No More Easter Bonnets

They use to be so little, love to dress up, and want to wear Easter bonnets.

Where did my little girls go?

To all the young mom's CHERISH IT! 
It goes by so fast.
But more importantly... TREASURE IT!

The word says store up "TREASURES IN HEAVEN"
How do I do that as a mom?? 

Help her build a FIRM foundation. On Christ ALONE.(Luke 6:48)
Not in a degree, a job, or a husband.
Placing her feet firmly on this foundation will help them not slip away.

Help her form herself into a woman of NOBLE character.(Prov 31)
Teaching diligence & discipline will help her be secure in herself but more importantly in her GOD.

Help her be HARD WORKING.(Ecc 5:16)
Not that they have to constantly be "doing" 
But that what she does, do it for God's glory not mans.

Help her to SUBMIT to authority.(Job22:21)
That is where she will find His peace.

Help her see her FAULTS.(Eph 4:2)
In doing this she will become humble and gentle.

Help her be PURE.(Eph. 5:2)
Sacrifices now are a SWEET AROMA the LORD.

All these things will help her be transformed into a woman who fears the LORD.

The bonnets have gone away in our house,
Some day soon she may be placing a veil on her head and walking a long isle.
I want her to be able to walk up the isle with those treasures stored up in HEAVEN &  HER HEART.
 

Wood, hay, and straw

Listening to a sermon this morning got me thinking....
The pastor mentioned that most of what we do will be burned up and only the precious gold and jewels will be left when we stand before God. 

So I dove into 1 Cor. 3:11-13 looking at it it looks pretty simple, but as I thought about wood hay and straw I came to several conclusions:

1st they are temporary.
They can be destroyed by fire, they can rot, they can be eaten by animals.

2nd they can not stand alone.
They must be bound together,mixed with something else of substance to make them work. Like nails in the wood to hold it together. And they use to put straw in with clay to make bricks back in Biblical times. 

3rd they are not that valuable and were in abundance. 
Every forest had wood and every farmer and family had hay for living andd live stock.

So what are my wood, hay, and straw??
Is it my volenteering, my time with friends?
Maybe it is more like the time I waste on the computer, 
or the mindless tv I watch.
But it could also be good things 
that God does not really want me to focus on.

Where is my focus? 
Is it on PRECIOUS things? 
What is Gold, Silver, and Jewlels to him?

Praying LORD that you show me this morning what is PRECIOUS IN YOUR SIGHT. That I can focus on those things and start getting rid of the things that will burn up and do not matter to you.

Her jar / His Jar

Reading a devotional I get each morning in an email really moved me this morning. 
And as I read John 4 about the Samaritan woman it hit me....

She was carrying a jar of water........ 
How heavy was it?
What was in the jar before she even got to the well?
How long was the rope that she had to have tied on it to get water?
How old was the jar? 
Was it handed down by her family?
What did this jar provide her?

Burdens and her hurt are what she carried in that jar even before she arrived at the well. 
Did it come from past failed relationships, abuse, or even bad habits she has tried and tried to dump out of her jar time and time again.
Was the rope a tie to her past, something she did not do,
 but a family secret?
Was she to scared to put the jar because that is all she knew?

Then she met the man who revealed what her jar was.
He called it what it was.
Showed her she was loved no matter what it contained and what it was tied to in the past.
He simply told her I love you....
Her response was AMAZING!!!!

SHE LEFT THE JAR!
Not thinking twice about it.
Sitting at Jesus feet.

Funny thing is that once she was free from the BURDEN of the jar she was able to go back and let others in her village see who was able to ERASE her past.

That day she got a new jar!
Filled with LIVING WATER!!!
He was the only one all along that could quench her thirst.

The real circle of life....

I have decided that I am doing a GOOD JOB at being a mom!
Now as PRIDEFUL as that sounds,  I am seeing God work amazingly in the lives of my children.
I have prepared and still am preparing them to go off on their own.

But this last week, my oldest daughter is gone to Germany.
She is blossoming and loving everything that is happening even though she is on unfamiliar territory  and in an unfamiliar land.
She is eating things that if I put them in front of her she would never touch.
Seeing and learning from someone else than her Homeschool mom.
She is meeting new people and reaching out without me making a play date.

