I Will Fight

I went to a Hillsong United concert recently at the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, and I am still singing!  One particular song called "Love is War" has been stuck in my head ever since!  (click the link to listen!)

Turn my eyes to see your face

As all my fears surrender

Hold my heart within this grace
As burden turns to wonder

I will fight to follow.
I will fight for love.

I will fight to follow.  I will fight for love.  That's the phrase that has been in my heart ever since.  It seems funny, especially since I'm about as opposite from a fighter as you can get, but God has used this song to point out all the wonderful areas in my life that are worth fighting for! 

Initially, this song makes me think about my relationship with the Lord.  Do I fight to make Him a priority in my life - giving Him the first moments of my day and keeping my heart and mind focused on Him and His will for my life?  Do I fight to keep a positive attitude and make sure I'm a living example of the grace, mercy and forgiveness He has given to me?  Do I fight to keep worry, anxiety, and fear out of my heart so that there is "room" left in my brain to meditate on His Word?

God has used it to help me think about other areas of my life, too.  Do I fight for my relationship with my husband, making sure that we are communicating and building a strong foundation now so that when hard times come, we can weather the storm?  Do I fight for my health, making sure that I make good choices when it comes to food and exercise, so that I can have a strong body to take care of those that I love?  Do I fight for my relationship with my children, making sure I'm willing to set "my agenda" aside for some quality time with them?

These words have helped me identify so many areas that are a battle for my flesh.  My natural tendency is to take the easy way out, to procrastinate, and find something else I'd rather do.  And all too often, I simply give in and let my flesh win ... all without a fight!

But God is helping me!  So many times each day God shows me - You're letting your flesh win ... right now, in this moment, you're letting it win.  Do you see it?  And I'm really starting to!  My heart responds, like a boost from the Lord: I will FIGHT to follow.  I will FIGHT for love.  These words, like a battle cry, give me the motivation I need to make the hard choice - to make forward progress in my life and experience the victory!

I will fight to follow Him.

I will fight to strengthen my relationship with Him.

I will fight to make sure my husband and children know they are a priority in my life.

I will fight to be disciplined in the areas God's called me to work on.

I will fight to experience the fullness of His love in my life!

What is God calling you to fight for in your life?! 



Fix it, Mommy!

By: Lianne Robinson @ Socks are Not the Enemy!

To say that my sweet, precious Anna Beth is a difficult child is quite the understatement.  It's kind of like saying that water is wet.  She is headstrong, stubborn as a herd of mules, and won't do anything unless she thinks that she thought of it first.  That said, she has a loving heart and a giving spirit that I wouldn't trade for 10 obedient, reasonable, submissive toddlers.

Last week she came running up to me with a sad look on her face.  "Fix it, Mommy!"  "Fix what?" I questioned.  "I bwoked it.  Fix it, Mommy!"  I looked in her tiny hand.  In it, she cradled a broken blue jumbo crayon.

My initial reaction:  "I'm sorry, sweetie, Mommy can't..."  I trailed off as she looked me squarely in the eyes. "Fix it, Mommy," she said with just as much passion and total belief as she had the first two times.  It hit me then.  This was one of those moments where I could justify that innocent, trusting faith that she had in me, or I could say no and disappoint her.  I have no illusions of being a SuperMom, but this was one of those times where I knew that not trying would be more damaging than trying and maybe failing.

With a grin, I said, "Okay, baby.  Let's get some tape and fix it."  We dug out some Scotch tape and wound and wound and wound it around the crayon until it (sort of) stayed together.  Anna Beth gleefully shouted, "Yaaaaaaaay!  You did it!  You fixed it, Mommy!"

As she ran off to play, I thought about how she won't always think that Mommy can fix anything.  My older two are well in that stage.  They know to ask for help when they need it, but they know that Mom can't do everything.  Thankfully, they know that God is capable of doing everything.  I am blessed that they know how imperfect I am and how perfectly perfect that God loves me (and them) in spite of our flaws.

While I can't do everything, I can do something.  I can teach my kids about how our sin has broken us.  It has reduced us to useless garbage that no man with any amount of tape can fix.  God knew in His wisdom that we could be fixed.  We can be bound back together with the healing blood of Jesus Christ.  It heals our brokenness, it washes away our sin, and it restores our lives.  All God asks in return is total belief...the innocent, trusting faith of a child to believe that He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.  I am grateful to be His child.

Stitch in Time

By: Cassia Glass - Houston, Tx

Ever have a moment when you are awed by the bigness of God? Perhaps when you are singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and it’s as though all the saints and angels across all time have joined together before the Lamb? I live for those moments and the sudden perspective shift that happens. During one such worship time, I began to think about history, about God’s story for humanity, past, present and future. I saw in my mind’s eye a massive tapestry unfurling before me, complex, multi-hued, a work of art. It was too huge for my eye to take in. As I looked at the tapestry, I began to focus, as through a magnifying glass, on the tiniest details until I could see the individual stitches. Each stitch was the heartbeat of one person, each person a part of the body of Christ, woven together across time. No stitch in itself seemed important, and perhaps no one would notice if a stitch were the wrong color or missing all together. But what if two stitches were missing. Or three. Or three hundred? 

