Noticing Their Gifting

Our family set to the task of replacing our carpet with laminate.  During our experience I stopped to notice Jordan shouting, “GOOD JOB!!” over the high pitch of the vacuum cleaner as the rest of us got the room ready for the new flooring.  My husband ripped up the carpet, I was scrapping the glue from the concrete, Matthew was vacuuming and Jordan was encouraging.  (She would also be the one that would take care of anyone if we needed a band-aide or ice pack, etc.) 

When we pay attention to and record in our memories these special gifts our kids exercise during the day, it is so sweet to recount them back to our kiddos at night.  No matter the messes they leave; no matter the stress we go through acting as referee; no matter what level of chaos we have endured during our day we can encourage them at bedtime at how it gave us great joy to see them exercising the gift(s) God gave them.  They are growing (just as we are) and need to be reminded that they are not alone in this life – it’s a great way to help them know who the Holy Spirit is and where He is named as the Helper.

Lord, please give me eyes to see the wonderous things that You see in my kids.  The gifts and talents You have blessed them with are perfectly harmonious with Your character and I love that!  Please help me to remind them that they are wonderfully created by an amazing and perfect God.  Help me to encourage my kids and help them shine for You as they exercise their gifts and talents.

Light in the Night

One super-early Sunday morning I felt like God was calling me out of bed.  The previous Friday and Saturday mornings He called me but I didn’t go!!  (Shame, Laura.)  I reasoned my way “out” of it.  But on Sunday morning around 4 a.m. I finally obeyed. (Hallelujah!) All I heard was God saying, 

“Trust Me.  I’ll show you.”  And as a true disobedient child I replied, “But it’s dark and if I make noise or put a light on it will surely wake someone (Jordan) and I’ll have company this early…” 

“Trust Me” was all I kept hearing.  So I plodded forward through my house and into the kids room where the light was dimly on.  “But I’m going to hurt my eyes in this light” was what I told the Light of the world.  God continued to say, “Trust Me.”  So I turned into the room and He turned me right toward the night light.  I was so awed at God!  The night light was bright enough for my little tender eyes to see the Word I was about to be shown. 

James 1:2-4 was where I began but then He nudged me to read on to verses five and six.  Oh, how blessed I felt!    Even though I had been a tough cookie in all my disobedience, He continued to have great compassion on me.  His perseverance in love just overwhelmed me.  His confidence in what He had planned for me was remarkable – this is our God.

Lately I’ve been reading through 1 & 2 Chronicles and specifically about the wisdom God gave Solomon to lead His people, Israel.  And here in James 1:5-6 He shows that His wisdom is available to us, for the asking!  Just ask in faith, without doubting and He is faithful to supply. 

As we desire to lead our children in this world, let us do it with His wisdom.  

Give Thanks

"in everything give thanks;

 for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Real Help

John 14:16-18

This part of scripture is SO for mommas! 

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – “ vs. 16

Whether you are a married or single mom, God the Father will give you “another Helper” and get this – “that He may abide with you forever.” Oh that’s wonderful news for us!!  <Big sigh of relief> We are not on our own.  He designed us and our kids and He put us all together for a great purpose.  – To give God glory.

“—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” vs. 17

Last week our family was eating dinner and a song came on the music station we had on in the background.  Our son Matthew said, “oh mommy, here’s your song!”  It was the song I had been singing a lot lately around the house and in the car.  “Holy Spirit You are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere…”  I desire His Presence to be in us and amongst us wherever we are so we will be filling others up too. 

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” vs. 18

God did not leave us orphans.  He has come to guide us through this incredible task of motherhood. 

Thank You, Lord for Your Word that we can use as the plumb line, our truth, our cause.  Thank You for not leaving us all alone but You came to abide in us.  Help us seek You daily so we can have that clarity in the chaos.  

Childlike Faith

(written by Ryan, my husband)

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:1-3

We hear this phrase often and all have imagined or come to some conclusion to what exactly Jesus meant by it...

