Letting go is a sign of strength...

I recently read the saying, "Letting go is a sign of strength, not weakness."  I have thought about this saying a lot over the past few days.  As a mother, when my children have grown up and moved out of our house, I have had to let them go.  I saw my mother faced with letting go of her husband as he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly.  I have watched people I love and care for have to let go of a spouse through divorce. 
Though these are negative aspects of letting go, I believe there are also times of letting go that serve to strengthen us and make us better people!  When we let go of a certain situation and fully give it to God and put it in His hands, there is a positive connotation associated with it.  "Let go, and let God!"  Giving everything to God, shows our strength in handing the situation, the loneliness, the abandon feelings over to Him and allowing all those negative feelings to fall away...

Struggles...Paul said there'd be days like these!!

The first three months of the year were quite a struggle for me as a mom, homeschooler, student, homemaker and wife.  Members of our immediate family have alienated us and removed themselves from our lives and it has been devastating, to say the least.  My homeschooling endeavors have netted less than desirable results and I have often fallen short of my weekly lesson planned goals.  I have submitted class assignments for my own school work late and feel challenged to complete the weekly assignments by the deadlines.  My kitchen has met with dishes stacked on the counters and in the sink, desperately waiting for me to put them in the dishwasher.  I have barked at my husband for menial things such as the television being turned up too loud or his empty fast food beverage cups being left all over the house.  I have been challenged in all areas of my life in just the past 90 days!

The word struggle means this:

 

1.to contend with an adversary or opposing force.

2.to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.

3.to advance with violent effort: to struggle through the snow.

4. (of athletes and competitors) to be coping with inability to perform well or to win; contend with difficulty.

Thankfully, I know I am not alone in these struggles. Philippians 1:29-30 says, " For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,  since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."  Paul struggled with the things of life and wrote about it to the Philippians to encourage them that they were NOT alone in their struggles.  Paul further encourages his friends and fellow believers " I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me." (Romans 15:30).  We need to let our brothers and sisters in Jesus know of our struggles so that they may join us in prayer that we would overcome these struggles!  Notice Paul said to join him in praying to God.  We need to actively pray for ourselves that we would see the breakthrough, too!  We also need to persevere in our praying.  Paul wrote, "We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them."  (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).

Be encouraged today that while it may seem as though the struggles you and I are facing today are new and that at times it may appear we are going through these things on our own, we are not alone!




 

Train up a child...

     One of my favorite scriptures is "train up a child in the way he should go and when he is older, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).  This is an area where I have needed to be reminded that my husband and I brought our children up to serve the Lord, to walk with him and to rely on HIS will over their own. 
     When we have witnessed some of our children walking a road that is not reflective of their upbringing, my husband and I are saddened and sometime we have even wept at the thought that they have turned from the Lord.  The Word says, "Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans, Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight.  He's like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows."  (Jeremiah 17:5 MSG).  
     The reality is that we can only last so long on our own without God.  As parents, the time we have been given for teaching and training our children is but a drop in the bucket of their lives.  Although we are heart broken over our lost children, we also rest in the Word reminding ourselves that when our children grow older the Word of the Lord will come back to them and that our whole house will be saved.
     This week, let's pray that the hearts of our lost loved ones will be softened; that they will receive wisdom and seek after the Lord; and that the Lord would restore and reconcile our families!!


Have a blessed week!

The Trouble with Blogs...

     I am a writer.  I am also a mother, a home educator, a Pampered Chef consultant, a blogger, an account executive, a student, a wife, and a homemaker.  I enjoy telling others about Jesus and sharing the love of the Lord with the lost, unsaved and unbelievers.  When I started my blog, I thought it would be relatively simple to write a quick paragraph or two about life lessons the Lord was showing me each day or, at the very least, each week!  What really happens is that I find myself often spread too thin to concentrate on my blog or my writing or my lesson plans for the week or my contact calls for clients or to be the wife and mother my family needs me to be. 
This week, I am working on prioritizing my work.  Everything I do this week will be with my family in mind first, and the work will be done to the best of my ability as unto the Lord.  I've been reading Darlene Schacht's book, "The Good Wife's Guide" and have been so inspired to seek the Lord in serving my family.  Whether we work outside the home or not, God has called wives and mothers to certain roles within their family, and we need to realize our jobs once again.  (I will be reviewing this book soon, so be sure to check back for that post!)
      One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 32 (Kerri Pomaroli)..."She rises late and her children make her breakfast!"  The reality is, there IS no Proverbs 32.  And I have been commissioned by the Lord to be diligent in all I do.  I can't take on as many tasks as I want, but if it's not what the Lord would have me do, I'm going to burn out quickly and accomplish little in the things He has called me to do.
     As wives and mothers, we owe it not only to our families but to our Heavenly Father to do the best work we can and not take on more than we can successfully complete with a degree of excellence and completeness.  What will you do this week for your family?  For your Lord that will allow you to humbly work with the best job you can do?
Read Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 this week.  Don't be intimidated that you aren't out making clothes and buying land and guiding older moms into lives of reverence.  Concentrate on the last part of each scripture...Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: "Many women have done wonderful things, but you've outclassed them all!" (Proverbs 31:28-29, The Message);  "Tell them all this.  Build up their courage, and discipline them if they get out of line. You're in charge.  Don't let anyone put you down." (Titus 2:15, The Message).