Moms, whether you realize it every day or not, your very existence, your being here in this life, in your house, at your kitchen table with the family God created is purposeful. Your stitch in His tapestry is vital. Your tiny burst of color, your life, is not without meaning because it is part of His Masterpiece. You and I may be but tiny stitches in time, but we are part of history. And not just the march of human events. Because we are in Christ, we are woven into His massive, glorious plan of reconciling all things back to God through Himself. If we let this truth penetrate our hearts, could it change our perspective on some things? Perhaps.

I recently shared an old adage with some other moms: “We are Human Beings not Human Doings.” We were talking about how to have quiet time with God when nothing in our houses is quiet. We talked about the guilt we sometimes carry because we can’t even make it out of our beds in time to have a picture-perfect moment with the Lord.  But sometimes our lives are in the trenches with small ones who need us desperately. We need to know that our God is caring for us and sometimes downright CARRYING us as we gasp for breath and grasp for Him. We need to know that we are not just marking time on the sideline while everyone else is experiencing “real life.” We are the vehicles through which God redeems His earth…sometimes one little runny nose at a time.  This Mother’s Day, take a moment to breathe, to worship, to thank the Lord for your life and the lives of these other small stitches in time. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10

Happy Mother’s Day from Encouraging Mothers!

Something to Sleep On

By: Cassia Glass - Houston, Texas

“Sleeping through the night” is a milestone for most moms of infants. Let me rephrase that, ANY sleep that involves more than 5 hours without interruption is bliss! And then you begin to take it for granted that every night will be blissful, until, of course, teething or earache or toddler “scawy dweams” make their appearances. Ahhh, such is the life of a mom! As a mother of older kids (11 and 8), I find most nights do go by fairly peacefully now, but we seem to go through seasons of sleep issues a few times a year, especially trouble going to sleep from worry or falling back asleep after a nightmare.

Between 8 and 10 years old I think the brain must kick in with a heightened awareness of scary stuff out there in the world, a sense of anxiety over something happening to self or to loved ones, and just a general brain-busyness that’s hard to shut down at night. (Incidentally, I’ve found that this is also a time when kids are becoming very receptive to spiritual things, as well, so perhaps it’s not only the brain that has a new awakening.) I noticed at about 9 that my son became more aware of when my husband had to work late or go out of town, and he still tends to worry more when Dad’s gone. Dreams are more vivid as the kids hash through the day’s events or the changes around them, and even seemingly innocuous books or movies can shake them up when things get dark and quiet. We go through times of Midnight Visitors, and times when 10 p.m. comes and goes and small people are still awake. 

In addition to things like leaving a light on, playing soft music or allowing kids to read a book (gentle and not too adventurous), during one particularly trying time, I also printed out some scriptures on sleep to read at bedtime. I recently saw these in a file and thought I’d share them with you. As much as I’d like to say that these verses were spectacularly successful and fixed our sleep issues, my son actually wasn’t super keen on me reading them to him at the time. I felt like some old school marm with my pat little solution that really wasn’t having much of an impact. That’s where things got interesting, though. Somehow this little sheet of verses from Mom challenged my son to pick up his Bible and begin reading through the Psalms himself during this particularly sleepless time. Here were the verses I gave him—I loved these for myself, too!—and then, I’ve included a funny post-script to the story:

Psalm 139:7-12 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in the depths, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Proverbs 3:21-24 My son, do not lose sight of these-- keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 6:20-22 My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. 22When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you.

Psalm 3:5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

This last verse is the one that makes me smile. My kiddo told me he read the entire Psalm 3 in his Bible and then told me he had a new favorite verse. I thought, “Oh how nice, the verse on sleep really impacted him!” (Congratulatory pat on my own back). But when I asked him which one, he grinned at me sideways and said, “Verse 7 where it says, “Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked!” Turns out the class bully had been more of a disturber of his days (and sleep) than I knew, but in finding that verse, he realized Who was on his side to fight his battles. So if there is some kind of moral to this story of sleepless nights, it’s this: God’s word really is powerful but sometimes our kids have to go read it for themselves and let the Holy Spirit bring to light the areas where they need light and life. That’s something to sleep on!

The Comparison Trap

Sometimes I feel like I spend more time comparing my life to others than walking the road that's right in front of me!  I see someone more fashionabe, more spiritual, someone with a fancier kitchen or more well-behaved children ... goodness, anything seems to be fair game these days!  Thankfully, a friend shared a verse with me this week, and it was exactly the encouragement I needed!

