Good Morning!

Donut Friday friends….. I hope you allow yourself to experience some sweetness today!

My honey is a very smart man and yesterday he sent me a very encouraging email first thing in the morning, and the bonus, I was actually able to read it and enjoy the moment before the morning breakfast rush started. Ahhhh, just what this mommy needed!

He reminded me in that the joy of God is my strength. It’s found in Nehemiah 8.

 ¹⁰ He continued, “Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don’t have anything: This day is holy to God. Don’t feel bad. The joy of God is your strength!”

As I’ve written summer is full on here. Yesterday brought needles for two of my children. One who does not react well to needles and lets just say this mommy spent a lot of time cleaning up the van, doing laundry and reassuring him that everyones bodies reacts differently to needles.  Joy, not feeling it! Sleep did not come easily last night as my mind ran a muck with me and as my youngest child greeted me way too early this morning, my response did not come close to resembling joy! Can you relate?

As I thought about the verse my honey sent me, I turned on some praise music and deliberately began listening to the words of the music. As I focused on the God who holds the minutes of my day in His hands, I began to experience His joy. My fatigue was forgotten, my questions disappeared, for in those moments I was not focused on myself. As the verse says, the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Joy is fuel. However the fuel is only available when we ask for it, when we seek it, but it is so sweet when you experience the undeniable realization that the God of the Universe wants to pause in His sovereignty to spend time with you.

I challenge you in the moment where joy is absent, listen to praise music, or just talk to your God. A heavenly detour may result in a return to joy, not because your circumstances have changed but because you have spent time with the author and creator of joy. 

Journey On, 

Hey Friends,

Well I took a break from the bloggy world as last week was full of year end celebrations, graduations, parties and other fun activities to usher us into summer vacation. That’s right it’s that time again and today marks the first day of summer holidays. I am so not mentally prepared for the next 10 weeks of being home together with everyone. Routine is a good thing for this mommy, and well there is very little routine to the summer. Can anyone relate?

We were talking in our group this morning about grace. And how as humans we are conditioned to put limits, and conditions on everything and everyone we interact with. Through the life of David we are learning the the man who was called “a man after Gods own heart”, failed miserably, numerous times and yet God was gracious and forgave him..numerous times.

Grace is so hard to define and yet unless you know the character of God you can’t expect to understand if you have not experienced it. Would you agree?

In Psalm 51 David is asking for the Lord’s forgiveness after messing up big time. Not only was he going to have to deal with the consequences of his sinful choices but his family would also feel the pain of his wrong choices, and yet grace was available to them all. Whenever needed. Can you relate to needing, and experiencing God’s grace? If you have then you know its not a deserved favor nor is time sensitive or circumstantially based, all the limits we put on our human relationships and yet God does not.  God is good all the time, we cannot change his character no matter how badly we mess up, and yet we are assured that if our hearts desire is for true forgiveness and a desire to change grace is abundantly given. 

I stand in amazement!

Psalm 51 (The Message)

Journey On

Good Afternoon,

I just came in from a  a full out assault on a dandelion weed that is sitting smack dab in my front garden. I noticed it last week when it was small, I thought to myself I would get to it on the weekend. Weekend came and went and today the weed is now a monstrous size. And its prickly. I couldn’t pull it out. In fact I could do very little to rid my garden of its presence. My kids suggested I get out the hedge trimmer…that gives you an idea of how big this thing is. After tugging, pulling and watching my boys stare at their mom unable to move the weed, I walked away. I was tired and my arm was all scratched up from the prickly needles that were there to defend itself. I waved the white flag of defeat and came in.

As I was washing away the dirt that was the evidence of my fight it struck me how my struggles in life often look like this ugly stubborn weed. I’m talking about an attitude, an unwise choice, something that that may seem innocent enough but given time is turns and becomes entrenched much like my weed. The roots can grow deep and my hearts stubbornness to deal with the weed often produce a prickly exterior just as my garden foe has. The pulling is painful, my first few attempts at weeding my garden left me feeling defeated, and yet unlike the weed in my garden, I have the power and the promise of the Holy Spirit to help me in weeding my heart.

As I scratch the areas on my arm that the needles dug into, I realized the longer I leave my attitude, my behavior unattended it continues to take root. The roots can be hidden, others may not see them, and yet what is blooming, what will blossom will often be horny, defensive, not how a daughter of the King of Kings should behave. 

So friends, I challenge you to do some soul searching and start the process of weeding out that which you know should not be planted in your hearts garden. Take it from me if I had attended to my weed a few days ago I wouldn’t be pulling out the electric trimmer. Now I’m off to the power tool!

Galatians 6:7 (The Message)

Journey On,

Hey There,

I hope your weekend was full of fun and that you are rested and ready for another week!

For the past eight years I have had the privilege to experience the joy and pain of being a mommy. I realize now that pregnancy, the nine months of carrying my children gave me a taste of things yet to come. In the early weeks I was ill, I was tired and felt like my daily morphing body was not only taking away bits of who I thought I was,  but was ushering someone into my life who would require sacrifice emotionally, physically, mentally, financially and yet my spiritual life has grown leaps and bonds since becoming a mommy. Unconditional love became a choice. Being a mommy has reinforced my God given strengths and quickly pointed out my weaknesses, can anyone relate? 

As my kidlets are still young, the hand made cards are prized possessions, the tissue paper flowers and the hand printed poems are evidence to me that God is so good. He has entrusted three children in our care and as a Father who authored sacrifice He understands the joy and pain of parenting.

 In the future when the hand made cards are traded in for Hallmark, and tissue paper flowers arrive as bouquets I want my children to know there are no other people on this earth who loves them as deeply as their daddy and I do. I want my kids to know that we will fail them but their Heavenly Father never will. I want them to see a mommy who chooses to love others, when the circumstances are difficult, when my energy level is low and when I am completely out of my comfort zone. I want my children to strive to be excellent in all they do because they are children of the King of Kings. I want my children to be known as those who love and serve because they love the Lord.

So as this Mothers day comes to an end I am thankful I  have a mother who exemplified all these things. And to all the mommies out there who are striving to be and do the best they can because they have eyes and ears watching them I say to you” you go girls” One day you will know your efforts are not in vain, even on the days where your best seems not enough, on the days when crawling under the covers would be the easiest thing to do and when patience is lost. We get up, we face the day acknowledging the gaps we find ourselves in will be covered by our Father, because He knows and understands the desire of a mommies heart.

Proverbs 31:28 (New International Version)

Good Afternoon,

This morning as my honey was getting ready for work he realized that the shirt that he was planning on wearing was covered in a multitude of colored wax. The colors of the rainbow were all represented on his shirt. AHH was all I could think! I need to back up and tell you on Saturday we discovered the crayons that I specifically told my daughter not to put in her pocket were washed and then dried with a full load of laundry. Can you picture it? Let me tell you I’m sure smoke was coming out of my ears. I was upset about the clothes that were now ruined but also over the fact that my child made the choice to ignore my instructions and now all of us were suffering the consequences due to her choice. I was ticked to say the least. 

This morning after yet another shirt was a blatant reminder of the incident of the weekend, the Lord gently reminded me that like the sticky rainbow colored wax, my choices to obey Him, to disobey, my attitude, my words and actions can effect so many,  not only in the moment but can have consequences outside of the immediate. His gentle reminder put out the smoldering ashes that threatened to begin my day in smoke. 

Whew, who knew a couple crayons could incite such excitement and learning opportunities. 

Romans 7:17 (The Message)

Journey On.