I sit here this morning, surveying the aftermath of a weekend with house guests and birthdays.
On Friday, my home was something to be proud of. It was clean and sparkly, everything was in its place, and it was ever do serene.
This morning there are shoes in the floor, toys strewn across the table, a pile of used towels in the bathroom, and a table full of birthday gifts I don’t have the energy to put away.
Does this upset me? Does this frustrate me? Does this make me weary? Absolutely not!
When I look around this morning, I don’t see a mess. I smile and remember the laughter that was shared in my home this weekend.
I remember the smiles of my little girl as she turned 8 years old.
I recall the squeals of my granddaughter, and my little boys wrestling with their big brother.
I think back on the delicious meals my husband made so lovingly for his family, and I remember all the hugs and kisses.
I am proud of this mess. This mess means that this mama shared a beautiful weekend with her babies.
The chaos is evidence that loved flowed through this place. This mess means that “mama’s” house is home.
“She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27
The season is changing. The temperatures are cooler and there is a light breeze flowing as I write this.
Many of us anticipate this season of change every year, when breezes flow and colors are magnified, and we experience a new, refreshing time of change with much gratitude.
What about the seasons of change in our lives? Are we thankful for those?
Do we look forward to them with anticipation and expectation?
Or do we approach them with fear and dread?
God is continuously bringing us through different seasons of our lives.
For some, you are in a season of singleness. For others, you are starting a season of newly wedded bliss.
Others may be in a season of motherhood, while many have moved on to the season of being a grandparent.
Some are enjoying a season of empty nesting, while others may be navigating through a season of grief.
There are seasons of work, seasons of rest, seasons of illness, seasons of ministry, and so much more.
What season are you in right now?
Are you embracing the opportunity to learn and grow through this season?
Are you cherishing the moments of beauty, even through the pain?
Are you grateful for where God has lead you, and what you have learned through the process?
Fall is a time of vibrant color. I pray that as you go through this season of your life, whatever it may be, that your life is filled with the vibrant colors of peace, joy, gentleness, kindness, compassion, and love.
I pray that you continue to look ahead, without dread, to the abundant harvest God has for you.
And I pray that you do it all with a heart of thanksgiving to our glorious King.
”He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” (Daniel 2:21)
Do you ever find yourself wanting to move forward but being stuck in the past?
There is so much in our lives that can hold us back, if we let it…past hurts, doubts, and fears that come at us from every angle, slinking their way into our hearts and keeping us from moving towards all God has for us.
Sometimes we think we’ve got them beat, so we forge on, only to find we have brought a little (or a lot) of our old baggage with us.
It doesn’t take much to bring it all back to the surface…a word, a look, a specific incident and there we are again, right back in the same old mess!
God wants us to break free from the things that hold us back. He wants us to look towards all the bright tomorrow’s he has layed out before us.
Our Father wants us to experience every new blessing, every moment of sweetness and joy. And he wants us to do so with arms wide open, not with hands that are holding on to the messes of the past.
Drop your old baggage and run!
Run straight to the loving arms of Jesus!
He’s got some really awesome stuff just waiting for you‼
Come on Ladies of Virtue…we’ve got this! We can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength!
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6 NIV).
How I wish I was never responsible for leading my husband into sin. But that is just not the case. I do this, ladies. I do it over and over again.
In case you are thinking, “Wow! She must be a really sinful woman!”, let me clarify. The sin I tend to pull my husband into isn’t the type of sin that will get him in the kind of trouble Eve got Adam into.
It is the average day-to-day sin I tend to draw him into. Those times when the enemy is doing his finest work in my attitude and actions that my husband gets pulled in, either intentionally or unintentionally.
I get cranky with the kids and share my frustrations with him, then he gets cranky with the kids. I gossip about a friend and then he shares about his coworker. I come home in a poor attitude and before you know it my husbands mood is negative.
I choose an unhealthy late night snack, and there goes the hubs, digging into the Whoppers right alongside me. And I know full well this isn’t ideal for his diabetes. When you are diabetic, Whoppers are just as forbidden as that beautiful piece of fruit Eve held out to Adam.
I know full well before I do these things what the outcome will be. Yet it doesn’t stop me from it.
It’s the everyday attitudes and choices we make that have the power to influence our man. Most of them, we don’t even give a second thought.