"...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." - Hebrews 12:1

That's the key!  We're supposed to focus on the race that's before us and not before someone else!  God made us all unique, he placed us all on a different journey ... and get this - God is trying to teach us all different things!  Comparison is the trap, the sin which so easily ensnares us, and it can make us completely miss the point of our own journey.  The Lord is the author and finisher of our faith.  He is waiting for us at our finish line and perfecting us every step of the way! 

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Lord, help me keep my eyes on You!  Give me blinders so that I'm not distracted by my own comparisons.  You know me better than anyone else.  You know my strengths and my weaknesses, and I know You have blessings in store for me as I run MY race with endurance!   



Play Ideas for Toddlers

I love Pinterest!  When I need some inspiration to get me going, I know I don't have to go far to find it!  My latest challenge has been finding ways to keep my 2 year-old busy while I help his sisters with homework, and man has that been tough!  I know I HAVE to get better at giving him something constructive to do BEFORE I sit down to work with the girls.  And then we can all be happy :) 

My latest Pinterest find is from Jessie at Play, Create, Explore.  She published a list titled 200+ Activities for Ages 1-5 that is filled with wonderful ideas for sensory bins, cooking play, and all kinds of crazy things I've never thought of!  Like ... did you know you could bake cotton balls and then let your kiddos have fun cracking the hard shells open?! 

(Follow Play Create Explore on Pinterest!)

Take a look around, there's a lot to see!

Happy Playing!

Working Moms

Life is always changing, isn't it?!  Next month, I'm heading back to work - to teach an Anatomy class as an adjuct at my old college!  I'm excited to be back in that familiar environment, to work with my colleagues again ... but I'm nervous about how I'm going to manage the extra work on top of my already busy mother-of-three-stay-at-home-Mom-pastor's-wife life!  Whew! 

 

As I get ready to head back to work, I find myself thinking about a post I wrote a while ago about the lessons I learned as a working mom.  I think this refresher is more for me than you, but maybe it can be for both of us!  May God bless the work of our hands, no matter where He leads us!

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Working Mom … isn’t that a silly title?   What mom’s aren’t working?  From dawn to dusk, wrangling kids, making lunches, nursing babies, cleaning the house, and oh wait … I have a husband, too?!  The word MOM means so much on its own, but add the word “working” as a prefix – as in working outside the home – and life becomes a whole new animal!

I started my dream job (college Anatomy teacher) as a young married woman with no kids.  My husband and I ate relaxing breakfasts together and then headed out the door.  I got to work early, got a jumpstart on my day, and stayed late whenever I needed to.  But then … I got pregnant!  I worked until 3 days before my daughter was born – waddling around the college with my ever-expanding belly, trying to squeeze my larger than life self between the rows of students and feeling so awkward when my belly bumped into their tattooed backsides at the lab bench!  But, as crazy as it sounds, I loved every minute of it!

My husband and I realized early on that I had been blessed with a wonderful job and a new baby, and God – in His perfect will for my life – had me keep working.  So, a few months after my little girl was born, I joined the ranks of the “working moms.”  For some of us, that can be a strange place to be – you can’t join the Tuesday morning bible study or pop in for all the classroom parties.  You may not be able to do everything that working-in the home-moms can do, but don’t think God can’t equip you to be a wonderful Mom even if you spend those middle-of-the-day hours at the office!

By the time I headed back to work after my daughter was born – I had been blessed with new priorities, and I knew many aspects of my work-life would need to change.  The Lord taught me three major lessons that year, and I hope these will be an encouragement to all the moms out there today – no matter your title!

• Lesson 1: When I'm at work – be at work.  When I'm at home – be at home.  For a while, I tried to bridge the gap by bringing my baby girl with me to work every chance I’d get.  As idyllic as that sounded – she was never content, and I was never able to fully focus on my work.  Basically, the more I tried to mix the two, the worse it seemed like I did at both!  It made more sense for me to separate the two.  If my baby was happy and well taken care of in the nursery, I could enjoy the security of knowing that while working diligently and getting things done in half the time.   (And that meant I could go home earlier!)
• Lesson 2: Be as efficient as possible – I always wanted to take as little work home with me as possible (see lesson 1!) – so I learned to ask myself: “Am I being as productive as possible right now?”  Am I chatting with people in the hallway, or am I shutting my office door so I can go home with an empty briefcase?  The more I buckled down while I was at work, the more quality time I’d have with my daughter while we were at home!
• Lesson 3: Cut myself some slack, and embrace the season – I was a SUPER-DUPER employee before I had my kids.  I promise I didn’t stink it up after they were born, but I accepted early on that if I didn’t get the highest possible rating at my evaluation, it would be ok, because “meeting expectations” and still getting to leave at a reasonable hour to be with my daughter was worth so much more than any “exceeds expectations” rating ever could be – even to this Type A girl!

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I read Proverbs 4 this week, and this verse sums it all up:“Ponder the path at your feet, and let all your ways be established.”
(Proverbs 4:26)

Be intentional with everything you do.  Commit your time to the Lord,
and He will bless you at work and at home!