My Rock

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."  Psalm 62:1-2

I find that when I am getting a little beat up in the waves of life the Psalms are a great place to go. There are for sure days when I wonder why I wanted to be a grown up. Lately life has been so full of change and difficult decisions for my husband and I, that I have had days when I am not sure if I should even get out of the bed. I read this scripture today and admit that I am feeling a little guilty that I have had days where I have not held to this truth. I have not let him be my rest and I have been shaken. 

If we look forward in this passage, we find in verses 5 and 6 "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken." King David is repeating himself?  There is a pastor that I love, Steven Furtick, and he talks about Preaching to ourselves everyday. He has posted in multiple places truths and promises from God's word so he can "Preach" to himself throughout the day. I will admit I am not a theologian but it seems to me that King David is preaching to himself what he already knows about our God because he needs the reminder. He was speaking the promises again and again that he was holding to. The enemy can relentless in reminding us of our faults and we need to be relentless to remind ourselves over and over of God's love for us and his promises.

Prayer:
Lord,
   I am feeling a little shaky right now but you Are my rock and my salvation. You are my fortress and my desire is to find rest in you and only in you. I know that you are my only hope and the only complete and real truth in my life. Thank you that I don't have to do this life on my own but that I have you as my help and my guide. 
Amen

Let's Get Psyched for Sunday!!

I know the last song I posted was by PJ Putnam but let's face it, the guys got skills :) So I think an awesome song should be Saturday's post to get us Psyched to meet with our Lord on Sunday. Unless you go to church on Saturday night and then well... I've got all the bases covered!! The words of this song say it All. All that matters in this life is captured by the words of this song. The most important moment in time and the reason we sing and worship, is relayed in this song. I hope if you have not experienced The most Beautiful Love of all time, you will not wait a moment longer.

Wonderful Love!!

"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?" Romans 8:31

I find that a bad day can be turned right around with Romans 8:28-39. We all have those days when nothing seems to be working in our favor. So many irritations and that little voice, that I have previously mentioned, creeps in an tells us how no good we are. It seems like possibly every one you know may in fact not like you. And of course this is all in our heads, but we just can't help but feel like the whole world is out to get us some days.

But I love verse 35 "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute or in danger, or threatened with death?" If you read on you will find the answer to be a resounding NO!! This makes me think of how I am with my children. I discipline them because I love them. I try to correct them because I love them. But at various points through out the day I work diligently to remind them that they are two of the best things that have ever happened to me. Can I promise them that they will never face a hardship or that everyday will be sunshine and fun? NO and it would be crazy to even promise that nothing difficult will ever happen to them. And just like I work to make sure that my children know, despite a difficult day, their existence makes my world awesome God so desires to remind us that our existence makes his world awesome too. That is why I just love this passage in Romans that even though life is hard and we will face trials, God's love for us and his power in our lives cannot be taken from us. If that doesn't turn around a bad day, I don't know what will!

Prayer,

   Thank you Lord that Nothing in this world can separate me from you or your love and that you are for me. You are good and you never change and I hold to that daily. You are my rock and my redeemer and I trust in you. Remind me daily that while in little irritations or big life difficulties you are never going to leave me and you love me with a love that I can't begin to comprehend.
Amen

Weeding the Garden

"How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults." Psalm 19:12

We were out pulling weeds in our garden last week and I was in one area pulling and pulling and pulling. Thinking I had done a pretty awesome job I look and there in the middle of this nice clean spot is a Huge Goat Head patch!! How did I miss it?! And I immediately thought of the scripture in Matthew 7:4 about how we are so quick to point out the little faults in others but are blind to the Huge faults in our own lives. Right there in the middle of what we think is going pretty good, a Huge Goat Head Mess.

Today I came across this passage from Psalms and it made me think of my weed pulling session. This entire chapter is very inspiring about God's goodness and his Law, that we should meditate on day and night to live a right life and then we come to verse 12. Exactly!!! How can we know every sin lurking?! 

We are particularly blessed to have a "helper" that King David did not have, the Holy Spirit. We are particularly blessed to have the ultimate sacrifice that Christ Jesus gave on our behalf. And because of that sacrifice we have Grace. Is Grace a reason to keep sinning? In the words of the Apostle Paul, Absolutely Not!! But if we daily weed our garden by searching His word and Speaking with our creator, it will get easier to see those Goat Heads before they get so big they flower and then we have stickers all over the place. 

Prayer:

  Lord,

     Help me to see the sins lurking. Those things that keep me from knowing you completely. Those things that push others away from you and not to you. I know that I can never be all that you expect on my own and I thank you for the price that you paid that I could not. 

Morning Joy

Psalm 90:14- "Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives"

I was up today at 6:30 at the request of my handsome husband, who was leaving for work, to turn the water off to our garden. Our 8 year old was already up playing his DS and the 5 year old was still fast asleep. So while waiting on the garden, the 60 pound 8 year old sat in my lap and we played DS together. Then I had some coffee and then the 5 year old got up and sleepily sat in my lap for 10 minutes and it was such a glorious morning. I love my days off when they are like this because it reminds me of when they were babies. Remember how they would get up and were so happy to see you and they would let you hold them? 