At the dinner table the other day I was discussing with Matthew, our five year-old how Jesus in the book of Revelation says, "I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone answers I will come in and dine with him." I began to explain to our son that Jesus was talking about our heart and how He would like to come into our hearts and our life if we would accept Him… So Jesus is knocking on your heart and wants to come in... Matthew then asked, "Is that why my stomach hurts sometimes?"  With a big smile on my face I responded, “No son, that's not why your stomach hurts.”

Childlike faith is believing exactly what your Father tells you.  Are we believing every word our Savior is telling us? We should.  Our children are watching how we live and observing our belief in what God says in His word.  As it says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ".

Have you answered His knocking at the door of your heart?  If not yet but you’d like to, you can pray right where you are, right now!  God is listening for your voice to turn to Him and respond to His call.  

Giving and Thanks

I love my Bon Appetit magazine that comes monthly!  In the November 2014 issue it has this whole (awesome) section about “Giving & Thanking”.  I thought about those words.  How many times do we “do” the whole “Thanksgiving” thing but in the rush and perfection of it all miss out on giving and thanking.  It is God who GAVE and it is us who should be THANKING.  Yes, we may pray before the big meal but what’s the conversation like afterwards? 

“Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.  He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot.  There we will rejoice in Him.” Psalm 66: 5-6

Maybe take a few minutes today to go through your Bible and write or print out some Scripture to read at the table to encourage your guests to thank God.  Give them verses that will help them remember to thank Him for things He has gotten them through this year; for providing; for guiding; for new birth; even for breath itself, and so on. 

“Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.  …  Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard.” Psalm 66:2, 8

Even if someone is going through something that has not yet been resolved.  Certainly God hears us (Read Psalm 66:16-20).

Lord, please help us encourage others to slow down and thank You.  Thank You that Your banner over us is love.

Wisdom from above

James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.  Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

I have these verses written on a note card on the fridge right where I fill up our cups with water – a million times a day.  This time I was filling up a canister to make our daily Tang (a staple in our household).  Since I was there a while I read the verses and thought, “Am I displaying the wisdom from above in these ways?”  Immediately, I was convicted, yet with the conviction came the marching orders for the day – “Lord, please help me to rely on You so I can be these things in my mothering.  I desire to display this wisdom from above today.”

There’s so much more I could say (and would love to go into) about these amazing verses but I will leave you with one of my favorite pastor’s sayings.  Pastor Don Dukes used to lead the prayer meetings at our church and he would give us a benediction that went something like this: “Tonight you came in here in pieces, but now you can leave in peace.” 

This is our prayer:  May the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. And we ask for this precious wisdom so we can model the very characteristics of God to our children today.  May our kids glorify and praise the God who made them and offers them this peace.  We need Your help, Lord to carry out the calling on our lives today.

Sound Mind

   For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  - 2 Timothy 1:7

I’ve been living in fear a lot lately – ok let’s be real, for a long time.  And now our son is going to be four years old at the end of the month and it’s like a whole new world is opening.  We need to finalize our decisions on if/where to send him for VPK, which sport(s) we can finally enter him in, and where to enter him in those sports, etc.  2 Timothy 1:7 keeps coming to my mind when I get tangled in my thoughts about it all.  

It’s also Christmas time and it’s the last week…and I’m SO far behind.  How did this happen?  I started SO long ago to prepare, looking online for what gifts to get people…and like I said, it’s a week out and…I’m…I’m… “…sound mind” momma.  This verse means God has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind and we have been called to live this verse no matter how hard it is to do in our daily lives.  Read the verse again. 

  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  - 2 Timothy 1:7

Maybe you’d like to write it on an index card or sticky note and keep it in front of you this week.  By the way, you will be a shining light for Jesus if you practice this verse especially this week.

Give Thanks

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  -- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV

I’m thankful to God for my mom.  She is…amazing.  Other words that describe her are: SELF-LESS, servant, caring, tenderhearted, courageous, motivated, sweet, patient, confident, loyal, organized, ready, and yes, thankful.  This month on her birthday she found out that her brother passed away.  She amazed me because she was thankful it was on her birthday and not the next day which was her brother’s son’s birthday.  –how thoughtful.  A couple days later she flew from FL to NY to attend the funeral then took a couple days to visit with good friends she hadn’t seen in a while.  She was a blessing to them, a blessing to our family, and a sweet smelling aroma to God (I’m sure). 