I wonder if Eve thought twice about offering that temptation to Adam. If she had pondered it a little longer, I wonder if she would have chosen differently.
As wives we have the ability to establish the temperament and attitude of our home. We hold the power of influence and the power of suggestion. When we choose happy, our home tends to be a happy place.
When we choose grumpy, cranky, and mean, this becomes the environment of our home. The choices we make pull the people around us into our little piece of Eden.
Wives, what can we take away from this? Perhaps it would be to be mindful of the power we have to influence our husbands – the ability to sway their thoughts and actions. This can be a wonderful thing when we are drawing them to Christ.
It can also be a sinful thing when we are seeking them to take on our fleshly thoughts and actions. Let’s use our influence for the glory of God, not for the temptation of those we hold dearest to our hearts.
Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. (Isaiah 46:9)
It blesses my heart to be needed by my kids, even my grown ones.
My son called me today, hoping against hope that I might still have his passport from a trip to Europe he took when he was twelve.
That was almost 18 years ago, but of course I had it. I had to do some digging, but I came out of that storage shed victorious with passport in hand!
Isn’t is funny how we keep so much from our children’s childhoods….especially our first child?
I have every sports uniform, every newspaper clipping, every report card, every lovingly drawn picture, and every photograph.
I have his little farm animal backpack that was permanently attached to him from the ages of 2-5. It actually still has 3 of his toy cars tucked safely inside.
I have all the scrapbooks I painstakingly made for his 18th birthday. Favorite ball caps and wrestling trophies take up some space, along with mementos from a childhood that was filled with adventure.
What fun it was to take a little trip through all those things, reflecting back to that little boy with the curls that fell over his eyes and the smile that melted, and still does, my heart.
It’s part of our mama journey….those time of recollection…those times of remembering the old.
God wants us to remember the old. He wants us to spend time taking that walk down memory lane with Him.
Do you remember when you first discovered the Holy Spirit?
Do you recall the feeling of being free from your sin and shame?
Is there a recollection of the sense of wonder that such an awesome God could love YOU?
How precious it is to sit and dwell on all God has done for you, on all He has provided, on all the goodness He has so freely and lovingly given you.
Yes, it is nice to take a walk with our memories. It is sweet to reflect back on special thoughts and people.
It is even sweeter to remind ourselves of God’s love. At the same time, it is crucial that we focus on what God has for us in our future.
We can only imagine the blessings He has in store. I think of my son, and I anticipate what God has for him.
I pray for him daily and I ask God to pour out his provision and protection upon my sweet boy. I ask the same for all my children.
I trust my God to maneuver them through this life, creating more memories along the way.
I trust that I will have many more opportunities to dig through boxes of treasure, looking for that specific something that has a special place in the hearts of my kids.
I hope to many more times in this life have the opportunity to remember the old, while looking towards the future with a confidence that only comes from knowing I am loved by my sweet Savior!
Jesus came to this earth not to be served, but to serve. He humbled himself and demonstrated His humility, love, and compassion through acts of service too numerous to count. He sought out those in need. He didn’t just wait for them to conveniently show up at His doorstep.
We are called to live a life that imitates Christ. What a hard act to follow! Only by humbling ourselves and actively seeking ways to serve are we able to be imitators of Christ.
Are you humble today? Are you thinking less of yourself and more of others? Are your acts of service done to glorify God or yourself? Are you looking for ways to serve others today?
There is ALWAYS someone in need. There is ALWAYS someone who not only needs to HEAR the word of God, but also SEE it in action. Look around you…what can you do today that will make a difference for the kingdom of God?
I love gifts! I love getting things for FREE! The best free gift I have ever been given is the gift of salvation that was given to me by my Lord Jesus Christ! It was given freely to me through His love and my repentance.
The great thing is…it is new each day. Every morning when I wake up, I get to unwrap this precious gift and enjoy it to the fullest. Every morning it is there like a grand adventure, just waiting for me to explore.
Our goal is eternal life. Eternal life doesn’t happen when we die. Eternal life occurs the very moment we accept Jesus as our Savior.
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3).
I am, at this moment, living out my eternity. And each day of it is a precious gift from God.
It amazes me how quickly my kids’ rooms can get to be a mess. They can spend an afternoon cleaning, sorting, and throwing away; and just a few days later, it looks like an F5 tornado landed right in the center of their rooms. Over the span of those few days, they don’t put things back in the proper place or keep things sorted. I feel like I spend at least 50% of my time saying those 4 dreaded words… “Go clean your rooms.” They get frustrated. I get frustrated. We all get frustrated.