This should be a huge encouragement to those who have young kids and are struggling to get them to eat their dinner, or not bite their little friend on a play date.

Beyond all that, I know I am doing GOOD because it HURTS.
The pain that I feel because I miss her, is because I have done my job giving her a piece of my heart.
Sending her out into the world with a piece of myself is what God called me to do 17 years ago when He gave her to me.

I know this is only her visiting a foreign country, and some day she will leave me (us) and start a life of her own, hopefully with a husband, so she can continue this AMAZING cycle. Giving of herself to further HIS CALLING.

Train a child up in the way they should go and they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Let your hand be with me

Let your hand be with me.... that was Jabez prayer.

He was praying for intervention. He was hoping for action from God.
When I started this study it was so simple yet it has been so complex for me.
During the time of this study several major life issues have come up.
(that is why I have been away)
But during those busy times and those life issues God has spoken to me.
 He is doing an intervention on me.
Changing me from the inside out.
These issues will all come to "a head" as they say, tomorrow.
What has he spoken into me lately,
 BE STILL.
He has placed me exactly where He wants me.
He has had me raise my children for such a time as this.
I have been and am becoming the wife He has always wanted me to be.
I am the daughter of THE MOST HIGH KING.
As long as I am open,listening to HIM.
His hand will be with and guide me in all I say and do.

This is MY territory

I am still trucking along in my Jabez study, and today's topic is territory. 
What is mine.....
When I was first married it is a lot different than it is now. 

I consider my home my terrirtory.
Anyone who enters, calls, or even looks at it is a person I can influence for God.

Not only that I can use my home to do His work too.
From taking a family friend a meal, 
to welcoming teenagers over to swim in the pool.
   
My home speaks about me and who I am in Christ. 
Am I giving, welcoming, warm, and gracious. 
Is the welcome mat always out? 

Not only that but does my heart reflect that warm and graciousness? 

Recently God placed 2 situations in my life to see how I would react to having my home open to strangers. The first time was a time of crisis for someone else and it was easy for me to do but when the 2nd call came.... I was so hesitant!

In looking ahead to this I see that God has given me so much and I fall back on the verse in  Luke 12:48.
Where it says to whom much is given much is expected. 

God is giving me territory and I have to decide if I am going to hold on to the handle of my door tightly, or let it stay wide open and be used by Him. 

And today being Ash Wednesday I am reminded that when we approach the communion table of the Lord,
ALL ARE WELCOME.

Lord, let my Home be a place where all are welcome. 
Amen 

 

Out of pain

I picked up my Bible and started looking for Jabez. I had read the prayer of Jabez years ago and had been given a copy of the Bible study recently. 

On my recent break I had thrown the Bible study in my "to do" bag along with several other books and movies.

On Friday morning I picked up the Bible study and got my Bible out.
First of all the verses that relate to Jabez were short and to the point. He was no great character who had chapters and chapters written about him.

It is 3 verses!!! I am awe struck! So I read it several times asking the Lord what he wanted me to hear and how he wanted me to internalize these few scriptures.

It says Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. He was named because of the pain his mother felt in childbirth. 
Wow! What a stone tied around Jabez's neck. 
Not just at birth, the pain that his mother felt was placed on his shoulders for his LIFE!

We all have had pain in our life. Whether it be words some one said to hurt you or physical pain you have endured, it can scar you.

In my life, I was told a story of how when I was born my father wanted a boy so bad that when he heard "It's a Girl!" his response was a very negative "I didn't hear that."
That hurt and still does if I think about it too long.

Jabez took his pain and did not let it hinder him in asking God to enlarge his territory.
Why should I let my pain hinder me?
What about those words chains me down?

All I need to know is that my Heavenly Father knew I was a girl and He had a purpose for me.

In the weeks before my fathers death in July, he said He was so thankful that I was born and that I was a girl. That I helped my mom and care for him in ways a first born son could not.
That was God at work, putting the salve on my wound so I could heal as my father died. 
So He could use me to lead my father to Jesus before his death.

They say out of sorrow comes JOY. 
I found that to be true in this case.