Promise Box: Sharing Our Treasures

Creating a Treasury of Scriptures and Stories for Our Families

I am so very honored to be a part of author Tricia Goyer's Fiction Book Launch Team this year!  I have enjoyed reading her books, and I'm gearing up to share my review of her most recent release, "The Promise Box."  I'll tell you a bit about a promise box first, then I would like to share my own favorite Scriptures and Bible stories with you.

According to the story, a promise box is a simple wooden box that contains treasured prayers and favorite Scripture verses of Lydia Wyse's mother.  It isn't until her mother's passing that Lydia finds the box and begins to realize that she longs for the Amish life once again.

I have been meditating on the Word for a little while concerning these treasured Scriptures and prayers of a mother to her husband and her children.  Here are a few of my favorite verses and prayers:

• Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is older he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6)
• Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33)
• Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants, and Your [glorious] majesty to their children.  And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands--yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it. (Psalms 90:16-17)
• He Who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God in whom I trust. (Psalms 91:1-2)

The prayer of Jabez is one of my favorite prayers.  It's simple, clear and concise.  

"And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, 'Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory that Your hand would be with me and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.  So God granted him what he requested"  (1 Chronicles 4:10).

Though the Bible is filled with amazing stories of triumph in the face of sure defeat, two of my favorite stories are of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son and Esther who saved her people from destruction.

What are some of your favorite Scriptures and prayers?  What stories of the Bible do you want to share with your children and others?

Did You Know?

Super Mom the Illusion Blogger Contributor Blogs

Did you know I contribute to another blog as well as have my own column?  It's true!  

I contribute monthly to So You Call Yourself A Homeschooler? discussing topics such as homeschooling middle schoolers, high schoolers and multiple grade levels.  The past month I talked about transcripts for high school, how to award credit for unusual classes such as computer batch coding and ballet, and gave some graduation ceremony ideas for homeschoolers graduating their students.  You can read more here! 

I also host a monthly column "On Mentoring Teens"!  Unlike the blog, this column is solely dedicated to helping parents and youth workers minister to and guide their teens toward a life lived for Jesus.  I am thrilled to partner with Nicole O'Dell at Choose NOW Ministries to bring practical, real-life tips to those who influence the lives of teens and enjoy encouraging and building up those who desire to see their teens sold out to God.  Recently I've shared about how to help teens get a vision for the path the Lord has set for them and creating vision boards to "write the vision plain on paper so that they can see it in their comings and goings" (Habakkuk 2:2).  I would love it if you would follow my column!  You can read other articles here!

Thank you for all your support!

Blessings!

Blessed by My Kids

When Children Surprise You

As a parent who has children who are not walking with the Lord right now, it is easy to get into a mindset that somehow I've failed them AND God.  Well, yesterday was one of those days when the Lord showed me that my kids "get it"!  

Our church had a Pentecost celebration picnic, and as often happens at our church picnics, there was an invitation for anyone who wanted to be baptized.  My niece was one of the first, rededicating herself to the Lord and her walk along the path He chose for her.  Soon, I looked up and saw my middle daughter standing in line.  She had gone to Acquire the Fire with our youth group and ever since had felt a prompting of God to be baptized and choose to dedicate her life to Him and Him alone.  She boldly professed that dedication today.  And the best thing of all was that it was her decision, not mine or my husband's, not out of  peer pressure, but because she fully desires to give the Lord her life.

What transpired next filled my heart beyond measure.  My baby daughter decided to get baptized, too!  Before I knew if, my husband took a stand to make the Lord's Will for his life a priority.  I helped our pastor baptize my husband!  Now it is important to understand that he had been baptized previously.  But that commitment to follow the prompting of God in your life is an essential step in the Christian walk.  

Following my husband in baptism were my youngest two sons.  One of them declared that when he had been baptized a few years ago, it didn't mean anything to him like it did today.  That is also an important thing to note.  When you are baptized and following the process of dying to your flesh and old self, a change should occur. We die to self and are raised in Christ a new creation.  My sons recognized that they hadn't truly experienced that changed in their lives and desired more of the Lord.  

Those words coming from my boys were the confirmation I needed to hear today!  I needed to hear that they longed for a lifelong relationship with Jesus.  

They each had a renewed passion in their lives and were once again on fire for God!  It is amazing how children (and husbands!) will surprise you by confirming what has been prayed over them for years!

Blessings!

Adventures in Odyssey A.C.T.S. Blog Tour--A Call to Service

Why serve?