Truthfully on my day off I wanted to sleep in a bit. I could have let the early rise put me in a mood but look at the blessing I would have missed. Quiet beautiful moments with each of my children. Not a single doubt in my mind that this came from the Lord. So many scriptures I found today about rising early in the morning. The morning is a new beginning and a new time to get started on the task the Lord has set before us. Often mornings are such a difficult time for moms trying to get the breakfast and lunches and clothes on and teeth brushed and, and, and....  But clearly from this verse above we are to sit in His unfailing love EACH morning so we may have JOY!! I am not an early riser but experience tells me that when there is quiet time in the AM and the day is not rushed and frantic, it goes much smoother. Acts 2:28 says, "You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence." Two different books by two different authors, each proclaiming the Joy He brings. When we are in His presence quietly and humbly, Joy is sure to be there.

Prayer:
 Lord,
  Thank you for the sunrise and the promise that a new day brings hope and renewal. Please be my Joy today. Life can be chaotic and difficulties can abound but you changed our lives and NO one can take that away. 
Amen

I Love my Kids!!!

"As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle and patient."
  Colossians 3:12

This verse becomes exponentially hard to do when you have multiple children in your house. Today my 8 year old has hidden the TV remote from the 5 year old because the little one has learned how to use it and the 8 year doesn't want her to change his show. Well now we can't find the remote!! And the fighting has ensued!! AND we only have 2 children! Today with the, what I am sure is mild chaos compared to house holds with several more children than us, I have had wondered how we are going to homeschool these children?!?! I will not lie, I am not in general very patient, yet God calls us to live in Peace and Harmony (Ephesians 4:3).

So what do we do when the frenzy is almost more than we can take? How in the World do we live in Peace and Harmony with fighting Siblings?  I must admit as soon as I read this verse this morning, I had a good laugh. God always knows exactly the right words at the right time to bring light and wisdom to a situation. Here we are again, that we need to be in His word everyday if we are to raise these young Neanderthals up in His love, knowledge and grace. In addition, we need to be memorizing scripture, because the Holy Spirit will be Faithful to bring it to mind at the exact right time. Write it on your walls!! I often have a sticky note at my desk at work with scripture that God has put on my heart to memorize. We can do this, not only for ourselves, but our children too. Have a weekly family verse that will be a focus for our children. Lastly, for myself I know I need to take a breath. I need to remember that the little irritations are not life altering and I need to remember the bigger picture.

Prayer:

  Lord,
     Help me to be loving, sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle and patient today with my children. Such a tall order I know that cannot do this on my own. But I do know that if I can show them your love, they will shine your light. Your word instructs that a gentle answer deflects anger and harsh words make tempers flare. Help me to have your word in my heart that I would not sin against you, and that I would lead my children to you. Help me to lead by example and not by my own desires.

Amen

I'm not sure, Lord.

"When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even much more will be required."  Luke 12:48

    I think we often think of money when we read this scripture but today when I read it, I thought about my kids.
We all remember back to before we had kids and daydreaming about how awesome it would be to have a new baby and we could hardly wait. Of course we would not trade our children for anything but let's face it, there are days when it is so difficult we are not sure how we will make it through the day. Perhaps we have all felt in the madness of screaming kids, laundry up to our eyeballs and a house that looks like a bomb exploded, "God I'm not sure I am up for this!"
 
 For those who know me, you know my oldest child has severe food, drug and environmental allergies. Most of the time our days are easy and we live just like every other family because now we are adjusted. But there are days when I am not really sure what God was thinking choosing me to be his mom. Being a nurse most would think I would be the obvious choice, but there have been times I have confided to my husband that I am not sure that God made the right choice. Then I laugh because He is God and I am... well... me. I recently went to the New Mexico home school conference and many times I heard, "God knew exactly what he was doing when he put your child with you." I know this to be true but I worry as all moms do, am I gonna totally ruin this kid?!

    The charge in this scripture can be completely overwhelming. When we are given children, we are given the greatest blessings of our lives. And it is very true that the greatest accomplishments are the things we have to work hardest for. We are naive when we hold our newborns in our arms and even when people tell us how hard it will be, we don't listen. And praise GOD, we don't listen because look back and see all the blessings we would have missed!! And if you are like me, you now see a much better view of God's love for you.
   
So how do we face the charge in Luke 12:48 head on and not get overwhelmed in the day to day weight of it all?  1 Peter 5:9-10- "Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sister all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation."

     First, you are not alone. Moms everywhere are going through, and thinking and feeling all the same things you are. Next, be encouraged that God will restore you and support you and encourage you! I think however this needs to be a little more participatory on your part. If you are sitting at home every day, this is not good. You need to get out. Maybe you need to find a group of moms who encourage and support you and then when the roles are reversed, you support and encourage them. Then you bring new young moms under your wing and help them along too. If you are not a part of a church family, you need to be. We will find in life that some of our closest "family" is not by blood at all and many of these people we meet at church. Church is where you get your batteries recharged and where we hear encouraging words from our Lord. If we are not spending time with the Lord, we are missing the peaceful rest that only He provides. Which leads me to my last point, and as a mother is the hardest, we need to spend time with the Lord daily. Daily we need to sit at His feet in quiet and hear a word from Him. He always supplies what we need for the day!


Prayer:
 Lord,
      I know you gave me my child/children each for a specific reason and I am the best person to be his/her mom. I will admit there are many days I am not sure what that looks like or how in world we are going to get them to what you have called them to. BUT I know you are God and you are Good. I know that you love my child/children so much more than I do and I will daily seek you and your will for their lives. Give me what I need daily to be their mom and to raise them in your love and your knowledge. Help me to show them who you are.

Amen