I must confess all is not well with our family. We have been holing in secrets. But alas I cannot share with you (YET). The heartache that has loomed over us for the last 3 months and will continue to do so for some time. But enough of this for now. I want to share with you a couple of things for the upcoming year.
As you know last year I picked the word PURPOSE for my word for the year along with the verse 1 Corinthians 10:31
Well this year as I have prayed about taking on some added responsibilities and working on a conference team God has repeatedly brought one word to mind……. Continue reading “2015 Word of the Year”→
So as promised a little over a month ago…I plan to write a weekly post called FaithForward. The whole idea of these blog posts is to make us think deep within ourselves and to challenge us to move forward in our faith! Does that mean these posts will be easy to read…I hope not, because they won’t be easy to write!
I’m very excited about this series.
I already have next week’s post written and ready for my blog to go live!
Out of all the posts schedules to happen each week this one has been the most difficult to think about as our family has quite literally fought through being crippled by a horrible circumstance…a circumstance rooted in sin, and we are slowly working our way out of the dark murky swamp we have found ourselves in. All while holding Jesus’ hand and sometimes even being carried my Him we have deepened our faith far more than I ever expected!
I can’t wait to share some of this journey with you over the coming months!
So it’s been no secret that I have not been around much. Life has been busy and I wear so very many hats! And sometimes I have to throw off all my other hats in order to take care of a hat that grows exceptionally heavy…..usually it’s the one with a husband, four kids and a house crammed inside of it.
And over the last year or so I have become increasingly uncomfortable with all the…”this is how you should blog”. And the “you aren’t doing things right”. Critics out there. I also have a lot of personal critics in my life wondering “why do you waste your time doing that” and “How can you possibly have time for all that you do?” And to be completely honest I think that Satan has used those critics to spread seeds of doubt, and frankly I have come to the realization that I was letting him!
Did I whine and complain….maybe on the inside a little convincing myself that I had nothing anybody wanted to hear. And everywhere you turn, people are oh so concerned about numbers……numbers! Ugh, I’ve always hated Math! It’s a necessary evil in my mind! Anyway, over the last 8 months I have spent A LOT of time reading and praying. And while we were on vacation in July , I stole away a few times and focused on me. Ways to better me. And one of those things that I did was write my own personal mission statement.
Each year I write out goals but rarely if ever meet them. I pick books based on areas of my life in which I desire to grow…..along with knowing I will review some as well. I choose them according to the areas that are focus points in my life. I then also choose fiction that maybe I either missed out on in school or something that strikes my fancy! (No none of them are Romance novels….ICK)
So I wrote this Mission statement….
It is my mission to live my life with the sole purpose to give God the glory in everything I say and do-to abide in Christ, to grow in my daily walk with Him.
It’s nothing fancy and I know it’s not short and sweet like five words or less BUT IT WORKS FOR ME.
I then added action statements for each of my main focus area in my life. These areas include
My Daily walk with God…it’s a relationship and like any good fruitful relationship it takes nurturing.
My hubby….I love him dearly
The munchkins…yep four smiling, funny, keep me on my toes munchkins!
My home…..I want it to be a safe haven for all who cross it’s threshold .
My ministry….which is 2 fold, the people of our church, and my readers here on my blog!
Here is what my action statement under Ministry says
To intentionally challenge fellow women who love Jesus to grow deeper in their walk with God. To speak truth in love and encourage women to be bold in their faith.
Today, as I sit on my couch, just after sending my three older children off to school and the youngest watches Jake and the Neverland Pirates, I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed, I see lots of neat things, but in the midst my heart really breaks for a group of moms. In understand that the Nigerian culture may not celebrate Mother’s Day they may not even know it exists here in our comfy country, but I like them have something in common…..we ARE moms. We labored many hours bringing this children into the world. We have sacrificed greatly to provide our children the basic needs, and we entrust our children to a school to be educated.
Let me say this, it’s not the schools fault.
It’s not God’s fault.
It’s not the parents fault.
My heart breaks for these 200 moms who don’t know where their daughters are. BUT GOD DOES.
My prayer is that these moms will have their stolen daughters returned. My prayer is that God will be glorified through this unthinkable act. My prayer is that these girls will trust God, that they will not waiver from their faith and that lives will be changed. My prayer is that these wicked men will see Jesus through these girls and MOST of all my prayer is that these girls will be rescued quickly!
As I brushed my 7 year old daughters hair this morning……I felt blessed to not need to fear for the faith of my child. I have no idea what the future holds for her…or for any of them for that matter! I have been reminded constantly lately that being in constant prayer for my children is so necessary!
