Summer Opportunities

 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Do you see this summer as an opportunity?  Maybe this summer you could take an adult education class or have other moms come over your house for a mom’s prayer night.  Or maybe both! 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

When you ask the Lord (of the harvest) to guide and direct your steps, He will!  Maybe sign up for a class to learn a new language, a new skill, or just to meet a new people group.  Ask God to show you how He wants to use your life to bring Him glory.  I learned sign language YEARS ago through adult ed classes, then college and then at church interpreting the worship for the Deaf community that attended – remember this is YEARS ago.  Well, a month or so ago I was at a park with my kids, pushing them on the swings and I tried to talk to a mom swinging her kid too.  She said she was Deaf, so I started up a conversation with her in my “broken” sign language.  It was almost like she came alive when I responded back to her in her language.  Can I tell you that IT WAS THE LORD giving me those signs!  As we talked, He used me to re-connect her to an interpreter we both know who would encourage her to come back to church!

Only God does stuff like that!

“Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2

Be a Life-giver

"The instruction of the wise is like a life giving fountain..." Proverbs 13:14

"The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul.  The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, make wise the simple." Psalm 19:7

Sometimes life is tough!  

Sometimes it is really tough!  

Yet, as children of the Lord we are call to stand firm in Him and see His faithful deliverance. We sit at His feet, bask in His presence,  and breathe in His rest... and then sometimes we need help from a friend! 

I have one of those friends.  She faithfully sends scripture when the Lord puts it on her heart. She is in the Eastern time zone and I am in the Pacific time zone, so sometimes after a night of wrestling in prayer, my thirsty soul wakes up to an encouraging, life-giving scripture that is spot on!  The Holy Spirit uses this friend to speak life and hope through His word.  My friend, Kate, is obedient and God gets the glory!  I want to encourage anyone reading this to be one of those friends.  Send a scripture, say a prayer, leave a voicemail... whatever you can.  

We need each other! 

Memories are Made

We just finished installing laminate flooring onto the bedroom floors.  The first floor we tackled was the kids’ room so they were displaced into another room in the house for sleeping for a couple days.  Matthew wasn’t too excited when the lights went out the first night so I stayed for a little while telling him stories from my childhood.  I realized that the memories I had were much attributed to all the pictures my mom took through the years of the activities we did.  She put them in albums that we frequently looked at and showed relatives when they visited.

In this day and age we take millions of pictures and post them to Facebook but are we stopping long enough to print them and stick them in albums?  When my kids were first born I made small albums online (in lieu of store-bought baby albums).  How do you preserve those memories of your family’s history?

As a mom, I can now look to my mom and thank her for capturing those snapshots of our family history and taking the time to create those albums that have become my memories from childhood.   I read 1 Thessalonians today and thought of my mom in this verse:

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father;” 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 (underlining and italics mine)

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.

Suffering

Today as I awoke and needed some refreshment... this blog was in my email inbox. SO like God to refresh and revive us through the words of another broken Mama! Broken must happen in order to shine more clearly His light through. Click the link and be refreshed.

"Our Stewardship in Suffering" by Annie B. Garman

Goal in Mothering

I printed this verse and have it in a place I see often so when I read it I am ministered to as it helps me remember the goal in mothering.

 

We planted pretty flowers in our front yard and have tried not to kill them right away.  However, some of them have perished despite the rich soil they are in and my concerted efforts to provide them the necessary water each day.  My steadfast determination made me not give up!  I remember as a little girl helping my mom plant flowers, tomatoes and beans in the garden.  At the end of the season we would take the marigold pouches after they had bloomed and then “died” and plant them next year. 

So in our small garden right before shower and bedtime I gathered some seeds, enlisted the help of our four year-old daughter, Jordan and started to plant them ALL over the place.  Then watered and prayed for them.   

I think I even surprised myself when I let her help me plant the seeds.  Just as in baking, it’s hard for me to let the kids help me do things that I could do in less time and neater.  But thinking back, I love the memories I have of washing the dishes with my mom and sister, gardening, pinning the clothes on the clothesline outside, and helping make macaroni and cheese from scratch.  Pushing our kids away just so it gets done perfectly neat and in an efficient manner of time, will not reap a rich harvest and it will limit our connection and the memories they could have for a lifetime.  Don't give up Momma.

School of Temptation

Do you ever wonder why temptation doesn't just flee? Why do we have to continually choose to stand against it?

Judges 3:1&2 tells us "These are the nations (temptations) that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan.  He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle."

As a mom, I pray all the time that my children (spouse and self too) would be "easily entreated."  You see, I don't like trials and I don't want to go through them.  I just want to hear the Lord's voice and stay on His best path for my life to bring fruit to His kingdom.

The Israelites had a pattern, called the "sin cycle" that went something like this:

1.  The generation that saw His rescuing hand worshipped Him and kept His commands.
2.  The next generation, who didn't have that first hand knowledge, started to compromise.
3.  They started intermingling and worshipping other gods.
4.  God sent His punishment, usually in the form of an oppressor, to subdue them.
5.  They cried out to the real God for help and God sent them a rescuer.
6.  That generation followed Him.  Repeat cycle.

God, in His wisdom knows our human nature.  If our lives were easy, battle free, we too would grow complacent in our determination to set ourselves apart for Him.  Likewise, when we go through trials, our children see first hand how we handle it.  They see us on our knees and in the Word. They see us seeking His face.  Then they see His deliverance! Our children are learning the art of warfare, which they will pass on to their children, and so on.

God's plan is for us to be sharp, persistent and victorious. The trials will continue in the life, until we enter in to His final rest for us, but they are purposeful and He promises (1 Cor 10:13) He will not give us more than we can handle.