the mothering role, Nancy and I shared our surprise over the intense feelings of love and concern we felt for our babies. A tumble of maternal bonding and hormones in the first week with her newborn Ben, Nancy had burst into tears at the aching realization that her precious boy would some day leave her and go off to kindergarten. (Ben successfully survived that milestone and many more; as an adult, he now has a close relationship with his mom.)

This fall, my friend Daphne lamented as she packed away her sons’ train play-table and little-kid toys. As her youngest son started middle school, she experienced the bittersweet reality that playtime had changed and her sons were no longer little boys.

Heather and Kirsten, as you lovingly release your children in this season of launching, please recognize that this is your chance to develop as well. Whether sending a child off to kindergarten or college, the adjustment can motivate you to pray and draw closer to God. Allow God to guide, support, and direct your precious children in their new steps away from home. As you entrust your children to God in new ways, may God give you time and energy to deepen your relationship with Him.

Lord, please be with all of us mothers in various seasons of launching our children. Please guide our children in every step of their new paths. Help us as mothers to reach the goal of Proverbs 22:6. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: college, kindergarten, letter, mothering, parenting

February 14, 2017 by Kristina Lunde Leave a Comment

Valentine’s Day Care Packages: Shoes and More

Two different kids, at two very different colleges, requested that mom send them the shoes they forgot at home. A shoe box is a shoe box, but it becomes so much more when filled with love and support for a Valentine’s Day care package.

Mr. Jorge Cruz/clipartfest.com
Mr. Jorge Cruz/clipartfest.com

Dear Ones,

To you it is only old shoes you ask for,
But I plan to send them along with much more.

You requested the shoes that you forgot,
But I hope to show you that I love you a lot.

You need the shoes for a practical reason,
But I will relate my package to the season.

Why can’t you throw them in the mail, you wonder.
But how can I transmit my love, I ponder.

Hurry up, I need my shoes, is your quick demand.
Instead, I take time to buy, bake, write, and plan.

What’s the big deal, to yourself you muse.
As I shoehorn my support into boxes of shoes.

“Anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or hazardous?”
“No,” I respond as I pay at the post office.

My love will not perish, no matter what I send in each one:
The shoes plus a note, cookies, chocolate, and gum.

Boxes of love and shoes are now on their way
To my dear children, Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,
Mom

Filed Under: Letter Tagged With: care package, college, letter, parenting, Valentine’s Day

September 28, 2015 by Kristina Lunde 1,041 Comments

College Bible Study Ideas

Dear Mikayla,

I wanted to get back to you after your question about a Bible study that you could do at college. Given the standard college budget of zero, there are many things you can do on your own.

Here are some ideas for you as you start a Bible study at college:

  1. Find a quiet place to meet. Wait – you live in a college dorm. . .
  2. Ask God to guide you as to who you invite. Encourage participants to bring their Bibles. Different versions of the Bible will give perspective and spark discussions. I like to use “smart Bibles,” as I call the study, devotion, and/or reference Bibles that have notes on culture, geography, cross references, and other information.
  3. Pray before you start, both personally and as a group. You can pray God’s Word right back to Him, for example:

Dear Lord, please open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes (Psalm 119:18, 125 NIV.) In Jesus’ name, Amen.

  1. Stick with the Bible. God says in Isaiah 55:11 that His Word will not return to Him empty, and it will accomplish His desires and purposes. God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12.) Let God guide the study and He will fulfill your desire to grow and understand His Word.
  2. Select a passage or chapter and discuss the who, when, where, what, why, and how questions. Who wrote it? When and where was it written? (Smart Bibles help answer those questions.) What does it say? What do I get out of it?

Why was it written?

How do I apply this to my life?

  1. You may go off topic – and have the best discussion ever. Or, you may need to reign it in and encourage the group to agree to disagree. Your participants will appreciate a consistent starting and ending time.
  2. Always close with prayer to focus the group on God.

Other ideas:

Check out campus organizations (e.g. your local campus chapel, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ, etc.) for Bible study ideas and resources.

Here are other questions to use in a Bible study:

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/5-questions-ask-when-reading-bible/  by Steven Lawson

https://bible.org/seriespage/four-steps-inductive-bible-study by Melanie Newton

My Bible on the Bluff video study is something you can do without buying the associated study guide. Warning: the video settings may make you homesick.

Thank you for honoring me with your question. May God bless you incredibly as you dig into His Word.

Love to you at school from our family.

[Originally posted January 2015]

Filed Under: Letter Tagged With: Bible study, college, letter

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