Be present
Be kind
Be loving be a good listener
Be ready
Be available
Be focused on them
I need constant reminders, God knows this. I’m easily distracted by all the noise of this world, by everyone’s opinions of me, but they are people too! What are their perceptions of me?
If I care for everyone else’s needs but forget theirs, the rest is in vain. I’ve failed them and God for they are great treasures given for me to take care of and to polish! So they reflect, not my image but that of Jesus.
So won’t you join me in not only praying for our own children but also for those 200 girls stolen. That they too may shine with the reflection of Jesus!?!
This morning as I sat and did my devotions I was confronted with a verse that chiseled pieces from my heart. It’s not something I struggle with consistently. It stems from low points, those valley moments. Sometimes valley moments leave me wanting to hide in a storyline…I Love a compelling story! It’s the girl in me. It kind of tykes me outside of my circumstances and allows me to enter a land that has happy endings.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks with our 6 year old. I can’t fix the issues he struggles with. I just can’t . It’s not like a splinter. You remove the foreign body, put an antibiotic ointment and a bandaid on it and in a few hours it is forgotten….for a healthy 6 year old anyway. And this week has been even worse because they have had no school, no school = no rigid routine. No rigid routine= mass chaos inside this little boys head! I’m still relatively new to this so it was a great insight into the possibilities for summer!
But all of that said, sometimes we need to step outside of our reality. That’s why people like TV, MUSIC, MOVIES AND FICTION BOOKS. and in and of themselves, they aren’t bad things
BUT. Sometimes, sometimes we get blinded by a good storyline and get sucked in. We get blinded to all the peripheral sin going on. And that is dangerous territory and that is exactly what happens to Lot as well. Though his circumstances are slightly different. The land he goes to is “good” but the people surrounding him are not!
2 Peter 2:7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard);
Pondering all the false prophets I let into my life. They may not just be spiritual teachers, but those I am following in my day to day life. Do those people live like God commands or do they pay lip service and live another way OR does it blatantly go against God’s word and I allow it into my life to numb my mind and heart to what God calls sin. Lot does this by living in a city rampant with sin, he offered his daughters to the crowd, he had a husband chosen from the horrible city to marry his daughter. COMPROMISE, doesn’t just affect us, but our families as well. We can see the effect of compromise on Lot’s daughters.
In our everyday life we make compromises. Compromises aren’t necessarily bad. It’s when compromise hurts ours our others walk with God, that it becomes horrible. And recognizing it quickly is key. It’s amazing at how fast this can happen especially at your lowest points!
So here are steps to help combat this moments
1. Be in Gods word daily! A new thing I added recently is listening to the Bible. Some days are just too insane to add sitting for 10 minutes. I can hide God’s Word in my heart by listening to it while I wash dishes, fold laundry or make dinner!
2. Memorize these verses
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
AND
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
3. Put Pure things in! Get lost in the Chronicles of Narnia, or Anne of Geen Gables, Little house on the Prairie. There are positive alternatives out there. You just have to make the effort. And if you are thinking oh those things are hokey or out of date, Well I promise you this in 10 years so will the stuff you are into now!the point isn’t graphics, animation, cool effects. Thats changes in this world so fast these days. What matter is purity. TRUTH.
4.ask yourself If the kids can’t watch it, Why? And then should I be watching this? And if the kids should walk in while I am watching this what would it communicate to them? Would it communicate a double standard? There are something’s that young children should not see…the news for instance, some documentaries. Adult conversations. (We didn’t let our kids watch the Bill Nye/ken Ham debate,not because it was bad but because there were sensitive adult subjects that an 8,7,6 and 3 year old are not capable of processing yet)
5. This new one I added after reading Courtney Joseph’s book Women Living Well! Would I invite these people into my house to have sex on the couch in front of me and my children? Seriously think about this! This IS what we are doing!
It all comes down to this: : it’s a perspective change. We try not to let false teachers in but every once in a while one sneaks in. It’s a good reminder that despite a “great storyline”. Sometimes we need to shut off a TV show or movie, put down that book, and change the radio station! Because it may have a great beat, or a funny or compelling storyline but if the circumstances surrounding the storyline or lines laced into that great beat go against God’s word thaen we are not guarding our heart! This is not easy and convicted my heart as I am constantly reviewing why we do what we do in our family……does this fit into 1Corinthians 10:31 and Philippians 4:8-9
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
AND
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
If it goes against these then we are in danger! Our children are in danger, because hypocrisy jeprodizes faith in the greatest of ways.