Are you thankful for anyone?  Maybe your mom would be blessed to hear you say “Thanks for all you do, mom!”  Actually, the other day our 3 ½ year old Matthew ran into the room where I was working on the computer and with a huge smile belted out, “Thanks for all you do mom!”  And then in his cuteness came back and said it again.  I sat there with my mouth open in awe! 

(I printed off a bunch of Thanks-giving verse cards that I found at http://joyfulthriftyhome.com/.)

Let’s give thanks to our Father in heaven.  Maybe you’d like to print off those verses that talk about being thankful too.  To God be the glory!  Isn’t that what the first Thanksgiving was all about anyway – being thankful to God for providing, protecting, guiding and dying on the cross for our sins?! 

Where we at with God?

I was reading my devotional (had to read two to get caught up) and thought – “Where am I at in my journey with God at this point in my life?”  I remember feeling so connected to God before I was married and had kids.  The Lord is still with me – He will never leave us nor forsake us—but how close to Him am I putting myself now-a-days? 

This weekend at church we took communion and I confessed to the Lord that I wanted to go deeper in my relationship with Him.  As it is, some days I just read the Scripture verses assigned to that day’s devotional script and other days I do the whole thing, but there are other days I let slumber overtake me and I miss out completely!  I SO want to get “lost” in the Bible, reading (like eating a good meal kind of reading), filling up and having something to pour out for others.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”…

“Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word.”  Psalm 119: 105 & 107

 

I also wonder, since you’re a mom too, where are you at in your journey with the Lord?  Have you walked each day totally immersed in the Word and being so filled that others just want to rub shoulders with you to get some Jesus in them?  Hallelujah, and amen!  Good job at setting your priorities in order and not slacking!  Now for the rest of us, let’s make it a point to get back to our “first love” or the One that should be first – each day and with fervent passion for God.

Lord God, Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, You are SOOOO worthy of our attention – please show us when it is that You’d like us to come, seek, sit and listen to You.  Help us to not take the slumber route, but to read Your Word and pray, delighting ourselves in You.  We commit to receiving the wisdom and revelation from Your Word that You offer to us.  Thank You for doing so, in Jesus name. Amen.

Some good reads on this topic:  Daniel 6, 1 Corinthians 4:2, Proverbs 4:20-26,

all of Proverbs for that matter!

“Well” Watered?

If you think of a well to draw water from – it’s DEEP, it’s not so wide but concentrated in one direction to fulfill the purpose for which it was made.  Same with us.  We were made to be a well filled with water, living water, that should continually be drawn from and filled again…to overflowing.  Do you have the picture in your head of that well – bricks around the top and even a wooden roof was made atop (so no junk could fall in from the sky, if you know what I mean), and a watering bucket is hanging between the wooden posts with a rope to let down the bucket.

Bricks/foundation – God Almighty, sure foundation, solid rock (Psalm 62:2,6)

Roof – banner over us is love (Song of Solomon 2:4, Isaiah 18:3)

Junk – the world, sin (John 1:29, John 16:8, Exodus 9:27)

Bucket – our bodies, our offering, where the wellspring of life is (Proverbs 18:4, Romans 12:1)

Posts – our friends, accountability (Proverbs 12:26, Proverbs 17:17, Proverbs 18:24)

Rope – prayer, lifeline, connection to God (1 Samuel 2:1, Ephesians 6:18, Philippians 4:6, James 5:16)

Does your well-water runneth over so others can be blessed or is it always running dry?  Does it “runneth” at all?  Do your kids know you read the Bible?  Do they see your lifeline in action?  Do they hear you talk to friends with encouraging words (or gossip stuff)?  They see how you dress, is it representing an offering to God, or an offering to the eyes of the world?  Does your roof leak the junk of the world in or is your home covered by the blood of Jesus, in love?  Is the foundation of your life built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ? 