Isn’t that the way our hearts can be? We go to God in repentance, get our hearts clean, and are ready to take on the world. But over the course of time, the “stuff” gets in. We forget to put aside those ugly thoughts, we forget to sort out our attitudes, and we forget to toss out our anger, bitterness, or resentment. Before we know it, our hearts are impure and ugly, and in real need of a cleaning.
Just like I believe my children could make a better effort at keeping their rooms clean, I also believe I could do a better job at keeping my heart clean. How about you? Is your heart in need of a good cleaning? God is the master cleaner. His forgiveness sweeps out our dusty places. His love dusts off our surfaces. His compassion mops away our stains.
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8)
Oh, and about those messy rooms, I am still praying for patience!
Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. (Psalm 119:36)
Look around you. You see it everywhere. People who use the platform of the faith for their own personal gain. There are those who profess their beliefs under the guise of bringing glory to God, when in fact, their major aspiration is bringing glory to themselves.
And how easily we can be fooled by their pretenses. How easily we believe that their words of encouragement come from their heart.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
We want to believe them. We are struggling with life problems, feeling hopeless, looking for someone to give us hope. So we look for encouragement. And it is everywhere…television, social media, right in our own churches and communities. On every corner, on every Facebook page, on every website there is someone ready to offer us that mustard seed we so desperately need.
God places many people the position of prophecy, of encouraging and uplifting, of sharing his word to the masses. He gives them incredible insight and wisdom, and He gives them a heart to serve. And when they connect to Him, they are amazing servants who share the gospel with the broken, who offer promise and hope to the hopeless, and who help our mundane and ordinary days seem a little less so. Those are the people we should be seeking out. Those are the ones who we should find our encouragement from. Those are the pages we should “Like” and the people we should “Follow”. Those are the servants whose website we should “Subscribe” to.
The first word of Matthew 7:15 is BEWARE. Be careful about who you seek your wisdom and guidance from. Be mindful of whom you find encouragement and inspiration from. Ask God for wisdom and direction. After all, we should be seeking Him and his word above all else. That should be our main source of guidance and encouragement.
Mom-Sense is here to encourage you. Whether you are a mama or someone looking for mentorship or connection, this ministry is here to serve you, to lead you to the word of God, to offer you encouragement and inspiration, to help you realize you are not alone, and to sometimes make you laugh through your tears.
We are here to represent our Lord and Savior. We are here to help you build your connection to Christ and others. We are here because God sent us here. But don’t take our word for it. Pray about it. Ask God to reveal to you if this group is of Him. Because at the end of the day, it is about Him and YOU…not about us.
Change… sometimes we love it and sometimes we don’t. Often times, change is necessary to propel us forward into what God has purposed for our lives. We know He has something great ahead for us, but the change required to make it there is often too frightening, too challenging, or too uncertain. So we sit…stuck where God can’t grow us, because we don’t put our faith in His plans.
As of late, I have found myself in a season of change, and some aspects of it have not been fun. There have been real challenges to accepting and moving through this change. There have been moments of fear, of regret, of pain. God has called me to a place where I have had to put my trust in Him like no other time in my life. I have been called to have the confidence in Him to move forward to where He was calling me, even when I wanted to stay right where I was…because it was easier, it was my normal, it was what was expected of me.
It has taken all of my strength to move out of my familiar into His unknown. I am stepping out in faith, knowing that God is walking right beside me. He is carrying the lamp that will light my way. He is calling me to be bold and confident. He is calling me to expect great things. He is calling me to accept that I am capable of the extraordinary. He is calling me to be fearless.
What is God calling you to do? In what area of your life is He asking you to step out of what is comfortable and familiar, and step into His unknown? Do you trust Him? Do you believe that He will lead you only into goodness and abundance? Is your faith bigger than your fear?
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)
Be sure of what you hope for. Be convinced of what you have yet to see. Trust Him. His ways are so much bigger than our own. And while it may be hard and you may feel some pain, change – when it is of God – is a good thing. He will stretch you beyond what you thought you could do. He will strengthen you beyond what you could imagine. And He will use you in ways you never thought possible. You need only believe.
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