Budgets: A Mom's Best Friend

Thinking back to when a was a teenager, I never thought about or was concerned with money.  If I needed gas in my '72 Oldsmobile, I asked my parents for the gas card.  If I wanted to go to the skating rink with my friends one Friday nigh (I WAS an 80s child!), I asked for the money to do so and to get snacks while there.  When I got married, my husband and I stayed in denial of our financial irresponsibility and we were constantly in debt.  By the time we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary, we had filed bankruptcy.  We believed this would really help us get back on track with money.  We were clearly still in denial.  Our habits had not changed as far as spending was concerned, and we soon fell back into the same bad decision making we had been rescued from a few years earlier. 
As our family grew and my husband began working two and three jobs to support our family, we realized we were in need of intervention to fix our financial state.  We began to adhere to a budget in which we organized envelopes for bills, gas and tithe.  Additionally, we had an envelope for extras/misc.  This system worked well for a while...until we began borrowing from certain envelopes for our extras fund.  We still battle with the temptation to spend outside of our means, especially when we receive financial stipends such as student financial aid as college students and our tax refund.  This year we didn't blow the tax refund on frivolous things (at least not too many!), and we were able to bless members of our family with much needed items from a new stove to a washer to a new mattress.  I read an article @RooMag.com about one of their giveaway items: a book called "The Money Saving Mom's Budget" by Crystal Paine.  In her book she gives practical ideas of how to: 

• set big goals and break them down into bite-sized pieces.
•  prioritize your time and life in order to live intentionally.
•  streamline your home and life in order to have breathing room to work toward your financial goals.
•  go from no budget at all to a full-fledged, realistic, written budget by following a simple three-step plan.
•  make a cash envelope system work for you.
•  cut your grocery bill in half (including 25 ways to save money without using coupons!).
• save big on restaurants, travel, clothing, utility bills, prescription glasses, gym memberships, and much more.
• And cultivate contentment, embrace today, and live a rich and full life, no matter your income.           

Whether we win this book in the Giveaway or not, one thing is certain, my husband and I know that we need to change, and we need help to do it.  God can cause things to work on our behalf and can help break this cycle of bondage we feel money has over us.  He can do it through this book or another book or can supernaturally cause our eyes and minds to be open to the wisdom of finances.  Do it for your children; do it for yourself; do it for GOD!

For more information on RooMag, visit:  www.roomag.com.  For more information about Crystal Paine and her words of wisdom regarding budgeting, visit:  www.moneysavingmom.com.

Frustrated or Free: Allowing God FULL reign over your life

Setbacks seem to happen when things are going well for my family: We worked ahead a week in homeschooling and then my kids got sick; in faith we moved back to Colorado with jobs lined up, but then they were withdrawn once we got here; and we received a financial blessing only to have an unexpected bill come up.  At one time in my life, I would get frustrated, worried and try to remedy the situation on my own.  But now, as a child of God heir, I can see the attacks that the enemy fires at me, meant to disable my faith, my reliance on the ONE who can correct me and my path.  The Word says that God is not mocked; what a man sows he will also reap.  The choices we make WILL influence our lives later on, but the confidence we have is that whatever we ask in Jesus' Name we WILL have!  With that, the Lord works ALL things for good to those that love the Lord and are called according to HIS purpose in Christ Jesus.
Walking in faith takes strength, perseverance and commitment.  Have you heard the phrase, "You can do it!"?  Let me assure you, the Lord KNOWS you CAN do it; He wants to know you are WILLING to do whatever He asks of you.  He won't ask anything of you that doesn't line up with His good and perfect will for your life and His overall plan to reach the lost through each of us!  When setbacks or attacks come, it is because you are working for the Kingdom and getting into a deeper and closer relationship with the Lord.  This makes Satan very nervous and he works at getting us and our minds off of the assignments and callings our Father has given us.  Don't waver and sway from what God has told you about who you are, what your assignment is in this world and about how HE will provide for you in every way!  Remember Joseph, Job and David...losing everything as Joseph and Job did, but they were promoted and given MUCH more than they lost and David making his own choices to be and adulterer and murderer, but repenting and coming back to the Father.  It's not too late to stop worrying, stop being frustrated and allowing the Lord to have control over your life!!

Someone is following you...

In today's world of technology, we are nearly inundated with Friends lists, followers, Tweeps, etc.  People are constantly viewing our status updates, the links we share and the causes we forward that we believe in.  Aside from all the techie stuff, however, there are others who are following us.  Those who look to us as their example in life, in their Christian walk, as role models and as those who they want to emulate.  If you are a parent, your children are often those who are watching to see how you react in various situations...
Do you become overly concerned and filled with worry when a bill is due but your bank account lacks the funds to pay?  Do you run to God in prayer and fully turn the problem over to Him never looking back as you see the Lord's hand taking care of you?
Many more people other than our children are watching us.  What kind of witness are you to them?  Are you walking the walk or merely talking the talk?  It is not necessarily what others HEAR us say that affects their views of Christianity but rather what they SEE us doing in our daily lives.  Consider who's watching you and the image of the Lord you are portraying to others...