Our culture puts an extravagant amount of energy into raising kids who will grow up to feel good about themselves. In schools, clubs, homes, and even at church, adults have made a decided effort to bolster children’s “self-esteem” –not by actually encouraging kids do something that’s worthwhile, but by simply telling them they are important and valuable.

At the turn of the century, researchers predicted that the next generation would respond to these efforts of raising self-esteem by being filled with optimism and civic duty. Unfortunately, recent research shows the opposite. Kids coming of age today are more self-centered, disrespectful of authority, and depressed than ever before.

In a very real way, then, the best path toward building selfless, confident children is to help and encourage them toward a growing and thriving faith in God. And that includes obedience to what God teaches—not because it makes kids feel good, although it often does—but because they’re following God’s instructions to love Him and serve others. That builds a faith they can count on and carry with them into adulthood—which is the greatest gift any parent can bestow on their child.

Stepping Back from Things

Knowing When to Put Activities on Hold 

Those of you who regularly read Super Mom the Illusion have probably noticed a decline in the number of posts the past couple of weeks.  Somehow the activities of the end of the school year seemed to be on top of us before I realized it.  Last week my children had choir and dance rehearsals and performances with our supplemental school two nights in a row, regular classes at that school, an awards assembly, and performances with their theatre school on another night.  In addition to that, my daughters and I attended a Mother's Day tea with our women's ministry group and of course Sunday was Mother's Day.  It was a very busy week! 

While the week was so hurried, I tried to maintain all my own activities.  That didn't go so well.  Can anyone else relate to that?  Something was going to be abandoned during the chaos of events, and it ended up being my writing on the blog.  I know that sometimes when bloggers get busy they often re-post a previous article. I ran out of time to even do that!  I knew that stepping back from writing my daily blog this week was what I needed to do.  I couldn't step away from the activities of my children, the Mother's Day tea, or my schooling.  But I could, as much as I didn't want to, put writing on hold.

Now that the week has settled a bit, I look forward to discussing the Word, our roles as homeschoolers and mothers, and also keeping the vision the Lord has given each one of us.

Encouraging One Another

Building Your Faith 

Recently, I have experienced what I call "bad days" with homeschooling, with my position in Women's Ministry, with life in general.  Life gets chaotic, hectic and I feel like I can't function in my daily and weekly duties with which I am committed.  But on those particular days, the Lord deliberately places certain people in my path to build me up in my faith.  I feel like giving up on the day, asking for a do-over, or just crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head until the next day arrives.  But my Heavenly Father refuses to allow me to do that.  He purposes to send sisters to me with a word of encouragement at just the right time.  

He also uses me as He does my sisters who encourage me.  When the Lord moves us to speak to a sister or to do a certain task, that is our opportunity to be a willing vessel to be used by Him.  The women in our lives are there because we compliment each other.  They have something we need; we have something they need.  

Rest in the Lord knowing that you are either the one He will use or when faced with trying times that He will send someone to you to stand with you, build you up, and encourage you to be steadfast during that time.

Adventures in Odyssey A.CT.S. Blog Tour!!

Join Adventures in Odyssey this summer to discover how fun it can be to serve others!

Adventures in Odyssey, the beloved audio series from Focus on the Family, has encouraged kids toward a stronger faith for 25 years. Whit, Connie, Eugene, and the other loveable characters from Odyssey have shared countless adventures with kids across the world in the classic audio dramas, books, videos, and devotionals, fulfilling the AIO promise to help kids discover, imagine, and grow.

This summer, Adventures in Odyssey is joining with Christian bookstores across the country, inviting kids to participate in a Summer of Service. They’re promoting the biblical message, “When you serve, everybody wins,” encouraging kids to serve their families, their communities, and their world. Whether it’s baking cookies for an elderly neighbor or putting together a care package for missionaries overseas, kids will discover that serving can be a blast! 

How the A.C.T.S. (A Call to Service) challenge and contest works:

Kids who join A.C.T.S. can pick up a service log and collect fun character stickers for hours served at participating bookstores throughout the summer, or download a serving log online at whitsend.org.  At the end of the summer, kids can record and upload a short video telling how they serve and why they’d like to become an Adventures in Odyssey Ambassador.

A hundred winners will get the brand new AIO Album, and after online voting, two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will get to travel on an exciting Good-Goers Mission Based Adventure trip to another country with a parent!  The out-of-country destination will be announced on a live podcast May 22—hosted by AIO actors Katie Leigh (Connie) and Chris Anthony (Chris)—which you can watch at whitsend.org/acts. You don’t want to miss it!