Let’s pray:  Lord God, we are so grateful and thankful for giving us Your word, the Bible.  We can read it and ask You to fill us with Your living water of love, and the fruit of the spirit.  We receive your gift of love and act on it today.  May our eyes be open to the possibilities around us.  May we look for ways to pour Your love onto others today.  May we experience the joy of our salvation when we share the hope that is within us today.  We’re thankful that we can draw from You today.  Help us be concentrated in one direction to fulfill the purpose for which we were made.  Thank You, Lord.  In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Smile!

Hi, I’m Laura.  My husband Ryan and I have two incredible kids, Matthew and Jordan.  Matthew is two years old and Jordan is 10 months.  It’s an awesome privilege to write on this blog.  I heard it well said before, “We are all kids under construction.”  YES WE ARE.  But the good thing is we are God’s kids and He’s the Foreman.
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The other day I went to the Blessed Ministry at church – a ministry for moms with kids from 0-5years.  Rosemary Barnes taught and if you’ve ever heard her speak, you know how the Lord loves to speak through her.  He did that day too.  The Lord spoke to me concerning the topic of legacy – what I had already been preparing in my heart for this blog!  And then the next day, my devotional from In Touch ministries taught about the SAME THING!  Legacy.  Or as they put it, “A Faith Worth Passing Down” with the reading from 2 Timothy 1:3-5.  I heard it on the radio as “the legacy we are leaving behind.” 

So, what are we doing to make choices today for the betterment of our kids’ tomorrow?  What is the faith-legacy we are leaving in our kids’ minds and hearts about who a real follower of Jesus is?  Oh, most days I feel like if I’m the only Jesus they see, they wouldn’t want to have anything to do with Him!  So to be more like Jesus is where I stand, but I know I’m not Jesus so I’ve got some work to do.  Here’s just a few things I’ve been working on. 

Words – I wrote a verse from Ephesians 4 on a sticky note and put it on my fridge because I noticed the negativity that keeps seeping out of my mouth.  “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” – Ephesians 4:29  We can adjust our speech to reflect the hope we have and encourage others around us, like our kids. 

Smiling – The other day I was putting our 2 year old son, Matthew down to sleep for the night and he reached out to touch my face and started feeling my lips and cheeks.  I realized at that moment that I needed to let him feel me smile.  My thoughts were: “Had I smiled that day?  Had I smiled at him at all or was I busy putting him in time-out, making breakfast, lunch and dinner, folding the clothes, answering texts, wiping diapers and runny noses, and so on.”  So the whole time he did that, I smiled –real wide.  Teeth and all.  He could go to bed knowing that mommy actually did smile that day.  It may sound funny, but every now and then I take a moment to literally stop and smile at him giving a good thumbs-up gesture too.  My confession is that sometimes smiling hurts my face!  Yikes!  But the brighter side is that the other day we had a break-your-face-cause-your-smile-is-so-wide contest.  It was great.  (Gosh, I get teary-eyed just thinking about his awesome smile.  Maybe God gets teary-eyed too when His kids smile at Him...)  We can add Scripture to our smile too, like “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice! –Philippians 4:4.

Prayer – We were given this great bookmark card at Blessed called “31 Biblical Virtues to pray for your kids” by Bob Hostetler put out by www.praymag.com that is a great prayer help.  Praying alone, with our kids, and encouraging our kids to pray too is so important.  …Most nights, after praying and singing with Matthew before he goes to sleep I tell him that he can pray to God at any time because God looooves to hear him pray.  That sweet boy prays with his eyes shut tight and in tongues too (or it’s just his 2 year old mind making up words but he says them with such conviction each time he prays…).  The other day my husband Ryan came home from work with a boo-boo on his head.  Upon seeing the wound, Matthew simply stretched out his hand, put it over Ryan’s boo-boo and began to pray for healing (and it was a long prayer).

God is at work in our kid’s lives ladies and if we will be the example to help guide their way, He will take them the rest of it and the generations will be forever affected in the name of Jesus.  That’s a legacy of faith worth passing down.  Are you working on anything?  Let me know.